tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-194514172024-03-14T14:17:21.705+05:30The Argumentative IndianJusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-44871243212750302762013-10-14T20:57:00.001+05:302013-10-15T02:21:44.162+05:30Chandrababu's teflon image wearing off?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9AzlsftEKwg/UlwOmfSi4qI/AAAAAAAAEL0/S5jjuJw6C8E/s1600/rjdp_chndrbabu_exclsv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9AzlsftEKwg/UlwOmfSi4qI/AAAAAAAAEL0/S5jjuJw6C8E/s400/rjdp_chndrbabu_exclsv.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Chandrababu Naidu till now successfully cultivated in the media, an image of a visionary and even a future Prime Minister. He was given the sobriquet of 'Hitech Babu' by the mainstream and powerful Andhra media, which at the same time referred to Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao' as 'Scamulaparthi', making a pun on his surname </span></span><i style="font-size: 15px;">Pamulaparthi</i><span style="font-size: 15px;">, thereby propagating that he was a master of scams. Such goebbels propaganda on the part of Andhra media houses like Eenadu worked. A great intellectual and unselfish statesman like PV Narasimha Rao is now ignored and forgotten. Chandrababu Naidu, on the other hand, was given a teflon image as a Telugu statesman and modern </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">administrator</span><span style="font-size: 15px;"> That is till he made his way to New Delhi for the 'indefinite fast'. After he exposed himself directly with national media first time in a decade, Brand Chandrababu is now fast unravelling. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chandrababu Naidu is a 2 term chief minister of State of Andhra Pradesh. So there is certain degree of credibility that is expected from his words. Not too long ago, when the Telangana agitation is at its peak, Naidu made it a point to tour the Telangana region, despite the opposition from agitators who questioned his anti-Telangana stance. While the Kiran Kumar Reddy led AP Government (which now has publicly taken an anti-Telangana stance) actively supported him with thousands of police forces, Naidu himself travelled in a convoy of hundreds of vehicles with armed men. His supporters terrorized and attacked all opposition on the convoy’s way reminiscent of the territorial invasions in medieval times while Naidu was having a series of meetings with his cadre. He repeatedly said TDP is ‘not opposed to Telangana’ and further challenged TRS, BJP and other outfits in TJAC to go to Delhi and do dharna in front of Sonia Gandhi’s house to achieve Telangana State, as Congress is the one in power to concede Telangana. TDP party men in Telangana like Yarrabelli Dayakara Rao seconded that by saying they would join TJAC constituents for a dharna in front of Sonia Gandhi’s house. What an irony now, that Naidu would sit on an ‘indefinite fast’ in Delhi precisely because Sonia Gandhi led UPA alliance conceded Telangana!</span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Making of Brand Chandrababu-</span></u></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">It is not that people of Andhra Pradesh completely bought the media built image of Chandrababu from his ruling years. If that is the case he wouldn't have lost 2 straight elections in the state. However, when he was not busy implementing World bank's agenda on economic and industrial reforms in the State and ordering police to shoot at rallies and kill agitators, he focused on bringing IT jobs to AP. He happened to be the Chief Minister of the State when the country was riding the wave of 'Scamulaparthi's open market reforms and the resultant IT boom. Taking the beaten track of Bangalore and Chennai, its southern cousins, Hyderabad joined the IT bandwagon and opened up employment opportunities in IT and Pharma sectors. Mr Naidu went out of his way inviting investors to consider Hyderabad instead of Bangalore. The Andhra media, dominated by TDP entrepreneurs, quickly seized the moment and built a story out of it effectively saying that if not for Naidu, IT would have never come to India. Whereas the fact of the matter was that Hyderabad was not even in the top 4 IT destinations during Naidu's tenure and that Bangalore was way ahead as a pioneer in attracting IT companies by the time Naidu came in. But the PR exercise worked in fixing Naidu's image problem then which was result of all the public </span><i style="font-size: 15px;">thamasha</i><span style="font-size: 15px;"> people have seen while Naidu was overthrowing NTR out of power and party. And of course the image building worked with an entire generation of youth employed in IT who still believe they owe their career, and some, even their life, to Mr. Naidu's initiative! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The national media too joined the PR party when Naidu became convener of the United Front in the center (1996-98) and a key player in NDA (1998-2004). That was enough time for building a teflon image.</span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The unmaking of Brand Chandrababu -</span></u></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Time and again TDP declared they are not opposing Telangana and to support that assertion, they gave multiple letters to Union Government and the committees it constituted. Soon after July 30 CWC resolution, Mr Naidu accepted it and demanded the central government to earmark Rs 5,00,000 Crore for Andhra's new capital! Even as he made that statement, his party men started making noise about how Congress conspired to break up Telugus in Andhra Pradesh by demerging Telangana from Andhra. They held up parliament sessions with their slogans and supported <i>bandh</i>s in Andhra region. Now when national media gathers around him in Delhi and asks about his stance on Telangana - whether to go ahead with creation of the State or not, he glibly avoids answering it and equates deciding on that would be equal to choosing between own children, which no parent can do. Once, he would say TDP's earlier support to Telangana was conditional and the next moment he would say no, thats not the case. He accuses Congress of 'playing politics' with the issue till the interviewer Karan Thapar, reminds him 'political parties are for playing politics'. He would not commit on how long he will fast nor will he say what will make him withdraw his fast! He asks central government to invite all JACs from Andhra and Telangana for talks 'to sort out issues'. The TJAC volunteers were the ones who were beaten to pulp by his henchmen when he toured Telangana as discussed above. It is amazing he is rolling out a red carpet for them now. But then they would 'Thanks, but no Thanks'. For, it is toTJAC, like going on a blind date with the same girl they are about to marry the next day, after years of courtship! When he mentions there are many issues like waters and revenue sharing to be discussed, Karan Thapar reminds him the GoM is setup for the same purpose! Clueless Naidu has no way to justify his fast and the noises of injustice he was making. Karan Thapar asks him whether he is doing the whole exercise for his political future in Andhra or for delaying Telangana. Naidu then complains the Congress and whole national media is counter-attacking him on the issue. The whole episode put Babu in a very bad light and surely made national media review their perception of him as a modern day politician and administrator. The teflon image is wearing off and an indecisive and insecure politician is revealed on national TV. Things that were too obvious to only people of AP till now are now national knowledge, and even international, going by this tweet of the reputed UK newspaper 'The Independent'.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Instead of going to Delhi and daring the UPA chairperson in Italian, Naidu would have done lots of good for Telugus and his own party by staying in Hyderabad and spelling his stand clearly in Telugu! Instead of struggling in English by repeatedly saying 'What I am saying..', he should ask himself as to whether his words are saying anything at all. By the way, neither indecisiveness nor lack of language skills are the 'assets' of Ex-PM 'Scamulaparthi' Narasimha Rao. Nothing characterizes decisiveness in modern Indian history more than PV's steadfast support and backing of his finance minister Manmohan Singh's economic reforms in 1990s. Just imagine how many U-Turns and P-turns souls like Naidu would have taken if he were in PV's shoes.</span></div>
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Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-23060630596587725322013-09-17T06:17:00.000+05:302013-09-23T07:51:07.283+05:30Telangana 28: Telangana still awaiting its liberation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63od4GKgKTg/Uj-Qh246JqI/AAAAAAAAEJk/Hi7oGnYstfY/s1600/DSC03884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63od4GKgKTg/Uj-Qh246JqI/AAAAAAAAEJk/Hi7oGnYstfY/s400/DSC03884.jpg" width="295" /></a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Irrespective of the whatever agendas the Congressmen, Communists had in their fight against the Nizam in Nizam's dominion and in the subsequent Hyderabad State, the path Telangana took since the liberation is unfailingly that of a colony. For decades now, in face of such utter regard to the aspirations of the people of Telangana, it is time the truth has to be spoken unambiguously and treated as such. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the decades, the protagonists of Telangana movement maintained that their fight is against the Andhra plutocrats and not against the commoners in Andhra. Some even went ahead and said that the commoners in Andhra would not care if the State is de-merged. The events of the last 50 days must have made them wonder if there are any commoners left in Andhra! The few intellectual voices from Andhra which empathized with the the just cause of Telangana have been drowned in the orchestrated cacophony in the name of Samaikyandhra agitation. The Govt employees, businessmen of Andhra for their vested interests are doing their bit in the drama. It needs more than a sense of justice and fair play in them to take Telangana agitation in its present sugarcoated words seriously. That is why truth, not diplomacy matter now. That is why I see a ray of hope when Prof. Kodandram says TJAC wont accept Hyderabad as a joint capital. And that is what the ruling Congressmen from Telangana should be saying and acting upon. The message the Andhras should get is that Telanganas wont flinch for their unscrupulous behavior. That Telangana wont again, surrender.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When visiting the AP Bhavan in Delhi, I am sure every person from Telangana would wonder, as to why he/she is welcomed by the statue of first Andhra Chief Minister Prakasam's. Ideally, Burgula's statue too should have been there, that is if the merger between Andhra and Telangana were that of equals. It is not and the Andhras were always clear about it, that it was not a merger but an acquisition! So they put up the statue of their first Chief Minister. Also, they keep harping on Potti Sriramulu as the 'father' of AP, knowing all too well the history of Andhra and AP. And Telangana's activists rather naively keep telling them history lessons, repeatedly. The fact is that Andhras think AP is just a continuation of Andhra state that Potti Sriramulu is associated with, with a few districts added to it, just like Maharashtra and Karnataka added a few from Hyderabad State! Andhra State occupied Telangana and they seriously think they replaced the Nizam and his elite as the new age rulers and act in the same vein. Did we not see leader after leader berating Sonia Gandhi on how she is tearing down the Andhra empire her mother-in-law helped Andhras continue to rule despite the 1969 uprising? That is how Andhras see it, like a property matter between them and Delhi rulers! Andhras are the regional satraps given charge over the Telangana subjects by Delhi rulers! In this whole debate, Telangana's own voice does not figure anywhere. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the Telangana politicians have been mincing words calling a spade a spade, burdened by what they think is propriety. When a particular senior Telugu actor settled in Hyderabad enacted a real life drama in front of media sometime ago in a dispute with TRS partymen, he remarked 'Hyderabad was the city of Muslims before the Andhras arrived here and that if they (Andhras) are forced out of state, they would hand it over back to Muslims and go!' Now, how clearer can it get?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meek challenge to these claims all these years, to some extent, is understandable, with the tyranny of majority the Andhras have handy, in the legislature and their successful Andhra-Seema collaboration. But I believe this situation Telangana politicians (especially in Congress and TDP with Andhra leadership in the state) have been in, will change if they seize the opportunity provided by the CWC resolution to assert the Telangana identity. One such way is to immediately demand for demerging the PCC making Telangana politicians independent of pulls and pressures of Andhra leaders, especially in granting tickets during election. That would also cut down the chances Andhras have to do horse-trading with Telangana legislators, especially from Hyderabad, in the event of a dispute over Hyderabad in future.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The bottom-line is that Telangana has to be assertive NOW and reclaim its freedom to really get liberated. Sept 17 every year is a reminder for that and more so this year with the direct challenge being mounted onto Hyderabad. There is nothing to be expected from TDP on this front and TRS has its own limitations in Delhi. It is up to the Congressmen to stand up and take the colonial rulers head-on and push for the continuation of the process triggered with CWC resolution. The duty of handling the Andhra political rulers who are obese with accumulated power, right from the days of Madras presidency, rests clearly on the shoulders of Telangana Congressmen. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">India has long stopped working based on its ideals. The ruthless ruling elite in Delhi is not cowed down by agitations. Only pragmatism during some windows of opportunity, like the CWC resolution (or the BJP's political necessity for MPs in south) supported by the agitations and logical argument would get things done. That is how Andhra rulers sustained their rule all these years and that is what they are banking on even now. It is time leadership of Telangana learn and tackle them.</span></div>
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Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-19605736285841323082013-08-01T08:48:00.000+05:302013-08-24T02:34:27.961+05:30Telangana 27: How statehood for Telangana already made a difference!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuE_Vjop0RY/UfnSO2CQ6EI/AAAAAAAAEGY/mRALBcfLxsY/s1600/sagaraharam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuE_Vjop0RY/UfnSO2CQ6EI/AAAAAAAAEGY/mRALBcfLxsY/s400/sagaraharam.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As the Congress finally decided to take the parachute to escape the plunge into a political oblivion in Telangana and announce the state
today, a multitude of feelings swept over me. The statehood is a historic
victory of a genuine people’s movement, a rarity in modern India. I am proud to
be associated with it. It is probably one of the largest ever non-violent mass movements
in the world. This has been a life changing experience for people like me who
have been highly involved in the movement for last few years. After witnessing the massive state repression, especially since the Dec 9 statement, this is a kind of closure to a churning part
in me that was engaging with continuous thoughts about democracy, politics,
media and most importantly mass people’s movements, in the Indian context.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">People of Telangana had to brave a formidable opposition and
win over it to fulfill their long held wish. Chapter 8 saga from Justice
Srikrishna’s report showed all too well how the opposition was manipulating all
institutions we rely upon in a democracy – executive, police, judiciary, media
and political parties. Yet, the common man
of Telangana persisted and showed time and again (in the elections too) that they
would punish the parties that opposed statehood, without fail. Thanks to TJAC
and the TRS, it is their long-drawn out agitation that they could sustain that
ultimately cornered the UPA government into conceding the state.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />At this moment, I can’t help but think how ideologues like Late
Acharya Jayashankar and Late Prof. Biyyala Janardhan Rao so selflessly passed
on this spirit to fight for Telangana, to this generation. They serve as inspiration to all the millions
of Telanganites who are determined to make a better future for them in the new
state. They serve as reminders of what the present generation of Telanganites
owe to next generation. I already see
many of the young agitators forming groups and enthusiastically do their bit in
rural Telangana in education, drinking water etc. It is this spirit of active
public participation that would make Telangana a better state.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />By clinching the statehood, Telanganites proved they can
force their public representatives to listen to them, even if it meant they had to come onto the streets. While there are no stalwarts among their MLAs
and MPs, it is their collective and persistent pressure that forced their
politicians, especially from Congress, to fight unitedly for statehood and outmaneuver
their much powerful Seemandhra counterparts. Telanganites have united across
caste and religion to achieve this. This offered a glimmer of hope that even as
electorate in the new state, they would exercise their franchise rising above
those divisions.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Finally, in all the churn and turn of last 4 years, most of
the Telanganites have become more aware of the politics and its many shapes –
the deceit, the opportunism and learned the patience required in dealing with
it. Time and again, the Government and parties with their actions, shown them hope
that there demand would be considered, only to be disappointed. As and when
they planned an event in the agitation, the government used brute force to
suppress and harass them. <i>Sakala Janula Samme</i>, the momentous and defining event
of this agitation percolated the aspiration and angst of this agitation into each
and every home in Telangana. No wonder, the Congress caved in; instead of
daring this angst hit them at the ballot. All these factors taught patience to
Telanganites and they would need loads of it to see positive changes in the new
state.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;">While the delay and suppression of Telangana movement after December
9, 2009 in forming the state has caused unspeakable suffering to the moral
fabric of Telangana and resulted in hundreds of deaths of youth, it did make a
whole new generation wiser, mature and ready to be active participants in the
new state. Professor Jayashankar used to say that while Telanganites campaign for the cause, they would face questions from 2 kinds of people. The first kind are genuinely innocent and ignorant of the grievances of the cause. The second kind are the chauvinists who do know the truth. The amiable professor thought irrespective of the kind of people asking, the onus lies with the agitators to patiently listen and answer. This is what scores of committed activists have been doing in last few years, being patient and responsible. I myself have been fortunate to meet and collaborate with many such activists, in turn making lasting friendships. On the other hand, a few of my Andhra friends distanced themselves from me due to my open stand. So the Telangana movement truly has been life altering. So when a curious North
Indian friend asked me ‘How does a new state matter’? (As I was receiving congratulatory calls from Telanganites when news poured in today from New Delhi), I couldn't help but think it already mattered, even before inauguration!</span></span></div>
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Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-4281242582227075912013-01-19T02:30:00.000+05:302013-01-19T10:14:12.247+05:30Telangana 26: How Hyderabad was handed over to Andhra State!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QY-ZF-ykI-Q/UPmy_5DV3eI/AAAAAAAAEBk/2loSkH7rMts/s1600/kurnool-tents-9-apr26-1954-andhra-prabha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QY-ZF-ykI-Q/UPmy_5DV3eI/AAAAAAAAEBk/2loSkH7rMts/s1600/kurnool-tents-9-apr26-1954-andhra-prabha.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Photo: Make-shift tents in Kurnool town – capital city of erstwhile Andhra state</em></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As the Centre’s self-imposed deadline to arrive at a discussion on Telangana is fast approaching, there is heightened lobbying in Delhi on the impending decision and the contours of it. An experience with recent events and a look at our history shows how backroom deals influence these decisions and the consequences of these. In light of the debate over Capital city, it is all the more relevant to go back in history and see how a protagonist in one such backroom deals operated and engineered the coup, that ironically, resulted in the present mess in Telangana.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rajaji was one of the most respected statesmen of this country. He was the chief minister of Madras state when the Andhra state was carved out of it. What is public knowledge is that he not only vociferously opposed the Andhras’ claim over Madras as their capital but also did not accept their request to make Madras as a temporary capital while they make a transition to their new capital within Andhra. However, some lesser known facts mentioned in his biography ‘I meet Rajaji’ by Monica Felton shows the covert deal made on this historic moment. These details were written about by Shri Gautam Pingle sometime back and this should serve as cautionary tale for Telangana agitators who are naïve enough to trust the Congress or other political parties in making a just and rational solution for Telangana’s statehood and its capital.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-abyBTWNs3K8/UPmzZ_qJOfI/AAAAAAAAEBw/ihQwA1x9SPw/s1600/Monica+Felton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-abyBTWNs3K8/UPmzZ_qJOfI/AAAAAAAAEBw/ihQwA1x9SPw/s400/Monica+Felton.jpg" width="263" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sometime after the merger of Hyderabad state and Andhra state in 1956, </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Monica Felton who wrote Rajaji’s biography: ’I meet Rajaji’ was in Hyderabad when Rajaji arrived there and had met with </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao</span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, who was the first Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. Mr. Rao was a close confidante of Rajaji for many years and also served in various positions in Rajaji’s cabinet in erstwhile Madras state (He was also President of Vishalandra Maha Sabha and Vice- President of the Andhra Provincial Congress Party by the time the erstwhile Andhra state was inaugurated in October 1953). He invited Rajaji to tea with a small set of friends, including Dr. Jayasuriya and Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Ms. Felton mentions in her book that Rajaji began to talk about the disputes over separation of Andhra from Madras State and the then demand for the inclusion of Madras City in Andhra. Monica Felton describes the conversation as below.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: #ffe599;">He (Rajaji) said: “You were determined to have Madras”.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: #ffe599;">They laughed “Indeed, yes”, somebody chuckled. “But you gave up the idea at once”, Rajaji said, “when I offered you Hyderabad as your capital”. “Ah, yes”, said another, “we never thought of that possibility”. (Rajaji said) “No that was a real surprise, wasn’t it?</i><span style="background-color: white;">”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is clear from the excerpt above that even while Hyderabad was operating as a separate state from 1948, influential Andhra leaders bargained and got a deal from Rajaji, the towering figure in INC, that they would have Hyderabad city as their capital if they stop claiming Madras. This also confirms what Rayalaseema leaders like MV Ramana Reddy have been repeatedly saying - That making Kurnool as capital of Andhra was just posturing and was never a serious attempt in building a new capital for Andhra. The Andhras were playing a waiting game from the tents of Kurnool for the dismantling of Hyderabad state and formation of so-called ‘Visalandhra’ with Hyderabad as its capital. Hyderabad politicians like Chief Minister Burgula Ramakrishna Rao were just collateral damage and had to just make way for the more influential Andhra congress leaders. So out went the Fazal Ali’s 1<sup>st</sup> SRC recommendation on letting Telangana survive as a separate state. Hyderabad state has been merged with Andhra and Andhras gain control of it's capital . And the rest we know is history.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today, In case of demerger, while it is next to impossible to make Hyderabad a union territory, any talk about Hyderabad being made a joint capital or one with ‘special status’, should be taken with a pinch of salt. They would just form an excuse for another coup for the Andhra plutocrats to perpetuate their control over Hyderabad.</span></div>
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Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-11164095671856244202012-12-25T03:57:00.000+05:302012-12-25T05:55:32.427+05:30Contrast Manmohan's indifference with Obama's empathy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some days ago, w</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">hen the Connecticut school shooting tragedy struck, within a few hours Obama gave this moving response at White House. More than his promise of action, it is his human response that touched many reassuring them that the leadership felt the enormity of the grief the common man felt. That is the immediate objective of any address a leader makes in any nation soon after a tragedy. Indian PM Manmohan Singh woke up from sleep days after angry protests against the gangrape in Delhi and addressed the nation yesterday. Contrast Obama's speech with that of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan's below and you can't help but wonder whether our mechanical Robot Singh would do anything ever without a choreographed word. Will anything ever at least move this man or anyone in the ruling elite into words (We, of course know, he is incapable of any action). After stoically trotting out a few lines, he asks 'theek hai?' to the guy recording it! So the response reveals itself as a forced one rather than one that came out of a real concern. </span><br />
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Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-27673197506036800152012-12-21T13:57:00.001+05:302012-12-21T14:03:49.136+05:30Rape, Honour Killing, Acid throwing are all faces of same malaise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“I would blame the women who try to wear certain clothes just to keep in tune with the trend. They are the ones who provoke men.” - KPS Gill</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">4 years ago, in the city of Warangal in Andhra Pradesh, a girl studying B Tech was attacked with acid by 3 boys on her way back from college. That girl had her face disfigured and suffered severe burns. There was outrage all around. The YS Rajashekar Reddy government ordered 'stern action'. The 3 youth were nabbed and paraded before media. They confessed for the crime. Then the police shot and killed them. Instant justice, it was called. It was supposed to be a 'deterrent'. Or was it? Hardly 2 months later, there was another. And another. They continue as we speak. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The ongoing outrage about the shocking Delhi rape is following the same pattern. People want justice, instantly, now, on public television, if some have their way. They say the guys responsible have to be hanged, and it should be telecast 'live' on TV. They started an online petition too. Some believe that would be a 'deterrent'. Would it be? And what exactly are people implying when they suggest capital punishment for rape? That the crime is so grave that the girl raped is herself as good as dead!? Are they not perpetuating the myth that a woman loses everything when she is physically violated? Are they not making life more difficult for the victim? Is that not why victims turn to suicide? The whole campaign about hanging the rapists does more damage than good.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The focus of this campaign, unfortunately, has neither been about finding the cause of these ever increasing cases of rape nor has been about preventing it. It is so full of emotion, but no reason. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crime Against Women in India - 2011 Courtesy: savedaughters</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When KPS Gill said those words above, what emboldened him? What could have emboldened him to do what he did with a woman IAS officer? Surely he knows law and that she knows it too. So it is not about punishment. It could only be something ingrained, something very much a part of his being, his daily life, his upbringing. Maybe he just thinks he is entitled, as a stronger sex, as a male. How else could we explain honour killings? The male thinks he is entitled to control the female - wives, sisters, daughters. How they live and who they live with. If the daughters and sisters elope with a lover, they will be killed. Some are beheaded – the taliban way. The boys they elope with will, in turn, get their sisters raped. What a gruesome culture we live in. Can we just hang it, on live TV? I wish it were that simple. According to National Crime Records, in 2011, rapes formed 10.6% of total crimes against women. There are more cases of molestation - 18.8% and even more cases of domestic violence from husband and relatives - 43.4%. As shown, rape is one face of the grave problem.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If an IPS can comment like this, we can imagine how that Delhi bus driver behaved with that educated girl. He must have thought he was entitled to pass lewd comments and physically abuse. When resisted, the male chauvinism his upbringing imbibed him with got threatened and he responded with rage. He might be thinking he was 'teaching her a lesson'. He just extended into the streets the household rule that man has the power over women in the house. He is not an alien. He is a violent brute, but very much the regular Indian. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the acid attack case above, the police had evidence, they had a confession too. Yet, they preferred not to go by book and set an example. An example of how law would take its own course, convict and deliver justice. Instead they preferred to give instant gratification to the blood-baying public, 4 months before the elections. And in the process, actually strengthened the belief that courts won’t deliver! There is every possibility, the Congress could try something similar now, especially after how they seemed to deny a final appeal to Kasab, before the Gujarat elections. It serves their purpose but does not solve the problem.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Unless there is a broad realization that these crimes against women are not exactly law and order issues and that they stem from a soft discrimination against the girl child that is always prevalent in majority of Indian families, we would not be on a path to solution. Unless the Indian society starts accepting and inculcating a sense of respect and dignity for the female as an equal, things won’t get any better. Unless we put a stop to presenting a woman as an object, as a commodity, or furniture in our popular culture like TV and movies, they would never be seen for persons. And when such crimes occur, what we need is a support system, within and outside law, to cope and get back to normal, not the hue and cry we are seeing now that deludes the into believing that they ran into irreversible bad fate and are doomed for life.</span></div>
Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-67281097735362643882012-12-14T14:19:00.000+05:302012-12-14T22:15:51.951+05:30"Are all World War films set in Germany shot in Germany?"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b><span style="color: #990000;">"Though a lot has changed now, people here in India had a different mentality from those in the West those days. Not many people here wanted to push themselves in order to excel at something. They were satisfied with okay stuff. So I really, really respect people like Mani Sir who had raised the bar here, in those conditions with our limited resources and technological talent."</span></b></i><span style="color: #274e13;"> - <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">An excerpt from</span></i> AR Rahman’s foreword in <i>‘Conversations with Mani Ratnam’</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There could have been nothing more apt for a foreword to a book on Maniratnam’s film-making than one from his greatest discovery – AR Rahman and the above words sum up briefly the zeitgeist that Mani Ratnam was for those who grew into their cinematic awareness in 80s and 90s. When mediocre stuff was being churned out as mainstream movies, it was Mani Ratnam who raised the bar and blazed a trail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">‘Conversations with Mani Ratnam’ stays with that spirit and focuses on the auteur’s craft of film-making single-mindedly. The book does not even inadvertently run into any juicy tidbits or controversies about any actor or film personality, even while discussing all of Mani Ratnam’s movies and the milieus in which they were made. No ‘Making of’ discussions, thanks to the author Rangan Baradwaj who seemed up for it and who was ‘well prepared’ for this exercise. Anyways, when the creative mind produces such wit, glimpses of which were in <a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2012/12/conversations-with-mani-ratnam-is.html">my previous post</a>, who need tame tidbits?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What made me say ‘exercise’ could be what I saw a few years before on TV when Mani Ratnam was in Hyderabad promoting ‘Guru’. With the typical stupidity commonly seen on TV, the program’s lady anchor, even while expressing her awe for him and his movies, told Mani that it is ‘unbelievable’ that he, so eminent, worked with ‘someone like Mallika Sherawat’. Mani firmly shot back ‘Why?’ His seriousness and matter-of-fact voice made the anchor almost sweat while she sheepishly tried saying something about Sherawat’s image not being for his respectable movies. Mani, of course, enlightened her that what she saw on screen was Mallika playing different roles! And that he had a role in ‘Guru’ she was apt for and so she accepted and did a very good job. Rangan Baradwaj seemed to be around for quite some time as a film critic (although I never heard about him before this book), he knows all too well the non-nonsense man. So the first time he went to Mani Ratnam’s office to discuss the book project, while the filmmaker was speaking to him, he in turn spoke to the desk in front of Mani Ratnam! He admits in this book’s introduction that he confessed this experience with Gautham Menon and they instantly became friends, because Menon has had the same experience in his first encounter! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Considering this start, the author did a good job by the end as he seemed to have confidently engaged ‘Mani Sir’ on his vision behind each of his movies in 30 odd years, the style he kept evolving and the thinking that went into each of his characters. That is not to say that he didn’t have his share of moments like those faced by the lady above. Some of them are here giving a glimpse of the kind of riveting conversations the book records.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While discussing ‘Thalapathy’ -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">RANGAN: Your location was Mysore (even though the story takes place in an unnamed location) and your characters are Tamilian. How important is geographical correctness to a film, especially considering the importance you gave to visuals and backgrounds?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">MANI RATNAM: "..Do you think all World War films set in Germany are shot in Germany? It has to evoke Germany. It is like saying that the camera in a fight scene should be placed exactly where the punches land on the opponent…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While discussing ‘Anjali’ -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When Rangan delving all too deep, says he thinks Anjali has ‘ghosts’, Mani quips that he hopes they are both talking about the same film! He adds ’If I had known that Baradwaj Rangan would raise this question, I would have placed that card’ referring to a card ‘A few years later’ that could have been placed to avoid Rangan’s wild assumptions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Overenthusiastic, about ‘Dil Se’ -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">RANGAN: Again, while loquaciously discussing the love between Shah Rukh’s and Manisha’s character, Rangan goes as far as to say “,,She's like a man - or rather, desexualized. So it's even more of a leap for him (Shah Rukh’s character) to fall for a girl who is pretty, but who is otherwise so 'unfeminine', so aloof. You can understand this exuberant Delhi boy falling for Preeti, who's equally exuberant." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mani cuts him swiftly “You cannot come up with a commandment about whom a Delhi boy can fall in love with and who he cannot. Why do you think that falling in love has to be only with the stereotypical other?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Again later Rangan puts his foot in his mouth by asking whether Mani Ratnam became ‘part of the establishment’ somewhere between ‘Roja’ and ‘Bombay’ because the latter was more political. Immediately, he retracts saying it was a ‘wrong thing to say’ after Mani Ratnam tears him down “Why should any concern for what is happening around be labeled as an ‘establishment’ way of thinking? I just don’t get it.” In context of Rangan’s comment that ‘Bombay’ has rabble rousing, Mani goes on to say Rangan seems to believe anything anti-establishment, whether true or not, relevant or not, is good and that the rest is rabble-rousing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While the above reactions are caustic, they are but a part of the whole exercise of making the very private Mani Ratnam open up and speak about his craft. Rangan did a good job. Even while he was in awe of the filmmaker, he probed and took his chances in making Mani Ratnam react, explain, defend or evade and in the process reveal a little of the enigma he has been. Yes, only a little of what <i>maketh</i> the maker! More about that in my next post.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-2787206140449131892012-12-12T10:49:00.000+05:302012-12-12T10:49:04.063+05:30'Conversations With Mani Ratnam' is a delightful read<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mani Ratnam's movies are the ones I have grown up watching. They were for real, urbane and intelligent. So when I got a chance to read film critic Baradwaj Rangan's newly released book 'Conversations With Mani Ratnam', I leaped on it. Considering the many questions I had and the many details I would have loved to know about all those delightful movies he churned out over the years, it is not practical for me to get satisfied with the book. But then, getting the reticent filmmaker to talk itself is a huge achievement. This is a delightful read, but is found wanting in the end. More about my opinion later, possibly in another post.</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">However, here are some gems from the filmmaker (Quote unquote from the book) I wanted to share with you. They show his wit and razor sharp insight and of course the high standards he set for himself and his movies. These are a series of delightful quotes and responses from him. For some, I paired them with Rangan's question to get the context.</span></span><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>"But during the first public screening, you understand everything that you did not understand during the making of the film."</i></b></span></li>
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<li><i><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Watching the film with the audience was unadulterated torture. You want the film to move faster and arrive at the best shot and dialogues (at least, as per your judgement) and the humorous parts as quickly as possible. </span><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You want to run to the projection room and turn the reels faster. There was always a second's delay before the reaction could be heard or felt. That second was quite unbearable</b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">." </span></i></li>
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<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RANGAN: When was the last time you saw Nayakan?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">RATNAM:<i> "Probably at the time of release. I've seen bits and pieces of its afterwards, but I see only the flaws in it. Why go through that? I don't see any of my films after they are released. I can't bear them for more than five minutes. Honestly, I can't. For those five minutes, I'll think, 'Hey, this isn't too bad.' But the sixth minute, I'll see something that will make it turn it off. At the Venice film festival, I was trapped into watching Raavan. Otherwise, I watch my films so many times while making them that I don't want anything to do with them afterwards. That's why I sometimes can't remember the things that you are talking about...</i>"</span><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"When you saw jaws for the first time, you just saw the tail fin. You never saw the shark till the end. What gave you a high while watching were the music and the shark's fin, and with just these elements, a director could create a pop sensational cross the world. The more he held back, the better it was....it would have had much less impact if they'd been fighting throughout the film. <b>Action is just gratification. The promise of action is much more potent...</b>" </i></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Right or wrong, we all get influenced not only by life but by other actors. Something that Brando did or Sivaji Ganesan or Kamal Haasan did will stick around somewhere in the mind and influence you. But kids are without burdens. They are just themselves. If they are angry, they're angry like they would be angry."</i></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Anjali is about your own resistance to seeing something that's happening around you. I don't know if i'd like this revealed in a book, but I had a close neighbor who had a child with a small problem. for years, I could not look the child in the eye. It's something that bother you. You don't do it, and the fact that you are trying to avoid it is always there at the back of your mind. I think those feelings came together in this story, trying to understand why we try to hide from such a person and then, when we cross that mental barrier, how we build a rapport with that person."</i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RANGAN: Your movies never have expletives though. I can't recall any offhand. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RATNAM: <b><i>Perhaps I save them for real life. </i></b></span></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"<b>They said Mouna Raagam had to be given an 'A' certificate because this girl is asking for a divorce</b>. It came out of the blue. A lady on the board asked me how a housewife could ask for a divorce. After that I stopped being surprised by anything the censor committee would throw at me."</i> </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"When we did Alaipaayuthey, we had a song at the beginning of the film, with the hero and his headphones. We shot it using a bit of a Backstreet Boys song, and we used the song while editing. We asked for permission to use that bit...they quoted a fancy figure of 1 crore rupees. We said, 'Forget it!' We composed a new piece and it worked absolutely fine. Much later, they asked us permission to use Chaiyya chaiyya. Till then, none of them had ever paid anything to an Indian film unit. So we quoted exactly the same figure. The music company was ready to give it to them for nothing, but we said no. If they can charge us this much, then we'll charge them as much. And we go</i>t it." </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-11391378240757438082012-12-11T05:05:00.000+05:302012-12-11T05:05:38.876+05:30In fragmented AP, clandestine politics is now the norm!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Petq9ubDyag/UMZvgEE_lSI/AAAAAAAAD_M/UcaHRt1Carw/s1600/HY04TDP__121159f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Petq9ubDyag/UMZvgEE_lSI/AAAAAAAAD_M/UcaHRt1Carw/s320/HY04TDP__121159f.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Naidu with 2 of the 3 MPs in controversy<br />Photo Courtesy: The Hindu/Md.Yousuf</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The role of 3 TDP MPs in the recent vote for FDI has again bought into fore the clandestine politics that are now underway in Andhra Pradesh. The 3 MPs Sujana Chowdary, Devender Goud, G Sudharani are from financially strong background and none have them have the UPA’s CBI breathing down their neck for any case. Therefore, there isn't a reason for them to get either tempted or intimidated by the UPA. In fact, all 3 were handpicked by Chandrababu Naidu for Rajya Sabha despite stiff opposition from within his party. There is every reason to believe that the MPs did what they did, upon Naidu’s direction.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How the main political parties like Congress and TDP have made covert politics as a norm, rather than an exception, would be understood if we look at events of the past 3 years. It has been 3 years since the Indian government’s Telangana statehood declaration on Dec 9, 2009. The clandestine and manipulative politics that started that midnight unleashed a chain of events that are still unfolding today, further degenerating AP’s politics, reducing it to backroom deals rather than a public display of people's democracy.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">While it is not unthinkable that now and then a politician gets some clandestine support from the opposing party, especially during elections, the kind of cross-party secret dealings presently underway in AP are astounding and hard not to notice.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<u><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">The beginning of the ‘support mechanism</span><span style="color: #274e13;">’</span></span></strong></u><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The secret part of SriKrishna report, Chapter 8, put in lurid detail how these covert politics started and were already underway by the time the report was released on 30 December 2010 (The secret ‘Chapter 8’, as you may know, was later leaked inadvertently). To contain the Telangana statehood issue, the SriKrishna Committee’s infamous chapter 8 made the following suggestions (in its own words) – </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“.. the ruling party and also the main opposition party ( the TDP run by Chandra Babu) must be brought on the same page, the support mechanisms have a higher probability of becoming successful. The TDP must be advised not to participate in any further meetings that would be called by the Centre. This could be an effective stumbling block for any meaningful dialogue on resolving the Telangana demand. The Andhra Congress MPs belonging to Kamma caste must be encouraged to work in tandem with TDP leadership which is now caught in a bad shape.</span></em></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><br /></em>
<em>Further, on receipt of the Committee’s Report by the Government, a general message should be conveyed amongst the people of the State that Centre will be open for detailed discussions on the recommendations / options of the Report with the concerned leaders / stakeholders either directly or through a Group of Ministers or through important interlocutors and that this process will start at the earliest. But every method must be adopted to avoid giving finality to any discussions to drag on the matter until the agitation is totally brought under control.</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><br /></em>
<em>(c) Media Management:(i) Andhra Pradesh has got about 13 Electronic Channels and 5 major local Newspapers which are in the forefront of molding the public opinion. Except for two Channels ( Raj News & HMTV), the rest of them are supporters of a united Andhra Pradesh. The equity holders of the channels except the above two and the entire Print Media are with the Seemandhra people. The main editors/ resident and subeditors, the Film world etc. are dominated by Seemandhra people. A coordinated action on their part has the potential of shaping the perception of the common man. However, the beat journalists in the respective regions are locals and are likely to capture only those events/ news which reflect the regional sentiments. This can be tackled by the owners of the media houses by systematically replacing the local journalists by those from Seemandhra wherever it is possible.”</em></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span>
<strong><u><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The ‘support mechanism’ flourishes</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">True to the Chapter 8’s revelations, the Congress and the TDP till now are playing hide and seek in declaring their stand publicly on Telangana and are making sure there is no forward movement on Telangana. Both the parties solidly backed the crackdown on the Telangana agitation which even resulted in fatal injuries to agitators. The result is that both the parties lost all 18 assembly constituencies in Telangana the by-elections were held for, in last 3 years. Their party candidates, In fact, got their deposits only in 2 or 3 constituencies!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Meanwhile, even as the 2 parties crumbled in Telangana, YS Jaganmohan Reddy challenged the Congress leadership for chiefministership and formed the YSRCP, which has been growing in strength in Seemandhra. In this context, the chapter 8’s ‘guidelines’ took a larger meaning for TDP and Congress. The Congress and TDP extended their cooperation beyond the Telangana issue. They needed a policy of continued quid pro quo between them to even politically survive, as their very existence is under threat. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">While the Congress helps Naidu get around the CBI investigation unleashed by the High court (just as it did for YS Jagan), he would in turn not press for the no- confidence motion against the Congress government in the state at the most opportune times. Even while the Congress government crackdowns on any meeting, rallies in support of Telangana agitation in ruse of ‘law and order’ problem, it would go out of its way to facilitate Naidu’s yatras into Telanagana with unprecedented police security and thousands of TDP’s armed men. In return, Naidu would let the government just be, even without pressing for a winter assembly session! TDP’s stance with the Congress is once again belied with its MPs’ absence at the FDI vote in Rajya Sabha. True to the spirit of Chapter 8, both the pro-establishment and pro-TDP media continues to propagate how Naidu is ‘hurt’ by this betrayal, while it’s the MPs who were made scapegoats by Naidu, for his own political survival. And the drama goes on. There is nothing anymore that distinguishes the Congress and TDP or YSRCP. All play the same game they mastered in last 3 years. Nothing they say is trusted anymore; it is mere entertainment – an ongoing soap opera.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<strong><u><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A real government and a real opposition?</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The big question is - would these main parties ever get normal again – into a real government and a real opposition? Or would they continue being under the spell of Chapter 8’s ‘support mechanism’ with these backroom deals? The SKC set about ‘shaping the perception of the common man’ by suggesting manipulative politics and ‘media management’. Instead these strategies it recommended reshaped AP’s political spectrum by destroying the 2 strongest parties in the state. Did they reshape the perception common man? Yes, surely they did, in a large part of AP. So much so that an imminent election would wipe out these 2 parties from their roles in government and principal opposition into 3 and 4 positions and end the ‘support mechanism’ for the good. Till then, the genie unleashed by Chapter 8 would continue to hold its spell on AP’s politics.</span></span></div>
Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-51228495335638879702012-06-18T09:24:00.000+05:302012-06-18T09:24:15.560+05:30AP By-polls: A Jagan vs. Goliath tale<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It has been almost 3 years since <a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/09/ys-jaganmohan-reddy-michael-corleone.html">my post on YS JaganmohanReddy’s handling of the political drama after YSR’s death</a>. The naked ambition and
intensity for power in display then by Jagan sustained to fructify into win in
15 Assembly constituencies and 1 parliamentary constituency now. Even as he is seen battling umpteen charges of
corruption while in jail, the party he founded decimated the Congress and TDP
in the by-polls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V6ALayCPuQ0/T96mJgUU5aI/AAAAAAAADzE/a4U2sw09lXQ/s1600/Jagan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V6ALayCPuQ0/T96mJgUU5aI/AAAAAAAADzE/a4U2sw09lXQ/s400/Jagan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So what hit the Congress and the TDP the most in the recent
by-polls in Andhra Pradesh? Their challenger Jagan was in jail for 15 days
before the election making his YSR Congress party literally leaderless. He was
interrogated quite publicly, shifting the venues of his interrogation every day
and every detail about it was shared with media so that they cover it and publish
for the public. Every detail about his arrest and interrogation was made public
to create the image of a scamster and a criminal. His properties were attached
and other ministers were jailed and interrogated just to send the message out that
any minister/MLA who would side with his party would accompany him to jail. His
connections with hardcore criminals involved in murders and extortion were made
cover stories and prime time news in the powerful pro-TDP print and electronic
media, just to remind the public what a devil is, the person they are going to
vote is. Yet, the voters elected the devil. Or was it David, as in David and
Goliath?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The whole joint exercise of Congress high command, TDP and
the powerful pro-TDP media blew up and boomeranged. While these parties wanted to
make corruption as the election issue, the core issue subconsciously for the
voter has been the unethical nexus of the 2 established 'mainstream' parties
and how they launched a witch-hunt against one man, an emerging third party.
Too much CBI, too much media, too many speeches about ethics and corruption from
Chandrababu, Chiranjeevi and Botsa (interestingly, who all have CBI or other
investigative agency behind them in some or other corruption case) etc and their
concerted attack on Jagan made the voter feel fishy about the situation and sympathize
with the 'underdog' Jagan. In short, Jagan, who already has the financial wherewithal
also, was unwittingly made to look like a victim and an underdog by the actions
and over enthusiasm of Congress, TDP and the corrupt media. He reminded the voters about the historic NTR's challenge to the then mighty Congress way back in 1984. And naturally the
voter sympathized with the uncompromising Jagan in this David vs. Goliath
story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As I <a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-would-vote-for-jagan-mean.html">posted last, the vote for YSR CP was due to lack ofalternatives</a>. As far as the voter is concerned, there was no difference between
these traditional parties and Jagan. 49% voted for Jagan (Congress and TDP
polled 22% each) as he was seen as a victim braving the odds! Combined with that
the traditional congress voters who believed he is the 'leadership material',
in this age when parties seem to driven by secret pacts between them and empty
rhetoric about public issues. Ever since his father died, Jagan was on road connecting
with masses on issues related to different strata of society like students,
farmers etc. which made him look like a 'doer' while Chandrababu's attempts to
ape him looked uncharacteristic and forced. With the Congress deciding to attack the ills
of YSR rule while claiming credit for the ‘welfare programs for poor’ he
launched, not a single Congress leader sounded sincere in their attack on
Jagan. By jailing him, the Congress and
TDP could slow down the exodus of MLAs and cadre from their parties but could not
stop the migration of votes. YSRCP may or may not retain the voters into the
future, but it is unmistakably a permanent third force in Andhra and
Rayalaseema regions. And as well be the future Goliath.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-40475727714468705682012-06-09T13:56:00.000+05:302012-06-09T13:56:14.761+05:30What would a vote for Jagan mean?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s6AcYBZlFAY/T9MFJaGCVAI/AAAAAAAADy8/Z4tgMnnWDFw/s1600/mrityunjay+cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s6AcYBZlFAY/T9MFJaGCVAI/AAAAAAAADy8/Z4tgMnnWDFw/s400/mrityunjay+cartoon.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Would a result of upcoming by-elections in favor of
Jaganmohan Reddy indicate whether the people of Andhra Pradesh accepted
corruption and loot of public wealth as a way of life and maybe even consider
it a virtue? In other words, would
making Jagan a winner show bankruptcy of public morality among the people of
AP? When a friend quipped something to this effect, he expressed an opinion of
a middle class youth who have come up the hard way and made their lives in an apolitical
environment. But such an apoliticalness also blinds them to the ground realities
of public life and politics and make them blindly limit their views and
opinions to news thrust upon the public by the mainstream media. I think any
result in favor of Jagan would show not the bankruptcy of public, but that of other
political elite in Andhra Pradesh who failed to challenge him because they are
as corrupt or even more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Overbearing Congress high-command hits a self-goal.<o:p></o:p></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>TDP and LokSatta sound hollow with their corporate
connections.</u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do the voters have an alternative in the upcoming AP by-elections?
They don’t. The ruling congress which has now conveniently unleashed CBI in the
graft cases against Jagan, has now unwittingly given an impression to the
voters that it is the real culprit which allowed the whole loot for 6 years that
is now being investigated. The way CBI has been used by the union government is
outrageous and these elections would teach a congress a fitting lesson. It has just hit a self-goal with its timing of Jagan's trial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The opposition TDP which has been hand-in-glove with the
ruling congress and which infact saved the state government from collapsing
lacks the moral high ground to accuse the Congress or Jagan’s party of
corruption. It has redefined corruption in political sphere by changing the
dynamics of ruling and opposition party. In its anxiety to scuttle Jagan as an
alternate political force in the state, it has transformed itself into Team B
for Congress. It is the TDP which unveiled
the contractors Raj in AP by speculating and manipulating on huge government
contracts in infrastructure and real estate, while it was in power. YSR, after succeeding
Naidu, just elevated the game. Every attack of Chandrababu Naidu on Jagan
regarding corruption backfires and reminds the voters of his own large scale
corporate dealings and how he elevated businessmen one after the other, his
rumored benamis, worth thousands of crores to Rajya sabha. Even the small time
Lok Satta party has taken questionable stand on issues linked to big
corporations like those of Hyderabad Metro rail and the Srikakulam power
plants. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>A negative vote against existing political parties</u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So no matter what these parties or the media channels/newspapers that
support them want the voters to think, the voters in general are aware they are
all the same. The result forecasted in favor of Jagan in Andhra and Rayalaseema
is in fact a vote against all the political parties in the state. That would be
a sign of displeasure by the voter against the Congress and TDP which conspired
against democratic ethics to suppress Jagan, an emerging political alternative.
It would be a vote against an overbearing congress government at the center. Not considering this history of political bankruptcy and viewing the present political scenario through the lens of the media which owns its roots to the very political setup working overtime to preserve itself against the Jagan onslaught will only give a warped picture and prejudiced opinions about how squeaky clean and progressive parties like Congress, TDP and Lok Satta are. The vote for Jagan, for me, would not be a sign of the voter’s ‘compromised morality’ as
my friend tends to think.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-48117356183483452302011-10-10T00:09:00.002+05:302011-10-10T00:11:03.637+05:30Telangana 25: Why Delhi cannot wish away Telangana anymore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come - Victor Hugo</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;"><br />
</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">No one knows this better than PM Manmohan Singh, who very often quotes this line. After failing to suppress the Telangana movement with the SriKrishna committee and its Chapter 8 recommendations, the central government now is embattled by the ‘Sakala Janula Samme’ (SJS) launched by the people of Telangana. A million employees of Government, right from state secretariat to Singareni colleries have been on an indefinite strike for 26 days now. They have foregone their salaries too and signaled they are not going to budge till the central government implements its December 9, 2009 decision to demerge Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.</span><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EaNgL9gE-QU/TpHnTZQXKUI/AAAAAAAADwU/0hLikCJdjSA/s1600/Secreteriat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GimekChMVX8/TpHokOLyvPI/AAAAAAAADwc/e1WfhT3wg9s/s1600/Imliban.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GimekChMVX8/TpHokOLyvPI/AAAAAAAADwc/e1WfhT3wg9s/s400/Imliban.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>An otherwise bustling Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) wears a deserted look as the RTC employees are on Strike. MGBS is among the 4 largest bus stations in Asia.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So what will Delhi do now? Unlike in the past, there is an ongoing strike which overthrew governance in Telangana and is pushing the state and regions around it into darkness, literally. Cities, towns and villages in Andhra Pradesh are facing electricity power cuts (some up to 10 hours a day) as are cities like </span><a href="http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/BAN-life-goes-out-of-balance-in-city-as-power-crisis-strangles-bloreans-2466420.html"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Bangalore</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, </span><a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_ajit-pawar-blames-telangana-stir-for-power-cuts_1591550"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Pune</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> and </span><a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2506166.ece"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Thiruvanathapuram</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">. There are mounting revenue losses with each passing day and more importantly increasing frustration with these democratic and peaceful methods of agitation. With the SKC episode, the Congress and its central and state governments lost all credibility. As did the mainstream print and electronic media, which played an active role in Chapter 8. The game is up for Delhi which has no option to dilly-dally now lest the agitation will spiral out of control of its leadership. The NH-9 blockade 4 days ago is a precursor of things to come, in such scenario. Already, the TJAC is under tremendous pressure to ‘harden up’ from its vanta-varpu kind of programs which have made enough of the point about peaceful & brotherly co-existence in Telangana. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EaNgL9gE-QU/TpHnTZQXKUI/AAAAAAAADwU/0hLikCJdjSA/s1600/Secreteriat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EaNgL9gE-QU/TpHnTZQXKUI/AAAAAAAADwU/0hLikCJdjSA/s1600/Secreteriat.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>In Hyderabad, Seemandhra secretariat employees were taken to their offices with police escort.</b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What should worry supporters of Telangana is the steady loss of faith of the agitators in our institutions of democracy. The executive, the judiciary, the press all have been corrupted and rights to these institutions have been denied to the movement. The despondence this sparked contributed to 600 odd suicides. How long will it take for this despondence to turn from hurting self to avenging the oppressive rulers? Unmindful of this volatility, those opposing the demerger, like the Chief Minister himself, poke fun at the strike everyday by reminding that the strike would ‘only hurt Telangana’. So what do these guys want?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">At least, did someone in Delhi wake up to the reality that this strike is not just going to ‘hurt Telangana alone’. And that, besides hurting the democratic and social fabric of this region and country, this strike could also create a real, day-to-day crisis. Did someone realize that Telangana is no Manipur. Bang in the middle, if the agitators turn restless, the north and south of this country gets disconnected. What if the Rail-Rokos get indefinite? What if the national highways get blocked indefinitely? Are they then going to bring the army in!? The media owned by Andhra plutocrats definitely want us to believe so. They have been on a propaganda spree for last few days that center is geared up for President’s rule in the state to ‘control’ the spiraling unrest. Wishful thinking, I would say or just another trick to demoralize the striking citizens into believing that their efforts are futile and the strike needs to be withdrawn. The media also </span><a href="http://missiontelangana.com/?p=2896"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">created a controversy</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> out of Pranab Mukherjee’s comments on Telangana agitation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In fact, the very fact that this media, after a prolonged silence on Telangana, as per SKC’s Chapter 8 instructions, now started talking about possible Centre’s action shows the success of the strike. The strike has successfully untied the Chapter 8 blockade on Telangana debate. And it is poised to push all the Andhra plutocrats into a corner, despite their media empires.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Nothing short of demerger and inaugurating the state of Telangana is going to stop this movement. The agitators have risked their lives and livelihood, Delhi has to succumb. While the Andhra Pradesh government seems to have released nearly 80 crores to Police to ‘control’ the Telangana stir and </span><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/GOs-turn-confidential/articleshow/10274261.cms"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">marked the same GOs as confidential</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, it would be fallacy to assume this agitation can be contained anymore through police and paramilitary forces. The SJS is the inflection point and Delhi cannot wish away Telangana anymore. The time for the idea of Telangana has come.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-10846053126891332222011-10-04T04:09:00.001+05:302011-10-04T06:50:10.747+05:30Telangana 24: Sakala Janula Samme and our Gandhian CM Kiran Kumar Reddy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/bZNaQp-9nbo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I should say I am ‘moved’ by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s<a avglsprocessed="1" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZNaQp-9nbo" target="_blank"> singing paeans for Gandhism</a> in the Vijayawada meeting today on the occassion of Gandhi Jayanthi. This tribute to Gandhian principles ‘Vandhe Gandhiyam’ is choreographed and produced by our prime gandhian and honorable MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, whose latest gandhian act has been to trigger a police attack on the genitals of a Government employee, a leader of the NGO union. Nonetheless, off late Kiran Kumar Reddy has been showing outstanding gandhism and deserves to be understood for his spirited speech today. Here is something that illustrates how ardent a follower he is of Gandhi. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">W</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">hen Govt. employees gave a hartal notice, an instrument advocated by mahatma himself, this gandhian’s government made no efforts on their demands and now after 20 days of strike, <a avglsprocessed="1" href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/no-salary-during-festive-season-for-striking-telangana-employees-137788" target="_blank">it is not paying the 7 lakh employees on strike</a>. What is particularly notable is that this is the festive season, with bathukamma and Dussera, the two most important festivals in Telangana. While the employees go without the festive joy, our Gandhian CM is busy pouring his heart about peaceful protests and Gandhi’s methods – like hartal and satyagraha!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #274e13; font-size: large;"> With the ongoing Sakala Janula Samme (SJS), the CM took a very gandhian approach of ‘divide and rule’ and violent police oppression. When the drivers and employees of the state road transport corp (APSRTC) went on strike, he made no attempts to have a dialogue and instead pushed unlicensed and inexperienced home guards to drive the city buses in Hyderabad. His gandhian actions killed 3 people and injured scores of pedestrians when the rookie drivers created mayhem on the road in few separate accidents like <a avglsprocessed="1" href="http://www.thehansindia.info/News/Article.asp?category=1&subCategory=2&ContentId=7583" target="_blank">this</a>.<br />
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The most gandhian action is how he is tearing down the livelihood of millions of farmers in Telangana at this moment. While the water reservoirs in the state are full and can generate 65 million units of electricity, this gandhian Government chose to generate only 30 million, thereby creating an artificial electricity deficit and cutting off power in Telangana. The Gandhian CM tells the farmers in Telangana, in this busy season when they are expecting to harvest their crop, that the daily power cut is due to the strike of his Telangana brethren in Singareni colleries. By robbing the Telangana farmer their hard-earned crop, this gandhian proved how to commit genocide without raising a knife! Can anything get more gandhian than this - destroying the livelihood of millions of farmers? Think about their families, the debts they got to pay, the marriages they have to do,..<br />
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Of course, I won’t even attempt to start discussing the many other gandhian acts of police repression on peacefully agitating MLAs, MPs – no less. Only the other day, a group of MLAs who resigned months ago in protest against the delay in forming Telangana, shut themselves in the premises of the state legislature to get their resignations accepted. The Governments and the speaker who threw the spirit and procedures of the constitution to the wind won’t accept the resignations, because accepting them would open another front for people of Telangana, through the by-election, to reiterate their right for statehood. This must be the only instance of its kind in the world where supposedly democratic governments won’t accept a resignation of a public representative but instead would kick them around and arrest them!<br />
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Even as you read this, soon after the meeting, the chief minister must have gone into a huddle with the esteemed guest Gulam Nabi Azad, the numero uno gandhian Lagadapati and other prominent gandhians like KVP Ramachandra Rao, Botsa Satyanarayana, Devineni Nehru etc to discuss the status of Delhi parleys on Telangana and the more advanced gandhian means and methods to suppress the Telangana movement while deciding on a date and time to reenact the Samaikyandra drama.</span></span></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-32516174289166486832011-07-16T10:10:00.000+05:302011-07-16T10:10:38.711+05:30Mumbai attacks and the lessons we refuse to learn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tomGZoGD6wY/TiEVL2DcPnI/AAAAAAAADvA/NXGBJuYQ904/s1600/Mumbai-Blast-2011-Exclusive-Latest-Pics-13-July-2011-Indian-Crying-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tomGZoGD6wY/TiEVL2DcPnI/AAAAAAAADvA/NXGBJuYQ904/s400/Mumbai-Blast-2011-Exclusive-Latest-Pics-13-July-2011-Indian-Crying-10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There they come again. Just like millions of Indians, I feel deja vu. The <a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2008/11/now-what-again-sing-spirit-of-mumbai.html">same feeling</a> now haunts me as it did 31 months ago. The same apathy of the political elite, the same outrage of civilians, the same candle lights and then the same 'Mumbai spirit', resilience, blah blah blah..Every problem India faces today is reduced to a news story, consumed for a day and disposed the next, even the 17 dead and 131 injured on this black Wednesday. Perhaps, the story of the Minister, in-charge of Mumbai's security, best illustrates this point.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Raosaheb Ramrao Patil, as the home minister of Mumbai, infamously opined after 2008 Mumbai attacks "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"> "They (the terrorists) came to kill 5,000 people but we ensured minimal damage". In a further proof of the callous stuff he is made of, he said after a few days</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"> "It is not like that. In big cities like this, small incidents do happen. It's is not a total failure." Just as it does, the government succumbed to public outrage over his comments and removed him from office then. When the heat is out, he was bought back in after 10 months. And here he is presiding over, as Mumbai is attacked again! And add to that <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rr-patils-underworld-connections/131936-37.html?from=tn">this visual news 10 months ago</a> that the honorable home minister was at a social gathering hobnobbing with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's aides. I am not implying having this guy as home minister made the attacks possible. What I am pointing at is the callousness and a lack of logical centre in playing around with such a vital portfolio. Why was he moved out and back in? Are there any lessons learnt for him from his previous experience? If so, it did not show. What did Indians do to deserve this? And what are the lessons terror in Mumbai and elsewhere in India teaching us which we are failing to learn?</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The first lesson is that nothing now happens in India unless the government is forced to. The Lokpal bill is a case in point. Things seem to happen only when people come on to streets. We need the civil society to pressurize the state and central governments into coming up with any lessons they possibly could have learnt and the remedial measures planned. Let them come up with clear decisions on enforcing the measures and let the follow up to these measures be in public domain. The union home minister said "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;">There were no prior intelligence inputs for the attacks”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"> and yet he adds it is not an intelligence failure! It is clear that projects like</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"> National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) and the National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) aimed at bettering our intelligence gathering did not take off, even after 31 months. And that is despite a mammoth budget.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; line-height: 19px;">It is a shame that the union home minister says the same 31 months passed without an attack because</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; line-height: 19px;"> the authorities did well</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; line-height: 19px;">. That is like saying, on scales of efficiency, a next attack after 32 months is okay! In hindsight, I feel we were plain lucky for all these months.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">governments' lethargy and ill intentions in not acting on the existent laws of the land should be questioned. The government should be forced to answer on why Afzal Gurus and Ajmal Kasabs are not given the punishment the courts have condemned them to, after exhaustive trials. Why are the clemencies pending with the President for years altogether (In fact, it was reported Afzal Guru's clemency petition was not at President's office, despite news to the contrary).</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The way he said there are 'inherent difficulties' in avoiding these acts of terror in Mumbai, because of its density, is appalling. Why does he think cities more dense than Mumbai have not become victims of terror? It does not a Harvard brain to answer that. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The appalling attitude of Indian political elite shows just how irrelevant Indian politics has now become to the basic need in this country - security and the right to live. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As long as Indians think their duty starts and ends with voting for one of the devils in election, these attacks wont stop, just as the corruption, nepotism and misgoverning in governments wont stop.The lesson Mumbai attacks teach us is that we can no more leave our welfare and security solely in the hands of these rogue politicians. We have to take a role. Any debate now should be on what and how that role should be, not on how the media stooped low in reporting, or how resilient Mumbai is, or which minister has to be booted out, which anyway would not avoid the next attack on us that is probably being planned somewhere at this very moment</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</span></span>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-63132401187301455592011-07-03T08:50:00.001+05:302011-07-03T09:29:46.368+05:30Manmohan Singh - The Manchurian Candidate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8kJXXhtJwDY/Tg_eIyI4qLI/AAAAAAAADt4/gibU6n25rIU/s1600/Manmohan_Singh_671088f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8kJXXhtJwDY/Tg_eIyI4qLI/AAAAAAAADt4/gibU6n25rIU/s400/Manmohan_Singh_671088f.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">4 months after his disastrous meeting with electronic media editors, which I <a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/indian-medias-corporate-affairs-and.html">blogged</a> about, Mr. Manmohan Singh decided to speak again, this time only with print media editors. After all we are a democracy, unlike North Korea (where Kim Jong II is seen once in few years), so Mr. Singh decided to give <i>darshan</i> and speak to his subjects once in 4 months. And how!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">The robotic, stoical Manmohan Singh reminds me of the character Raymond Shaw in Hollywood flick ‘The Manchurian Candidate’. Shaw, a soldier of the US army, also hailing from an affluent political family, is ‘programmed’ with an implanted chip in his body to campaign and become the president of the US. Shaw’s mother, a senator and a multinational company masterminds this operation. We all know how Mr. Singh is planted in as PM to do his Madam’s bidding. For all practical reasons, he is an ‘acting PM’ who did well not to apply his acclaimed mind over the affairs of this country. As in the movie, Mr. Singh is remote-controlled to work and deliver for someone else. But then in the movie, at least towards the end, the remote-controlled candidate realizes the trap he is in and applies his mind for once, bringing to an end the whole operation of a few powerful guys to control US. Unfortunately for us, Mr. Singh seems to be losing more of his mind with each passing once-in-four-months public appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">In his last appearance with news editors, Mr.Singh <a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/indian-medias-corporate-affairs-and.html">compared the 2G scam losses with ‘losses’ due to food subsidies</a>. This time, Mr. Singh gave use few more gems. This post has his latest opinions, marked in blue. My comments follow. The full <o:p></o:p></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">Transcript of the meeting is <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/transcript-of-prime-minister-manmohan-singhs-question-and-answer-session-with-editors-115700">here</a>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Considering newspaper reports about scams and investigating them would ‘</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">greatly weaken the (entrepreneurial) forces that we have unleashed’ and ‘install a police raj’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">So the 2G scam is unleashed by ‘entrepreneurial forces’! And investigating them would make this country a ‘police state’? Is there no need in this country to at least pretend being honest anymore? Such a blatant stance by the supposedly ‘clean PM’.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">He tells us he trusted his cabinet colleague after he assured ‘utmost transparency, fairness and objectivity’ in 2G allocation. Even after this scam, he conveniently forgets there is something called ‘collective responsibility’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Bringing prime minister within ambit of Lokpal will make the country ‘instable’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Earlier, talking about TRAI, he said ‘Quite frankly, I felt TRAI exists to advise the government, it is an expert body. And therefore, I left it at that.’ As frankly, why can’t he just trust the Lokpal? His faith in institutions set up by constitution and legislation seems literally blinding. He can use some of that faith for Lokpal. At least 1.2 lakh crores is not at stake here.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Besides, his ‘concern’ that foreign powers would take ‘control’ over Lokpal and destabilize the country is laughable, excuses which even his grandkids won’t buy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">The Prime Minister of India ‘is equally covered by the anti-corruption act’ and that he can be ‘dismissed most easily’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh really! How many corrupt ministers ended up in jail? CBI, the investigative agency is under PMO’s control and Mr.Singh wants us to believe the Prime Minister himself would sanction CBI to investigate against him and his cabinet colleagues! And the CBI is retrained</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">under Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, which requires it to get Central Government’s prior approval before it can start any investigation against Joint Secretary or higher level bureaucrats. Obviously, all scams like 2G are executed with active connivance of these <i>babus</i> – (who Mr.Singh considers experts in policy making). CBI cannot investigate them without PMO’s approval and without access to these executives, Mr. Singh says ‘</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">we have mechanisms, much more effective mechanisms, in place’ than Lokpal to tackle corruption. Who is Mr.Singh kidding?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">CAG should not hold press conferences on the reports they tabled and should not comment on policy decisions (even when crores are being swindled as in case of KG gas)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is this ‘selective amnesia’ we are trying to fight against with Jan Lokpal bill. Madras High Court in 2005, in the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">P.G. Narayanan vs. CAG case (W.P.No.23408 of 2004 [2005] RD-TN 714)</span>,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> said </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">salient features of an Audit Report can be explained to the Press by the auditor to make the public know about the same after the Audit Report is placed before the law-making bodies – parliament or assemblies. So Mr. Singh lied when he said CAG is overstepping its mandate. And yes, the CAG must have commented on policy issues because Mr.Singh admits, quite pathetically, at every step that he is not an expert. In his latest briefing, he said he is neither an expert in law nor ‘telecom matters’. He even said ‘</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As Prime Minister, it is not that I am very knowledgeable about these matters. Or that I can spend so much of my time, to look after each and every ministry.’ So why complain about a helping hand from CAG!?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">How will the Supreme Court pronounce on complex issues, if it is subject to restrictions of the Lokpal? I am not a legal expert.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If ‘pronouncing on complex issues’ means what retired chief justice KG Balakrishnan did, these restrictions are just what we need. According to advocate Prashanth Bhushan, </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">half out of the last 16 to 17 Chief Justices of India had been corrupt and he produced documentary, oral and circumstantial evidence, material and information to back his claims. So why stonewall bringing the judiciary within the ambit of Lokpal?</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">This 'clean' weak PM worse than a corrupt PM</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Mr. Manmohan Singh should instead realize to pronounce his real self rather than singing the lines his political masters are imbibing into him. Notwithstanding his personal integrity, he is doing more damage to the nation than any other PM ever did, by serving as a Trojan horse for the real perpetrators of financial crime and public treachery. We hope Mr.Singh removes the political chip on his back and regain his conscience, just like the presidential hopeful Raymond Shaw did in ‘The Manchurian Candidate’.</span></span></span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-46292364295894636962011-06-25T10:39:00.003+05:302011-06-25T11:27:47.509+05:30TELANGANA 23: Andhra politicians - Politics part-time, Businesses full-time!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">India Today carried a report “<a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/andhra-industrialists-turning-to-politics-to-protect-their-interests/1/141035.html">Andhra Industrialists turning to politics to protect their interests</a>” and reported on the myriad businesses sitting Andhra MPs/MLAs are engaged in, that directly benefit from their positions of power. Besides the well known businesses of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, N Chandrababu Naidu and Lagadapati Rajagopal, the magazine named others mentioned below</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JX7ce6xCNX8/TgVr3C0Z9hI/AAAAAAAADt0/Gp48olNjNlI/s1600/Andhra+MPs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JX7ce6xCNX8/TgVr3C0Z9hI/AAAAAAAADt0/Gp48olNjNlI/s1600/Andhra+MPs.jpg" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">MPs in businesses</span></b></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>T. Subbarami Reddy</u> - heads multi-crore industrial group, Gayatri Group of Industries</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Eluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao</u> - owns Progressive Constructions, which is involved in large- scale infrastructure projects across the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao</u> - heads Transtroy Constructions, which is involved in similar multi- crore road projects. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy,</u> Congress MP from Ongole, is associated with United Breweries Group and is also chairman of Balaji Hotels, headquartered at Chennai.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Khammam MP N. N. Rao</u>, TDP's parliamentary party leader, owns Madhucon Group of companies - involved in irrigation projects, highways and granite units near Bellary in Karnataka.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy</u> and his MLA- brother Mekapati Chandrasekhara Reddy are also big- time contractors in the name of KMC Constructions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Narasaraopet MP Modugula Venugopal Reddy</u> is associated with Ramky Group, an infrastructure company.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">State ministers in businesses</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>T. G. Venkatesh</u> of Kurnool is a big industrialist who runs Rayalaseema Paper Mills and Rayalaseema Alkalis<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Galla Aruna Kumari</u> is the wife of Ramachandra N. Galla, chairman of Amararaja Group of Industries.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">MLAs in businesses</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Former minister P. Ramachandra Reddy - owns PVR Constructions<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Adala Prabhakar Reddy - heads APR Constructions<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Balineni Srinivasa Reddy - granite business<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Adinarayana Reddy, G. Srikanth Reddy and Gurunath Reddy - various contracts and sub- contracts in irrigation and road works.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Uninterrupted power to this elite, especially for the MPs who have been around for decades in politics, have emboldened them to bend and break laws, especially in real-estate and government sponsored irrigation and infrastructure projects. They amassed the riches, the very base of which now threatens to be eroded by ‘losing political control’ over the golden goose – Hyderabad. Few days ago, <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-03-10/news/28440037_1_telengana-new-states-small-states">Swaminathan S A Aiyar wrote in The Economic Times</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">“Vast amounts of land around Hyderabad have been grabbed in questionable ways. In a new Telengana, many existing landowners — including major industrialists — may lose enormous tracts of land worth thousands of crores. Illegal land grabbing has till now been very lucrative, but may become the kiss of death after Telengana’s creation. All Indians love land, but in Andhra Pradesh it is a veritable passion . Coastal Andhras have engaged in an orgy of land speculation in the last decade. This passion for land ultimately caused the fall of Ramalinga Raju of Satyam: He lost his company because of his forays into real estate, through Maytas and other channels.</span></i></span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Only yesterday, <a href="http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ne020711Too.asp">TEHELKA carried an article</a> saying </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"The Congress core committee is caught between the melodrama of the Telangana faction and the hardened business interests of the united Andhra faction that is staunchly opposing dividing the state. One of them is Kavuri Samba Siva Rao who heads a construction company with major investments in Hyderabad."</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><u>About ‘Inefficient’ Telangana leadership and ‘Efficient’ Andhra leadership</u></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Again, I heard the same argument that the ‘backwardness’ of Telangana is because of the ‘inefficiency’ of its political leadership. So, conversely the argument says that the Andhra leadership is ‘efficient’. While this is a very superficial and silly argument at best and a purely chauvinistic statement at the worst, now that it is so oft repeated, I ponder it over. Below are some questions, some of the ‘efficient’ leaders (read ‘those who oppose Telangana’) put up in Loksabha. </span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Conflict of interest of Andhra MPs:</span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">According to India Today's article <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/Business+of+the+day/0/70610.html">'Business of the Day'</a>, here are some of the questions the Andhra MPs posed in Lok Sabha and how the queries are intended to directly benefit their private businesses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sambasiva Rayapati Rao MP from Guntur asks “</span></strong><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Whether the NHAI has recently sought comments of various stakeholders on hybrid models to implement highway projects. If so, the details thereof along with the views of the various parties involved.</span></span>”</span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Mr. Rao owns the Jayalakshmi Group of companies which deals in tobacco, yarn, export of spices, production of electricity and construction of roads</u></span></span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Kavuri Sambasiva Rao</span> MP from Eluru asks “</strong><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Whether the Government proposes to empower the NHAI to extend working capital loans to road developers to help them tie over credit crunch and maintain speedy implementation of road projects.</span></span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Mr Kavuri as a builder is engaged in construction of major projects on irrigation, road, power and multi-storied urban housing complexes</u></span></span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rajagopal Lagadapati</span> MP from Vijayawada asks “</strong><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Whether the Central Government proposes to give some concessions to small power units generating 25 MW of power. If so, the details thereof; and if not, the reasons for not giving concessions.</span></span>”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Mr Rajagopal </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">is the founder chairman of the Lanco Group which has interests in construction, power and property business. Member of CoPU, his Group's client list includes the NHAI.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Naama Nageswara Rao MP from Khammam </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">asks</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></strong><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Whether the Government proposes to start eight-lane access control express highways. If so, the details thereof along with the locations where the expressways are proposed, state-wise and national highway-wise.</span></span>”<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Mr Rao is <span class="apple-style-span">Non-executive chairman of Madhucon, his Group has the NHAI and Indian Oil Corporation on its client list. He is also a member of the Committee on Public Undertakings. <o:p></o:p></span></u></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Well, if this and the skill showed by YSRs and Chandrababus in building business empires is ‘efficiency’, neither Telangana nor anyone in the rest of India would seek it. They are better off being ‘inefficient’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><u>How a larger state benefited the plutocrats</u><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The real conflict of interest for these MLAs/MPs come not just when they ask questions that directly benefit their businesses but when they sit on the <a href="http://164.100.47.134/committee/committee_list.aspx">parliament’s standing committees related to finance, business and industry</a>. As per the <a href="http://www.parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/p21.htm">parliament’s website</a>, these committees are supposed to be <i>“</i></span></span><i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">a path-breaking endeavour of the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Parliamentary surveillance over administration. With the emphasis of their functioning to concentrate on long-term plans, policies and the philosophies guiding the working of the Executive, these Committees will be in a very privileged position to provide necessary direction, guidance and inputs for broad policy formulations and in achievement of the long-term national perspective by the Executive.</span>” </i> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So here are the businessmen sitting on the same committees that frame ‘policies and philosophies’ that guide their businesses. This is worse than stock market insider trading!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As of now, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, KVP Ramachandra Rao, Nama Nageshwara Rao named above are all on the parliamentary standing committees on Finance, Estimates, Public undertakings, Industry etc and at the same time they are 'on record' running businesses related to same areas/sectors. The conflict of interest in case of these members is so glaring that, in the past, chairman of one such committee seem to have </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> asked them why they should not be asked to withdraw from certain meetings, as the issue on the agenda was directly related to their business.</span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Every time there is a cabinet expansion, there is a hue and cry in media about how Andhra Pradesh is ‘discriminated’ against in its share of ministries. The point is that the MPs in question are enjoying it better on these committees milking them for their own businesses. And looking at the membership in these committees, AP got more than its share. In fact these politicians are leveraging the power of coming from a state that is producing 42 MPs purely to amass riches for themselves. They fear a demerger would end that clout and they would be left without any bargaining power to sit on these committees.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And folks who argue how ‘efficient’ Andhra political leadership is should wonder why none of them bothered to be on board of 21 member Lok Sabha standing committee or the 10 member Rajya Sabha committee on Agriculture, especially when a huge percentage of Andhras are employed in Agriculture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><u>Will the Andhra plutocrats let go of Telangana?</u><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Highly unlikely. it is clear they are trying every trick in the book. They have previously successfully blackmailed the top leadership of BJP and now are doing the same with Congress, with their money bags. Only an uncompromising fight on part of Telangana advocates will force the central leadership of Congress to yield to the demand. It would happen only if the power of masses gets more threatening than the moneybags.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #231f20;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 1.5pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My posts on Telangana:</span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: 800;"><i>TELANGANA 22: 'Justice Srikrishna's INJUSTICE' book now released online</i></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-21-million-march-reflected.html">TELANGANA 21: 'Million March' reflected Telangana's indomitable spirit</a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-20-million-march-makes.html">TELANGANA 20: 'Million March'- Govt. turns Hyderabad into Tiananmen Square!</a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-19-parliament-says-no-entry.html">TELANGANA 19: Parliament says 'No-Entry' for visitors from Telangana!</a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-18-telangana-goes-camping-on.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA 18: Telangana goes camping on the tracks</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?</span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/telangana-xvi-how-ap-media-is-trying-to.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVI:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/01/telangana-xv-why-skc-reports-best.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/12/telangana-xiv-will-skc-strongly.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XIV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/09/telangana-xiii-how-politically.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i>TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state</i></b></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xii-about-amarajeevis-and.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals</span></a></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xi-cut-crap-verdict-is-out.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!</span></a></span></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;"></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-xthe-good-bad-ugly-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-ix-epw-articles-on-peoples.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IX:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">EPW goes on the Telangana trail</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-viii-my-letter-to-sri-krishna.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/03/telangana-grossly-discriminated-against.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vi-why-telugu-news-channels.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vplutocrats-unleash-terror-on.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA V:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iv-shri-krishna-committee.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iii-case-of-tyranny-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">III: A case of Tyranny of Majority</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-statehood-at-midnight.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">II: Statehood at Midnight</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-movement-and-plutocracy.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">TELANGANA I: Telangana</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><br />
</div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-51844452768236760522011-06-22T07:42:00.001+05:302011-06-22T09:09:46.673+05:30Lessons Professor Jayashankar taught<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-psQUuEX3ZIA/TgFN4HQx8pI/AAAAAAAADts/OdJUZMCND1E/s1600/Jayashankar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-psQUuEX3ZIA/TgFN4HQx8pI/AAAAAAAADts/OdJUZMCND1E/s320/Jayashankar.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The dreaded end came yesterday. Professor Jayashankar passed away after battling cancer for several months. It is hard to fight the news of this departure without shedding tears and taking solace in the spirit he left behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My earliest recollection of seeing and listening to him was around 2002 when he was a guest at a seminar on Telangana statehood in Arts College, Hanumakonda. I could not comprehend all of what he spoke then but what struck me was his matter-of-fact tone and the mellifluous language he used. Later on, I came to understand his calm demeanor came from a rich mind and its clarity of thought and his language from Telangana’s rich multi-lingual heritage (No wonder he was in love with expressing in all languages – Telugu, Urdu, Hindi and English).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That is, for me, the primary lesson from him. To keep the calm and remain objective about issues, no matter how provoking situations could be. He showed by example that notwithstanding how sensitive and provoking the issue could be, it is important to be dispassionate to find a solution. While I grew up, that was the lesson I tried to remember as often as possible. In all these years, I have seen no one who spoke as objectively as he did about the reasons for Telangana movement. That did not change till his last breath despite being at the other end of vicious attacks from Andhra plutocrats who labeled him ‘Mullah Omar’ and the students campaigning for Telangana as Taliban. While the economist in him studied the regional disparities in this country, the humanist in him conceptualized the problem and advocated for the state of Telangana.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another of his traits is his uncompromising spirit. He saw the struggle for 3 generations and did not end up just as another despondent guy. He incessantly fought for the state through all means. Authored literature presenting the many ills Telangana was subjected to due to the lop-sided merger, encouraged many Telangana organizations like TDF across the world to take shape and contribute to the cause and lent support to every political attempt to achieve Telangana statehood, whether it was TRS or NavaTelangana Praja Party. Not surprisingly, he remained a bachelor as he left too little time for his own self while dedicating his whole life to the cause he believed in. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The genial professor’s ideology shaped today’s Telangana movement so much that you see the most active part in the movement now taken by people from his background- that of academic circles. Professors elucidate the ideas, right from constitutional discussions around article 3 to debates over Bombay city during Gujarat’s inauguration. Taking the lead of the professor, the academics dug so much into the statistics of agriculture, industry and other areas of state administration over the years that the SriKrishna committee now finds it difficult to cover the pit with their concocted theories and cooked up statistics. It is this veracity that is lacking even in the most honest arguments for Samaikyandra. Instead, it has real estate businessmen making their case with ‘ground-breaking’ theories, like how asking for a state is being anti-national. If the professor made selfless efforts making the case for Telangana for decades, the best thing for Samikyandra on parallel lines is a book authored by an NRI sold on Amazon! In short, Samaikyandra ‘movement’ does not have a Jayashankar. It can’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Professor Jayashankar made invaluable contributions by putting on record the experiences from the Telangana movement of 1952 and 1969. In an age when the state government did everything to wipe out the very being of Telangana (by even putting a communal spin on Hyderabad liberation day), it was Jayashankar’s writings and speeches that carried through generations and are now on the threshold of giving a new lease of life to Telangana identity. In that sense, the professor shaped the cultural and political renaissance of Telangana. His work also made present Telangana movement to learn from mistakes of the past and reinvent itself over time as situation demands and importantly, sustain.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I had a chance to interact with him more than a year ago, I asked him what to expect out of the SKC. He said ‘nothing’. I guess his experience taught him enough about these committees/commissions. There is no point for people today to relearn the same lessons he did for generations – that not to trust the government to ‘give the statehood’. Telanganas have to seize their right. That is what the professor wanted, to force the union to cede the statehood through an uncompromising fight. His departure only strengthens the resolve of those who know him to pay a fitting tribute to him – by incessantly campaigning for the Telangana state. </span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-46843841627732195882011-06-12T12:16:00.000+05:302011-06-12T12:16:57.759+05:30The SKC Scandal 5: How low is too low for Justice SriKrishna?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gne8trnlyqU/TfRgiittoAI/AAAAAAAADtI/K3Y0XyUBXoU/s1600/Justice-Srikrishna-Committee-report-on-6th-jan-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gne8trnlyqU/TfRgiittoAI/AAAAAAAADtI/K3Y0XyUBXoU/s400/Justice-Srikrishna-Committee-report-on-6th-jan-2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When few paragraphs of the SKC’s eighth chapter leaked out 3 months ago, I went just plain sad. For once, I found nothing to discuss about that corrupt report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That leak made me relook at my blog and scores of activists out there, their hope, struggle and tireless efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these thoughts, I would discuss in days ahead. The latest leak made me post this about the incredibly corrupt Srikrishna committee. How low is too low for these guys!?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After scores of songs and a movie, the cultural renaissance of Telangana is now marked by a newpaper. Namaste Telangana, theTelugu daily is launched this week and it started with a bang. It scooped out and published the contents of the ‘secret’ chapter 8. A news portal, Deccan Post, too published the English version now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The supplementary note of this chapter, as revealed, would put the wildest conspiracy theories to shame for lack of imagination!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some excerpts are here below:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">“The Congress High Command must sensitize its own MPS and MLAs and educate them about the wisdom for arriving at an acceptable and workable solution. With the ruling party and also the main opposition party ( the TDP run by Chandra Babu) must be brought on the same page, the support mechanisms have a higher probability of becoming successful. <b>The TDP must be advised not to participate in any further meetings that would be called by the Centre.</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">This could be an effective stumbling block for any meaningful dialogue on resolving the Telangana demand.</span></i></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"> The Andhra Congress <b>MPs belonging to Kamma caste must be encouraged to work in tandem with TDP leadership</b> which is now caught in a bad shape.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So here is a committee set up by central government which suggests in its report to the very government to call for meetings on Telangana but also secretly advice the TDP to boycott the meet to stall any meaningful dialogue on the Telangana issue! I simply have no words to describe my feelings here. Beyond this point, I don’t feel like discussing anymore. But anyway lets go the whole log and get done with these drama company.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">“Further, on receipt of the Committee’s Report by the Government, a general message should be conveyed amongst the people of the State that Centre will be open for detailed discussions on the recommendations / options of the Report with the concerned leaders /stakeholders either directly or through a Group of Ministers or through important interlocutors and that this process will start at the earliest. <b>But every method must be adopted to avoid giving finality to any discussions </b>to drag on the matter until the agitation is totally brought under control.”</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Justice Srikrishna seems to be so cocksure about everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe he thinks he controls the ebb and flow of everything around. His grand design, phew.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We already saw the below content in the earlier leak. Revisiting them to remind the times we live in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">“ Andhra Pradesh has got about 13 Electronic Channels and 5 major local Newspapers which are in the forefront of molding the public opinion. Except for two Channels (Raj News & HMTV), the rest of them are supporters of a united Andhra Pradesh. The equity holders of the channels except the above two and the entire Print Media are with the Seemandhra people. The main editors/ resident and subeditors, the Film world etc. are dominated by Seemandhra people. A coordinated action on their part has the potential of shaping the perception of the common man. However, the beat journalists in the respective regions are locals and are likely to capture only those events/ news which reflect the regional sentiments. <b>This can be tackled by the owners of the media houses by systematically replacing the local journalists by those from Seemandhra wherever it is possible.”</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just reflects how wide the grand plan is mapped, right into media, movies, editors. Did Telanganas complain about river waters, govt jobs etc,.Now add the local journos too to the list! Srikrishna’s grand symphony!<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">·</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">“Each of the media houses are affiliated to different political parties. In the Print Media all major newspapers are owned by Seemandhra people and the Regional contents published by them play a vital role. Most of the editors except Andhra Jyothi are pro- united A. P. However, similar to the electronic channels, the print media have also got political affiliations. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The editorial opinions, the banner headlines, the Regional content, the District editions need to be managed to be realistic and should give only due coverage to the separate Telangana agitations. The print media is hugely dependent on the Government for advertisement revenue and if carefully handled can be an effective tool to achieve this goal.” <o:p></o:p></b></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">“However, the RTI Act may prove to be an impediment for the Government to deny due share of ads to publications supporting the Telangana demand.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Propaganda, our retired justice thinks overwhelms the principles of law, justice, propriety and uncompromising struggle. The way he and his committee members operated reflect not just the powerful opposition Telangana is facing, but the moral and ethical bankruptcy of those in power, in this age, in India.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i></b></span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-83450788102381838122011-05-01T06:43:00.003+05:302011-05-01T07:06:16.240+05:30TELANGANA 22: 'Justice Srikrishna's INJUSTICE' book now released online<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DIGrEf14L4w/TbyvyuWxkmI/AAAAAAAADWQ/IYDONj48P70/s1600/justice-srikrishnas-injustice-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DIGrEf14L4w/TbyvyuWxkmI/AAAAAAAADWQ/IYDONj48P70/s400/justice-srikrishnas-injustice-cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A long pending post here. Better late than never, here it is. I have been publishing my opinion on the Srikrishna committee’s report in various posts on this blog. In addition to these, I had the opportunity to converse, collaborate and collate opinions of various experts in different fields. As part of this exercise, I along with <a href="http://sujaiblog.blogspot.com/">Sujai</a>, <a href="http://hridayam.wordpress.com/">Dileep</a><a href="http://madhav-mudumbai.blogspot.com/"> and Madhav</a> authored the book ‘Justice Srikrishna’s Injustice’. The book has been conceived and published by Telangana Development Forum (TDF). TDF India’s president Sri DP Reddy’s untiring efforts, TDF-USA’s sponsorship of the project along with time and efforts from many friends have bought the book into reality. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X5inGBVzWGg/TbyvkjM95-I/AAAAAAAADWM/b5tt42UsYIk/s1600/Main.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X5inGBVzWGg/TbyvkjM95-I/AAAAAAAADWM/b5tt42UsYIk/s320/Main.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Initially, the book was planned to be released in Delhi but the parliament session then went into chaos due to the 2G scandal and unsettled the schedules of guests – serving MPs. That upset the book release schedule. We subsequently had a low-key book release on March 20, 2011 in Hyderabad. Eminent economist Ch. Hanumantha Rao was the chief guest. MLAs from Congress, TDP, TRS attended the book release. <span class="apple-style-span">Telangana Political JAC chairman Prof Kodandaram, Zahed Ali Khan (Editor of Siasat), Dr. Gautam Pingle (Director,Centre for Public Policy, Governance & Performance, Administrative Staff College of India), Dr.</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Madabhushi Sridhar</span> (Professor, NALSAR Univ.), </em></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">R</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><em style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Vidyasagar Rao</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Chief. Engineer (Retd),</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><em style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">CWC</span></em><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">) were some of the guests who graced the occasion. M. Narayana Reddy (Ex-MP) and the petitioner in the High Court on Chapter 8 made a stirring speech on the occasion. 4 Days after this book release, the High Court gave the landmark judgement to make chapter 8 public. It was a pleasure the octogenarian ex-MP talking and walking the talk with his petitions. The Hindu covered the release <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/21/stories/2011032161120400.htm">here</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The book has<span class="apple-style-span"> mainly 3 chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on why India should reject the committee’s report which challenges the basic tenets of our constitution. Chapter 2 is devoted to the irrationality, prejudice and bias in the arguments espoused by the report. Chapter 3 is about pointing out factual errors about facts and figures. Chapter 2 and 3 are efforts to collate and put in one place all arguments found in different articles produced by experts like Gautam Pingle and Madabhushi Sridhar. Their articles along with some others’ have been published as appendices in their full form. We could cover as much ground in the book as we wanted due to lack of time and our inability to work from one place due to the team members’ locations. All coordination has been done over phones and the internet. At last we were glad we did the release, thanks to diligent efforts from Sri DP Reddy. In the light of the Chapter 8 judgement, the book’s arguments get all the more significant as they reveal what a shame this report was. The high court too observed the same and we could not help but feel vindicated. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A month after the book release, it is now available for download on the internet here at <a href="http://missiontelangana.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Justice-srikrishnas-injustice-Book.pdf">Mission Telangana</a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Many thanks to Dileep for bringing this online for enthusiastic readers. Happy </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">reading to you all folks. Enjoi.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #274e13; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My posts on Telangana:</span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-21-million-march-reflected.html">TELANGANA 21: 'Million March' reflected Telangana's indomitable spirit</a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-20-million-march-makes.html">TELANGANA 20: 'Million March'- Govt. turns Hyderabad into Tiananmen Square!</a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-19-parliament-says-no-entry.html">TELANGANA 19: Parliament says 'No-Entry' for visitors from Telangana!</a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="color: #274e13; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-18-telangana-goes-camping-on.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA 18: Telangana goes camping on the tracks</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="color: #274e13; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?</span></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/telangana-xvi-how-ap-media-is-trying-to.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVI:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/01/telangana-xv-why-skc-reports-best.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/12/telangana-xiv-will-skc-strongly.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XIV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/09/telangana-xiii-how-politically.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i>TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state</i></b></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xii-about-amarajeevis-and.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals</span></a></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xi-cut-crap-verdict-is-out.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!</span></a></span></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;"></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-xthe-good-bad-ugly-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-ix-epw-articles-on-peoples.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IX:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">EPW goes on the Telangana trail</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-viii-my-letter-to-sri-krishna.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/03/telangana-grossly-discriminated-against.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vi-why-telugu-news-channels.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vplutocrats-unleash-terror-on.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA V:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iv-shri-krishna-committee.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iii-case-of-tyranny-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">III: A case of Tyranny of Majority</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-statehood-at-midnight.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">II: Statehood at Midnight</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-movement-and-plutocracy.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">TELANGANA I: Telangana</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></div></div><br />
</div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-7208576505699360622011-03-18T15:30:00.001+05:302011-03-18T15:51:39.189+05:30Who would be liable for a Japan-like nuclear accident in India?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GUdIDAOu3Xc/TYMsV6IIQjI/AAAAAAAADUc/ntxhxAUpu5w/s1600/india-nuclear-seismic-map-160311c.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GUdIDAOu3Xc/TYMsV6IIQjI/AAAAAAAADUc/ntxhxAUpu5w/s400/india-nuclear-seismic-map-160311c.gif" width="335" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As we know, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) removed the ban on India's participation </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in international nuclear trade in September 2008. This happened after intense lobbying by US. A month later, India rewarded US by signing an agreement with the United States and opening up it’s civilian nuclear energy program worth $ 150 billion for US investments. The market is huge as right now India produces just above 2% of its total energy from nuclear plants and would like to increase that many fold in next few years to meet the needs of its growing economy. India has 20 nuclear reactors operational at 7 nuclear plants. See the map. Apart from upgrading these, it has already permitted a few other new plants after the ban has been removed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="apple-style-span">US companies such as</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-decoration: none;">General Electric</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Co. and Westinghouse Electric Co. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">which design and manufacture nuclear reactors are supposed to be the biggest beneficiaries. India then moved ahead to set up a regime in place to govern the civil nuclear program. As part of this, it passed the <a href="http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Nuclear/Civil%20Nuclear%20Liability%20Bill%202010.pdf">The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill</a> last year. In context of the Japanese nuclear crisis and debate about who should shoulder responsibility for the crisis, this ball now assumes significance. India’s Nuclear damage liability bill lays down the framework for responsibilities on part of nuclear manufacturers, suppliers and operators of the nuclear power plants. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Who is liable for the damages of Japan’s nuclear accident?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is to be noted that in the present situation in Japan, </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">General Electric (GE), the designer and manufacturer of the Fukushima reactors now leaking radiation, faces no risk of liability in Japan even if a design flaw is proved to be the reason behind the failure. Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO) - the operator of the nuclear power plant - will have to bear all liability. TEPCO’s maintenance was not the reason for the accident. In fact the reactor site survived the quake and the tsunami. TEPCO’s workers are now risking their lives to control radiation. It is clear the design of reactors’ cooling water system was flawed and so got disrupted. Even if this is proved in investigations in coming months, GE is not liable for damages.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What does the Indian nuclear liability law say?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Almost all countries using nuclear technology framed similar rules that exempt the suppliers from liability. India was obviously under pressure to frame similar laws both from suppliers of the NSG as well as India’s private corporations who would eventually enter the business of building and operating private nuclear plants. While the Indian government caved in, it ‘dressed up’ the words in the bill to pretend that in case of a nuclear accident, the operator of the plant has a ‘right of recourse’ against the nuclear supplier. A right of recourse is a procedure of shifting responsibility of paying damages on to the nuclear supplier. This usually happens when, after the nuclear accident, the operator sues the supplier for damages. The Indian act pretends to support the operator. But has put in clauses which are enough to disable this ‘right of recourse’.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Section 17 of the <a href="file:///C:/Users/amar/Documents/Blogs/Japanese%20Nuclear%20crisis/The%20Civil%20Liability%20for%20%20Nuclear%20Damage%20Bill">bill</a> says:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The <u>operator of a nuclear installation shall have a right of recourse where</u> —<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(a) <u>such right is expressly provided for in a contract in writing</u>;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(b) the nuclear incident has resulted from the <u>wilful act or gross negligence</u> on<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the part of the supplier of the material, equipment or services, or of his employee;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Implications of the clauses:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So clause (a) tells us the right to recourse can be excluded through a carefully crafted contract. And clause (b) tells us that even if the contract stipulates, unless the accident is due to ‘</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">wilful act or gross negligence’, the supplier is not liable. This is weak ground as the supplier can claim there was no precedent for the accident due to a design flaw and so they did not ‘wilfully’ cause the accident. For instance, the Jaitapur nuclear plant in India is going to house a reactor which has never been used anywhere in the world. If an accident happens, Areva, the supplier, can’t be blamed they ‘wilfully or negligently’ caused the accident.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="apple-style-span">Obviously, with the clauses the operator stands liable. Right now, only public-sector Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL)</span> operates the plants. So the Government ends up paying for liabilities with tax-payers money! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The bill shows ‘foresight’ about future private participation in operating plants and taken care of that too. It says <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599;">in Section 5:</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (1) An <u>operator shall not be liable for any nuclear damage </u>where such damage is<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">caused by a nuclear incident directly due to—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 38.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="apple-style-span">(i)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u>a grave natural disaster</u> of an exceptional character; or</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So in an earthquake or a tsunami kind of situation, even the operator is not liable. So the government pays up, again. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>How the law favored the suppliers & operators while leaving out potential victims</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="apple-style-span">Additionally, the liability in any nuclear accident is capped by <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599;">section 5 which says ‘..the liability of an operator for each nuclear incident shall be rupees five hundred crores…</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">such liability shall not be decreased less than rupees one hundred crore…’. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Kovvada nuclear plant with 6 reactors on the coast of Andhra Pradesh is said to be costing around Rs 75,000 crores. In case of a catastrophic quake or tsunami, there would be zero liability on part of the suppliers and the operators. The government will have to pay up. The nuclear damage bill, despite the experiences of Bhopal gas tragedy, has been insensitive to victims of nuclear accidents while going full throttle to open up a lucrative $ 150 billion market for multi-nationals.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-74726684395666361652011-03-16T20:37:00.001+05:302011-03-17T12:02:07.138+05:30Lessons from the Japan nuclear crisis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X5pcDRaiyyk/TYDPQt95USI/AAAAAAAADUI/EMw9HvufOiM/s1600/Fukushima_explosion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X5pcDRaiyyk/TYDPQt95USI/AAAAAAAADUI/EMw9HvufOiM/s400/Fukushima_explosion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The operators at Japan’s <span class="apple-style-span">Fukushima</span> nuclear plants are fighting the most deadly battles in hazardous circumstances trying to bring the nuclear plants under control. After an earthquake followed by a tsunami, Japan is now facing the biggest threat – a possibility of a nuclear meltdown. After a series of explosions at the reactors, latest reports say “<span class="apple-style-span">that a second reactor unit at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan may have ruptured and appeared to be releasing radioactive steam”. ‘Radioactive steam’ indicates that a meltdown of the fuel rods inside the reactor is already in progress. While radiation from Xenon and </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cesium are expected to be detected, experts say they decay quickly and that may avert big casualties.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>Japan’s rich disaster mitigation and prevention</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Even as the 5 day ordeal seems to unravel, it is noteworthy that Japan, due to its history with natural calamities, sitting as it is in a seismic zone, consistently spent big money and efforts on disaster mitigation and prevention. According to FEMA, Japan routinely spent around 5-8% </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">(about 0.8% of GDP) </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">of its national budget since 1950s. It is technologically well-equipped, well-trained to handle earthquakes and tsunamis. But all that fell short </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">to take on an earthquake measuring 8.9 quickly followed by a tsunami of 13-14 foot wall of water. The quake is fifth largest ever recorded. The tsunami too was too big to handle for the protective walls build on Japan’s coast to stop the tides. However, with its preparedness Japan could mitigate to some extent the damages due to these calamities. What is glaring now dangerously at Japan more than the above natural calamities is the nuclear threat from the nuclear reactor that rests on an outdated safety mechanism.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>The design issue </b></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Soon after the earthquake on 11 March, Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, as per its security procedures, slowed down and shut down it’s fission reactions in about 10 minutes. The tsunami too struck in about the same time and interfered with the plant’s post-shutdown process. Apparently, even after the fission reactions cease, the fission products continue to emit huge amounts of heat and these are supposed to be cooled. Only when this is done, the nuclear fuel’s temperatures are controlled. T</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">he cooling was being done through water being pumped by diesel generators through water chambers around the nuclear container. The fuel resides within the container. The tsunami washed away the generators and the water supply stopped circulating into and out of the reactor. The static water got heated and the temperatures rose in the container resulting in steam with radioactivity flowing out of it. In addition, the chemical reactions resulted in hydrogen gas that blew the tops out of the nuclear installations.The reactors within, the nuclear containers, did not seem to be disrupted for now. But the melting fuel rods seem to leak out radiation.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">Experts now say the boiling water reactors (BWR) built by G.E. in 1960s are not up to safety standards followed today. Firstly, the external cooling system powered by diesel pumps is considered a design flaw that didn’t take into consideration how extreme calamities can occur and disrupt the external cooling systems, let the nuclear reactor get heated, and result in a radiation leak. Secondly, the very use of plutonium in nuclear reactors is an offshoot of nuclear weaponisation program of cold war era. While use of Thorium through Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is said to be far less dangerous and less prone to the meltdown scenario we are seeing now, not much headway is made in commercial use of LFTR. Incidents like in Japan can happen elsewhere and it is imperative we look at making nuclear reactors safe to operate, drawing lessons from Japans’ catastrophe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>Lessons for India</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">India is a pioneer in LFTR technology as it spent considerable time and resources building thorium reactors after the west refused to supply it Uranium as fuel for its nuclear power plants. India developed an experimental thorium reactors like <span class="apple-style-span">Kamini through Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam.</span> India should build on this foundation to see if it can commercially make use of the technology instead of limiting the exercise to research. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">India can learn well that it shouldn’t plan its nuclear sites should not be located on geological fault lines. The Jaitapur nuclear plant has evoked concerns on this front as its is prone to earthquakes and is located right on coast. While the altitude of the coast on western ghats is quite high and affect in case of tsunami is unlikely, It can not be overruled.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Jaitapur nuclear reactor is of Pressurised water reactor (PWR) type which again depends on water to cool the reactor in case of a shutdown. Using fluoride salts as coolant is said to be less prone to risk. With water supply disrupted at <span class="apple-style-span">Fukushima</span>, Japanese are even trying to pour from the sky – through helicopters! But in vain. The radiation at the plant is too dangerous for the helicopters to go nearer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Japan's disaster management system, despite its preparedness, is seen wanting in view of the big quake and tsunami. Countries like India with far poorer disaster mitigation systems should wake up for the possibility of calamities of this magnitude.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-69370235524484983752011-03-10T23:45:00.000+05:302011-03-11T02:47:51.834+05:30TELANGANA 21: 'Million March' reflected Telangana's indomitable spirit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The day of March has arrived and started on a sad note. Shaken by the oppressive police, a graduate student in Khammam committed suicide. Another attempted the same at Basheerbagh press club. The arrests continued unabated, mainly in the outskirts and in the districts. Within the city, the police strategised more on barricading and cordoning off areas around Tank Bund, Secretariat and Assembly. All roads in these areas were blocked, ending up disconnecting Hyderabad and Secunderabad.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dMC4X5sedMQ/TXk7zvWhUEI/AAAAAAAADT4/8Dtzkp-nZes/s1600/photo0139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dMC4X5sedMQ/TXk7zvWhUEI/AAAAAAAADT4/8Dtzkp-nZes/s320/photo0139.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I failed to find a route through the Masab Tank road, the Taj Banjara road or the Khairatabad's track area towards Tank Bund. Police were on guard everywhere. I have never in my life seen such a deserted Hyderabad. See the Khairatabad junction here. I ended up on Necklace road through the by lanes and then drove around the lake to lower tank bund road. At the Mosque there, the Muslim youth helped us park and trek up the tank bund. </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was around 2.00 PM and by then thousands made their way. By then the barricades were broken and the main entrance to lower tank bund road from Liberty was wide open. So people from liberty took the road. While others on NTR Gardens, Necklace road side canoed over Hussain Sagar! Well, if the state government took up foiling this March on a war-footing by randomly arresting or harassing people from participating, it clearly lost the war.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>The importance of today's Million March for Telangana movement:</b></span></div><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3Jqh6nnFiiE/TXk8PjpAUhI/AAAAAAAADT8/fQQiN2ndlM4/s1600/photo0142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3Jqh6nnFiiE/TXk8PjpAUhI/AAAAAAAADT8/fQQiN2ndlM4/s320/photo0142.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was clear the politicians were trying to distance themselves from the Million March. They tried to even 'postpone' it. But the pressure of the non-political civil society groups within the TJAC made this March inevitable. Today's turnout at tank bund is a eye-opener for all political parties. Without any mobilization from the parties, like for Telangana garjana in Warangal, around 1 lakh gathered at Tank Bund. This is despite the unofficial curfew, the traffic blockades, the arrests and the detentions of TJAC leadership. For anyone who has doubts about the depth of the movement, todays' turnout and the uncompromising will behind it should provide the answer. The unwilling politicians too attended, to save their face. People's will prevailed.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>The creative expressions at the March:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the telangana movement has time and again shown, there is no dearth of creativity in expressing the ideas and aspirations of the movement.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Firstly, there were the masks. Scores of people turned out in Masks of Gandhi, Ambedkar and even Professor Kodandram. When news flew that the professor may be arrested in the morning, the masks of his face were prepared and worn to mock at the police about the impending arrest. Of course, when the real arrest happened, the agitators found no fun in it and flew into a rage and even dismantled some statues on the bund, dragged them across the road and threw them into Hussain Sagar.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Secondly, the <i>dhoom-dhaam</i> and the songs raised the pitch as they usually do. Accompanied by a stereo in a four wheeler which managed to squeeze in, the songs, especially Gaddar's raised the tempo. The youth danced to the beats and a festive atmosphere ensued.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Meanwhile, women played <i>bathukamma</i> and sung. Some carried <i>bonalu</i>. Kids came in with attires of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel etc and played short skits encouraging the movement. Youth rallied around, some with their hands chained, some with their mouths covered symbolically. My friend Madhav carried a huge Indian flag around getting an odd compliment from one of the policemen! All organizations and groups which came with their banners rallied to and fro, sloganeering about Telangana, between the two ends of lower tank bund. The 2 ends were guarded by police and paramilitary forces. As was the adjoining Telugu Thalli flyover. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>The Armed forces:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The paramilitary forces stood and watched as thousands poured in overcoming barricades in different parts of city. And I was told they gave up only at 1 PM before which they tried stopping by arresting people. But very soon they must have realised they can not arrest 100,000 people. However, they were the guys who saved the 2 MPs present, Madhu Yashki and K Keshava Rao, from being manhandled by the irate mob for not doing enough for Telangana movement. Even the media faced the ire of the public for all their recent dramas about NBA guidelines and the biased reporting. Some of their cameras were snatched and thrown into Hussain Sagar.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The agitators were prepared for the scorching sun too. Some came in with caps and most of them arranged for their water packets. Somewhere between 3.00 PM and 4.00 PM Mr. KCR came in and settled at Pothana's statue with his followers. Gaddar made his exit. Emotions were running high by then and one law student attempted suicide too. May be, it is this mood of the agitators that made the politicians cautious today. None who came there tried to address, appeal or instruct the public at large. Maybe, the Professor could have been different if he were allowed to attend the March. At last, the pledge for Telangana was taken. A pledge that, in its essence, says we would put up an uncompromising fight for Telangana's demerger. Come what may.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While the dusk set in, we stepped down the tank bund. Discussed the day's events among us friends over some cool drinks while the neighbourhood residents cheered the agitators on the Bund from their balconies and terraces. If not for the political leadership within the movement, Tank Bund would have been Tahrir Square within an indefinite sit-in. The cheering neighbours would have joined, the folks who were arrested would have joined too and the numbers would have swelled into millions. The Govt. must be feeling lucky that the dusk has set in and rescued them. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They must be feeling lucky that the agitators didn't head t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">owards the secretariat or Assembly. But then as I walked the half mile back to the Mosque recollecting the day's frenzy, I felt the March has now only begun and it is now unstoppable.</span></span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-48197953672429407612011-03-09T23:31:00.004+05:302011-03-09T23:59:25.859+05:30TELANGANA 20: 'Million March' - Govt. turns Hyderabad into Tiananmen Square!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-C9EOGme0VZY/TXfGqrzkkuI/AAAAAAAADT0/FC2TcKXXmp8/s1600/Telangana_TankMan_HiRes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-C9EOGme0VZY/TXfGqrzkkuI/AAAAAAAADT0/FC2TcKXXmp8/s400/Telangana_TankMan_HiRes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The last 2 days made me wonder if the autocratic Egypt and the dictatorship in Libya are better than the supposedly 'world’s largest democracy’ in public freedom. Even the British may not have clamped down on the democratic protests as aggressively as our state government is now doing. This Govt. randomly arrests, detains people. They restrict people from their own cities and towns. They casually disregard rights commissions’ instructions and callously violate high court’s guidelines. Tomorrow is yet another day the police promise they would be at their worst. Today, the whole of Hyderabad has become Tiananmen Square for Telangana people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As you all know, the protest rally tomorrow has been cut down in scale due to a +2 exam that is scheduled for tomorrow. The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) which earlier called for the 'Million March' did so on an understanding with the Intermediate Examination board that the exam could be rescheduled for 12 March. However, the State government prevailed upon the board not to reschedule, to whittle down the protests. Keeping in view the importance of the exam for youth's career, the protests have been scaled down for few hours after the exam ends tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">TJAC has been very sensitive to the public in its scheduling of different kinds of protests. Even in December 2009, when the protests were at their peak with daily <i>rasta-rokos, bandhs</i> etc, Christmas day was given an exception so as to avoid inconvenience to our Christian brethren. Very recently, blockade of a national highway NH9 was postponed keeping in view a community festival. While TJAC, which comprises of intellectuals and civil society groups have been so reasonable, the state government is going to the abyss in trying to quell the protests and suppress democratic voices. Today, even as I mail you, the government announced cancellation of all trains within Hyderabad and those that are coming in from other Telangana districts into Hyderabad tomorrow. The government is trying every trick to stop people from coming to the protest march. It has diverted all bus services to avoid taking the central route through Hyderabad city. 100,000 people have been detained today across other Telangana districts as they were trying to come to Hyderabad. Within Hyderabad 10,000 people have been detained. T he police say that the main area of protest, Tank Bund besides the Hussain Sagar Lake, will be cordoned off tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While TJAC called for peaceful protests, Andhra Government made it virtually a bandh by cancelling public transport and bringing in traffic restrictions. While TJAC called for a million march, the government contributed 100,000 police men/paramilitary forces in and around Hyderabad. That is a good start. I wish the police show the same enthusiasm in tackling the drug trade, the faction killings and the land mafia in the city. It is amusing to see the commissioner speak how the TJAC should do democratic, lawful, peaceful protests. For the record, the police did not give a single permission for any democratic meeting, rally in last 15 months. The police refused each time and the agitators diligently went to high court/supreme court to get permissions and got them. It is the police, on the other hand, who were severely criticized for their handling of the democratic protests. The atrocities in OU received international attention when <a href="http://en.rsf.org/">REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS</a> condemned the police action in the university. The police have been repeatedly put to notice by the State’s HRC and the national HRC. But the police, being willing party to the government’s anti-Telangana policy, won’t budge. Instead they lecture us on how to uphold democratic values.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even as I blog this, I see the SHRC once again instruct the police to uphold human rights of the agitators. But of course they would not heed. But then the agitators have already been conditioned for the enemy. And the March will be on in the face of the enemy. And when the dust settles down, the state and the police will have yet another humiliation they need to shoulder, in addition to those of <i>bandhs, rail-rokos</i> and assembly <i>muttadis</i> that they already have faced. This would be another self-goal from the government. In their insecurity over losing to the Telangana people, they will end up disrupting public life and imprisoning themselves in their houses. And eventually they would meet the same fate as the Arab and African dictators. Till then the March of the Millions would be on. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Image courtesy: Jayaprakash Telangana</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #274e13; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My posts on Telangana:</span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-19-parliament-says-no-entry.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA 19: Parliament says 'No-Entry' for visitors from Telangana!</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="color: #274e13; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-18-telangana-goes-camping-on.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA 18: Telangana goes camping on the tracks</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="color: #274e13; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/telangana-xvii-demerge-waltair-from-ecr.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/telangana-xvi-how-ap-media-is-trying-to.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVI:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/01/telangana-xv-why-skc-reports-best.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/12/telangana-xiv-will-skc-strongly.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XIV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/09/telangana-xiii-how-politically.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i>TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state</i></b></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xii-about-amarajeevis-and.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals</span></a></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xi-cut-crap-verdict-is-out.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!</span></a></span></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;"></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-xthe-good-bad-ugly-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-ix-epw-articles-on-peoples.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IX:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">EPW goes on the Telangana trail</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-viii-my-letter-to-sri-krishna.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/03/telangana-grossly-discriminated-against.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vi-why-telugu-news-channels.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vplutocrats-unleash-terror-on.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA V:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iv-shri-krishna-committee.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iii-case-of-tyranny-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">III: A case of Tyranny of Majority</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-statehood-at-midnight.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">II: Statehood at Midnight</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-movement-and-plutocracy.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">TELANGANA I: Telangana</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><br />
</div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-53326199029244601112011-03-08T17:27:00.001+05:302011-03-08T19:14:26.033+05:30TELANGANA 19: Parliament says 'No-Entry' for visitors from Telangana!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mCMGuMZIYlw/TXYVsqxJi_I/AAAAAAAADTs/CsdGjG7AGiw/s1600/lok1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mCMGuMZIYlw/TXYVsqxJi_I/AAAAAAAADTs/CsdGjG7AGiw/s400/lok1.jpg" width="400" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Indian Parliament is not just barring a discussion on Telangana unrest but is literally barring everyone from the region, except MPs, from entering parliament. There is an invisible 'No-Entry' for all Telanganites even if you carry an authentication letter from the Chairman of the Lok Sabha House Committee (no less!), as were we.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After the SKC report so blatantly put in print the unconstitutional, irrational, biased arguments and the flawed details, many eminent people from the fields of constitution, law, economics, Irrigation, agriculture, public employment etc have filed in their critique on the report. I have in my personal capacity too, aired my opinion. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">TDF India took up the task of collating and publishing the core arguments in these critiques and thus came out with a book 'Justice Srikrishna's Injustice'. It is for the release of this book, I along with TDF India President D.P.Reddy and my friend Dileep flew to New Delhi.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is in this context we paid a visit to the Parliament to get into the visitors’ gallery. We were armed with a letter from the office of Chairman of the Lok Sabha House Committee and submitted that along with our ID cards for the mandatory check. However, the officer in the Parliament reception routed us to another officer once he came to know, from our ID cards, that we are from Hyderabad. The second officer dithered on one pretext or the other before he finally told he cannot let us in unless he gets to talk to the Chairman of House Committee himself. The chairman himself is a Lok Sabha MP and obviously he wasn't in his office as the Parliament was in session. It was clearly a ploy to refuse entry for us. What surprised us was that Telangana MPs knew about this as they told us later in the day that no one from Telangana is allowed in as per Intelligence reports' instructions. We were clearly told the IB suspects that Telanganites might jump from the visitors’ gallery onto the floor of Lok Sabha and disrupt the proceedings! So upon IB's assessment, there is a blanket ban on Telanganites from entering the house.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So here is our system of governance that does not trust its own MPs! They issue the authentication letters and the officer at the Parliament reception rejects them! That reflects the state of things. Instead of a blanket ban, the MPs could have been just advised to issue the letters only if they are doubly sure the visitors would behave themselves. Instead, the Government found it easy to make the highest platform of democracy in India restricted for its own citizens. I am just wondering how many states/regions are blacklisted in this case. In addition to Kashmir, the whole of North East, anyone with a Muslim name, a Gorkha name, etc.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While this <i>tamasha</i> was on, the Lok Sabha was stalled for that day with 6 adjournments due to protesting TRS and Congress MPs. We could see on the TV monitor in the reception that KCR sat in the well of the house till the Lok Sabha was adjourned for next day. The Government was caught unawares by the protests that disrupted the day in the crucial budget session. It was especially embarrassed by its own Congress MPs sloganeering in the house ignoring the advice from their colleagues in Congress. Is that not enough of a lesson for the Congress Government? It better concentrate on the 'attacks' inside the house from its own party men rather than delude about 'attacks' from the visitors’ gallery. For, in days to come, these attacks within would get too close for comfort.<b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px;"></span></o:p></span></b></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #274e13; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My posts on Telangana:</span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/03/telangana-18-telangana-goes-camping-on.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA 18: Telangana goes camping on the tracks</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/telangana-xvii-demerge-waltair-from-ecr.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVII: Demerge Waltair from ECoR but not Telangana from AP!?</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/02/telangana-xvi-how-ap-media-is-trying-to.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XVI:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">How the AP media is trying to suppress the truth about Telangana</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2011/01/telangana-xv-why-skc-reports-best.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Why the SKC's 'best option' is bound to fail</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/12/telangana-xiv-will-skc-strongly.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XIV:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Will SKC strongly recommend a 'state-within-a-state'?</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/09/telangana-xiii-how-politically.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i>TELANGANA XIII: How the 'politically unemployed' created the Andhra state</i></b></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xii-about-amarajeevis-and.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XII: About Amarajeevis and Anti-Nationals</span></a></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/08/telangana-xi-cut-crap-verdict-is-out.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA XI: Cut the crap,the verdict is out!</span></a></span></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;"></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-xthe-good-bad-ugly-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA X: The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-ix-epw-articles-on-peoples.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IX:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">EPW goes on the Telangana trail</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/04/telangana-viii-my-letter-to-sri-krishna.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/03/telangana-grossly-discriminated-against.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vi-why-telugu-news-channels.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-vplutocrats-unleash-terror-on.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA V:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iv-shri-krishna-committee.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2010/02/telangana-iii-case-of-tyranny-of.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">III: A case of Tyranny of Majority</span></span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-statehood-at-midnight.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">TELANGANA</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">II: Statehood at Midnight</span></span></i></b></a></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #274e13; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b style="text-decoration: none;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/12/telangana-movement-and-plutocracy.html" style="color: #199900; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">TELANGANA I: Telangana</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none;">Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm</span></a></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><br />
</div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19451417.post-38363486489060141642011-03-06T03:50:00.001+05:302011-03-06T04:08:03.479+05:30New Delhi's disconnect and the nation's continuing status quo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Xt7W7qAO7G0/TXK69_jW7JI/AAAAAAAADTI/kFvRhMqJr_k/s1600/raisina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Xt7W7qAO7G0/TXK69_jW7JI/AAAAAAAADTI/kFvRhMqJr_k/s1600/raisina.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">The stoniness of its giant structures in red sandstone seems to say something about New Delhi. Nehru must have said "New Delhi is the visible symbol of British power, with all its ostentation and wasteful extravagance" but it is not just ostentation that we see today as we drive through the tree-dotted avenues. We see inertia. We feel immovable powercentres. We see symbols of imperial power monstrously rising against the sky.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Long after I drove out of New Delhi, if there is something that strikes instantly about New Delhi, it is the sheer grandeur of this imperial setting. Yes, I loved the tree-lined avenues with the lovely white bungalows on either side. The vast space around, the consistency in using the red sandstones all around in this well-planned city and the beautiful filigree stonework are all breathtaking. So is the rich amalgamation of diverse architectural styles from European, Mughal, Buddhist and Jain traditions. But, for me, nothing defines India's political capital, as do the monstrousness of power centers like Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i-3DfSlMTvc/TXK7IbC3EAI/AAAAAAAADTM/eXX-azOI6RY/s1600/9795379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i-3DfSlMTvc/TXK7IbC3EAI/AAAAAAAADTM/eXX-azOI6RY/s320/9795379.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the largest residence for any President on this planet (It has more than 350 rooms while the super power's White House has around 130 rooms). The Raisina Hill, in all its steepness and high altitude, seems to present us the challenge in getting our woes heard. The Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament along with the North and South Blocks wield unchallenged power and sit over myriad challenges facing this nation today. While a million mutinies and countless civil wars are being waged across the nation today, these powercenters in all their stoniness are unmoved. They symbolize perpetual power with their sheer vastness and utterly dwarf the citizens and their delusions about democracy.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lutyen's Delhi, in its architecture, today symbolizes the huge disconnect between the rulers and the ruled. Historians often said Rashtrapati Bhavan was the abode of a disinterested elite whose rule was imposed from above. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I think it is true also with Imperial Bhavan's neighborhood - Parliament, North and South Blocks. My experiences with some democratic exercises here in New Delhi and the reception they got here, reinforced in me these ideas about how disconnected Delhi is from the trials and tribulations of the millions of its own people across the length and breadth of the area of its rule. New Delhi symbolizes a sleeping elephant which simply does not heed requests and demands for actions to change things for good. So things continue de facto and the status quo continues. More about this in my next post.</span></span></div></div>Justhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15938509910551379491noreply@blogger.com2