Let's ensure defeat of poll turncoats........!!!

Rebel BJP MP joins Congress,shows that the so-called secular and communal political parties are all involved in vote-bank politics. Politicians change their colours as chameleons do. The MP in question has alleged that tickets were sold in Rajasthan by the BJP, but in this respect the same allegation was made by a senior Congress party leader about her party. Political parties must be stopped from misleading voters. The only way is to see that political turncoats are defeated in elections. It is disappointing to witness the blurring of lines between communal and secular politicians.

sale of Poll Tkts........!!!

Ticket gate must be tackled by parties...............The practice of sale of tickets for Assembly and Parliament seats in the bigger parties like Congress and BJP ignores the merit of candidates. A large number of ticket aspirants take a plunge into politics not for public service but for selfish gains. If the cash-for-tickets scam is not checked, our legislatures will come to be packed with self-seekers and criminals.

Chandrayaan........!

Like any of the 125 crore other Indians, my emotions knew no bounds when I came to know that the Indian tricolour successfully found a place on the surface of the moon at 20.31 hours on November 14. For this historical and gorgeous success, I congratulate the genius of ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair and his entire team from the bottom of my heart. A great plus point of this successful mission is that it was carried out with the minimum expenditure.

Dada's Duck tale...........!!!

Heartiest congratulations to the Indian cricket team for their epic win against world champions Australia,India crush Oz to win series 2-0.Every cricket lover in India is overjoyed that Team India has given proof of its status as a dominant force in world cricket by thrashing Australia by 172 runs in final Test to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This win is made more remarkable by the fact that it is the first time in seven years that India has beaten Australia in a Test series. Moreover, Sourav Ganguly, the most successful Indian cricket captain, played his last Test here against Australia which culminated in a memorable victory. Keep it up Team India.
Sunday’s victory in the final Test was indeed historic. The crowd showed its respect to Sourav Ganguly with a standing ovation and even the Australian team was graceful enough to pay homage to their rival. But no one expected that the Bengal Tiger would end his career with a duck. Jason Krejza mercilessly took Ganguly’s wicket for zero. But by this we cannot judge his service and contribution to the country and the game of cricket for 13 memorable years. Though it was a duck, it was a golden duck on Dada’s way out.
In many ways, the Test series against Australia in Nagpur was perfect for India. In the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and as a team, India have managed the generation transition well. There was a time when this used to be the hallmark of Australia. Had the occasion been different, the day would have belonged entirely to Team India and not any individual. But it actually turned out to be Sourav Ganguly’s day.

American's have evolved.......!!!

America proves a major point by electing Barack Hussein Obama its next President.........."A democracy must be colour blind and function above religion". One can certainly hope that the black American President with a Muslim father will rise to meet the expectation of millions in America and around the world. Some five decades ago, Martin Luther King had a dream. It has now come true. India seems to have a point to prove when it comes to rising above religion.Barack Obama has won the battle.This result undoubtedly contain the defining moment of modern America’s political evolution.The significance of Mr Obama’s victory for African-Americans,oppressed minorities all over the world, is immeasurable.The issue of Mr Obama’s race is foremost on everybody’s mind as the world and America rejoice that US voters have perhaps, cleared, the greatest hurdle of racial discrimination and carried forward the battle that was started by Rosa Parks, who refused to vacate her bus seat for a white man, and Dr Martin Luther King, to put, in the ironically-named White House, America’s first African-American President.

Americans defeated racism, can we transcend casteism from the fare face of our society?

The obvious comparison with Indian politics is the issue of caste. Caste and race are similar (in that they reflect lower status, hierarchy and discrimination) although not synonymous, in that race is genetic, while caste is based on social hierarchy. The debate on caste and race is multifaceted, but the most important distinction between the two is that while it may well be accepted that Mr Obama managed to transcend race, while still symbolising victory of the civil rights movement, can and will an Indian politician be able to transcend caste? Can identity politics in India rise above electoral compulsions, and become truly inclusive of national concerns? If indeed the miracle happens, can our democracy sustain it without allowing inclusiveness to fail at the altar of divisive and competitive politics? These are compelling questions before our democratic polity today.........

Just a Way of life.......

The way a country’s administration is run has vital bearing on its citizens. It is a test of good or bad governance. Revealing how the common man is plagued by corruption, right under the nose of the Central government, in October 2008, 15 officials of the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) were arrested on charges of bribery and extortion. These arrests were made after a month-long sting operation. It appears that the accused had been forcibly collecting sums up to Rs 30,000 as "protection money" on a monthly basis from shopkeepers.
In a positive new trend, common people are now playing a more active role in conducting sting operations. One such operation was conducted by a property dealer last year. More than 100 traffic personnel (in 30 different areas in the Capital) were caught on camera accepting bribes from Blueline bus operators. A vigilance branch probe into the sting operation established their identities and led to the suspension of 98 policemen: 11 sub-inspectors, 11 assistant sub-inspectors, 10 head-constables and 66 constables.
The reason behind the rise in "petty" corruption is the wide range of powers given to petty enforcement functionaries. At least in the national capital and other big towns there is a pro-active media that raises issues of petty corruption. The farther a place is from the seat of power, the more difficult it is to tackle this problem. In fact, corruption has become a happy compromise over compliance of outdated regulations.
This year, Transparency International (TI) has placed India two points lower on the Corruption Perception Index compared to its position in 2007. The only saving grace is that compared to its neighbours, India seems to be doing well. Pakistan, for instance, is at the 140th position compared to India’s 74th. Nepal and Sri Lanka are ranked 135 and 96 respectively. China is ranked one place above India.
A study by TI and the Centre for Media Studies found that three-fourth of citizens think that the level of corruption in public services has been going up. They believe that there is no active and sustained civil society movement. And that most efforts are sporadic, localised and short-lived and never quite acquire the character of a larger movement.
The main causes of corruption are lack of transparency and accountability in the system, absence of an effective corruption reporting mechanism and lack of honesty in government officials. People feel that acceptance of corruption has become a way of life, custom and culture. Even if a person is caught taking bribe, it takes years to punish him judicially.
To end corruption, the government should outsource services wherever possible. Public service departments cannot cope with all the demands of India’s large population, especially in the field of education and health. In this scenario, departments should purchase outputs instead of insisting on giving inputs. Also, each department should have realistic and measurable action standards (not just statement of intent) for checking corruption and malpractices within.
Corruption can go down only when we ourselves become honest and by following Gandhiji who said: "Be the change you want in others."
Public servants and politicians are corrupt because we are willing to pay them for getting things done. Let each one of us do some thing to fight this evil.

Gentelman Cricketer...........!!!

Anil Kumble’s retirement is a setback to Indian cricket and his non-availability is a loss to the team.Cricket lovers were shocked when Dilip Vengsarkar, the former selection committee chairman, advised him to retire for his non-performance on account of some problems. In his career Kumble picked up 619 Test and 337 one-day wickets. This is an enormous achievement. It is good that the BCCI has announced a grand farewell for this cricket legend.
By all accounts, Anil Kumble embodied the essence of the gentleman’s game. Industrious, persevering, dignified, Kumble is a role model for our youngsters in both on-field and off-field behaviour. He has proved that you can win hearts and games without being unduly aggressive or abusive and that there are elegant ways to respond to even malicious comments from opponents. Not many will be able to earn and retain this quantum of goodwill from colleagues, opponents and fans. Cricket lovers everywhere will remember Kumble fondly.