Ten Issues - 5

1- Who pays the price for paid news? : In mid-June, the Election Commission of India directed Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union Territories to enforce the law against "paid news" during elections. The institutionalised racket has been running into hundreds of crores of rupees. Ammu Joseph brings you up to speed.

2- Lokayukta stand on illegal Bellary mining has put Government of Karnataka in trouble. Santosh Hegde, the Lokayukta (ombudsman) for Karnataka gives first hand account to Tehelka Magazine.

3- Why you must read this censored chapter: Raman Kirpal reports, When the truth about the flouting of tribal rights in the Red Corridor struck home, the government dropped a whole chunk of damning material from a report it had itself commissioned.

4- Living with the Enemy: Applying the ideas of Holocaust survivor Jean Améry to present day Rwanda, our author argues that reconciliation after genocide is just another form of torture.

5- How Goldman gambled on starvation: Speculators set up a casino where the chips were the stomachs of millions. What does it say about our system that we can so casually inflict so much pain?

6- Why You Shouldn’t Leave the Web to the Web Guys : Here are a few simple rules that will help you get the most out of your web development and digital strategy.

7- “10 Ways to Run a Banana State” ; Kopach, a columnist for the independent portal Okno.mk, published a list translated at Global Voice Online.

8- Size of the Public Domain : The basic take away from the analysis was the finding that, based on library catalogue data. A take on copyright issues.

9- Narayana Hrudayalaya: A Model for Accessible, Affordable Health Care.

10- The Narcissism of the Small Difference: In ethno-national conflicts, it really is the little things that tick people off. Check conclusion of article here only :

One of the great advantages possessed by Homo sapiens is the amazing lack of variation between its different "branches." Since we left Africa, we have diverged as a species hardly at all. If we were dogs, we would all be the same breed. We do not suffer from the enormous differences that separate other primates, let alone other mammals. As if to spite this huge natural gift, and to disfigure what could be our overwhelming solidarity, we manage to find excuses for chauvinism and racism on the most minor of occasions and then to make the most of them. This is why condemnation of bigotry and superstition is not just a moral question but a matter of survival.

Thought of Day : When an ordinary farmer unable to feed his family commits suicide, it is not even a footnote. When a model, no matter how faded, kills herself, it is in headlines on all television channels. That is corporate media for us.

Let's make life interesting !!!

I don't know what to write today. The blank spaces between mine words have more meanings than this whole blog. Now, few words for world around me. When we win a match against Pak in Hockey World cup, certainly times appear good if we look at confident India. Then, three continuous defeats expose our inability to change and do vocal politics.

After acute crisis majority of people returns to sense, and then again going numb with time. The “His troubles, his miseries & his problems will fall on my head if I support him” is part of our whole system in the country. In a talk the famous historian Antony Beevor gave at the Galle Literary Festival recently,he made an interesting point. While bemoaning the lack of historical accuracy in much of the media, he said we had entered a “post-literate phase”. By this he meant that images had superseded the printed word as the vehicle for disseminating history. Consequently, TV and movies now determine which historical narrative is believed.

Personal Life: 'Let's make life interesting' and be more social in interaction with others. That was my motto of change. I had written in my diary one months ago that "Its so tough to push yourself for something you have never done. Preaching others about discipline and simplicity is much easier task but following it much tougher. I am trying to tame myself in discipline and a minimum level of presentableness. I am trying to change and each moment of transition is pain ." I failed somewhere in the transition and caught between my desires and goals like Trishanku. I was lacking will power but not motivation. Still, its consequences are devastating.

I want to return to old life of loneliness. I don't want to continue this life of extrovert and express my feelings completely. I tried to change and people misunderstood me. When you believe in open society, it reflects in your nature. People listen less, understand minimum and assume more. I am again back against wall alone. I want to drink Vodka and kill my consciousness some time. One person trusted me and believed that I can change. I changed but it is appearing futile now. I will again go back in my cave of silence and solitude. The world didn't need me, its better for me to keep mouth shut and die. I create myself in the mirror of others and now annihilating same personality. The death of the heart is the saddest thing that can happen to you. And, I died yesterday...

Thought of the Day :One of the first signs of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die. -Franz Kafka

Read few links for knowledge:

1- How an artist was shorn : Husain sees through an idol, giving it a form that may outrage some, but is not inconsistent with India’s aesthetic explain Salil Tripathi.

2- A university's tryst with rural health: The story of an anti-HIV/AIDS programme in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district may hold many lessons for the health professional and policy-planner.

3- Allah’s Left The Building: Meant for Muslim welfare, Wakf lands are being sold for a song by its trustees.

4- Mr Chidambaram’s War: Arundhuti Roy opposes military action in Maoist affected areas.

5- Of all the voices that opposed the introduction of Bt brinjal, one was most significant — that of 84-year old T V Jagadisan, the former MD of Monsanto India. Interview with Tehelka reveal his view point.

Vichaar Shoonya - 0

1- The Taliban have taken advantage of the vacuum of governance by carrying out spectacular suicide bombings in major cities across the country. They are generating fear, rumor, and also support from countless unemployed youth, some of whom are willing to kill themselves to advance the Taliban cause. The mean age for a suicide bomber is now just sixteen. It is a brilliant strategy of evacuation of opposition by suicide bombing and then fill the place with Talibs as a voice of people. They also utilize high illiteracy rate in Pakistan. All the crux of the above blabbering was to introduce you to these two articles describing mindset of our neighbouring nation elite society: Why is Pakistan Half Illiterate? and Causality of war.

2- Faith of Einstein.

3- Econ Sense: Equality vs. Efficiency, the Case of Universal Health Care..

4- Bloggers, Media and Science Reporting & Indian Scientists and Science Blogging

5- On black literature in America

Quote of the day:
Logic and reason are the naphthalene balls we use to pack our hopes, dreams and desires away into a SANDOOK called "Someday". But when that day comes we are too old, too poor , too tired or too lazy to do anything.--- Rashmi Bansal.