A ration card in the name of Mahatma Gandhi

Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi got his new ration card recently :)
History rewritten. Nathuram Godse was the father of Mahatma Gandhi..

Believe it or not - the authorities in Andhra Pradesh have issued a ration card in the name of Mahatma Gandhi along with his picture!

What is more shocking is that the card named Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, as his father. Godse, however, has been misspelt as Godsay.

Chittoor district collector V Seshadari has ordered a probe after the ration card, carrying a fictitious address, was detected during a verification drive in the district to wee out bogus cards.

The card was issued in Chuttagunta village of Ramachandrapuram mandal in Chittoor district. It carried the picture of Gandhi with the name of MK Gandhi Thatha (Thatha in Telugu means grandfather), age 65, father's name Godsay, address 15-46541, Gandhi Street, Gandhi Road. The address was that of a fair price shop owner.

Seshadari has constituted a three-member committee to probe the matter and take action against the officers responsible.

Action is likely to be taken against those who were entrusted with the task of taking photographs of the person on whose name the card is issued and affix it on the card. The revenue officials also failed to check the name and address.

This is not the first incident of its kind. In the past, bogus cards in the name of politicians, film stars, sportspersons and even Hindu Gods were detected. However, this time the officials have taken a serious note of the incident as it involved the name and picture of the father of nation.

In June, a ration card issued to one Laxmi of Vizianagaram district with a photograph of tennis star Sania Mirza was detected.

The latest incident once again exposed the collusion between the officials and fair price shop dealers. The authorities have intensified verification as several dealers have managed to get dozens of ration cards in fictitious names.

The white ration card issued to below poverty line families make them eligible to get rice at Rs 2 per kg and social security benefits like health insurance and housing.

The authorities had launched door-to-door verification campaign early this year when it was found that the number of ration cards issued in some districts exceeded the population. The number of bogus cards in the state is estimated to be 3.5 million.

Source: Hindustan Times, November 21, 2009

India Can win Nobel prize for dirt and filth - Jairam Ramesh

Even the ministers are as frustrated as common man when it comes to pollution and dirt control in India. Its easy to say that Indian cities are not clean, they are very polluted, etc., but what are we doing for that. Certain strict measures should be taken immediately so that our environment is saved which results in good health for the people in the future. Even every citizen should do his part in saving their cities from dirt and pollution.

Read On..

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh, known for courting controversy and making candid remarks, on Friday said if there was a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India would get it.

Our cities are the dirtiest cities of the world. If there is a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India will win it, no doubt,he said at a function to release a report "Green India 2047" by The Energy Research Institute (TERI).

The minister was talking in reference to poor facilities for disposing municipal waste in a majority of Indian cities.

I think our cities have the dubious distinction of being the dirtiest cities in the world. There is no doubt about it. But if there is a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India will win it hands down. There is no competition for that and we have to do something dramatic on municipal solid waste, Ramesh said.

The report he released states that unclean air and water could be responsible for the death of eight lakh people every year in the country.

Our limited analysis suggests that unclean air and water may be taking a toll in terms of over eight lakh deaths in the country each year and morbidity costs amounting to 3.6% of GDP, the report said.

R K Pachauri, head of TERI and chairman of the Nobel-winning UN IPCC said, It is important for every sector and every section of society to understand that protecting the environment is not a luxury. Its an intimate part of promoting the economic welfare of people.

He added that about 45% of the population did not have access to safe drinking water and the air quality was poor in most Indian cities.

Source: Times Of India, 21 November 2009

TED India Conference: Pranav Mistry - The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology: Video

Here is another Indian - Pranav Mistry, who is making mark worldwide with his great technological skills. He is the inventor of Sixth Sense Technology which is just amazing. Just have a look at this video. I bet you will be astonished. Such great people from India are taking India ahead in the global technological front. Hat's Off!

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.

About Pranav Mistry:
Pranav Mistry is the inventor of SixthSense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.
He is a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab. Before his studies at MIT, he worked with Microsoft as a UX researcher; he's a graduate of IIT. Mistry is passionate about integrating the digital informational experience with our real-world interactions.

Here is the Video :

TED India Conference: Hans Rosling on Asia's Rise - How and When : Video

Look at this video of TED India Conference where Hans Rosling explains and predicts the economic growth of India and China. India Shining. :)

Hans Rosling was a young guest student in India when he first realized that Asia had all the capacities to reclaim its place as the world's dominant economic force. At TEDIndia, he graphs global economic growth since 1858 and predicts the exact date that India and China will outstrip the US and become the worlds economic power.

About Hans Rosling:
As a doctor and researcher, Hans Rosling identified a new paralytic disease induced by hunger in rural Africa. Now he looks at the bigger picture of social and economic development with his remarkable trend-revealing software.
Even the most worldly and well-traveled among us will have their perspectives shifted by Hans Rosling. A professor of global health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, his current work focuses on dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world, which (he points out) is no longer worlds away from the west. In fact, most of the third world is on the same trajectory toward health and prosperity, and many countries are moving twice as fast as the west did.

Here is the Video:

Shiv Sena Activists attack on IBN Lokmat channel's Office: Video

India is facing more problems in regionalism and national integrity these days especially after recent attacks on North Indians by MNS in Maharashtra. If this goes on like this, the day is not too far that India itself will be splitted into different parts based on this meaningless regionalism. Indians should first stop this and stop fighting against each other.

Few days back Sachin Tendulkar said "Mumbai belongs to all Indians. I am a Maharashtrian and am extremely proud of that. But I am an Indian first" . What was wrong in that statement. Shiv Sena started attacking sachin through media saying that what he said was against maharashtrians and marathi manoos. This was not enough to them, they later attacked the IBN news channel in mumbai.

CCTV captures the moment right wing Shiv Sena activists launch an attack on the offices of television channel IBN Lokmat in India's western Mumbai.

At least 25 people were hurt when an angry mob of 20-25 activists barged into the office of the channel at around 1600 (1130GMT).

Armed with rods and cricket bats, the mob damaged computers, furniture, glass partitions and other electronic equipment. The attack on the IBN offices was allegedly sparked by negative reports about the Shiv Sena and its chief Balasaheb Thackeray.
Media networks across the country have condemned the incident, saying it amounts to a clear attack on press freedom. Police have arrested seven people in connection with the incident.

Look at the way the activists are attacking the journalists inside their office. Disgusting.

Here is the Video:



According to a channel staffer, the Sena activists barged into the channel office around 4 p.m., shouting slogans in favour of the Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray.

Besides editor Nikhil Wagle, who was slapped, pushed around and had a chair flung at him, three other staffers sustained injuries in the Shiv Sena activists' attack.

A shaken Wagle said that some of the activists launched a brutal attack on the journalists and other staffers in the office, they caused extensive damage to the office, furniture and fittings there.

"The attack was preplanned, they had come armed with sticks and iron rods for creating the mayhem in our offices. They hurled a chair at me," Wagle told media persons.

The Shiv Sena owned up responsibility for the attack later Friday evening, while the vandalism drew condemnation from other political parties.

"The government shall not go soft on the Shiv Sena and the media should boycott the Shiv Sena," a grim Ashok Chavan told media persons Friday evening. The city police nabbed seven and Pune police arrested eight Shiv Sainiks for the attacks.

Home Minister R.R. Patil also condemned the attacks and assured newsmen that stern action would be taken against those involved.

Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut accused the channel of misquoting Thackeray's observations on cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar in a signed article in the Sena mouthpiece "Saamana" last week.

"This is not an attack on the entire media. The (IBN-Lokmat) channel has been constantly misreporting about Bal Thackeray and targeting the Shiv Sena. We shall not tolerate any criticism of our party chief," Raut, a Sena Rajya Sabha MP, said.

"They also manhandled a few staffers, including women, and editor Nikhil Wagle and others," said Vijay Darda, chairman of the Lokmat group of newspapers that part-owns the channel.

Terming it as "an attack on the freedom of speech and media", Darda said he did not expect this from Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray.

"I have always considered him as a refined, cultured and family person and what has happened has pained us," Darda told IANS.

He said the channel had been running several reports on the debacle of the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in last month's elections to the Mahastrata state assembly.

"They have vented their frustration at the defeat on the journalists and the TV channel, which is highly condemnable," said Darda, a Congress member in the Rajya Sabha.

Darda, whose younger brother Rajendra is a Congress cabinet minister in Maharasthra, said it is "disturbing that the Sainiks have become so bold as to launch attacks on the media without any fear".

CNN-IBN chief Rajdeep Sardesai termed the attacks as "a shame" and condemned the Sena for the attaks.

"Be it the Shiv Sena or the Maharashtra Navnirmaan Sena (MNS), all are anti-social elements. They are spreading a feeling of regional difference amongst the states of the country. We appeal to the Election Commission to cancel the registration of such parties which do not follow the Indian constitution," Rajendra Chaudhary, spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, told IANS.

Source: in.reuters.com,www.tvnext.in, 20 Nov 2009

2000 women whipped for 5 hours by priests in Tamilnadu: video

More superstition. Once again the target is women. Massive whipping of women and even young girls. They are getting whipped like this as part of some ritual. Really dont know how many such rituals are still existing in rural India. People watching this say nothing absurd about what they saw. "Tradition is tradition", they say.

Read On and also have a look at the video..

Like every Dussera, thousands gathered to pray at a 300-year-old temple in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district. What followed next was unspeakable horror.

Two thousand teenagers and children, some as young as 10, were whipped by the temple's priests. For five hours. The priests' explanation: This whipping is a cure-all. Some 10-year-olds were lashed for not studying enough. Others were attacked for being slow to attain puberty. And menstruating teens were hit for being impure. The priests say this is nothing new. "We have been practicing this ritual for 300 years" declares Thangavelu, a priest.

The shocking scenes were filmed by local channels, none of whom called for help. Like others in this area, they find nothing absurd about what they saw. Tradition is tradition, they say.

The women can be seen gasping for breath, many are sobbing their hearts out. But the faith is unshakeable. Radhika, a devotee, says, "We believe that when we are whipped, we will get rid of all our mental and physical ailments and evil spirits."

Source: NDTV, September 30, 2009

Heights of superstition and blind belief: killing their own mother

Even today people in India believe in few superstitions which doesnt have any meaning. Exorcism ,if believed, is meant to be done by experienced people since it has its own complications. Here few men took this job by their own and in the process, they beat their own mother to death. Holy Shit !!

Read On..

In a grotesque incident, three educated sons of a UP Power Corporation engineer, along with a cousin, punched, kicked and beat their mother to death with a rod believing that she had been possessed by the spirit of a dead relative.

The bizarre violence didn't end there. The foursome then tried to "sacrifice" a sister-in-law in an attempt to bring their dead mother back to life. They also beat up and injured their sister, her husband, the husband's father and two sisters, when they tried to intervene. All except their brother-in-law, Rohit Kumar, had to be hospitalized. The gruesome drama lasted from 9pm to 10.30pm.

The eldest of the three brothers, Rohit Gautam, 28, is an engineer in a multinational production unit at Greater Noida. Another brother, Navneet, 26, recently completed his MBA. The youngest, Ashwini, 24, is doing a course in electrical work from a polytechnic. The "exorcism" took place in a respectable, middle class locality in the city.

As news of the violence spread, several hundred residents rushed to the police station to get a glimpse of the "butchers of Vijaynagar". Some agitated residents demanded they be allowed to lynch the culprits. The area police remained as involved with crowd control as they were with the investigation.

Rohit Kumar, whose wife, Renu, is the sister of the three assailants, said: "My mother, Banso Devi, had died two months ago. Soon after that, my brothers-in-law claimed my mother's spirit had possessed their mother, Shashi. On Saturday, they told us that we should perform a havan to exorcise my mother's spirit. We agreed just to make them feel good."

After the havan, Kumar said in the police report, he went home leaving Renu behind. "But about 8.30pm, the brothers phoned me to say Renu was very ill. When I reached there, their mother was having a fit. And the three brothers and their cousin, Kuldeep, 25, were shouting, 'Banso Devi, let go of our mother'."

Kumar said the brothers were kicking and punching their mother, and beating her with a rod, in an attempt to exorcise the spirit. "Soon Shashi Devi, who was around 55, died because of the beating."

The men then turned to Kumar's sister, Ruchi. She later said: "The brothers had become ferocious. They decided that a human sacrifice was needed to bring their mother back to life. They decided I was to be sacrificed. Even as their father, Ranvir Gautam, my sister, Lalita and sister-in-law, Renu, tried to intervene, they pulled us all into a room and latched the door from inside. They beat us all with rods. My left arm broke and I received head and body injuries. We survived because around 10.30pm, neighbours forced open the door to rescue us. The police also arrived about the same time."

All the assailants, with the exception of Rohit Gautam who is absconding, have been arrested. They have all been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and for "committing an act which, if it results in the victim's death, would make the death appear unintentional".

SSP, Deepak Ratan, said, "This is a case of sheer superstition and blind belief. There was no element of human sacrifice in the goings on, as some would like to believe. But it is tragic that even well educated people can behave in this way. These brothers' mother was ill. Like any patient, she required medical treatment."

Source: Times Of India, 28 April 2008