Filtered Posts

Return of Democracy to the Global Agenda #4 by kaurasach on April 12, 2005 1:46pm PT

maybe he(agarwal) should drink iced lipton tea....

Al- Qaeda: The Cutting Edge of Jihadist Movement I think the Indian President is thinking far ahead, if you catch my drift, i.e,if i cross the threshold.................pertinent to this article........let the indian nation be forearmed.....
Students should serve in NCC: Kalam

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NDTV Correspondent

Thursday, January 27, 2005 (New Delhi):


President Abdul Kalam has expressed the view that all school and college students should compulsorily serve in the National Cadet Corps for at least two years.

If this happens, it will not be the first time that serving the corps would be mandatory for students.

From 1962 to 1968, NCC was compulsory for students.

However, officials say the resources needed for such a mammoth task would be exorbitant.

Colossal task

NCC, for just 3.5 per cent of eligible students, requires 1400 officers, 12,000 jawans and a budget of Rs 340 crore.

Increasing this to just 30 per cent of all students would tie up 12,000 officers, a lakh jawans and over Rs 3,000 crores each year.

If human resources are indeed the country`s greatest asset, then mobilising the youth through institutions like the NCC is an urgent priority.

For spreading the NCC to schools and colleges throughout the country, the manpower and money will have to be found. But for now, that looks difficult.

``At the moment, I have 1,405 officers and my budget is Rs 305 crore. If I`m told you have to give about 30 per cent, then I would say about eight to nine times what we have at the moment,`` said Lt Gen Mohan Bhandari, Director General, NCC.

Twelve thousand schools and colleges already impart NCC training and another 2,000 have applied to join.

But for an army already reeling under a shortfall of 12,000 officers, sending another 10,000 men to the NCC seems inconceivable.

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The Idea of Chowk This is a truly reprehensible measure , is what this filtering system is.All views expressed are just that and should be treated as such.This is what happens when the politically correct, women, the sensitive and the dull try to take control.If interact #4 can be ``allowed``, then i dare you to censure this.

The Baluchistan Issue Wonderful.Conceited, grand-standing paks on the defensive, hardly able to conceal the fact that their small country is a mess.The myth that people of the same religion will live together in harmony has been shattered beyond a reasonable doubt.That`s why India is standing tall among all the nations of the world, from western to middle eastern to east asian.It is time India crushes Pakistan putting an end to that nation`s insidious capacity to create trouble for north/north-west India.

Gladiator Musharraf of Pakistan Laughable, is all i can say about this.Who`s laughing though is the crux of this article.

Report on the Tsunami: Kanchipuram District I plan to be in Chennai in march.Can anyone who can give me info on the bullfighting season this year?.Friends of mine in the US plan to accompany me this time.....ThanxBBC News

Last Updated: Friday, 21 January, 2005, 12:41 GMT

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Dangers of taming the bull
By Sampath Kumar
BBC News, Madras



The sport is fast and dangerous
Bullfighting is usually thought of as a Spanish entertainment, but in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu a local variation is growing in popularity.
It also appears to be becoming more dangerous.


Bullfighting, or jallikattu as it is known here, is centred on two villages near the town of Madurai. Its exponents say it is thousands of years old.

Hundreds of bulls are released one at a time into a large open space.

Each bull has prizes and valuables tied to its horns.

The contestants have to get close enough to the bulls to grab the prizes. And that often involves grappling with the bulls.



One key difference with Spanish bullfighting is that the bulls in Tamil Nadu are not intentionally killed.

They are only ``tamed`` so that participants can help themselves to the prizes.

The fights are held during the annual harvest festival, known as Pongal.


Frenzied and alarmed

This year five people were killed and more than 200 injured during the fights.


Bullfighting has upset animal rights campaigners

The authorities say that although new safety measures are taken annually to prevent injuries, the number of injured continues to rise.


Taming the bulls is not easy. The bulls are often frenzied and alarmed, ferociously removing anyone brave - or stupid - enough to stand directly in their way.

Some bulls are given alcohol to make them even more aggressive.

Because the bullfighting does not take place in a stadium, inevitably those taking part and those watching are often injured as the bulls rush into the crowd.

Baton wielding police

Some youths, angry over their inability to win a prize, resort to throwing stones at the bulls.

Sometimes rival gangs eager to win prizes begin fist fights, which are speedily dealt with by baton wielding police.


Contestants and spectators are often in danger

But most youths only vie with one another to tame the bulls, win a valuable prize and the more sought-after heroic status conferred on individuals who win.

The best technique is to cling on for dear life to the bull`s horns as the beasts vigorously try to shake off the raiders.

Animal rights campaigners say it is a grisly sport, which results in many bulls being tortured and harassed.

Ancient literature

``We have been campaigning against this for a long time, but no-one listens,`` said the Tamil Nadu based animal rights campaigner, Palaniappan.

But organisers argue that bullfighting is an ancient and sacrosanct Indian tradition.

``This is a sport which has been here for more than 2000 years,`` says R Raghupathi who organises the annual event.

``We have descriptions of such events in our ancient literature... in those days women married only those who were able to tame the bulls and show their valour.

``It is an integral part of Tamil culture.``

Mr Raghupathi denies the animals are mistreated or harmed in any way.

As word of Tamil Nadu`s bullfighting spreads, more and more tourists are coming every year, with travel agents even organising package deals.

Gang-rape in Sui I am praying for the day the NWFP and Balochistan will spit on the greasy pak-punjabi and pak-sindhi and form separate countries with their right to self determination, whatever form that may take.This is to avenge the killing of indians due to the nefarious designs of the slimy pak-punjabi in fermenting communal tensions in the indian state of Jammu and kashmir.Revenge is sweet and what comes around will go around.Pakistan will be a slimy little grease pit comprising punjab, sindh and stolen kashmir very soon.Indians everywhere will sing and rejoice when events start unfolding.

The Baluchistan Issue This is one of those times when i bemoan the fact that Indira Gandhi ain`t the PM in India.I dislike her policies and the way she played `divide-and-rule` politics and messed up the Sikhs and all that, BUT, if she was running the show in India now, she would have given the `Baluchistan` situation her best shot.Gone for the jugular.Seized the moment.Made the present day delusional, pompous generals in Pakistan squirm just like she did the pompous generals did in 1971.Cut their scrotums off before they could scream ``mummy``.I share a birthday with that woman.I can understand.This is a golden opportunity for India to knock pakistan off it`s rocker.India has an excellent relationship with Iran.They will definitely be interested , or turn a blind eye.Manmohan, are you listening??....

Documenting the Pain of 1984 Remember the jacka$$ who said ``when big tree falls, grass gets killed`` or some sh!t like that? Well, he died like a d0g, blasted to bits by the tamils. That`s the way god`s justice works ... sometimes.

................Yup. Never mess with the Tamils.We speak softly but carry a big stick.Only nature can have one better over us.It is a pity the other tribes in the sub-continent have not emulated the tamils in securing their rights within the indian union.

The Baluchistan Issue #49 by Romair on January 20, 2005 10:06am PT
F**K OFF!!.........I hope the Baluchis are successful in their attempts to break away from Pakistan and i hope the Indian Govt. has the sense to do what they did to East pakistan in 1971.Another opportunity not to be missed.

Damascus Diary, Mehraba! Forgit `freedom of expression`, `globalization` and all that bally-hoo.Did you check out any belly dancers there??.

The Baluchistan Issue Read this excerpt....Isn`t this amount equal to pakistan`s GDP??....You do have the b`s to make that comment....
BBC News
Last Updated: Wednesday, 19 January, 2005, 11:30 GMT

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India unveils $628m tsunami aid

The money will be released when project details are finalised
India has unveiled a 27bn rupee ($628m) reconstruction package for mainland areas hit by December`s tsunami.
The new money will be released when administrators provide details of projects, a government spokesman said.

More money could also be announced this week for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the finance minister said.

More than 10,500 people died in India and more than 5,500 are missing presumed dead - almost all in the Andamans and Nicobars.

Bank aid

Wednesday`s package was announced after a cabinet meeting in Delhi.

It covers Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry.

The cash is in addition to the five billion rupees announced on 27 December for immediate relief and rescue work.


The package was announced after a cabinet meeting in Delhi

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the new package included $251m for the fishing community.

Another $5.3m has been set aside for repairing and restoring damaged fishing harbours and landing places.

The cabinet also agreed on the construction of 170,500 houses at a cost of $173m.

Earlier this month, the government put the cost of the tsunami at $1.6bn on the mainland alone, with reports of another $600m on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

It said compensation payouts were expected to top one billion rupees.

India rejected relief and rescue aid from other countries in the aftermath of the disaster but has asked the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for help in reconstruction projects.

On Tuesday, India`s ambassador to the United Nations, Nirupam Sen, said the role of the UN and its agencies was critical in implementing quick and concrete programmes for the affected areas.

However, he also said India had a ``well-oiled machinery, experienced and trained personnel and the resources required to successfully deal with the unexpected disaster within our existing capacity``.

What is Islamization of Science? I agree with #8......I am flabbergasted by this article.What will, ahem, islamic science research???...............

1.Painless circumcision

2.Painless female genital mutilation( a la muslim societies in Africa)

3.Terrorism tactics.

4.Methods to subjugate and intimidate the public and political opponents.

.........I don`t have much time to think of other possibilities.What`s the dealeo with this article Mohammed Gill??

The Middle Kingdom Wallas 123 by jang on January 19, 2005 2:24pm PT


.............uh uh....South indian vegatarian food has produced a President of Singapore(S R Nathan), First Deputy PM of Malaysia (Datuk Samy Velu), a de facto independant tamil state , Eelam , in Lanka, the fusion tamil/thai culture of Thailand, which in tamil means ``motherland``, indonesia too....The inscriptions at Ankhor Wat are in the devanagari script of southern india.We`ve done our bit of world domination and we`ve done it with class!.I`ve witnessed the debacle of `little india`/Queens once the pak`s and the bong`s started infiltrating the indian area.Why can`t they have their own area little-pak or little-bong and leave us alone.Americans flock to `JacksonDiner` an indian-punjabi owned restaurant but not to any of the pak restaurants, even thought the food tastes much better in the pak joints.And, as far as south indian vegetarian, there`s quite a few upscale reataurants in manhattan, ``Pongal`` being one of them where you have to wait for a table close to weekend.The best south indian food can be had in Flushing, at a small canteen outside the tamil hindu temple run by tamils from Eelam.Excellent food.

The Baluchistan Issue Yeah Omar....call me from yonder over there......they`re lookin` for a few good paks to kill in Baluchistan.....

BBC NEWS.....
Last Updated: Tuesday, 18 January, 2005, 17:53 GMT

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Pakistan gas supplies still hit

There were clashes for days earlier this month
State-run Pakistan Petroleum Ltd says it could take five or six days before gas supplies from the Sui plant in Balochistan are restored to consumers.
The gas field in the southern province is being guarded by hundreds of troops after attacks by armed tribesmen.

On Monday, the government threatened all possible means to quell the revolt. Provincial political parties have warned against a military operation.

Tribesmen have stepped up violence to press nationalist and economic demands.

Clashes


The latest unrest began after allegations that a female doctor had been gang-raped.

There is curtailment of production in some textile mills and that would delay export orders

Arif Saeed
All Pakistan Textiles Mills Association


Pakistan`s new battlefront
The woman is said to be in her 30s and employed by state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited.

It is not clear who might have carried out the alleged rape, but tribesmen blame security forces.

Analysts say the growing conflict between the security forces and local nationalist groups is also linked to their demand for a better share of jobs and resources in the province.

Hundreds of army and paramilitary troops have been deployed to protect the damaged gas plant. The clashes with armed tribesmen have left at least eight people dead.

On Tuesday, both ruling and opposition parties in Balochistan demanded an end to what they said was a paramilitary siege of the area, and warned the central government to desist from any military operation.

Electricity shortfall


Meanwhile, work is continuing to repair the damage to the Sui field`s purification plant.



The closure has cut supplies to power and fertiliser plants as well as textile factories in parts of northern and southern Pakistan, officials said.

Observers say fertiliser imports will be needed to make up for lost output.

``Even in the best-case scenario, if the gas supply to fertiliser companies is restored within the next few days, the industry is likely to report a production loss of more than 43,000 tonnes of urea,`` one Karachi-based analyst Shagufta Irshad told Reuters news agency.

The state-run Water and Power Development Authority, Pakistan`s main utility, faces a daily shortfall of about 470 megawatts of electricity because of the disruption to gas supplies, an official said.

``We have partially managed to cover this by generating more hydro power, getting supplies from independent power producers and producing more power using furnace oil,`` the official told Reuters.

Documenting the Pain of 1984 Only those who suffered during the riots will know what they went through.Let the dead past bury the same.What is the point of raking all this up again?.Did the ISI fund this movie/documentary??.........