India readying to destroy enemy satellites

India readying weapon to destroy enemy satellites(Read full story here...)

Yahoo News reports this very sensitive information on its homepage. Good way to break an sensitive news relating to the security developments of our country. I doubt this is right way for an ever developing (and want-to-be-superpower) nation to deal with an important topic like the nation's security details! But this doesn't matter Indians and hence India is known to throw up surprises from the least expected quarters.

Being proud and boasting of building an missile (read determinant weapons system) is one thing, but that shouldn't come at the cost of the undermining national security. Leaking these kind of security related information has its own downside and issues to deal with.

Let us remind ourselves or what our capabilities are. We are a nation which is one of the biggest spenders on national security next only to developed countries like US, UK, China, etc. But our indigenous weapon building program falls well below the expected level give the size and skills of our country. We are a country which spends a king's share of the allocated budget on procuring weapons from countries like US, Russia, UK, Israel, etc to name a few. These suppliers on the other hand are spending billions of dollars on R&D facilities to come up with new & improved machines to have an advantage both mechanically and technologically, thereby gaining an upper hand in the art of warfare.

If India really needs something to boast about(in this domain), then they better start developing indigenous technology and tapping the local potential. The potential is to come up with good products and scoop customers with that.

Retracing back to topic of this post, boasting of new project undertakings specifically the ones pertaining to national security shouldn't be discussed in the public domain until it successful. I'm not advocating unaccountability for all the govt./pvt agencies involved, but rather the notion is to get these sensitive projects worked on under wraps to avoid possible security breaches, both - unintentionally and deliberately (by subversive anti-national forces). 

Let us talk less and do more (work)...for actions speaks louder than words.

Amen!

Are they really serious of fighting terrorism?

3.5 Cr Speedboat breaks down in record time(Read full story here...)

Mumbai is redefining the meaning of fight against terrorism. On the eventual day of 26/11 when the Pakistani terrorists staged an outrageous attack on India's financial capital Mumbai, the city was taken by surprise and eventually many innocent lives were lost. The high human toll and rusty preparedness was mostly attributed to the ill-equipped police force. The Great Indian Think Tank came together to immediately propose and allocate decent(if not huge) sum of funds towards modernizing and equipping the police force. Outcome of all this being setting up an independent task force for Mumbai (and hopefully other metropolitan cities eventually), procuring advanced machinery/tools to thwart future attacks such as these...

This typical knee-jerk reaction resulted in procurement of substandard tools from suppliers. This is evident from the breakdown of one of the two speedboats - Koyna. With this level of commitment and recent chatter of possible new attack getting louder by the day, it is only a matter of time we will be faced with another variant of 26/11!


Unless & until there is a real push to get our acts together, I don't see any reason for the local populous to feel safe with this well equipped police force guarding us.


Hope the commoners are not taken for a ride again!

Amen!

No Indians allowed in India!!!

No Indians allowed..(Read full story here...)

Here is an classic case of an MNC coming into India in order to cash in on the spoils of India's steadily growing economy but seem to have not done their homework enough. Haagen Dazs (HD) is one such example of this kind. They came visiting India to cash in on the local buoyant economy (when the other rest-of-the-world economies are just about limping back to normalcy post their tango with recession). HD in their mad rush to etch an name for themselves have not cared for the local sentiments, which is evident from their misadventure.

This advert. brings back the dark memories of how the East India Company visited India for trade and ultimately went on to rule India. They had signs during their stay in India calling for entry restriction of Indians in most of their social establishments.

I strongly feel that turning an blind eye or ignoring this as a one-off incident is not right. The local administration should take note of this and initiate strict action. At the least, HD should be fined and asked to do some community service related activity. In doing so we should send out an message of India of an self-respecting country which takes importance than in lieu of the financial benefits(if any) arising from the outlet opening of this MNC. This is very much needed so as to set an precedent for other adventurers. We can't let any outsider to exploit or take undue advantage of the situation that exists in India. I agree we have lawlessness compounded by rampant corruption and other social issues to deal with, all of which are attributed to our own callous thinking and the resulting frustrated way of life & living. All said and done, that doesn't warrant/allow any outsider to come in and behave in this rash manner. Though the marketing manager has agreed to their folly and apologized; they shouldn't be let go on the pretext of mere apologetic sound bytes.



Only if the right measures are taken to safeguard our values & culture, while ensuring to gel  well with the other foreign cultures can we forge an fair & fertile platform to facilitate & ultimately sustain an growing economy like ours.



Hope the right lessons are learned from this hiccup and we move forward in the right direction.

Amen!

London going the Mumbai way!

London warned of 26/11 rerun(Read full story here...)

This blunt and shocking revelation by the Police Dept. speaks a million words. One of those being the helplessness of the law enforcers in tackling or trying to contain the issue of terrorism. Dealing with or eventually trying to curb the Jihadis planing(another) assault on any of the numerous cities world wide is proving to be a humongous challenge for the law enforcers around the world. And why not, this is not one body or mind we are talking about here. This is rather a new wave of generation who are exposed, motivated and finally led to carry out these dastardly acts in the name of religion to achieve the ultimate prize of all - Salvation.

No matter how much soever the law enforcing agencies try to prevent these acts of terror; they are aware that this omnipresent monster to be done with is just wishful thinking - a wish which would never ever see the light of the day!


Its such a sorry state and an irony to note that religion which is epicenter of faith for humans is used as a weapon against humanity!  Hopefully the the religious leaders, law enforcers and people with work out a way to eliminate this malaise which has become one of the biggest threat to human existence and a way of life in certain parts of the world.


Isn't that wishful thinking again!

Amen!

Bangalore city paintings

Amid the chaos that surrounds any (ever) expanding cosmopolitan city, Bangalore too has its lion's share of these, viz. the haphazard Metro work, mindless traffic to name a few. But what makes Bangalore city stand out in a unique way is the decision by the city administration to paint the city walls - literally!

Bangalore city administration has initiated a unique city wall painting task. They have started painting arts(as I like to call them) mostly depicting local well known personalities, places, monuments, etc; thus beautifying the city and elevating the overall look-and-feel. In doing so they are doing away with the boring looking walls and resurrecting these dead walls...so to speak.

This is a good way to remind non-locals (as well as locals)  of the beauty surrounding them and refresh the mostly forgotten piece of history in everybody's minds & hearts.

This is a great initiative by the babus other wise known for the inept ways of thinking has shown that if the powers-to-be have the well being of the locals on their mind then the outcome of decisions made by them would surely be something wonderful (as seen with this initiative).

With the govt. taking these kind of initiatives & help from the local populous, I'm sure one day we all can turn around the city's image for the well being & benefit of all.

Amen!

No more hamara Bajaj!

Bajaj calls it a day(Read full story here...)

It is finally end of road for Bajaj. OK that was being a bit over-the-top ;). Bajaj recently made an statement effecting the shutdown of their scooter development department. Bajaj has had a smooth ride in the scooter segment and was the market leader in India in the late 80s and early 90s. I'm sure their "Hamara Bajaj" slogan is etched in many of our hearts. This news certainly evokes a bit of surprise and sadness for many, since they(scooters) were(and I'm sure are) associated with those warm and nostalgic growing-up-years memories.

With this decision, Bajaj is now to do away with their scooter venture and focus their energies in being the market leaders in the bike segment.

Looking forward to some good(in terms of mileage & performance) and innovative(like electric or alternate fuel powered vehicles) products from your future lineup.

All the Best Bajaj.

Disclaimer: This article is in no way an marketing/endorsement for Bajaj.

Amen!

IWAS...not there!!!

Bangalore undone!(Read full story here...)

Paralympics Committee of India(PCI) is hosting IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports)  2009 in Bangalore, wherein elite international disabled athletes representing more than 43 countries are converging to participate in this international meet. Being an international meet, the competing athletes are bound to expect(if not good) at least decent level of planning, infrastructure & management.

But being true to their stature, the powers to be (read PCI in tune with their political masterminds) have gone ahead and messed up this entire event. It seems not enough thought process went into the preparation for this sports event. Basic planing like that of infrastructure seems to be out of place! A blatant & shameful pointer of this was evident when the Deputy President of IWAS was unable to get on the VIP dais due to absence of an ramp! Being an event for the disabled(wheelchair bound & amputee), the planners couldn't factor in this simple provision. How dumb could they get!!! This reflects poorly for Indians and is another brickbat for their image globally.

India the very nation which is hauled as one of the economic superpowers of today should be more careful, dedicated & sincere in planning global events like this(and others to come). We don't want to falter at a time when the entire world is watching us...do we? Occasions like these go a long way to project ourselves as a nation which truly want to make a mark(and eventually dominate) the global scene.

With India playing host for Commonwealth Games 2010 (in Delhi), it waits to be seen what lessons we learn from our mistakes.

Come on India, buckle up and prove your mettle. Cheers India!

Amen!