That's all, Your Honour! : July 31 - Aug.6

1. Phew - finally some closure to the "nataka" in Karnataka (pleas to excuse me folks, for repeating that phrase many times ... just that I like it a lot :D). B.S.Yedyurappa resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. However, a consensus eluded the legislators on who the next leader should be. After 2 days of failed consultation, the top brass of BJP decided to go for a secret ballot. Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh oversaw this secret ballot. 65 MLAs voted in favour of Sadananda Gowda and 51 voted in favour of Jagdish Shettar. This secret ballot is not just significant for the polity in Karnataka alone. This should be a curtain raiser for many such democratic options. Party Presidents can be elected through secret ballots. Legislature party leaders should be elected by secret ballot (instead of the banal "Madam will decide"). It is sincerely hoped that this system of secret ballot envisaged and executed by the BJP doesn't become an exception but becomes a rule. The drawback though is that the internal bickering amongst party MLAs will be bought out in the open, but that should not be a hindrance to usher in such a reform. Coming back to Karnataka, Jagdish Shettar's group is disappointed that they lost and have even boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of Sadanand Gowda. Sadanand Gowda has a herculean task ahead and here's wishing him all the very best :)

2. The Congress party announced this week that Sonia Gandhi has taken ill, and has left to another country for a surgery that is required. She appointed a four-member committee to run the day-to-day party affairs. Rahul Gandhi, A.K.Anthony, Ahmed Patel and Janardhan Dwivedi are the members of this committee. As usual, some english TV media folks started hyping up Rahul Gandhi, saying that now he is "incharge"; CNN-IBN had a slide show to talk about "Rahul's rise in politics" beside the news item of Sonia Gandhi's illness. Anyways, a few hours after the announcement by Congress, Tehelka reported that Sonia Gandhi was admitted in the Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer hospital. No confirmations though. Then again there endless speculations going on about the nature of her illness. This brings us to another important point - how can the most powerful person in this country be so secretive about this? We are not asking for hourly updates on her health status, but given her prominence in matters that affect governance, shouldn't the people of this country get to know more? When did she leave? Where is she now? When is she expected to recuperate? Even basic details were missing from initial statements.

3. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India released the report on the CWG scam and severly indicted the Delhi government led by Sheila Dixit, the PMO and the central government. Not surprisingly, the english TV media and the Congress party came to the rescue of Sheila Dixit. Apparently, according to Congress, this is not a case of corruption, only a case of mis-management. NDTV group editor, who wrote an article about why Yedyyurappa should go (and she quoted Gita in that too!) was silent on this. IBN editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai sermons that we should stop pronouncing politicians guilty. Where was this diligence while debating previous scams endlessly? It is common knowledge that Suresh Kalmadi is not the lone culprit. The budget for CWG was increased manifold by the central government - most of the times citing delays in the projects. Nobody wants to discuss why there were delays in the execution of the projects. Nobody wants to discuss why shoddy deals and contracts were signed by the government. All we wanted to see what Suresh Kalmadi in jail, and that's about it!

4. Monsoon session of Parliament began this week. The first two days were drowned in din, and no business was transacted in either the Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha. However, once the government relented to discuss price rise under a voting rule, normalcy was restored. Parliament discussed Price Rise (as always this was blamed on global factors), Security scenario and Telangana issues prominently. There were no surprises in the debates - known positions only. Question hour and Zero hour also happened without interruptions (one should have listened to answers by Railway minister to pointed questions -"this is a democracy, things will take time" etc!). It is recommended to the readers that you watch these proceedings if you get a chance :) - www.loksabha.nic.in and www.rajyasabha.nic.in

5. Finally, the news of the week! A thousand tonne ship, M.V.Pavit, drifted in the high seas, and ran aground at Juhu beach in Mumbai. The best part - no one knew about this! This ship was not detected, not seen by any security agency. Only after morning joggers reported, did we come to know. So much for talking about improving coastal security ! That's all, your honour!

That's all, Your Honour! :Oct. 17-23

1. Post that "nataka in Karnataka" episode last week, some sort of sense was expected to be restored this week. However, the High Court bench, which was supposed to decide on the disqualification of the MLA's delivered a split verdict. While the Chief Justice agreed with the actions of Speaker, the second Judge did not. The matter thus posted to another Judge, who after listening to arguments for 2 days, has reserved the verdict! So the wait continues. Not to lose any opportunity during this wait, the rival camps have begun to make sure their numbers stay intact. However, 2 MLA's of the Congress resigned their seats, causing a turmoil in the party. The opposition's strength has now been reduced to 98 (BJP's strength is now at 106). The suspense will continue till the High Court delivers the judgement. If it is in favour of the Speaker, a mini-election is what we will witness given that about 18 seats will have to go for by-polls in six months. If it is not in favour of the Speaker, a drama in the Assembly is what we will witness. Either way, a thrilling drama awaits us in Karnataka. In the other words, the Nataka has not yet ended!

2. If events in this week are any indication, slowly, but surely, we are going to witness the acquital of all those involved in the Corruption Wealth Games. While the media went gaga last week over the "snubbing" of Mr. Kalmadi by Her highness Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Delhi CM, Sheila Dixit, this week it has slowly begun to ask us if we are too immune to corruption - thereby shifting the discussion towards a "societal and system" failure, rather than pinpointing those guilty. It all started when Mr. Kalmadi hit back at Shiela Dixit saying that she should not point fingers at him and instead set her own house in order. He also reminded us that whilst his budget was Rs. 1650 crores only, her budget was Rs. 16,500 crores! A day later, the president of BJP, Nitin Gadkari held a press conference and questioned the PMO as to why and how it approved all the inflated budgetary expenses. Did the PMO know about the corruption then? Did it verify properly the claims made while these estimates were submitted? These and many such pointed questions were put forth. However, in a pre-emptive move, the IT department raided the house of a BJP leader in Delhi, accusing his relative of grabbing a contract! NDTV promptly reported this "raid" and went on to describe a similar raid on Kalmadi's office as a "visit" by officials! This news overshadowed the press conference. Slowly, it was made out to be a "apolitical" thing. And now the discussions are about our immunity towards corruption! In the meanwhile, CVC is all set to probe 22 agencies involved and in 3 monts a report will be submitted it seems. Let's mark today's date and discuss this again in 3 months time!

3. The National Advisory Council headed by Her Highness Sonia Gandhi has decided to place 80 crore people of this country in the "food security" net. At various levels, these people will be gauranteed of 35 kgs of rice at subsidised price. The draft was released just yesterday, and more reading is required. However, please note your honour - Her Highness has decided to place 75% people of this country in the "poor" bracket and make sure the rest 25% pay up for earning more! That's all, your honour!

That's all, Your Honour! : Oct.10-16

Warning: This is a very longgg post :). Essentially because am documenting the entire K'taka saga that happened this week, before speaking about the Common Wealth Games. Thanks in advance for reading :)

1. The "Nataka in Karnataka" caption lived upto its expectations this week! Not sure who the hero was, but was crystal clear who the villian was. That honour has been bagged by the Governor of the state, His Excellency Hans Raj Bhaadwaj! The Speaker of the assembly disqualified 11 rebel BJP MLA's and also 5 Independent MLA's (and hence strength of Assembly came down to 208, and BJP had 104 MLA's in its fold). He was quoting the Anti Defection Act, but many were of the view that this act can be applied only after the MLA's actually vote in the assembly. However, since the Speaker has decided, the matter can only go into the court. However,our villian decides to take matters into his own hands and shoots of a letter to the Speaker asking him to retain the original configuration of the house! What business he had writing to the speaker, only he knows! Anyways, te D-Day came. On the morning of 11th October, these 16 MLA's barged into the assembly, broke windows, one MLA even tore his shirt and dared policemen/marshals. For the first time, policemen entered the floor of the house and had a scuffle with the MLA's. And since the doors seemed open for all, MLC's MP's etc etc all walked into the house. It was a literal free for all !

And amidst all this confusion, the Speaker declares that the government won the trust vote, by a show of hands! Yep, amidst all this confusion, the Speaker declares that the government wins through a voice vote. And this infuriated the governor even more! Without even waiting for a report from the Speaker, His Excellency H.R.Bharadwaj sent a report to the Central government recommending President's rule !! At a time when all were focussing on the legality of the action of the Speaker, our villian gave the perfect twist, thus hogging the limelight all for himself again. Quite obviously this was a stupid move, evident from the fact that the Central government (whom he wanted to impress in the first place) was not too keen. BJP was in a battle mode now, seeking the Governor's recall citing all his stupid actions.

And then our villian, as is his wont - gave us a new twist! He writes to the Chief Minister the next day (12th Oct) saying he is willing to give him "another chance" to prove his majority on the 14th of October! After recommending that the government be suspended, he now talks about another chance! And what is the legality of this "offer"? Was he advising? Was he ordering? What about his earlier recommendation then? Whatever he writes and recommends has lega connotations, why behave like a school principal? And come to think of it, this guy was the Law Minister of India in UPA 1 ! Why was he in such a hurry? Whom is he trying to appease? Just when we were trying to find answers to these questions, comes the new twist!

His Excellency holds a press conference and starts speaking like the opposition leader of the state! He says there is no development in the state, there is lot of corruption etc! That's right - instead of just talking about the confidence vote (which he had no business talking about,in the first place) he goes on and on about governance, BJP leadership et.al ! H.R.Bharadwaj finally succeeded in proving that he is just a stooge of the High Command of his party, with little or no respect to the dignity of the post of Governor. It is not hi business to comment upon aspects of development, governance etc. The people will get to decide all that - the Governor is just he titular head of the state and has to come into the picture only when there is a constitutional breakdown. Quite evidently, this man doesn't care for such etiquitte.

Anyways, the CM accepted the "offer", and won the floor test with a 106-100 majority. The High Court is yet to rule on the suspension of the 5 Independent MLA's though. Even if the court cancels their disqualification, there is no danger to this government.

The Governor's actions and the attempts by another Excellency H.D.Deve Gowda to cash in on this whole episode aside, this trust vote is a huge eye-opener for BJP. These dissent activities seems to have become a regular happening, thus hampering governance and good will. If no serious attempts are made by the party to address these issues, it sure will take a long time to recover from these losses!

2. All this week, the Commonwealth games fever gripped most of us. Indian sportspersons put up an excellent show this time. After a gap of 52 years, we won a gold in the track events. The women's relay team won the 4x400m gold, another team won he 4x100 bronze medal. India also won the Gold, Silver and Bronze in the women discuss throw event! More than the medals, the stories of almost all the medal winning sportspersons made for very inspiring reading. How children of auto drivers, tribals made it to this place, after going through unbeliavable road blocks is stuff of legend. Men and women from small towns that we have never heard of, heralded a whole new beginning to the sports chapter in the country. We won 38 Gold, 27 Silver and 36 Bronze medals. Each of these 101 winners are the new inspiration for us to aspire for better heights the Asian Games and the London Olympics. Hats off, to the real winners!

And since the games have now ended, time has also come to turn attention to the Corruption Wealth Games! For the record, a commission has been set up to probe everything related to the conducting of the games. It is becoming increasingly clear that Suresh Kalmadi will be made the sole culprit of the whole muck. All other leaders will be let off, and our ever compliant media led by NDTV, has already begun to acquit Sheila Dixit, for starters! And apparently, both the PM and Sonia Gandhi have met only the medal winners and not Suresh Kalmadi, and the media is hailing it as if this is the most exemplary "punishment" meted out ever! So much for accountability, your honour!

That's all, your honour! : Oct. 3-9

1. "Kashmir was an outstanding issue which needs to be resolved. It is a political issue and cannot be addressed through development, employment or good governance only" Now, it is but natural to think that such kind of a ridiculous statement can come only from some vague guy not interested in practical solutions. Agreed it is a political issue but to brush aside development, employment and good governance is little too childish. Now what do we have make of it when this statement comes from the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir? Not just this, he went on to say "J&K acceded to India in very unique circumstances and did not merge. Had we merged with India, we would not have had a special constitutional position". Yep, you read it right. The full speech is not available anywhere for download. The entire media has only reported parts of speech here and there and almost all headlines were talking about the protests by opposition members! Yep - the Chief Minister says all this stuff and we are interested in reporting how the opposition reacted. This blog piece by "i_panchajanya" gives an excellent summary of how the media covered this shocking speech by the Chief Minister. He goes on to "assert" that his government is not a "puppet" (sure, why would we think so - given his timely "action" for all the crises, it is a sin to think his govt. is a puppet!). Just playing to the galleries and to the separatists ideas will help solve your problem, Mr.Chief Minister? And please don't keep wondering how this man is still holding this job despite so many deaths - that's how immune we have become to inefficiency. Even if it is costing lives.

2. Finally, it is about the games and not about Shiela, Kalmadi et.al. The Commonwealth games have finally begun and the opening ceremony recieved wide kudos for a majority of audience! The event was excellently choreographed, showcasing the rich cultre and heritage of India. Right from the beginning wherein drummers from various parts of the country started their to the "swagatam" dance by the kids, to the yoga performance, to the dance forms of India - everything was way beyond anybody's expectations! Also, we have had a very rich medal haul so far. We have won golds, silvers, bronzes in archery, weightlifting, wrestling and shooting. So far we have even won bronzes in swimming, gymnastics and even in the 10,000m race! This is the first time we are winning medals in the swimming and gymnastics category. The muck and the controversies surrounding the games will only be refreshed after the games are over. Till then "come out and play" !

3. BJP seems to be having a fascination for the "natak" in Karnataka (pun not mine :D). After some recent fiascos, this time it all began when dissent started brewing after a recent cabinet expansion by the Yeddyurappa government. And within no time, 18 MLA's withdrew their support to the government! BJP has a 5 MLA majority in the assembly and this move has put it in a minority. As it happens in such cases, all MLA's first went to Kerala, and then to Chennai and finally to Mumbai! Hectic negotiations (read "how many crores would suffice" stuff) are on, and so far 4-5 MLA's are back into the BJP fold. The Congress has categorically said it will not support the JD(S) now. However, all this muck is bringing in instability in the state thus removing the focus from governance issues. The confidence vote is scheduled for the 12th of this month - need to see how this crisis will play out.

4. So Rahul Gandhi has spoken again. This time, he has enlightened us by saying that there is no difference between RSS and SIMI. He thinks both encourage "fanatics" and are "fundamentalist" in their views. Just so that readers know, SIMI is a banned terrorist organisation. One might have huge differences with views of RSS but to equate them to a banned terrorist organisation speaks volumes about the intelligence of the Enlightener. That's all, your honour!

That's all, your honour! : Sept.26 - Oct.2

1. Before we go into "the" news that the entire electronic media has been concentrating on, here's some really distressing news. First, the Naxals kidnap 4 policemen in Chattisgarh and place some idiotic demands in front of the government. Then they put up a 48 hours deadline, which they extend by another 48 hours. Thankfully, they release all 4 of them without killing them. Police were suspecting that some low level group must have resorted to this act, because their demands were not too strong! Elsewhere, the PSJBC (some Naxal org) has called for a bandh in three disctricts in West Bengal in protest against some killing. As a result, night trains were suspended which means normal life was affected very badly. And elsewhere in Orrisa, 3 policemen and 10 Naxals were killed in an encounter. The crooks also set fire to a hostel and the panchayat building. While these murderers and looters were busy with their work, we had Her Eminence Arundhati Roy shower her enlightenment on us thus - "War on Naxals is a conspiracy to grab tribal land" !

2. The saga of the Corruption Wealth Games is continuing this week too. The high level of confusion in organising of the games still continues. The Games Village was finally ready only on Thursday! And the CM is now rushing to take credit for the quick turnaround !About 10,000 volunteers haven't turned up, the caterer screwed up big time and they had to go in for 5-6 new caterers at the last minute (as a result of this screw-up, about 4000 security and volunteer personnel had to go without food for a day), media personnel are being made to undergo hardships and so on! Also, there was this confusion on whether the President of India or the Prince of Wales should open the games! Yep - even that confusion was not cleared till last week! The Games begin today, and here's hoping that the next 10 days will be about the sports and not the games played by the organisers.

3. And now let's come to the Ayodhya verdict. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has given its verdict on the title suit case. The court decided that the disputed land will be divided into three parts. 1 part will go the Hindus (curiously no Hind group petitioned, those who petiotioned claimed Lord Ram to be the petitioner!), 1 part will go to Nirmohi Akhadas (a sadhu group who have been doing prayers on this site for a long time) and 1 part will go to the Sunni Wakf Board. The bench has ruled that this was the birthplace of Lord Ram. The full judgement (that runs into 8000 pages) can be accessed here. It is 8000 pages long! Without reading into it fully, our "secular liberal" media was quick to pounce on the High Court Judges. "Eminent historians" poured out their grievances and some even got prime space too! NDTV was disturbed beyond comprehension. Infact, the reverred Owaisi "saab" ( as Barkha Dutt calls him) was so agitated that he went belligerent! Kanchan Gupta's blog is an excellent articulation of the bogus claims by Owaisi "saab" and Sandeep's blog is a masterpiece on dissecting why these "eminent historians" are reacting in this way! More on this next week.

4. Curfew was relaxed in Kashmir earlier this week, only to be clamped again towards the end of the week! Schools re-opened and despite "warning" from Geelani, parents sent their kids to schools. Meanwhile, the CPI (Maoist) otherwise known as Naxals, called for a bandh in six states to protest the killings in Kashmir! That's all, your honour!

That's all, Your honour!: Sept. 19-25

1. The Corruption Wealth Games (more commonly known as Commonwealth Games) are back in the news. This time, not for corruption though. First there was this random shooting at Jama Masjid in the capital. Two terrorists came on a motorbike and started firing at a tourist bus. Though isolated, this issue has cast a huge shadow on the readiness of the police force to counter terror attacks. 2 days later, a foot-over bridge collapsed outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (which by the way, is the main stadium for the games). 27 workers were injured, 4 of them seriously. The Union Urban Development Minister called this accident a minor incident. Th Delhi CM reportedly told that this bridge was not built fo the atheletes but for the common man. As we were recovering from their shcoking responses, came the news of a section of false ceiling collapse in the weight lifting stadium fell down. The Delhi CM again enlightened us saying it is only a portion of the ceiling and such minor glitches do come around. Again as we were recovering, came the news of the filthy rooms in the CWG village. And when questioned about this filth, secretary of Organising Committee said that hygiene standards are subjective! First it was the corrpution, then this gross incompetence that put us to shame.

And then suddenly the media went all positive!! Within 24 hours, we were bombarded with news that the Prime Minister took charge, and has given strict orders etc. Suddenly, within 24hrs, a "tough guy" image of the Prime Minister, started making rounds! It was all forgotten that the PM himself visited the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium to supervise the preparations, about a month ago. Suddenly, all media personnel started questioning the advisories being issued by some countries, and one media personality even asked why only developed countries were cribbing so much and not other countries from like,say Africa! And 2 days after his cribbing, we have the African countries accusing us of discrimination And as this blog is being written, CNN-IBN is flashing a news saying that only 400 flats out 1100 have not been completed in the games village! The facts speaks volumes about the games, there is really no special need for a separate analysis and it doesn't take an Einstien to figure out who is at fault!

2. While violence continued to spread in Kashmir, an All party delegation comprising of 39 politicians went to Jammu and Kashmir to speak to all sections of people. And the separatist "leaders" who think that they have landed from the moon and deserve special treatment decided not to meet this delegation. The delegation leaders then decided to split up themselves into smaller groups and visit these crooks at their houses. Even while these leaders were travelling up to their houses, the separtist "leaders" were issuing statements decrying the whole effort. Yet, our leaders went and met them. A false sense of achievement was then marketted through sections of compliant media. The delegation also met many other sections of people, had to cancel a visit to two hospitals in view of tense situation and came back with some recommendations. The Union government later came up with a "eight-point" formula to appease these violent leaders. Primary goal was to open up all the schools and colleges. The state government has been asked to ensure that special classes are held to complete the syllabus. So now kids will be further overburdened because certain whims of separatists were not satisfied! Meanwhile, a small statistic - 4000 police personnel have been injured in he 3 months of violence. 4000.

3. September 24th was an eagerly awaited date, for the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court was to pronounce its verdict in the RamJanmaBhoomi-Babri Masjid case. The High court earlier struck down a petition asking for a postponement of the verdict. In anticipation of the verdict, chief ministers and even the Prime Minister issued appeals for people to maintain calm and not resort to violence. The media was also very excited at the possibility of some "breaking news". The hype had begun, and was about to culminate, when a Supreme Court Judge, in all his wisdom decided to give one more week to see if any settlement can be reached! That's right - a conflict which did not see any settlement for more than 60 years can find a settlement in one week - that too, when the involved parties themselves are awaiting the verdict instead of trying for a settlement ! Sadly,for the media, it has to wait for one more week. On a lighter note, the one good thing that happened because of this verdict and it's subsequent postponement - the ban on bulk SMS and MMS stays till the 29th. What a relief it is, your honour!

That's all, Your Honour!: August 8-14

1. So the Prime Minister finally felt it was time to address the nation, on Jammu and Kashmir. He makes an appeal to the youth and tells them that he is setting up a panel to provide them with better job opportunities. Now, we are confused - so all this unrest was because of lack of employment opportunities? And then he says he is ready to consider the autonomy demand within the ambit of the constitution of India, provided there is consensus. Now, did you just see how loaded that statement is? Framed in such a way that it is open to interpretation in whichever way you like! Observe one more thing - "if there is consensus". Congress always has followed this policy of leaving it to the opposition to arrive at a view, before it even thinks of having a view. Telangana was an example - It didn't have an opinion till Dec.7th, and on the 9th announced a separate state! The recent caste census decision - government has asked all parties to given their opinion and guess which party hasn't given in writing - the Congress! One would think it is not too much to ask for the ruling to take a stance on critical issues - but here we are - it depends on the opposition! Anyways, coming back to the speech - ahh well that's all that is worth mentioning. 2 days after this speech, 4 people were killed in firing. A day later, 2 more were killed. Like we mentioned in an earlier post here: 9 headlines on different days - only the number of killed changes.

2. Also, the Prime Minister took a decision on the Corruption Wealth Games too. He has asked relevant ministries to investigate all charges of irregularities and said that those found guitly should face "exemplary punishment". This announcement came a couple of days after the Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy announced in the Lok Sabha that the punishment will be "draconian". Meanwhile, when the sports minister wa asked for details, he asked the members of Lok Sabha to file an RTI ! Yep - you read it right - the sports minister asked the lawmakers themselves to file an RTI to get more details! Meanwhile, some more details of corruption have been "exposed" by channels and with the Prime Minister himself deciding to visit the staidiums to see first hand - the muck is all out in the open. Curiously though - Mani Shankar Aiyar and Sheila Dixit have been let off by the media.Wonder why?

3. About 10 days back, a cargo ship, MSC Chitra, carrying about 3000 tonnes of oil and diesel, collided with another ship MV Khalija. MSC Chitra then started tilting, thereby spilling over containers of oil into the shores Mumbai. This happened very near to the coast, and there are different versions as to who the culprit is - MSC Chitra or MV Khalija. Meanwhile, the Central government has asked MSC Chitra to pay up for the damages from this collison. Needless to say, the environmental damages that this spill will cause are enormous.. the Mangrove forests aroud the damaged area have already been hit very badly. This being the breeding season for sea animals, it is also feared that the eco system balance will be missing, this year for sure. Meanwhile, many suggestions are coming forward on how to clean up the mess left behind. Also sadly, a boatman died when he was transporting a TV crew to the crash site. The latest news is that the oil spill has stopped because the ship has stabilised.

4. Justice Dinakaran took oath as the Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court. An old blog piece mentions how the judge facing corruption charges has been conveiniently moved to Sikkim! Pilid Lao, in his sattire, explains to us, what the law abiding people of Sikkim need to do, so as to get "equal treatment" by the Supreme Court ! That's all, your honour! (literally :D)

That's all, Your Honour!: Aug 1-6

1. A cloud burst in the town of Leh and adjoining villages in Jammu and Kashmir caused severe flash floods. Atleast 132 people are dead and more than 600 people are still missing in this tragedy. The Army, Indian Air Force, Indo-Tibetan border police, local people and even foreign tourists are all helping in the relief and rescue operations. The airport in Leh has been shutdown, and the region has practically lost it's connectivity to the rest of the world because of the damaged bridges and roads too. The Chief Minister is personally monitoring the sitation from Leh itself.

2. The other tragedy in Kashmir is being tracked in a separate blog piece here. More than 1200 CRPF policemen have been injured in the stone pelting. About 45 civilians have so far died in the last 2 months. Curfew is being relaxed slowly in parts of Srinagar. And the delhi media is going gaga over the "independence" demand of these stone pelters; Sagarika Ghose of IBN even had a discussion on whether this whole "so called sacred-ness of kashmir's accession need reexamination?". Further more, she went on to enlighten us thus: "Kashmir's future shd surely be decided by the kashmiri people. Not by India's armed forces." I would strongly recommend that all of us read this piece by Chaitanya to understand why such "liberalism" in Kashmir is a fail. I repeat - must read!

3. So the Press Council of India prepares a report on "Paid News". This report has detais on which newspapers/channels resorted to the practice of "paid news". Now the members are divided on whether they have to publish the full report or not. No prizes for guessing which majority prevailed? The one that did NOT want the full report published! Outlook has published the full report here, and the report has specific examples of complaints against newspapers/channels, big and small. However the report falls short of any concrete solutions for this menace. More importantly, look at how they voted in the meeting. Actually, look at the absentee list and the "non-commital" list. If politicians only back out like this, what hope will we have on reports coming out! (Outlook links via @vrsrini)

4. Remember the Manipur blockade? Remember the relief felt when it was partially lifted? Turns out, it is a temporary relief, because the Naga groups are back to imposing the blockade for lack of proper response from the Central government! Adds another feather to the cap of this government really.

5. Now let's talk about the Corruption Wealth Games. For starters, this detailed blog by Kanchan Gupta is a must read. Now, the President of the Indian Olympic Association, Suresh Kalmadi holds a press conference and refutes some charges, one of them being that he chose a firm to award a contract in UK, because it was recommended by the Indian High Commission in UK and produces an e-mail. Turns out that e-mail was doctored (no prizes for guessing who doctored it!). Keep wondering how a person at that position can be so stupid! A couple of days later, the Organizing Committee officials hold another press conference and try to clarify some more doubts (saying the Rs. 9 Lakh threadmill was designed by NASA, 100 rolls of tiolet paper cost Rs.4000 and not 1 roll as was projected etc!). In the meanwhile, as a face saving measure, 3 officials are suspended and one more resigns on "moral grounds". Another crucial thing to note here is the media's excessive concentration only on Suresh Kalmadi & co. All hungama about Shiela Dixit's government and Mani Shankar Aiyar's massive failure as Sports Minister in UPA-1 has been brushed under the carpet. You know what is the worst irony of these games - no one is actually talking about how our sports associations are gearing up the sportspersons for this event! The committee has promised $100,000 for training and we have no clue what kind of training our folks are undergoing! That's all, your honour!

That's all, Your Honour! : July 25-31

1. In Haryana, 1 lakh quintals of wheat was left to rot in open area, for lack of storage space! This is not the frst time grains have been left in the open due to lack of storage space. This time, the loss in terms of money has been around Rs. 15 crores. Actually more than the money, the number of people who could have had hearty meals itself runs into lakhs. Food Corporation of India is the agency responsible for preserving grains. It comes under the Agricultural ministry, which is headed by Sharad Pawar! Speaking of rot, let's move to the next point.

2. Corruption Wealth Games. Some call it Congress Wealth Games too! Well, the actual name is Common Wealth Games. This time, New Delhi is hosting them in October. And guess what, some stadiums are not yet complete! In 14 out of the 17 venues, electricty installations have not been checked. That's right - not checked! The inspection agency that was supposed to submit monthly reports has not submitted even one report! The construction work was begun very late and then it was cited that since there is an urgency in completing the projects, the rates need to be hiked up! Banned contractors were given contracts, testing criteria was fudged with, and safety precautions have gone for a toss! The saga is never ending ... Indian Oympic Association Chairman Suresh Kalmadi and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit are busy trading charges. The Union Minister of Sports says this is like a wedding, where everything will fall in place in the last minute!! A whopping sum of Rs. 35,000 crores has been spent so far on this games, and we don't even know why so much was needed in the first place! And the costs still don't seem to abate..like we said before, the saga is never ending!

3. Bypolls to 12 Assembly seats in Telangana were held this week. These were necessaited because 10 TRS MLA's, 1 MLA each from TDP and BJP resigned from their seats. And suprisingly, TRS won 11 seats and BJP retained its lone seat (supported by TRS). And not only that, the margin of victory also increased manifold for all the victors. 3 TRS candidates infact had more than 70,000 votes majority. TDP lost its security deposit in all the 12 constituencies and Congress lost it in 4. And the biggest shock for Congress came when it's state President, D.Srinivas lost from the Nizamabad seat (for the 2nd consecutive time). Though this can be seen as a resounding demand for a separate state in these constituencies, we just have to wait for the Sri Krishna committee to submit it's report.

4. After a relatively calm period for about a week, the stone pelters are again back in Kashmir. A total of 5 people have so far been killed in the clashes between police and the protestors. These protests were organised by the Hurriyat faction led by Syed Geelani, whom the state and central government don't lose an opportunity to invite for talks, while he encourages such vioelnce!

5. After the wikileaks episode, Indian media started wondering if it will have any impact on our talks with Pakistan! Yeah right, like there is something very new in the "fact" that ISI supports Taliban and other terror groups! Even if ISI accepts that, will our Prime Minister stop the talks?! That's all, your honour!