Mulayam's Undisclosed Assets

A whopping Rs275.5 million. That is the difference between assets declared by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav before the returning officer and the figure submitted in the Supreme Court. - Khaleej Times, 22 March 2007

Indian World Cup (Non) Performance

India's World Cup bandwagon hit an abrupt dead-end after a thorough thrashing at the hands of Sri Lanka in their last league match. No one in India was smiling. Their World Cup was over in eight days, their team had lost to Bangladesh, and had just been humiliated by Sri Lanka, that record 413 against Bermuda now just a pathetic joke. Except for a mathematical probability (see table on page 20), which comes into play only if rank outsiders Bermuda upset Bangladesh in their last league match, the 69-run defeat virtually means the end of road for India at the 2007 Caribbean carnival. - Indian Express, 25 March 2007

Killing Cricket

The hunt for Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer's killers may take the lid off cricket's darkest secret - match-fixing and betting, a racket worth crores of rupees that has tainted the gentleman's game. - NDTV, 25 March 2007

See No Evil, Shoot No Evil

The French constitutional council has approved a law that criminalises the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists. Perpetrators face up to five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£51,000). According to a French civil liberties group, the law could also be used against eyewitnesses who video acts of police violence, and the website operators who publish such images. - Excerpts from http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade, 08 March 2007

Human Rights & Wrongs

This year's State Department annual report on human rights practices around the world puts China at the top of the list of violators repressing freedom of speech and information, including blocking access to Internet sites.

For the last eight years, China has issued a rebuttal in the form of its "Human Rights Record of the United States." This year is no different. In its annual 'back-at-ya' document, China criticizes the United States for using its military might to trespass on the sovereignty of other countries and for violating human rights domestically and across the globe. - ABC News, 08 March 2007

America Goes Green 2

The ethanol boom is coming. The twin threats of climate change and energy security are creating an unprecedented thirst for alternative energy with ethanol leading the way. That process is set to reach a landmark on Thursday when the US President, George Bush, arrives in Brazil to kick-start the creation of an international market for ethanol that could one day rival oil as a global commodity. The expected creation of an "Opec for ethanol" replicating the cartel of major oil producers has spurred frenzied investment in biofuels across the Americas. - The Independant, 05 March 2007

Hide & Seek

The cat-and-mouse game involving Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi has taken a dramatic turn. Even as the Supreme Court took exception on Monday to being kept in the dark about Quattrocchi's detention, the government let on that the fugitive, who is wanted in the Bofors payoffs case, had secured bail on Friday—the very day the CBI formally announced his detention in Argentina. - Times of India, 27 February 2007

Pakistan Acting On Terror

America warns Pakistan to act on terror. Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday to deliver what officials in Washington described as an unusually tough message to General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda. - Indian Express, 26 February 2007

IT MATters

Reacting a good four hours after the FM finished his Union Budget speech in which he sought to levy a minimum alternate tax on 11.33% on IT companies, the main lobbying association for the sector Nasscom said in a carefully worded statement that it was dismayed at the proposal and described it as a “regressive step”. - Indiatimes Infotech, 28 February 2007

Common Indian: Born Victim

Indian President APJ Kalam has expressed concerns over the country's rising inflation, saying the government will strive to keep it in check. India's inflation has soared to over 6.5% this year, exceeding the government's annual target. - BBC.co.uk, 23 February 2007. This in the same week where another bomb went off in a train in Panipat, India killing almost 70.

Killer Policies

70 Farmer Suicides in Vidarbha in 2007. In the last three days, nine more farmers have committed suicide in Vidarbha. This brings the number of suicides in six districts of Vidarbha to 1000 – after the visit by the PM and an announcement of a special package of Rs 3750 Crores on July 1st, 2006. Even official data shows that the state of cotton growers in west Vidarbha has worsened with the wrong policies of the state, and free trade policies tied to economic liberalization. - www.thesouthasian.org, 11 February 2007

Blinded By Capitalism

The world sat up and listened when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its report released last week in Paris, said that climate change was real and man-made. The first report said that temperatures in the next century are expected to go up by 2.5 to 4.5 degrees Centigrade. What does this exactly translate for India? Most figures add up to a serious shortage of water and threat to food security. It just might be the wake up call that policy-makers in India need. - Indian Express, 12 February 2007

And The Future Is...

Indibloggies 2006

.pOINT_bLANK has been nominated for the most humorous Indiblog at Indibloggies 2006.

To vote go to www.indibloggies.org. Voting is open till 20th Feb 2007. Some say that the ballot is stronger than bullets. Thank You!

The Nero Of Bengal

Violence rocked Singur again as members of the Singur Save Land Committee who tried to uproot fences at four places around the project area clashed with the police who lathicharged and then lobbed tear gas shells to turn them away. The protesters alleged that the police also fired rubber bullets, but the police refuted the charge. - Indian Express, 8 February 2007

Violence erupted for the second time today since the first outburst on January 3 when people protesting against land acquisition for a proposed SEZ in Bhawanipore near Nandigram murdered a policeman of the district intelligence bureau around noon today. - Indian Express, 8 February 2007

Bail The Rich, Jail The Rest

Relatives of the 1993 blasts convicts reiterated their demand that other convicts too be given bail and discharged from TADA charges, like Sanjay Dutt. "Is Sanjay God that only he is being talked about? Aren't the others human beings?" asked convict Yusuf Kasim Khan's wife Rubina at a press conference organised by Jan Morcha. - Indian Express, 10 February 2007

Communal Violence

Barley 10 days after communal clashes in Bangalore city, Section 144 has again been imposed in the Bidar area of Karnataka. - Moneycontrol, 02 February 2007
As political parties gear for Assembly elections, this town in eastern Uttar Pradesh (Gorakhpur), finds itself in the grip of communal tension. - Indian Express, 30 January 2007

Communal Violence

Barley 10 days after communal clashes in Bangalore city, Section 144 has again been imposed in the Bidar area of Karnataka. - Moneycontrol, 02 February 2007

As political parties gear for Assembly elections, this town in eastern Uttar Pradesh (Gorakhpur), finds itself in the grip of communal tension. - Indian Express, 30 January 2007

America Goes Green

In the speech, Bush highlighted a new proposal to cut U.S. gasoline usage by "20% in 10 years," to be accomplished primarily by mandating higher proportions of alternative fuels and increasing the fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. - Forbes, 2 February 2007

Bailing Out The Rich

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is in Patiala jail, was today granted bail by the Supreme Court which also sought response from the Punjab Government on his plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a road rage case to contest Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll. - The Hindu, 12 January 2007