Prakash Karat, where are you?

Yo Prakash Karat, where have you gone hiding? You are facing the acid test of your life, and I am curious to know how you will pass it.

Your adopted country, China is increasing its rhetoric against your birth and resident country, India. I want to know which side you and your party are on, so can you please come out of your hideout and let the people of India know?

Latest analysis by Rahul Gandhi

This time it is on Pak. Apparently we are spending too much time on Pak. Given the fact that they breed people who wish to kill Indians, we are indeed guilty of thinking too much about Pak. And since the world is anyway taking care of Pak – let's move on.

Read the link, it is self explanatory!

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/we-are-giving-too-much-importance-to-pak-rahul/103192-3.html?from=tn

So many points, so little time!: Oct.4-10

1. What is common between Ramalinga Raju and Pak government? Both were riding tigers, not knowing when to get down! hehehe... ok ok excuse me for the PJ. So, Afghan envoy tells US that ISI was behind the blast in our embassy in Kabul. Please note, we did not say this, the Afghans themselves said this. I don't understand this, Pakistan has enough terrorism problems in its own land, why is ISI even bothering to do such things outside? I mean, where do they get the time and inclination to carry out such attacks? On top of that, ISI wants to talk to us directly - yeah right, we will talk about Biryanis and Kababs and everyone goes home. Taliban was fed by Pakistan only, and now it is biting it back. LeT, JuD are also being fed by Pak, but haven't bitten back yet. Let's wait and see when that will happen!

2. These days, actually from the last five years, the Naxalites have decided to throw challenges towards the government. Shivraj Patil was at the helm for most part of the five years and so it is futile to expect anything from him. What, however is disappointing is even today we are still being told that Naxals are the "biggest internal threat", we will do everything in our power to curb it etc. On top of that, we are being told that more money also will be pumped into developmental works. Come on, these people's agenda ceased to be development a long time back. They have just become cold blooded murderers. Take for example the beheading of a constable in Jharkhand - what kind of ideology supports such a gruesome act? How long will we continue to think that the Naxal problem still remains a social problem, instead of a law and order problem? Just because Rahul Gandhi decides that the problem is still a social one, should the government stop from taking the practical course of action here? It still beats me why the AP model of just eliminating them is not followed. We have seen that is was largely successfull, so what just is stopping us from expanding it to other states? You want to know the answer - it is politics! Read this story here, to understand it better. Even Lalu Prasad has opinion about this issue now!

3. PT Usha was not provided proper accomodation in Bhopal for a national atheletics meet. There was apparently a "miscommunication" which led to this farce. Yeah right, I am sure no such "miscommunication" would have happened if any official of the sports authority in the government were to visit other places. Only when sportspersons are involved, do such things happen. And then we want to bid for 2020 Olympics! Haa! First, let us learn to respect our legends, then think about inviting others.

4. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee just relaxed some conditions needed to win the prize. With these relaxations, there will be hundreds of more nominations from next year onwards. It is now official that the prize will be given not just for achievements, but also for "attempting" to achieve. So, next year, Gilani and Manmohan Singh are strong contenders for the award. By the way, read this to find out how the top contender for the post was overlooked.

5. Salman Kursheed tells us that CEO's have to get rid of vulgar salaries. Sure, the day your political clan gives up its hobby of earning vulgar corrupt money, the CEO's will follow suit. Until then, it is break time, Mr. Minister!

6. Blogger completes 10 years :)

అదన్నమాట! : అక్టొబెర్ 4-10

1. రాష్ట్ర రాజకీయ వేదిక పై ఈ మధ్య తగ్గుముఖం పట్టిన కామెడి ని భర్తి చెయ్యడానికి కే.సి.ఆర్ గారు డిల్లి నుంచి తిరిగి వచ్చారు. వచ్చి రాగానే ప్రేలపించడం మొదలుపెట్టారు. తను చెప్పింది తప్పు అని రుజువు చేస్తే హైదరాబాద్ లోని పబ్లిక్ గార్డెన్స్ లో ఉరి తీసుకుంటాను అని సవాల్ కూడా విసిరారు. సోనియా గాంధి ఏమో దయామయి అంట. సడ్దన్ గా ఇలా ఎందుకు అన్నారు అని అడగొద్దు, అయన తీరే అంత. రోశయ్య గారు, మహాత్మా గాంధి డి ఒకే కులం కాబట్టి, ఈయన కూడా మంచి ముఖ్యమంత్రి అవుతారు అంట! వరదలు వచ్చిన నాలుగు రోజులకి కాని సొంత జిల్లా అయిన మహబూబ్నగర్ కి విచ్చేశారు. హెలికాప్టర్ నుంచి దిగుతూ కింద పడ్డారు కూడా! తన ఇల్లుని అమ్మి కూడా సహాయం చేస్తా అని మళ్ళి గట్టిగ ప్రేలపించి, హైదరాబాద్ కి వచ్చేసారు. దానికి తొడు ఈ మధ్య కంటి ఆపెరషన్ అయ్యింది అంట, నల్ల కలద్దాలు పెడుతున్నారు, చుదలేకపోతున్నాము అసలు !

2. ఎట్టకేలకు డిజిపి ఎస్ ఎస్ ఫై యాదవ్ ని తీసేసారు. మొత్తానికి ఒక బెడద వదిలింది ప్రభుత్వానికి. ప్రజలకి కూడా. లేకపోతె ఈయన చేసే పనుల్ని తట్టుకోలేక రోజు రోజుకి చిరాకు పెరగడమే తప్పించి, వేరే ఉపసనమ కూడా లేదు. ఆర్ టి సి కి ఏం డి గా వేసారు ఇప్పుడు ఆయనను. అక్కడ ఏమి చేస్తారు అని చూడాలి ఇప్పుడు.

3. హక్కుల సంఘం నేత కే. బాలగోపాల్ ఈ వారం చనిపోయారు. అయన గురుంచి ముందు ఎప్పుడు వినలేదు, కాని అయన చనిపోయిన రోజు అన్ని పత్రికలు మొదటి పేజి లో బ్యానర్ కథలు ప్రచురించాయి. అన్ని పత్రికలు. అయన గురుంచి చదువుతుంటే ముందే తెలుసు ఉంటె బాగుండేది అనిపించింది. అయన రాసిన కొన్ని వ్యాసాలు చదివాను, నిజంగానే చాలా తెలివైన వ్యక్తీ. అద్భుతం గా రాసారు. గణిత శాస్త్రం లో డాక్టరేట్ ఉన్న సరే, అదీ వదిలేసి, మనవ హక్కుల్ని పరిరక్షచిందానికి ప్రజా జీవితం లోకి వచ్చారు. పోలీసు జులుం ని, నక్సలైట్ల అర్చకాన్ని ఒకే విధంగా వ్యతిరేకించారు. లాయర్ గా కూడా గత పది ఏళ్ళు గా, పలు ఎన్కౌంటర్ కేసుల్ని వాదించారు. నిజంగానే రాష్ట్రం ఒక మంచి నాయకుడ్ని కాలిపోయింది.

4. సోనియా గాంధి గారు వచ్చారు, చూసారు, వెళ్ళారు. రాజకేయాలు గురుంచి కూడా చర్చించి వెళ్లిపోయారు అంట. మనకి ఏమి తెలిదు అనుకోండి. కాని ప్రధాన మంత్రి గారు మాత్రం వచ్చారు, ఉన్నారు, సమీక్షించారు, మనతో మాట్లాడారు, అప్పుడు వెళ్ళారు. కనీసం ఎవరో ఒకళ్ళు స్పందించారు.

Rahul Gandhi’s words of wisdom

Early last week, Rahul Gandhi visited JNU campus for an "interaction" with students. And he had to face many embarassing moments. Not one national channel covered it. Then how did I come to know? A local daily, Eenadu, covered the news item. Eenadu is known for its anti-congress stand, so I figured this may be one of those stories. Then I see that Sakshi, which is owned by Jagan Mohan Reddy, also covered it too. The content was similar, only the headlines changed.

Apparently, the reverred Rahul Gandhi told the audience, when questioned about his views on the right to education bill, that he does not know much about the bill. Eenadu newspaper mentioned that Rahul pleads ignorance of the bill, and Sakshi mentioned it as "Young MP graciously accepted that he did not know much about the bill."

So, the fact remains that he did not bother to acquaint himself with the contents of the bill. Leave alone the content of the bill, he does not have the minimum knowledge required to even speak about it in a university campus! And then apparently Rahul also complained that the questions sounded like they were coming from communist ideology. And also it was reported that Rahul was disappointed that no one asked questions about the future course of the country.

Really? So, reforms in the education system are not about the future of the country? What did he expect? To be asked questions to which he would have mugged up answers?

Fast forward to yesterday. The entire media was abuzz with "I don't believe in caste system – Rahul". "Govt's inability to reach out to people causes naxalism– Rahul". For a full 3-4 hours until the news of Venkataraman Ramakrishnan winning the Nobel Prize came in, the entire media in the country went gaga about these two statements. He said he doesn't believe in the caste system when questioned why he visits only houses of Dalits. He tells us that he visits only poor people, and it is we who discriminate them as Dalits. He tells his office to arrange for visits to poor people only.

Nice. So we are the culprits. We are to believe that it is incredibly coincidental that all the houses he visited so far have been of dalits, and it is his office's fault that they happened to be dalits. If you don't believe in caste system, we all welcome it. But then, if you don't put it in action and then sermon us about your vritues, that's when your statements lose all their value.

And your final words of wisdom made me feel so lucky to have a leader like you waiting in the wings to become PM – "Govt's inability to reach out to people causes naxalism". Some extensive research and deep thought must have gone into your mind before stating the most obvious reason that anybody with an elementary knowledge of the Naxal problem will know.

Keep up the good work media; because it is very clear that along with the Congress party, even you are very much interested in potraying Rahul Gandhi in only the positive sense. If he faces embarassing situations, or if he is ignorant about important laws and acts being passed in his tenure in Parliament, please don't show them to the people of this country. It might hurt their feelings that their Holy Calf can actually go wrong.

PS: I am not able to find the link to the articles now, will provide them as soon as I find them

We couldn’t find stronger words, atleast?

The Chinese government is upto a new trick. And the magnitude of this diplomatic shift is humungous. Till last month, China considered the whole of Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territory. And from last month onwards, it started to consider Kashmir also as disputed territory. No, there was no official statement saying this. It was being done discreetly. Until, The Hindu broke the news. For a full month, Chinese have issued separately stapled visas to Kashmiri students, similar to what they do for Arunachal Pradesh residents.

So now, it is not just Pakistan that considers this as disputed territory, we have China do it too. And what was our government's response to this blatant disregard by the Communists across the border? We protested like this: "It is our considered view that there should be no discrimination against visa applicants of Indian nationality on grounds of domicile or ethnicity". That's it. That is the official statement. A country suddenly decides to question the legitimacy of a part of your country, and you tell them that in your "considered" view, it is wrong? Till the other day, atleast our words used to be strong. Now we have even lost our penchant for using stronger language too. No wonder, neighbours take all this leeway to behave as they wish. Imagine if we were to administer such a huge shift in our policy, the first response of the Chinese would have been tit-fot-tat.

By the way, Comrade Prakash Karat loses no oppurtunity to deride all those who criticize China. Why did he not come out with a statement against this frustrating action by China?

So many points, so little time! : Sep.27 - Oct.3

1. Fourteen lakhs! Wondering what it is? That is the cost of a pen that Mont Blanc released on Gandhi Jayanti. Let us keep aside the debate about whether it is insulting to Gandhi. What astonished me was that someone will actually pay 14 lakh rupees for a pen! That number is still ringing in my mind. I use a pen that Rs. 25/-! I can't even comprehend why someone would want to spend 14 lakh rupees on a pen! And here comes the next joke. Mont Blanc released a limited edition of this pen - only 241 pieces. Why 241? Because Mahatma Gandhi walked for 241 kms during his Dandi March! I mean, what is Mont Blanc trying to prove here? That a pen that cost 14 lakh rupees and which will sell only 241 pieces is the way to remember him? Haa! I only pity the guy who thought about this idea.

2. Speaking of Gandhi Jayanti, Shashi Tharoor asked a superbly relevant question. If Gandhi said Work is Worship, why are we observing holiday on his birthday? I loved his guts in posing this question despite being snubbed for the cattle class remark. And wondering what the Congress response is for this? "It is his personal opinion. The holiday on the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation is for the nation to rededicate to his ideals and principles". So now I am confused. Shashi Tharoor was also talking about his ideals, right?

3. So on October 2nd this year, Congress "rededicated" itself to Gandhi's (dont ask if it is the Mahatma or the family) ideals. Prakash Karat, in this article, "rededicated" himself to Chinese and Communist philospohy. He is basically saying that China can never go wrong. One blogger aptly asked, Why doesn't he leave the country and go live in China then? The Hindu's editor-in-chief N. Ram did a front page banner story on Chinese 60th year of republic, thereby "rededicating" himself to Communist philosophy too. The BJP is still undecided as to what it should "rededicate" itself for. For that, we need to wait for one more year to know!

4. So, our External Affairs Minister and Pak's External Affairs minister met in New York. Same old story. We said, you act. They said, you act. We said, we gave you evidence. They said, you did not give enough. And the meeting ended. Pakistan postponed it's trial on 26/11 attacks yet again. So, the elusive wait for Pak to act continues.

5. So, now, Suresh Kalmadi, who has been the chairman of the Indian Olympic Committee since time eternal, wants to bid for 2020 Olympics. Dude, how about this - why don't you build some nice infrastructure, allow our sportspersons to win in some of these competitions, get rid of the politics you introduced in the system, and then think about bidding? Or better yet, why don't you just resign from that post, so that most of the ills affecting our sports fratenity will be automatically solved?

6. And finally, Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi is free. And life just moves on. We just have to accept it as part of the process. That's the sad state of affairs in the country.

అదన్నమాట! : సెప్టెంబర్ 27 - అక్టోబర్ 3

1. రాష్ట్రం లోని మూడు జిల్లాలను ముంచెత్తిన వరదలు వంద ఏళ్ళ చరిత్ర లో ఎప్పుడు సంభవించలేదు. ఒప్పుకోవాల్సిన మాట ఏమిటి అంటే, మన మీడియా, సాక్షి టీవీ తో సహా, చాలా బాధ్యతాయుతంగా ఈ వరద భీబత్సాన్ని కవర్ చేసింది. వార్త ప్రతినిధులు అందరు కూడా లోతట్టు ప్రాంతాల్లోకి వెళ్లి, పడవల్లో ముంపు ప్రాంతాల లోకి వెళ్లి, అక్కడ బాదితులకి కావాల్సిన సమాచారాన్ని అందచేస్తూ, అలాగే వాళ్ళ సమస్యల్ని ప్రభుత్వ ద్రుష్టి కి తీసుకువస్తూ, రాజకీయం వైపు చర్చా ని మల్లించకుండా, కేవలం సహాయ కార్యకలాపాలకి తోడ్పాటు ఇచ్చారు. అక్కడ ఇక్కడ, అడపా దడపా కొన్ని ఇబ్బందికర కామెంట్స్ చేసినా, మొత్తం మీద చుస్తే, ఈ రెండు మూడు రోజులు గా మీడియా పోషించిన పాత్ర ప్రశంసనీయం.

2. ఇంకో చెప్పుకోదగ్గ విషయం ఏమిటి అంటే, మన ముఖ్యమంత్రి రోశయ్య గారు ప్రతి 4-5 గంటలకి ఆయనే స్వయం గా మీడియా సమావేశం కి వచ్చి, పూర్తీ వివరాలను ఇచి, రాత్రి అంత ఆఫీస్ లోనే ఉంది సహాయ కార్యక్రమాలను పర్యవేక్షించడం. ప్రతిపక్షాలు కూడా అనవసర రాద్దంతాలు చెయ్యకుండా, పూర్తీ గా ప్రభుత్వానికి సహకరించడం కూడా కొంచం కొత్తగా ఉంది, కొంచం ఉపసమనం కూడా కలిగించింది.

3. వరద భీబత్సాన్ని చుస్తే వణుకు వస్తుందండీ బాబు. అన్ని అడుగుల నీళ్ళు ఎప్పుడు వెనక్కి వెల్తాయో తెలిదు, అవి వెనక్కి వెళ్ళాక అంటు వ్యాధులు ఎలా ప్రభలుతాయో తెలిదు, అసలు ఆ నీళ్ళు వెళ్ళాకా సాధారణ జీవితానికి రావడానికి ఎంత సమయం పడుతుందో, ఇంట్లోకి నీళ్ళ తో పాటు ఇంకా ఏమి ఏమి వచ్చాయో, అసలు ఒక్కొక్క ఇల్లుని శుబ్రం చెయ్యడానికి ఎన్నాలు పడుతుందో, ఇల్లు కోలుపోయిన వారి పరిస్థితి ఏంటో, ఇవి అనీ తలుచుకుంటే అసలు మనసు చలించిపోతుంది.

4. "జన హృదయ నేత" వై ఎస్ ఆర్ తనయుడు, ఆయిన ఆశయాలకు ఏకైక "వారసడు" ఆయినా జగన్ మోహన్ రెడ్డి గారు, ఇరవై లక్షలు ఇచ్చారు అంట వరద సహాయ నిధి కి. అసలు అయన లెవెల్ కి అయన ఎంత ఇవ్వాలి, ఎంత ఇచ్చారు! చిరంజీవి కొడుకే పది లక్షలు ఇచ్చారు! మరి ఈయన ఏంటో ఇరవై లక్షల తో సరిపెట్టుకునారు!

5. ఇప్పుడు ఉన్న కాంగ్రెస్స్ ప్రభుత్వాన్ని ఈనాడు, ఆంధ్రజ్యోతి పత్రికలు పెద్దగ విమర్సించకర్లేదు. ఎందుకో తెలుసా? ఆ పని సాక్షి టీవీ చెయ్యడం మొదలు పెట్టింది లెండి! "రైసయ్య" అంటు ఒక హెడ్లైన్ ఇచ్చి ఒక వార్త ప్రసారం చేసింది. ప్రభుత్వ ఖజానా ఖాళి అయ్యింది అని, అందు వాళ్ళ బియ్యం సరిగ్గా పంచటం లేదు అని, వై ఎస్ ఆర్ ఆసలకు ఈ ప్రభుత్వం గండి కొడుతుంది అని ఆ వార్త సారాంసం. రాష్ట్ర ఆర్ధిక పరిస్థితి బాలేదు అని వై ఎస్ ఆర్ గారే ఒప్పుకునారు, అప్పుడు మీరు నిద్ర పోతున్నారా?

Injured? Retired hurt?

As usual, our media is asking questions like " Has Dhoni lost his Midas Touch?", "Is this the beginning of the end" .. etc etc.

I don't think anybody lost any touch. The problem is there for all of us to see. Most of the players we have are moody! We don't know when they will click and when they will not. We don't know when they will get injured, and how long they will take to recover from them. Getting injured so many times is never part of the game. Once or twice is acceptable, but why doesn't anyone question why Zaheer Khan misses so many tournaments because of injury? This is not the first time Yuvraj is out because of injury. If too much cricket is the cause of injury, then why not reduce it by a bit. Ohh no, but then Lalit Modi cannot be the Czar of cricket, so that option is ruled out. So play year long, yet play safe and play consistently. Isn't it asking for too much? Isn't it time to phase out the schedule properly so that we actually produce more Sachins, Dravids, Kumbles, Kapil Devs, Dadas? They played for long with far less injuries and much better consistency.

Here comes the consistency part. Within an year of being touted as "the future of Indian bowling/batting/cricket", many players like Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, R.P.Singh, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan etc etc have all hit a disgusting low in their short international careers. Is the hype getting onto them? If so, why don't we also help them in making them aloof from such a hype. Sachin, Dravid, Kumble, Dada, Laxman have all held their game together for however long they have played. What is their secret, and what is missing from the present generation? Why cannot such help be provided to these cricketers?

Luck may have played a little hard on us in this champion's trophy, but then to bow out from the initial rounds of World Cup, T-20 second world cup and champions trophy is reason enough to shake up things by a bit. It is a fact that we are amongst the top 3 teams in ODI's, why lose that status because of reasons that are in our control? It is time we put a full stop to players getting injured and then retired hurt.

Closed, finally?

So the government now decided that there is no case against Ottavio Quattrocchi, more famously known as Q, after about 20 years of dilly dallying in the Bofors case. The other accused in the Bofors scandal are all dead. And now this guy is all set to lead a life without this thing hanging over his head. Not that it really mattered to him, given the support he enjoyed with the ruling establishment, but a relief is still a relief.

And so, now the media will just report this news and ask the people a few questions. Even The Hindu and Indian Express who have pioneered this investigation seem to be exasperated with the disgusting attitude of the government. And then we will all forget. It's ok people. Especially when the higher-ups in the government are involved in corruption, we should not question them. They can play around with law as they wish, but then who are we, mere citizens of the country, to question what the "intelligent" people up there decide to do?