Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Have a Wonderful 2009!


Thanks Mr. Sharma and fellow Goats for a great year of memories, a variety opinions and for staying connected......look forward to doing the same in 2009!
Do All Things Well!
Omnia Bene Facere

Sunday, December 28, 2008

SNAPSHOTS from Times of India

Israeli warplanes and helicopters pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip on Saturday, killing at least 205 people. While Hamas called the assault a "massacre", Israel said it had targeted "terrorist infrastructure" following days of rocket attacks from Gaza. "There is a time for calm and time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight", defence minister Ehud Barack said.
What a difference of attitude between the government of India and and that of Israel. Gentle soft behaviour is mistaken for weakness. This behavioral attitude of India needs to be changed. Attack is always the best defence.

Blue line buses on the run

The Blue Line buses in Delhi are on the tracks again. Uptil now they have killed 121 people in Delhi. Still three days to go for the year to end. Officially they have mowed down 30 fewer people than last year. What a consolation !

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Raj Thakaray & Co.

Radheshaym has today posted the news that a person in U.P. has offered one crore for Raj Thakaray's head. I second the idea that why only Raj. There are dozens whose heads should roll. In Delhi there are MPs who are engaged in criminal activites quite openly and the government is well aware of that but refuse to take any action against them. On the contrary, they are given full protection under X, Y, Z categories. Ministers and MPs like A.R.Antulay engage themselves in creating communal disharmony between two sections of society. This is just as dangerous if not more. People like him should be exterminated first. They are the enemies of the nation. His intentionally careless comments has given Pakistan the leverage they wanted. HE IS PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE. His withdrawal of the comments has not diluted the harm already done. Mr. Antulay is very much aware of that. And he is happy to retract and save his skin. The government should have taken sterner steps against him. He got off very lightly. There are many more like him in every party who thrive on creating discord for their own gains. They are financed by external agencies to do just that. We are now witnessing western countries manipulating India and Pakistan to a hysteria of war. These western countries do not wish the two countries to live peacefully. It will be to their disadvantage.
There's a small note in the first page of TOI today :
INDIA REBUFFS US, CHINA : India has rebuffed a push from the US and China to ease pressure on Pakistan and return to negotiations. Talking to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi, foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee rules out resumption of talks until Pakistan acted against the Mumbai perpetrators.
China, as I had already stated earlier, is never to be trusted. But what about US ? Rice said one thing while visiting India and Pakistan, now she has taken another line.
With all the troubles that India is going through, Raj Thakaray is creating an internal problem, along with Antulay. Both their heads should roll.

One crore for Raj Thackeray's Head

Today's paper "DNA' in Mumbai has a small news item. Some SP party MLA in Madhya Pradesh has ofered one crore to anybody who would kill Raj Thackeray.
I fully agree with the person.
Only thing I object is why only Raj Thackeray.
Any person who divides the people of India on the basis of Religion, Caste, language or region should be exterminated.
That would bring the politicians of BJP, Congress, Communists, Shiv Sena, Muslim League in the list, in short all politicians.
This is what I have been advocating.
All politicians should be eliminated, as they did in Bangla Desh.

Radheshyam

Friday, December 26, 2008

BSP has 63 MLAs with criminal past

SO MUCH FOR LAW AND ORDER
Though Mayawati's poll plank was law and order, her party gave tickets to 131 candidates with criminal records in the 2007 assembly elections. Of the 131, 63 are now MLAs, including 33 with two or more criminal cases pending against them, including those of murder, rape, dacoity, rioting and kidnapping. Nine ministers in her cabinet are facing charges of corruption and other crimes.
The chief minister herself has set a target of Rs.1000 crores to be collected for her birthday on 15th January because she is a poor lady with only a diamond necklace worth Rs.35 lacs. A TV channel has shown BSP supporters going around the streets with begging bowls 'COLLECTING' donations from people for their poor 'Bahena'. Such a farcical political drama you won't find anywhere in the world.This is an item for Guiness Book or Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Mayawati is dreaming to be the Prime Minister of India some day in the near future. And the most surprising element is that several political parties are fertilising that dream. What a tragedy for India ! We don't have a single political leader in the country whom the people can trust, have complete faith on. We don't have a single leader with courage, personality, charisma and with a mission. People with a mission like Ranjan Guha Neogie, worked for the underprivileged, downtrodden tribals of Bastar. We all know what happened to him. He was killed by BJP goons, because what he stood and worked for went against the advantage of the business and trading community. A.N.Ray, CPM MP from Dhanbad, made it his mission to unite the working class against the mafia. Mission unaccomplished, just like Neogie's.
The Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, is a big crook. Involved in a fodder scam of Rs.600 crores. Jailed, but still reigning supreme. He said, when he was caught, that everybody steals, so I also stole. So, what's the big deal ? I believe the CBI has suggested in withdrawing the case against him. He' the hero of Bihar. The political joker of India. In India, one has to be a big crook or a murderer to get a ticket for the elections. That is the primary qualification. Because there are crores of rupees to be syphoned from the government funds. The mission for the MPs and MLAs is operation loot. The aam aadmi can go to hell.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

BSP MLA kills engineer, held

That's the heading in the Times of India. Manoj Kumar Gupta, an engineer, was dragged out of his home and beaten mercilessly by Auraiya Sadar BSP MLA Shekhar Tewari and his two aides after he reportedly refused to pay them money for organizing birthday celebrations for BSP supremo and UP chief minister Mayawati next month. It is reported that the MLA has been held by the police. And there the story ends. Nothing will happen to Tewari. This is guaranteed. Such murders have been committed by numerous MPs and MLAs in Bihar and U.P. They're all roaming about with their murderous henchmen and going about their business. Who is to stop them ? They belong to all parties. Their gangs are required to win elections. No matter how much effort we make to revive our spirits, these types of sad incidents darken the heart again.
What an age we are living in !

Santa Arrives - Described Legally

One of our boys, Kalyan Bhaduri, is an advocate in the Supreme Court.
How whould he ut down the arrival of Santa Claus, just read on.
This is from Rex Barker


The Night Before Christmas, Legally Speaking...

Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to, a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a.k.a. St. Nicholas a.k.a. Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus")would arrive at sometime thereafter.

The minor residents, i.e., the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e., dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.

Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as "I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the party of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. (At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of head gear, e.g., kerchief and cap.)

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.

At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.

Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co-conspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)

The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney.

Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items. He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.

Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.)

Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.

However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.

Shariat Law for bread Thief

SHAME
THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS!!!!!










The above has been sent by Kamlesh Kallani.
I would not like to believe that the above has been done.
If it has been done, then it is truely despicable and a blot on the name of Islam and it's Shariat Laws.
However, man by nature is still an animal and takes pleasure in watching the sufferings of other creatures. In fact all the torture tactics used by legal inspection agencies achieve their objective by gradually increasing painful tortures.
Have you have ever witnessed a scene where a pickpocket has been caught? You will see that quite a few passers-by who were nowhere near the scene of the crime, will come and help in the beating with shoes, chappals, sticks whatever comes in handy. It is probably that they may be having some previous grievance against pickpockets by having had their pockets picked.
I remember an incident during our college days in Ranchi.
Ranchi, being a hill station, has a very cold climate in winter.
Our college was not very far from our hostels.
If we walked from the furthest hostel it would take hardly 15 minutes.
But that time was also too much for we, late risers.
So we used to keep bicycles.
Every now and then one or two boys lost his bicycle through theft.
Naturally we would be annoyed and angry.
I, too, had lost my bicycle when a friend borrowed it and it was stolen through him. Of course, the poor chap compensated me for it.
One cold winter night one bicycle thief was caught in the act.
The poor chap was made to sit naked under cold running water, beaten up and his nails were plucked from his fingers. This I don't know how as I was not there, I only heard of it.
I can assure you there were no Muslims amongst us nor did we believe in the Shariat laws, and we were all educated, all going to become engineers

Radheshyam

Search for Gas

Search for gas option amid security worry
From "The Telegraph"


New Delhi, Dec. 24: India is looking at other gas sources as security concerns loom large over the proposed $7.4-billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.

Petroleum ministry officials said New Delhi was planning to procure gas from other regions while keeping the pipeline project under active consideration.

According to officials, security concerns rather than differences over the price were the main hurdle to the project.

“The major concern is Pakistan sitting in between and Iran’s refusal to guarantee delivery as far as the Indian border,” the officials said.

India’s strategic ties with Washington is being cited as another reason for New Delhi going slow. The US is not in favour of the pipeline as it believes that Tehran can use the money from the gas sale for its nuclear programme.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh had recently met external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and discussed ways to break the deadlock.

Iran has offered to host a meeting of the energy ministers of the three countries in Tehran.

Officials said the demand for imported gas was likely to fall sharply in the next two years as domestic production rises and local demand wanes.

However, for strategic reasons, New Delhi would continue to look at the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline, which has the support of the US government. India might also want to source natural gas from Qatar, which has reserves of 14.4 trillion cubic metres.

Myanmar is another source that could be accessed by connecting the neighbouring country to the Indian gas grid through Tripura.

According to preliminary estimates, the pipeline from Turkmenistan will be able to export 100 million cubic meters of gas per day from the Dauletabad gas field, with the bulk coming to India.

Besides, India plans to auction over 100 oil and gas blocks under the eighth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy.


I had mentioned in one of our earlier blogs that it would be foolhardy for India to go into the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipe line.
Pakistan is a completely unreliable neighbour.The latest proof, if any was further required after Kargil,, was the Mumbai massacre.
Unless Pakistan removes all terror camps and for at least 10 years, India sees that no terrorists are emnating from that country, we should not rely on them.
No matter how cheap the gas may be available, we should not go for it. otherwise at the most critical time Pakistan would swich off supplies.
It would be easier straightening a dog's tail than to change Pakistan's nefarious, diabolical nature.

Radheshyam

Another Politician - Murderer

Engineer death tied to Maya bash
From "The Telegraph"


Shekhar Tewari, BSP MLA, Murderer
M K Ggupta, Victim

Don't be fooled by the photograph. The one with folded hands is the murderer

Lucknow, Dec. 24: An engineer was beaten to death allegedly by a BSP MLA and his henchmen for refusing to contribute Rs 50 lakh for chief minister Mayavati’s birthday celebrations next month.

M.K. Gupta, an executive engineer in the Uttar Pradesh public works department, was left unconscious outside a police station by his attackers around 5am today, state police chief Vikram Singh said.

Gupta, a father of two and said to be in his late 30s, was supervising the Ambedkar Gram Projects in Auraiya, 230km from here, where he had been posted for two years.

A police complaint filed by his wife Shashi said four persons barged into their house at Gail Vihar in Dibiyapur, Auraiya, early this morning and attacked her husband.

“BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari and his two associates, Manoj Tyagi and another surnamed Bhatia, had batons in their hand and began assaulting him,” she said.

The engineer was declared dead on arrival in hospital.

Shashi said her husband locked her in the bathroom after the assailants broke in.

Gupta was from Lakhimpur Kheri in eastern Uttar Pradesh, where IIM graduate Manjunath was murdered in 2006. The Indian Oil manager had been fighting oil pilferage.

The slain engineer’s family said Tiwari’s men had been demanding Rs 50 lakh for Mayavati’s January 15 birthday, which Gupta had refused.

The BSP MLA was arrested in the evening. The police chief said two of his accomplices were engineers who worked under Gupta.

Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said an FIR had been filed against Tiwari.

He added: “Chief minister Mayavati has nothing to do with the case.”

Shivpal Yadav, brother of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, insisted Mayavati should be held responsible and alleged she had asked ministers, MPs and MLAs to collect Rs 1,000 crore.

Samajwadi general secretary Amar Singh said: “Mayavati observes her birthday as extortion day.”

The Samajwadi Party has called a bandh tomorrow.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh accused the BSP of “ruthlessly collecting funds from the administration”.


Another example of the high handedness of our politicians.
They are a rule unto themselves.
Those organisations who have been in the forefront of the backlash against these corrupt politicians should take up this case so that this Tewari and his cohorts are not granted bail until their trail is over and they are lodged in jail.
Mayawati too cannot be exonerated. She must have set targets to her MLA's for collecting cash for her bash. This should also be enquired into.
I do not give much credence to the utterances of Amar Singh, Digvijai Singh and other Samajwadi and Congress party dignitaries. They are just trying to fish in troubled waters. They are all of the same feathers and are a nuisance to society.

Man in Woman's shoes

This too has been sent by Lalit Narayan.
I am sure this must have made his wife happy after the earlier remarks he had made of women.


Women's Favourite Email of the Year

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:

Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills balance the check book.

He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. Then it was already 1 P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home.. Set out cookies and milk and got the kids organized to do their homework, then set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.

At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the chops and snapped fresh beans supper. After supper he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them bed.

At 9 P.M. he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected make love which he managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said, "Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh please, let us trade back."

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied, "My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You'll just have to wait nine months, though. You got pregnant last night!

Marriage - Yes - No? Very Good.

This has been sent by Lalit Narayan, to make your New year pleasant

WHAT IS MARRIAGE a 30 point answer?

1. Marriage is not a word. It's a sentence (a life sentence).

2. Marriage is love. Love is blind. Therefore marriage is an institution for the blind.

3. Marriage is an institution in which a man loses his Bachelor's Degree and the woman gets her masters.

4. Marriage is a three-ring circus: engagement ring, wedding ring and suffeRING.

5. Married life is full of excitement and frustration: In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the NEIGHBOUR listens.

6. Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want, and when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that instead.

7. There was this man who muttered a few words in the church and found himself married. A year later he muttered something in his sleep and found himself divorced.

8. A happy marriage is a matter of giving and taking; the husband gives and the wife takes.

9. Son: How much does it cost to get married, Dad? Father: I don't know son, I'm still paying for it.

10. Son: Is it true Dad? I heard that in ancient China, a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her. Father: That happens everywhere, son, EVERYWHERE!

11. Love is one long sweet dream, and marriage is the alarm clock.

12. They say that when a man holds a woman's hand before marriage, it is love; after marriage it is self defence.

13. When a newly married man looks happy, we know why. But when a 10-year married man looks happy, we wonder why?

14. There was this lover who said that he would go through hell for her. They got married, and now he is going through HELL.

16. When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.

17. Eighty percent of married men cheat in America, the rest cheat in Europe.

18. After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin. They just can't face each other, but they still stay together.

19. Marriage is man and a woman becoming one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

20. Before marriage, a man yearns for the woman he loves. After the marriage the "Y" becomes silent.

21. I married Miss right; I just didn't know her first name was Always.

22. It's not true that married men live longer than single men, it only seems longer.

23. Losing a wife can be hard. In my case, it was almost impossible.

24. A man was complaining to a friend: I HAD IT ALL-MONEY, A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE, THE LOVE OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, THEN POW! IT WAS ALL GONE. WHAT HAPPENED, asked his friend. He says MY WIFE FOUND OUT.

25. WIFE: Let's go out and have some fun tonight. HUSBAND: OK, but if you get home before I do, leave the hallway lighs on.

26. At a cocktail party, one woman said to another: AREN'T YOU WEARING YOUR RING ON THE WRONG FINGER? The other replied, YES, I, AM. I MARRIED THE WRONG MAN.

27. Man is incomplete until he gets married, then he is finished.

28. It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, he still ends up with the same boss.

29. A man inserted an ad in the paper - WIFE WANTED. The next day he received a hundred of letters and they all said the same thing - YOU CAN HAVE MINE.

30. When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing - either the car is new or the wife is.


There is a saying in Hindi
"Dilli ka Laddu,
Joh Khaye Voh Pashtaye
Jo Na Khaye
Voh bhi Pashtaye"
Meaning
It said for Laddus from Delhi,
"You regret it if you eat them and you regret if you don't."
The same can be said of marriage.
There should be give and take in any marriage.
Even identical twins have differences.
So it is only natural that two persons coming from different families and different enviornment and backgrounds will have differences. It should be our aim to iron out the differences and to let the good points of both flower.
Ego is a hindrance.
Once you realize that you are in this world for maybe 60, 70, 80 or so odd years and remember that the world has been running without you for millions of years and continue to do so for millions more and that you are not even a speck in God's creation, your ego should get deflated.
On the other hand you are a part of God.
God does everthing through YOU.
He doe not do anything by Himself.
He is so imperceptible that people even believe He doe not exist.
God has made both man and woman so that the journey through this world for those 60, 70, 80 years becomes bearable and not boring.
For those who are married, I wish both of you a pleasant journey for the rest of the days, and for those who are yet to be married, try it out, it is pleasant. But Give more than you TAKE.

Radheshyam

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Warning BSNL Users

I have just received this message from Ranjan Guha Mazumdar.
It seems that since BSNL is losing out in the competition with the private players like Bharti, Rcomm and Idea, they have resorted to underhand means to increase their revenue. Read on.

Radheshyam


HELPFUL ADVISE FOR BSNL Mobile Users

Those of you who are using BSNL’s Mobile Services, please IMMEDIATELY de-activate (although the process has been deliberately made complicated) the default Caller Tune (illegally and un-authorisedly pumped-into the network, reportedly by ERICSSON,, maybe with the connivance of CGM, Calcutta Telephones, because after few days these guys are automatically updating your computer data showing that you had actually activated this service. That is not all. Don’t be shocked if you (post-paid subscribers) receive a bill showing PRBT (caller Tune) charges as many as 15 times in a single month although assuming that you had activated any Caller Tunes, you should be billed @ Rs. 20 per month only. Having received such a bill you have no other option but to pay the same or face dis-connection. Appeals to the authority as usual will fall on deaf ears and you have to literally run from pillar-to-post to get a rebate or what ever.

The scandal is so serious that even after de-activating, the same default Caller Tune (a stupid one at that) will get quietly re-introduces one fine day un-known to you and unless you are careful, you land in soup anyway.

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE. This is a major scandal being perpetrated by BSNL top brass on the gullible Mobile Subscribers. BEWARE ! I have taken-up the matter with CGM as well as their CMDA and other high officials in Delhi including TRAII

Request to Radheshyam Sharma : Please put this WARNING on your Blog to caution all Ex-Goethalites.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sacred Space - Eat Well

The control of the palate is a valuable aid for the control of the mind. - M.K.Gandhi
The palate is the ideal starting point for getting some mastery over your senses. You have three, four maybe more opportunities a day : breakfast, lunch, dinner and any number between-meal snacks. No need talk of fasting, or strange diets. Just move away from foods that don't benefit your health and begin choosing foods that do. With this simple resolution, you'll strength your will, and deepen your meditatio. - Eknath Easwaran.

Mindfulness is simply the moment-by-moment awareness of life. But it's not always so simple. We so easily get caught up in our own thoughts and self-talk that we are scarcely aware of life as it passes us by. This is very true of our eating. We eat meal after meal, snack after snack, barely aware of what we're eating and how much we're consuming. - The Camp System

When we are mindful, we recognise what we are picking up. When we put it into our mouth, we know what we are putting into our mouth. When we chew it, we know what we are chewing. It's very simple. - Thich Nhat Hanh

Jayanta Ghosh

21 st Century

21 st Century, explained by Kamal Kallani



21st Century....

We are becoming lesser day by day !

Our communication - Wireless

Our telephone - Cordless

Our cooking - Fireless

Our youth - Jobless


Our dress - Topless

Our food - Fatless

Our labour - Effortless

Our conduct - Worthless

Our relation - Loveless

Our attitude - Careless

Our feelings - Heartless

Our politics - Shameless

Our education - Valueless

Our follies - Countless

Our arguments - Baseless

Our Job - Thankless

Monday, December 22, 2008

Donations by India to the USA


Dec. 20: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) — the country’s premier industry forum — swung into damage-control mode after the William J. Clinton Foundation listed it as one of several fund contributors, sparking concern that it may have created a “conflict of interest” for US secretary of state-designate Hillary Clinton.

The chamber of commerce said it had contributed $75,000 to sponsor a Clinton Foundation event in September 2007 that was designed to promote India Inc.

“We paid the money for the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual event held in New York which was attended by a galaxy of international celebrities, including heads of state and governments,” said Chandrajeet Bannerjee, director-general of the CII.

“The funds were disbursed in October-November 2007,” Bannerjee added.

The chamber tried hard to shake off the embarrassment that stemmed from the Clinton Foundation’s disclosures about its contributors. Incoming US President Barrack Obama is believed to have insisted on the full list before confirming Hillary’s appointment.

The CII was at pains to emphasise that this wasn’t a political contribution that was in any way connected with Hillary’s own campaign to win a Democratic nomination to run for the presidency.

“We tried to gain branding for our own event, India@60, which we were holding in the same city. We got our money’s worth in terms of branding because of our association with the Clinton event,” Bannerjee said.

The decision to sponsor the Clinton event – which was a part of the Rs 23-crore India@60 celebration in New York – was taken by a committee that oversaw the fund. This panel included Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, Jamshed Godrej and telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal.

However, it was evident that the proposal to sponsor the Clinton Foundation event had not been cleared by the CII’s executive committee.

Veteran leaders of the CII – Rahul Bajaj and Adi Godrej – said they did not wish to comment on the issue as they did not have all the facts. “I don’t know the facts of the case,” said Rahul Bajaj.

“I don’t know anything about it,” said Adi Godrej.

The disclosures are also potentially embarrassing for the government since it partly sponsored the India@60 event – and could be accused by extension of funnelling cash to the Clinton Foundation.

The India@60 celebrations in New York, which were meant to showcase India’s development and help Indian businessmen network in the global market, was funded largely by CII members. However, the Government of India contributed Rs 5 crore that was routed through the commerce ministry.

However, commerce secretary G.K. Pillai clarified “the money we gave was never paid directly to CII... it went through the India Brand Equity Fund and was paid for specific events, hotel bookings and dinners.”

Other officials added that there was no way that government money could have been passed on to the Clinton Foundation since there were several layers of scrutiny, including by Parliament.

“If doubts are raised, we can check the vouchers again,” Pillai said.

The long list of contributors includes several Indian industrialists, companies and top executives. At the top of the list are Lakshmi Mittal, the owner of the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal, Tulsi Tanti’s Suzlon Energy and Amar Singh. Each of them has contributed between $1 million and $5 million to the Foundation which works on a wide range of issues, from HIV/AIDS to climate change and from elimination of child obesity to sustainable development in Latin America and Africa.

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh yesterday said he didn’t have that kind of money to donate, prompting the BJP today to ask him to come clean.

Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director of construction giant HCC, donated $200,000 to the Clinton Global Initiative. In a media release, the company said the money was meant for HIV/AIDS educational programmes and medical support in and around the HCC work site, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.

When it was pointed out that the list showed his wife Parameshwar Godrej as a contributor in the $10,001 to $25,000 category, Godrej bristled and said: “She is not a contributor. She attended the Clinton Foundation event where the entrance fee was paid from India.”

Besides the CII, several industrialists were also scrambling to head off suggestions of impropriety in their contributions to the Clinton Foundation.

“To my knowledge, there has been no such payment,” said Pramod Mittal over the phone from London. The Clinton Foundation’s list shows Global Steel Holdings had paid between $50,001 and $100,000. Pramod is the younger brother of Lakshmi Mittal.

Several Indian companies provide funds to political parties in India but rarely reveal these details. Under the provisions of the Companies Act, private entities that have been in existence for over three years can fund political parties directly or indirectly. They can also provide funds to a person for “any political purpose”.

Political contributions must be capped at 5 per cent of the net profits and the board of directors must pass a resolution before the contributions can be made.

Some companies scrupulously follow the rules. One such company is Ranbaxy Ltd. In its balance-sheet for the year ended December 31, 2007, the pharmaceutical giant said it had contributed Rs 40 lakh each to the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. It had made no contributions in 2006.

In 2004 (when the previous general election was held), Ranbaxy contributed funds to four political parties: the BJP (Rs 25 lakh), All India Congress Committee (Rs 25 lakh), Telugu Desam Party (Rs 5 lakh) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Rs 5 lakh).

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc – a group company registered in the US – has shovelled between $100,001 and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

Top executives who contributed to the Clinton Foundation include Vinita Bali, MD of Britannia Industries; Raymond Bickson, MD of the Tata-owned Indian Hotels Company; and Vivek Paul, former vice chairman of Wipro and now with the Texas Pacific Group. All of them paid between $10,000 and $25,000.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad today asked, “Did Amar Singh give money from an account which he cannot own up?”

He said the Clinton Foundation was unlikely to lie about the donations. He also wanted to know if the Reserve Bank had cleared the donation and if the Foreign Exchange Management Act had been applied. Prasad said an RBI clearance was needed for donations in foreign exchange if the sum was above $2 million.


Did I hear somebody say that India is a poor country?
Seeing the donations made by our industrialists to poor Bill Clinton, it does not seem we are poor.
Oh!, there may be 30 crores or so people living on Rs 300 per month but our industrialist have over $11.25 millions to give to poor Bill Clinton. In Rs it comes to about 54 crores.
They could have fed about 5000 people for one whole year.
We must thank Obama for insisting on Clinton coming clean on the sources of his donation as a pre-requisite of making Clinton's wife as his Secretary of State.
How we would like our Election Commission insisting on all ministers publishing the source of their donations, before taking the oath of office.
We should have the American system of all top aspirants for ministerial posts to be interviewed by the House before being given the ministries.
After all they are taking a job as a public servant. They too should have to pass an interview before joining their jobs.

Radheshyam

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Get-together at Mumbai and Delhi

We have had report on the get-together held in Kolkata on 9th November alongwith beautiful photographs. What about the reports of the get-together at Mumbai and Delhi ? Please let us know.

Antulay is the Simi Garewal of Indian Politics - M.J.Akbar

There is, or should be, a well-defined line in media between the liberty of impression and the freedom of expression. Both are privileges of democracy. Liberty of impression is the exhilarating-frightening roller coaster on which public discourse rides. Freedom of expression is cooled by the sprinkle of judgement, a mind that sieves speculation, allegation and accusation from the end-product that appears in print or on air.

There is outrage against the television coverage of Mumbai terrorism because television celebrities surrendered their judgement before the rising demand for hysteria. There is no supply without demand. The very audiences that sucked out hysteria from cable are now howling against its perpetrators. It is a human instinct to develop instant amnesia about one's mistakes and sharpen knives with the vigour of humbugs the moment a scapegoat has been identified. The viewer is now seeking absolution through anger.

But the information market has been flooded with toxic weed. Hysteria is not the exclusive preserve of audio-visual junketeers. From the moment the terrorist violence hit Mumbai, much before the course of events evolved into a pattern, some sections of the Urdu press began pumping up circulation figures with fantasy fodder, in the shape of conspiracy theories, to a readership in search of denial. The conspiracy-in-chief was that this mayhem was nothing more than a plot to sabotage the investigation that ATS chief Karkare was conducting into the Malegaon blasts. The death of the police officer was declared instant martyrdom.

News media operates within a triangle of customer, producer and politician. A clever politician is a master chef in cooking up a broth of impression and expression. Since the customer is also a voter, the politician panders to street opinion by lifting it into the loftier realm of Parliament or television studio. The very act of transferences gives implicit legitimacy to fantasy fodder.

Abdur Rahman Antulay is not in search of truth. He is in search of votes. He has become the Simi Garewal of Indian politics. Garewal saw a Pakistani flag fluttering on every Muslim housetop in Mumbai. Antulay sees a vote beyond every Muslim doorstep. Garewal was blinded by a low IQ. Antulay has turned myopic because one is stupid and the other cynical. But that is his secondary medical problem. His primary disease is cancer of the vote-bank.

If you want to understand Antulay's and, by extension, the Congress' compulsions, then take a look at an SMS I received on December 1: "Congress has been wiped out in Dhule corporation election. It could get only 3 seats out of 67". Dhule is barely fifty kms. from Malegaon. More than 30% of its electorate is Muslim.

As the minorities minister with the unique distinction of having done absolutely nothing for minorities, Antulay and his party face a meltdown in Maharashtra. If they cannot get even Muslim votes, they can forget about power and pelf in Delhi. He has therefore chosen to feed the Muslims with the comfort food of conspiracy theories, in the hope that this will drug him to the point where he loses his bearings until April-May elections.

Will this succeed ? Perhaps. It has succeeded before. But take a look at another SMS I received, anouncing a meeting of the Maharashtra United Democratic Convention at Birla Matushri on December 17. An experiment for the consolidation of the Muslim vote was begun in Assam under a similar banner and did well in the last assembly elections. It has 11 MLAs and came second in some two dozen constituencies. Maulana Badruddin Ajmal Qasmi promised at the Mumbai convention that an MUDF would set up candidates in every constituency in the next

assembly elections. Its aim would be to defeat both the Congress and the BJP. He warned the Congress, which had got the Muslim vote in the state for six decades, that the bondage were over, and the Muslim vote had grown up: it was not going to be satisfied with toffee anymore.

It is a long journey from desire to destination. There will be pressure and deviation; some attempts to purchase some leaders will possibly succeed. But such language has never been heard from a Muslim platform in Maharashtra.

Simi Garewal sees a Pakistan where there isn't one. Antulay will not see a Pakistan where there is one. But Simi is a fringe factor; Antulay sits on centrestage. Antulay is a Cabinet minister, who has provided sustenance to those Pakistanis who are trying to fool us into believing that the terrorism in Mumbai was an instance of Indian security failure rather than an invasion sponsored by Pakistani elements.
I am amazed at the sheer gall of both the spinners of in Pakistan and the Antulays in India. They seem to forget that there is a Pakistani canary sitting in Indian jail, singing out the plans , preparations and objectives. Nine dead men and their masters are being exposed by the tenth man, the man who did not die.
If this is the state of deception and self-deception when one terrorist has been caught, what would have been the level of denial if all ten had died ?
Cynicism is a staple of vote-driven politics. We all know that. I was naive to believe that our nation's security would remain outside the reach of cynicism.

Get-together of the Kolkata Chapter on 4.01.09

Although I'm presently residing in Delhi, I belong to the Kolkata Chapter. It will not be possible for me to attend the get-together on 4/01/09. I want to register my name as an alumni. I shall be in Kolkata after 15th March. What should I do ?

JK Ghosh

Dear Friends

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2009 to you all and your families. May the Almighty keep you all in good health.

JK Ghosh

Message For Zero tolerance PM and Aunt Sonia

Cong mulls Antulay reply

RADHIKA RAMASESHAN

New Delhi, Dec. 20: The government is working on the details of a statement it is expected to make in Parliament next week on Union minister A.R. Antulay’s comment on the killing of Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare.

Given the serious political ramifications of the minority affairs minister’s remarks, within and outside India, the ruling Congress was still undecided on who should make the statement: it could be a mea culpa from Antulay, as railway minister Lalu Prasad suggested.

Antulay could be asked to stress Pakistan’s “role” in Karkare’s death and de-link it from the Malegaon blasts probe the ATS chief was carrying out, involving RSS activists.

The statement could also be a clarification from a senior cabinet minister.

Sources suggested an expression of admission from Antulay was “more expedient” as it would serve the purpose of distancing the government from the controversy he created. The sources also hoped that an articulation from Antulay would better placate the Opposition.

A “clarification” in the conventional parliamentary sense “could throw up more questions than answer them,” a minister said.

“If we support Antulay, we end up alienating large sections of opinion-makers and weaken our case vis-a-vis Pakistan. If we oppose him, he will have to go,” the minister said.

The Congress core committee, which met at the Prime Minister’s residence, mulled over the merits and de-merits of each option but couldn’t zero in on one.

A suggestion that Antulay’s reported resignation offer be accepted instantly was rejected because the leaders were “concerned” about how it would go down with Muslims.

Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, sources said, were “flooded” with messages from Muslims across the country, endorsing Antulay’s comments.

“Antulay has done whatever damage he needed to. Why should we exacerbate it by throwing him out?” asked a leader.

Some felt the Congress should not allow the Mumbai massacre to dominate its agenda.

“We dropped three ministers to make the government seem accountable. Surely, we can’t empty out the cabinet in deference to the so-called public sentiment,” a source said.

There was a proposal that once Parliament met on Monday, the UPA should target BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s TV interview. Singh, who was external affairs minister in the NDA government when terrorists had hijacked a civilian aircraft, was heard saying that if the “Kandahar episode” was to repeat itself, his response would also be the same: give Pakistani terrorists safe passage in lieu of saving the passengers on board.

“We will demand that Singh should step down as the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha,” a minister said.


The above is from "The Telegraph"
It seems that the effects of the public wrath on the politicians in the aftermath of the Mumbai Massacre has worn off.
They are back to normal with their vote bank politics.
The congress is in no mood to take action on A R Antulay, because of the Muslim votes, although he has offered to resign, .
Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, were “flooded” with messages from Muslims across the country, endorsing Antulay’s comments.
So, instead, if they are "flooded" with messages from across the country critisizing Antulay's comments, they will take action.
What a country? My India which we call Great, is indeed VERY GREAT.
IT IS RUN ON MESSAGES.
It seems realty TV has affected the functioning of the Government of India.
If you want to support Antulay's comment you type "AUNT" space Y. If you do not support his comments the type "AUNT" space N.
Thank you Aunt Sonia.

Msgs from Old Boys 51

Msg from J A Kingsley

With 1 week before Christmas REMEMBER:

Jesus is Better than Santa

Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.
Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.
Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks.. and then enters your heart.
You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.
Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.
Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly
JESUS has a heart full of love.
All Santa can offer is HO HO HO
JESUS offers health, help and hope.
Santa says "You better not cry"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.
Santa's little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
Santa may make you chuckle but
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.
While Santa puts gifts under your tree
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.
It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.
We need to put Christ back in Christmas.
Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2008
And may He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New


Msg from Safiul

One of the most glorious songs on earth is "Come oh ye faithful/Joyful
& triumphant..." Sing it with glee, sing it out loud.

Safiul
Merry Christams and Happy New year to all. Also -- belated Eid Mubarak



Msg from Dwwipayan Chowdhury

Hello Sir

This is Dwaipayan here(Maternal nephew of your colleague, Mr. Amitabha Adhikari) It had been a great honour for me to have you around to help me. No sooner that you mailed my resume to your contacts in North America, I started getting calls immediately. I really appreciate that enormous help from you and your peers. One of your peers, Mr. Shom Churasia even offered job to me.

While on my wait period, I finally got a job in a Long Term Care Retirement Home in which in my Food and Nutrition field, the course which I took as a student in Candian College, and it gave me the satisfactory postion much to my expectations.

Nevertheless, I would take this opportunity to thank you and all your friends who have taken the effort of helping me out.

Thanking you

Yours Sincerely

Dwaipayan Chowdhury


Willy wu has sent a popular link
http://www.sockandawe.com/

Msg from Ranja Guha Mazumdar

Dear All,

First & foremost, let me, on behalf of all Ex-Goethalites Wish You & Your Family A MERRY CHRISTMAS and a VERY HAPPY and PROPEROUS 2009

Formation & Registration of Goethals Alumni – Kolkata Chapter

I take pleasure in informing you all that the Goethals Alumni (Kolkata) is on the verge of being born and all of us are about to become a part of a Registered Goethals Alumni --- Kolkata Chapter

To set at rest any speculation or doubts, please be informed that the Alumni is being Registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act 1961 and this Kolkata Chapter will be an independent body.

All formalities and paper-work are complete. All that is required are a few signatures and then the papers will be submitted to the office of the Registrar of Societies (West Bengal). As per information, if everything is in order (which I hope is the case) the Registration process should take approx 15 working days.

Membership Fees :

The Membership Fees have been pegged at

Ordinary Membership
Rs. 1,000/= per year (payable annually). Although the Membership Fee is Rs. 1200.= per month, we are charging only Rs. 1,000/- annually.

Life Membership Fees
Rs. 5,000= (payable only once)

NOTE :

1. Presently we will NOT be accepting any Life Membership because we do not have a Bank A?C. Acceptance of this Life Membership Fee will be started only after a decision is taken by The Govering Body at a later date.

2. Friends, please bring Rs. 1,00/0/= with you on 04-01-09, Since these are early days and we still do not have a Bank A/c but we need funds for various activities like Registration Charges, Printing of Stationary etc., we are making this request. Ofcourse those who wish to pay ONLY by Cheque can do so later.

3. This Membership Fee can always be revised at a later date after discussing amongst ourselves.

GENERAL NOTE :

Please remember that attending this luncheon get-together does not make it compulsory to sign-up as a Member of our Alumni. You can always sign-up later and pay your Membership Fees then. No body is forcing / compelling anyone to sign-up.

Governing Body

After much deliberations, we are forming a Governing Body (for a term of 2 years only) which will be a mix of seniors and juniors and after taking the consent of each of these individuals. Our immediate primary goal is to first get the Alumni rolling and then try and put it on the right track so that the Alumni can roll smoothly for years to come.

We hope to be benefitted by the experience of the seniors and the ideas and energy of the juniors.

The completed Memorandum of Association and Rules & Regulations (which will include the names of the Office Bearers and Governing Body Members) will be circulated shortly (before 04-01-09)

Get-Together

We are arranging a luncheon get-together on Sunday 04-01-09. Like last time, this luncheon get-together will also be open to family.

However, the early part of the get-together will be devoted to a formal meeting so that we can complete the formalities for the above mentioned Registration of the Alumni. This will be a short meeting while the ladies and children can mill around and Chat.

Date Sunday 04-01-09

Time 11.30 am

Venue
ARMENIAN CLUB

Location
Queen’s Mansion, On Park Street.

Rear of Barkat Ali Tailors. 1st Floor

Registration Charges
Rs. 250/= per head (Drinks extra at Club Rates)

Since we need to know the number of heads before-hand to be able to order the more-or-less accurate number of plates (to avoid wastage or shortage), we request you to please make it convenient and drop your Registration Fees (for the lunch only) at any one of the following places

North Kolkata
Ranjan Guha Majumder
CE-163, Salt Lake, Sector-1, Kolkata-700064, (Near Telephone Exchange)
South Kolkata
Rudra Roy Chowdhury
M. P. Jewellers, Gariahat

Central Kolkata
Arjun Biswas
SAVOY Camera Stores, Chowringhee

We hope each and every Kolkata based Ex-Goethalite will attend this luncheon meeting-cum-Get Together, even if it means cancelling their other engagements because this is not just a get-together …… It is a meeting to form the long-awaited Kolkata Chapter of GMS Alumni. And so the presence of each one of you is MOST ESSENTIAL. We would like to show all Ex-Goethalits all over the Globe that the Kolkata boys are ONE in the true spirit of an Ex-Goethalite. We hope and expect that not a single Kolkata based Ex-Goethalite will be left out of the Alumni.

Any out-station Ex-Goethalite is also MOST WELCOME and there will be NO REGISTRATION CHARGES for him and his family. They will be our GUESTS.

Since we do not have the E0Mail ID’s of a few Kolkata based Ex-Goethalites and a number of E-Mail ID’s in our database have become invalid / non-functional and hence these mails are ‘bouncing’, please check with your friends / batch-mates and if anyone has not received this mail, please inform them and request them to mail me with their Names etc. so that we can update our database..

Bye N Take Care

Ranjan Guha Majumder

CE-163, Salt Lake,
Sector-1, Kolkata - 700 064
Phones : +91-33-23373569 & +91-3340047219
Mobiles : 9433381303 & 9433036869
Mail ID's : technog@airtelmail.in


Msg from J K Ghosh

RS,

Hope all are OK in the eastern front. I'm having a tough time. My natni keeps me occupied almost throughout the day. I can sit on the net only after 7 or 8 pm. I hardly find time to post in the blog. Moreover, I've contacted NK Sircar and Ralph Reeves. Both were pleased as punch for having mailing them. Reeves, of course, is a few years junior. But he remembers me. He has seen my picture in the blog. Clifton D'Aubney and Keith Hayward have not replied to my mails, although Cliff wanted to make contact with his old classmates. Safiul has sent a beautiful letter with pictures and all. His curly hair has gone. Where is Bruce Wallace ? He has not sent me any mail as yet.

I suppose SP hasn't as yet taken the internet connection. I must send a mail to AK tonight. No news from him for a long time.

You must have had great fun at the Karco. The pictures were excellent.
Bye for now.

With best wishes.

JK


Msg from Ralph Reeves

Hi

Radhesh,Thanks for all the emails you have sent through the year. It was nice reading them as they were very informative. Let me take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and an eventful New Year. Keep them coming. I might meet up with Nihar Sircar sometime this month. I am still sailing on the Lakes and they have started showing signs of freezing up. Very soon they will and all transportation will come to a grinding halt. We might tie up just after Christmas.Take care

Kind regards & best Wishes,

Ralph



Saturday, December 20, 2008

Divided We Fall

The minoriy affairs minister, Mr. A.R.Antulay's unwarranted statement, has once again exposed the credibility of the present government's solidarity. When the present situation warrants unity at all levels, Mr.Antulay is dancing to the tune of the enemies and creating division on the basis of religion. This is not a new thing. If one goes through the history of India for the last one thousand years, one will find such betrayals in hundreds. Mr. Antulay has found the opportunity to make the headlines and bring himself to the forefront of politics. He is definitely playing a dirty game. What he is trying to get at, we all understand. He should be exterminated before any serious damage is done.

Friday, December 19, 2008

India-Pakistan Relation

The Indian government has again shown itself as a softy. Does it not realise that both the American and Pakistan governments are taking it for a ride ? The Americans and the Pak governments have made an under the table pact that no matter what the Americans say to the Pak government, the latter should ignore them and say and do what they like. Some anti-American demonstrations are staged to show the Indian Government that America is putting maximum pressure on the Pak government to stop terrorist activities and hand over the terrorists enlisted by the Indian Government. The Pak government has categorically stated that they will not do so.
The Times of India reports : Zardari on Thursday also nonchalantly dismissed reports of terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab being an inhabitant of Pakistan"s Faridkot village, telling BBC there was "no proof" of Kasab being a Pakistani citizen.
The cussed refusal to acknowledge facts is part of a pattern. On Wednesday, Pakistani high commissioner in Delhi Shahid Malik told a TV channel that Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar was not under house arrest. This, after Pakistan's defence minister had declared that Azhar had been arrested.
Now, what the Indian government says, is to be seen. I had posted in an earlier blog, that as long as Pakistan and Bangladesh exist, terrorism will prevail. And as long as terrorism prevails, the American economy will thrive. Only India will suffer if it does not take any stern action. Words will not suffice. We'll be living in a fool's paradise if we trust America and other western countries.

Science and Religion...

This is from Rex Barker

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being...

A Demon - The Electronic Media

Guidelines for terror on TV
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Dec. 18: TV channels have adopted self-regulatory guidelines on covering terror or hostage situations, agreeing not to air gory scenes or live coverage of commando operations.

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA), a conglomerate of various channels, has come up with the “emergency protocol” after widespread criticism of the coverage of the Mumbai attack last month.

Channels have agreed not to beam live contact with the victims or security personnel engaged in rescue operations. The guidelines also urge broadcasters not to telecast the number or identities of hostages, and to eschew reportage or commentary that appears sympathetic to the terrorists.

Coverage should avoid shocking, offending or misleading the audience, and horrifying or bloody situations must not be beamed, the protocol says.

It adds that reporting must not jeopardise the nation’s security. Security experts had said the Mumbai attack coverage may have distracted the commandos while providing key inputs about security forces’ plans to the gunmen.

The protocol asks senior editorial and management staff to carefully vet planned broadcasts that explore the views of people who use or advocate violence for the achievement of political ends.

The guidelines are similar to the advisories the information and broadcasting ministry had issued to TV channels during and after the Mumbai terror attacks. At the time, however, the channels had refused to abide by what they saw as government intervention.


The above is from "The Telegraph" and is a good joke.
You are asking one crook to take care for another crook
The TV channels are just interested in raising the TRP's, by hook or by crook.
They don't care for the victim's feelings, the more gory the details, the better it is.
They should just report facts instead of taking interviews and airing the views of onlookers and bystanders. This influences investigations and the police start creating alibis.
The way the interviewer shoves the microphone on the face of the interviewee makes me wish I was there. I would just take the microphone and beat him/her on the nose.
The police should also be barred from airing half baked views which have to be withdrawn later on. It seems they like to see their faces on the TV and win fleeting fame.
The government should study the Arushi murder case and the way the media and police took everybody for a ride and should prevent such recurrence in future and not believe the media will correct itself.

Radheshyam

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Kolkata 18.12.2008

I had received the message below from Dipak of 23rd October.
True to his word, he contacted us after coming over to Kolkata.
We had a small reunion at KARCO, N G Kar's family restaurant at New Market.
Being a non-veg place I went there for the first time and was astonished to see it was so big.
M.Gasper, Leslie Mascarenhas, Anup Daw, Arun Shroff, Joe D'Silver, Manos Choudhury, Uppal Biswas, Arjun Biswas, Dipak and his wife Kajal, and I were there. I was the junior-most. The others, all class mates, picked up the pieces from where they had left off at the last meeting. Mr. & Mrs N G Kar were the gracious hosts, as always.
It is always good seeing old school boys.

Radheshyam


Dear Radheshyam:
Congratulations on the new addition to the family. You have created quite a following with this blog. Moreover, you have a lot to offer without offending anyone.Too bad the Goethals reunion in Kolkata will be in November. We will be in Kolkata end of November for a month & I will definitely get in touch with you & other Goethalites. Here are some of the boys I have met there: Anup Daw, Arun Shroff, Anthony Gasper, Mohan Shivdasani, Bobby Choudhury, Leslie Mascarenhas, Nelson Flavien, N.G. Kar, Samir Sarkar, & other names I can't remember. Hope to have a get-together
Dipak Roy - 1961






Pat & Erwa

I received the tidings from Pat.
I am sure all our boys all over the world will join me in wishing Pat and Erwa a long and Happy married life.
Radheshyam


We were married here last Thursday, so here are a few wedding pics.
With best wishes from us both - Pat & Erna Peirce.






Monday, December 15, 2008

Are You Fine?

This one is from Prakash Bhartia.
When anybody asks us "How are You?", we unthinkingly say "I am fine".
We find out now how risky it is if we don't say "I am fine"


Shmuel had a bad car accident involving a large truck. Weeks later, in court, the trucking company's fancy lawyer was questioning Shmuel.

"Didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine,'?" asked the lawyer.
Shmuel responded, "Vell, I'll tell you vat happened. I just put my dog Moishele, into the….."

"I didn't ask for any details", the lawyer interrupted. "Just answer the question.
Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'?"
Shmuel said, "Vell, I just got Moishele into the car and vas driving down the road...."
"The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question."

By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Shmuel's answer and said to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his dog Moishele".
Shmuel thanked the Judge and proceeded. "Vell, like I vas saying, I just loaded Moishele, my lovely hundteleh (dog), into the car and vas driving him down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I vas thrown into one ditch and Moishele vas thrown into the other. I vas hurting, real bad and didn't want to move. However, I heard Moishele moaning and groaning. I knew he vas in terrible shape just by his groans.

Den a Highway Patrolman came along. He could hear Moishele moaning and groaning so he vent over to him. After he looked at him, and saw vat terrible condition Moishele was in, he took out his gun and shoots him between the eyes.
Den the Patrolman comes across the road, gun still in hand, looks at me and says, "How are you feeling?"
Nu, Judge, vat vould you say?"

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Woes of North Easterners

I give below a report published in the Times of India, New Delhi, today :
Gurgaon: Two girls working in a BPO were allegedly beaten up by their landlord, his son and servant in the early hours of Saturday in Sikandarpur, DLF Phase I. The girls, who are from Manipur, had taken their flat on rent only two days back.
A spokesperson for North-East Support Centre and Helpline alleged that they had also been molested.
The two were taken to Sriram Hospital after they called their community members and sought their help. While one of the girls is said to be severely injured in a leg and back, the other has received injuries in her hand.
The police said that the girls had not mentioned any sexual assault in the written complaint and that's why a case under Sections 452, 323 and 506, relating to forceful entry and threat to life, was registered against the accused in the DLF Phase I police station. So far, there has been no arrest in the case though. Sumit Kumar, ACP, East, said, "in their complaint, the girls have said that around 2.30 am on Saturday, three persons who were drunk entered the flat of the victims forcefully and beat them up. They did not say they were sexually assaulted, but if they level such charge, we will register a case and take action against the accused".
Madhu Chandran, spokesperson of the north-east helpline for Delhi and NCR said the girls were too embarrassed to speak to the cops about their molestation but they had told the helpline about it.
He alleged that despite repeated pleas, the police did not register a case under the Prevention of Atrocity against SC/ST Act, 1995. The girls belong to a tribal community.
"Ever since our helpline has been responding to such victims, the number of of such cases of assault has gone down. This case has been reported after a gap of 10 months and we will fight to make sure that the culprits are punished in a way that it proves to be a deterrent," he added.
I have posted the above report to point out one of the reasons for the anti-India reactions shown by the people of the North Eastern states, Viz. Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. They are forced to form a society for their protection in their own country. What a tragedy !
I'm in Delhi for the last 2 and a half years and every now then there are reports of students and working people from the North Eastern states being harassed in colleges, universities, on roads and in their flats as in the above report. Are these people from another country ? They are also Indians. I just don't understand what the Delhiites think of themselves.
I find most of the Delhiites uncultured. They lack sense of decency and are loud-mouthed. I'm sorry if I've hurt anybody but after living here for more than two years I've realised it.
About two years ago, when I had gone to Kolkata, as I was still in service, my daughter-in-law rang me up. She appeared very agitated. She said that one of the neighbours had dumped her belongings in the unoccupied room without her permission and she had objected to it. But the landlord sided with the neighbour as he saw nothing wrong in it as the room was lying vacant. I talked to him and he said it was only for two days and the goods would be removed. As I could do nothing about it from a thousand miles away, I told my daughter-in-law to accept it for the moment. The landlord said it was their custom. What a custom ! When I came to Delhi after my retirement, I asked the landlord what type of custom do you have in letting in strangers into your room without your permission. Do you permit anybody ? You're having a vacant room on the third floor, will you allow me to occupy it ? He said, no. I said, why not ? It's lying vacant and it is your custom for an outsider to occupy such a room without seeking your permission. You're going back on your own words. If you have an objection now, then why did you not support my daughter-in-law when she objected ? Is it because she was alone in the house and an outsider ? I told him that my daughter-in-law was perfectly right when she objected and they could not have done anything if she had thrown out all the goods on the road. The neighbour should have had the minimum courtesy in seeking her permission before putting the articles, whatever they were, into the room. Then she would not have objected.
I had visited Manipur and Nagaland in 1978. I had to obtain an Innerland permit to go to Manipur, which is initially given for three days only. If I wanted to extend my stay (with valid reasons) for a further period, I was required to contact their related office. In Manipur I was treated as an Indian i.e. outsider. The same in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram. At Imphal, I went to purchase some fruits from a Bihari vendor. The price was exorbitant. I asked him why he was charging so much, double the actual rate. Then he told me quietly that the local Manipuris will pay half for what they purchase, so he has doubled it. If he charges the actual price, he'll lose money, because they'll pay only half.
The students and working people , mostly ladies, from the North Eastern states are tormented in Delhi at every step. The North East Support Centre and Helpline was formed just to protect these people from their own countrymen. What a pity ! What impression will they take back when they return to their states ? This will only force them to become the staunchest supporters of anti-India agitation. The Delhi police and the Delhi government have not taken any step in mitigating this evil. No person has so far been arrested and punished. This inaction will not bode good for the unity of nation.

Australia, A Big Country

Hello Redheshyam,a bit of intresting info re.Size Comparison-Australia/Europe! Regards,Keith

Keith Hayward has sent the above map of Autralia with the whole of Europe superimposed.
Yes, Australia is a big country.
I only wish they had as bid a heart and did not not have to decimate the original aborigine population of the Country.
They could have easily given them, to live peacefully, a portion of that portion which is not coverd by Europe's map instead of exterminating them.
But I suppose that could not be expected from them as criminals from Great Britain were sent there to populate it.
We too are not white washed babies.
The way we have treated our own adivasi population in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and other parts of India is nothing short of shameful.
At least the Australians can say we were criminals but our people who exploit the advasis are white collared, educated people.

Another Blow on Maritime Piracy


NEW DELHI: Striking yet another blow at the very heart of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Indian warship INS Mysore and its marine commandos thwarted a
hijack attempt on an Ethiopian merchant vessel on Saturday and captured 23 pirates and a large arms cache in the operation

The arrest of the 23 pirates (12 Somali and 11 Yemeni) and the arms haul is the largest such seizure in the ongoing anti-piracy operations off Somalia. The confiscated arms and equipment included seven AK-47s, three other assault rifles, 13 loaded magazines, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with two rockets, several grenades, a GPS set and a mobile phone.

Early November, the British Royal Navy had captured eight pirates, who were subsequently handed over to Kenya to face trial in the port town of Mombasa. "The external affairs ministry is now working to find out to which country the 23 pirates in INS Mysore's custody can be handed over,'' said a senior officer.

"INS Mysore, which replaced stealth frigate INS Tabar early December, may head for Djibouti on the horn of Africa. Our plan to base a maritime reconnaissance aircraft like a Dornier at Djibouti (which has a French military base) is also underway,'' he added.

Pirates operating with sheer impunity from ports like Eyl and Hobyo in Somalia, torn apart by an 18-year-old civil war, have already attacked as many as 100 merchant vessels transiting through the crucial shipping lane this year. At least 17 of the hijacked ships and their crew are still being held captive by the pirates for ransom.

The dramatic action on the high seas on Saturday began at 11am IST when the 6,900-tonne Delhi-class missile destroyer INS Mysore received a "distress call'' over the MMB Channel 16 from Ethiopian merchant vessel Gibe that it was being attacked by a pirate "mother dhow'' and a speedboat around 150 nautical miles east of Aden.

An armed Chetak helicopter, with four marine commandos, was immediately "launched'' from INS Mysore towards Gibe, which was 13 nautical miles from the Indian warship at that point in time.

"The sailors on Gibe were exchanging small arms fire with the pirates. On spotting the armed Chetak hovering overhead, the pirate boats broke off their attack,'' said an officer.

Soon after, steaming at full speed, the deadly INS Mysore also reached the spot. By then, all 23 pirates had clambered onto the 10-metre-long dhow -- later identified as `Salahaddin' -- in a bid to escape.

INS Mysore then opened fire across the dhow's bows with its heavy-calibre machine guns, forcing the sea bandits to come to a complete halt. A detachment of heavily-armed marine commandos promptly sped across to the pirate dhow in their fibre-glass inflatable boats.

"Seeing the Marcos, the pirates surrendered quite easily, even though for some time they pretended to be plain fishermen. A search of the dhow led to the discovery of the large arms cache and three outboard motors,'' he said.

"The grenades, being unstable, were thrown off overboard. The 23 pirates and the other arms were taken on board INS Mysore, which will resume its patrolling duties after handing over them over to appropriate ashore authorities,'' he added.

Though over 20 warships from US, EU and other countries are patrolling the piracy-infested Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, it's actually the Indian Navy which has taken the battle to the pirates.

On November 11, INS Tabar had repulsed two hijack attempts, one on an Indian ship (MV Jag Arnav) and the other on a Saudi oil carrier (NCC Tihama), one after the other.

Then, on November 18, it had sunk Thai trawler "Ekawat Nava 5'', which had been commandeered by pirates, after a gunbattle. Though the Navy had come in for some criticism for sinking the Thai trawler, Admiral Suresh Mehta had declared that his force had done nothing wrong.

"Thai ownership does not change the situation. It was under the command of pirates. Use of force was inevitable... We acted in self-defence,'' said the Navy chief. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, too, had strongly defended the Navy's anti-piracy action on the high seas.


The above news item is from the Times of India.
Another feather on the cap of the Indian Navy.
What I do not understand is why the pirates should be handed over to the countries they belong to.
If those countries could have controlled them, the present problem would not have arisen in the first place. Those countries would release the pirates to roam the high sea again.
Any pirates caught on the high seas, should be photographed, identified, the countries should be informed and then made to walk the plank with heavy loads so they sink to the bottom.
Similar fate should be handed out to the terrorists.
All those killed should be thrown to the jackals. No proper funerals should be accorded to them, no matter what religion.
Those caught should be made to talk, photographed, identified, their countries informed and shot. Keeping them in jails just makes others commit crimes to free them.
While I am at it, why is Afzal Guru still alive? Why hasn't he been hanged even after Mumbai terrorist attack?
And our government talks of zero tolerance.
What is surprising it the inaction of the US Navy with 23 ships in the area.
Is it because there is no oil for it to pilfer like it did in Iraq or is it because no US ships have been attacked?
Radheshyam

Saturday, December 13, 2008

The right to vote the right person

Only last week I was talking to a cousin of mine in Asansol regarding the elections held in Delhi and other states. He opined that there should be a provision in the electronic ballot box and the voter's slip where the voter can put his vote if none of the candidates is of his choice. And today I saw in a Kolkata channel that many persons are having a similar view. What a coincidence. But I doubt whether this will solve the problem.
Haryana government has withdrawn about 150 Black Cats out of 500 from the VIPs. Well, that's
the first step. The Central and Delhi governments should take this bold step immediately. The VIPs have become a nuisance to the general masses.

Msgs from Old Boys 50

Msg from Ranjan

Dear Radheshyam,

Can you please mail me your database of GMS Boys so that I can incorporate the same in my Database and update my Database. This will be useful also for communicating with the boys. This up-to-date database can also be circulated amongst the boys so that they can network amongst themselves better.
For your information, we have already prepared the Draft of the Memorandum, a pre-requisite for getting our Kolkata chapter registered and we are now giving the final finishing touches.
WE are planning another get-together in end-December or early-January. This get-together will be important because we need to discuss and formalize the formation of the KOLKATA CHPTER. We are now busy doing our home-work for the same.
Meanwhile, I have been informed that there are some 100+ photographs of the Centenary Celebrations available in Kurseong. I have asked them to send me a numbered sample album of tehse photographs so that we can ask the Kolkata based boys to place their orders and we can get the ordered photos from Kurseong for the Kolkata based boys.
I am waiting for your Database.

Thanks

Ranjan Guha Majumder


Dear Ranjan,

I have attached the total Data base I have.

Radheshyam


Thanks.

Will update and mail back to you the updated database.
This updataion will take some time.
We are planning a business get-together on 04-01-09 at the ARMENIAN CLUB (on Park Street). More about this later once we have finalized everything.
Thanks N Regards
Ranjan Guha Majumder


Msg from Safiul Huda

Jayanta:Congratulations.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Where's the pictureof grandpa holding natni?

Safiul


Msg from Sir, Mr. Lobo

Have a SAFE and MEANINGFUL Christmas and hopefully 2009 will be the new beginning of PEACEFUL years to follow.
The attachment proves that "Hard Work" doesn't kill !!!!
ENJOY
Matt


Hari Om Sir,
And I thought only people from Bengal were allergic to work..

Radheshyam

Msg from Abhinav

Hi Can you help me out the contact details of Kalyan Pramanik - 1991 batch. He is working with Virgin Mobile.Regards

Abhinav.

Dear Abhuinav

The details are given below
kumar_kalyan@yahoo.com
vaiguru@gmail.com
Radheshyam

Hi

I wanted the details of Kalyan Pramanik and not Kalyan kumar. Or are these two names of the same person.Regards,

Abhinav.

He is the person you are looking for as he is working in Virgin Mobile.

Radheshyam
Thank you

Regards,

Abhinav.
Sent by Thondup

For centuries, Hindu women have worn a dot on theirforeheads. Most of ushave naively thought this was connected with religion orbeauty orsomething. But the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC hasrecently revealed the true story.When a Hindu woman marries, she brings a dowry into themarriage. On herwedding night, the new husband scratches off the dot to seewhether he haswon a convenience store, a gas station, a donut shop or amotel in the United States.If there is nothing under the dot, he must take a job in India, answering telephones and giving technical advise that no one canunderstand

Msg from Willy Wu

Hi to all of you, It's almost that time of the year when we allshop around for a new calendar to replacethe last page that is still hanging on the wall. I like to wish all of you a brighter, healthier,safer and a prosperouse 2009. For some ofus who are heavily sucked up in this volatilestock market, I wish all of you better timesahead. Merry X'mas & happy New Year from the Wu family.

Willy (1971).


Msg from Kamalesh Kallani

Hi Everybody. A Goethalite sending you GOOD LUCK

Kamalesh Kllani