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Showing posts from 2016

‘Bengal Is Burning’ — The Need To Condemn FIR Against Sudhir Chaudhary & Co Even If The Channel Is Zee News

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Freedom of Press to me is paramount. There are no two ways about it. There is no if and but. Government should have no say in what press reports and what it doesn’t. It is job of editor to do so. Government if it finds, the reportage is false, mala fide or one-sided then it can always present its side. Governments always have enough power in their arsenal to do so. Most of the governments have state media which continuously airs views and opinions in favor of the state. Despite all the arsenal to communicate at its will, governments, left, right and center have used all the power at their hand to hammer at news organizations and reporters who report what is obviously not in favor of the government. Here’s what happened in West Bengal recently which requires our attention at this disturbing trend which is all so growing in recent times. Bengal Is Burning. “Clashes broke out after a Milad-ul-Nabi procession was stopped, allegedly by some people from the Hindu community, on De

The Most Annoying And Cringe-worthy Part About Texting Is…

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There’s some charm about texting. I feel one really is more freer than he or she is face-to-face. The flirt in you really comes alive and shines there. But in contrast to a conversation over coffee or brunch, texting has its own downsides. I’m not actually talking about a slow text-er or someone who only replies to your long texts with ‘hmm’, ‘ok’, ‘yup’ etc. They no doubt are absolute putdowns. But they only disappoint you. They don’t scare you. But there are occasional, very rare moments in chats which mess with your mind, those that scare the shit out of you. The moment when you ask yourself, wait, what did I just do? Most of the times when chats go long and deep, you get your mojo going, and juices just flow. You say stuff without worrying about their consequences. You feel confident that this won’t be misunderstood or that sarcastic remark which is so obvious, they’ll get. But no, that’s not how it unfolds. Suddenly, all of a sudden, person from the other

Who Is The Biggest Benefactor Of Narendra Modi’s Demonetisation Plan? No, It’s Not Who Arvind Kejriwal Told You So!

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If you are living in India, you for sure know how Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s late night speech of November 8th changed the daily life of every resident (okay, probably not all but most). That was the night when PM announced to the whole nation about demonetizing rupees 500 and 1000 notes. Government said its implications were huge. Demonetisation, announced by Modi on November 8, that made currency denominations of Rs 500 and 1,000 — Rs 14.1 lakh crore, or USD 211 billion, in circulating cash — illegal tender overnight, is undeniably a good idea, if one believes that citizens and their transactions must incur tax, that is. Only one per cent of Indians pay tax. Black economy makes up as much as 20 per cent of India’s total GDP, amounting to USD 1.74 trillion in PPP terms. Anand Ranganathan wrote in Newslaundry . He further wrote, The denomination made illegal tender in 1978 by Morarji Desai made up just 0.6 per cent of India’s circulating cash. What Na

If Narendra Modi Is Serious About His ‘Surgical Strike’ On Black Money Then…

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IF is the word to remember all the while. At 8:15 PM on November 8, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in an unscheduled live televised address to the nation announced the circulation of all ₹500 and ₹1000 bank notes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series as invalid and announced the issuance of new ₹500 and ₹2000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series in exchange for the old banknotes. This step was lauded by all (at first) for its boldness and, showing resolve to fight the menace of counterfeit notes running in market and taking fight against Black Money which was Modi’s big electoral promise to new heights. This was initial response (read mostly from social media). But next day when sun rose and people started to function in real world, things got real. The questions on execution of this ‘bold’ step which had large scale ramifications started to make way into normal conversations. But on all that after-effects later. Let’s first dive into that one reason whi

1984 Sikh Riots Or Gujarat 2002 — All Had A Thing In Common Which We Should Never Forget

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Data, data and data! Data is everything. One who has information is the king. Like Napoleon Bonaparte once said, War is ninety percent information. Past is long buried but history should never be buried without learning the lessons it holds. That’s how we progress as a society. Wars have been won and lost with that last bit of trivial information. So undeniably, information is at the heart of everything we do. In a 21st century where information can be obtained by few clicks, we are at a larger risk than ever if that important piece of data stored in remote machines lands into wrong hands.  The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a central government agency of India. Its objective is to collect the biometric and demographic data of residents, store them in a centralised database, and issue a 12-digit unique identity number called Aadhaar to each resident. (wiki) People have always questioned Aadhaar; BJP and PM Narendra Modi (then CM of Gujarat) inclu

Our Cat Is ‘Probably’ Gone But The Guilt I have To Live On…

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“Internet to me is all about Cats and Porn.” — Anonymous World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee took to Reddit recently for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) to celebrate a quarter century of the world wide web (www). In responding to the question, “What was one of the things you never thought the internet would be used for, but has actually become one of the main reasons people use the internet?” he replied, “Kittens”. So there it goes. You believe it or not. Cats are everywhere. There also is an island in Japan popularly called ‘cat island’ where cat population is huge compared to their human counterparts. Cats outnumber humans six to one on the island. There was one little kitten at my home too. But no more. The other day I saw her at late night folding herself beside a Deepavali Diya (oil lamps lit during the festival of Diwali/Deepavali) in a typical cat fashion. Here’s what happened. I tell you this story for I hold a guilt somewhere in a corner of my hear

At Barber’s — The Only Place In Entire Cosmos Where Men Can Be Men

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If there is one place in the entire universe where men talk men stuff openly without any inhibitions and holding back, it must be The Barbershop. Hands Down. In a vast infinite cosmos it is one place where men bitch about the other sex without worrying about the other sex listening to them. Imagine it as some exclusive-for-men holy shrine. Barbering is a cult without the formal ‘cult’ status from any authority because hey! which cult cares for outside authority? Barber is our leader, the priest. The men, his flock. Barber is no ordinary man. He knows about you without your’ uttering a word. He knows when you had your last haircut. He knows what haircut suits you and what won’t. At Barber’s, men indulge in men-talk. Even historically, barber’s place have been known to be social gathering venues where men gather for their daily share of gossips and news. It is where they religiously join for their share of stress release. You thought only women banter? Well, men