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Now lets not even talk about congress here. I have never supported congress and have known of their intentions since long time so neither their stand on the Janlokpal issue nor their reluctance to take anti-corruption measures comes as a surprise to me. And really I have nothing to complaint against them as that is not the party which I support.


But bjp is a party which claims to be "Party with a difference" and in many aspects it is or shall I say it used to be. All the points where bjp could claim an upper hand from political rivals are slowly diminishing and unfortunately they are also following in the footsteps of other parties. I have been a supporter of bjp since a very long time and have tried to convince many others also that their policies are better for the nation than the congress. But on the JanLokpal issue the stand of bjp has been very disappointing. Infact it hasn't taken a stand at all! It wants the prime minister to quit office but doesnt tell where its own intentions lie.


I had expected a strong stand from bjp and support for the anti-corruption measure specially when it had said earlier that they would support the JanLokpal bill. Every political party is trying to take advantage of the situation without really doing anything. From congress we dont expect anything but from the opposition hard measures were expected.


In 2014 I would remember how political parties responded when people needed support. I hope others would do the same.

As everyone must be knowing Anna Hazare has started indefinite fast from 16th August against corruption and to force the govt to pass Jan Lokpal bill which is aimed at tackling and solving the problem of corruption. The movement can only be a success if people join the movement and make more and more people aware about it.

Below is the edited version of the Jan Lokpal anthem which you can download and keep it as your ringtone so that whenever your phone rings the message is spread.

Link-

http://www.mediafire.com/file/1sqdhrbs1o2vnsy/Jan%20lokpal%20ringtone.mp3


Full song-

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4eyeg84yeyfav0l/Pass%20karo%20jan%20lokpal.mp3



(Cut from the Youtube video)

July 15, 2011

"Indians are angry and asking why their government did not ensure their safety. Indian officials say they have made significant security reforms but it may never be possible to stop all terrorist attacks. That is true, but New Delhi still must learn from this experience and keep trying to perfect its intelligence and counterterrorism efforts," the New York Times said in a lead editorial.


"After the 2008 attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned that his country would retaliate if hit again. We applaud his continued restraint and urge both sides to think hard about the horrifying cost of a war," the daily said.




Also read

The Strongest and the Weakest Prime Minister

VADODARA: Jayesh Dalwadi is not related to Shehnaz Sheikh, Rahima Kadiya and Shehbani Sheikh. But on Sunday, he performed 'kanyadaan' for three Muslim girls, a ritual usually performed by the father in Hindu weddings.


The occasion was a mass 'nikaah' of 25 Muslim couples organized by the Godhra Samagra Muslim Samaj, which brought the two communities on a single platform and had Hindus perform a ritual akin to 'kanyadaan'. It also, to some extent, lifted the mood in Godhra on the ninth anniversary of the train carnage in which 59 persons were burnt to death in the Sabarmati Express, sparking riots that left over 2,000 people killed.


"Scores of Hindus, including a Jain trader, a Dalit government clerk, a jeweller from the Soni Samaj and a Patel running a farm equipment business in our town, have wholeheartedly donated for the future of these young couples. The likes of Dalwadi even paid Rs 3,000 as registration fee for the brides," said Rafik Tijoriwala, one of the committee members of the samaj.


"We are tired of the taint Godhra has lived with since 2002. It is time to move forward for the well-being of all."


Mohammed Hussain Kalota, former Godhra municipality president, expressed similar sentiments. "It is a sign that Godhra is moving towards development and this will help bridge the gap between the two communities," says Kalota, who has been acquitted in the carnage case and was present at the event.


"Most of them (Muslims) are my friends. This event gave me a good opportunity to help them financially," says Rajesh Parikh, who supplies stationery to schools, adding, "In the past I have individually helped Muslim girls by providing them free stationery for their education. But I donated for the mass marriage to send across a stronger message of bonding."


The 'nikaah' where young brides and bridegroom from Panchmahal district tied knots witnessed a gathering of 8,000 guests at the Masjid-e-Kuba near Chandni chowk area. The menu had only vegetarian items as organizers wanted to respect the religious sentiments of the non-Muslims.


Via Times of India

London: Secret filming at Islamic schools in Birmingham and Yorkshire has revealed that Muslim pupils as young as 11 years are taught an intolerant and highly anti-social version of Islam, including lessons that teach that Hindus have ‘no intellect’ and that they ‘drink cow p***’.


The video has revealed a teacher at the Darul Uloom Islamic High School in Birmingham, one of at least 2,000 most influential Islamic faith schools in Britain, as referring to ‘non-Muslims’ as the ‘Kuffar’, an often derogatory term that means disbeliever or infidel, the Daily Mail reports.


Gesturing towards the window, the teacher said: “You’re not like the non-Muslims out there. All that evil you see in the streets, people not wearing the hijab properly, people smoking . . . you should hate it, you should hate walking down that street.”


Pupils are also taught that ‘disbelievers’ of Islam are ‘the worst creatures’, and that Muslims who adopt non-Muslim ways of living like shaving, dancing, listening to music, and not wearing headscarves would be tortured with a forked iron rod in the afterlife, the paper said.


During the same period, secret recorded videos of Markazi Jamia mosque in Keighley, West Yorkshire, have shown pupils being beaten up in its madrasas.


In just two days of filming in December 2010, the camera recorded the teacher hitting children as young as six or seven at least ten times, in less than three hours of lessons, the paper added.


Via ZEE News

Very less people know about Lal Bahadur Shastri and the values he stood for. But Manmohan Singh is considered by many as one of the most moral ministers and an epitome of integrity. Lets have a look how these 2 responded to the challenges faced by them.





In 2011 on 2G Spectrum Scam (From ToI)-


"I am not as big a culprit as being made out to be....... Quite frankly I have never felt like resigning."




Also read-

The strongest and the weakest Prime Minister

For those who dont know much about him, Dr. Subramanian Swamy has been the pioneer in the anti-corruption fight against the government in the 2G spectrum scam. He has filed the petition in the Supreme Court and it is on his petition that action is being taken and A. Raja has already been arrested. He states that A. Raja was a mere pawn in the scam and at a later date he would also implicate Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Read HERE. (Highly recommended)













Brief History (Achievements and why you should listen to this man)


Dr. Subramanian Swamy was born on 15 September 1939 in Chennai and is presently the President of Janata party.


Dr. Subramanian Swamy studied his masters degree in statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute. He then went to study at Harvard University on a full scholarship. He did his doctoral research with two Nobel Laureates namely Simon Kuznets and Paul A Samuelson. Dr. Swamy has also jointly authored with Professor Samuelson a path breaking study on Index Number Theory. He was awarded a doctorate in Economics by Harvard University (Class of 1965).


In 1964, Swamy joined the faculty of economics at Harvard and from then on he has till date taught at the Department of Economics for a total period of 12 years. From 1969 to 1991, he was a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He is accounted by some to be an authority on the comparative study of India and China and is also well-versed in the Mandarin Chinese (Hanyu) language.


He was one of the founding members of the Janata Party which formed the 1st ever non-congress govt in the history of Independent India and has been its president since 1990. He was elected Member of Parliament 5 times between 1974 and 1999. He has twice represented the city of Mumbai North East during 1977 and 1980, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the Parliament. He is regarded as a proponent of Hindutva.


Dr. Swamy has been subject to several defamation cases. He is known to argue these cases himself without the agency of lawyers and has won all the cases till now.


He can't be ignored because if you look closely he does not actually lose many legal battles. From the Islamic bank case to one concerning gold-plating of the Tirupati temple to the issue of Ram Sethu his activism brings the results he strives for.










Full Wikipedia Article

A 17 page very basic and simplified version of The Bhagavad Geeta (Spiritual book of the Hindus). Would hardly take 5 minutes to read and is very easy to understand. Thanks and credit to the person who compiled and uploaded this ebook.

If you think that your life is unfair then this article might be a good read.

HYDERABAD: If you think it teaches only Islamic theology, you are mistaken. Here one can learn all about Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Sikhism. One can also gain knowledge about modern religions like Qadianis.

That's Al Mahadul Aali Al Islami for you. It is a madrasa with a difference. It marks a departure from the typical seminaries in that sacred texts of other religions also find place along with the Quran on its bookshelves.

“The idea is to highlight the common attributes in Islam and other religions. And this is possible only when we study the books of other religions”, says Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, Rector, Mahad.

This seminary has a bigger goal. Apart from promoting research and analytic spirit among the new generation of Ulemas, it aims to bridge the gap between different faiths. All the major religions share the same ethical values and believe in the ill-effects of alcohol, usury, adultery and gay culture. “By coming together we can fight these evils”, remarks Maulana Rahmani.

Situated on a hilly terrain near Shaheen Nagar, Barkas, Mahad has a good collection of more than 10,000 reference books on Islamic literature. Of this 1000 are on other religions.

The library has the complete set of Vedas, Manusmriti, the law of Manu, besides old and new Testaments, Talmud, the compendium of Judaism law, Guru Granth Sahib, biography of Gurunanak.

Besides, specialisation in Quranic sciences and Hadith, students at Mahad are equipped with basic English language and computer skills.

Source- The Hindu

In the below video 1 Pakistani news anchor talks about the 2nd and Best Prime Minister of India. Its a shame that Indians know very less about him because there has been a serious effort to downplay his role in Indian history and there has been hardly any program on Indian news channels covering Lal Bahadur Shastri and his legacy.

Seeing the general people these days specially the youth and the younsters its not uncommon to worry about the future of Mankind. Every generation has done it.


While one regularly sees people's apathy towards other human beings while they are busy in drugs,dopes, street crimes, making fun of themselves just to appear on TV (MTV, V TV, Bindaas fame people) etc thankfully there are many people who are working tirelessly helping others around the world. Whats more surprising is that they are kids making the point that age is not a factor if one has a will to do something. Also make us question ourselves- What have we done in our life till now?

Abby Miller is a 12-year-old musician who collects donations for 4-year-old Taylor Love, who suffers from neuroblastoma, a form of cancer affecting the nervous system. Most contributions come the old fashioned way– from playing on the street with a contribution bucket nearby. All funds go to help Taylor’s family with medical expenses. Passersby typically note Abby’s talent and drop in a few bucks, wondering why a young kid would be singing in the street on a cold day. Few notice she’s singing for a cause greater than herself.

Olivia Bouler is an 11-year-old artist who has raised over $200,000 for the National Audubon Society, which is hard at work rescuing birds affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

It all started when Olivia saw the oil spill on TV. Not knowing how to help, she wrote a letter to the Audubon Society, offering to sell her illustrations to raise money for cleanup costs. Then she hit upon the idea of just giving her drawings to anyone who donated to wildlife recovery efforts. Media outlets caught wind of her offer and the donations came flooding in. She’s made 150 illustrations so far, and shows no signs of stopping.

Cameron Cohen was 11-years old when he was stuck at home with a hip-to-toe brace following bone tumor surgery. Instead of playing Halo or watching Spongebob, Cameron spent his downtime learning software development. He then used his mad skillz to design ‘iSketch’, a drawing program now available on the iPhone App Store. Cameron donates a portion of his earnings to purchase electronic and entertainment items for other pre-teens to enjoy during their hospitalization.

Jordan Somer is a Nebraska teen who founded the “Miss Amazing” pageant, an event for girls and women coping with physical and mental disabilities. The event focuses on all participants gaining confidence and revealing their true beauty. Jordan started the event in 2006, as a way to combine her own pageant experience with her Special Olympics volunteer work. Jordan recently received Teen Nickelodeon’s Halo Award, and hopes to use the $25,000 grant to expand the pageant nationally.

5-year-old Phoebe Russell needed to complete a community service project before she could graduate from kindergarten. Uninterested in a lemonade stand, she saw a homeless man begging for food and decided to raise $1,000 for the San Francisco Food Bank. Her teacher tried to lower expectations to something more reasonable, but Phoebe’s heartwarming appeal to leave soda cans and donations at the school snowballed. Before she knew it, Phoebe had raised $3,736.30– the equivalent of 17,800 heated meals.

Brittany and Robbie Bergquist (12 and 13, respectively) learned of a soldier who racked up an $8000 cell phone bill by calling his family from Iraq. They decided to pay the soldier’s phone bill and brought $21 to the bank to start an account. The bank manager was so impressed he added an additional $500. This encouraged them to keep trying.

The kids then held car washes and bake sales, but then decided on recycling used cell phones. With help from volunteers, they set up drop-off sites across the USA, and used the proceeds to buy prepaid phone cards for troops overseas. To date their ‘Cell Phones for Soldiers” program has collected 7.5 million phones and provided military personnel with over 90 million minutes’ worth of pre-paid airtime.

Mackenzie Bearup is a 16-year-old girl with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a medical condition that makes cold weather, wind and vibrations excruciatingly painful. She found relief in books, and reads constantly. Then she learned of a residential treatment center that needed books for its library, and began soliciting donations. Mackenzie’s book drives have since donated over 50,000 books to treatment centers in Georgia and neighboring states, and Nestle gave her their 2009 ‘Best in Youth’ award.

Her altruism appears to be a good tonic as well: since starting her volunteer work, Mackenzie has maintained a 4.0 GPA in gifted and talented classes. She also plays harp in an orchestra, and has performed at charity events, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes.

In 2007, Timothy Hwang and Minsoo Han started Operation Fly, when they were only 14 years old. Their non-profit business offers cut-rate tutoring services to inner city students, and then uses the revenues to distribute blankets, clothing and soap to Washington DC’s homeless. Their organization has since spread to five cities, involves over 800 volunteers and is entirely student-run. For his efforts, Ernst & Young and Junior Achievement named Timothy Hwang the 2009 Youth Entrepreneur of the Year for the Greater Washington Region.

After hurricane Charlie hit Florida in 2005, Zach Bonner collected water bottles in his neighborhood using a little red wagon. By the end of the charity drive, he had 27 truckloads of aid. And he was just getting started.

In 2007, Zach began a three-stage “My House to the White House” charity march, to raise money for homeless children. In Stage 1, he walked 280 miles from Tampa to Tallahassee, Florida. In stage 2, he walked 250 miles from Tallahassee to Atlanta, Georgia. In the last leg of the trip, he walked 668 miles from Atlanta to Washington, DC. His most serious test came when his grandmother died, and the 11-year-old was forced to choose between finishing the walk or attending her funeral. He continued the trek and dedicated the march in her honor. All monies were split between a playground for an emergency foster care shelter in Tampa, and the Sasha Bruce Youthwork, which helps runaways and homeless kids in Washington, DC.
In 2010 Zach’s ‘March Across America” took him 2,448 miles from Tampa to Los Angeles, culminating in a meeting with Elton John, who contributed $25,000 to the Little Red Wagon Foundation.

Harry Moseley is a nine-year-old from Sheldon, Birmingham, UK. He lives with an inoperable brain tumor, but this hasn’t stopped him from making and selling beaded bracelets for Brain Tumour UK. His bracelets are now available in over 30 shops across Britain, and so far he’s raised over £15,000.

Harry also gives PowerPoint presentations to school kids, and encourages them to set up bracelet making clubs. Harry’s system gives 15p from every bracelet sold to the kids’ school and the rest goes to Brain Tumour UK. Harry started his fundraising efforts after an elderly friend in the hospital bed next to him died from their shared condition.

When presented with the 2010 ‘Britain’s Kindest Kid’ award, reports say Harry was “speechless” and “gobsmacked”. He plans to give £200 each to his brother and sister and spend the rest on a wooden playhouse in the garden where he can make bracelets. He dedicated his prize to his late friend Robert Harley.

Someday a better writer will make a new list of young philanthropists, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the kids on it were involved with the Be Better U Dream Ranch, which helps children learn and teach other kids about philanthropy. If you or your child are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and are interested in child-led philanthropy programs, go to their website and see if you’d like to help out.

PS: All names are strictly in Random order.

Via LISTVERSE

Introduction-


Syama Prasad Mookerjee [July 6, 1901 - June 23, 1953) was a nationalist political leader of India, and is considered the godfather of modern Hindutva and Hindu Nationalism. Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the first Hindu nationalist political party of its kind, and was also the leader of the Hindu Mahasabha and closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.



Relevance to Kashmir-


Syama Prasad Mookerjee opposed the Indian National Congress's decision to grant Kashmir a special status with its own flag and Prime Minister. According to Congress's decision, no one, including the President of India could enter into Kashmir without the permission of Kashmir's Prime Minister. In opposition to this decision, he once said "Ek desh mein do Vidhan, do Pradhan and Do Nishan nahi challenge" (A single country can't have two constitutions, two prime ministers, and two National Emblems).


Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953, and observed a hunger strike to protest the law that prohibited Indian citizens from settling in a state within their own country and mandated that they carry ID cards. He was arrested on May 11 while crossing border into Kashmir. Although the ID card rule was revoked owing to his efforts, he died in detention on June 23, 1953 under mysterious circumstances.


Death-

Shyama Prasad was arrested on entering Kashmir on May 11, 1953. Thereafter, he was jailed in a dilapidated house. Shyama Prasad had suffered from dry pleurisy and coronary troubles, and was taken to hospital one and a half months after his arrest due to complications arising from the same. He was administered penicillin despite having informed the doctor-in-charge of his allergy to penicillin, and he died on May 23, 1953.

His death in custody raised wide suspicion across the country and demands for independent enquiry were raised, including earnest requests from his mother, Jogmaya Devi, to Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru declared that he had enquired from a number of persons who were privy to the facts and, according to him, there was no mystery behind Mookerjee's death. Jogmaya Devi did not accept Nehru's reply and requested the setting up of an impartial enquiry. Nehru however ignored the letter and no enquiry commission was set up. Mookerjee's death therefore remains a matter of some controversy.



Also Read-

A tribute to Shyama Prasad Mookerjee

Everything you ever wanted to know about Cellphone terminology explained in easiest terms-


http://tech2.in.com/india/topstuff/mobile-phones/jargon-buster-mobile-phone-terminology/58742/0

This would be a short movie review. Not even a review exactly but my opinion about the movie without going much into the technicalities.




Dhobi Ghat is not a movie but an insight into normal characters of everyday life. There is nothing special about any of the characters or about the period which has been shown in the movie.


The english title of the movie "Mumbai diaries" is apt as the story and screenplay reflect what someone might have wrote in his diary had he been told to observe the characters.


There is no point in the movie and that is precisely what many viewers may not like. The movie is about picking 4 random everyday characters of Mumbai and providing an insight into their lives for a while and also displaying little bit of Mumbai in the process.


With that kind of plot what works in the movie's favour is brilliant acting and realistic portrayal. All the characters and elements look believable and their emotions are captured very well.


The movie has its elements of humor in between. Performances are good and direction is somewhat different. There are no songs. Theme background score which can be heard in trailers could have been used in a much better way in movie. Thats 1 area where movie makers missed the trick.


This is a kind of complex movie which would garner extreme opinions I believe. It would be loved by few and will land into their favourites list while many others would hate it and wont see what was the point of making the movie. I personally was bored at times while watching the movie and liked the movie at various other points of time. Overall opinion about the movie- Good. (On a side note I found the character of Yasmin very irritating in the 1st half.)



Rating- 7/10

The Indian state of Gujarat is planning to host Asia's first commercial-scale tidal power station.


The company Atlantis Resources is to install a 50MW tidal farm in the Gulf of Kutch on India's west coast, with construction starting early in 2012.

The facility could be expanded to deliver more than 200MW.

The biggest operating tidal station in the world, La Rance in France, generates 240MW, while South Korea is planning several large facilities.

To claim the title of "Asia's first", the Indian project will have to outrun developments at Sihwa Lake, a South Korean tidal barrage under construction on the country's west coast.

Atlantis's recent feasibility study in Gujarat concluded that the state had good potential for tidal exploitation.

"About two and a half years ago we ran a global study of tidal power resources and came up with some hotspots where resource seemed pretty well matched to load," said Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius.

"One of them was the Gulf of Kutch - and since then we've had wonderful support from the government, culminating in the annoucement that the project was going ahead," he told BBC News.

Projections indicate that the cost of the initial 50MW farm - to consist of 50 1MW turbines - will come in at about $150m.


BBC Link

Tea- Rs.1.

Soup- Rs.5.50

Dal- Rs.1.50

Meals- Rs.2.00

Chapati- Rs.1.00

Chicken- Rs.24.50

Dosa- Rs.4.00

Veg Biryani- Rs.8.00

Fish- Rs.13.00

This is actual price list.

These items are meant for “POOR PEOPLE” and are available at Indian Parliament Canteen. The MP's who have access to the canteen earn Rs 80,000/- Per month along with other perks.

Disclaimer- Image is only for illustration purposes.

Link

There had been a case earlier where Times Now twisted tweets of a user who responded to them on twitter and showed fabricated tweets. On the complaint of the user Times now was 1st in denial mode but later accepted their mistake. You can check the whole incident along with mails from Times now HERE.



Now thats a thing of the past but some people don't learn from there mistakes and Times now seems to be one of them. It has again been caught on the wrong side of journalism where it yet again twisted tweets of another user!


Whole Incident-


Times Now hosted a Newshour program on BJP wanting to host the national flag. It invited feedback from news watchers to tweet their feedback. Tweeple Malleshwara had responded with his tweet. Please check below:

Political Parties and their Symbols


Q: Why is the Samajwadi Party's symbol 'Cycle'?
A: Because after a ban on English and use of computers, that's all we'll be able to afford.


Q: Why is the Congress party's symbol 'Hand'?
A: To remind Indians that our fate is mostly in the hands of one family so far.



Q: Why is BJP Symbol 'Lotus'?
A: Lotus is the symbol of Sarawasti and learning. BJP will educate us through the wisdom of such luminaries as Narendra Modi, Varun Gandhi and Pravin Togadia.


Q: Why is Mayawati's symbol 'Elephant'?
A: It's a self portrait.


Q: Why is Jayalalitha's symbol 'Two leaves'?
A: Because one leaf will not cover much



Q: Why is DMK's symbol 'Sun'?
A: So that Karunanidhi can justify wearing shades indoors



Q: Why is Lalu's symbol 'Laltain'?
A: Because there's no electricity in Bihar.


Q: Why is CPM's symbol 'Hammer and Sickle'?
A: Because that's what you will be using if they come to power.


Q: Why is Sharad Pawar's symbol 'Clock'?
A: Because his time never seems to come.


Q: Why is Shiv Sena's symbol 'Bow and Arrow'?
A: Symbolises the age they live in.



Credits to original author