This grab from CNN IBN tv and many other images you will find the flag at the Muslim rallies is always wrong. Is it so difficult to get it right?
But the green band will always be first, deliberately, You see they still harp for bygone days of Muslim rule in India, when the green was above the saffron.
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In an article about the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” in Salon.com here, the author ,ERIKA KINETZ, claims that Anil Kapoor grew up the slums??? Thats like claiming Tom Cruise grew up in an inner city ghetto. Would she have made the same mistake if it was a Hollywood “gora” actor ? Maybe. I think she would have done some more homework too.
But since its some brown guy in a gora mans movie, he definitely grew up in a slum was dumb Erika’s conclusion.
Heres a part from the article:
Nicholas Almeida, a social activist who organized the protest, said he planned to file a lawsuit Friday to get the film’s name changed.
“Slumdog Millionaire” tells the story of Jamal Malik, a poor youth who becomes the champion of India’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” television program as he searches for his lost love.
On Wednesday the cast and director spoke to the media in New Delhi about the film, and the controversy it has sparked.
“The film is going to be a terrific inspiration to kids around India. It’s a feel-good film, a film of hope,” said Kapoor, who grew up in a Mumbai slum.
He dismissed claims that the word “slumdog” was offensive. “Children from the slums are actually called much worse names.”
Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy said people should not read too much into the word. “I just made up the word. I liked the idea. I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” he said.
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Stratfor.com has an excellent article by By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart. The following excerpt related to Mumbai is below
While some developing countries, such as Singapore, have managed to develop highly trained and extremely competent counterterrorism units and effectively use such units, India is not one of them. In spite of the long history of terrorist activity directed against India, Indian security and counterterrorism assets are simply too poorly funded and organized to comprehensively address the militant threats the country faces. Even the elite National Security Guards (NSG), also known as the Black Cats, provided a sluggish response to the Mumbai attack.
When we view the entire spectrum of counterterrorism capabilities, however, the greatest gap in capability between Indian and European or Indian and American forces is not the gap between elite counterterrorism forces, but the gap at the individual street cop level. This is significant because street cops are a critical line of defense against terrorists. The importance of street cops pertains not only to preventing attacks by collecting critical intelligence, noticing surveillance or other preoperational planning activity and questioning or arresting suspects, it also applies to the tactical response to armed attackers.
Among the most troubling aspects of the Mumbai attack were accounts by journalists of Indian police shooting at the attackers and missing them. Some journalists have said this failure can be explained by the fact that many Indian police officers are armed with antiquated revolvers and Lee-Enfield rifles. But the Lee-Enfield is an accurate and reliable battle rifle that shoots a powerful cartridge, the .303 British. Like the .30-06 Springfield and the .308 Winchester, the .303 British is a man stopper and is deadly out to long ranges. The kinetic energy produced by such cartridges will penetrate body armor up to the heavy Type III level, and the amount of kinetic energy they impart will often even cause considerable shock trauma damage to people wearing heavy body armor.
The .303 British is a formidable round that has killed a lot of people and big game over the past century. Afghan sharpshooters used the Lee-Enfield with great success against the Soviets, and Taliban are still using it against coalition forces in Afghanistan. There is also nothing wrong with a .38 revolver in capable hands. The problem, then, lies in the hands — more specifically, in the training — of the officers so armed. If a police officer does not have the marksmanship to kill (or even hit) a suspect at 20 or 30 meters with aimed fire from a battle rifle, there is little chance he can control the automatic fire from an assault rifle or submachine gun effectively. In the end, the attackers outclassed the Indian police with their marksmanship far more than they outclassed them with their armaments.
By and large, U.S. and European police officers are better-trained marksmen than their Indian counterparts. U.S. and European officers also must regularly go to the shooting range for marksmanship requalification to maintain those skills. This means that in a Mumbai-type scenario in the United States or Europe, the gunmen would not have been allowed the freedom of movement they were in Mumbai, where they were able to walk past police officers firing at them without being hit.
The overall tactical ability of the average street cop is important. While most large police departments in the United States have very skilled tactical units, such as the New York Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit, these units may take time to respond to an incident in progress. In the case of a Mumbai-style attack, where there are multiple teams with multiple attackers operating in different areas of the city, such units might not be able to tackle multiple sites simultaneously. This means that like in Mumbai, street cops probably not only will have the first contact with the attackers, but also might be called on to be the primary force to stop them.
Points that need to be noted from the above:
Check out the pictures of the NSG and compare them to a SWAT team of any European country, or even Singapore or China. Shameful.
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Hello again
Its been a few days since I wrote here. Well, I have been kinda burned out @ work lately. Anyway, came across this India today issue, that came out after the MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS and its has a picture of things that are available off the shelf but were never purchased for the NSG. If this is the case with the NSG you cant expect the local city cops to have anything except a bamboo lathi. This whole bloody mess makes me very very angry. Accountability is the last word when it comes to India’s bureaucracy.
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I am sure many of you must have read about Hindu priests being removed from the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu.
Seems like a innocuous happening in Nepal. However little thought will show how it neatly fits into the “String of pearls” strategy that China has been pursuing, an successfully encircling India.
Whats “String of pearls”?
Each “pearl” in the “String of Pearls” is a nexus of Chinese geopolitical influence or military presence. Hainan Island, with recently upgraded military facilities, is a “pearl.” An upgraded airstrip on Woody Island, located in the Paracel archipelago 300 nautical miles east of Vietnam, is a “pearl.” A container shipping facility in Chittagong, Bangladesh, is a “pearl.” Construction of a deep water port in Sittwe, Myanmar, is a “pearl,” as is the construction of a navy base in Gwadar, Pakistan. Port and airfield construction projects, diplomatic ties, and force modernization form the essence of China’s “String of Pearls.” The “pearls” extend from the coast of mainland China through the littorals of the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, across the Indian Ocean, and on to the littorals of the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. China is building strategic relationships and developing a capability to establish a forward presence along the sea lines of communication (SLOCs) that connect China to the Middle East
Source: http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/indian_ocean/060701string_of_pearls.htm
Happenings in Pashupatinath temple:
It is regarded as the most sacred temple of Shiva (Pashupati) in Nepal. “Shivaratri” or night of lord Shiva is the most important festival celebrated in this temple. Along the shores of the Bagmati river near the temple lies “Arya Ghat”, the most widely used place of cremation for the deceased in Nepal, especially in and around the Kathmandu valley.
The priests who perform the services at this temple are always Brahmins from South India. This tradition is supposed to have started by Sage Shankaracharya in 6th century, ostensibly to stop human sacrifice which was prevalent in that temple. Another interpretation is that Indian priests are stationed at Pashupatinath because when the King passes away, the entire Nepali people are supposed to stop religious services and enter a year long period of mourning.
Source: wikipedia
The clearly means that India had some religious influence over the happenings in the most important temple in Nepal. The commie masters of Prachanda would never like that. So what do you do to fix the problem? Muscle your way in. Thats how commies do things all over the world. Thuggery and muscle power. The commies dont belive in any religion and abhor religious practices. Why? Since religious centers can develop into centers of power and influence over peoples minds outside of the commie party ideology which likes to make robots of its citizens, Bengal being an example (except Mamta Banerjee ofcourse)
Sadly India so far has exhibited no response, no spine at all in countering such moves. Sad….very sad.
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Well so much for wishing a terror free 2009. The New year began with a bang for the anti-India forces. Although not surprising it just pains me that our nation has lost its peace. Although these were small intensity blasts they never the less caused loss of 5 lives (thats what reported at the time of writing this).
On another note, I really hope that the real estate prices in Mumbai comes down to earth from the astronomical heights they are in right now. The build lobby will try to hold on to the high prices as much as they can however it would be unrealistic to keep on playing this game to see who blinks first, the builders or the buyers. However 30 to 40% cuts in the variable pays of mostly IT crowd is definately going to put a damper on the buying capability of the IT fueled middle classes.
On the defence side I just read about the anti- material rifle developed by DRDO called “Vidhwansak“. A development which is very significant in strengthening the armed forces but receives little press since its not as $exy as a fighter aircraft.
Read this one on ORBAT and militaryphotos.net recently. I think if it is true then the Manmohan Singh govenment will have really shown some ball$ in dealing with the terrorist and their paki patrons. This would definately put India in the big leagues. Another advantage of this in my opinion would be that India, like US will fight its wars away from its homeland.
This would also draw out the jehadi infrastructure towards A’STAN rather than Kashmir (the one where people can elect their reprensentatives) and since A’STAN is a theater already it would let our boys have at the terrorists. However I think this offer will be for Obama and it will decide how he wants to go about dealing with the Paki-Taliban mess.
A great discussion with many talking points is here
After years of reading other peoples blogs I finally decided to do it myself. When you read a news item or an article that are so many things that come to your mind, somehow those thoughts get lost when the next big thing comes your way.
I will use this blog to primarily pen my opinions and feelings about things that affect me the most. Maybe some of these things would have affected you in some way, feel free to drop a line/comment to share your thoughts.
Wishing you all a very happy, prosperous and terror free 2009
Mumbaiwala's Blog 