Beauty Dares Beasts

Miss Pakistan World Natasha Paracha has denounced the truce between Pakistan Government and the Taliban forces to implement Sharia laws in Swat Velley.

She has demonstrated the courage and guts the maile folks in Pakistan failed to do by taking up against the powerful radical forces.

Calling the implementation of Sharia laws beginning of the downfall of Pakistan, she said: "This act of compromise by the Pakistani government clearly shows that it is a failed nation. Taliban has no place in Pakistan and the people of Pakistan should kick them out. They are invaders and barbaric people."

While the armed forces are running away from the frontier, policemen are resigning or turning sympathisers of Taliban, people are afraid of opening their mouth and just follow Taliban rules, this beauty notwithstanding the dangerr Taliban can pose has challenged them. She deserves a pat on the back.

Pakistan has struck a deal with the devils and the devils would not rest until it draws the last blood from Pakistan.

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Pakistan defeated and surrenders meekly

Pakistan has surrendered to forces that are threat to the humanity and the civilization. Pakistan’s surrender to the Taliban forces is more disgraceful than its surrender to India in 1971. In 1971 India decimated Pakistan but today Pakistan warped to the radical forces in its own country.

The surrender commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. The whole world watched with concern, disbelief and uneasiness the massive victory rally organized in SWAT valley by Sufi Mohammed, the spiritual leader of Pakistan Taliban and his son in law “Radio” Fazullah. The rally was a clear indication of victory to Taliban forces over American forces and the Pakistani army which the Pakistan Government is refusing to accept. The fact is that Pakistan has lost control over the Frontier.

The world is outraged over Pakistan government's surrender to the Taliban knowing the threat Taliban pose to the world. The Taliban forces are just 200 Kms away from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and are waiting at the doorsteps to capture Islamabad also. The world is worried that Taliban could take control of the nuclear weapons which would be a sure threat to the Western world.

Who is to blame for this? These forces were groomed by the very same people who now brand them as a serious threat. Islam communalism was exploited by The West to counter the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Under Zia-ul-Haq, the ISI armed and supported the Taliban, who then fought against Soviet and pro-Soviet forces. Zia-ul-Haq opened the doors for the Islamist takeover of Afghanistan. Once the Soviets were expelled, Afghanistan turned to civil war but West no longer showed any interest in Afganistan. But Zia-ul-Haq continued to fund and support the Taliban. As you sow, so you reap.

It is now the same Taliban that is asking for a pound of flesh from Islamabad. Pakistan sooner or later should concede because it has let these forces grow out of its control and now these forces has started controlling Pakistan.

While India has done nothing to encourage these radical forces, it has become a target and victim of the sell out. The terrorist organization has already threatened to attack the western cultural centers in India and this is just a beginning.

Taliban has chopped off Pakistan's Northern arm and would soon aim for its head. India has to view this seriously and our politicians should set aside the differences and counter this proactively instead of makiing reactive statements.

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FAIR WEATHER FRIENDS

The private sector banks and the multi national banks are not coming to the rescue of the MSME i.e. micro, small and medium enterprises.

The SMEs which are the backbone of our country are reeling under impact of global meltdown. Arranging funds has become next to impossible for the SMEs.

The Government from its side has already announced two stimulus packages to ease the situation. However not enough has been done by the private banks and the multinational banks to lend a helping hand to the deserving MSME community.

Commerce Secretary Mr.G K Pillai has rightly said that the private sector banks have been fair weather friends unlike public sector banks and went on to say "If they don't comply with RBI direction, at some point of time, the government will be forced to act,". But this has not fallen into the deaf ears of the private banks who feign corporate social responsibility.

It is really unfortunate that the Private Banks are abandoning the MSMEs in the need of the hour and letting down the Government and the RBI.

Nothing matters to these banks except a rosy Bottom line. These banks should definitely understand that it not possible for Public Sector Banks alone to fund the huge population of MSMEs and they are also equally responsible towards the society as a whole.

RBI now would understand the true colors of these Private Banks.

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EDUCATION @ UK

British Council is organizing a two day education exhibition in Taj Coromandel, Chennai which concludes today. Over a hundred representatives from more than sixty UK institutions participate in this exhibition. Education UK exhibitions bring you face to face with representatives from schools, colleges and universities who can tell you about their courses, admission requirements, facilities and services. I visited the exhibition yesterday evening. I was really taken aback to see more than 58 universities from a country which is less than one tenth of India's geographic area. The response was overwhelming and it attracted a lot of people who want to pursue their higher education overseas. The program was well organized. When we just entered the exhibition hall, the security outside reminded us 26/11 which has become indelible. Every stall had well informed personnel who could give the required information for every aspirant. Some of them did not have the courses the prospective student wanted and those students were properly guided to the Institution stalls which offered the courses. Seeing the crowd and the response to the exhibition, I felt that India is still not crippled by the global melt down fully and still there is a ray of hope amongst the students. To fully understand the benefits of this exhibition a person has to spend at least half a day in the exhibition. Moreover a seminar is organized on both days on Students Visas, Scholarships etc to educate the visitors. The exhibition starts at 10 AM and concludes at 7 PM sharp. When the organizers signaled the closure of the stall of visitors, it was sharp 7 PM. This exhibition is a must for all those who take their higher education overseas seriously.
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BAN ON SMOKING DESTINED TO SUCCEED

First of all, we are indebted to our Health Minister, Mr.Anbumani Ramadoss for taking the campaign against smoking unequivocally. "Don't smoke" is what the elders tell the younger people, the parents tell their children, teachers tell the students, good friends advise their smoking friends. Dr.Anbumani is performing the role of an elder, a parent, a good friend and a teacher in his campaign against smoking. He has spared none in this campaign. He has raised his voice against the celebrities, the politicians and the VIPs without any soft spot. He has gone to the extent of challenging court's decision lifting the ban on smoking in films. His initiative is just a beginning of the journey towards a society with healthy habits. We all should support his mission. We cry hoarse that our politicians are not honest, lack values etc etc. But here is a politician who is well educated, honest, with a very good value system. Let us support his initiatives irrespective of which party he belongs to, which caste he belongs to, from which region he is hailing from? He has also voiced his concern about the growing pub culture. The media is prompt in maligning his name as a supporter of the Manglore incident. Mr.Ramadoss definitely did not support the attack but on the other hand condemned the incident. This substantiates that he does not have the media support. Nevertheless, he is not going to give up nor his journey is going to end abruptly. He has already declared that he is going to take up ban on alcohol after the ban on smoking. This journey is just a beginning and would never end till it reaches the destination. The ban on smoking is destined to succeed and the ban on alcohol would follow the suit.

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I AM NOT ALONE

It is wee hours now. Just an hour past midnight. After completing my regular academic reading for my PMP examination, I was going through Con Coughlin's ebook Saddam-His Rise and Fall which I downloaded from scribd.com. I found the book to be melodramatic and decided to read the blogs I follow which includes Thinniam, Iyer-n-higher and Random Thoughts.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the post of Mr.NS Iyer which said "posted 50 minutes ago". I thought I am not alone. The post "That's Life" was quite absorbing. I enjoy the blogs of Mr.Iyer and Mr.K.Parthasarathi for two reasons, first every post is thoughtful and absorbing and second they hone my writing skills. I am lucky to have two Dronacharyas.

Coming back to what I want to say, I thought for a while and posted my comments which took almost 15 minutes. By the time I posted my comments there was another Post in Thinniam by Mr.T.S. Sridhar "Two news item" "posted 10 minutes ago" which reminded me that I am not alone.

By the time I post this, there may be a post in Random Thoughts. We are definitely well connected.

TRUE NATIONALISTS?

Today I was totally bemused and mystified after reading an article in the newspaper that ABVP men ransacked a missionary school in Bhopal protesting against an alleged insult to the National Anthem. On reading this article the reader would jump to a conclusion that these so called patriotic political outfits are guardians of India, its culture, its national flag, its national anthem, its father, its constitution etc. If you deduce so, you are wrong. After reading this article, I wanted to have a look at the home page of the so called custodians of India to see whether there is anything prominent in their homepage that symbolizes India or a patriot. First I started with the website of ABVP www.abvp.org. You would see a burning torch and an article "Gandhigiri cant curb terrorism?" which indirectly trounced the Gandhian values of tolerance and ahimsa. If you expect anything that symbolizes India, you would be disappointed. Then I visited the website of Shiv Sena http://www.shivsena.org/. It had the photo of a roaring tiger and the Thackeray's. It had nothing on India, no India map, no national flag, no Gandhiji photo. Sorry, they don't believe in non-violence. Then I visited the website of VHP http://www.vhp.org/. It had the OM Emblem, photo of Lord Rama and other Hindu Gods. Nothing to bewail. Then I visited the website of so called guardians of India http://www.rss.org/. I spent a lot of time to identify something that symbolizes India. Definitely something should be there because they talk so much about India, Indian culture, respecting Indian flag, akanda Bharath, so on and so forth. I could see the photograph of Sevaks marching with a Saffron flag. Photograph of a shaka, etc. I am still searching to see whether anything symbolizes India. Friends!!! Don't lose heart some day or other you would find one. Till then keep searching. Then I visited the website of Bajrangdal http://www.bajrangdal.org/. It had a prominent display of Trishuls and a Big OM symbol above that. I could definitely see a distorted Indian Map (by the way is it South India Map?) with Lord Hanuman with a mace on top of it. No national flag, No Mahatma, No Ashoka Pillar. Only Weapons that symbolizes a non-violent nation that won Olympic medals in wrestling, boxing and archery. Wow!!! Then went to the website of God of Big Things and the savior of India, BJP http://www.bjp.org/. I could see a big lotus photo, the photo of a gentleman turned politician Mr.ABB Ji, the photo of a man who called Mohammed Ali Jinnah a secularist waiting for the Prime Minister's chair desperately and photo of his friend waiting to pull him down. You would definitely agree with me that the Homepage is incomplete without the advertisement of the Autobiography of Mr.LK Advani title "My Country, My Life". Yes, I could find that. But what about the national flag? Sorry it is His Country and only Lotus is allowed. Then finally without any hope I visited the website of the people who are exploited for their vote bank http://www.iuml.com/. I could see the Green Flag with a Crescent on it symbolizing their religion. But what is quite interesting is that you can find the picture of the father of our nation displayed prominently which said "My Life is my Message". It also had a clip art which said "Against Terrorism" with a Dove carrying this message. I am not advocating anything. Of all the websites I visited today only the website of IUML carried something which symbolizes the non-violence, religious tolerance and ahimsa preached, followed and lived by Gandhiji.

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