Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Drive for smoke-free Bhogi

  • Drive for smoke-free Bhogi

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    • CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) along with the Chennai Corporation, the Directorate of Environment and the police and fire rescue departments, on Monday launched a massive awareness drive against burning of tyres and plastic during Bhogi festival. “The aim is to make Bhogi a smoke-free and ecofriendly,” said Environment Minister T P M Mohideen Khan. The minister also flagged of five green squad vehicles of TNPCB, which will go around the city sensitising people about the ill effects of burning waste. The campaign will be conducted in 10 zones of the city on January 11 and 12.

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India should emulate Israel, says Bhagwat

  • India should emulate Israel, says Bhagwat

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    • Anand Raj Singh
    • Praising Israel which is ‘surrounded by adversaries from all sides but still none has the guts to attack it directly or indirectly’, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday that India should take a lesson and immediate steps as it is ‘surrounded by adversaries like Pakistan, China and Bangladesh’.
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    • Like Israel is a Jew country from its core, in spite of 17% Muslim population, India too can become a strong Hindu nation with 17% Muslim population. After all, we are not for hatred toward any religion, but in today's world, when terrorism is redefined as being sponsored by religion, India needs to become an Israel. That will be unite at least rest 80% of population and that is sufficient to protect the nationhood. I agree with you Bhagwat ji. But, no talks only, please act, else this country will be on its knees under Congress rule.

      By Himanshu

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Hindu pilgrims pray at a mosque in Kerala - dnaindia.com

  • Hindu pilgrims pray at a mosque in Kerala - dnaindia.com

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    • Kerala
    • Cutting across the religious barriers, thousands of Hindu pilgrims held prayers at a mosque on their way to the famous hilltop Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
    • Devotees on their way to the Sabarimala temple held special prayers, at the shrine dedicated to saint Vavar or Babar, also known as Vavaraswami, a Muslim saint who became a devotee of Lord Ayyappan.
    • Muslims greet Hindu devotees by smearing their faces with ash and sandal paste while the pilgrims offer coconuts at the shrine.
    • Legend has it that Vavar was a warrior who reached the shore of Kerala as a pirate in a ship to loot and plunder. During his encounter with Lord Ayyappan, he was defeated and subdued by the Lord, and since then he became a close associate of the Lord.

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Mangalore: Kudroli Temple is Second in Nation to Conduct ‘Girija Kalyana’

    • ‘Girija Kalyana’, the celebration of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi’s wedding as per Hindu religious belief, was held at Kudroli Gokarnanath Temple on Monday January 11. 

      The temple has become the second place to celebrate this ritual after Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

    • Nearly 5,000 devotees gathered to witness this rare worship which is seen at the Ramanathaswamy Temple in Tamil Nadu only once a year. 

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Aurangabad Police seized live bombs and arms from Ex-army man | ummid.com

  • Aurangabad Police seized live bombs and arms from Ex-army man | ummid.com

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    • Malegaon

    • The police in Kannad – a small town 55 kilometers to Aurangabad seized live bombs and arms from an ex-army man in a raid Sunday.

       

      According to the report published in the Mumbai based Urdu daily Inquilab, when the police raided the house of the former army man, Ghulab Rao Sonawane after it received the complaints that he was roaming in Kannad with swords in his hands, they were surprised to find two live bombs, swords and other objectionable materials.

    • Ghulab Rao Sonawane
    • He also said that the accused had a dubious record. In 1998 he was charged of burglary and the stolen materials were also recovered from him.

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A Continent Divided : OUPblog

  • A Continent Divided : OUPblog

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    9780195393941
    • itself from the crown jewel of its empire.  A decision which uprooted over ten million people, 500,000 to a million of whom died in the ensuing inferno.  In the excerpt below we learn about August of 1947, a particularly ruthless time that followed partition.
    • Lahore’s railway station became a veritable death trap by August 12, Justice Gopal Das Khosla reported.  “On the evening of August 11, the railway station was packed with passengers…when news came that the Sind Express, on its way to Lahore, had been attacked by Muslims, panic spread…They found that men, women and children had been brutally murdered and were lying in pools of blood…The dead bodies were carried across several platforms…while all that was visible in the city of Lahore was a huge tower of smoke.”  Passengers on the Frontier Mail were murdered near Wagah.  Next day no Hindu or Sikh reached Lahore station alive; Muslim gangs were prowling the environs of the city in armed packs.  In June 1947 some 300,000 Hindus and Sikhs lived in Lahore.  By August 19 fewer than 10,000 remained; and by August 30, fewer than one thousand.  Endless caravans of Hindi-Sikh refugees moved out of that smoking pyre of death, trekking west to try and reach the new Punjab border at Wagah, twenty miles away, hoping to stay alive for another twenty miles to Amritsar.
    • Gandhi confessed to Vallabhbhai Patel, after he was almost killed by brick-throwing students who rudely awakened him, compelling him to launch a fast in response.  “Today we have lost all our senses, we have become stupid,” Gandhi cried aloud at his prayer meeting in Delhi the next month.  “It is not only the Sikhs have gone mad, or only the Hindus or the Muslims….India is today in the plight of the [sinking] elephant king [a Hindu fable]…What should I do?”  He wanted to fly to Lahore in Pakistan, but, fearing he might be murdered there, Nehru and Patel dissuaded him from going.
    • In West Punjab’s Sheikhupura District, Guru Nanak was born and his birthplace Gurdwara, or temple, named Nankana Sahib, was erected; this temple was the place of worship for many Sikhs.  It later became the region’s center for the massacre of Sikhs by Muslims, and that once worshipful district’s name became a synonym for terror in the minds of Sikhs.
    • In West Punjab hooligans used it to intimidate the minorities into handing over their property, accepting Islam or quitting their homes.  ‘If you do not do as you are told,’ they said, ‘we shall enact another Sheikhupura here.’”  Nehru wrote to tell Mountbatten that was “sick with horror,” after he visited Sheikhupura at the end of August.  “There is still an odour of death, a smell of blood and burning human flesh…This Punjab business becomes bigger and bigger…”
    • By August 25 more than 100,000 Hindus and Sikhs sought permanent refuge in Delhi.  Refugee camps were quickly built to the north of the old city and soon filled with Punjabi families, most of whom remained.  The camps grew into the new cities of Kurukshetra and Panipat, urban centers of salvation for millions of refugee Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs. 

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शिव मंदिर में महिलाओं का प्रवेश वर्जित

  • शिव मंदिर में महिलाओं का प्रवेश वर्जित

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    • वडोदरा
    • यहां के एक शिव मंदिर में महिलाओं के प्रवेश पर पाबंदी लगा दी गई है। इससे संबंधित नोटिस की तख्ती भी लगाई गई है। इससे हिंदू धार्मवलंबियों में रोष व्याप्त है।शहर के न्यू समा क्षेत्र में अभिलाषा चौराहे के पास स्थित बजरंग राम मंदिर ट्रस्ट द्वारा शिवालय में महिलाओं के प्रवेश पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया गया है।

      मंदिर के पुजारी जयेशभाई जानी ने बताया कि शिवपुराण में शिवालयों में महिलाओं को प्रवेश नहीं करने का उल्लेख है, यह जानकारी मंदिर की प्रतिष्ठा के दौरान पुजारियों ने दी थी। तभी से इसका अमल किया जा रहा है। यह प्रथा करीब नौ साल से चली आ रही है। जबकि शिवपुराण में ऐसा कोई उल्लेख नहीं है। इस संबंध में मंदिर के न्यासी गिरधरभाई सवाणी से संपर्क नहीं हो सका।

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Katiyar on a political sabbatical: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.

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    • The curious antics of former Bajrang Dal chief and a principal actor in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Vinay Katiyar, are a pointer to the confusion in the saffron party's rank and file about its real identity.

      Katiyar created a sensation on Monday by announcing that he had "renounced the world". The BJP was hard put to explain his sudden 'renunciation' plans.

      "Katiyar ji is a spiritual person.

    • The curious antics of former Bajrang Dal chief and a principal actor in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Vinay Katiyar, are a pointer to the confusion in the saffron party's rank and file about its real identity.

      Katiyar created a sensation on Monday by announcing that he had "renounced the world". The BJP was hard put to explain his sudden 'renunciation' plans.

    • He has pitched a tent on the bank of the Saryu river to do penance for a month. He has "shunned all worldly pleasures", including watching TV and talking on the phone. He did, however, speak for some time in the evening.

      "Maagh ke maheene mein kalpa vaas kar raha hoon (I am engaged in a month- long period of fasting and prayers). This is the only few minutes that I respond to calls. Otherwise, I don't even use a phone," Katiyar said over the phone.

      He made it clear that he had no plans to retire from politics. However, he said he was currently filled with a "feeling of renunciation and remorse" after walking so long on the " path of Lord Ram" and then deserting it.


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SIMI, IM make way for new, deadly terror coalition - National Issue | hindujagruti.org

  • SIMI, IM make way for new, deadly terror coalition - National Issue | hindujagruti.org

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    • The Students Islamic Movement of India and the Indian Mujahideen will shut shop this year. These Indian-based outfits which are blamed for terror attacks in various Indian cities will make way for three deadly outfits to come together and set up India operations.

      Security agencies told rediff.com that this year Al Qaeda will team up with the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to set up India operations. Intelligence Bureau officials point out that this would be the end of the SIMI and the Indian Mujahideen and all their cadre would be accommodated into there three outfits for their Indian operations.
    • The Pakistan-based outfits have been trying constantly to shift focus out of that country and they want to ensure that no external forces will have to be sent into India to carry out terror operations, like was the case with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks following which Pakistan and the Inter Services Intelligence came under the scanner.

      The Lashkar-e-Tayiba has been intentionally left out of this plan since they have been directed to focus more on Kashmir operations.
    • The three outfits have a big role to play in India. Al Qaeda was picked due to its vast network and financial capabilities while the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi came into the picture since it has one of the best teams to train fidayeen (suicide attackers). The Harkat-ul-Mujahideen on the other hand is a natural ally of the SIMI and the IM and hence the ISI thought it would be best to rope in this outfit since it already has many trained cadre in India.
    • While operations would cover the entire nation, the three outfits would make a beginning first in the south. Sleeper cells have already been set up in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

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India Retold: ARE LAW ABIDING INDIANS SAFE IN INDIA?

  • India Retold: ARE LAW ABIDING INDIANS SAFE IN INDIA?

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    • Recently there was a side issue which did create a furore. In the US, against the overall figure of one in hundred, one in fifteen African American adults is in prison i.e. 6.7 percent of all African Americans are in jail. No one there is giving this huge disparity the kind of racial or communal tones that many in India are to the unreleased and politically motivated statistics of the Sachar committee on the comparative figures of Muslims in Indian prisons.

      The figures are more than their population percentage but are not even close to those of African Americans. Yet, this has unleashed the predictable talk of anti Muslim bias etc, with the sole aim making petty political capital. Had someone analyzed this data along with the types of crimes for which Muslims are in jail and had it emerged that they beat the national average for, say, murders, rapes and other heinous crimes, I don’t think anyone would have gone around shouting that Muslims are all that.

      In the US, they have put one in a hundred Americans in jail so that law abiding citizens can enjoy the fruits of freedom. That nation is not prepared to allow criminals and anti social elements to diminish the quality of life and the liberty of Americans. That is what good governance should be about. Here in India, good governance is not even a factor; petty politicking and corruption override almost everything else.
    • Recently there was a side issue which did create a furore. In the US, against the overall figure of one in hundred, one in fifteen African American adults is in prison i.e. 6.7 percent of all African Americans are in jail. No one there is giving this huge disparity the kind of racial or communal tones that many in India are to the unreleased and politically motivated statistics of the Sachar committee on the comparative figures of Muslims in Indian prisons.

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Roots In Kashmir: For Peace keep killers and Rapists away

  • Roots In Kashmir: For Peace keep killers and Rapists away

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    • But then who can bring peace is a question that needs to be asked and answered. Do we buy peace at any cost ie by bringing on stage the killers of yesteryears and doing “piece-deals” with them. Needless to say that such steps are a sure recipe for more violence. Here we have a man who has 23 criminal cases including rape, murder and kidnapping pending against him. He has accepted on tape killing 4 unarmed IAF officers calling them “agents of the enemy”. He appears for summons in Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping cases even today. Apart from that he is involved in killing of Lassa Kaul,Mushir-ul-Haq,Dooraiswamy and others.I haven’t even mentioned the gruesome raping and killing of Sarla Bhat.And thankfully for him the CBI hasnt even filed a chargesheet in 19 years.In case any newspaper or any TV channel needs proof I have it all.

      We disagree with the policy of separatists which is essentially one of Pan-Islamic expansion. Having said that has anyone ever seen us protesting against a Sajjad Lone,a Mirwaiz , a Ghani Butt or even Syed Ali Shah Geelani? Everyone has a right to speak but are we to be lectured by killers and rapists on peace? Wouldn’t it all be a big farce?
    •  Indian Express
    • While the press has said what we did no one reported that the “Peace Activists” pushed us and abused us. They tore our material and threw it on our faces but then what else do you expect from people who host Yasin Malik.
    • To cut a long story short, the world needs to take notice of our ethnic cleansing. The media which normally shows a lot of urgency in cases “where gross violation of justice” has been done needs to take up the issue that not even one person has been convicted for killing of Kashmiri Pandits.Not even one.I feel like shouting my lungs off that the media barons could hear me. NOT EVEN ONE.
    • Help me get peace and I will follow your method. Bring me back my home and my childhood that I lost waiting in a queue outside a toilet in a refugee camp because the Government could provide only one for 100 Pandits.

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It does not stop at 49.5 percent - Did Kashmir separatist leader Yasin Malik really commit a rape?


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ये मेरा इंडिया!: गुंडों ने सब-इंस्पेक्टर की टाँग काट दी: 70 कारों वाले काफिले में दो मंत्री देखते रहे, मदद किसी ने नहीं की

  • ये मेरा इंडिया!:

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    • तमिलनाडु के तिरुनलवली में बदमाशों ने एक पुलिस सब इंस्पेक्टर की बेरहमी से हत्या कर दी। बदमाशों ने न सिर्फ सब इंस्पेक्टर को बुरी तरह मारा-पीटा बल्कि उसकी एक टांग भी काट दी। हैरत की बात ये है कि दिल को दहला देने वाली ये घटना तमिलनाडु के दो मंत्रियों के सामने हुई। दोनों मंत्री पनीरसेल्वम और मोहिदीन खान तमाशबीन बने रहे और किसी ने भी उसे बचाने की कोशिश नहीं की। इन दोनों मंत्रियों के साथ करीब 70 कारों का काफिला था। उनमें से भी कोई शख्स सब इंस्पेक्टर की मदद के लिए सामने नहीं आया।


      हुआ यूँ कि कुछ गुंडों ने तमिलनाडु पुलिस के एक इंस्पेक्टर आर. वेट्रीवेल (44) के पैर काट कर उसे तड़पते हुए सड़क पर छोड़ दिया। उसी सड़क से राज्य के दो मंत्री- स्वास्थ्य मंत्री एमआरके पनीरसेल्वम तथा पर्यावरण एवं खेल मंत्री थिरु टीपीएम मोहिद्दीन खान गुजर रहे थे। उनके साथ नौकरशाही का काफिला भी था। काफिला रुका। लेकिन मंत्रियों ने अपनी कार से उतरना मुनासिब नहीं माना। हाँ, वे मदद के लिए तड़पते पुलिसकर्मी को घूरते अवश्य रहे।

      आखिरकार काफिले के साथ चल रहे एक कलेक्टर एम. जयरामन झिझकते हुए करीब आठ मिनट बाद कार से उतरे। साथ में स्वास्थ्य सचिव भी थे। लेकिन किसी ने भी पैर कटे इंस्पेक्टर को तत्काल अस्पताल पहुँचाने की जहमत नहीं उठाई। फिर जयरामन ने ही एम्बुलेंस के लिए फोन किया, जो समय पर नहीं आई। करीब 20 मिनट बाद काफिले की एक कार में उसे लाया गया। फिर भी मंत्रीजी का दिल नहीं पिघला और उन्होंने अपनी कार नहीं छोड़ी। अंततः तड़पते पुलिसकर्मी की पुकार मौत ने ही सुनी और अस्पताल ले जाने के रास्ते में ही वह चल बसा।

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A tutorial for Rahul baba

  • A tutorial for Rahul baba

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    • Tavleen Singh
    • Let me begin by admitting that the reason why I have rarely written about Rahul Gandhi in this column is because I find it hard to take him seriously. I know that he is heir to the democratic Kingdom of India and that it is certain that he will claim his inheritance at an appropriate moment and if that is what the people of India want, it’s fine by me.
    • Rahul’s motives are harder to gauge but there is no harm at all in him seeing how millions of Indians eke out an existence after so many decades of his family’s rule.
    • After his excursions, I have waited for him to say something that showed he learned something important from these field trips. But, since Rahul has said almost nothing of any significance about the grim economic and political problems that confront India, I have been unable to do more than cheer him on especially when he ordered his party MPs to spend a night in the poorest village in their constituencies. It’s too bad some took tents and feather pillows along.
    • I spent hours trawling the web and delving into archives for old speeches. At the end of this exercise I concluded that Rahul had indeed said some things of importance to the Congress party but almost nothing of importance to India.
    • From Rahulji we have heard a lot of loose talk about ‘empowerment’ without any explanation of what the word means to him. Occasionally he explains that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)is his idea of empowering the poor and this is most worrying. The NREGS is a form of dole for the unemployed and unemployable and dole cannot ever bring empowerment.
    • few tutorials could make a huge difference to our Renaissance man.

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Atanu Dey on India’s Development » Blog Archive » In Defense of Village Idiots

  • Atanu Dey on India’s Development » Blog Archive » In Defense of Village Idiots

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    • The Americans have a saying, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” The people could be forgiven for raising Nehru on a pedestal and worshiping him for a few years following the political independence of India. But to keep electing his entire set of incompetent descendants whose policies have deepened poverty, divided the country on caste and religious lines, and generally made life hell for nearly all Indians, is the height of folly. Being fooled repeatedly by the same party should be a matter of extreme shame for the being so stupid and gullible. Indians should collectively do what the Hindi saying advices — chullu bhar pani mein doob maro.

      I have spoken to people who have had the opportunity to observe first hand who Rahul Gandhi is. One person spent three days with him during the last general elections. That person said to me, “He’s really a nice guy. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. As a matter of fact, I don’t think he could hold down the job of a head waiter at a road-side restaurant. Doesn’t have the intellectual horsepower to manage the complexities of head-waitering. But he will get to follow the footsteps of his father, his grandmother, and this great grandfather. Really a pity for India but that’s god’s honest truth.”

    • [This post was inspired by a Tavleen Singh column in the Indian Express titled "A Tutorial for Rahul baba."]

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|| Satyameva Jayate || - An encounter that may have changed history

  • || Satyameva Jayate ||

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    • While trawling the web looking for something else a few days ago, I stumbled on an account of a meeting between Swami Samarth Ramdas and Guru Har Gobind ji that took place in Kashmir almost 400* years ago.

      This was an unexpected discovery. I was not aware that such a meeting had taken place…and I wondered whether the encounter had a role to play in Samarth Ramdas’ later life when he came in contact with Shivaji Maharaj.

    • Guru Hargobind replied, “Internally i am a hermit, and externally i am a prince. Arms mean protection to the poor and destruction of the tyrant. Baba Nanak had not renounced the world but had renounced Maya, i.e. self and ego:

      “batan faquiri, zahir amiri

      shastar garib ki rakhya, jarwan ki bhakhiya

      Baba Nanak sansar nahi tyagya, Maya tyagi thi.”

      These words of Guru Hargobind found a ready response in the heart of Samartha Swami Ramdas who, as quoted in Pothi Panjak Sakhian, spontaneously said, “this appealeth to my mind – Yeh hamare man bhavti hai”

    samarth ramdas

    • The historic encounter must have left an impact on Samarth Ramdas and it may have encouraged him to consider armed resistance against an oppressive, tyrrannical rule. We know that in his later years he did emphasise on exercises and physical training and highlighted warrior’s role in society:

      He established temples of Hanuman in towns and villages to convey importance of exercise to youth and taught them to get together and fight the enemy.


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Musings on Love « Incognito thoughts

  • Incognito thoughts

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    • A child is born as love. But the parents cannot give love.

    • And I don’t mean you should get rid of your physical parents, I mean you should get rid of your parental voices inside, your program inside, your tapes inside. Because that is what made you something you are not. We need to retrieve our individuality, our personality. Yes, you become an individual. For the first time, you are no longer part of the mass, you have an authentic individuality. You are on your own. This is what growth is. This is what a grown-up person should be. He is happy in his aloneness – his aloneness is a song, a celebration.

      And when you are completely free of parental impressions, you have attained to a second birth. You are completely a new being, fresh out of the shell, an individual.


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IntelliBriefs: INDIA & US: HAUNTING PAST & BECKONING FUTURE

  • IntelliBriefs:

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    • B.RAMAN
    • 2. The biggest asset of the US is not its armed forces. It is its educational system---its schools, colleges and universities of excellence. It is its democratic system, its multi-cultural ambiance and its ability to harmonise and profit from cultural influences from different parts of the world. China is yet to build for itself a comparable educational system. Its one-party State is not conducive to a robust intellectual debate without which the intellectual prowess of a State and civil society will remain stunted.

      3. Stalin and his successors built up the USSR into what they thought was the equal of the US as a super power. Large parts of the world looked upon the USSR as the equal of the US. Nikita Khrushchev even talked of the USSR overtaking the US and “burying the US capitalist system.” Look at what happened to the USSR and who was buried. The US had the last laugh.

      4. India is the only country in Asia, which can evolve into a power comparable to the USA.

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IntelliBriefs: Brief analysis on Military Intelligence and ISI based induced terrorist organization MQM and ‘puppet on unseen strings’

  • IntelliBriefs:

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    • By Gull Baloch
    • MQM is produced and empowered as subset of ISI (Inter Service Intelligence) by military dictator Zia-ul-Haq during mid 1980s. The main purpose of this organization to encounter the Shiite (Shia) revolution in Iran, to perpetrate Shiite - Sunni imbalance in region, produces Mujahedeen or Taliban for war in Afghanistan and to prevent national rise and national question especially among Baloch and Sindhi. That’s why Urdu-Speakers are more Paksitani than anyone else due to lack of national identity.
    • The questions are what kind of aims and objectives hold by these immigrants so called Urdu-Speakers? Whether they want to hold the control of whole Karachi? Or hijack the city and land of other nation that living here for centuries? Or they want to vacant the rest of people in Multi-national city? Or they want unending ethnic clashes?

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