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Tin Road: Meluhha to Fertile Crescent. Hieroglyph on Ur spearheads: kuṭhāru, armourer

January 18, 2014, 5:42 am
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Copper or bronze spearheads. Royal cemetery of Ur.3rd millennium BCE.

No satisfactory explanation is known for the marking, attested on several objects from the Royal Cemetery. The excavator, Sir Leonard Woolley, thought that it might be a hallmark or even an owner's mark.

No, it was not a hallmark. It was a Meluhha hieroglyph indicating an armourer, a Meluhha maker of weapons.

Hieroglyph on the six spearheads of Ur:

The hieroglyph is comparable to the axe of Tepe Gawra, shown below:

This Meluhha hieroglyph is read rebus:

Hieroglyph:kuṭhāra m. ʻ axe ʼ R., °raka -- m. VarBrS., °rī -- f. lex., °rikā -- f. Suśr. [kuṭhātaṅka -- m., °kā -- f. lex. Prob. ← Drav. and conn. with √kuṭṭ EWA i 223 with lit.]Pa. kuṭhārī -- f., Pk. kuḍhāra -- m., kuhāḍa -- m., °ḍī -- f. (for ṭh -- r ~ h -- ḍ see piṭhara -- ), S. kuhāṛo m., L. kuhāṛā m., °ṛī f., P. kulhāṛā  m., °ṛī f., WPah. bhal.kurhāṛi f., Ku. kulyāṛo, gng. kulyāṛ, B. kuṛā̆l, °li, kuṛul, Or. kuṛāla,  kurāṛha, °ṛhi, kurhāṛi, kuṛāri; Bi. kulhārī ʻ large axe for squaring logs ʼ; H. kulhāṛā m., °ṛī f. ʻ axe ʼ, G. kuhāṛɔ m., °ṛī f., kuvāṛī f., M. kurhāḍ,   °ḍī f., Si. keṇeri  Hettiaratchi Indeclinables 6 (connexion, if any, with  keṭeri,  °ṭēriya ʻ long -- handled axe ʼ is obscure).WPah. ṭg. khəṛari, kəṛari f. ʻ axe ʼ. (CDIAL 3244).कुठार [ kuṭhāra ] m S An ax or a hatchet (Marathi)

Rebus: Rebus: kuṭhāru‘armourer or weapons maker’(metal-worker), also an inscriber or writer.

Allographs: kuṭhāru  कुठारु [p= 289,1] [L=51732]m. a tree L.[L=51733]a monkey L.[L=51734]an armourer L. (Monier Williams Sanskrit lexicon)

Go. (Ph.) kuṭār chaff (Voc. 729); (ASu.) kuṭṭār corn without grains.  Kur. (Hahn) kuṭṭā chaff. (DEDR 1665).



Ta. kōṭaram monkey. Ir. kōḍa (small) monkey;  kūḍag  monkey.  Ko. ko·ṛṇ small monkey. To. kwṛṇ  monkey.  Ka. kōḍaga monkey, ape. Koḍ. ko·ḍë monkey. Tu.  koḍañji, koḍañja, koḍaṅgů baboon. (DEDR 2196). kuṭhāru = a monkey (Sanskrit)

Tree: kuṭhāru kuṭi ‘tree’ kuṭhi ‘smelter’. 

Selected copper or bronze implements from Tepe Gawra, including sickles, axe, chisels and knife. The two needles are from Gawra stratum IV and the knife from stratum V; the other nine objects are from stratum VI. Gawra V-IV cover period ca 2100-1600 BCE; Gawra VI is second half of third millennium BCE. University Museum Collection.

Altar, offered by Tukulti-Ninurta I, 1243-1208 BC, in prayer before two deities carrying wooden standards, Assyria, Bronze Age. Atop the standard is the Meluhha (Assur) hieroglyph: nave of wheel, spokes of wheel [Note: The standards are comparable to the standards discovered in Nahal Mishmar dated to ca. 4400 BCE though made of arsenical copper using cire perdue (lost-wax) casting.] See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/01/meluhha-standard-compares-with-nahal.html This monograph compares the standards of Nahal Mishmar with Meluhha standard (Indus writing).

Rebus readings of the hieroglyphs carried on standards or banners indicate alloyed copper weapons: 


Hieroglyphs: era, er-a = eraka = ?nave of wheel; erakōlu = the iron axle of a carriage (Kannada.Malayalam.) arā 'spoke of wheel' (Vedic)

Rebus:  arā ‘brass’, āra ‘brass’ as in ārakūṭa (Sanskrit.). eraka, era, er-a = syn. erka, copper, weapons (Kannada.) eraka, er-aka = any metal infusion (Kannada.Tulu.); erako molten cast (Tulu)
 
Tin moved from east to west

Tin (as tin oxide SnO2) is found within veins of quartz running hrough the granite rock. Alluvial tin deposits in stream-beds and found in the form of small black nuggets of cassiterite known as tin-stone. The tin-stone smelted together with charcoal freed the oxygen and reduced the oxide to metallic tin.

[Davies, Norman de Garis: The tomb of two sculptors at Thebes (New York, 1925] The ingot painted in reddish-brown is ox-hide shape. This was copper ingot. The other ingot is a rectangular bar, bluish gray in colour. This was tin ingot. (Source: Muhly, James D. , Sources of tin and the beginnings of bronze metallurgy, American Journal of Archaeology 89 (1985), pp. 275-291.)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/12/tin-road-between-ashur-kultepe-and.html Tin road: Meluhha (Afghanistan) to Kerman (Aratta), Fars (Anshan), Khuzistan (Susa), Assur, Kanesh (Kultepe, Anatolia)

"...the first real use of tin bronze in Mesopotamia comes at the time of the Royal Cemetery of Ur, dated to E.D. IIIa or roughly the twenth-sixth century BCE...Tin appears in the Royal Cemetery, as at Ebla, together with gold and lapis lazuli. All three materials are to be found in Afghanistan...Oman...copper bun or plano-convex ingots...From the land of Magan located in Oman, the copper imported by the Sumerians must have gone north from the Gulf area. It is possible that the wealth of Afghanistan came into Mesopotamia by the sme route, with some of it continuing on up the Euphrates to Syria and the city of Ebla...Dilmun is almost certainly to be equated with the island of Bahrain, its role in the Gulf trade has long been understood to have been that of an emporium involved in the transhipment of materials...east-west movement of tin is documented in the numerous Old Assyrian texts from Kultepe, the ancient kārum Kanish...the tin was brought to Assur and from there shipped overland by donkey caravan to various Assyrian merchant colonies in Anatolia...The published analyses show that alongside arsenical copper, tin bronze was in regular use at Early Bronze Age sites such as Alaca Huyuk, Ahlathbel, Mahmutlar and Horoztepe. Some of the best evidence for the Early Bronze Age use of tin bronze comes, in fact, from the Early Bronze Age levels at Troy...For Western Asia Afghanistan has emerged as the most promising source for much of the tin in use during Bronze Age times.Its deposits of gold and lapis lazuli, both materials highly prized by the Sumerians during the third millennium BCE, may have led ancient prospectors of tin, which was also then exported to Sumer ... "(Muhly, James D. , Sources of tin and the beginnings of bronze metallurgy, American Journal of Archaeology 89 (1985), pp.281-290.) [1] For the trade involved, see Y. Majidzadeh, ‘Lapis Lazuli and the Great Khorasan Road,’ Paleorient 8.1 (1982) 59-69. Majidzadeh argues that lapis came into Mesopotamia not via the Great Khorasan Road, the ancient Silk Route, but by a southern route going across Kerman (Aratta), Fars (Anshan) and Khuzistan (Susa). A tin trade by the same route would explain the importance of Susa in the Mari letters dealing with the tin trade. 
See:


Cire perdue or lost-wax casting metallurgy spread from Meluhha into the Fertile Crescent (Nahal Mishmar). html http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/01/meluhha-metallurgical-roots-and-spread.html

Tin Road stretched from Meluhha in the east into the Fertile Crescent (Kultepe, Anatolia) defining the Bronze Age. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/01/meluhha-and-tracking-tin-road-after-all.

Example of a hieroglyph carried on a standard or banner

Electrum wolf's head from a Tomb at Tepe Gawra

"It has separately made ears, teeth (ca. 4th millennium BCE) and lower jaw and the whole stands only 23 mm high. It was probably attached to a wooden staff as there are two holes in the tubular neck and may have been a terminal to a ceremonial wand or staff of office." (Crawford, Harriet, 2004, Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge University Press, Fig. 6.1)

Hieroglyph: huḍa -- , °ḍu -- m. ʻ ram ʼ lex. 2. huṇḍa -- 1 m. Kāśīkh. 1. Pk. huḍa -- m. ʻ ram ʼ, WPah.bhal. huṛ, jaun. hūṛ. <-> L. huṛeāl, huṛeār m. ʻ the wild hill sheep or oorial ʼ, P. huṛiār m. 2. L. huṇḍū m. ʻ fighting ram ʼ, (Shahpur) hũḍḍu m., P. huṇḍū m.  3. †hulu -- ʻ ram ʼ lex.: WPah.kṭg. huḷ m. ʻ ram for breeding ʼ.(CDIAL 14135)*huḍahāra ʻ sheep -- taker ʼ. 2.*huṇḍahāra [huḍa -- , hāra -- . -- But Pk. huḍa -- m. ʻ dog ~ ram ʼ, Or. huṇḍā ʻ hyena ʼ; and semant. cf. H.bheṛī ʻ sheep ʼ ~ bheṛiyā ʻ wolf ʼ]1. Mth. huṛār ʻ wolf ʼ. 2. N. hũṛār ʻ wolf ʼ; Or. dial. hunã̄r ʻ wolf, hyena ʼ; Mth. H. hũṛār m. ʻ wolf ʼ. (CDIAL 14137)

 Rebus: hunati (opt. hunēt Pañcar.) ʻ offers libation ʼ. [From pp. *huna -- ~ hutá -- (see prāhuṇa -- ). -- √hu] Pa. hunitabba -- ʻ to be sacrificed ʼ; Pk. huṇaï ʻ offers oblation ʼ, huṇia -- pp., huṇaṇa -- n.; MB. hune ʻ sacrifices ʼ ODBL 553, H. hunnā.(CDIAL 14139). ఉడుగర [ uḍugara ] uḍugara. [Tel.] n. A gift, a present, any present given to a bride or bridegroom during the celebration of their marriage, A. vi. 190. -కట్నము కానుక "గంధర్వులకుడుగరల్ దయనొసగు" N. ii. 126. లబాంధవులొసగిరపుడు కాంచన భూషలు చీరలు నరపతికింబొలతికినుడు గరలుముదము పొదలగనంతన్." Swa. v. 120. (Telugu)

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
January 18, 2014
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Tejpal bail plea rejected. Psecularatti Poirot, what are your findings so far?

January 18, 2014, 4:25 pm
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Tejpal’s bail plea: Act ‘consensual’ since colleague a ‘modern woman’

Written by Smita Govindan Nair | January 19, 2014 02:41

SUMMARY

Goa court rejects bail application, says victim’s persona not relevant, her statement genuine.
In custody since November 30. IE
Disposing a bail application filed by Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal, arrested on the charge of sexually assaulting a junior colleague, a Goa sessions court has rejected the defence argument that the alleged act was consensual and not criminal since the victim was a “liberated, emancipated modern woman”.
In a 21-page order on January 15, sessions court judge Anuja Prabhudesai said the “victim’s statement is genuine”. “The persona of the victim and her social strata are not relevant to decide the (bail application). Similarly, the fact that she is liberated, emancipated modern woman who demanded (a) written apology rather than suffering in silence are no grounds to believe that she was not traumatised or that the act was consensual or could be consensual. Even on merit, the character of the victim or the past conduct… or the alleged aftermath on the stormy evening would not be relevant for deciding the issue of consent,” the order stated.
The court examined CCTV footage, the emails and SMS messages between the victim and Tejpal, the statement of the victim, her boyfriend, journalists, and Tehelka colleagues in whom the victim confided immediately after the alleged incident.
The bail hearing was conducted in-camera partially.
According to the written order, senior counsel Amit Desai, representing Tejpal, argued that the “social background of the victim, her persona, sense of understanding and values are relevant factors in deciding the (bail) application”. Stating that ingredients of IPC section 376 (rape) is not made out, the defence relied on Supreme Court observations in two cases where “the apex court has drawn distinction between the tradition-bound Indian woman and a woman from the western society”.
The order cites Desai’s arguments that the “victim is an educated emancipated woman who wanted the apology to be published on the letterhead of Tehelka . She cannot be compared to a girl from tradition-bound non-permissive society of India who would be extremely reluctant to make such revelation in fear of being shunned by the family or the society”.
Placing “this background” to allege “material discrepancy in the victim’s statement vis-a-vis CCTV footage, delay in lodging the complaint as well as subsequent conduct of the victim, more particularly her conversation with her friends”, the defence cited “suspicion about the genuineness of the allegations”.
Countering this argument, senior counsel and special prosecutor S D Lotlikar told the court that “societal strata and moral status of the victim are irrelevant, as the law does not give licence to any person to sexually abuse women even if they have liberal views on sex”.
The prosecution said material evidence indicated that Tejpal had not disputed the allegations levelled by the victim. Lotlikar said the victim stood by the allegation and had never said that the act was consensual.
The court noted in the order: “It is not possible at this stage either to examine the material meticulously and to look into the discrepancies, omissions, or contradictions, or to read in between the lines and find out as to whether the evidence is sufficient to infer guilt of the applicants or not. It is enough if sufficient grounds are shown to connect the applicants with the offence. As stated earlier, the statement of the victim indicates that she was sexually abused and that the act was not consensual. In terms of Section 114 A of the Indian Evidence Act, even at the stage of trial, the presumption would be that she did not consent. Hence, at this stage it cannot be presumed otherwise.”
“I have also viewed the relevant CCTV footage and in my considered view, the same does not falsify the version of the victim. It is also pertinent to note that the emails/SMS messages exchanged, between the applicant and the victim prima facie supports the version of the victim and rules out the possibility of consensual act or false implication,” judge Prabhudesai said in the order. Tejpal has been in custody since November 30 and is currently in judicial custody at Sub Jail Sada, Vasco da Gama.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/tejpals-bail-plea-act-consensual-since-colleague-a-modern-woman/
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Wealth addiction -- Sam Polk

January 19, 2014, 3:18 am
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For the love of money
By Sam Polk, New York Times
Sunday Review, Jan 18, 2014

IN my last year on Wall Street my bonus was $3.6 million — and I was angry because it wasn’t big enough. I was 30 years old, had no children to raise, no debts to pay, no philanthropic goal in mind. I wanted more money for exactly the same reason an alcoholic needs another drink: I was addicted.
Eight years earlier, I’d walked onto the trading floor at Credit Suisse First Boston to begin my summer internship. I already knew I wanted to be rich, but when I started out I had a different idea about what wealth meant. I’d come to Wall Street after reading in the book “Liar’s Poker” how Michael Lewis earned a $225,000 bonus after just two years of work on a trading floor. That seemed like a fortune. Every January and February, I think about that time, because these are the months when bonuses are decided and distributed, when fortunes are made.
I’d learned about the importance of being rich from my dad. He was a modern-day Willy Loman, a salesman with huge dreams that never seemed to materialize. “Imagine what life will be like,” he’d say, “when I make a million dollars.” While he dreamed of selling a screenplay, in reality he sold kitchen cabinets. and not that well. We sometimes lived paycheck to paycheck off my mom’s nurse-practitioner salary.
Dad believed money would solve all his problems. At 22, so did I. When I walked onto that trading floor for the first time and saw the glowing flat-screen TVs, high-tech computer monitors and phone turrets with enough dials, knobs and buttons to make it seem like the cockpit of a fighter plane, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It looked as if the traders were playing a video game inside a spaceship; if you won this video game, you became what I most wanted to be — rich.
IT was a miracle I’d made it to Wall Street at all. While I was competitive and ambitious — a wrestler at Columbia University — I was also a daily drinker and pot smoker and a regular user of cocaine, Ritalin and ecstasy. I had a propensity for self-destruction that had resulted in my getting suspended from Columbia for burglary, arrested twice and fired from an Internet company for fistfighting. I learned about rage from my dad, too. I can still see his red, contorted face as he charged toward me. I’d lied my way into the C.S.F.B. internship by omitting my transgressions from my résumé and was determined not to blow what seemed a final chance. The only thing as important to me as that internship was my girlfriend, a starter on the Columbia volleyball team. But even though I was in love with her, when I got drunk I’d sometimes end up with other women.
Three weeks into my internship she wisely dumped me. I don’t like who you’ve become, she said. I couldn’t blame her, but I was so devastated that I couldn’t get out of bed. In desperation, I called a counselor whom I had reluctantly seen a few times before and asked for help.
She helped me see that I was using alcohol and drugs to blunt the powerlessness I felt as a kid and suggested I give them up. That began some of the hardest months of my life. Without the alcohol and drugs in my system, I felt like my chest had been cracked open, exposing my heart to air. The counselor said that my abuse of drugs and alcohol was a symptom of an underlying problem — a “spiritual malady,” she called it. C.S.F.B. didn’t offer me a full-time job, and I returned, distraught, to Columbia for senior year.
After graduation, I got a job at Bank of America, by the grace of a managing director willing to take a chance on a kid who had called him every day for three weeks. With a year of sobriety under my belt, I was sharp, cleareyed and hard-working. At the end of my first year I was thrilled to receive a $40,000 bonus. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have to check my balance before I withdrew money. But a week later, a trader who was only four years my senior got hired away by C.S.F.B. for $900,000. After my initial envious shock — his haul was 22 times the size of my bonus — I grew excited at how much money was available.
Over the next few years I worked like a maniac and began to move up the Wall Street ladder. I became a bond and credit default swap trader, one of the more lucrative roles in the business. Just four years after I started at Bank of America, Citibank offered me a “1.75 by 2” which means $1.75 million per year for two years, and I used it to get a promotion. I started dating a pretty blonde and rented a loft apartment on Bond Street for $6,000 a month.
I felt so important. At 25, I could go to any restaurant in Manhattan — Per Se, Le Bernardin — just by picking up the phone and calling one of my brokers, who ingratiate themselves to traders by entertaining with unlimited expense accounts. I could be second row at the Knicks-Lakers game just by hinting to a broker I might be interested in going. The satisfaction wasn’t just about the money. It was about the power. Because of how smart and successful I was, it was someone else’s job to make me happy.
Still, I was nagged by envy. On a trading desk everyone sits together, from interns to managing directors. When the guy next to you makes $10 million, $1 million or $2 million doesn’t look so sweet. Nonetheless, I was thrilled with my progress.
My counselor didn’t share my elation. She said I might be using money the same way I’d used drugs and alcohol — to make myself feel powerful — and that maybe it would benefit me to stop focusing on accumulating more and instead focus on healing my inner wound. “Inner wound”? I thought that was going a little far and went to work for a hedge fund.
Now, working elbow to elbow with billionaires, I was a giant fireball of greed. I’d think about how my colleagues could buy Micronesia if they wanted to, or become mayor of New York City. They didn’t just have money; they had power — power beyond getting a table at Le Bernardin. Senators came to their offices. They were royalty.
I wanted a billion dollars. It’s staggering to think that in the course of five years, I’d gone from being thrilled at my first bonus — $40,000 — to being disappointed when, my second year at the hedge fund, I was paid “only” $1.5 million.
But in the end, it was actually my absurdly wealthy bosses who helped me see the limitations of unlimited wealth. I was in a meeting with one of them, and a few other traders, and they were talking about the new hedge-fund regulations. Most everyone on Wall Street thought they were a bad idea. “But isn’t it better for the system as a whole?” I asked. The room went quiet, and my boss shot me a withering look. I remember his saying, “I don’t have the brain capacity to think about the system as a whole. All I’m concerned with is how this affects our company.”
I felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. He was afraid of losing money, despite all that he had.
From that moment on, I started to see Wall Street with new eyes. I noticed the vitriol that traders directed at the government for limiting bonuses after the crash. I heard the fury in their voices at the mention of higher taxes. These traders despised anything or anyone that threatened their bonuses. Ever see what a drug addict is like when he’s used up his junk? He’ll do anything — walk 20 miles in the snow, rob a grandma — to get a fix. Wall Street was like that. In the months before bonuses were handed out, the trading floor started to feel like a neighborhood in “The Wire” when the heroin runs out.
I’d always looked enviously at the people who earned more than I did; now, for the first time, I was embarrassed for them, and for me. I made in a single year more than my mom made her whole life. I knew that wasn’t fair; that wasn’t right. Yes, I was sharp, good with numbers. I had marketable talents. But in the end I didn’t really do anything. I was a derivatives trader, and it occurred to me the world would hardly change at all if credit derivatives ceased to exist. Not so nurse practitioners. What had seemed normal now seemed deeply distorted.
I had recently finished Taylor Branch’s three-volume series on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, and the image of the Freedom Riders stepping out of their bus into an infuriated mob had seared itself into my mind. I’d told myself that if I’d been alive in the ‘60s, I would have been on that bus.
But I was lying to myself. There were plenty of injustices out there — rampant poverty, swelling prison populations, a sexual-assault epidemic, an obesity crisis. Not only was I not helping to fix any problems in the world, but I was profiting from them. During the market crash in 2008, I’d made a ton of money by shorting the derivatives of risky companies. As the world crumbled, I profited. I’d seen the crash coming, but instead of trying to help the people it would hurt the most — people who didn’t have a million dollars in the bank — I’d made money off it. I don’t like who you’ve become, my girlfriend had said years earlier. She was right then, and she was still right. Only now, I didn’t like who I’d become either.
Wealth addiction was described by the late sociologist and playwright Philip Slater in a 1980 book, but addiction researchers have paid the concept little attention. Like alcoholics driving drunk, wealth addiction imperils everyone. Wealth addicts are, more than anybody, specifically responsible for the ever widening rift that is tearing apart our once great country.
Wealth addicts are responsible for the vast and toxic disparity between the rich and the poor and the annihilation of the middle class. Only a wealth addict would feel justified in receiving $14 million in compensation — including an $8.5 million bonus — as the McDonald’s C.E.O., Don Thompson, did in 2012, while his company then published a brochure for its work force on how to survive on their low wages. Only a wealth addict would earn hundreds of millions as a hedge-fund manager, and then lobby to maintain a tax loophole that gave him a lower tax rate than his secretary.
DESPITE my realizations, it was incredibly difficult to leave. I was terrified of running out of money and of forgoing future bonuses. More than anything, I was afraid that five or 10 years down the road, I’d feel like an idiot for walking away from my one chance to be really important. What made it harder was that people thought I was crazy for thinking about leaving. In 2010, in a final paroxysm of my withering addiction, I demanded $8 million instead of $3.6 million. My bosses said they’d raise my bonus if I agreed to stay several more years. Instead, I walked away.
The first year was really hard. I went through what I can only describe as withdrawal — waking up at nights panicked about running out of money, scouring the headlines to see which of my old co-workers had gotten promoted. Over time it got easier — I started to realize that I had enough money, and if I needed to make more, I could. But my wealth addiction still hasn’t gone completely away. Sometimes I still buy lottery tickets.
In the three years since I left, I’ve married, spoken in jails and juvenile detention centers about getting sober, taught a writing class to girls in the foster system, and started a nonprofit called Groceryships to help poor families struggling with obesity and food addiction. I am much happier. I feel as if I’m making a real contribution. And as time passes, the distortion lessens. I see Wall Street’s mantra — “We’re smarter and work harder than everyone else, so we deserve all this money” — for what it is: the rationalization of addicts. From a distance I can see what I couldn’t see then — that Wall Street is a toxic culture that encourages the grandiosity of people who are desperately trying to feel powerful.
I was lucky. My experience with drugs and alcohol allowed me to recognize my pursuit of wealth as an addiction. The years of work I did with my counselor helped me heal the parts of myself that felt damaged and inadequate, so that I had enough of a core sense of self to walk away.
Dozens of different types of 12-step support groups — including Clutterers Anonymous and On-Line Gamers Anonymous — exist to help addicts of various types, yet there is no Wealth Addicts Anonymous. Why not? Because our culture supports and even lauds the addiction. Look at the magazine covers in any newsstand, plastered with the faces of celebrities and C.E.O.'s; the superrich are our cultural gods. I hope we all confront our part in enabling wealth addicts to exert so much influence over our country.
I generally think that if one is rich and believes they have “enough,” they are not a wealth addict. On Wall Street, in my experience, that sense of “enough” is rare. The money guy doing a job he complains about for yet another year so he can add $2 million to his $20 million bank account seems like an addict.
I recently got an email from a hedge-fund trader who said that though he was making millions every year, he felt trapped and empty, but couldn’t summon the courage to leave. I believe there are others out there. Maybe we can form a group and confront our addiction together. And if you identify with what I’ve written, but are reticent to leave, then take a small step in the right direction. Let’s create a fund, where everyone agrees to put, say, 25 percent of their annual bonuses into it, and we’ll use that to help some of the people who actually need the money that we’ve been so rabidly chasing. Together, maybe we can make a real contribution to the world.
Sam Polk is a former hedge-fund trader and the founder of the nonprofit Groceryships.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html
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Uninc.India story. Rescuing Abhimanyus from the share bazaar -- R. Vaidyanathan

January 19, 2014, 3:38 am
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Q&A | R. Vaidyanathan

A forthcoming book looks at the share of partnership and proprietorship firms in the national economy
Chanpreet Khurana
India Uninc: By R. Vaidyanathan, Westland, 344 pages, Rs 395

Prof. Vaidyanathan.








The ‘Uninc.’ story
To R. Vaidyanathan, professor of finance at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, it seems absurd that the largest component of the national economy is often “not an area of focus for planners and economists”. This “non-corporate” segment—comprising partnerships, proprietorships and the self-employed set—accounts for around 40% of national income, he writes in his forthcoming book, India Uninc. Yet the share of outstanding bank credit to these businesses is just 36%. Prof. Vaidyanathan argues that the odds are often stacked against these businesses, in terms of government policies, taxation, and support in terms of credit.
In an email interview, he explains why this segment should no longer be neglected, and the impact of what he calls the “Abhimanyu effect”. Edited excerpts:
What is India Uninc.?
It is the non-corporate or India Unincorporated—consisting mainly of partnership and proprietorship and household type of organizations from the ownership point of view. They are organized or unorganized, depending upon regulations/reporting, etc. They may have a regular labour force or an informal type (of workforce), depending on the size. Some partnership firms—say, in beedi-making or even manufacturing—are very large, with more than `100-crore turnover, so non-corporate does not necessarily mean “small”.
In the book you write that “India Uninc. is the engine of our economic growth”.
They have more than 40% share in our national income and they are the fastest growing (category). They dominate the service sector—retail trade, hotels, restaurants, transport, construction and all other business services like plumbers and painters, etc.—and they have been growing at nearly 8% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) in the last decade. They are responsible for our good growth rates in the last 20 years.
Take the share of foreign institutional investors (FII) and foreign direct investment (FDI) in India—it has never been more than 8% in any given year in the last two decades. The share of the Uninc. is nearly 40% of our investment rate. Yet there’s so much discussion about FII and FDI, which should be treated as pickle to curd rice and not as the main dish itself. The main dish is India Uninc., which is neglected.
Neglected in what way?
The two major problems faced by them are corruption due to large-scale government regulations at the state and municipal levels, and the lack of availability of credit. If credit is available, it is at exorbitant rates.
In the book you say that while non-corporate businesses account for a large part of the national income and national savings, they make up only 36% of the outstanding bank loans.
Indian banks, including private sector ones, are not geared to serve these segments. They tend to go for the big companies, and sometimes even write off those loans. To fund these people (Uninc.), you need to know the products and markets, etc. Many big banks use non-banking financial companies to finance small businesses to fulfil priority sector lending.
You also recommend a system to make reverse mortgage available on gold in the book.
Nearly 85% of India is self-employed. These people do not have social security cover for old age. If products like reverse mortgage could be developed based on gold, it will help a number of middle- and lower-class couples in their old age.
What is the “Abhimanyu effect”? How is this influencing our stock markets and the unorganized credit market?
In the share market in India, entry is easy but exit is difficult. So we have a million Abhimanyus in the Indian share bazaar. Nearly two-thirds of trade is done by day traders and more than half of listed scrips are not even traded once a year. Of the nearly 8,000 or so scrips listed, hardly 300 or so are actively traded. So many individuals get stuck in the share bazaar with dud stocks. Actually, some 700 or so listed companies are “missing” or called “vanishing” companies and searched for by several committees.
In the credit market, we are reading that most of the banks are running behind big borrowers who are suddenly “invisible”. About the “unorganized” credit market, the humongous problem is contract enforcement. It could take 8-10 years, and so many times they use “collection agents” to settle. This is not a desirable situation—in some cities, they even use serving or retired policemen as collection agents, which is not a desirable trend from the social cohesion point of view. So you can lend but are not able to enforce the contract to exit.

http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/pv83L5nUVmxOQCgwogAq5O/QA--R-Vaidyanathan.html
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Full text of Shashi Tharoor's letter to Home Minister: Jan. 19, 2014 4:50 PM

January 19, 2014, 4:29 am
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Full text of Shashi Tharoor's letter to Home Minister offering full cooperation in probe into wife Sunanda Pushkar's death

All India | NDTV.com | Updated: January 19, 2014 16:50 IST









New Delhi:  Union Minister Shashi Tharoor has written to Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde offering full cooperation in the probe into his wife Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor's death.

Here is the full letter:

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/full-text-of-shashi-tharoor-s-letter-to-home-minister-offering-full-cooperation-in-probe-into-wife-s-472921?pfrom=home-otherstories

Tharoor Letter

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DOT rules flouted to aid reliance JIO: CAG. Next Govt. should have a Commission to track down the looter mafia of the decade.

January 19, 2014, 4:21 pm
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DOT RULES FLOUTED TO AID RELIANCE JIO: CAG

Monday, 20 January 2014 | J Gopikrishnan | New Delhi


    After the exposé on irregularities in the KG Basin, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) has found blatant violations of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) rules and favouritism in the manner the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group was allowed entry into the telecom sector. The CAG has raised several uncomfortable questions about the favouritism shown to Reliance Jio during the audit of 3G / Broadband Wireless Access auction.
    The CAG’s recent findings and questionnaires to DoT detail the way the Government provided a backdoor entry to Mukesh Ambani’s company in the telecom sector in 2010. The apex auditor also claimed that favouritism was shown to the company that led to possible loss of more than Rs 20,000-crore to the exchequer during 2011-13.  The CAG also blamed DoT for providing monopoly to Reliance Jio in the broadband and 4G sector by withdrawing State-owned companies BSNL and MTNL.
    The DoT has not yet answered the CAG’s queries on violations.  Documents available with The Pioneer show that auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Spectrum was stage-managed to give backdoor entry to Reliance Jio.
    The CAG in its preliminary findings said, “a small company” Infotel Broadband Services Private Limited (IBSPL) was given approval to take part in the auction in mid-2010 without meeting the net worth limit and allowed to bid for more than Rs 12,750-crore.
    The small company, with a turnover of just Rs 16 lakh and a single subscriber, had only Rs 3-crore authorised capital during auction. “The DoT did,  however, neither seek the sources of funding for furnishing the EMD (Earnest Money Deposit) of Rs 252-crore (1,500 times the company’s annual turnover or 100 times the paid-up capital of the company) in March 2010, at the time of application for the BWA spectrum,” said the CAG’s preliminary findings, seeking response from the DoT.
    The IBSPL won the auction in all circles of India. Within hours of winning the auction, the subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was allowed to take over 95 per cent of the shares of the small company. The takeover deal was worth Rs 6,000-crore. In the preliminary findings, the auditors say this deal created a windfall of more than Rs 4,800-crore to the IBSPL, which became the RIL’s subsidiary.
    The auditors blamed the DoT for violating the mandatory lock-in period of three years, which bars acquisitions and mergers in the telecom sector. “A non-participant company exploited the loophole left by DoT officials in the eligibility criterion for obtaining BWA spectrum by acquiring a winning company without participating in the auction process, within hours of closure of the auction process, thereby vitiating the sanctity of the auction process,” said CAG.
    The four-page communication to DoT, signed by Senior Audit Officer Rajendra Kumar, details the RIL’s surrogate takeover plans of the small company during March-June 2010. The auditors also blamed DoT for allowing Reliance Jio to obtain voice service facility while paying only for the BWA Spectrum, which is widely termed as 4G in the Indian telecom sector.
    According to CAG auditors, Reliance Jio only paid Rs 12,750-crore for getting broadband operations across India. But later the DoT granted voice facility also without charging any extra money. According to the questionnaire sent to DoT, the auditors pointed out that for the similar voice service facility, the 3G auction winners paid more than Rs 33,000-crore for operating in all circles in India during the same period. Sources in CAG indicated that apart from favouritism, this move of DoT created a clear loss of Rs 20,000-crore to the public exchequer.  
    After Reliance Jio’s entry, the State-run BSNL and MTNL withdrew from the broadband sector. These PSUs were also granted BWA spectrum. The Union Cabinet recently approved the reimbursement of money to BSNL and MTNL. In its communication to DoT, CAG said this move will leave “virtually the entire field to a company that had not participated in the auction process.”
    Questioning the withdrawal of State-run companies, CAG officials indicated this was a clear move to provide monopoly in broadband sector to the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio.  
    Comment:

    Krishna Kumar RK 
     5 hours ago
    This UPA Govt is serving Mukesh Ambani in KG Basin, Telecom...How Reliance Jio was allowed Voice Service, for paying Broadband only shows the last loots of UPA. It is dangerous to withdrew our BSNL and MTNL from broadband for paving monopoly of Mukesh Ambani, who is expected to take over Anil Ambani's Reliance Communication also...What was the trade unions in BSNL and MTNL doing...they might also bought by Mukesh...No trade unions in telecom sector uttered a word during 2G Scam...all are trade-able commodity in this cory capitalised world...
     
    http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/dot-rules-flouted-to-aid-reliance-jio-cag.html
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    Anarchy in action in Delhi: Live update of AAP natak

    January 20, 2014, 1:04 am
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    Live: AAP dharna in keeping with our manifesto, says Yadav by Ayeshea Perera 5 mins ago January 20, 2014


    Not seen such lawlessness in Delhi: BJP on AAP's Dharna
    08:23 PMAAP’s protest: Delhi's transport minister detained
    08:10 PMSad that you are playing with a country's reputation: Salman Khurshid on AAP dharna
    07:34 PMDelhi police is working under Cong's instructions. You are busy fighting us and neglecting rape cases and prostitution?: Sanjay Singh, AAP leader
    Protesting against Delhi Police, Arvind Kejriwal said people will teach the Congress a lesson in the coming Lok Sabha election. 
    07:26 PMWhen Shiela Diksit used to say that Delhi Police wasn't under her control, AAP used to make fun of her: Digvijaya Singh
    07:24 PMThe police misbehaved with us, arrested us, then drove us around and then let us go: Delhi transport minister Saurabh Bhardwaj
    07:10 PMWe haven't detained or arrested anyone. We didn't hit anyone, reports are false: Mukesh Meena (Joint CP) on AAP dharna
    07:01 PMAny constitutional crisis or disturbance in Republic Day celebrations will be the responsibility of Centre, Kejriwal says
    07:01 PMHave come prepared for ten days of dharna, holds PM and Centre responsible: Kejriwal
    07:00 PMDelhi Police cannot be brought under Delhi government, Shinde says
    The incident occurred when police disconnected Kejriwal's audio system prompting angry response from the AAP supporters. The police pushed some of the supporters when they tried to break barricades.
    06:46 PMMeanwhile, Delhi Police have denied beating up AAP MLA and detaining transport minister.
    "There is a question about their ability to govern. It shows that they are brilliant agitators, but they are not serious and sober people for governance," Jairam Ramesh said.
    06:31 PM"A very unusual situation has come up in Delhi. People who are supposed to protect the constitution are trying to destroy it. It seems that AAP wants to implement the Rowlatt Act of British times again," said Arvinder Singh Lovely, Delhi Pradesh Congress committee chief.
    06:25 PM"AAP knows they'll not be able to deliver on the promises, so they are resorting to this gimmickry. AAP supporters, who are creating anarchy on the streets of Delhi tried, heckle me," I&B minister Manish Tewari said.
    06:21 PMDelhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal cleared official files from his sit-in site outside the Rail Bhavan as he asserted that governance will not be allowed to suffer because of the protest. "I would run the government from the dharna site. Functioning of the government will not be affected because of the protest," Kejriwal said.
    06:16 PMOn what basis was MLA Akhilesh Tripathi beaten up? Why was transport minister Saurabh Bhardawaj detained? Arvind Kejriwal tweeted
    06:14 PMPeople will teach Congress a lesson in 2014, Arvind Kejriwal says
    06:05 PMDelhi has a peculiar condition where the state does not have control over police which rests with the Central government," Nitish Kumar told reporters.
    06:04 PMBihar chief minister Nitish Kumar refused to comment on his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal sitting on a dharna, but said it would rest on the wisdom of a CM to deal with a situation where he had no control over police.
    06:01 PMIn our manifesto, we have said AAP will struggle to bring Delhi Police under the control of Delhi government. Clause 12 in the manifesto clearly says that: Yogendra Yadav said
    05:44 PMArvind Kejriwal tweeted: Akhilesh tripathi, an MLA, brutally beaten by police. Why?
    05:36 PMHitting out at the Congress, which supports the Aam Aadmi Party government, Sitharaman accused it of being a "mute spectator to AAP-created chaos on the Delhi streets".
    05:35 PMBharatiya Janata Party leader Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted that "governance is about making systems work. Activism can't be substituted for governance".
    05:29 PMThis is a mock fight between AAP and its ally Congress: BJP on Kejriwal’s dharna
    05:25 PMChaos at Kejriwal's protest venue
    08:26 PMCentral Secretariat and Udhyog Bhavan metro stations will remain closed tomorrow from 6am to 10am in the wake of sit-in protest by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.05:22 PM
    Delhi Police asked Kejriwal to shift his protest to Jantar Mantar, citing prohibitory orders in the high-security area. Police made it clear that the protest will not be allowed to continue in the area.

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chaos-at-Delhi-CM-Kejriwals-protest-venue-RAF-called-in/liveblog/29092284.cms

    5.45 pm: Injured AAP MLA taken to hospital

    The injured AAP MLA has been taken to Delhi's RML hospital.

    CNN-IBN reports that there are hardly any measures in place given the sudden nature of the protest.

    5.42 pm: No plan yet of removing Kejriwal from dharna, says MHA

    Meanwhile MHA sources were reported by CNN-IBN as saying that they have immediate plans of removing Arvind Kejriwal from the dharna venue.

    5.33 pm: Delhi Police detains AAP protesters

    The Delhi police has now started detaining AAP protesters who were sitting in a dharna at the Rail Bhawan area.

    CNN-IBN reports that DTC buses were brought in to ferry out supporters from the area.

    An MLA, according, AAP members have been injured because of police lathi charge.

    Television visuals show AAP members crowding around said MLA and fanning him and giving him water.

    5.19 pm: Yogendra Yadav, Sanjay Singh join dharna

    After Manish Sisodia, AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav, Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh have joined the dharna against the Delhi police.

    5.03 pm: Why celebrate Republic Day? asks AAP

    AAP ministers have made it clear that they won't move their protest to Jantar Mantar.

    Arvind Kejriwal said, "What is the point of celebrating Republic Day when women are getting raped in Delhi. If our dharna is hampering preparations, Centre is responsible."

    Somnath Bharti, toeing party line said there is no need to celebrate republic day.

    4.13 pm: Congress slams Arvind Kejriwal, says AAP on dharna to protect their own ministers

    Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely has slammed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying there was a limit to lies and the government cannot get away by holding dharnas.

    Speaking at a press conference, Lovely said Kejriwal was on a protest only to protect his ministers and not for any other reason.

    "If he was interested in solving the Delhi gangrape case he would have acted faster and not said 'I'll meet the Delhi Police Commissioner only after one week'."

    The Congress further attacked the AAP government saying those in executive positions cannot take law into their own hands.

    4.05 pm: AAP workers, Delhi Police clash outside Rail Bhavan

    Aam Aadmi Party workers clashed with police personnel outside Rail Bhavan in New Delhi where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is holding a protest against the Delhi Police.

    According to NDTV, Rapid Action Force have been brought to the site in case the situation worsens. The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed Arvind Kejriwal to take his protest to Jantar Mantar as the current area is under section 144 of IPC.

    Meanwhile, CM Arvind Kejriwal has started working from the dharna site with files already piling up at the venue.

    3.57 pm: AAP does it again, issues press release with sexual assault victims name

    After Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti issued a press release last week (that was soon withdrawn) naming the Danish gangrape victim, his party today released a Uganda High Commission letter to the party which had the name of a woman who allegedly faced assault by AAP workers.

    The party, though, soon sent another email withdrawing its release saying it had named the victim.

    3.45 pm: AAP workers gherao Union Minister Manish Tewari

    Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari was forced to abandon his car and walk to office after Aam Aadmi Pary workers gheraoed his car and shouted slogans against him.

    The minister, though, was unfazed and walked to office with a smile, saying he is a grass root political worker as well.

    3.29 pm: Won't pull plug on Delhi govt as yet, says Congress

    While the AAP government in New Delhi is now protesting against the UPA government outside Rail Bhavan in New Delhi, the Congress party has decided not to withdraw support to the minority government, but to adopt a wait-and-watch approach.

    Senior Congress MLA and former Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf, reacting to Kejriwal's sit-in protest against the Home Minister said,“This is usual practice of the Aam Admi Party. They are used to holding dharnas and they are continuing with it even after forming the government. They could have talked to higher authorities and the Home Minister instead of dealing with it with his kind of tamashe baazi. This is the first time in the history of democracy that a CM and ministers is holding a dharna. Let us see what he does.”

    2.48 pm: Kejriwal urges women to join protest

    In a sign that he has well and truly dug his heels in, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged women in Delhi to come and join their protest against the police. Insisting that the agitation would be held for ten days, Kejriwal added that maintaining law and order would be the responsibility of the Delhi police.

    This view was echoed by senior leader Yogendra Yadav, who said that  although it was unusual for a CM to sit on dharna on such a small demand, it was necessary because of the troubles faced by the people of Delhi.

    "We are doing the politics of listening to people's voices. People of Delhi don't know who to approach with problems. We are taking up their problems", he said.

    http://www.firstpost.com/politics/delhi-live-delhi-police-detains-aap-protesters-near-rail-bhawan-1348359.html

    2.20 pm: Anyone who has faced injustice by Delhi police, should come protest, says Yadav

    After justifying AAP's dharna against the police as the fulfillment of the party election manifesto, Yadav went on to urge the people of Delhi to join the protest. "All those who have faced police inefficiency and corruption should come protest with us", he said.

    Yadav added that the party was totally against racism. "If any of our volunteers/ministers have done any such acts we will take action", he said in relation to charges that state Law Minister Somnath Bharti had made several racist references to two Ugandan women who he had accused of being involved in a sex and drugs racket.

    "The Uganda High Commission wrote to us with an instance of how women are brought to India and forced into the sex trade. They thanked us", he said.

    These arguments are more or less along the same lines as what Kejriwal said earlier in the day.

    2:15 pm: Protest in keeping with AAP's manifesto, says Yadav

    Yadav pointed out that the AAP had promised in its manifesto that the Delhi Police would be brought under the state government and not under the central government.

    He then proceed to read out from the manifesto that spoke about how they had promised to bring the Delhi Police under the government.

    "The actions of the Chief Minister were merely to ensure that we keep our promise that we listed in the manifesto," Yadav said.

    2:00 pm: Yadav questions accountability of the Delhi Police

    AAP's Yogendra Yadav is now holding a press conference in which he's justifying the protest rally against the Delhi Police.

    The lack of accountability has become very clear from the actions of the Delhi Police over the last few days," Yogendra Yadav said.

    He spoke of the woman being burnt by her in-laws, the Danish gangrape case, the Khirkee village raid and said the three cases were proof of the Delhi police's inaction.

    "They had met the Union Home Minister to take some action to send a message...We said that at least transfer them, but that was also refused," Yadav said.

    The leader pointed out that in the event of an inquiry it was standard practice to transfer the official to prevent them from influencing the probe.

    "The question is whether the Delhi police is accountable to the people of Delhi or not?" Yadav said.

    1:50 pm: Digvijaya Singh says laws aren't made on streets

    Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has criticised Kejriwal for his protest and said that he should remember that laws aren't made in the street but in Parliament and Assemblies.

    "If the Delhi Chief Minister wants to be allowed the right to protest in the streets then the Delhi Police should also be allowed to do its job," Singh said.

    1:45 pm: Sisodia says that everyone in Delhi who has a problem with city police should join

    Minister Manish Sisodia is now on the stage and is urging people to join the protest that he says will continue until their demands are met.

    "Kejriwal's health is terrible and any other government employee would have taken four days off. But here he is protesting," Sisodia said.

    If family in Delhi that believes their mothers and sisters are not safe should join the protest, he said.

    The minister said that Delhi would only feel safe when they felt that police officials were there to protect them and not to serve VIPs.

    "This year it won't be the Republic Day for VIPs but an independence day for the Aam Aadmi," Sisodia said.

    1:20 pm: Take it to Jantar Mantar, Delhi cops tell Kejriwal

    The Delhi Police has reportedly told the Chief Minister that he can continue his protest rally but has to take it to Jantar Mantar and not in the garden outside Rail Bhawan.

    Whether the Chief Minister will agree remains to be seen.

    12:50 pm: Congress says won't withdraw support yet, BJP slams AAP

    The Congress has reportedly said that despite the Delhi Chief Minister going up against its Home Minister, it won't be withdrawing support to the AAP government for now.

    However, Congress activists did protest outside the Delhi Police commissionerate's office demanding that Kejriwal be arrested.

    Meanwhile the BJP has hit out at the AAP but not over Kejriwal's comments but over inconveniencing travellers.

    "They indulged in politics in the name of Aam Aadmi,its Aam Aadmi who has faced trouble most today due metros shutting down," Harsh Vardhan said.

    http://www.firstpost.com/politics/live-aap-dharna-in-keeping-with-our-manifesto-says-yadav-1348359.html
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    AAP more comfortable on the streets -- Arun Jaitley

    January 20, 2014, 1:28 am
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    Sunday, 19 January 2014

    More Comfortable on the Streets
    - Arun Jaitley
    Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha)
    The Chief Minister of Delhi along with his Party members has decided to sit in protest outside the Home Minister’s residence. They are demanding the suspension of three policemen who according to them did not perform their duty. It is obvious that the AAP is more comfortable doing a dharna than in the Sachivalaya. The past three weeks have shown that in the Sachivalya the party gets into a self-destructive mode.
    Its members across the country speak contrarian language. There is no discipline in the organization. The party comprises of the ideologists, the activists, the self-opinionated and the self-righteous. Some of the supporters have joined the party or voted for it with a sense of idealism. Forming a party and running a government is very different from leading an agitation. The Party’s Law Minister in Delhi has created a serious problem with African nationals staying in Delhi. His approach appears to be a racist one. The Party within days has become victim of its own unconventional style. Mobs can’t take decisions. They can at best be populist. The Party initially used the Government formation in Delhi in order to create an enthusiasm amongst its supporters across the county. Today the party‘s performance in Government is becoming embarrassing by the day. Is the planned dharna for one day a ploy to fracture its non transparent arrangement with the Congress? Is the AAP looking for a way out of the Government and get back to the streets? Or is it exploiting the non-preparedness of the Congress and the Home Minister yielding to the pressures of the AAP?
    http://www.bjp.org/media-resources/press-releases/article-shri-arun-jaitley-on-more-comfortable-on-the-streets
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    Crocodiles help scholar link Indus valley, Sangam era -- MT Saju

    January 20, 2014, 2:38 am
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    Crocodiles help scholar link Indus Valley, Sangam era

    ,TNN | Jan 20, 2014, 01.36 AM IST
    Links: 
    https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/santhavasantham/GL50XpFYzQ0/5QbI54U-sBwJ
    http://nganesan.blogspot.in/
    http://nganesan.blogspot.in/2013/02/dravidian-etymology-for-makara.html

    மழுவாள் நெடியோன் - January 10th Lecture at EFEO, Pondicherry


    Indus Crocodile Cult as seen in the Iron Age Tamil Nadu

        Lecture at 4:30 PM, January 10, 2014
      EFEO (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFEO) , Pondicherry

    This lecture will be about some aspects of Indian religion in the Post-Harappan period. The meaning of the anthropomorphic axes of the 2nd millenium BC as a ritual symbol of a Makara (crocodile) god will be presented. An interpretation of the Tamil Brahmi inscription at Tirupparangunram,  discovered by History department, Pondicherry University recently will be offered as mentioning the crocodile god and his spouse. The lecture will include Dravidian names such as Nakar, Gharial, Makara, Karaa for the  three species of Indian crocodiles and the Ashvamedha sacrifice on the banks of a Water Tank done for a crocodile as seen in Pandyan Peruvazhuti  coins. Graffiti symbols from Saanuur and Suulur as linguistic sign for the crocodile  deity, and the crocodile couple as seen in Adichanallur burial urn (500 BCE) along  with the battle-axe bearing great god in Sangam poetry will be used to illustrate  the prevalence of the crocodile based religion until the Early Sangam period. The first stone sculpture made in south India at such places as Mottur, Udaiyanatham, - monumental in size over ten feet tall -, in the Iron Age will be linked to the earlier Anthropomorphic Axes, made in metal, found in many Post-Harappan OCP sites of North India.

    All are invited. Happy New Year! and eager to see you in Pondicherry on January 10th.

    Posted by நா. கணேசன் at 1/04/2014 06:55:00 PM http://nganesan.blogspot.in/2014/01/mazhuvaal-nediyon-efeo-lecture.html

    m1429 Mohenjo-daro 3 sides of a prism tablet

    CHENNAI: Houston-based Tamil scholar Naa Ganesan has sought to draw a link between the Indus Valley civilisation and ancient Tamil culture by drawing attention to the use of the crocodile as a symbol in both regions. 

    Ganesan's theory focuses on the crocodile deity in Indus, post-Harappan and Megalithic periods. "If you take a look at the seals on Indus Valley coins, you see crocodiles on many of them. Unfortunately, many historians overlooked it," said Ganesan, who is working on a book, Forgotten Religion of Crocodile (Makara Vidangar) and Proto-Durga as seen in Harappan and Post-Harappan Art. 

    There are strong Dravidian influences in the Indus Valley civilisation, according to Ganesan. "Makara month is the 'thai' month in Tamil. Makara comes from mokara due to the voracious eating habits of crocodiles. Even now, in Sind and Gujarat regions, the crocodile is worshipped as Mogara Dev," he said. The Tamil Brahmi inscription at Tirupparangundram has the words 'muu naakra-muu cacti' (the divine couple of crocodile and mother-goddess), he said. "The word, 'naakra' means crocodile in Sanskrit. It comes from 'nakar', the name for the Gangetic crocodile," he said. 

    He said the 'high-walk' crocodile seal on Indus Valley civilisation coins depicts the mugger crocodile from the southern region. "Nakar (or gharial) lives in large rivers such as Indus, Ganges and Krishna. Its legs are weak, and hence it cannot stand. What you see on the Indus seals is the makara or mugger crocodile," said Ganesan, adding that the early Pandya coins issued by Peruvazhuti show the makara crocodile. 

    The crocodile couple seen on an Adichanallur burial urn from 500 BC, along with the battle-axe bearing great god Mazhuvaal Nediyon in Sangam poetry indicate that the crocodile cult existed in the Bronze age's Indus Valley and Iron Age Tamil Nadu until the early Sangam period. But what happened to the cult? "When religions like Buddhism and Jainism started questioning beliefs about gods, the crocodile cult must have morphed into something else," said Ganesan, who was in Chennai to deliver a lecture, 'Crocodile cult in the Indus Valley Civilisation and its later survival' at the Institute of Asian Studies, Chemmencherry.

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Crocodiles-help-scholar-link-Indus-Valley-Sangam-era/articleshow/29073088.cms


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    Mount Sinabung Volcano Erupts in Indonesia, Displaces 20,000

    January 20, 2014, 5:38 am
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    Mount Sinabung Volcano Erupts in Indonesia, Displaces 20,000

    Hot ash and poisonous gas disrupts life for thousands of local villagers.

    In this late Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014 photo, Mount Sinabung spews hot lava as seen from Jeraya, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
    Mount Sinabung spews hot lava as seen from Jeraya, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
    PHOTOGRAPH BY BINSAR BAKKARA, AP    

    Angie McPherson
    National Geographic


    PUBLISHED JANUARY 9, 2014
    Mount Sinabung—a volcano in Indonesia—has erupted 220 times in the past week and displaced more than 20,000 local villagers.
    The 8,530-foot-high (2,600-meter-high) volcano has been erupting since September 2013. Even though the volcano has been active for several months, local authorities have confirmed that the eruptions are intensifying.

    PHOTOGRAPH BY SUTANTA ADITYA, AFP/GETTY IMAGES
    On Sunday, Mount Singabung released a plume of hot ash measuring 4,000 meters high.
    The Indonesian government has evacuated residents living near the volcano, displacing more than 20,000 villagers living within the danger zone, currently defined as a radius of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) around the volcano's peak.
    It has recently been extended to 7 kilometers (4 miles) southeast of the volcano where, according to the Wall Street Journal, volcanic activity is reported to be much higher.
    Mount Sinabung sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a fault line in the Pacific Ocean that frequently experiences volcanic activity. Sinabung is one of 127 active volcanoes in Indonesia. It became active in 2010 after hundreds of years of dormancy.
    Follow Angie McPherson on Twitter.
    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140109-volcano-mount-sinabung-erupting-indonesia-ash-lava/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_r1p_intl_se_c1#close-modal



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    Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung has erupted more than 30 times, spewing lava and ash clouds over a wide area, officials said, with more than 26,000 people now forced to flee their homes.
    Mt Sinabung, which lies in the northwest of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, sent hot rocks and ash 5 kilometres into in the air, spreading hot clouds over a 4.5-kilometre radius, said the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
    Enormous clouds rose from the mountain, as thick layers of grey ash blanketed plantations and nearby houses.
    With the volcano erupting regularly, many of those who have left their homes since Mt Sinabung started erupting in September have fallen ill, a local government official said.
    “Some refugees are sick, coughing mainly, and they are also in need of clean water,” said Robert Peranginangin, a spokesman for Karo district.
    Volcanoes are a regular threat for many living near their fertile slopes in Indonesia. Mt Sinabung is one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia that straddle major tectonic fault lines, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.
    It had been quiet for around 400 years until it rumbled back to life in 2010, and again in September last year.
    In August 2013, five people were killed and hundreds evacuated when a volcano on a small island in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted.
    The country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of eruptions in 2010.
    http://www.euronews.com/2014/01/15/indonesia-sinabung-volcano-erupts-more-than-30-times-spewing-ash-and-lava/
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    Kejriwal intends to disrupt Republic day, AAP has no shame using R-day to make money in Singapore

    January 20, 2014, 6:13 am
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    Kejriwal’s appeal to people to join him in his 10-day protest comes in contradiction to his own statement he made on micro-blogging site Twitter on Sunday where he had urged the public not to come for the ‘dharna’ in view of Republic Day rehearsals.

    AAP uses R-Day to make money in Singapore

    Smita Barooah20 Jan 2014

    AAP uses R-Day to make money in Singapore
    This morning, I was dismayed to find that the Aam Aadmi Party’s sympathisers in Singapore had decided to use Republic Day celebrations at the Indian High Commission to propagate their political views, and to solicit funds. This is unfortunate, especially since it is one event for which the expatriate Indian community leaves aside all differences and comes together.
    This is how the game was played. A flyer was sent out asking Indians to attend the Republic Day celebrations. However, as one can clearly see from the picture below, it also asked people to donate generously to AAP, in order to bring in “true democracy in India”. Thus, the flyer was designed to imply that the AAP’s fundraising drive had the official sanction of the Indian High Commission.
    AAP uses Republic Day to make money in Singapore
    The debate
    When I tweeted my objection to this deceitful gimmick, I got varied responses. Most people were upset, and some even threatened to report the AAP Singapore chapter to the local authorities. However, there were a few who thought it was a great idea that ought to be replicated in other countries. Some even wondered why I considered it a problem in the first place. Here are a few sample tweets:
    AAP uses Republic Day to make money in Singapore AAP uses Republic Day to make money in Singapore AAP uses Republic Day to make money in Singapore AAP uses Republic Day to make money in Singapore
    Since I raised an issue, I think it is only fair to address the subsequent queries. First of all, Republic Day is a national event and the Indian High Commission is the property of the Government of India. Its premises or name cannot be misused for political purposes. The attempt to use an important Government function to raise money in sneaky manner is unethical. Should Indians accept this?
    Second, Singapore has very strict rules about fund-raising activities. Approvals are required for publicly soliciting funds, especially when they are for political ends (private discussions and donations are a different matter). Thus, the flyer was not only in bad taste, it sought to carry out an act that was illegal.
    What happened next
    As a Twitter debate raged in the virtual world, many people from the Indian community in Singapore began to call up the High Commission to lodge their complaints. The High Commission responded with a press release. The excerpts are given below:
    AAP uses Republic Day to make money in Singapore
    After the High Commission’s rebuke and the negative attention generated on the Internet, this is what the AAP representatives tweeted back to me:
    AAP uses Republic Day to make money in Singapore
    As is evident, there is no sign of repentance. Moreover, the original flyer did not imply any separate events (the reader may want to look at the flyer again). An unrelated appeal was clubbed with an official function in a sneaky manner to mislead people. The last tweet is just a face-saving attempt after being caught in the act of politicising a national event. Such unethical behavior is not expected of a party that pushes a holier-than-thou image as its main political plank.
    (Note: After the backlash, AAP has now amended the flyer.)
    http://www.niticentral.com/2014/01/20/aap-uses-republic-day-to-make-money-in-singapore-181350.html
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    AAP vigilantism - Kalavai Venkat. Dangerous deceptions: Punch Drunk Harrys -- Ravinar

    January 20, 2014, 6:29 am
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    AAP: Unconscionable Vigilantism

    BY  / IN COMMENTARY / 
    Arvind_Kejriwal_Small_Nap-786492
    An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister, Somnath Bharti, attempted to intimidate Delhi Police into raiding a residence where some Ugandan nationals lived by alleging that they ran a drug trafficking and prostitution ring. However, the police deemed the demand illegal and refused to conduct a raid on a residence without a court-issued search warrant. Law prohibits questioning a woman after 6:00 p.m. unless there is evidence of a heinous crime.
     However, neither the AAP minister nor its vigilantes were dissuaded. Accompanied by hooligans affiliated with the party, they ambushed a taxi in which four Ugandan women arrived past midnight. They called the women prostitutes and drug addicts and held them captive inside the taxi for more than three hours. The terrified and defenseless women were assaulted, bruised, groped, and sexually molested by the party men, who also uttered racist slurs, stereotyped blacks as criminals, and warned them to leave India. AAP vigilantes humiliated one of the women by forcing her to urinate in full public glare.
     The four Ugandan women were forcibly taken to a hospital, cavity searched, and tested for psychotropic substances. It appears that the police, who had initially refused to conduct an illegal raid, eventually caved in to the political bullying and authorized the medical examinations to be conducted. Alternatively, it is possible that the police was convinced of the innocence of the women and authorized a medical examination to falsify the vigilantes’ accusations and build a case against the vigilantes. However, had the police arrested Bharti and the AAP hooligans for acting illegally in the first place, the tragedy would’ve been averted.
     The prestigious Mayo Clinic proceedings report that urine sample-based psychotropic tests detect ingestion of a wide range of drugs such as amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, and opiates over the past several days. The four women, who had been traumatized and abused by the AAP vigilantes for several hours, tested negative for psychotropic substances. In other words, the charges leveled against them were false and the women aren’t drug addicts as alleged. The vigilantes had assaulted, abused, and sexually molested the women without basis.
     Arvind Kejriwal didn’t apologize to the traumatized women for the illegal and despicable conduct of his minister and party men. He didn’t initiate any legal action against the vigilantes. Instead, he shielded and defended them. He accused the Delhi Police of collusion with the criminals, demanded the suspension of the police officers who refused to conduct the illegal raid, and has threatened to launch an agitation. However, the Delhi Police chiefrefuted Kejriwal’s charges and insisted that his officers had followed the law. He also endorsed an impartial inquiry.
     One needn’t doubt that India’s politicians and police often side with, shield, and refuse to act against the criminals and corrupt. Kejriwal’s conduct itself testifies to this. During the election campaign, he accused the former chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, of indulging in rampant corruption and promised to prosecute her. However, after he came to power, he made a U-turn and denied that there is any evidence that she was corrupt even though the 772-page CAG Audit Report on XIXth Commonwealth Games 2010(Report No. 6 of 2011-12) indicts Dikshit on several charges of corruption. Therefore, Kejriwal is effectively shielding the corrupt Dikshit. One need not doubt that many police officers emulate Kejriwal’s example to shield the criminals.
     However, in this case, there is no prima facie evidence that the four Ugandan women had committed any crime. Medical tests have falsified the charge leveled by the AAP vigilantes against these women. This incident should alarm a reasonable person for several reasons:
    1. Kejriwal has made a show of creating hotlines where the public could report grievances. He encourages the public to record video or audio that would bolster their case and promises to act on their complaint. Why didn’t the AAP activists follow their own prescription and report the alleged drug trafficking and prostitution ring on the grievance hotline? They could’ve easily taken a video clipping with their mobile phones to support their complaint. Or, should one infer that only vigilantism and hooliganism would follow whenever the public call the grievance hotline?
    2. AAP insists on going to the public to mobilize opinion. Kejriwal did that when he constituted government with Congress support. Assuming that the Ugandans were indeed running a drug trafficking and prostitution ring, and that the police were in cahoots with them, AAP could’ve taken the case to the public. A video clipping to support this allegation would’ve swayed public opinion and made it impossible for the police to avoid taking action. Why was this not done? Or, is it possible that the AAP minister and hooligans launched this attack to evict the Ugandans on some pretext to help the real estate mafia?

    3. If reasonable people tolerate vigilantism, it would come back to haunt them. Let us not forget that many young women, who work in call centers and software companies, return home late. Many young women may also travel with their male colleagues or boyfriends. They may wear a pair of tight jeans or saree low on their waist. They may enjoy an occasional drink or dance with a beloved one at a wedding party. Do you want self-appointed moral police and vigilantes to call them prostitutes? Do you cherish the prospect of your sister, daughter, or wife being molested and forced to urinate in full public glare merely because some vigilante alleges that she is a prostitute? Do you want her to be illegally detained by hooligans and forced to undergo cavity searches and drug tests? If you do not wish your kith or kin to undergo these travails, you cannot be a silent spectator to the travails of the four Ugandan women.

    4. Kejriwal has been effectively shielding Sheila Dikshit by refusing to prosecute her for corruption despite a CAG indictment. Should the public take to vigilantism and assault Dikshit and Kejriwal for indulging in corruption and shielding the corrupt respectively? One cannot reform society by indulging in hooliganism and subverting law. Only by streamlining the system can one reform society.

    5. The dehumanizing of the Ugandan women in this episode on the suspicion that they were prostitutes should shock an empathetic person. A prostitute is a victim of organized crime, exploitation, and human trafficking. She lives under abject conditions and is exposed to AIDS and other lethal diseases. She is unceremoniously discarded when she is no longer young. If she has children, they face social opprobrium. She deserves our sympathy and empathy so that she could be rehabilitated. We cannot tolerate vigilantes stigmatizing, assaulting, molesting, and publicly humiliating her.
    One of the abused Ugandan women aptly asked, “There are many Indian people living in Africa but we never ill-treat them the way they (the AAP hooligans) have treated us. Some of the men told us that we are blacks and so we indulge in illegal activities. (…) How can they say all this?” I had made a case for reclaiming the sacred feminine in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya rape tragedy. I would add that the feminine is sacred regardless of the woman’s skin color.
     A reasonable person should set aside ideological affiliations and demand justice for the wronged Ugandan women. Molesting a woman is a serious crime. A court judgment urges making it a non-bailable offense. The police should take Bharti into custody for interrogation to determine the identity of the hooligans who molested the women. I do not believe that the local residents were the culprits. Had the Ugandans been criminals who ran a drug trafficking and prostitution ring as alleged, local residents wouldn’t have dared to attack them fearing retaliation. Had the allegations been false, the docile middle class of the neighborhood wouldn’t have found a reason to attack the harmless Ugandans. Therefore, prima facie, it appears that Bharti brought in an organized gang of hooligans in a well-planned assault. Unless Bharti is interrogated, one cannot determine the motive and identify and punish the hooligans.
     Kejriwal’s conduct in shielding and defending the molesters is barbaric. His penchant for extra-constitutional methods and craving for publicity have been the catalysts to this barbaric attack. He owes an unconditional apology to the abused women. However, instead of apologizing, a combative Kejriwal persists in defending the culprits. In an interview, instead of admitting that medical tests have vindicated the women and that they were unjustly abused and humiliated, he dishonestly argued that had the women undergone blood tests they would’ve been found guilty.
     Why should innocent women be forcibly subject to tests at the insistence of vigilantes? How would Kejriwal feel if a group of vigilantes allege that the Kejriwal residence is a den of drug trafficking and prostitution, illegally force his wife to undergo urine sample-based drug tests, and even after the test results vindicate her, continue to insist that blood tests would’ve found her guilty? What is sauce for the Kejriwal goose is sauce for the Ugandan gander too. A civil society cannot be indifferent when its unscrupulous political leaders unfairly blame the victim. The public has a moral duty to launch a peaceful agitation until justice is served the Ugandan women and the hooligans who assaulted and molested them are punished according to law.

     We rallied for Nirbhaya and refused to relent. We will rally for the Ugandan women too.Kalavai Venkat

    Kalavai Venkat is a Silicon Valley-based writer, an atheist, a practicing orthodox Hindu, and author of the forthcoming book What Every Hindu Should Know About Christianity.
    http://centreright.in/2014/01/aap-unconscionable-vigilantism/#.Ut03J9K6bre

    Dangerous Deceptions - Part 4: Punch Drunk Harrys

    SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2014
    (This is a MaxiPost and the final part in the Dangerous Deceptions series – Part-1: The book of love. Part-2: Password: Anti-Hindu. Part-3 Multiplicity.)



    If you open the Google homepage for a search there are two buttons below the block for the search text. One is “Search” and the one next to it says “I’m feeling lucky”. The “feeling lucky” comes from an iconic movie of a maverick cop who liked to dispense instant justice and he hated all criminals equally and couldn’t be bothered with courts and trials. Let’s watch the video (3.00 mins)



    That punk was lucky there was no bullet left. Harry Callahan aka “Dirty Harry” has been copied, imitated and remade hundreds of times in Hollywood, Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and every place on earth that has woods. Lately we also have politicians who want to deliver instant justice; just like Dirty Harry.



    True story: There was a man in a school teaching English and other subjects. He was a million miles from his home-state, a genuinely nice guy and also brave. He once fought thugs, who attacked girls on a school-trip on a train, almost single-handedly. It was hard to believe the guy could also suddenly handle so much violence. One fine day he appeared in starched white Dhoti and Kurta which was shockingly different from the ordinary pants-shirts he wore for about 3 years. When asked about the sudden change in appearance he said he had now become an MLA. Huh? Imagine the shock on everyone’s face. Where? In Bengal! The CPM came to power in 1977 after the Emergency. Turns out this nice gentleman was a naxal on the run and contested elections in absentia and won. I wonder if an underground naxal parading as a school teacher can be called “deception”. His public bio won’t tell you this story. His name is…. Oh wait! On second thoughts maybe I should leave it to you to guess. 



    The good thing about that Commie is that he didn’t fool or cheat anyone while he was a teacher. Some people not only fool others, they do so while claiming to be public intellectuals and thinking for the best of society. Here’s a gallery of Fiberals with something common among them:



    Yeah, you guessed right! These are “Fai Fighters”; the Pak-loving, Free-Kashmir, assorted fake peaceniks and “Useful idiots” of Ghulam Nabi Fai who was arrested by the US Govt for being an ISI stooge. When Fai was arrested these idiots claimed ‘oh we didn’t know; had we known we wouldn’t have attended his anti-India conferences’. What they don’t know and won’t tell you is that Fai had picked these “useful idiots” precisely for their known positions on Kashmir which aren’t friendly for India. Fai had picked them because they had proved themselves to be “idiots” in their own country. They loved the foreign junkets and luxuries as guests of ISI. There’s another motley crew, another bunch of “useful idiots” now roaming the streets of Delhi. Here’s the gallery:



    Some of the above are AAP Party founders, some are “I-want-what-you-have” wagon hitchers like Gopinath and Ashutosh; some are professional agitators like Mallika, Medha. And some are Fai-fighters like Chenoy and Bhushan. All of them are “useful idiots” for someone; some of them know it, some don’t. We can only make a fair estimate who their Master is. So I estimate one day, like those Fai idiots, some of these people will say “Oh I didn’t know AAP would turn out like this. I thought they would take us to the Promised Land”. That’s how idiots usually start out to fool others but more importantly, they fool themselves. Events of the past few weeks reminded me what I tweeted on December 12 about dogs chasing cars. The AAP guys simply don’t know what to do now and have turned Delhi into a daily street battle with vigilantes raiding schools and hospitals and ministers raiding imaginary prostitutes.



    In the previous part I asked how in the world Commies can even talk about democracy. They are mostly street thugs or good at agitations and when in power they’re bad dictators.Somnath Bharti proved it by chasing some Nigerian women calling them prostitutes and threatening the police to carry out raids without any warrants. The Nigerian women were harassed, their private parts searched and were even racially abused. This is typical Commie-Goonda behaviour. They have now become the same “goondas” that they accused politics was infested with. Somnath is the same guy indicted by a Delhi court for tampering with evidence and he’s the Law Minister. The best part about this crook is he took the media along to his midnight express. The TV scenes of Bharti could have well been from a movie like ‘Gangajal’ with the goonda threatening the police. Punch Drunk!


    On the issue of rapes there was a lot more clarity from Arvind Kejriwal. The man campaigned calling Sheila Dikshit “Beimaan” (Dishonest) and even put up posters on Auto rickshaws. But this is what it looks like now:



    If it was just political gimmickry that forced AK to make those statements pre-elections that is understandable. Politicians make grand claims for votes. But there is something even more dangerous that AK does that is similar to Bharti’s act. He wants the police to avoid penalising Autos that break rules. He wants Autos to refuse passengers. AK is neither interested in law nor is he interested in protecting women or any citizen. He simply doesn’t know what to do. He forgot that he gladly enjoyed agitating during the Nirbhaya rape incident and mouthing filth against the police, the transport system, the CM and the govt. In my post ‘Broken Windows’ I had tried to explain that bigger crimes start with ignoring small crimes. AK forgets that Nirbhaya happened because an Auto refused to carry her and her friend and they had to walk a bit and finally board that monster bus which was not certified road-worthy. “I am the Lord and my WILL be done”. That’s how AK and his Law Minister are behaving and fool people by repeatedly telling them “we are Aam Aadmi, we live an Aam life” and such bogus crap. AK is the guy who said “Ruling Delhi is not rocket science”. Self-deception!


    By now most of their hypocrisies, U-turns and deceptions from the past and the present have become a daily routine. A reader, Sanku Das, points out the shocking amounts due from many AAP members to utility boards and departments. Shazia Ilmi has assets worth 17.45 crores. Look up on other members when you have the time. How AAM are these people? Let’s catch up with some more punch drunk idiots:


    There’s the anti-national Kamal Chenoy who wants Hurriyat and others to unite against India. Prashant Bhushan wants the same with a plebiscite and referendum in Kashmir and prefers Kashmir separate from India. He echoes Arundhati Roy. Bhushan also prefers Rahul Gandhi as PM and that’s just a hint. There’s Medha Patkar who has been a nuisance to people and to the law. Apart from that there are issues concerning her funding which is also in the public domain. Almost every prominent person joining AAP seems to have some funding-related bad history. Capt. Gopinath is reported to have defaulted on 500Crs worth of loans and there are reports he still hasn’t paid dues of some former Air Deccan employees. I call him Capt. Topinath. Meera Sanyal told CNN-IBN on January 14 she is in favour of BJP’s economic policies but is against Hindutva so her choice is AAP. That is one small secret that unites all these “useful idiots”. It is important to unite against the “evil” of Hindutva. What is surprising about that, eh? Shekhar Gupta & Co. hounded Kiran Bedi for her petty travel billsbut he never thought it fit to look into the funding of AK & others and their NGOs when the Fords, AID, ASHAs etc. were all in the public domain. That too is a hint.


    While in IBN7 Ashutosh said those objecting to Retail FDI are “illiterate” (Imagine this guy calling anyone illiterate; laughable!). He now agrees to AAP’s anti-FDI policy. If, like Ashutosh, other media celebs like Rajdeep, Sagarika, Barkha, Arnab were to join politics just imagine how many flip-flops you would see. Maybe, they’d tell you that was a “journalistic opinion” and this is a “political stand”. That’s why there’s no incentive to trust any word these people say unless it’s just raw news. You know, those “illiterate” leaders that Ashutosh refers to in his tweet are those of the BJP who opposed it. But if it’s because he’s in AAP now or not, Ashutosh has never shown any signs of being literate. Worse, never shown any signs of sound thinking or honest reporting.  The AAP deceptions are so many that it will take a whole book to write about each. Here’s another give-away from Manish Sisodia:  



    Indian Express later withdrew their tweet claiming it was a typo. I don’t accept their nonsense. Someone pointed out that typing “teh” instead of “the” can be a typo. I’d say “Tamish” instead of “Manish” can also be accepted as a typo but surely, even a Sagarika wouldn’t type “anti-BJP” instead of “anti-corruption” as IE claimed. There is another tweet from an AAP member in 2012 which confirms that AAP is anti-BJP although he mentions IAC at that time. By August 2012 IAC was over and done with and AK & Co. were headed for politics. That’s where the kingpin Yogendra Yadav comes in. From the day I saw Yadav on TV (much before AAP or IAC) and heard him talk he has reminded me of Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’. Of course, I must add that his political colleagues and TV friends vouch for him as an honest and genuinely nice guy. But honesty and politics rarely go together.



    The first time I saw YY’s involvement in the Lokpal agitation was when he called for AK to end his hunger strike (he probably also ran a signature campaign for ending the fast) in March 2012. A few months later AAP was formed and I learned YY had become a member. I believe YY was perhaps instrumental in this decision. I also believe YY was deputed by the Congress for the AAP formation. After all, YY has long been a Congress sympathiser and also one of those who were “evolving” Rahul Gandhi (read this DNA report). Look closely and you will find the manifesto, political philosophy and “dole culture” of AAP is entirely an YY enterprise. So on January 16 when Vinod Binny made some serious allegations against AK & Co. YY was quick to state it was all a BJP conspiracy. However, Vinod Binny’s allegations were backed by another member, Surinder Singh. So, any criticism by its own members is now a BJP conspiracy for YY. Pretty neat and quite predictable, isn’t it? YY conveniently ignores the fact that Binny was formerly a Congress member.


    That brings us to AK, the front-desk, factory and top-management of AAP, all rolled into one. And he has two side-kicks, Manish Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav. I am not sure AK really wanted to be CM. I’m not sure AK even wants to be PM as YY so fondly dreams. The media too has decided AK, with about 21 days experience of CMship and about 10 years of street-agitations, is now a PM candidate to challenge Modi. Oh, they don’t trust that forever-bride Rahul Gandhi anymore. But if you really want to know if a candidate is fit for anything it’s not who he is or what he is that one should look into. What matters is: What’s your story? Anyone who cares knows Narendra Modi’s story but most people haven’t looked deep into AK’s story. Let’s do that now and below is a summary extracted from a history of Arvind Kejriwal. This is his story and I recommend you read the whole long dossier to understand the person and not the position (Emphasis and comments in brackets are mine):



    So there you are; a long history of AK’s flip-flops, manipulations, poor accountability for funds in his own NGOs, using and dumping people, changing ideology when convenient and leaving every campaign unfinished. He and AAP have no policies and no vision. They just want to be Dirty Harry dispensing instant justice. Harry still had someone to answer to and had to face bullets. These guys just keep getting more and more brazen in their street justice every day. AAP’s thrill was to announce massive freebies and doles which were not even properly thought through.



    The current propeller of AK’s soap opera is none other than Yogendra Yadav who is like being on Congress deputation to AAP. My favourite line for deceivers has been “the mask and make-up of Chachi 420 wasn’t meant to last forever”. This mask and make-up is now peeling away faster than expected. I doubt AK ever wanted to be a CM. He probably wanted to create a revolution and be a high authority like a Lokpal or a CJI (He can’t be CJI though) or the CIC by which he could dispense instant justice, haul anyone before his court and sentence anyone without proper hearing. He wants to play Dirty Harry. The Congress calculations forced him to settle for something less like a CM position. He has used people as “tools” in his public life but for once he has become a tool himself for the Congress. I’m sure his mirror will tell him that. He could have been an honourable public figure doing great service. He chose the evil path and evil always gets defeated in the end.



    Punch Drunk is the description of a person showing signs of brain damage and disorientation caused by repeated blows to the head.  Punch Drunk is also a British drama model where audience members are free to roam the performance site, which can be as large as a five-story industrial warehouse. They can either follow the performers and themes or simply explore the world of the performance. I guess both definitions apply to AAP’s performance as a party and govt so far.



    The guy in the true story is Nikhilanand Sar.

    55 comments:

    1. Spot on observations. ........really like your articles
      Reply
    2. Granted leaders of AAP must know ahead of time that they are actually against BJP and not against Congress, but to attract Aam Aadami they had to take position against Congress such as against corruption. So initially most people who were against Congress rushed to join AAP. Most people who were with BJP, stayed with BJP because they knew BJP was equally against corruption so they don't have to rush to another party. Now AAP's real face is coming out, defection from BJP would be negligible. And most people who wanted to run away from Congress will feel cheated but that would not hurt BJP in long run. My strong belief AAP= Advantage BJP.
      Reply

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      1. It takes you 20 years to get to the MLA level in a mainstream political party (unless you are Diggy's or Deora's son). So all these Meera Sanyals of the world are viewing AAP as a ready route to 'stardom' without having to work through the villages and dirty lanes.....vast majority are rank opportunists and there they need to be exposed to the gullible. Gopinath plans to join AAP, after he has finally given up on growing grapes or flying a grounded airline....I do hope that the people get to see through this before it is too late (something that the AAP-Congress combine is trying their best to achieve
      2. It is the narrow venture capitalist mentality that these people-Gopinath, Balakrishnan( Ex Infy), Sanyals etc- are displaying. They want to join a "start up"party like the AAP because the returns are fast and multifold. Their understanding of political process is stupidly that of the accountants and book keepers. And to hide their real motive they talk about "real change"etc. And the corrupt commy media is giving them disproportionate exposure. It was quite hilarious to watch Ashutosh-Gopinath fight on TV, the true AAP style.
    3. Apart from Aams and Alphonsoes AAP is a rehabilitation center for anti-nationals, naxal-sympathizers, snake-oil-sales-men ,failed-journalists,fiberal-sec-socs,bleeding-heart-big-bindis, hacktivist-NGOs.
      Reply

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      1. well said brother! we have seen such congress proxies in Gujarat for too long
      3. Are we indian not one of the most selfish lot. We ourselves have failed and when an individual finds courage to fight for us we find fault with him. Shame on us .. grow up and get a life.
    4. Was Bala from Infy forced to join AAP? Request everyone to read this article: http://prof-vaidyanathan.com/2014/01/13/is-india-safe-what-is-ford-foundation/
      Reply
    5. Last few paras draws an analogy of "Safety valve Theory" or the formation of Indian National Congress back in 1985. The analogy v can draw is that INC was formed by the retired civil servant A O Hume, wisely supported by a Lord Dufferin(the then Viceroy), to contain the growing discontent among Indians. Now AAP is formed by the former civil servant, Arvind Kejriwal, wisely and well articulated by Shrimathi Sonia Ghandi to contain the popularity of Shri Narendra Modi.
      Thats the reason our ancestors says "History repeats and history never lies"
      Reply

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      1. And history has taught numerous lessons which many Indians are unwilling to learn
    6. Many promising businesses collapse because they try to grow much more aggressively than what their infrastructure, organization or resource can support. AK's plan to fight all LS seats before establishing in Delhi will lead to his collapse. His ideology is a cross between Don't Quixtoe and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. Aam Admit is smart to see the the Nautanki. You can fool one person all the time. You can fool all people one Time. But you can't do all people all the time (In LS elections)
      Reply
    7. Excellent ! Really love your articles ! To the point , logical !
      If AAPtards read with their brain open then they will know where they are leading the country to!
      Oh Wait! Do they have brain! haha
      Reply
    8. Congress played the same game AK is playing today to counter India shining campaign "Congress ka hath Aam admi me sath" Why should Sonia G and MMS feature in Bharat Norman campaign? They are getting free publicity aand political mileage at tax payers expenses in the election. BJP should approach election commission.
      Reply
    9. Very true.
      Very authentic observation I can guarantee that anyone can test your views on MSM by just monitoring their reports. I can see now Daink bhaskar is giving daily front page coverup for RG I rarely find them reporting genuine local news. Irony is that very few peoples do such critical analysis before voting. Moreover, your articles are only published in English so it not hard to expect that very few peoples can able to see the truth.
      Reply
    10. "Dog chases a car but once catching up it does not know what to do"---my teacher used the same analogy once upon a time but in a different context.
      " heard him talk he has reminded me of Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal"This is too good..... I have had RUM PUNCH but this is a first time i am hearing PUNCH DRUNK... I always love the edition with movies as part of it.
      I was watching the NEWS and the news TITLE was "AAM AADMI KI KAAS KABAR"...AAM AADMI is spreading like virus without any anti-dode. Frankly, i dont see light at the end of tunnel.
      Reply
    11. The NGO guys joining AAP is nothing but save themselves from the Next PM, who may raise objection to their illegal money laundering schemes and now they can save their asses by claiming to belong to a political party and party at center cannot target political opponents. AAP never got anything to lose. And the folks these days are terribly scared coz all their double standards would be coming to end.

      A simple fact would be, had there been atleast decent chances of Congress party coming to power then folks like Aruna Loy or Yogendra Yadav wouldn't have cared to leave NAC and would have remained at Madamji's feet. In Hindi, we have a great tag for them "Thaali Ke Baigan"..!!

      But we got to appreciate Kejriwal for re-enacting "Special 26" in real life where real people are made fools and worst is, even after saying these people, that you are being fooled, they would not believe that they are getting fooled and continue to remain fool.

      Good article.
      Reply
    12. Useful idiots they may surely be, but to underestimate these idiots may well prove to be the undoing of this nation. Like Ravi, I too have this huge collection of Hollywood movies but unlike him my memory of these movies is rather limited. One of these movies was about “McCarthyism” in the USA in the 50’s – 60’s when they ran a Communist witch hunt. Anybody even remotely associated with the Communist Party was made to appear before various committees and admit that he was a commie. Guilty or not they were more or less excommunicated no more jobs, their children were expelled from school, and they were socially shunned. It was taken to such extreme the accused either left the city/country or if he was famous, committed suicide or left the country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism.
      Most of us Indians don’t even know what communism is, to understand how evil this ideology is read http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Hate-Communism/1428263. The MSM will happily call AAP socialists but will not touch the word communists. But don’t you be fooled, they are nothing but hard core commies and we must stop romancing them, rather equate them with Dawood. The Naxals too want to change the system they do it through bullets and AAP has been assigned to do it through the ballot.

      The AAP crew (A word used to describe Mafia Gangs) did not expect so many seats in the Delhi elections as Ravi has already pointed out, hence all these irresponsible statements before, during and after the results including the “Bachon Pe Kasam”. Now this is where the BJP made a huge tactical error, instead of forming a government and asking for support on the basis of fighting corruption, Dr Harshvardhan unilaterally announced that he will not form the govt. He fell into AK’s trap of “Jod Tod ka Sarkar”. I am pretty sure that it was a unilateral statement by Dr Harshvardhan because on the night of the result when all other BJP idiots were saying they will take a descion after meeting, this guy comes on national TV and transforms from Harshvardhan to Harishchandra (Shocked the shit out of me).

      This is where the commie brigade steps in; they do a deal with the Congress who offer “unconditional” support in return for no prosecution for corruption and no bad mouthing the Congress and most important stopping the MODI juggernaut. The commies make AK risk the lives of his children realising that here is the perfect opportunity to continue the election campaign by being in govt. A drama for counting show of hands is arranged for and they are in power now. They then unleash a slew of populist measures and announce they are now ready for the LOK Sabha elections. The Binny, Bharati and Birla episode was in line with the same campaign mode. That they can even take on their own and shake the system (read cops, schools, and hospitals) for the people and keep the public memory fresh that they were honest. It is a different matter that the cops refused to play ball and Binny was treated as a rebel by the media rather than a crusader. They will continue in this manner, the next thing will be, the repair of the Lokayukt in Delhi. If they manage it, they will become heroes, if they fail they will blame the BJP in opposition. WIN WIN for the commies. Among other things they will wait until just before the code of conduct and start the Sheila investigation when the congress will pull support AAP will get sympathy win a few seats and STOP NAMO (Less messier than an assassination). What they don’t realise is that it is not the BJP that will be hurt it will be the regional parties Congress Clones like Mulayam, Nitish, Laloo Mamta etc. will be wiped out in this election unless AAP self-destructs before that. Either way, it’s a win win for India and all that the BJP morons have to do is continue their positive campaign and not go on every channel for a fixed shouting match.
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      1. Hope your conclusion will become true nayak
      2. Accept everything you said, except for the "Harshavardhan, attempting to form the Govt" part. BJP although is the single largest party in Delhi, had no support from either independents or AAP. What would BJP do?
        Even if BJP had gone ahead and formed the Govt. AAP and Congress would have voted them out of any flimsy reason.
        What BJP had done is right and their convictions proved right that AAP had no agenda, ideology or action plan to Govern the state, much less the country. The people of India would not have known what creature AAP is and its being part of the Govt had helped common citizens wake up of its agenda of anarchy. Why BJP voters who voted AAP (about 2% are back to BJP fold now), the neutral ones are also thinking and AAp has steadily lost its support in three weeks of 'nautanki' it called Governance AAP style.
    13. http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/the-buck-stops-here/has-the-aam-aadmi-party-lost-the-plot/305616?curl=1390026975

      This is really amusing---8:30 onwards for the next 5-6 minutes Ashutosh lectures Capt.Gopinath that he should have read the manifesto that AAP is against FDI in retail and should not have joined the party and he (Ashutosh) strongly believe in the philosophy that there should be no FDI in retail.

      At 23:40 Kiran Bedi points out that before joining the AAP party, Ashutosh had tweeted that 'All those who oppose FDI in retail are idiots'. He was dumbstruck for sometime.

      This is the level of an (ex-)editor.
      Reply
    14. Wonder when* the AK commie will double cross the CIA agenda and Ford funding.
      (* it is well known that will surely happen when BJP with Modi will be at the helm of affairs.) Those times will be worse for India and its gullible people -- nutters.
      Reply
    15. There is a stunning similarity between Mahabharata and 2014 general election.

      There we had blind king Dhritarashtra who was not bad or corrupt but had compulsions which stopped him from speaking against the injustice happening right in front of him.

      Bhishma, Dronacharya were all great people but they had their compulsions too and they couldn't go against the evil Duryodhana.

      Gandhari loved her son and wanted him to be the king. She ignored all his shortcomings.

      Duryodhana had the highest fear from Arjuna who was the most skilled warrior among all. Even if Duryodhana had answer to the rest of Pandavas, when it came to Arjuna, he was defenceless.

      Duryodhana needed someone from outside the Kauravas clan who could counter the Arjuna factor.

      He found the quintessential Aam Aadmi of the times - Karna, and gave him a small kingdom to get him on his side because the main prize was the bigger kingdom of Hastinapur.

      Pandavas meanwhile had been living in exile and continuously hounded by Duryodhana during those 12 years. Same as Modi is being hounded for last 12 years by almost everyone in govt. and their mercenaries - media, NGOs, Lawyers, leaders within and outside the party.
      Reply

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      1. As much as I agree with your analogy, there are few differences. The most important thing about Pandva was unity. They all stuck together. In BJP, LKA rather then being the grandfather, is playing shakuni to be the spoilsport. However, the most important ingredient is still missing, that of Krishn. Arjun seems to be single-handedly taking on the kurus.
      2. May be Rajnath is the Krishna. He has already sidelined Advani, Gadkari and replaced Vijay Goel in Delhi with Dr. Harshwardhan.
    16. Your articles are getting better & better. Lost for words to describe how nicely you've put everything. I particularly like the Hollywood start that you give to your postings. And the movies that you quote are historic ones.
      Keep it up.
      Reply
    17. hi all

      you got it wrong, you got it all wrong. arvind kejriwal is doing exactly what he was told to do and the most-unfortunate part of that is - he is right on that track - sorry to say, but thanks to 'weak - bjp' and extremely - extremely sorry to say - thanks to 'fool-bjp'.

      regards
      Reply
    18. I think AAP will take anotther U turn. In case of Binny, there is statement by Mr. Yadav that sitting MLA's will not contest from Lok Sabha. But he just forget that Arvind is also a sitting MLA. I think AAP will follow two rules: One for AAM party members and another for Khaas party members (like Kejriwal, YY etc).

      And there is another important question. With chants of " Arvind kejriwal as PM" , Will now AAP ready to take support of all other corrupt parties (like SP, Congress, DMK, BSP etc). Because frankly, they cannot expect AAP to have more than 20-30 seats. So what is AAP stand on coalition???????????????Are they comfortable aligning with corrupt parties to have Kejriwal as PM?????
      Reply
    19. Ravinar sir,

      I visit your blog so many times a day to see if you have posted a new one! And what an analysis!! As always, I regret that it is accessed and read only by a miniscule minority of Indians, while the vast majority of those are gullible ones, who keep thinking that this AAP and AK are the messiahs who are going to be the saviors and if we lose out this time (Modi I mean) it is going to cost our nation another decade or so, by which time so much of damage would have been already done.
      Reply
    20. Beautiful article as usual. I admire your memory and the capacity to associate things to create wholesome article without any compromise with credibility. But you left the mystery unsolved - who was that naxal english teacher who became an MLA? Please please enlighten us on that.
      Reply

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      1. @Avinash

        Read carefully.. There is something at the end of the article...
    21. Yesterday I happen to see a 'punch drunk' ( completely sozzled and disoriented) vinod Mehta at the arnab goswami show . He was blabberring. How much more can the media stoop
      Reply
    22. Random thoughts after yesterday's events:

      Jayanthi Natarajan said in one of the TV channels that the Congress performance these last ten years was "phenomenal". I think she meant "phenome-null".

      Rahul's speech was at the "Talkatora" stadium. Knowing about Rahul's past performances, Siddu apparently was not sure if delegates from Karnataka would "Tadkotara" ('tolerate' in Kannada) Rahul's speeches and would quickly "Talkotara" ('make a stealthy exit' in Kannada) from the venue!

      Sonia's glee and facial expressions when listening to Rahul's speech at Talkatora were a hoot! She was grinning from ear to ear and thumping the table like a little child. Yesterday, SONIA was the acronym for "Son's Obnoxious Nonsense I Applaud"! In Kannada there is a saying "Hetta Thayige Heggana Muddu" that translates into "Even a bandicoot is beautiful for the mother who bears it". It was very much on display yesterday.
      Reply
    23. Looks like Fate of common man or criminals from Delhi has been sealed that in future they will have to face public court and not constitutionally upholding Judiciary..

      Situation will be more or less like what was shown in Movie Tango Charlie where Commies pronounce Jamindar Guilty..Watch sequence from 7:55 Minutes to next 2 Minute from the clip which is from same Movie.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNMEpW8cMjw
      Reply
    24. From IIT to IRS to Parivartan to Kabir to IAC to Anna to AAP to Delhi CM - other day he said he won't contest LS polls.Just now there is news he will.On behalf of congress?
      Delhi has seen them coming and going - Remember Indira Gandhi's kitchen cabinet? Raj Narayan? H N Bahuguna? H K Surjeet? Amarsingh? now we have this AK.Wait for his AAP to fall flat in 2014 Ls elections.Then wait for his minority govt to be dismissed.then wait to see him sliding in to oblivion.
      Reply
    25. Ravinar, good article, but there are Congress Ads on your blog.
      Reply

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      1. Yes, I have allowed Congress ads and all other ads on the site. Anyone having a problem with this is actually a person who does not understand the concept of Google AdSense. Even if you do, I will not block ads of any political party. Besides, the ads are not in the middle of the article to interrupt your reading, so please stop whining and stick to the topic.

        Thanks
    26. Thanks Ravinar for mentioning my name in the post. I feel really honored. At the same time, I wish to say that all those information regarding AAPtards shocking tax dues were provided by Krishen Kak sir. I merely posted it on his behalf. Anyways, its not the person but the information that really matters. And excellent article like always. Keep Going..
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      1. Indeed a gentleman to mention the credits. You did indeed a great job in 'posting', else it would not have come to light!
    27. Present day imparting justice by the minister Bharti and his supporters reminds me of the justice meted out in mid eighteenth century America when a crowd would capture woman they suspected of being a witch. They tie her hands and legs and dunk her in a water tank. If she drowns she was proven witch, if she floated she proved her innocence. Even today you can see many roads in America named "Witch Duck Road"
      Reply
    28. You mentioned YY as a plant of congis its 200% correct I have senn him screaming on TV debates with his commie "idea of India" with same congress line of fakularism and his tirade of BJP. I was amused to see his fake agitation when was asked to leave member of UGC by congress to create illusion in the minds of people that he is anti-congress and systematically plant him in AAP with a dramatic consequence with congis itself... But in this I must say that we are still dealing with britishers in the form of congress which manipulate people of India to be in power through a highly notorious manner....
      Reply
    29. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
      Reply

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      1. @Vihaan

        I have removed your comment because it has no relevance to this post. Keep comments relevant. This is not a public message board to post all kinds of links to irrelevant topics..

        Thanks
    30. *** Dear Ravinar, Your Dangerous Deception Part-4 in Telugu(Part) here http://wp.me/p4ggt4-2 Will translate complete post from now if you wish.
      Reply

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      1. @Mouli

        I have neither authorised nor given anyone permission to translate or reproduce my posts. Please delete your translated post and do not attempt any further translation without my authorisation. While you may be enthusiastic in doing this such acts are fraught with nuisance and this undue enthusiasm to translate posts despite my repeated assertion of no interest in such translation I would consider it unwanted nuisance. Therefore, please take down your post and do not undertake any more translations..

        Thanks..
    31. I dont knw if u seen Kejriwal's ndtv interview but he accused SHINDE (Not BJP minister) of ordering Delhi hawaldars to collect money for him. And i dont know if u know but Nigerian ppl r famous for doing DRUG business all over India (REMEMBER GOA? where BJP minister said same thing about them just a month ago and for some reason u never mention tht in ur blog??). If we want to change India, someone got to play the game differnet way.
      Reply

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      1. Nigerian people being known for Drug business and citizen's trying to take law in their own hands are two different things. The country's law need to be followed to take action against them. Concerned citizens should file a FIR in police station and if police refuses to accept the FIR then they can highlight it in media. It goes without saying that they will be required to testify in courts as well if there is subsequent prosecution.
        I hope you are not suggesting when saying "If we want to change India, someone got to play the game differnet way" that crowds should take law in their own hand. That is what leads to mobs lynching whoever comes in their way.
      2. Oh I dint knw tht Indian police is soo helpful in our country tht u go to a police station and file a FIR and they will start takin action right away. And I forgot about courts where 20 years is normal for a course to go on. And don't forget Delhi riots happened cuz this same Delhi police was under Home ministry and were told not to save Sikhs. Someone from Delhi police must be count accountable if they r bot doing their job.
    32. Ravinar,
      Excellent article as always.. I am a fan of your article but hardly post comments.. Here i would like add something; which is not related to the topic of discussion; but something relevant..
      I see that in the article you have used the word "thug" to denote the anti-social elements. But i have heard in many forums that "thug" was a tribe in North India who opposed British and later they added it to the dictionary that meant "criminal". I see the following definition when i searched in google as well
      " a member of a fraternity of professional robbers and murderers in India, suppressed by the British in the 19th century."
      So don't you think we Indians should start using a different word to describe the "anti-social elements"?
      Reply
    33. This comment has been removed by the author.
      Reply
    34. Dear Ravinar,

      It is becoming increasingly amusing to watch the growing uneasiness in behaviour of Arvind Kejriwal for past few days. Here are some points which I think we must understand :

      1) A few days back there was a panel discussion on Timesnow where Mrs Anjali Damaniya from AAP commented that most of people joining AAP from Maharashtra are from BJP & NCP ! Although this statement is completely crap, It seems she was giving an indirect message to Congress that they are still working on the Congress plan to divide BJP votes.

      2) During an interview with Burka Dutt Mr Arvind Kejriwal challenged Congress to remove their support while claiming he is working on Common Wealth files & will prosecute Congress leaders. This is a clear 2 point strategy where they are claiming they do not want Congress support while in reality they are sending signals to Congress that AAP is their only hope in trying to divide BJP votes in some cities.

      3) In the end, Mr Arvind Kejriwal's only hope is to achieve martyrdom by resigning in April claiming that Congress is not allowing it to work properly & Congress denying all these charges. Congress feels it can benefit by AAP martyrdom by actually diverting a few gullible BJP voters in Delhi to AAP.
      Reply
    35. hi aap bhakt - saksham kumar

      it seems you have gone complete blind in aap-bhakti. get your eyes checked or rather get you mind checked immediately at some reputed hospital near you.

      and just do not - read carefully - just do not forget to take some aap-minister along with you - one more reminder - media persons along with camera - must - why ?

      don't you know lot of corruption in hospitals as well - you can have great pictures & videos of your ministers shouting at those ' corrupt - doctors'. sorry, but one more reminder - do it 'late at night as late as possible' - after all - aap-ministers at available only late at night and naturally - it will have more impact and then as a 'fundamental right' the entire 'aap-govt.' along with 'God - Kejriwal' can sit at 'dharna' this time along with you for you as always.

      great going – aap-bhakts

      special regards to you 
      Reply
    http://www.mediacrooks.com/2014/01/dangerous-deceptions-part-4-punch-drunk.html#.Ut0xNtK6brd

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    Newly elected noisy goondas on the streets of New Delhi -- V. Sundaram IAS

    January 20, 2014, 3:55 pm
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    Newly elected noisy goondas on the streets of New Delhi -- V. Sundaram IAS 
    A concept is only a brick. It can be used to build a Fort or Palace of  REASON. Or it can be thrown on the streets through the Window of an AAM AADHMI BANDH OR DHARNA. According to Arvind Kejriwal, what is most important for winning the maximum popular support for the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections is to spread Confusion, Chaos and Anarchy and not to Eliminate them. His entire Cabinet squatted on the streets of New Delhi this morning shouting slogans against the Delhi Police and the Union Home Minister. There is tremendous clarity about Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadhmi Vision and Mission. With shameless impudence, irresponsible audacity and vicious Vanity, Arvind Kejriwal made a noisy declaration : “Some people say that I'm an anarchist creating disorder. Yes, I'm an anarchist," He made this declaration this morning after he was stopped by the police from driving upto the Home Ministry, where he had planned a sit-in protest against Home Minister Shinde.
    For Arvind Kejriwal Orderly Governance only means Aam Aadhmi Party sponsored Anarchy. Orderly Governance is only Feudal, Capitalistic and Bourgeois-like. Uncontrolled Anarchy is truly Socialistic, Emancipating and Liberating. Only Clatter, Confusion, Chaos, Authoritarianism, Absolutism and Anarchy marching in tandem can ever make Revolutionary Sense.
    Arvind Kejriwal and his Gang of Grisly Gangsters have taken the LAW into their own hands in New Delhi, the Capital of India. They have nothing but contempt for THE MAJESTY OF LAW, THE RULE OF LAW, THE AXIOM OF EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW. I saw The Aam Aadhmi Minister for LAW, nay LAWLESSNESS, illegally directing the officers and men of the Delhi Police in a raucous manner to conduct a Night Raid in a woman’s Flat in New Delhi without any Warrant. When a Police Officer explained his legal inability to carry out the Law Minister’s orders, the disgusting Minister lost his temper. Such an unruly Minister is being fully backed by Arvind Kejriwal who is proud of declaring himself as an Anarchist!
    Arvind Kejriwal and his Law Minister Somnath Bharti have joined together for a Dharna in New Delhi near the Union Home Minister’s Office in New Delhi, and have been raising slogans against the Delhi Police. The indiscipline of Delhi Policemen remains hidden. The blatant indiscipline of Kejriwal, his Law Minister Somnath Bharti and other Ministers can be seen in a graphic manner in every TV Channel.
    Perhaps Noam Chomsky had political scoundrels and opportunists like Arvind Kejriwal in view when he wrote prophetically: “That is what I have always understood to be the essence of Anarchism: the conviction that the Burden of Proof has to be placed on Authority, and that it should be dismantled if that burden cannot be met.” 
    Arvind Kejriwal is a Walky Talky fraud. During his election campaign he had declared several times at all public meetings, that he would have no truck whatsoever with the Most Corrupt Congress Party. Having said all this, he has formed a Government in New Delhi with the support of Congress Party. After becoming Chief Minister of Delhi, he has the temerity to declare that he would not hesitate to proceed against Sheila Dixit for all her corrupt Deeds and Misdeeds.
    The Congress Party has covered itself with disgrace by teaming up with the Party which has brought down a loyal Congress Woman and longstanding Chief Minister of the Congress Party, Smt. Sheila Dixit. Mahatma Gandhi believed in Salt Sathyagraha to win India’s freedom. Sonia Gandhi is a NAMAK HARAMI who has stabbed Smt. Sheila Dixit in her back!
    It is not suffering that has brought Arvind Kejriwal and his unscrupulous men together. It is not pain that has brought them together. It is vicious self-seeking opportunism that has brought them together.
    In this context I cannot help quoting the following excerpts relating to a conversation between ‘EVE’ and “V’ written by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta
    “Eve: All this riot and uproar, V... is this Anarchy? Is this the Land of Do-As-You-Please? 
    V: No. This is only the land of take-what-you-want. Anarchy means "without leaders", not "without order". With anarchy comes an age or ordnung, of true order, which is to say voluntary order... this age of ordung will begin when the mad and incoherent cycle of verwirrung that these bulletins reveal has run its course... This is not anarchy, Eve. This is chaos.” 
    According to Aam Aadhmi Party, Aam Aadhmi Democracy only means Anarchy, Chaos and Confusion taken most earnestly and seriously.

    “The New Authoritarian System – The New Style of Politics as Arvind Kejriwal calls it – is to create a New Elite consisting of Arvind Kejriwal and his Ministers and Partymen who will be the Supreme Dictators and Directors of the New Aam Aadhmi Order.   They want to replace the Helpless Impotent Robots – Zombies - in the Current Political System with their own new Brand of Aam Aadhmi Robots and Zombies!
    The people living in New Delhi have to be immediately liberated from the vicious stranglehold of the Aam Aadhmi Party  in the larger interest of Public Peace and Tranquility – in short, Law and Order. This can only happen if the Congress Party withdraws its support for the Aam Aadhmi Party in the Delhi Assembly.
    CONCLUSION
    Arvind Kejriwal’s LIBERALISM IS SHAM LIBERALISM. THIS KIND OF SHAM LIBERALISM IS TO FREEDOM WHAT ANARCHISM IS TO ANARCHY. THE SHAM OF ARVIND KEJRIWAL AND HIS AAM AADHMI PARTY LIES IN BELIEVING THAT HE CAN DO SOMETHING IMMEDIATELY WHEN HE CAN NEVER DO WHAT HE WANTS TO DO THROUGH CHAOS, LAWLESSNESS, ANARCHY AND CONFUSION.
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    History of Kas'mira (Kashmir) -- Brig.(Retd.) Rattan Kaul. Aryan? Naga.

    January 20, 2014, 4:32 pm
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    January 20, 2014

    Kashmir: drawing on traditional narratives


    K. NARASIAH

    The historical sense of societies from our epics and other earlier writings are important, as records of history are embedded in them. This aspect is fully made use of by the author of this book, who is eminently suitable for writing a book of this particular genre. Brigadier Kaul, a retired army officer, whose knowledge about Kashmir is both cerebral and visceral, records the history of Kashmir that may not be recognised as an academic exercise in its true sense, but originates from his passionate desire to know about the place he was born in and the community to which he belongs. In that sense the author has done a remarkable job in bringing together information from various sources in an enjoyable and readable manner. 
    Divided into 10 chapters, readers will find this book more informative than many other historical works of eminent authors as this contains almost everything written about Kashmir from ancient times.
    The foreword by Lt. Gen. (retd) S. K. Sinha is most appropriate as one who has been associated with Kashmir from October 27, 1947, when the Indian Army went to rescue the people of Kashmir from the brutal invasion launched by Pakistan and who served as the Governor of the state in turbulent times.
    One of the earliest references to Kashmir by a western observer is in the Periplus of the Erythraen Sea: “Through this same region and from the upper country is brought the spikenard that comes through Poclais; that is, the Caspapyrene and Paropanisene and Cabolitic and that brought through the adjoining country of Scythia …” Caspapyrene here means Kasyapapura or Kashmir. Since the Periplus was written in the first century CE, we can assume the land of Kashmir was well advanced even in the first century CE and traded through the ports of today’s Gujarat. The evolution of such a place needs to be recorded and the author has done it with sincerity of purpose it.
    The historical traditions of North India are analysed and the author takes the reader through times of Aryan migration, especially the origin of Saraswat Brahmins and their entry into Kashmir. Quoting from Nilamat Puranam, the author says that the original inhabitants of Kashmir were Nagas. He then narrates the genesis of Gotras. Similarly, the author quotes extensively from Rajatarangini, an important source book for history of Kashmir and a treatise of the 12 century. According toRajatarangini, the name of Kashmir means ‘desiccated land’, a place got out of a water body. While discussing Rajatarangini, there is a critical examination by the author that is worth noting.
    As early as from the 1 century, three distinct historical traditions note Kashmir, that of Ithihas- Purana, Buddhist and Chinese notices and popular Bardic. The author has laboriously gone through all these traditions and narrates the stories that would make even a lay reader to sit up and think. This can be considered the most important aspect of the work.
    The book in two main parts covers the history of the Kashmir valley from the earliest times to the present and the philosophy and religious beliefs of the people of the land. Starting from an account of the ancient rule, of Gonanda I the narration goes through the period of Ashoka when religious conversions took place. Since the Nilamat Puranam holds that Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu, the author asserts, not only Vishnu worship preceded Buddhism in Kashmir, but also the Buddhism practised then was a mixture of Vishnu worship and what was propounded by Gautama Buddha. King Gopaditya (417-357 BC) was a Vaishnavite and it was only during Emperor Ashoka’s time that Majjihantika was sent to Kashmir to preach Buddhism.
    The author does not contribute to the belief that Ashoka visited Kashmir and Srinagar was named by him. A temple popularly known as Paan Mandir is the Pandrethan temple near the Jhelum (vitasta) bank on the main highway, about five km from Srinagar city, is recorded by the English as probably belonging to 10 century whose ruling deity is Meruvardhanaswami. 
    Pandrethan is a corruption of Puranadhisthan (old capital) and appears to be the capital in Ashoka’s time. This temple figures in an archaeological report by Henry Hardy Cole. According to the author, Ashoka’s reported visit to this place is just a myth and he seeks to establish this with his findings from various sources. It is true that Kalhan does mention Ashoka in verse 102, but if Ashoka had indeed founded the place, he would have dealt with him in detail, which he has not. Therefore, the author concludes that Ashoka never visited this place.
    Buddhism continued in the valley till the end of 100 AD when the Karkota dynasty came to power. Rajatarangini narrates the story of the kings and Hindu dynasties started ruling only from first half of the 7 century. This is corroborated by Huen Sang’s notices. The author traces the history through the Utpala, Gupta and Lohara dynasties and quotes from Somadeva’s Kathasaritasagara, a collection of various stories and legends, which has been translated into English by C. H. Tawney as The Ocean of Story. Drawing particular attention is a chapter in which periods of ancient Hindu rule, and the advent of Islam are discussed. This is followed by accounts of the Moghuls, Afghans and Sikhs, and close on the heels of such analyses comes the Dogra rule period which is really from 9 century.
    The traumatic times of Kashmir after Hari Singh and the assessment of the Dogra rule is worth reading. A very important and interesting chapter of the book is Manifestation of Kul Devis, in which the author takes pains to go into the depths of mother Goddess worship. An outcome of industrious research and deep passion, the book is a welcome addition to the volumes on Kashmir.
    HISTORY OF KAS’MIRA (KASHMIR)
    Rattan Kaul;
    Gyan Publishing House, 23 Main Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002.
    Rs. 1050
    http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/kashmir-drawing-on-traditional-narratives/article5597921.ece?homepage=true
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    Truth about Arvind Kejriwal

    January 21, 2014, 4:48 pm
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    How to conduct a membership drive for a bogus chamcha party

    January 21, 2014, 5:07 pm
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    Cops on leave, Arvind leaves into apron strings behaving like a true chamcha. A brilliant report by JP Yadav.

    January 21, 2014, 7:04 pm
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    | Wednesday , January 22 , 2014 |

    What did you get, Sir, on a day the system heard even death convicts?
    Cops on leave, Arvind leaves

    J.P. YADAV
    A hawker shares his lunch with a monkey near the Patel Chowk Metro station in the heart of New Delhi on Tuesday. The Metro station was among those shut down till 8pm because of the AAP dharna. Picture by Rajesh Kumar
    New Delhi, Jan. 21: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today grabbed a fig-leaf of a face-saver offered by the Centre and called off the siege of a zone he was sworn in to govern.
    The chief minister held aloft the trophy of two mid-level police officers sent on leave, declared victory to his restive supporters and ended the dharna.
    Feedback from the ground suggesting that his “anarchy” was alienating his core constituency in the upper middle class is being seen as the pivotal factor that compelled the chief minister to lift the siege.
    Author Chetan Bhagat was among those who openly expressed their dismay. “The AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) has become the item-girls of politics. The AAP has really let me down with their antics,” Bhagat told NDTV.
    The Centre’s decision to send two officers on leave was hardly a victory for the chief minister who had demanded the suspension of five officers, including two assistant commissioners. (See chart below)
    With his call to Delhiites to flood the protest site failing to evoke the response he expected, Kejriwal was ready to accept transfer of the officers but they were neither shifted nor suspended as the inquiry is going on.
    Delhi police conveyed to the Centre that any attempt to demoralise the force would have unforeseen consequences, sources said.
    Senior officials of the national security establishment are also learnt to have advised the government that the protest in the heart of Delhi should not be allowed to drag on in the run-up to Republic Day celebrations because of the security implications. The President, too, is said to have been kept in the picture.
    A security meeting had decided to keep a contingency plan ready to clear out the area if no compromise could be found, the sources added.
    Against this backdrop, the decision to send the two officers on leave was taken. “There was need to restore order in the city. We thought there is no harm in sending the police officers on leave if it can restore order. It is not that we are trying to defend someone’s culpability or trying to douse someone’s guilt. We will take action if someone is found guilty,” said Deepak Mishra, special commissioner (law and order).
    Kejriwal acknowledged that his demands had been met only “partially” but chose to term the offer as a “victory of the people”.
    The climbdown was striking, given his pugnacious mood in the morning. The chief minister threatened to flood Rajpath, the vantage stretch of the Republic Day parade, with lakhs of supporters.
    Asked about the possibility of finding a middle ground, Kejriwal said: “What is this middle path? Does it mean that if a woman was gang raped, it should be little less?”
    However, the atmosphere changed in the afternoon. The cold weather took a toll on his health, aggravating his cough. The thin crowd, despite an emotional appeal by the party to join the protest, did little to lift the mood.
    The party blamed the cold response to the matching temperature and morning rain.
    Not everyone who turned up was offering full-throated support. “The intention is good but the method is wrong. A chief minister should not sit on dharna and unleash anarchy,” said Neeru Nanda, a former IAS officer who described herself as an ardent Kejriwal supporter.
    The “unfavourable” media coverage was another reason that prompted aides to advise the chief minister to withdraw. A section of the media had played a decisive role in putting Kejriwal in the limelight earlier.
    But an irate Kejriwal said today: “Fifty per cent of the media belongs to Modi (Narendra Modi) and the rest 50 per cent to Rahul Gandhi.”
    Eventually, the event that he threatened to disrupt threw him a straw.
    “Just now the lieutenant governor has appealed… He has said that in view of the sanctity of the Republic Day parade and concerns over national security, the protest should be called off,” the chief minister told his supporters around 8pm.
     WHO GOT THE CRUMBS AND WHO GOT THE BREAD
    KEJRIWAL’S DEMAND 1
    Suspend Malviya Nagar station house officer (SHO) Vijay Pal for refusing to obey the order of Delhi law minister to raid suspected sex-and-drug gangs
    What Kejriwal got
    SHO Pal sent on leave. The SHO was already on leave for three days from Monday. His leave will continue till the ongoing inquiry is over.
    Eligible for full salary and perks as leave is not punishment. If inquiry clears him, he can rejoin.
    If found guilty, he can be suspended. Suspension is dreaded in the force because it halves salary, ensures a “bad entry” in the service book and will be reflected in the annual confidential report that affects transfers, promotions and increments

    KEJRIWAL’S DEMAND 2
    Suspend Paharganj SHO Raj Kumar for failing to prevent the rape of a 51-year-old Danish woman
    What Kejriwal got
    Sanjay Singh, the inspector in charge of the police PCR van in central Delhi on the night of the alleged gang rape, to be sent on leave, pending inquiry

    KEJRIWAL’S DEMAND 3
    Suspend Sagarpur SHO Richhpal Singh for failure to arrest in-laws of a woman who was set on fire
    What Kejriwal got
    No action yet on Singh. Kejriwal said all suspects had been arrested “two days ago”, explaining why he was not pushing for suspension. That means the arrests took place before the chief minister began his protest but he did not revise the demand till this evening

    KEJRIWAL’S DEMAND 4
    Suspend ACP Harpal Singh for failing to act against Sagarpur SHO
    What Kejriwal got
    No action till Tuesday night

    KEJRIWAL’S DEMAND 5
    Suspend ACP B.S. Jakhar for failing to act against Malviya Nagar SHO
    What Kejriwal got
    No action till Tuesday night. Jakhar was among those who protected the chief minister when he went to the Rail Bhavan toilet on Monday. On Tuesday, a department under the Union home ministry provided mobile toilets

    KEJRIWAL’S DEMAND 6
    Transfer the control of Delhi police from the Union home ministry to the state government
    What Kejriwal got
    Delhi police under the Union home ministry on Tuesday night. Kejriwal said the dharna was “the first step towards our goal of achieving full-statehood for Delhi”.
    The lieutenant governor also assured Kejriwal that the probe into the incidents involving ministers and police would be expedited

    GOT WITHOUT ASKING
    An ego massage. News alert at 1956hrs, Tuesday: Lt Governor Najeeb Jung appeals to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to withdraw protest in view of the Republic Day celebrations
    Compiled by Imran Ahmed Siddiqui

    http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140122/jsp/frontpage/story_17851267.jsp#.Ut80k9K6brc
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    What is common between Ambani, Subroto Roy or Praful Patel? How the powerful threaten our basic freedom -- Sucheta Dalal

    January 21, 2014, 7:22 pm
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    What is common between Ambani, Subroto Roy or Praful Patel?
    SUCHETA DALAL | 21/01/2014 10:47 AM | 
    How the powerful threaten our basic freedom
    It is the Polyester Prince story all over again. In the 1990s, Reliance Industries used the courts to bully a meek publisher and stopped the India release of a book that dissected Dhirubhai Ambani’s path to fabulous riches. In the days before social media or online book distribution options, the stay by a lower court was enough to stop it from getting into shop shelves. Nearly 15 years later, Indian industrialists, especially those in politics or with great political clout, are using the same bullying tactics.

    In January, Praful Patel, the powerful minister from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) pressured Bloomsbury India to withdraw The Descent of Air India—a tell-all book that exposed how India’s national airline was systematically looted and pushed into the red. Naturally, Mr Patel’s stellar role, as aviation minister, in giving a huge push to the airline’s collapse through venal senior management and reckless purchase of aircrafts is described in detail. When Mr Patel filed a case with the metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai, the author Jitendra Bhargava (for decades, the public face of Air India) decided to fight back, while the publisher, Bloomsbury, chose to issue a public apology and destroy the remaining stock of the book. Mr Bhargava says on his facebook page that this was a unilateral decision without any discussion with him; he has also told the judge that he can substantiate everything he has said in the book. Mr Bhargava will soon self-publish it as an e-book.

    In the very same week, the Sahara parivar decided to take the Ambani route. It filed a Rs200-crore defamation suit against journalist Tamal Bandopadhyay for a book that has not even been published and managed to obtain an interim stay against its publication from a Kolkata court. While Sahara claims that the book is defamatory, it has been the subject of innumerable adverse news reports ever since August 2012 when a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court (SC) ordered it to refund a whopping Rs24,000 crore raised through two group companies. In the subsequent months, the group patriarch, Subrata Roy, has been restrained by the SC from going abroad. The group has been rebuked by the apex court for trying to ‘fool’ it and has a contempt petition filed against it by SEBI for calling the market regulator a ‘sarkari gunda’. It will be interesting to see whether Jaico, the publisher of Sahara: The Untold Story also caves in or fights back.

    Meanwhile, both Bloomsbury and Jaico would do well to look at what happened with The Polyester Prince. While the publisher chickened out of a fight, photocopies of the book were in great demand and author, Hamish MacDonald, grew in stature. A decade latter, when Anil and Mukesh went to war over the division of the family business, the dirty reputation that they washed in public began to make the revelations in Mr MacDonald’s book seem mild by comparison. More interestingly, Dhirubhai Ambani’s story, warts and all, became a popular Bollywood movie with the blessings of his son. Hopefully, the judiciary will take this into account while deciding on how much credence they should give to the claims of controversial corporates and politicians who want to use their financial muscle to gag whistleblowers and publishers.
    jitender Bhargava, Praful Patel, Air India, 'The Descent of Air India'Bloomsbury withdraws 'The Descent of Air India', with an apology to Praful Patel!
    http://www.moneylife.in/article/what-is-common-between-ambani-subroto-roy-or-praful-patel/36044.html?utm_source=PoweRelayEDM&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=Subscriber%2379056&utm_campaign=Today%27s%20Exclusives
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    Stunning metallic ceiling of Shivrajpur temple. Sheorajpur has yielded a bronze anthropomorph with 'fish' Meluhha hieroglyph

    January 21, 2014, 7:42 pm
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    Could this be the work of dhokra kamar? this is an amazing structure by any standards as a ceiling of a S'iva temple called Kereshwar in Shivrajpur, a village on the banks of Ganga.
    Many bronze artifacts are also venerated in the temple.
    I hope some researcher will find out the sources for these bronze/brass marvels which echoe the anthropomorph of ancient India?
    Sheorajpur anthropomorph with 'fish' hieroglyph. ayo'fish' Rebus: ayo'iron, metal' (Gujarati) miṇḍāl markhor (Tor.wali) meḍho a ram, a sheep (Gujarati)(CDIAL 10120) Rebus: meḍ 'iron' (Ho.)

    Prima facie, it appears that these are products of dhokra kamar metalworkers

    NB: Some historical notes:

    Pratihara emperor,Mihir Bhoja, has ruled in nearby Kanpur since nearby Kannuaj was the capital of Parihar. At Shivrajpur, 20 km from the Kanpur Central railway station, there is an ancient temple built by Chandel Raja Sati Prasad. The history of the temple and architecture needs further investigations and researches.
    S. Kalyanaraman
    January 22, 2014
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    Dead duck SoniaG UPA uses AAP Norodniks as shield -- Chandan Mitra.

    January 21, 2014, 9:02 pm
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    SOW WIND, REAP WHIRLWIND

    Wednesday, 22 January 2014 | Chandan Mitra | 
    May this be the end of sadak-chhap politics
    When Czarist Russia’s last few Premiers shivered in fear and the country’s fragile democracy tottered, there emerged a group of political activists fashioning themselves as Narodniks. As Narod in Russian means “people”, this group claimed to represent the will of the citizenry, asserting that they took their directive only from a mythical entity called “the people”. This term has been misused throughout history and is grossly distorted even after democracy — the structured reflection of people’s will — has become the norm of government in most parts of the world. In Russia of the early 20th Century, Narodniks vied with Social Democrats, Liberals, Czarists, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks and, significantly, Anarchists. Groups that proudly pronounced themselves to be anarchists, vowed to destroy the state and establish anarchy were fairly common all over Europe then; it was one such group that was involved in the assassination of Duke Ferdinand to trigger the First World War. In Russia, as the Bolsheviks steadily gained ground among competing groups and the Czarist regime weakened irretrievably, Narodniks’ pretence to democracy steadily declined. It also became clear that “the people” constituted an amorphous mass that could not be welded together as a coherent political force without an organised party structure. But organisation of any kind was anathema to the Narodniks. Frustrated by their increasing rejection by “the people”, in whose name they functioned, Narodniks took to violence eventually becoming indistinguishable from Anarchists.
    What 21st Century Delhi has witnessed over the last few months is an uncanny re-run of events in Russia a century ago. The only difference is that our home-grown Narodniks actually wrested power democratically with the support of the very forces they had bitterly opposed all along. Having ascended to power, Narodnik leader “Aam Aadmi” Arvind Kejriwal realised within three weeks that governance was beyond his capability and decided to let loose unruly mobs on India’s Capital over the facetious issue of one of his Ministers (with a dubious track record) being defied by some police constables. Proclaiming himself as an Anarchist, as the Russian Narodniks too had eventually done, Kejriwal promptly found support from motley violence-driven elements like over-ground Maoists and other disruptionists that have no regard for the Constitution or parliamentary democracy. These diabolical groups have long sought to infiltrate political organisations without success, but in Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party they found an ideal refuge.
    After being silent spectators to the disgraceful disregard of the law and the Constitution for two full days, it would have only been appropriate for the citizens of the country, particularly residents of Delhi to rise in revolt against the choreographed anarchy being promoted by the AAP. In theory, this party is in Government but in practice they are law-breakers who deserve to be treated as such. The AAP stands guilty not only of breaking the law but has also committed treason by mocking the sober occasion of Republic Day, which is the pride of this country. By deliberately organising a demonstration on the route of the celebrated parade, and claiming that Republic Day has no meaning if a few Delhi Police constables cannot be suspended on an errant Minister’s verbal orders, the AAP and its anarchist supremo should have forfeited his right to hold constitutional office.
    Finally, however, good sense prevailed and probably finding his support dwindling rapidly, Kejriwal has withdrawn his dharna claiming that the Union Government’s agreement to send a couple of constables on leave amounts to his victory. Surely that could have been achieved through more civil and customary methods like dialogue. This is no victory for the rebellious AAP; it is actually ignominious retreat. But anxiety still persists among the citizenry whether the anarchists propose to run Delhi in this way in the future too. It is perfectly conceivable that each time an unruly AAP leader or volunteer has an altercation with any member of law-enforcing forces or even a school principal for that matter, the city will be brought to its knees. Hopefully, Kejriwal will learn that people despise such methods in a democracy and thus will not dare to repeat similar plans. Fortunately, the “dead duck” Manmohan Singh regime at the Centre that has long lost the will to govern finally recognised that it could not continue to stand by and permit the humiliation of the Indian state which would have made the Prime Minister an accomplice to the crime. The Delhi Police has demonstrated commendable restraint in the face of grave provocation. The AAP’s retreat should encourage them to remain firm if illegal orders are barked at them by AAP leaders in the future.
    Meanwhile, it is amusing to find the Congress Party hoist by its own petard. In a desperate bid to try and prevent the BJP’s ascendancy from reaching Delhi, it sought to use AAP as a shield. That shield is now being used as a battering ram against the Congress! The comical scenario in which Delhi’s ruling party and its ally are exchanging barbs, with the Congress calling Kejriwal Chief Anarchist, and AAP in turn daring the Congress to withdraw support, has made Delhi a laughing stock among democracies. In their self-righteous arrogance, AAP leaders appear to believe they are the most intelligent and cunning people around while everybody else is a fool or a bunch of bumbling idiots. The people of Delhi must ensure that this false notion of AAP leaders’ infallibility is shattered at the first opportunity.
    Kejriwal had let slip the hooligans of disruption on Delhi from his stable. But as the old adage goes, “If you sow the wind thou shall reap the whirlwind”. India’s Narodniks and Anarchists who have tasted blood thanks to Kejriwal’s obduracy and arrogance, may soon turn upon him when they realise his utility to them is over. His retreat this time could well be the turning point for them, especially if the Chief Minister now realises the folly of his ways and begins to do what he has been elected for. If he starts to govern, he soon will find himself isolated with even his beloved anarchist fellow-travellers deserting him for greener pastures. Maoists who take inspiration from the late, unlamented Chairman’s theory of “permanent disequilibrium” will attempt to take control of the forces Kejriwal so lovingly nurtured. We can only hope this failed dharna marks the end of sadak-chhap politics for Delhi.

    http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/todays-newspaper/sow-wind-reap-whirlwind.html
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