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Raghu_t
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Raghu_t's Blog
Delhi Behave..!
Finally my grouse against big, bad and rude Delhi was reiterated by none other than Home Mr. P.Chindambram himself. I always wondered how the big disconnect between the city and its residents will play out in he future and look like the time is here. The people of Delhi I feel don’t have sense of belonging to it. As it is the case other global cities I have noticed that it is a little more pronounced in the capital city. There is no sense of community and civic participation. And with a fairly more efficient city administration and no money issues as it being the capital Delhites have a few things to complain about than things like water. Delhi can be a global city when its residents are determined to make it one. Not only to impress the foreign visitor but to make it a nicer place for themselves. I personally find a lot of Delhi people particularly rude. Its not nice roads and buildings that make a global cosmopolitan city but the people. You shouldn’t stoop to impress...
kudos(5) | visits(67) | comments(2) | Sep 23, 09
Get some humor please…!
The Congress party’s reaction to the remark for Sashi Tharoor’s tweet bordered on being ridiculous. I think the Indian government the amount of money it spends on running things like bread factories can definitely organize a class on humor for the Congresswallahs. Cattle class is a well used word in the west, is not often used here. I do fully agree with Tharoor, passengers are herded around like cattle. It was tongue in check comment and there is nothing wrong with it. The congress Party I feel made a hue and cry to divert attention from other important issues. It wanted Tharoor one among the people who actually have the experience to run their department. Holy cows, definitely our politicians were angry I think that they are being forced to travel economy or on a no-frill airliner. But can’t we have some humor for god’s sake. They should look at the British parliament and the kind of comments sometimes downright personal on the floor of the commons. But...
kudos(1) | visits(35) | comments(1) | Sep 21, 09
Bring in accountability, austerity will follow.
How many among us really care about what’s happening around us? Even if we do how many of us go beyond being Facebook or internet activists? How many us actively follow what’s happening in our neighbor, the local council etc. Democracy as an idea of being participatory is a very alien idea to the Indian mind. We think our responsibility ends at voting, paying taxes ect. This of course shows in the way our politicians, civil servants, government officials conduct and reward themselves. How do you expect some one, of course save people who are of high moral fiber, alas of which there are very few to be austere and act sensibly when there is no one to question his actions? There are no checks and balances, even the most prominent and highest of the ombudsman the CAG -Comptroller and Auditor general of India recently reveled has no recorded of the places and institutions it has help audit. If this is the attitude of the ombudsman that checks corruption then imagine the...
visits(22) | comments(1) | Sep 16, 09
Commonwealth Games
Have you seen the new Hindustan Times ad on television lately? It has three men staring at the new Bandra-Worli sea link when one of them comments, what’s the big deal with this bridge they built something twice as large in China in quarter the time. And he gets whacked on the head with a newspaper one of them is holding for the comment. The tag line being stop being to cynical. I think the commenter is true in being cynical. Long time ago in a column a prominent architect used to write was complaining how on a big hospital project somewhere in the Gulf all the consultants, every single one of them were Indian. Wondering how they are capable conceiving and successfully implementing large projects without a hitch. But when in India, even for prestigious projects we are terrible slack. Case point being the Commonwealth games that the DelhiIndia that it is falling dangerously behind schedule for next year’s events in Delhi and has demanded a meeting with Manmohan Singh....
visits(27) | Sep 15, 09
High Sugar Prices a boon..!
Its a sure shot way to save our population from eminent disease diabetes and most of all obesity. Come to think of it high sugar prices in a festive season is surely a boon. First of all like anything to do with money is taken seriosuly in India. People will cut back on their sweet budget so... People will buy less sugar People will eat less sugar... you wont get sweets as Diwali gifts.... wont be forced to eat sweets at friends, relatives and other peoples houses... will reduce obesity which in turn will help India concentrate on other dreaded diseases... But i wonder if this will work. I was wondering if the government wants people to stop using vegetable fats which have loads of toxic trans fat, can making it really expensive deter people from using it? Hope high prices of sugar lead to a healthier India. Now go take a walk and be healthy...
visits(13) | Aug 25, 09
Beware of those bright paints
Want your house to look like a Mediterranean escape, or a brightly colored Mexican villa or if you still plainly want to have a colorful house beware. Apart from looking extremely ugly and spoiling the aesthetics of a place most brightly colored paints have excessive amounts of lead in them. Vibrant is venomous. Indian paints have one of the highest amounts of lead in the world according to a CSE study. High amounts of lead can seriously affect the cognitive and decreases nerve conductivity uopn inhalation. Some paint brands like Shalimar have 300 times more than the permitted amounts of lead in them. The only brand that maintained international standards was Delux. So when buying paint see that you buy this brand even if it cost a little more money.
visits(36) | Aug 25, 09
Reservation In USPC
That contentious issue again. The Supreme Court on Tuesday began examining if Dalit and backward category students competing in the civil services examination without availing quota benefits should be allowed to use reservation to secure higher services and better cadre. A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, began examination of the crucial issue relating to reservation in civil services for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the socially and educationally backward sections of society on a bunch of lawsuits, including one by the union government. The union government's lawsuit challenged a March 2008 ruling of the Madras High Court which held that Dalit and backward category students, competing on merit, cannot be given the benefit of reservation for allocation of higher service and better cadre in the civil services. The union government approached the apex court on May 17 last year, ...
visits(114) | Aug 19, 09
Sharukh Khan detained..!
I think this incident is a reflection the long way the world and especially the US has to go before it can stop treating all Muslims suspiciously. They also need to get an education on how multi -cultural India really is! I am no big fan of his but I think the act is condemnable. Even actors like Neil Nitin Mukesh was questioned in the past just because he dint look Indian. I think it was silly of them to have detained him just because he is called a Khan. Of course all evidence in his passport and otherwise would have shown that he is a widely traveled person and also he fact that it wasent the first time that he was travelling there. A couple of his previous movies were most entirely shot there. Sharukh was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Independence day on Saturday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport on Friday and wasn't even allowed to make a telephone call. But sadly this is being linked...
visits(49) | Aug 15, 09
Swine Flu Swine Flu
The scare has spread even to far flung remote villages. One particularly vigilant villager even asked us if anyone of us had a cold and went on to ask us about this strange fever believed to have come from pigs. They called it handi Joura ( handi means pig in Kannada)and he went to to talk that this in one of the ills of the Kali yuga. The scare has spread everywhere. Schools are bring shut, people working in offices have been asked to work from home and general precautions being given to avoid public spaces. The Flu is serious and I think the Indian government woke up too late, as usual. And considering that India is THE worst spender on public health standing 173 out of 175 even dirt poor African national fare better. We need a death to even fill a pothole. I am not surprised bu our unpreparedness. India as populous and as crowded it is should have prepared the government for a better response.Seven precious lives could have been saved. Now that...
visits(22) | Aug 12, 09
Thumbs up for Street Food Vendors
I am in full admiration for our PM Manmohan Singh who feels the same about street food vendors as I. Street food is one of the most economical and tasty food available worldwide. But in most Indian cities street food is unwelcome as it is considered a first an encroachment as on most occasions these vendors occupy footpaths. And it is also considered unhygienic as the sources vary and at times also they create a mess after they have left the place which is a huge burden on the civic agencies. But the prime minister thinks otherwise and has made serious efforts to help street food vendors. The Rm has written to all the State governments to alleviate the problems of street vendors as they play an important role in the society. Street food most importantly serves the class that cant eat at hotels. And now with non-food expenditure surpassing the cost of the prepared food most middle class and lower middle class people cannot afford food at hotels....