MAXIMUM IMPACT

the year ahead (2024-2025)

2025-04-27T02:52:00.001+05:30

(Inspired from MM: a blog post on every birthday.)

Though it's, already 9 months into it ( today 27th Apr 2025), I believe in doing the right thing, and late is better than later!!

In the last 9 months, I got better at trading ( graduated to automation/ bots), started affiliate marketing in crypto ai space, authored The Great AI Debate ,

and learned Python thoroughly, though I haven't got much chance to practice my coding skills further yet. There's good scope for monetizing what's done.

It's unbelievable, that time is rolling by like anything. It's the most heard & insipid cliche, though the truth in it blunts every other emotion, and make you stand naked, or for a better word : sense objectivity or the lack of it.

It's like I haven't achieved what I set out to do in life, and in fact, it means that I have been growing distant from my own goals all this while.

In hindsight, I'm wondering I'm far less than human, as I have not used ( for whatever) my own capabilities, to my surprise. I feel like: I have been kinda prepared thoroughly, but never really appeared for exams. Yes, that's what I feel exactly.

Today, as I see, before my next birth day, I want to achieve 2 things. First one is I've got to be too good at trading ( to the extent that I should like myself). And the second one is : it's been my about 20 years dream to get into film making. I should make progress about it.

Achieving these two goals quickly, helps me do better towards my next ambition - entering public life/service.

By achieving these two goals fast, I may be able to put seeds of new thinking about what's possible, and it's likely going to expand their horizons, to propel themselves onto much wider canvas. People badly need such guidance!

Though I never thought I would become single (& single parent), I've no plans to get into any serious relationship with anyone, ever again. I'm fortunate to have super smart kid, and she's almost always a bundle of fun.

To pave the way for second goal, we may need to shift to Mumbai, or USA, and being unhinged, I see it's going to be ok for myself and my kid Anuhya.

Trust this helps me with increased focus, on my twin goals, for next 3 months.

I can be connected on my X.

ప్రజాస్వామ్యాన్ని అపహాస్యం చేస్తున్న మీడియా !

2018-08-16T11:25:00.000+05:30

తెలుగు రాష్ట్రాలలో మీడియా ప్రభావం గురించి కొత్త పుంతలు తొక్కుతోంది.

NTR రాజకీయ ఆరంగేట్రం నుంచి, తెలుగు దేశం ప్రభుత్వం వచ్చేవరకు, అలాగే 1994 లో ఎన్టీఆర్ ని గద్దె దింపే వరకు, కొన్ని పత్రికల పాత్ర చాలా కీలకం అయింది. ఈ పత్రికలు పూర్తి గ ఏక పక్షం గా వ్యవహరించటం మామూలు విషయం అయిపొయింది. తాము అభిమానించే పార్టీ వాల్లే ఎన్నికల్లో గెలవటానికి, ప్రభుత్వం ఏర్పడటానికి తమ పాత్ర నిర్ధ్వందం గా నిర్వర్తిస్తూ వస్తున్నాయి.

మునుపటి రోజుల్లో వాళ్ళు ఏమి రాసినా చెల్లిపోయేది. అందువల్ల పత్రికల ప్రభావం అధికం గా ఉండేది.

నిజానికి ఇప్పుడు పరిస్థితులు చాలా మారిపోయినాయి. టెక్నాలజీ పుణ్యమా అని, ప్రపంచం లో ఏ మూలాన ఏమి జరిగినా మనకి క్షణాల్లో తెలిసిపోతున్నాయి. నిజానికి పత్రికల పాత్ర ఆ మేరకు తగ్గాలి.

కానీ మన తెలుగు రాష్ట్రాల్లో అక్షరాస్యత ( Telangana - 66.5% and AP - 67.4%) చాల తక్కువ గా వుంది. ఇంటర్నెట్ ఉపయోగించే వాళ్ల సంఖ్య కూడా తక్కువ గా వుంది. ఎక్కువ మంది ఇంకా పాత అలవాట్లైన: ఉదయాన్నే పేపర్ చదవడం, టీవీ లో వార్తలు చూడటం వాటికే పరిమితమయ్యారని భావించవచ్చు. అందువల్ల ఎక్కువమంది ని పత్రికలు , టీవీ లే ప్రభావితం చేస్తున్నాయి.

ముఖ్యం గా చాలా మంది అమాయమకంగా టీవీ లో చూసినవన్నీ నమ్మేస్తుంటారు , పత్రిక లో వచ్చిన వాటిని సందేహించరు.
రాజకేయాలు అంటే అబద్ధాలు చెప్పటమే అయిపోయిన ఈ రోజుల్లో ఇది చాలా ప్రమాదకరంగ పరిణమిస్తుంది.

కొన్ని పత్రికలు స్వతంత్రంగా కాకుండా, కొందరి రాజకీయ నాయకుల సొత్తు వలె ప్రవర్తిస్తున్నాయి. అడ్డగోలు గా వాదిస్తున్నాయి, వైరి పక్షాల నడ్డి విరిచే భాద్యతలు తమపై వేసుకుని తాము చెప్పిందే వేదం అన్నట్టు ప్రవర్తిస్తున్నాయి. వాటి స్వామి భక్తి కి అవధుల్లేకున్నా వుంది.

ఎవరికి నష్టం ?

ప్రజలు విద్యావంతులు, వివేకవంతులు అయితే ప్రజాస్వామ్యం పరిఢవిల్లుతుంది. అట్లా కానప్పుడు, అంటే నిరక్షరాస్యత, అమాయకత్వం మరియు అవివేకం ప్రజల్లో ఎక్కువ గా ఉన్నందువల్ల ప్రజాస్వామ్యం అపహాస్యం పాలవుతుంది. ఇట్లా జరగడానికి కొన్ని పత్రికలూ యదేశ్చ గా పనిచేస్తున్నాయి.
ఈ నష్టం ఇక్కడితో ఆగిపోదు. భావితరాలకు చేరుతుంది, దేశ అభివృద్ధి ని కుంటిపజేస్తుంది.

పోలారిజషన్

ఈ రోజుల్లో కూడా తెల్లని వన్నీ పాలని, నల్లనివన్నీ నీళ్లని నమ్మేవాళ్ళు చాలా మందే వున్నారు. స్వార్ధ రాజకీయాలకు, వాళ్లకి వంత పాడే పత్రికలకు ఇలాంటి అమాయక ప్రజలు బలి అవుతున్నారు. ఇందులో చాలామంది చదువుకున్న వాళ్లు కూడా వున్నారు.

మీడియా సెన్సషలిజం, ఫ్యావోరిటిజం చుట్టూ తిరుగుతున్నంత వరకూ క్వాలిటీ ఆశించడం వృధా.

పరిష్కారం ?

దాదాపు ప్రతీ మీడియా సంస్థ ఏదొక రాజకీయ పార్టీ కి దగ్గర సంబంధం కలిగి ఉంటుంది, దాని పక్షపాతి గా వ్యవహరిస్తోంది. తరచుగా వీటిలో వచ్చే వార్తలు కూడా ఆ పార్టీ కి ఒక వ్యాపార ప్రకటనల్లాగ తయారయినాయి. మంచి చెడులు లేవు. నీతి నియమాలు లేవు.

జాతీయ పత్రికల్లో కొన్ని బీజేపీ కి అనుకూలంగా ఉంటె, మరి కొన్ని కాంగ్రెస్స్ కి దగ్గర గా పని చేస్తున్నాయి. ఇక ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్ వరకు వస్తే దాదాపు అన్ని మీడియా సంస్థలు బీజేపీ కి వ్యతిరేకిస్తున్నాయి. పత్రిక స్వాతంత్య్రం, నిబద్ధత అనేవి మచ్చు కైనా కనిపించవు. సొంత గొంతు మర్చిపోయినట్టు, ఆర్ధిక ప్రోత్సాహాల కి అలవాటై , రాజకీయ పార్టీ లకు అనుకూలం గా వల్లె వేస్తున్నాయి. అవసరమైతే నిజాలని తొక్కి పెడుతున్నాయి. వాటికవే న్యాయస్తానాల్లాగా అనేసుకుని, ఇష్టమైనట్టు జడ్జిమెంట్ ఇచ్ఛేస్తున్నారు.

సగటు మనిషి కి ఈ విషయాలు గ్రహించే అవకాశం లేదు. ఏ రోజైతే ఈ పరిస్థితి మారుతుందో, తప్పు వార్తలు ప్రచురించినందుకు న్యాయస్థానాల చుట్టూ తిరిగే పరిస్థితి రావచ్చు. కానీ మీడియా ని నియంత్రించేందుకు ఒక స్వతంత్ర సంస్థ ని ఏర్పాటు చేయాల్సిన అవసరం వుంది. అది జరిగే వరకు ఎవరి ఇష్టమొచ్చినట్టు వాళ్ళు వ్యవహరిస్తారు.

అప్పటివరకు, ప్రజాస్వామ్యం కి నాలుగవ మూలస్థంభమైన మీడియా ప్రజాస్వామ్యాన్ని అపహాస్యం చేస్తూనే ఉంటుంది.

Options before Jagan Mohan Reddy !

2015-10-30T18:28:00.000+05:30

What Jagan Mohan Reddy achieved by Deeksha?

He failed to get enough sympathy from other parties as well as the masses, perhaps due to his high hand drama activities like Odarpu yatras, which are too ridiculous for the purpose it meant.

Almost no sane person need to be consoled years after his leader died, even in the idealist scenario. And people can sense it.

Did the government did the right thing by stopping it by force?

One thing is it's government's responsibility to keep law & order in control, to post as great destination to attract business investments...etc. its all the more surprising that both ruling party, nor opposition criticise or condemn BJP, the ruling party at the centre, for their own reasons.

What's that achieved by not attending Sankusthapana?

Frankly nothing much, nor he would have gained by attending to the same. Attendance is not important, but how constructive they sound outside, is going to be vitally important. And people can remember.

There's no political vacuum in state, especially after Chandra Babu, and Pawan Kalyan, and hence it really requires more than political manoeuvring, to the unprecedented levels, to make any gains.

Objectives/ responsibilities of being a politician ? Situation in AP?

It's tough to work against seasoned politician like Chandra Babu Naidu, that too when he's in power. And as its his imminent responsibility to build capital city from scratch. Once it's in place, though it will be long from now, he will keeps getting adulations from around, and and it's difficult to make opposition to make a strong base or position to make their case.

It's anathema to being a politician, like being on a shaky ground.

Two Options before Opposition party

#1 to continue in the same vein, while ensuring they are not being laughed yet

In politics, especially in India, politics comes before all. In the name of it, parties get blind to even obviously good & constructive measures by any party, other than their own. Often it goes against the good of people and state, but no one gives a thought about it. All that matters is their own party interests. Perhaps people are not savvy enough, yet, to realize this.

Anything other than that, is not digestible to politicians. It continues in independence India.

Being blindly loyal to the extent of sycophancy, is basic step to being and growth of politician.

#2 conditional behaviours and tactics

in interest of building new state, there they can be every where, and try to en-cash every possible way, while making govt work & accountable.

While it's not easy as it sounds, this is to be the way going forward. They have to be more nimble, and opportunistic.

With this approach he would not have issues or inhibitions to rub shoulders with people in power, including anyone and everyone, while make his voice heard enough, projecting themselves as standing for state's interests.

But this requires more innovation on the part of parties, and the party in ruling takes all steps to cut the opposition to size, so that no iota of any credit, in the eyes of public, goes to them.

His Friday ritual is still on top of his mind?

To what extent he's to fear of the cases that have been pending against him, that will not help him play effective politician's role....worse being in opposition. He can't fight beyond certain extent, of course he only knows, if he has chance of getting reprieve from the pending cases. Is he just became victim of political vendetta against him, by then ruling congress at the centre, due to which he was in jail for 16+ months?

Is it the reason behind his meeting with Ramoji Rao ?

Well, all talk, and nothing known to public.

In any case, as mentioned in this article, the opposition must be nimble enough to support cause based support, and wary enough to ensure to make it stand out, at vantage points, while making government work extra hard, accountably.

Hope people in opposition to come to their senses, and put their act in place.

State Of Scholarships In India

2015-10-21T20:09:00.000+05:30

The Indian education system is getting a great demand because of its methodical and quality education process. The education system is basically controlled by state level and at the center level too. Scholarships in India for college and school students are offered for the past 6 decades to continue the studies for various courses. The government of India, other governments, public and private organizations and Indian universities offers massive types of scholarships for Indian and also international students who like to study in India or abroad. There are a significant number of scholarships for masters, bachelors, PhD, postdoctoral degrees, distance learning programs, short courses, training programs and fellowships. Even state government and central government offering best scholarship for SC/ST students to bring them level up.

Scholarship is the boon for the students who belongs to society weaker section and who are unable to continue further education. Scholarships in India are a great incentive and encouragement for candidates, who are talented and interested to study further. There are plenty of scholarships available in India that includes merit based, student specific, college specific, need based and career specific. The ministry provides external and national scholarships to the needy. National merit scholarship scheme provides great financial assistance to any meritorious students from post-Graduation to Class XI level in universities and government colleges/schools. The total number of scholarships is divided among the state boards depends on the particular state population in age group of 25 to 18 years. Under DBT (direct Benefit Transfer), the scholarships can be disbursed into the beneficiary’s bank accounts directly.

The main purpose of providing scholarship is to help the students financially cope with their dream of achieving higher studies. Moreover, there are many misconceptions that thesescholarships are only for the students with good academic background. Don’t pond with such rumors, the scholarship isavailable for eligible students who are in need.

Each and every scholarship has its own rules, it is necessary to familiar with all the features and information before applying for the scholarship. The internet is the best place to search the details and needed information to apply and benefit through the scholarship.

The prime ministers scholarship scheme has been announced to the students belongs to Jamu & Kashmir state. Sikkim University, Gangtok announced scholarships for Mphilcandidates. 2016 national scholarship announced to the students with disabilities for about 2500 students. Eligible candidates can apply through online to enjoy the benefits.

The national scholarship portal is the great solution to get the solution for end to end process of scholarship from student application, sanction, verification and also disbursal to beneficiary offered by the Government of India. TANA foundation USA offers graduate scholarships for Telugu candidates who resides in Andra Pradesh to acquire higher level education in the USA. ONGC announced 500 scholarships for ST and SC students for the eligible candidates. NEST also announced a scholarship scheme for degree students of medical, engg, and science for the year 2016.

AICTE scholarship to girl child scheme helps to promote the technical education like architecture, applied arts, pharmacy, engineering. For this scholarship,a girl must pass class 12 and they can apply through post or online. This scholarship is awarded for 4000 candidates worth up to 50,000 Rs per year.

Source: www.aicte-india.org

Merit cum scholarship for the minority students offers financial assistance to the meritorious and poor students belongs to the minority communities to complete their technical and professional course. This scholarship covers Rs 25000 to 30000 per year. The student must pass class 12 and graduates of Parsis, Sikhs, Jain, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian community. Apply online from June to September.

Source: http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/ScholarshipSchemes.

Students from 11yrs to 35 yrs can apply for Gaurav foundation scholarship by email which is available from September to November.

B4S: www.b4s.in/UID/GFMS

Center sector scheme for class 12 scholarship can be applied through the post and online. Students are awarded with Rs:10,000 per year for about 3 years when it comes to graduation course. Rs. 20,000 per years when it comes to masters course.

Merit scholarship

It is the most common scholarship type which is only awarded by the merit basis. Total excellent academic achievements needto get eligible to qualify the scholarship.

Athletic scholarships

This scholarship is provided based on the skills that an athlete need to demonstrate his/her excellence in the area. The students who are excellent athletes in the school time, then their college education paid through this athletic scholarship.

Need based scholarship

This scholarship is applicable for the students who are economically weak in the society and proposed to help the less fortunate candidates to get the academic degrees.

Major- specific scholarship

These days, many colleges and institutions provide scholarship to students in a specific subject. To get this scholarship, the student must have an excellent track record on that specific subject.

Minority/ religious and Ethnic Scholarships

Few ethnic groups, religious organizations and minority communities also offer financial help to the members to pursue the desired education.

Fellowships

Few scholarships are offered in the fellowship form. Usually the students use this to conduct research or study advanced degree in the field. It covers the cost of courses and research.

Scholarships are far better than the loans. By acquiring the scholarship, it helps to considerably reduce the cost of studies which is the most cost effective tool to achieve.

Government of Kerala has the portal to get the details of DCE scholarship and it allows to apply online too. They provide wide types of scholarship includes PMS, CSS, SMS, MSCT, HS, MGS, BPHFC, JS, MFAS, SSE, MNS and MSCT. Likewise, each state in India like, TamilNadu, Mumbai, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat and so on has its own scholarship portal to get the details about the scholarship from Kinder Garden level to Postgraduate level.

Reference

http://www.scholarshipsinindia.com/

http://totalgovtjobs.co.in/scholarships-in-india/4348

https://targetstudy.com/scholarships/

http://mhrd.gov.in/scholarships-education-loan-0

How to get into politics?

2015-10-10T20:30:00.000+05:30

How to get into politics?

Leaders of all political parties, welcome youth to join politics, with open arms. Its evergreen cliche.

But no party or leader to guide them beyond that glorified entry point. What after? Just become a member of party, and be on the invite list of party events & programmes? Or be activiely involved in public protests by opposition parties? Be active communicators of the ruling party?

For a democratic country like India, where minimum governance is still a pipe dream, every political activist's role is crucial.

In most cases politicians at lowest rung would be used by leaders to execute at the goundlevel their political gameplans. Party hierarchy is defined with key posts to people who can lead party into next elections or who can better convey their message to the masses, apart from working as efficient functionary.

When most jump into fray?

Most top cadre politicians start at ground level, beginning at school/ college elections. Post education, they join mainstream, with anchors as already built up contacts, and try to grow from there.
Eg:- Chandra Babu Naidu

Chandra Babu Naidu

Some jump into the fray, as their family is already into it, and they become automatically accepted as leaders, by masses. And these hold key positions from beginning due to weight of family.
Eg:- Nehru Gandhi family and Rajasekhar Reddy family etc

Nehru Gandhi family

Rajasekhar Reddy family

There's a third category, and rarely, people already into some professions, get into politics, motivated by right opportunities...
While the former was a College faculty, and the later was from business family. Another good example is Ganta SrinivasaRao, who is a seasoned politician, and a minister in current AP govt, was well established into business, before taking plunge into politics.

Eg:- Dadi VeeraBhadra Rao and Konathala Ramakrishna of Akp.

Dadi VeeraBhadra Rao

Konathala Ramakrishna

The way forward?

A politician has to be sensitive while not being so in many aspects.
In most cases, if you are financially (very) well off and able to take chances at opportune times, sky can be said to be the only limit, beyond dictats by high command of the respective party. For all others, it depends on their efficiency and streetsmartness, as ideally no one wishes best for you, as all are competitors, some or the other way.

In most cases, people become extraordinarily rich in a matter of decade or so, especially if they hold MLA/ ministries, irrespective of how they started.

Pros

In India, its the most powerful career option. Nothing moves here, without politician's involvement.
You will have a chance to do greatest good or worst harm, only possible by being a politician.
Being famous ( as well as notorious) is part of package.

Cons

Unless you are financially well off, it might be difficult to have good innings.
Its 24x7 involvement, it might reduce your personal and family time, may cut away personal pleasures/ obligations.
Its not possible to have private life, in public.
You can be subject of people's ire, sometimes, without your doing.

Closing....

Instead of cursing bad politicians, its better to join politics, and to put in efforts to change to an extent possible. And one should be thick skinned enough to handle things in unforeseen situations. Overall politics in India, presents immense opportunities to do more than anyother avenue.

Eager to know your feedback for this article, along with your pick for favourite politician, with a reason

How not to exist ?

2015-10-01T00:20:00.000+05:30

This applies to companies as well as people. The title may seem a little misleading, but the idea is to dwell on how to be mindful in case of people, and how to thrive for companies.

Ideally people should only explore on what interests & excites them, especially in choosing vocation.
When interest is there, nothing is more important, not even money.
But unfortunately, so many people spend their lives like a ball in ping-pong game, almost always the thrusting force is money. Most spend their life from paycheck to paycheck, and nothing much else is on their minds. That's is living dead, which is only a little better than brain-dead!

Companies, big or start ups are the same. As soon as they don't have enough cash-flows, it will be like breathless situation. If money is always there on your mind, you will lose everything else, and its no fun.
Like people should be to their interests, companies must stick to their ever changing grand vision, to gear up for next level.

This is all fine, we must have all heard this, somewhere or the other, but following the same is not easy. That's why so many people and companies get distracted, fall into time wasting trap.

Just as good intentions are not enough, as the real action requires unprecedented discipline & attitude. Many people got used to following someone successful before them, on the path to their success. That might actually work in some cases, but it can actually be disastrous, as every one is not the same, Nor their situations etc.

This requires their original and native thinking, to make any headway! Which is very very rare.
But it need not be. The more obsessive & passionate you are about your interests & vision, the easier you can get into the mode ie...the right mind set.

The right mindset ( can we call it FULLNESS OF MIND?) sees to leverage even obstacles, and it paves the way for the shortest route to meet your vision.

I prefer to cite some examples, to this most theoretic discussion. But every successful person or company is a testimony to this. But there are people and companies who loss their track, and had to face a rude shock. Basics are basics, and never to be forgotten.

A writer being stuck, will have to choose between his writing, and wasting his time thinking about meeting temporary situations.

One way can lead to glory, and the other option make him fall on the wayside.

You can substitute any profession. If your interest and passion in it, you can feel solid inside out, and very soon, you can manifest to meet your cravings. And in the process you will minimize and crush all distractions and obstacles.

The only exception can be when there's no value or no one values your interest or passion, in such case, you have to really think hard. Frankly I'm yet to find an interest or passion which can't be monetized!

A seasoned sales person,I spoke to , thinks that positioning your brand is a luxury,as he representing an IT startup, he's struggling to survive, trying to cater to all kinds of businesses. But he can definitely fare better, by right positioning his company, and clearly defining his value proposition.

I believe this is the only way to live life to the fullest, and by following the lesson you know how not to live, and how to take best care of your only life here on earth. Equally applies for companies.

5 ideas to cope with high population growth

2015-02-02T20:38:00.000+05:30

While we Indians boast about being the world's biggest democracy, there's pain in the ass, being the most populated country. This post is not to discuss about benefits plus to huge populations.

And our population growth is quite alarming that by 2028, will become most populous nation in the world, beating China.

It is expected to increase by 400 million by 2050 which will equal to the populations of the U.S. and China combined.

India covers only 3.4 per cent of the land surface of the globe. That presents us with biggest problem of space congestion, apart from resources crunch in multiple aspects.

70 years ago

In 1940s, our population used to be less than 40 crores. And the birth rate used to be at 34.5 per 1,000 and the death rate at 22.4, there is no solution to the problem of such overwhelming population increase, whatever may be done agriculturally, industrially, politically.

Millions of Indians are born, live, breed, and die on the side walks and never have a roof over their heads.

Modern contraceptive techniques were certainly out of reach of such women, financially, intellectually, and practically. While it was case of 1940s, even after 70 years, the net growth is no less.

While we don't have food supply problem any more as it used to be, we are very much vulnerable to all other possible problems, thanks to failure of population control measures.

As per 2011 data,

current birth rate is 20.97 births/1,000 population

Death rate is 7.48 deaths/1,000 population

The net rate of growth remains quite high and increasing, thanks to scientific and medical advances in increasing average human life expectancy.

Population density
India's current population density is 421 people per sq km of land area and has been almost continuously on the rise.

We have more people in a sq km compared to many countries. Long back Indian Govt has brought up urban ceiling act, to ensure land pockets are not vested in few wealthy individuals, but others also to have ownership.

So how to we cater to increase land mass to meet the needs of growing population? It might be futuristic question, but we all have some good preparation & strategy in place when we are pushed to the corner. Hope that's far from now. So are our following ideas, to tackle the situation. At the outset, they are very unusual, and perhaps unthinkable. But it's natural.

Out of the box ideas to cope with challenges

Increase land mass The biggest challenge is how to achieve this ! Which countries have maximum land, and why would they be generous in sharing the same with India? We don't know, but we have to try at least. There are vast stretches of uninhabited lands in countries like China & Russia. It's unusual even think of getting the required support or cooperation from them. But we are to respond to, as we will soon be going through unusual times with unprecedented challenges.

alternate housing strategies, to optimise usage in a given land to increase affordable housing.

Control birth rate
While this is not an out of the box idea, the government has to focus its efforts on socially conservative and poorer north Indian states, where fertility rates are quite high.
For this we must go back to past & see where these succeeded and where it failed and why. While being democratic in spirit & free enterprise system, we must have some discipline imposed on us, at least in this aspect.

Moon, other solar system & galaxy To be pursued with urgency. While it has been so far proactive, and seen as optional, it should be thoroughly seen if this can be viable option. This is where we have high uncertainty as well as unlimited possibilities!

To live on water

[caption id="attachment_2567" align="aligncenter" width="323"] Pic Courtesy: BBC[/caption]

In countries like US and in certain parts of Europe , there have been dwellings formed as boat houses, for simple reason that, they were not able to afford to land costs. While what happened there is not absolutely true, that gives us some grey area to deliberate upon. While it can't be an affordable housing solution, while carrying other dangers of water pollutions & climatic uncertainties.

The discussion will be on...and would like to know what your thoughts.

Devendra Fadnavis - From Being Poster Boy to CM Chair !!!

2014-10-30T00:04:00.000+05:30

Finally the political war of who will form the government in Maharashtra has come to an end and Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis of BJP will be taking the oath on 31st October, 2014. His political career commenced in the early nineties, where he joined the BJP Maharashtra as a ward President, BJYM. From becoming the youngest municipal corporator of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation at the age of 21 and continuing to be the corporator for two consecutive terms in 1992 and 1997 to become the CM of the state. He has got an excellent track record which has garnered him this prestigious position. He is the president of Maharashtra state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party and MLA of Maharashtra from Nagpur. He had also served as Mayor of Nagpur and now the chief minister designate of Maharashtra.

This 44-year-old former Mayor of Nagpur knows all the tact’s and his self-control has brought him a long way in politics. While his rivals left no stone unturned to make their ambitions for the top post public the party’s State unit chief Devendra Fadnavis always believed that the party will decide and nominate the most worthy candidate. He is a law graduate who worked closely with the party’s youth wing and became a corporator in the year 1992. Within five years after becoming the corporator he became the youngest Mayor of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation at the age of just 27. He was able to achieve all this while Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s had the territorial control of the BJP in this region. He has politics deep rooted in his family and it runs in his blood. His father Gangadharrao Gadgil was a senior Jan Sangh leader and later a BJP MLC. His aunt Shobhatai Fadnavis was a Cabinet Minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government. It was obvious that Mr. Fadnavis would ultimately join politics and finally he started his political career in the BJP’s youth wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

Devendra was born in a middle class Deshastha Brahmin family in Nagpur in 1970. He attended Dharampeth Jr. College in the year 1986–87 after which he completed a 5 year law degree from Law College Nagpur. From 1986–89, he was an active member of ABVP. In the ABVP he started as a ground worker at the proletariat level where he had to paint walls and stick promotional posters for politicians. He also has a Post Graduate Degree in Business Management and a diploma in Project Management from D. S. E, Berlin. Devendra married Amruta Ranade in 2006. She is an associate vice-president in Axis Bank in Nagpur. They have a daughter named Divija.

His handiness in negotiating the party’s power games has held him in an ideal stead. He skillfully allied himself with the Union Minister’s rival the late Gopinath Munde as pressure from the Gadkari camp grew. Munde played a vital role in catapulting Mr. Fadnavis to the post of State BJP president after stitching out Gadkari’s stalwart Sudhir Mungantiwar. His spotless image and down to earth lifestyle have earned him the party leadership.

The most difficult challenge when Mr. Fadnavis will have to face once he becomes the CM is that he lacks pan-Maharashtra exposure as his political life has been restricted to Vidarbha. His strong support for separate statehood for Vidarbha makes him vulnerable if the demand were to gain momentum. Although he has been a Mayor he also has considerable experience in running a government. His immediate priority will be to win over his rivals and find a way to work collectively for the development of the state and its people.

There are lot of things queued up for him to work on. We will have to see how this man who started his career in politics as a poster boy would lead one of the biggest states of India. But with his commendable political career it will not be very difficult for him. Running such a big state is not a cake walk but Mr Fadnavis has all that it takes and is a kind of leader who is looked upon and an ideal example for others to follow. So do you think he will be able to full fill the aspirations the people have from him after he takes oath on 31st October ?

Benefits India Expected To Gain From Modi's Japan & US Visits !

2014-10-08T23:37:00.000+05:30

After becoming the Prime Minister of India Modi is leaving no stone unturned to make India a global icon and marketing the country as the next hub for development where other countries can invest and bound to get good returns. He plans to bring back the lost glory of India and is travelling to different countries to strengthen the bond with them and bring in capital and at the same time make the relationship a healthy one without any quarrels. He has recently visited to Japan and US and met the respective government heads to speak about various burning issues and was successful in negotiating some crucial deals which are important for the development of our country. Let us look at the key takeaways from both the visits.

Key takeaways from his Japan Visit

During the five-day visit which was his first one outside the subcontinent after becoming PM in May, Modi invited Japanese investments while hard-selling India as a conducive destination for business particularly for the manufacturing sector. He told the Japanese businessmen that India was awaiting the investments with a red carpet as rules and procedures have been eased by his government. Japan has also promised to give USD 35 billion to India over the next 5 years for developmental projects.

Inviting Japanese PM Modi said, "There is no better place than India for Japanese investors. India is one of the most competitive markets in the world. It is important for Japan to move to low cost hubs of manufacturing." Promising a conducive environment for investors, Modi said, "Foreign investors need a proper environment to grow in India. We are working towards improving ease of doing business in India."We have eased off a lot of regulations," Modi sought to assure.

With Japan committing to fund bullet trains, the dream of running high-speed trains on Indian tracks is now a step closer. Modi's dream project got a big push after Japan expressed readiness to provide financial, technical and operational support to introduce bullet trains in India in a joint statement. The first high-speed train is expected to run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai at an estimated cost of around Rs 60,000-70,000 crores. As Japan is a pioneer in running superfast trains, the agreement is expected to help Modi achieve his dream of a bullet train for India running at a maximum of 300 km per hour.

Modi tried his hands at drums while inaugurating the TCS Cultural Centre. The Prime Minister was inspired after watching the drummers and joined them, much to the amusement of the gathering. Modi joined the ceremonial Japanese drummers to perform a jugalbandi with them as he drummed up support for Indian business in Japan.

The two countries also decided to enhance cooperation in defence and other strategic areas and also signed five pacts covering defence exchanges, cooperation in clean energy, roads and highways, healthcare and women while vowing to take their relationship to newer level. Japan also lifted ban on six Indian entities including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which had been imposed in the aftermath of 1998 nuclear tests. In Kyoto, a pact was signed under which Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi would be developed on the pattern of Kyoto 'smart city' with the help of Japan. Abe also announced that as an example of Indo-Japan Cooperation, Tokyo will help India in providing financial, technical and operational support to introduce Bullet trains, a project that Modi has been actively pursuing.

Winding up his official programme Modi expressed gratitude to Japan for reposing trust in India and demonstrating its friendship. "This visit has been very successful," Modi had said at the Indian community reception hosted in his honour here earlier. "There has been talk about billions and millions. But there has never been talk of trillions," he said, referring to 3.5 trillion Yen USD 35 billion or 2,10,000 crore promised by Japan to India through public and private funding over the five years for various works, including building of smart cities and cleanup of the Ganga river" Modi said.

Quick Highlights of his US Visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to the US was a huge success. The visit was unique as no other Indian leader had ever received such a rapturous welcome. The jam-packed Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday showed the kind of popularity Modi has gained during his 100-plus days as PM. It was a rock star-like appearance. Modi’s speech clearly showed that how he felt at home in a land that denied him visa for nearly a decade and he played all the right cards to win the audience looked upon him as an ideal.

He made announcements like merger of the Persons of Indian Origin and the Overseas Citizens of India schemes which will make their visit to India easier. Other announcements like lifetime visa, visa on arrival and not having to report to the nearest police station are all a great relief for the NRIs. The launch of the Make-in-India portal, a day before his US visit, was specially designed to invite attention from the Indian Americans, who wanted to connect with the land they belong to and contribute to its growth. He himself admitted that a file in India used to land on 32 tables before it was cleared.

As China owes its exemplary economic success in some measure to the Chinese settled abroad, who invested in the Chinese economy and set up various projects. Modi has also opened a new avenue for the NRIs to bring the Indian economy back on track. At his meeting with 11 top American chief executives, the prime minister sold India as a prime destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). The country is likely to receive a big boost as some of the CEOs expressed their interest in investing in various sectors. For instance, Laurence D Fink, CEO at Blackrock, one of the world’s largest investment management firms, assured an investment of $6 billion by early next year and another half a billion for setting up a big manufacturing unit for injectable drugs. If all goes well, the breakfast diplomacy may prove to be a success.

From the moment Obama greeted Modi in his Gujarati style, “Kem Cho, Mr. Prime Minister” till the joint homage paid at the Martin Luther King Memorial, it was made amply clear that both have forged a personal, bureaucratic and diplomatic partnership. After the bilateral talks between the two leaders, Modi addressed the media and said the US was an integral part of his “Look East, Link West Policy” and expressed the need for making India a part of the global value chain. He sought support from the US for greater participation of Indian service companies in the US economy.

By the end of the US visit, Modi had a lot of deliverables in his kitty like development of three smart cities—Allahabad, Ajmer and Vizag—along with the upgrade of water, sanitation and health in 500 Indian cities under a programme called WASH, development of smart energy initiatives such as intelligent street lighting etc., a programme under which 1,000 American teachers will be made available for short-term courses in Indian universities and setting up of a new IIT. What’s more, the two have agreed to extend the defence deal for another period of 10 years. Both have expressed their concern over the sudden outbreak of Ebola and India agreed to spend $12 million.

Modi’s visit to Ground Zero showed India’s commitment towards fighting terrorism. Obama went a step further and agreed to make joint efforts to dismantle terror and crime networks like LeT, D-company, al-Qaeda etc., a message that may not go well with Islamabad. Modi has set a high benchmark by projecting India as a global partner. The US has not shown any reluctance in collaborating with India on matters of strategic importance. It all depends on how and when it resolves issues like nuclear liability, WTO trade facilitation agreement and intellectual property rights before they join hands in their onward march to progress.

Modi is doing all that it takes to take India to the next level by visiting different countries and luring them to invest in India which will ultimately transform India and help in its development. He has a dream for India and wants to make sure that it is fulfilled. He is on the path to prove to the people of India that they have chosen an able leader and the country is safe in his hands and moving towards development.

O Panneerselvam the new CM – Why Jayalalithaa Banks on him Blindly

2014-09-29T20:36:00.000+05:30

From owning a tea stall to joining active politics in 1996 and now becoming the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after incumbent chief minister Jayalalithaa had to step down due to conviction in disproportionate assets case. O. Panneerselvam in September 2001 too was made Chief Minister for a short time as Jayalalithaa had to step down after the Supreme Court pronounced her guilty of a criminal offence. Panneerselvam is also popularly known as the reluctant Chief Minister.

In 2001 he chose not to sit in Jayalalithaa’s chair at the Chief Minister’s Office and also did not clear any crucial files in her absence. Instead he chose a visitor’s chair at Fort St. George when he was appointed as the CM in September 2001.

Panneerselvam was born in January 1951 in Piryakulam, Tamilnadu. He owned agricultural lands and a tea shop. He became the chairman of Periakulam municipality in the year 1996. He contested MLA election in 2001 and became the PWD minister from Periakulam. He became the chief minister after Jayalalithaa lost a corruption case and had to resign after the Supreme Court revoked Jayalalithaa's conviction in March 2002. During this period he was just an acting chief minister while all the orders came from Jayalalithaa and she was managing the government through Selvam.

In the AIADMK legislature party meeting on Sunday which was held after Jayalalithaa was arrested O Panneerselvam was elected as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is all set to be sworn in as the chief minister today. According to party insiders, Panneerselvam was unanimously elected as the Chief Minister. “He is firm and serious with us, and very loyal to Amma. He deserves it,” said a senior MLA. Many senior leaders pointed out that he had been loyal to Jayalalithaa since the early ‘90s. He is a party card holding member since 1972. He was in the Janaki camp but after MGR’s death due to the faction led by MGR’s wife he joined Jayalalithaa,”

A bail petition will be filed in the Karnataka High Court today and the party is hoping it will be called for hearing latest on Tuesday by the vacation bench. Jayalalithaa was visited by some top officers of the state government including Special Advisor and former Chief Secretary Sheela Balakrishnan and DGP Intelligence Ashok Kumar at the Bangalore Parappana Agrahara prison. Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani is being planned to be roped in to fight her case in higher courts.

Like in 2001 Selvam will serve as the chief minister while Jayalalithaa is in the jail. However the reason behind choosing him is an open secret as she will be able to run the show from behind until she is granted bail and latter comes into power as the chief minister again. Nothing will change except the person sitting on the chief minister’s chair. All the crucial decisions will still be taken by Jayalalithaa will Selvam will take charge till then. Whether this time also he will be choosing not to sit in her chair and take critical decisions? We will come to know soon as he will be taking the oath today.

Love Jihad - How Much Truth in it?

2014-08-28T07:04:00.000+05:30

Love the greatest gift from god to the mankind. From Romeo and Juliet to Heer and Ranjha there are many eternal love stories which make you emotional. Stories where the boy is from one religion and the girl from another and how they fight the world to be together. Whether you are a daily wager trying hard to earn the daily bread and make the two ends meet or a business tycoon earning crores and crores, whatever you do in our life, the sole intention is to keep our loved ones happy. And one day you realize that all this love was fake, the only reason it was show was because they wanted you to convert into the religion of the person you married.

Love Jihad also popularly known as Romeo Jihad, is a suspected activity under which young Muslim boys and men target young girls belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love. However the official investigations that took place in 2010 and 2012 in Kerala and Karnataka found no truth behind these allegations. They were supposedly shaped by political parties to create communal differences and increase their vote bank.Love Jihad has been in news since quite a long time now. Yogi Adityanath is the latest who is under fire for his recent remarks on this sensitive issue. In a provocative video the BJP Member of Parliament is seen urging Hindu men to marry 100 Muslim women if one Hindu woman is forcibly converted to Islam. "If they take one Hindu girl, we will take 100 Muslims girls," the MP from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh is seen as saying to a crowd of about a thousand people in the video posted on YouTube.

He further says "The way Hindu girls are insulted; I don't think a civilized society would accept it. One community is allowed to spread anarchy. If the government is not doing anything, then the Hindus will have to take matters into their own hands,” It is not clear from the video the place where it was taken in UP.

This is nothing new to Adityanath as he has been named in such controversial news before also. It was last month only when he was in a controversy for his speech in Parliament where he called all the Hindus to come front and take matters in their hands and accused opposition Congress for working on Pakistan's agenda. He is also currently facing charges of inciting communal tension in Gorakhpur in 2007.

Initially the BJP party who wanted to take advantage of using this issue to increase its Hindu vote bank for the upcoming by polls in Uttar Pradesh. But from last week’s party meeting in Vrindavan it was evident that it has been removed. However the issue is being scraped up by few groups in the state. The opposition parties in UP have got a chance to react against the senior BJP leadership and are hitting at the party for not making a clear stand on the issue.The love jihad issue is seen something like smoke without fire and the two worried governments though admitted to the conversions but only with an intention to prevent a communal rift and denied it was done under pressure. However they assured that they would not allow such forcible conversions at make sure there is no hate campaign against Muslims.

Though the controversy has lost its intensity over the months but the residues continue to smolder intimidating to revolve into a major blaze at the first spark and with controversies created by people will Yogi it is obvious to add fuel to the fire. Though the investigations carried out against this have not proved anything yet but if something like this has really being planned then it will hurt the sentiments of the entire nation and the consequences can be un imaginable.

Joko Widodo - Long Walk From Slums To Being President Of Indonesia

2014-08-27T21:53:00.000+05:30

Joko Widodo the current Governor of Jakarta is the man who has won the elections to become the next Indonesian president. His increasing popularity as a clean politician made him a potential PDI-P candidate for the Indonesian presidential election in 2014 and ultimately his nomination was announced on 14 March 2014. He won the presidential election by more than 53% of the votes over his opponent Prabowo Subianto. He will officially be sworn-in and take charge of the Republic of Indonesia as the president on 20 October 2014.

After the PDI –P chief Megawati Sukarnoputri chose Joko Widodo to be the presidential candidate of her party there was a lot of campaigning that was done to make sure they emerge victorious. Widodo along with others travelled to many parts of Indonesia. Already his work while he was the mayor in Surakarta and the governor in Jakarta, had paved a way for his victory. His interest in loud music also benefitted him as many musicians from around Indonesia like Jalanan made a song titled Salam 2 Jari to promote his campaign. Also many international artists like Jason Mraz, Sting, Bumblefoot and Arkarna even posted for him on Twitter and Facebook supporting him.

Recently when he was in Jakarta he was provided with countless security officers. He rejected to be accompanied by so many officers and agreed to take four of them along with him. He is one man who believes that he does not need protocol to manage things. He is people's man and does not want anyone to come in their way to meet him. He also persuades his fellow political leaders to follow the same so that they can do their work efficiently. He says that the horizontal leadership era is the new democracy in Indonesia and everyone should put an end to the inefficient vertical relationship model. Widodo has risen from the slums to become the most powerful man of Indonesia. Let us see his journey from the ground to where he is now and how he made it all possible.

Widodo was the oldest of four children and the only son of Noto Mihardjo and Sudjiatmi Notomihardjo born in Surakarta in Central Java in 1961. As his family was very poor they struggled to assist him through school. He had to work to earn enough money for his school materials. The evictions he experienced three times in his childhood affected his way of thinking and his leadership later on as the mayor of Surakarta. He eventually graduated with a degree in forestry from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta in 1986. He was married to Iriana after his graduation.

Jokowi initially joined the forestry service of a state enterprise in Aceh. He was not feeling at home and missing his wife who was seven months pregnant. Hence in the year 1989 he returned to his hometown and worked with his uncle to learn the furniture business and mastered it from design to delivery. Then he started his own branch of a small furniture business which ran successful but had to be closed due to some fraud.

It was his performance as the mayor of Solo that first gained him attention with his ability to resolve issues like floods, dirty streets and slums. Initially many people doubted his ability as he was just a furniture businessman but after a year in office Jokowi had successfully led many progressive breakthroughs which became widely praised. His leadership style included an interactional relationship with the people of Solo through which he was able to induce people's strong faith in him. He adopted the development framework of European cities into his own city of Surakarta. His supporters pointed to rapid positive changes in Surakarta under his leadership. Jokowi also did not hesitate to dismiss investors who did not agree with the principles of his leadership. He was chosen as the Tempo's Leaders of Choice by Tempo news magazine (2008) and received Changemakers Award from Republika newspaper (2010) and his name also started being considered in national polls for governorship of Jakarta way before his party nomination of him to run for the post.

By 2012, he was elected the governor of Jakarta. He followed the practice of regularly arranging well-publicized visits to local communities especially in quite poor areas across Jakarta. His broad approach was widely said to reflect the successful style of administration that he adopted while he was the mayor of Surakarta between 2005 and 2007. He introduced a universal health care program in and distributed Healthy Jakarta Card and the program proved to be very popular. In 2012 he launched another card named the Smart Jakarta Card to support poor students in Jakarta. This card gave an allowance that can be withdrawn from ATMs in order to buy school needs such as books and uniforms and was constantly monitored and use for any other purposes was not allowed. Only through transparency, efficiency, e-catalog, and e-budgeting he was successful in increasing the provincial budget of Jakarta from Rp 41 trillion in 2012 to Rp 72 trillion in 2014. He also initiated dredging and reservoir normalization projects in order to reduce flood problems in the year 2013.

Widodo’s is the first Indonesian president who is not from among Indonesia’s elites club and his entry is as a refreshing break from the three decades of Suharto’s dictatorship. With a lean and tanned physique which is totally in contrast to the image of Jakarta's politicians who call him a villager but he appears to have the last laugh now after being announced as the next president of Indonesia who will join his office from October. There is a challenge in the country of 250 million people that he would be tested by the powerful army, the political and business elites which he does not know. The question his critics are asking is for how long he will continue to visit the slums when he will have the massive task of running the rambling country?

Who is Roxna Subramanian Swamy?

2014-08-25T18:48:00.000+05:30

Like in October 1950 when the ruins of Somnath temple were pulled down in and the mosque present at that site was shifted few kilometres away, Subramanian Swamy has written a letter to Prime Minister Mr. Modi for the reconstruction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya by 2016 and fulfil the party's commitment to the electorate. Also the mosque should be built at public expense across the Saryu River in Ayodhya.

In his letter he suggested Mr Modi to form a Ram Temple Rebuild Committee and appoint former Chief Justice of India like SH Kapadia as the executor who may coordinate with a designated minister like Gen VK Singh. He also wants to call a meeting of Islamic clerics including people from abroad and seek an endorsement. In case this fails then Government should think about enabling a bill in the Parliament and get it passed.

Subramanian who is leading Indian politician and economist was previously the President of the Janata Party but in the year 2013 he merged his party with Bharatiya Janata Party. He has a Bachelor Honours degree in Mathematics and a Masters degree in Statistics. He also studied at Harvard University where he received a PhD in Economics in 1965 and his thesis adviser in Harvard was the famous Nobel Laureate Simon Kuznets.

He joined the faculty of economics at Harvard beginning as an assistant professor and later became an associate professor. He then came back to India and served as the professor of mathematical economics there from 1969 to 1991 in Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

His political career started when the right wing political party Jansangh sent him to Rajya Sabha. He was elected Member of Parliament 5 times between 1974 and 1999.

Subramanian Swamy married Roxna Swamy in 1966. He had met her when was at Harvard. She is now an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. They have two daughters, Gitanjali Swamy who is a private equity investment professional in the US married to MIT professor and Suhasini Haider who is an editor at The Hindu and married to Nadeem Haidar son of Salman Haider.

Subramanian Swamy was one of the people responsible for normalising relations between China and India in 1980’s. It was in his meeting with China’s supreme Deng Xiaoping the opening of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route was announced in April 1981 which was widely reported in the media but had some other claimants too.

He is also among the people who made pioneering efforts at establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. In fact Swamy was the first Indian political leader to make publicised trip to Israel where he met with some important Israeli leaders such as Yitzhak Rabin and then Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the year 1982. His efforts at normalising relations with Israel have borne fruit and helped in India’s decision in 1992 to open Embassis in the respective countries.

He was among the first five who wrote letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking permission to prosecute A. Raja in regard to the 2G spectrum scam. As Manmohan Singh did not take any action Swamy filed a case on his own in the Supreme Court of India regarding the matter, which then asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to produce a detailed report on it.

Swamy has raised allegations that Sonia Gandhi's sisters Anushka and Nadia have received sixty percent of the kickbacks in the 2G spectrum scam, amounting to INR180 billion (US$3.0 billion) each. His efforts to strike down single directive provision which barred CBI from investigating corruption charges against officers of the rank of joint secretary and above without prior permission of the Govt of India were successful and the provision was deemed to be invalid and unconstitutional.

He also founded the Action Committee Against Corruption in India (ACACI) whose goal is to take specific action against corruption at very high places of government and Indian black money stashed abroad.

With a clean record without any controversies throughout his career Swamy is one person who never hesitated to fight against injustice. No matter who the person is if he felt what is being done is wrong he rose and stood as a wall to stop the evil.

India needs leaders like him to put the country on the path of growth and prosperity. Don’t you agree that we need people like him? In today’s world when every politician is busy filling their pockets is there any other leader who stands for a cause?

Dr Harsha Vardhan – How Solid Is He ?

2014-08-23T05:57:00.000+05:30

Just when Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, speaking to the reporters last week on 17th August while inaugurating the yoga research laboratory at the Swamy Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Smsthana in Banglore, said the he wants to keep healthcare free from political influence the news of AIIMS chief vigilance officer (CVO) Sanjiv Chaturvedi being dismissed by him without giving any reason on Thursday is doing rounds. There are strong speculations that politics was involved in making this decision. Otherwise why the same ministry of health and family welfare who in the year 2014 accentuated that AIIMS was an autonomous institution and vouched for Chaturvedi's absolute integrity and called him an outstanding officer is now saying that he was removed because he was not eligible for the post. Also Vishwas Mehta who has now replaced Chaturvedi was the one who gave him clean chit when BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, JP Nadda, had raised objections to Chaturvedi's appointment in the year 2012. While the Aam Aadmi Party is demanding the resignation from Harsh Vardhan and also issued a statement that failing this, PM Narendra Modi should sack the minister for shunting out the “whistleblower officer” it is for the CVC to decide the eligibility of a person for the post of CVO not the government.On one hand where Chaturvedi in his two years stay in AIIMS had busted many a scam involving top AIIMS officials, Dr Harsh Vardhan says that he is not at all eligible for the post that he was holding at AIIMS as they were informed that without the approval of the central vigilance commission (CVC) nobody can be assigned the post of CVO anywhere. This was brought to their notice and hence taking cognizance to the same they removed him from the post. The question is why it took 2 years for him to realize this? Chaturvedi was to work till 2016 if he was not dismissed. Modi had recently said in a statement that he will not allow anyone to indulge in corruption and loot and when Chaturvedi was identifying such people the news of his dismissal has come. However the BJP is also washing its hands off by defending the government's decision saying that Chaturvedi was ineligible and that there was no witch-hunting. "He was an IFS (Indian Forest Service) officer. He was not eligible for the post and the CVC has not ratified it," party spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.Dr Harsha Vardhan who has always publicly admitted that Politics should in no way affect the health programme and policies of the country believes that for the health of the nation the health of government departments needs to be improved. He is doing all his efforts by visiting states that are not being ruled by the BJP government and successfully developing close friendships with them. Whomever he met he told them that though the government is of any party their aim should be not to allow any kind of politics to affect and interfere the health programmes and policies. Back in the year 1994 when he was the Delhi’s Health Minister had had urged hundreds of school children to become Polio Sainiks with the task of seeking out families with small children who needed polio immunization. This was implemented on 2 October, 1994 which was the first pulse polio day in Indian history and today polio is eradicated from our country.Recently in a letter he has written to several states and union territories to discuss the concern of easy availability of tobacco products in various forms though strict restrictions have been taken on their sale. He launched an anti-tobacco website which kicked off a campaign showcasing the plight of a cancer victim. He has in fact asked Defense Minister to ban cigarettes from army canteens and has also had asked the Finance Minister Mr Jaitley to hike prices of tobacco products in this year’s budget. He says tobacco consumption costs actually result in a loss of Rs 1.04 lakh crore a year due to increased healthcare costs and higher taxes will be one measure the center can take to control this.Harsh Vardhan was born in Delhi to Om Prakash Goel and Sneh Lata. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and got his Master of Surgery in Otorhinolaryngology in 1983. Since childhood he has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He is married to Nutan and they have two sons and a daughter.

Dr. Vardhan as the State Minister of Health in 1994 oversaw the successful implementation of the pilot project of the Pulse Polio Programme which involved the mass immunization of 1 million children up to the age of 3 in Delhi. He was named as the Chief Minister candidate for Delhi Assembly elections that were held October 2013 however BJP did not win the majority. In 2014 lok sabha elections he contested from Chandni Chowk seat and defeated Kapil Sibal of INC and later was announced as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in May this year.Dr Vardhan is credited with steadfastly uniting various factions in Delhi BJP and leading the party's aggressive campaign for Lok Sabha polls in which it recorded a clean sweep. Apart from being an effective minister he also proved his organizational capabilities by rebuilding the BJP's operations in Delhi from scratch after the party's defeat in the 2003 Assembly Election. It was under his leadership that BJP was able to win all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. Also during his Minister ship in the Delhi government people had found him remarkably accessible and officials respected him for his hands-on style of functioning. Under his leadership in April 2007 party won the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and in 2008 the Delhi Cantonment Board election. Now with the Delhi Assembly election fast approaching chances of BJP winning and forming the government are growing. With the ability of making BJP win in unpredictable situations soon this will be reality.With an excellent track record without any controversies and working on critical issues like eradicating polio and bringing in awareness about the fatal effects of smoking Dr Harsha Vardhan has set an example for others. But whether his decision to remove Chaturvedi had come due to pressure? Was he forced by superior officials to take this step? Only time will answer these questions.

Nawaz Sharif - Can He Keep Army In His Grip?

2014-08-20T02:45:00.000+05:30

A civil disobedience movement was declared against the Nawaz Sharif-led government started by Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan recently. He feels that the future of Pakistan is not in the able hands. This came after the cleric Tahirul Qadri gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the embattled Prime Minister to resign. Khan has urged the people not to pay taxes, electricity or gas bills. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief asserted that under the rule of these businessmen who only want to make money for themselves, Pakistan's future is bleak. Sharif's PML had won 190 out of 342 seats where as Khan's PTI got only 34 seats which is the third largest bloc in the legislature. Khan accused vote-rigging by Sharif's PML was the reason otherwise his party would have won many more seats. Khan said that anyone who tried to hold Nawaz accountable was offered bribes. Judges, the election commission last year and the generals all were in his kitty. Qadri who has given a 48-hour ultimatum to the embattled Prime Minister to resign and wants Sharif and his brother Shahbaz arrested for the killing of his 14 supporters in Lahore on June 17. India called off the Foreign Secretary-level talks scheduled for August 25 as Pakistan was interfering in India's internal affairs by holding talks with Kashmiri separatists though they were warned not to do so. In a major ceasefire violation that lasted throughout the night, Pakistani troops resorted to heavy mortar shelling and fired with automatic weapons at 20 Border out Posts and civilian areas along the International Border in Jammu sector, leaving a villager injured. There were 11 ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along LoC and IB in Jammu region during the past 10 days which were made deliberately. Hence it is very clear that Pakistan and the powers within do not want to tie with India and continue the rivalry. Though Sharif is making all promises and trying his best to better the relations between both the countries only time can tell what will be the result. Let us look at what can be expected from Nawaz Sharif and if the Pakistan army will allow him to do what it takes to unite both the nations.

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif commonly known as the "Lion of the Punjab" is the president of Pakistan Muslim League is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan who is in office since June 2013. He is a veteran politician and industrialist and the third time Prime Minister. He previously served as Prime Minister from November 1990 to July 1993 and from February 1997 to October 1999.As the owner of Ittefaq Group, a leading business conglomerate he is also one of the country's wealthiest people. Upon controlling office Sharif promised good relations with all its neighbours and launched trade talks with India with promise of liberalizing trade relationship. Sharif meet Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2013 however no major agreement was reached. He took significant steps to improve relations which will liberalize trade however on Mar 26, 2014 The Times of India reported that Pakistan military has pressurized Sharif to stop any trade liberalization with India. Sharif also telephoned congratulated Modi on BJP's victory in the general elections in India and invited Modi to visit Pakistan becoming among the first leaders to do so. Even though some political parties expressed reservation about Modi's invitation to Nawaz Sharif and holding of talks with him the meeting between Modi and Nawaz Sharif was not merely a cordial exchange of pleasantries. Modi sent out an extremely tough message to the Pakistani premiere as a precursor about why it has become extremely important for Pakistan to contain cross border terrorism. Modi is very serious about the issue of terrorism and possibly this is the reason why he decided to use the occasion of Nawaz Sharif's visit for the swearing-in ceremony for holding bilateral talks.

Nawaz Sharif belongs to the industrial class of the Punjab. Both he and his Indian counterpart are openly pro-business and pro-market. Nawaz Sharif’s party takes pride in the so-called development projects in Punjab just as Modi does in Gujrat. It is in the interest of Nawaz Sharif and his industrial constituency to improve relations with India. It is not a secret that Pakistan has a lot to gain from having better economic relations with India.This is not the first time Sharif is attempting to improve relations with India. When he was last in power in the late 90s when BJP was also in power in India he had openly embraced India and the Indian prime minister. But to spoil the peace process, the Pakistani army, lead by General Pervez Musharraf, launched a war against India in the mountains of Kargil in Kashmir without his knowledge. Latter the army overthrew Sharif and took over the country and martial law was imposed. Now in his third term as a PM also Nawaz Sharif faces the same issues. Though he managed to negotiate with the army and come to Delhi for Modi’s inauguration this does not mean that the future is rosy. There is hardly a chance that the army would allow Sharif to continue improving relations with India. The army’s opposition to India is deeply ideological. For the reason of maintaining its hold on Pakistan and protecting the economic interests of the armed forces, the Pakistani army would never let Pakistan and India normalize their relations.

However one thing we can be sure of is that the Pakistani intelligence services will not take the same road as before and mount another attack inside India as the present situation does not allow for such tactics. Pakistan is already facing a threat from within its borders as the Taliban insurgency increases and the theatre of war moves from the tribal areas into the country’s major cities. Hence it is extremely unlikely that the army would try to thwart the peace process by sending its jihadi proxies into India. The army will not venture beyond Pakistan’s borders in order to send Nawaz Sharif the message. The conflict will stay within Pakistan. The recent rallies in Islamabad of Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri point to the tactics the army would use. These two politicians were called by the army to compel Nawaz Sharif to behave.However, there is still a danger that the tensions between the civilian government and the military could spill over into India. Pakistan, over the years, has created so many fifth columns that many of its proxies are no longer under state control. If Nawaz Sharif continues with his India-friendly policy, any one of the dozens of Jihadi elements could carry out an attack inside India on their own. If something like that happens, the consequences are too great for anyone to even imagine. As the real power still lies with the Pakistan Army the position of the Pakistan Government remains vulnerable. The Pakistan Army continues to wage war against the Taliban elements in the North West Frontier Province and FATA region. A major section of the Pakistan Army is extremely sympathetic towards the radical Islamic terror groups like Tehreek e Taliban or the Lashkar e Taiba The way Pakistan treated the BSF Jawan who mistakenly fell into their waters recently was really a welcome sign from Pakistan. But on one hand where India feels that talks with Nawaz Sharif is a positive step we should not set high expectations from it as the real power in Pakistan is with the Pakistani Army and not the Pakistani Government and ultimately if situation arises India will have to directly talk to the Pakistani Generals instead of the Political leaders if it wants results. A strong message has to sent to the Pakistan Army that this Government of India means business and will not tolerate nonsense anymore.

Few questions that arise in everyone’s mind when we talk about India and Pakistan are Whether Nawaz Sharif will be able to go against the Pakistan Army to mend the relations with India? Will India and Pakistan ever become friends? Will terrorist groups be eradicated from Pakistan and terrorism vanish one day?

Decoding Amit Shah - The Newly Elected BJP President

2014-08-19T00:30:00.000+05:30

Amid the speculations that were going round the table to appoint Shah who is a close and controversial aide of Modi as the BJP President last month the BJP finally announced him as the BJP President. This move came in after Rajnath Singh resigned after a one and half year’s tenure. Shah who was the former Minister of State for Home in Gujarat was solely responsible for BJP's excellent performance in UP where it got 71 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. He is currently facing charges in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

Amit Shah is an Indian politician from Gujarat. Shah was elected as an MLA from Sarkhej in four consecutive elections 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2007. He is a close associate of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and held a number of portfolios in Government of Gujarat, when Modi was the Chief Minister. In 2010, Shah was accused of orchestrating a fake police encounter, which happened during his tenure as the Gujarat Home Minister. He was forced to resign, and arrested. Shah maintains that all the accusations against him are false, and are the result of allegations by his political opponents belonging to the Indian National Congress. Shah was later granted bail, on the condition that he will not stay in Gujarat. He was allowed to return to Gujarat in 2012, and won Assembly elections from Naranpura.

Shah was born in Mumbai, in a well-to-do family. His father Anilchandra Shah, a businessman from Mansa, owned a successful PVC pipe business. Amit Shah is married to Sonal Shah they have a son named Jay. His wife is a homemaker and son an engineer. Shah was very close to his mother, who died from an illness in 2010. People close to Amit Shah say he does not like to socialize much.

Shah was involved with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood. He first met Narendra Modi in 1982, in the Ahmedabad RSS circles when Modi was a minor RSS pracharak working as in charge of youth activities in the city. Amit Shah started his political career as a leader of RSS's student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in 1983. He joined BJP in 1986, one year before Modi joined the party. He then gradually rose in the BJYM hierarchy, holding various posts including that of ward secretary, taluka secretary, state secretary, vice-president, and general secretary.

In 1995 when BJP formed its first government in Gujarat its main rival Indian National Congress was highly influential in rural Gujarat. Modi and Shah worked together to decimate Congress in the rural areas. Their strategy was to find the second most influential leader in every village, and get him or her to join BJP. Shah and Modi used the same strategy to reduce Congress' influence over the state's powerful co-operatives, which play an important role in the state's economy.

In 1999, Shah was elected as the President of Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), the biggest cooperative bank in India. In Gujarat where such elections had traditionally been won on the caste considerations Shah was the first to win despite not belonging to any of these castes. When he took over the bank was on the verge of collapsing with accumulated losses of 36 crore. Shah turned around the bank's fortune within a year's time and the next year, the bank registered a profit of 27 crore. By 2014, the bank's profit had increased to around 250 crore.

Modi, who had become a general secretary in the party's state unit by the early 1990s, used his influence to get bigger roles for Shah. Amit Shah contested the 2002 Assembly election from the Sarkhej constituency in Ahmedabad. He won by the highest margin among all candidates with 158,036 votes. In the 2007 Assembly election he again won from Sarkhej. During Narendra Modi's twelve-year tenure as the Gujarat CM, Shah emerged as one of the most powerful leaders in Gujarat. After winning the 2002 elections, he became the youngest minister in the Modi government, and was given multiple portfolios.

In 2010, Amit Shah was accused of having orchestrated the extrajudicial killings of a criminal Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and his criminal associate Tulsiram Prajapati. Shah and Modi have been accused of sidelining the police officers who testified against the Gujarat government in cases related to the fake encounters and the 2002 riots. Later, in 2013, Shah was accused of having ordered illegal surveillance on a woman in 2009, during his tenure as a home minister. The investigative websites Cobrapost and Gulail released a set of taped audio conversations between Amit Shah and police officer GL Singhal. Shah denied all the accusations against him, calling them political propaganda by his opponents and none have been proved till now. Amit Shah was arrested on 25 July 2010 in connection with the Sohrabuddin case. He was charged with the murder, extortion and kidnapping among other charges. At one time, Shah was considered as one of the main contenders for the Gujarat Chief Minister's post. However, his political career was hurt by the arrest. The Gujarat High Court granted him bail three months after his arrest, on Friday, 29 October 2010.

Shah is known for his sharp poll-related strategic skills. Very few people know that if terror attacks in India are under check today, Shah's role in solving the 2008 Ahmadabad bomb blasts by Indian Mujahideen terrorists as Gujarat Minister of State for Home is one of the main factors responsible for it. Gujarat Police officials openly admit even today that it was Shah's intelligence and diligence and Modi's unstinted guidance that enabled them in solving that case in record 21 days flat. Narendra Modi was impressed by his intelligence and vision which is not easily found in others. Shah's skill in political strategy and vision are almost legendary. The way he evaluates Modi's 12-year rule in Gujarat in economic terms is better than a good economist. How he brought the entire cooperative sector of Gujarat from Congress to BJP's fold is a tribute to his result-oriented strategy-making skills. Shah has one big flaw that has hindered his rise. He has a habit of remaining incommunicable for long periods which keeps him disconnected at crucial times.

He has started his work as the BJP chief and following the lines of Modi on Saturday announced his new team of 11 vice presidents, eight general secretaries and 14 secretaries. He has kept his team members young and inducted those who are having experience too. However What has shocked many after the announcement of the list is that the two-time MP Varun Gandhi was dropped as general secretary. This has also led to raising of eyebrows as the party has at many occasions claimed that they believe young people can lead the nation in a better way. As per reports, the reason behind dropping a known face of the party in UP is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows a policy of not giving any important assignment to a son or daughter of a chief minister or a union minister and Varun Gandhi's mother, Maneka Gandhi is the Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development in his government. The sources within BJP have said that it is largely because of Narendra Modi's policy against nepotism that is why Varun Gandhi has not been included in the team by Amit Shah and are confident as there are many opportunities in the party the party will look into his caliber and adjust him accordingly.

The journey for him as the BJP president has just started and there is a long way to go. Being a close aide to Modi and learning a lot from him one question to be asked is Will he be able to successfully do justice as the BJP Chief? What is your take on this? Is he capable enough to take this responsibility or he was supported by all the members of the party for the fact that he is close to Modi since the starting of their political career?

Little Known Heroes Of Freedom Struggle

2014-08-17T02:16:00.000+05:30

The independence struggle saw many freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives to see their mother land free. When the brave stories of most of the freedom fighters are known to everyone there are few of them who went un noticed in spite of their relentless efforts towards the movement. Let us take a look at few of the martyrs

Alluri Sitarama Raju
Also known as Aluri Rampa Rama Raju he led the "Rampa Rebellion" of 1922–24. During this period he along with a band of tribal leaders and other sympathizers fought against the British Raj. The locals referred to him as the "Manyam Veerudu" which means "Hero of the Jungles". He was one of the fiercest opponents of British rule in Andhra Pradesh. Though he was born into a prosperous Kshatriya family he renounced everything for the freedom struggle. He took up the cause of the tribal’s who were being harassed by British officials under the Forest Act, and led an armed rebellion. Uniting the various tribes in the region, he boarded on an armed revolt against the British, raiding police stations, capturing weapons, indulging in guerrilla attacks.

Khudiram Bose
He was a Bengali revolutionary who was one of the youngest revolutionaries early in the Indian independence movement. At the time of his hanging, he was 18 years, 7 months 11 days old. It was this hero who threw the first bomb on the Bristish who were crushing India. At the age of sixteen he defied the police. Khudiram was among the teenage student community of the town which was fired up with a burning inspiration of revolution. It was from then that Khudiram took his first steps towards choosing the path that would make him a boy-martyr. Khudiram as a student, dared to request a teacher, Hemchandra Kanungo for a revolver. Though an appeal was made to the Governor General to overrule a death sentence for Khudiram it was dismissed as the British was not going to let an Indian like that get way. On the contrary, the order came to carry out the death sentence latest by 11 August 1908. Kolkata erupted in intense protest from the entire student community. The streets of Kolkata started to be choked up with processions all at the same time, for several days and finally he was handed to death.

Ashfaqulla Khan
He was a freedom fighter who had given away his life along with Ram Prasad Bismil. Bismil and Ashfaq, both were good friends and Urdu poets. Ashfaqulla Khan was the first Muslim who was hanged in a Conspiracy against British Raj from India. In 1922, when Non-cooperation movement started and Bismil organised meetings in Shahjahanpur to tell the public about the movement, Ashfaq ullah met him in a public meeting and introduced himself as a younger brother of his class mate. The revolutionaries felt that soft words of non violence could not win India its Independence and therefore they wanted to make use of bombs, revolvers and other weapons to instill fear in the hearts of the Britishers living in India. decided to loot the government money and utilise it against the same government who had been continuously looting India for more than 300 years. Ashfaqulla Khan and eight other revolutionaries looted the train under the leadership of Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil. The actions of Ashfaq Ullah Khan and his compatriots have recently been depicted in an Amir Khan starrer hit Bollywood movie Rang De Basanti, where his character role was played by the film actor Kunal Kapoor.

Madame Cama
She was born in a well to do Parsi family. She was a fiery patriot who first unfurled India's flag at an international assembly. She turned away from a life of luxury and lived an exile to serve her country and at one time the mighty British Government grew afraid of her. Cama wrote, published (in the Netherlands and Switzerland) and distributed revolutionary literature for the movement, including Bande Mataram in response to the Crown ban on the poem Vande Mataram and later Madan's Talwar in response to the execution of Madan Lal Dhingra

Raj Kumari Gupta
Born about a century ago in the little-known Banda zilla of Kanpur, she and her husband worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi and Chandrashekhar Azad. Her crucial contribution to the Kakori dacoity case barely figures in the narratives of freedom. Raj Kumari was given the charge of supplying revolvers to those involved in the Kakori operation apparently hid the firearms in her undergarment and set out in khadi clothes to deliver them, with her three-year-old son in tow. On being arrested, she was disowned by her husband’s family and thrown out of her marital home.

Taji Mideren
He was resident of Elopain village in the Ithun Valley, Lohit District, North-East Frontier Agency in Arunachal Pradesh. He was a farmer and trader. He took part in the activities against British rule and killed three British officers near the Dikran river in 1905. He organized his Mishmi fellow tribals and got them to come together to resist the expansion of British authority. He established a Mishmi Confederacy under Pangon and other Mishmi leaders. A British expedition was sent to his village in 1913 to arrest him for the murder of the three British officers. The British burnt down the houses in the village but failed to arrest him and others. He was finally captured by the British police at Sadiya in December 1917, and was deported to Tezpur in Assam. There he was tried and sentenced to death. He died on the gallows in the Tezpur Jail on January 29, 1918.

Padmavathibai Burli
She was the wife of the renowned freedom fighter Bindacharya Burli. Though she was a silent she was a very pious woman. Circumstances so conspired against the family that they had to struggle for two square meals a day. Bindacharya breathed patriotism and lived patriotism. The cause and call of Mother India was always above his domestic obligations. Padmavatibai not only stood by her husband but led a silent agitation herself by feeding the tired and hungry freedom fighters. She used to tell her own children to eat a little less so that the sons of the nation, committed to free Mother India, could be fed. She used to take food to the freedom fighters who were in hiding. Once she was found serving food to Shakuntala Dabade and Shantabai Karamarkar, who were on satyagraha. Padmavatibai was arrested along with Shakuntala Dabade and Shantabai Karamarkar and all the three of them were sentenced to three months imprisonment. All these women and many others, who lived in huts and hamlets, rose above their ordinary selves and fought for the freedom of our country. It is the duty of every Indian to make India worthy of their noble sacrifice.

The Indian freedom was a long struggle which claimed thousands of lives and countless sacrifices. Each and everyone who was involved in the freedom struggle was equally responsible and credit has to be given to everyone for making India a free country cutting it from the clutches of British Rule who ruled India for more than 300 years, If it was not them then may for how much more time India would have been a slave to the British powers. Many of these sacrifices went unnoticed as there were numerous people who happily staked their lives but there was no one to tell their tale of bravery to the rest of the world.

UPSC Row - Political Parties Script For Their Own Aspirations

2014-08-09T05:40:00.000+05:30

With this year’s Union Public Service Commission examination just a fortnight away and the government deciding to go ahead with its current proposal for CSAT to take out the marks of the English Aptitude Test from the gradation process of this year with a promise that it is willing to review the decision for next year's examination. This not gone down well the any of the political parties and they want to use this golden opportunity to publicise themselves. They do not want to lose this chance of using UPSC examination to fight their language wars.

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to the various Civil Services of the Government of India, including Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. Civil Services Aptitude Test is a compulsory part of Civil Services Examination which act as a screening test to Civil Services Main examination Conducted annually by Union Public Service Commission of India and is also known as Civil Services Preliminary Examination. The examination is one of the toughest examinations in the world with success rate of 0.1%-0.3% with more than 500,000 applicants. It is conducted in two phases - the Preliminary examination, consisting of two objective-type papers General Studies and Aptitude Test, and the Main examination, consisting of nine papers of conventional essay type followed by the Personality Test Interview. The entire process from the notification of the Preliminary examination to declaration of the final results takes roughly one year.

From 2011 onwards the pattern for the Preliminary examination which is now popularly known as the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) which intends to focus on analytical abilities and understanding rather than the ability to memorize was changed. The new pattern included two papers of two hours duration and 200 marks each with multiple choice objective type questions only. While the Paper I tests the candidate's knowledge on current events, history of India and Indian national movement, Indian and World Geography, Indian Polity and governance, Economic and social development, environmental ecology, biodiversity, climate change and general science. The Paper II tested the candidate’s skills in comprehension, interpersonal skills, communication, logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making, problem solving, basic numeracy, data interpretation, English language comprehension skills and mental ability.

Recently the government has called an all-party meet on the UPS CSAT issue as they are seeing a stiff opposition to the Centre's stand on it. On Wednesday members of some of the political parties even walked out of the Rajya Sabha opposing the government's stand on UPSC. With the opposition wanting clarity on the government's stand after it announced that the English Aptitude test marks will not count some parties want the aptitude test be scrapped completely while others wanting the exam be conducted in all regional languages. BJP is accusing the previous UPA government for the issue. After a lot of discussions the BJP had come to a decision but other parties are not happy with what they are planning to do.

The UPSC aspirants are expressing their displeasure as they are apprehensive that the exam pattern if it will be easy for students from commerce and science students but humanities background people will find it difficult after the government announced that a 20-mark English section in the CSAT paper will not be included for grades or merit. While the UPSC aspirants were planning to widen their protest the government has deployed heavy security in Mukherjee Nagar and nearby areas like Nehru Vihar, Gandhi Vihar, Indra Vihar and Outram Lines which is restricting around 20,000 UPSC aspirants from joining the protest

The UPSC aspirants who are protesting against the government’s decision have found political support from regional parties like Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal (U) and DMK. All these parties are voicing their opinion and are against the differences shown by the Union Public Service Commission towards Hindi and regional languages.

While SP and BSP demanded that an all-party meeting should be called to discuss and resolve the matter as it the question of fate of lakhs of aspirants who will be appearing the exam this year. On the other hand AIADMK leader M Thambidurai made a strong request in Lok Sabha that the UPSC exam should be conducted in all regional languages in advantage of students from all over the country. Also AIADMK’s V Maitreyan complained that people from South are always given second class treatment for their language problem.

JDU’s Sharad Yadav also questioned to the government’s clarification that it was a UPSC decision. He feels that the numbers of the students who are successful in the exams are falling for Hindi language students. Same is the case with students from Tamil, Telugu and other languages. However the success rate of students with English has gone up drastically compared to previous years

BSP chief Mayawati has to say that the government is not at all worried about the students future. Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party's also supports the aspirants and says that his party was always in favour of Hindi language supremacy over languages like English.

The Rajya Sabha proceedings were stopped twice as the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav raised the issue in the Lok Sabha.

"The solution is to give equal weightage for paper 1 and paper 2 that will take care of the problem. Secondly, taking away English will be disadvantageous to all non-Hindi speaking languages," Congress leader Jesudasu Seelam said.

Even though as BJP had promised before election that they will scrap CSAT and now decided English language comprehension skills not be included in the merit list but students say their demands still remain "unfulfilled as they wanted the entire CSAT section to be removed completely.

One question that each aspirant has to ask himself is can we have a civil servant without a basic understanding of maths, logical reasoning, data interpretation and English. The whole idea why CSAT was introduced was to the extent of such basic understanding. It assesses the candidate's ability to respond quickly on the basis of strong fundamentals as multiple choice aptitude questions are often about crossing off the wrong answer choices. With each political party supporting their own regional language they want to utilize this opportunity for their advantage. The students should realize that the political parties are just seeing this as another oppurtunity to stand against the government and fight their own war using the CSAT as their means.

Kim Jong Un’s nuclear threat to US – The Inside Story

2014-08-07T00:42:00.000+05:30

To know the reason behind Kim announcing the nuclear war against United States we have to go back one year in history to see what made him upset. It all started in February 2013 when North Korea conducted a successful nuclear test that annoyed the United States, South Korea and others and in response to the test in March 2013 the United Nations Security Council imposed new economic sanctions against North Korea which annoyed Mr. Kim. This is when for the first time North Korea threatened for a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States and the next day it cut off its hot line with South Korea and also voided its non-aggression pact with South Korea.

Appalled by North Korea’s unpleasant behaviour the administration decided to see how far a nuclear B-2 stealth bomber could fly without landing. The plane flew non-stop from the United States to the Korean Peninsula and back dropping few inert munitions on a range off South Korea’s coast. The flight really made Mr. Kim angrier and made the matters worse. To add fuel to the fire South Korea said that if North Korea provokes South Korea then they may respond with a military strike on statues of the North’s nation founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il which aggravated the situation.

Another reason is that very few people know that the anti-American leader Kim Jong-il was actually an ardent fan of Hollywood blockbusters James Bond films being his favourite which a secret is kept by North Korea since years. Like father like son who is current Supreme leader has inherited this from his father which was evident from the “Rocky” theme that was recently played at a special state concert. Hollywood to be released flick by Columbia Pictures which is a comedy about a plot to assassinate the son, Kim Jong-un which has not gone down well with the Supreme Leader and North Koreans have reacted by calling the movie an “act of war” and have announced threats at the Obama administration for masterminding the film to undermine their nation. A spokesman for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency that if the United States administration approves or supports the release of this film, ‘The Interview’ then they will have no other option than to take a decisive and merciless countermeasure which may lead to loss of lives in United States.

Kim Jong Un is the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He is the son of Kim Jong-il and the grandson of Kim Il-sung. He was officially declared the supreme leader following the state funeral for his father on 28 December 2011. He is the world's youngest head of state at the age of 31 years. He is world's 46th most powerful person in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People in 2013. Kim Jong-un is trying to erase all traces of his father's rule after stepping into power and replacing all top brass with officers who are loyal to him alone. Till now three defence ministers and four chiefs of the army's general staff had been replaced and five of the seven men who had escorted his father's hearse two years earlier had been eliminated. Jang Sung-taek his uncle is believed to have been executed by machine gun. After his execution on 12 December 2013 state media warned that the army will never pardon all those who disobey the order of the Supreme Commander. It has been claimed that Kim Jong-un has also put to death members of Jang's family. According to multiple sources, Kim is attempting to completely destroy all traces of Jang's existence through extensive executions of his family, including the children and grandchildren of all close relatives.

Many reports have indicated the human rights violations that are continuing under the leadership of Kim Jong-un. The merciless violations include ordering the killing of defectors, conducting public executions and sending people to political prison camps. In the year 2013 a report by UN on the situation of human rights in North Korea proposed an immediate United Nations commission of inquiry to document the accountability of Kim Jong-un and other individuals in the North Korean government for alleged crimes against humanity and make him accountable for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

According to Pentagon strategic analyst Mark Schneider's report North Korea might have developed nuclear weapons which are advanced enough to be delivered with its ballistic missile forces a fact which the US cannot underestimate. They can be used to strike Hawai, Alaska and parts of the West Coast. The Defence Intelligence Agency has also confirmed the existence of Ballistic Missiles in a separate assignment that was carried out in 2013. Various statements threatening to attack US were made by North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. However it was reported and assured to the public that Korea's warheads are extremely limited and are untested. But as its capabilities have advanced greatly with the help Chinese helping them to provide technology which they can use to strike almost anywhere in the U.S
In its recent unclassified assessment Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) has stated: “DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North [Korea] currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles.” This conclusion is though very credible is not really new. North Korea was already assessed to have nuclear weapons long before the actual first test of these weapons in 2006. In today’s world building a nuclear weapon tiny enough that can be carried by payloads of North Korea's ballistic missiles is an easy task. Proliferation of a nuclear missile warhead from China to Pakistan and from Pakistan to North Korea has happened. The nuclear stockpile in North Korea is much greater than what it has been assessed to be. North Korean regime being the most brutal Stalinist dictatorship in the world this cannot be neglected. Though North Korea earlier in the past also has made occasional nuclear attack threats against the U.S., the scope, magnitude, and frequency of these threats have increased in 2013. The current U.S. policy is not well suited to handle this threat situation as it downgrades the importance of nuclear deterrence and cuts missile defence.

Mark Schneider also in his report says “This is disturbing news, The North Korean regime is one of the most fanatic, paranoid, and militaristic dictatorships on the planet. North Korea has in the recent months issued provocative threats to carry out nuclear strikes on U.S. cities and against American allies.” In spite of Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel repeatedly confirming and assuring that both Iran and North Korea were not capable of launching a nuclear attack the Defence Intelligence Agency stands by its assessment that the threat from North Korea is real. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti also confirmed in a congressional hearing that North Korea is a significant threat to United States.

He Obama administration is being blamed for today’s situation where US is not ready to handle the nuclear attacks planned by Korea. From the initial days in office the Obama administration downgraded the importance of nuclear deterrence and cut missile defence. The Obama administration’s take on the North Korean nuclear threat may be linked with its plans to radically reduce U.S. military capabilities in both the nuclear and the conventional arena in the near future, starting with sequestration. The report concludes by saying that the Obama administration’s ‘nuclear zero’ ideology did not impress North Korea and it may have precipitated the unprecedented nuclear attack threats from North Korea.

If really North Korea will start a nuclear attack on the worlds super power United States is something which is not certain. But the destruction that I can cause to life of the people is something that we do not even want to imagine. Sitting in Korea they will be able to attack any place in US and launch the ballistic missile and everything that existed in the targeted area will become history. A country like North Korea is not only a threat to US but to the entire world and it is important that everyone meets and prepares for the situation that coming their way.

Natwar Singh from being Mr Depandable to Mr Undependable

2014-08-04T20:44:00.000+05:30

The four decade relationship of Natwar Singh with the most influential Gandhi family has finally seen the lights of disappointment which is clearly evident from the excerpts of the autobiography written by Natwar Singh. What really went wrong? Why Natwar took so long to break his silence? Was this the right time to strike? Is it just an act to publicize and increase the sales of his book “One Life is not enough" ? Let us find some true answers to the above questions which are pondering in everyone’s mind.

Kunwar Natwar Singh a former senior bureaucrat, an Indian politician, a writer and a former Union cabinet minister one name with a diverse personality. In his first assignment Singh served in the Indian Foreign Service which is touted to be one of the most prestigious government services for 31 years. During his service in IFS worked on various crucial assignments. He was India's representative to Executive Board of UNICEF, In 1966, he was posted to the Prime Minister's Secretariat under Mrs Indira Gandhi. He even accompanied Ms. Indira Gandhi on her State visit to the U.S. in 1982. He also served as the Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs from March 1982 to November 1984. He was awarded with the prestigious Padma Bhushan by the government in the year 1984. His closeness to the Gandhi family increased and in 1984, he resigned from the service to contest elections as a member of the Congress party. He won the election and served as a union minister of state until 1989.He had an erratic political career until being made India's foreign minister in 2004 but had to resign after a short term of 18 months later as he and his party had come under fire after the U.Ns Volcker committee named them as recipient of illegitimate payoffs in the Iraqi oil scam.

Nobody is aware of the contribution of Natwar Singh towards the growth and rise of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Apart from being an ardent admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru he had great loyalty towards Indira. He was also a very close aide of Rajiv Gandhi. From the period May 1991-2005, he switched roles from literary matters to peace-maker to street fighter and acted as an adviser to Sonia. In 2005 as per the Volcker Committee report the then External Affairs minister in Manmohan Singh's UPA1 government Mr. Natwar Singh was named for alleged corruption in the Oil for Food programme in Iraq. It was professed that Natwar Singh misemployed his official power to acquire oil coupons for his son Jagat Singh. Though all the allegations were against the entire Congress party, but the trustworthy Natwar was targeted to save the parties image and singled out. In a short span of his ministership where he was briefly a minister without portfolio was ultimately dropped from the government and the party. What was more humiliating was in the way he was terminated from the party by circulating a notice among the members. This was the fruits that he had received in return for the long nurtured friendship with the Gandhi's. The doors to Janapath 10 which once were always open were now permanently shut for him.

Just when the congress was recovering from the blow they received in the form of the book, “Accidental Prime Minister: Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh” by Sanjaya Baru who was the prime misters former media advisor they have received another blow which seems to be more harder in the form of another book “One life is not enough” by Natwar Singh who spills some unbelievable realties about the party which not going down well with the party chief Sonia and the party itself. It talks about what took place within the government during UPA-I and the equation Manmohan Singh and Sonia shared.

Singh’s book shows an unfavourable image of Congress party chief and even calls her "Machiavellian" leader who has been "coarsened" by politics. In his book he says that Sonia and Rahul are on the top one position in the party and rest all the members in the bottom at the last position. There is no second third or any other position.
"What Sonia Gandhi has achieved is to reduce the Congress, one of the greatest political parties of the world, to a rump of forty-four members in the Lok Sabha," he wrote.

The book might have come at the right time when the congress party which was in power for a decade lost to the BJP in a worst ever defeat which created history in Indian Politics. But Singh defends by saying that he started the book way back in 2011 and working on it since then. It took three years for him to complete the book and has hence published it now. After his confirmation of the second book in making congress has all the reasons to worry.

Maharashtra 2014 Elections – Top politicians to watch out for

2014-07-30T17:40:00.000+05:30

Mission Elections Maharashtra

The race to become the PM of the country might have finished but the race to become the CM of the second largest state in the country is yet to begin. Let us take a look at the list of bureaucrats who top the list of contenders for the top post of Maharashtra.

Adopting the strategy of BJP who announced Modi as the PM candidate in advance which helped the party win the elections, MNS chief Raj Thackery was the first one to declare himself as the CM candidate dauntless of the political pounding in recent lok sabha elections. He praised Mr Modi for being the reason behind their astounding victory. Raj Thackrey who hails from the Thackrey family who are associated with Shiv Sena is the son of younger brother of Bal Thackeray. Though he quit the party in 2006 following irreconcilable differences with cousin Uddhav Thackeray he considered his uncle Bal Thackrey as his mentor. He and his party have been always against the immigration into Maharashtra from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and have been criticized for using violence during their agitations. On this Thackrey had clarified that violence is a part of all Indian political agitations and were un necessarily highlighted by other politicians and media to taint their reputation.

On the other hand his cousin Uddhav Thackrey has rubbished away any intention to become the CM of Maharashtra and his priority is to bring the BJP - Shiv Sena alliance into power. He also clarified that his parties demand for him to be the state chief minister is out of the love and affection and he was thankful to them. The decision for picking the CM candidate will be collectively taken with the alliance partners. The Grand Alliance talks on seat-sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly elections due within four months will start soon. The party chief's decisions are expected to ease the tensions among the alliance over the critical issue of who will be announced as the next chief ministerial candidate with many names from all major political parties already being published.

With Sharad Pawar from NCP stepping down from being projected as the chief minister candidates many names are doing rounds from NCP for an eligible match. His nephew Ajit Pawar, who is the current Deputy Chief Minister, has never hidden his aspirations to be the state chief minister. He has urged that the NCP should announce its candidate and contest the assembly polls under his leadership. He has adopted his uncle’s collective leadership mantra and is working together with other aspirants for the top post which include Jayant Patil, R R Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal. He is being instrumental in reviewing the drought like situation in Maharashtra and the government has collected information based on which a decision will be taken to compensate the farmers in the meeting scheduled for July 30. There were many allegations and criticisms over corruption which were made against him but none of them till date have been proved correct.

The sudden demise of Mr Gopinath Munde has toppled the chances of a speculative win by the BJP Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra. Munde was undoubtedly the only chief minister candidate of BJP who was sure to win the Maharashtra elections following in the footsteps of Mr Modi. Like Modi was unanimously elected by everyone to be their PM Munde also was an ideal candidate destined to win the elections. He was a counter to the NCP's Sharad Pawar and was the only voice with a credible track record that was able to oppose Pawar stiffly even in the last election. He was the person responsible for establishing the six party forces with RPI joining the alliance two years back. Swabhimaani Paksha and the Shiv Sangraam were roped in recently before the Lok Sabha elections. He could foresee that Raju Shetty the Swabhimaani Paksha chief had strong presence among sugarcane farmers and milk producers in Western Maharashtra and could be used as a mighty force against the NCP.

The Aam Aadmi Party which had earlier decided not to contest in Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls and currently focus on Delhi have backtracked their words and have decided to contest for one fourth of the seats. Till now around nine 'Chintan Shibhir' sessions have been organized in Maharashtra to take feedback and come out with a decision. However nothing has been decided on what constituencies AAP candidates will contest from but they are sure that they will contest the state elections. A final decision will be made by the members and party workers soon. The state convener Anjali Damania has confirmed the news. With most of the members who are new to politics the party has a tough task ahead in finalizing the Chief Minister candidates list.

Both the Muslim and Hindi communities in Maharashtra were going through a very bad phase after the Babri Masjid riots. Abu Asim Azmi who was an established Muslim Businessmen known to everyone was no exception to this and fell prey to some false allegations. He fought his case till Supreme Court and did not leave the battle until he was declared innocent. This was a life changing event for him and he decided to help many more innocent people like him who were un necessarily troubled. Among them there were people who did not even have money to arrange a lawyer for themselves. He joined SamajWadi Party in 1995 and was elected as President, Mumbai. Under his leadership they fought the 1995 elections and won 2 seats from Mumbai, one in Nehru Nagar and the other in Umer Khadi. The following BMC elections ,Samajwadi party repeated the success in manifolds with a huge success of 22 Municipal councilors. Thus Samajwadi Party’s debuted in Maharashtra legislative assembly as one MLC was elected as Samajwadi Party candidate. Azmi successfully led the Samaj wadi Party in different parts of Maharashtra , apart from Mumbai in spite of the opponents trying to ruin the success of Samajwadi Party.

With other parties like AIMIM, Bahujan Mukti party etc some of whom have already named their candidates and some yet to name, it will be a game to be watched closley to see who will succeed Prithvi Raj Chavan to become the next chief minister of the state and we can only hope that the people elect a prompt leader rather than a perpetrator.

Most Prominent Political Families in India:

2014-06-21T05:14:00.000+05:30

It’s not just the ‘Mughals’ or the ‘Rajas’ of the history who are well known for ruling India for generations. Even after the inauguration of democracy in India there had been families who continue to shine in the political arena. In India the king rule vanished long ago, but the custom of following your guardian’s way didn’t vanish completely. Many of the politician families, who have their roots during the time of independence, are still in the limelight. Others may not have a past that rich but surely they are also in the scene since very long. Here are some of those Indian Politician families:

1.The Nehru-Gandhi Family: This enormous family tree starts from Motilal Nehru whose son later became the first prime minister of India and since then there is no stopping. Jawaharlal Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi got married to Feroze Gandhi and the Gandhi family is flourishing still. There are no second thoughts on it being one of the most prominent politician families of India since Independence. The fifth and latest generation includes Rajiv Gandhi’s children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and also Sanjay Gandhi’s son, Varun Gandhi.

2. The Bose family: The unforgettable leader of India, Subhash Chandra Bose is the root of this family. Not only our freedom fighter but his elder brother, Sarat Chandra Bose had an active role to play during the struggle for independence. Both of Sarat Chandra Bose’s held the post MP. Krishna Bose and Sugata Bose, MP’s from All India Trinamul Congress. The current finance minister in the Government of West Bengal, Amit Mitra also happens to be from the Bose family.

3.The Abdullah Family: The Abdullah Family of Jammu and Kashmir seems to go on for a long term. Within the Abdullah family, three generations had the honour of being the chief minister of the state namely Sheikh Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and the current chief minister Omar Abdullah. Wife of Sheikh Abdullah was a Member of Parliament and another son was one of the MLAs. Omar Abdullah was also the former Union Minister before he held the post of Chief Minister.

4.The Yadav Family: The Yadav family of Uttar Pradesh may not have a long history in India’s political scene but surely it has a building future. The family came into the frame with Mulayam Singh Yadav, National President of Samajwadi party,former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and former Defence Minister of India. Son of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav is the current chief minister of U.P. His wife also is a member of the Lok Sabha. The family includes Dharmendra Yadav, Shivpal Singh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, Premlata Yadav and Aditya Yadav who hold different positions in different levels of the government.

There are many other families growing up as political families but is it going the right way? Isn’t the family interference snatching opportunities from the other deserving candidates who are just common people? The other side is also true; they have not inherited it but had been elected to the respective post. Every coin has two sides; therefore, the question hangs on with no particular answer.

Gopinath Munde meets with fatal road accident

2014-06-08T21:06:00.000+05:30

Wednesday, June 4 2014: In a tragic turn of events, newly elected Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde died on Tuesday morning after a road collision in New Delhi. The five-time MLA and Deputy Leader in the 15^th Lok Sabha was a key ally to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the eight days he had served in office with a mandate to revitalise a stalled economy. Modi had entrusted the crucial task of spearheading a battle on poverty to Munde.

Gopinath Munde, 64, was on his way to the airport for a victory rally in his home state of Maharashtra in the early hours of Tuesday. He was seated in the back of his sedan when it was hit on the side by a Tata Indica and was thrown to the other side due to the impact of collision. Though he seemed to have suffered only minor injuries, he suffered a cardiac arrest due to the shock. Munde’s driver and personal assistant, who were travelling with him at the time, rushed him to the trauma centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. On admission, doctors could not find a pulse, blood pressure, spontaneous breathing or any signs of cardiac activity. Doctors tried to revive Munde for 50 minutes but he died in hospital.

"He suffered cervical fractures and the oxygen to his brain and lungs may have been cut off. His liver was ruptured and he lost1-2 litres of blood," said union health minister Harsh Vardhan.

The late minister is survived by wife Pradnya, who is the sister of senior BJP leader Late Pramod Mahajan, and three daughters – Pankaja, Pritam and Yashashri. The eldest daughter Pankaja Munde-Palve is active in state politics and is currently a state legislator from Parali, a constituency in the native Beed district in Marathwada region.

What's the way ahead for Jagan Mohan Reddy?

2014-06-07T16:30:00.000+05:30

Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, is son of ex-CM Y S. Rajasekhar Reddy. He's the owner of Sakshi Telugu paper, Sakshi TV, and Chief promoter of Bharathi Cements.

In the recent assembly elections, his party scored 40%+ votes in AP winning 67 seats single handedly, where as the other side stood mighty allaince of TDP, BJP & Pawan Kalyan. TDP won over YSRCP, with thin majority of 1.96% more voters.

Odarpu yatra

Odarpu yatra started in 2010 to mourn his father's death : considered to be height of the joke by many parties, but he used to make himself closure to masses : it was a campaign to promote his father's legacy, and to tirade against TDP & Congress. This shows how shrewd ans smart he is.

Cases against him

CBI filed a 68 page charge-sheet against him in disproportionate assets case, where he's accused of conspiring with his father to dole out favors to companies to invest in businesses a in a quid pro quo arrangement.

Interestingly he or his mother Vijayamma never categorically denied to the allegations, except making same kind of allegations levelled against TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu.

Looks like sofar CBI did not have a single proof, and cleared him, in 8 out of 10 cases. In the remaining two cases he may get imprisionment if proven guilty.

His style

Imitates his father in public meetings, but he wants to beat everyone including his father in dominating mindshare of people. Many pointed to easing out the YSR's photo from flexis etc.

People say that he does not like somebody better looking appear close to him, especially in the public.

He Never spoke or responded in public about cases or allegations against him.

Never took rest except the time he was in jail, since his father's accidental death.
He Looks always full of love, well mannered & soft, and holds people by their cheeks :)

Some allegations are there reg his personal life while being in jail,for 16 months.

Did Congress help?

Rumours have been aloud that he came to an understanding with congress party last year, as nothing else can explain his getting a bail (after his bail petition was rejected somany times before, citing its a 'complex' case), and some of his other confidants release happened in quick succession.

His, like many others', dreams shattered, thanks to the BJP winning absolute majority at the centre.

Way ahead!

With 67 seats he has a role to play strong opposition to TDP government. To that extent, it might be good for the residual AP.

The flip side is when the investigations against him resumes, and how long he will be out on bail, are the moot questions.

There may not be witch hunt like Congress did on him till last year, but there is no one to support either, and he's out of the options politically. Unlike last time where he struck a deal with Congress leaders to come out on bail, as everyone opines.

But If he's into jail again...

His & his party's plight will be horrible. He may lose whatever base he has right now. His cases may not fetch as much sympathy as he got before, among the masses. Just as he was having more sympathy & influence when he was in jail, than when he was out on bail later.

Already there are rumours that he may merge his party YSRCP into Congress. But that too can't help much, as Congress itself is in it's worst possible shape in its history, has not got a chance to claim to be main opposition at the centre.

Running a loss making behemoths like Sakshi paper & Sakshi TV, may not be possible, for long.

Next few years...

Nothing can be said for sure, and but by then there might be Pawan Kalyan's party, in a good form. If that's the case, it's not good for Jagan's or his party. Also BJP has good chance of growing in the state too. A lot also depend on how Chandrababu accelerates progress of the residual state.

He was not reachable first few times for Chandra Babu's call to invite him for swearing in ceremony, later also he criticized the same for unnecessary extravaganza.

Unless the cases against him do not disturb him much, he will be in vulnerable situation for next few years.

Recent post: Options before Jagan Mohan Reddy !

Unknown facts about Modi!

2014-06-06T00:21:00.000+05:30

We all know pretty well how our day goes on...We also know how our friends, relatives, neighbors etc spend their day. Lets have a look on how organised is our Prime Minister? How does his daily routine look like?

Checkout these points to know more about Narendra Modi

1. In a closed-room meeting, he likes multi-media presentations and has childlike enthusiasm for technology.

2. He logs onto the internet every morning without fail and checks what all is written about him.

3. He is in love with mirror. He poses like a model and is very conscious of his pictures that are sent out from his publicity office.

4. Modi has no ‘best friend’.

5. He sleeps only 5 hours or even less. Whatever time he hits the bed, he is up by 5:00 or 5:30 am.

6. His icon is Swami Vivekananda.

7. He fasts all 9 days during ‘Navaratri' every year eating only a single fruit.

8. Only a few know that Modi has done a 3 month course in Public Relations and Image Management from the US.

9. Modi is a Vegetarian and his fav.food is Bhakhri (crispy roties) and Khichdi made in gujrati style.

10. He was born on September 17, 1950. He makes it a point to take the blessings of his mother Heeraben on his birthday.

11. He bonds reasonably well with his four brothers and sister but doesn’t display it in public. His wife's name is Jashoda, and the couple separated soon after marriage.

12. He admires Indira Gandhi.

13. No Indian advertising agency is likely to match his ability to paraphrase ideas, launch new brands, re-launch people and events, write-rewrite copies to sell ideas or products as he does.

14. He is extremely prudent in money matters, and would like to pay the least and get the most while finalizing contracts of various ministries.

15. Has spent enough time in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh so his language, nuances of behaviour and expressions can never be Westernised.

16. Narendra Modi is the 6^th most followed world leader on Twitter.

17. He has written poems of low literary value.

18. He left his family at the age of 17 and went to Rajkot’s Ramakrishna mission and to the Belur Math in West Bengal and then to Himalayas. He did not know what to do exactly, and wandered all around India.

19. Modi has equality between Hindus and Muslims and meets local Gujarati Muslims frequently. Gandhinagar’s people have the easy access to his well-kept secrets.

20. He is the most desirable man till date because he knows how to treat people and also recognizes time and value.

How many of you have an organised day like Modi?