tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:01:21 +0000storyDocumentaryBharatiya Vidya Bhavan Jubilee HillsSC 24x7Guest ColumnUS08Legal NotesBizIPLInNTSERoadiesOTFS EditorialIN09IOTYThe OTFS Bloghttp://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)Blogger1803125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-4744871533242327861Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:16:00 +00002012-01-30T00:46:26.422+05:30 Based on trends, OTFS can now predict the results of the 2012 Assembly Elections. Starting off with Manipur, the Congress looks to win a majority here, despite the ban from the CorCom. The reason is obviously the large number of former opposition candidates now standing on Congress tickets. Despite the difficulty in reaching out, there is really very little choice. Not so in Uttarakhand, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/J6wUz-IZF2s/elections-2012-otfs-predictions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/J6wUz-IZF2s" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/elections-2012-otfs-predictions.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-193445587829227488Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:23:00 +00002012-01-24T15:53:52.300+05:30 The huge controversy over inviting Salman Rushdie to the Jaipur Literary Festival (JLF) has brought to fore the very limits of a ban. Banning a book goes so far as preventing its publication and distribution. The publication is banned - the government as such cannot ban any person from traveling to India unless that person requires a visa. Now, Mr. Rushdie holds a PIO Card, which allows his http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/BbXUZLf5Zkk/how-far-can-ban-go.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/BbXUZLf5Zkk" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-far-can-ban-go.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-320891099202668130Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:05:00 +00002012-01-24T15:35:30.792+05:30 The row between Army Chief General VK Singh and the Ministry of Defence over the correct age of the General is a dangerous precedent that will cause havoc in the Chain of Command. On one side is the Army General, who claims to be fighting for his honour as a soldier and on the other are the bureaucrats of the MoD, who refuse to budge from the rules. The saddest thing about this is the glaringhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/dh3tsuLv8K8/dont-compromise-command.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/dh3tsuLv8K8" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/dont-compromise-command.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-6536480914003910111Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:15:00 +00002012-01-20T00:24:55.176+05:30IOTY The nominations are: The Royal House of Tripura: A rare insight into one of Northeast India's oldest kingdoms. This documentary took OTFS readers back to India's Northeast, to a long-forgotten, once mighty Empire. A City Called Bombay!: In celebration of India's most cosmopolitan city, the financial capital, the very heart of the nation. Bombay - from seven islands to a Global city - has seenhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/VBBk_6XvaIQ/ioty11-documentary-of-year.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/VBBk_6XvaIQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/ioty11-documentary-of-year.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-5995068337056223116Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:23:00 +00002012-01-16T23:53:14.683+05:30 This election season, the Naga People's Front, the ruling party in Nagaland championing the cause for a Naga supra-state, has chosen to enter the electoral fray in Manipur and is almost guaranteed to all the seats in Naga-dominated constituencies. This move could prove dangerous in the state with a history of ethnic violence between the Nagas and the Kukis. In this confrontation that had http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/PnQcxBCaECM/naga-question.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/PnQcxBCaECM" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/naga-question.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-790026139501503781Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:45:00 +00002012-01-16T23:15:27.150+05:30 The Delhi HC has raked up a huge deal of controversy recently over its order to social media websites to block objectionable content. The rhetoric has reached such a crescendo that the website in question - Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogger and other - could face a ban if they do not comply. However, the fact of the matter is that banning these sites is simply out of the question inhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/jR6Az9DWNb0/cant-go-china-way.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/jR6Az9DWNb0" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/cant-go-china-way.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-8931795891774251545Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:39:00 +00002012-01-15T12:09:28.398+05:30 The state of Uttarakhand was formed in 2001 primarily on the plank of development for the people of the hills of Uttar Pradesh. It was hoped that with this, the Hill people could lead a better life. Sadly, that was not to be. Even after ten years, the lot of the hills has not improved all that much, while those in the plains have. This election season, politicians have woken up to a new http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/rnJMGFqSut0/where-are-hill-people.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/rnJMGFqSut0" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/where-are-hill-people.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-1827217491819643329Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:08:00 +00002012-01-14T23:38:01.654+05:30 With the UP elections looking bleaker and bleaker for the Congress, it seems to have concluded that the Muslim vote is all that can save it from certain doom. Unfortunately, the Muslim vote is very much in the clasp of the SP. And that calls for desperate measures. And what better than a quota? Now, the Supreme Court placed the upper limit for reservations at 50% in Indira Sawhney & Ors. vs. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/D-or_ZYiJWE/anything-for-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/D-or_ZYiJWE" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/anything-for-up.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-8232089615927219037Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:20:00 +00002012-01-11T23:50:12.661+05:30 A study of the current situation in the five poll-bound states leaves you in no doubt that there are powerful political forces in all of them and one party amongst the many does stand to come out on top, if not win a majority, in all them. Except Punjab. The state that saw the BJP-SAD combine wipe out the Congress and Independents in 2007 is suddenly the hardest of all to predict. The ruling http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/hC3g8AMgQ10/dark-horse-punjab.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/hC3g8AMgQ10" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/dark-horse-punjab.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-8065016329193557840Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:05:00 +00002012-01-11T23:35:17.958+05:30 The condemnable news of Jarawa tribals being forced to dance for food by tourists in the Andaman Islands brings back into focus the long-standing demand and ignored Supreme Court direction to close down the Andaman Trunk Road, the National Highway that connects the major islands of the archipelago. The demand to close the Road is by no means new and it is based on sound scientific principleshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/5GiEWARD4No/close-andaman-trunk-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/5GiEWARD4No" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/close-andaman-trunk-road.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-7638835750245492826Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:46:00 +00002012-01-10T16:16:38.909+05:30 Yes, with a single e-mail, I was informed that my application for the prestigious DAAD WISE Scholarship was approved. I can still remember all that running around, particularly in the Dean Academics' office, that I had to do to get here. But the fruits of labour are sweet indeed! Although most people ask me why I'm surprised at the selection, given my CGPA, I genuinely did not have too many http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/eJJWELRQQVM/daad-you-are-selected.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/eJJWELRQQVM" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/daad-you-are-selected.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-1854452859058116926Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +00002012-01-09T23:48:44.370+05:30 Today is Jan. 8 and we're a dozen days away from Nav Umang. And already, I have a bad feeling about this. The concept itself isn't bad - after all, inter-Bhawan competitions are a common affair in all IITs. Even in Roorkee, Inter-Bhawan Sports Events are a major part of the academic calendar. The problem lay in the way Nav Umang was branded. It did not try to evoke a sense of rivalry between http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/o7BkxUb6pQ8/lessons-in-management.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/o7BkxUb6pQ8" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/lessons-in-management.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-5856735436204333951Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:34:00 +00002012-01-05T23:04:31.768+05:30OTFS Editorial The orchestrated chaos in the Rajya Sabha on the day the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was introduced in Parliament was a dark day indeed for Indian democracy. Over an hour before the chaos and abrupt adjournment sine die, CNN-IBN reported with a great deal of accuracy the events that were going to take place to save the UPA. One thing was certain at the outset - the UPA was in a minority.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/-WzZG3VJBq0/president-must-correct-this-fault.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/-WzZG3VJBq0" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/president-must-correct-this-fault.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-7058966656634054908Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:39:00 +00002012-01-04T15:09:23.404+05:30 2012 comes with what many would describe as the mother of all Assembly Elections - the UP Vidhan Sabha polls. This election season will also see battles being fought over mining in Goa, ethnicity in Manipur and migration in Uttarakhand. In UP, there are a myriad of factors at work. While caste is a major issue, it is no longer that simple anymore. The upper castes are disillusioned by the BSPhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/ftzVMl3WOZc/assembly-elections-2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/ftzVMl3WOZc" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/assembly-elections-2012.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-4737647029565769159Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:41:00 +00002012-01-04T00:11:00.584+05:30 I have a theory - work is like iron. And a worker is the magnet. Once one finds the other, they can't get rid of each other. That's been mu case in the short span of time since the semester began. OK, I found the work. Kshitij and LitSec were always there - they're my responsibilities. Also, there's Nav Umang, the disaster-in-waiting Inter-Bhawan Cultural Meet. There have been a few boring http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/lwMIR2RvXQw/meeting-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/lwMIR2RvXQw" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/meeting-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-6047878055862072239Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:45:00 +00002012-01-01T22:42:26.714+05:30 Well, it had to come at last. A year that, even before it began, was sure to be one of the most important of my life. 2012 - no, not because the world is supposed to end in cosmic disaster. But for far more momentous things. Coming up in three weeks is Nav Umang 2012 - SAC's great big idea to rechristen Thomso and tear the Cultural Council open in one shot. Oh, is it going to bomb or what! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/q5FgRz1FAsg/long-journey-ahead.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/q5FgRz1FAsg" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2012/01/long-journey-ahead.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-4716170657524680202Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:22:00 +00002011-12-28T14:23:55.801+05:30 Book Review: The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy) #1 National Bestseller Lord Shiva. Mahadev. The destroyer of evil. The God that we worship, recast into a man that was worshiped in the greatest land there was - Meluha. The Indus Valley Civilization. In Book 1 of his trilogy, Amish, an IIM-C alumnus, takes us through a fairytale world of his own. While http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/einlWfrRMNE/let-that-imagination-fly.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/einlWfrRMNE" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/let-that-imagination-fly.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-1243546726669613938Tue, 27 Dec 2011 08:21:00 +00002011-12-28T12:46:24.775+05:30 LADIES VS RICKY BAHL (2011) Producer: Yash Raj Films Director: Maneesh Sharma Starring: Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Parineeta Chopra, Dippanita Sharma, Aditi Sharma and others Rating: ** of 5 (2 of 5) Pros: Good premise, nice scenes of Goa Cons: Drags off into familiarity, poor acting, stupid costumes, bad music It could've been a sequel, really. After the hit movie Band, Baajaa, Baaraat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/MHrGiP9uYu0/peters-out-too-soon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/MHrGiP9uYu0" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/peters-out-too-soon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-663982651150438506Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:25:00 +00002011-12-27T13:46:44.474+05:30 The recently-concluded Bonn Conference on Afghanistan, convened on the tenth anniversary of the first Bonn Conference that paved the way for a post-Taliban Afghanistan, can be described as a terrible diplomatic charade that has fooled no one. The ISAF mission is in trouble, Karzai cannot take control on his own and the fundamental question of neutrality is yet to be settled. The Conference http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/KgpAviICxNc/smoke-and-fireworks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/KgpAviICxNc" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/smoke-and-fireworks.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-8632309973131094690Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:13:00 +00002011-12-25T19:43:51.203+05:30Documentary Some historians argue that Gorbachev's reforms were meant to ease state control on the economy and therefore, reduce spending. Others feel that he had long ago concluded, privately, that the Soviet Union could not continue.Whatever it may be, history went to prove that his actions sparked off a wave of consequences.The RepublicsThe Soviet Union was a Union of several Republics distributed http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/o_5qDaqqv8A/great-fall-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/o_5qDaqqv8A" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/great-fall-part-2.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-2946444743080364441Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:39:00 +00002011-12-25T18:44:05.315+05:30Documentary In the lands that we now know as Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe once stood a colossus of a nation, the largest country to have ever existed in modern times and one that, historians would argue, imploded. In this documentary, we try to relive the last days of the Soviet Union - days that were full of uncertainty, days that saw Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika fundamentally http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/1IqSM35IS0c/great-fall-part-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/1IqSM35IS0c" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/great-fall-part-1.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-3899412724282691270Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:24:00 +00002011-12-24T10:54:40.945+05:30 At the start of this semester, everything seemed to be working against me. The Cultural Council was demanding more time than ever - from much more work in Kshitij (particularly the recruitment) than I had ever imagined to the Freshers' Debate to the Mock PD. A new set of challengers had emerged in CE-III, all with the sudden realization that a high CGPA does matter. As if that were not enough,http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/TQcgtxr02AQ/surprising-outcome.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/TQcgtxr02AQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/surprising-outcome.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-5243554898094823954Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:24:00 +00002011-12-24T10:02:49.462+05:30 Waking up is probably the hardest part of all. The warm blanket, the socks, the sweater... all discarded. It's the time of year again when the earth freezes over, when an overpowering cold takes control of the northern parts of the nation. Last year, we just had one, long, powerful cold wave, in which even sub-Himalayan regions like Roorkee saw the mercury fall to zero on the Celsius scale. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/NsUuivBzguc/another-coldwave.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/NsUuivBzguc" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-coldwave.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-1403600209561507888Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:50:00 +00002011-12-23T12:09:36.713+05:30 Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the 11th Vivekananda Memorial Debate at IILM, New Delhi - the self-styled "India's most sought-after debating platform." Well, I'm not so sure. Having devoted over a year in Parliamentary Debating, going back to a regular-style debate was a good opportunity to hone my core skills. Motion: "Is Generation Y savvy enough to lead the nation ten http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/vR8g1FAPRVs/not-apt-format.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/vR8g1FAPRVs" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/not-apt-format.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6773678809137824792.post-4953473485440095161Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:23:00 +00002011-12-22T14:15:44.082+05:30 This past weekend, I had the pleasure/misfortune of spending two days in the National Capital, New Delhi, for the 11th Vivekananda Memorial Debate. Delhi, as always, is a massive city bustling with life. But it is also an unequal city, where child labour is rampant. The most distinctive part about Delhi is the Metro - a shiny wonder that can very well be described as the Gold Standard of http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~3/vm7p8IUd-6I/one-day-as-delhiite.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sushobhan Sen)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opinions24x7/~4/vm7p8IUd-6I" height="1" width="1"/>http://opinions24x7.blogspot.com/2011/12/one-day-as-delhiite.html