Please welcome..

..Divisha, who's carvin a niche on her new blog, right here. Here's wishing her luck, and lotsa readers!

The longest Post?

This post on Prajatantra is perhaps THE longest post in the blogosphere. Its on FDI in retail - and is too lengthy for me(easily crosses 20 screen lengths).
If you have the will, and the time, the FULL post is up here.

Question Time

1. Ever travelled on a long journey and had to take a leak but couldnt find a suitable shauchalaya?

Yes? Go to 1a No? skip to 2

1a. Did u decide to instead fertilize the neigbouring field and/or any such thing?

Yes? You're part of an invading force. (I suppose all animals are part of that category).

2. Ever seen a human being harassed/shouted at by another (and mostly not understood the convo)? (Husband by wife or vice-versa, parents by children or vice-versa, etc.,)

OR

Seen someone squabble over getting into a phone booth? or over delay in not getting access to it?

Yes? The one who harrassed/squabbled is part of an invading force.


What prompted this post? Something DesiPundit linked to - a post by a Sri Lankan citing the cases above and saying the Indian Army in Kashmir is an invading force.

This post is a salute to such idiocy, and hopes that may more such stuff spew out for us to be entertained.

God Bless India! Idiocy, as well.

(to borrow from Dubya's style)

Tag: Idiocy

The Cartoon saga, and homegrown terrorists

Haji Yakub Qureshi, Uttar Pradesh’s minister for Hajj and minority welfare who announced a reward of Rs51 crore for anyone who kills the Danish cartoonists who lampooned the Prophet, is unrepentant.

A day after he shocked the world, Qureshi, 51, who claims to be an Islamic scholar, said, “I have merely articulated the sentiments of the community and all right-thinking people.”

via DNA

He still remains a minister, funded by your and my tax money. And of course, our secular dispensation probably likes him, as much as they liked the OBL-look alike flaunted by Paswan.


Related: An Indian, is killed in the UAE in a related act of violence.

Tag: Public Policy, War on Terror, Indian Politics, India, Danish Mohammad Cartoon, Pseudo-Secularism.

More Terror acts against the people of India.

Even as we are on a supposed peace-process, and on the back of the Delhi(close to Diwali/Id), Bangalore(close to New Year's), and Hyderabad attacks comes a new terror attack on Ahmedabad's railway station.

Its plainly evident for everyone to see that Pakistan is finally using the "peace process"(sic) as a cover to implement its strategy of "bleeding India to death with a thousand cuts" - and its being very successful at that.

As Nitin Pai points out, its under this Government that we see terror attacks throughout the country, and it has to do with the sloppy, rather NO responses from the government on terror.

So, there is a terror attack on our major cities almost every 2 months - despite terorist cells being busted regularly - and, here's the deal : Capital, New economy capital, communally sensitive cities. These are the targets.

How many more need to die before the government brings Pakistan to heel?

Tag: Terror, Public Policy, Terrorist State of Pakistan, War on Terror, Indian Politics, India, Foreign Policy.

Charting a dangerous course.

As everyday passes the critics of the Indo-american nuclear deal grow larger in India, and the situation is the exact opposite in the United States. Even as we read people quoting from the details given to the US legislature our governments remains markedly silent - even to Parliament.

Dr Singh leads a fractitious coalition whose main purpose was to keep the BJP out of power. And avoiding the election a secondary purpose. The Indo-US deal is very similar to the Congress-left tie-up. Opportunistic, and against, possibly a third party. With a lot of disagreement among the main constituents.

All talk of being natural allies is hogwash. Continental sized countries do not become natural allies. If anything they're natural competitors and natural allies with smaller countries.

Dr Singh must take care to ensure India doesn't bow to the Interests of the USA even as the Congress bows to the left. Such a prescription is a recipe for disaster. Whether strategically or economically.

Dr Singh must not give in to shifting American goal posts or he'll see America walk into the sunset with our people's hopes and possibly future.

The choice is not whether to ally with the USA, both India and the USA have made the decision already. The choice is whether India will let the US be an ally or a super-state to itself. The United States while looking to be a super state on the sly is now stating so without any qualms.

The Prime Minister must ensure that such ambitions are cut short. The course of action and choices are similar to the ones he faces in running the coalition. The Prime Minister must not repeat the mistakes he made with the coalition partner, on behalf of his countrymen.

Update:

Cynical Nerd informs us:

Number of U.S. nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards: 4 [8]
Percentage of U.S. nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards: 2.85% (4 upon 140) [8, 11, 12]

Number of Chinese nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards: 2 [9]

Number of Indian nuclear reactors already under IAEA safeguards: 4 [5]
Percentage of Indian nuclear reactors under IAEA safeguards: 26% (4 upon 15) [5]

(emphasis, mine)

Related Links:
Jaffna, at Secular-Right on an Indo-American partnership,
Sandeep links to Kanchan Gupta's article on the Nuke deal.

Tag: Nukes, India, Foreign Policy, USA

Even the Bulletin falls for it!!

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists which, one would reckon has a good grip on most things atomic links to this ridiculous piece on the Deccan Herald a while back - which DH wouldn't correct despite my request to do so. (DH was very brave in putting it up on the front page considering the blunders it contained) . They say on their weblog:

If recent reports are accurate, India's plan to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying multiple warheads could signal the start of a nuclear arms race in South Asia.

"Such a missile would make India a world nuclear power, on par with the more mature members of the nuclear club. Pakistan is not likely to sit idly by, and neither is China," according to analyst and former Bulletin publisher Stephen I. Schwartz.

Why do I scoff at this? Scroll down to the Deccan Herald link and observe:

MAIN FEATURES OF THE ICBM

Range 9,000-12,000 km

launch weight 270-275 tons

Impact error 2 to 2.8 km

Releasable front 2,490-3,490 kg

Warheads 2 to 3 of 15-20 kilotons

Even a cursory glance at any nuke specs will tell you that 15 to 20 kT are playthings(or more correctly tac-nukes), and on an ICBM missile it would be ridiculous to even contemplate such a low yield.


Tag: Nukes, India, Idiocy, Media.