Moving the blog

I have shifted the blog to http://opcynique.blogspot.com/

Delaram-Zaranj Highway Completed

Some good news out of Afghanistan:

India today handed over to Afghan authorities a crucial highway built by it in the face of stiff resistance from Taliban, vowing that the collaboration between the two countries in the field of development will not stop.

The 215-km long Delaram-Zaranj highway, a symbol of India’s developmental work in the war-ravaged country, was handed over to Afghan authorities by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta. [PTI]

Below, you can see the Zaranj and Delaram on the map:

A total of 135 people (including 6 Indians) laid down their lives in constructing this critical road.

Zaranj is at the Afghanistan-Iran border. On the Iranian side, there is a road link to the Iranian port of Bandar-Abbas. Therefore, this road provides India with an alternative access route to Afghanistan. So far, only the Air route has connected India and Afghanistan with overflight rights dependent on Pakistan’s whims and fancies. Pakistan has been denying transit facility to India through its territory for a land route.

The Dossier on 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack

The dossier of evidence pertaining to the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack presented by India to the world has been made public.

As far as I know, The Hindu is the only mainstream website which is hosting the pdf files on their website. Naturally, this has put a heavy load on their servers and people are finding it hard to download these documents.

I have managed to download these files courtesy Heptanesian Archives, and am now mirroring the same on this blog:

Part-1 (3.1 MB, pdf)

Part-2 (4.2 MB, pdf)

Part-3 (2.0 MB, pdf)

Part-4 (5.4 MB, pdf)

If you have a blog (other than on wordpress.com – because my files are already on their servers) or your own website, please consider mirroring a copy of the dossier, at least for a few days.

The Sorry Fate of Iceland

Start reading this tragic tale here:

This North Atlantic volcanic island, which is the size of Cuba, with a population of 320,000 – the size of Coventry’s – is an unlikely player on the global financial stage. It is famous for its fish, geysers and for winning the UN’s 2007 ‘best country to live in’ poll. But Iceland built its extraordinary wealth on the crest of the worldwide credit boom and now the crunch is sweeping it away, bankrupting a people for whom the past eight years have been, for most of them and by their own admission, one long party. [Guardian]

Basically, the country is bankrupt. So are most of its people.

To make it worse, it is being threatened by former friends:

The Prime Minister said Britain would seize the assets of Icelandic companies and take “further action against the authorities” over the collapse of the island’s banks.

The diplomatic row, which has echoes of the Cod Wars of the 1970s, erupted after it emerged that more than 100 local authorities have deposits in Iceland. They stand to lose a total of more than £1 billion. British companies are said to have as much as £12 billion in the failed banks and individual savers more than £6 billion. [Telegraph]

But how did these idiots local authorities of Britain come to deposit so much money in Icelandic banks? Quite simply, they offered certified “better” deals:

Back in May when the base rate was 5%, Icesave was offering eye-watering 7.01% on its one-year fixed-rate savings account. The best UK banks could manage was Birmingham Midshires, which paid 6.88%. Icelandic banks offered more bang for your pound, they also appeared safe.

The credit-ratings agencies, whose job it is to assess which banks are most likely to give you your money back, gave them top-grade. Indeed, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch and Moody’s only downgraded some of the banks in the week they went bust. [Sky News]

Presumably, nobody at Standard & Poor’s, Fitch or Moody’s had known about the basic idea of Risk vs Rewards.

This reminds me – no matter how the global economy manages to survive the current crisis, and regardless of what happens to the fate of many investment banks, i-bankers, CEOs etc. – if there is one group of companies that needs to be investigated thoroughly, it is the credit rating agencies. These buggers are paid to avoid precisely this sort of fuck-ups. They are supposed to evaluate risks, which means that they have to disregard what the Suits and Talking-heads are saying and take a detailed look at the actual books. Did they do that? Time and again, names of these same credit rating agencies keep coming up in one failure after another where they have given completely fraudulent ratings. How come these rascals are still standing?

Anyway, what is this troubled country of Iceland to do now? Go fishing, literally:

Now residents are betting that the Atlantic island’s natural resources, primarily fish and geothermal energy, will help the country survive.

“We can live off the land as there are not so many of us, and we have heating, clean water and fish,” said Reykjavik resident Kristinn Johansson, 50, outside a branch of the now- nationalized Kaupthing. “We will be fine. We can eat what we can fish.” [Bloomberg]

Oh dear, how the mighty have fallen! Who is next?

Graffiti Spelling Fail

Spelling Fail

Seen in the lift (elevator) of my building. For a lot more fails, see failblog.

Laid-off Workers of the World, Unite!

First, the background:

Lalit Kishore Choudhary, the 47-year-old chief executive officer of Graziano Transmissioni India, died on Monday after sacked employees beat him up in the company’s office, a senior officer said. [Reuters]

The sacked employees, all innocent-like:

“We were demonstrating peacefully to get our jobs back,” one of the workers, Rajpal, told the Hindustan Times newspaper.

“Outsiders may have assaulted the CEO leading to his death. Firing by the guards agitated workers and they clashed with the staff,” he said. [BBC]

Yeah, right. They were just demonstrating peacefully, caressing the CEO with iron rods. Poor guy couldn’t take so much love and affection.

Nothing really weird about this, so far. Sacked employees got angry at some point during negotiations, and the angry mob beat up the CEO, resulting in his death. A criminal case that should be duly investigated and the culprits punished so as to serve as a warning to all those to think that mobs have the right to break laws. Right? Wrong.

Here is the real WTF stuff:

“This should serve as a warning for the managements. It is my appeal to the managements that the workers should be dealt with compassion,” Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes told reporters at a press conference. [ToI]

I suppose it should be okay with the Government if its shareholders/workers (citizens of India) decide to implement a similar brand of justice on their management (Cabinet Ministers etc.).

Get Well Soon

Inspector MC Sharma

Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was one of the recipients of the Police Medal for Gallantry this year on Republic Day (full list – pdf). He took three bullets during the encounter in Delhi in which two terrorists were killed, and one was captured, while two managed to escape. Head Constable Balwant, who also received a bullet, is reported to be out of danger.

… Inspector M C Sharma, a highly decorated officer of the special cell who has won gallantry awards seven times, was in a “critical condition” at the Holy Family hospital. [Rediff]

Take a couple of minutes off, and say a prayer for him to get well soon.

Update: He succumbed to the injuries on Friday, cremation service was held on Saturday. May his soul rest in peace.

And we need better execution of counter-terrorism operations. We can’t afford to lose people like him to hasty and insufficient planning.

Hating It: India TV

Read this article about the extent of paranoia whipped up by some Indian media outlets about the Large Hadron Collider, and weep. Weep for the innocent and the naive who take everything shown and said on TV to be true. Weep for the state of journalism in the country. And pour some hate on the fraudster TV channel which is the main culprit in spreading this paranoia about the Large Hadron Collider.

In this village, a woman named Mukesh recounts what she saw on India TV, a Hindi news channel—once a black hole opened up, the earth would be consumed in one second, followed by the moon in another second and the sun in another six. It even set a time for doomsday—noon, sharp.

“This has worried us so much that we haven’t even eaten properly for the last few days,” she says. On Wednesday, “my son Rishipal has an English exam, so I have to send him to school. But I’m not sending him alone. I’m going with him.” And then, very businesslike, she asks: “Tell me, should we go into the hills? Is that safer?” [Live Mint]

My mother called me early yesterday morning to ask me whether the world is going to end at noon. She sounded quite worried, so I tried to reassure her. I hope I succeeded. But what about those mothers who don’t have engineer sons to call up for comfort every time this sort of nonsense happens?

The sheer outrageous nature of this channel’s coverage of events connected to LHC is beyond belief. I can’t find any clips on the web right now, but the excerpt above should give you a hint. Don’t forget that this coverage was backed with visuals from disaster movies, flash animation, terrorizing sound-effects etc. Read this for some more details.

Also, please take a look at the descriptions of some of the shows being promoted on the front page of this channel’s website:

To strike a balance between high tech modernization and astronomical calculations Sant Shiromani brings you GURUMANTRA with value added remedies of common ailments, foretelling future from Panchaang, and AAJ KA UPAAY. A perfect way to kick start your day.

Introducing you to your horoscope and numerological fortune, the proficient astrologer Acharya Indu Praksh reveals the connection between your celestial mechanics and the terrestrial dynamics. This daily dose of ‘Bhavishyavani’ aims to give you practical solutions to all your problems.Just dial 0120 – 2517251 and make a refreshing start to know your stars, just a phone call away.

‘Jai Shani Maharaj’ is a weekly show in which viewers get a chance to interact with proficient astrologer Dati Madan Maharaj Rajasthani Ji over telephone and get the solutions for Shani’s impact on their life. Just dial 0120 – 251 7 251.

Yes, that’s right: three daily shows devoted entirely to astrology. Yes, I know that a lot of people are superstitious and believe in such stuff. But must our media add to such nonsensical beliefs?

It looks like there might be some action taken against India TV and Aaj Tak for their alarmist fear-mongering. But the most effective action can only be taken by the viewers by refusing to watch such idiotic channels. You now have a channel which said that the world will end at noon. Well, it didn’t. Isn’t that proof enough that the channel was bullshitting you? Do yourself a favour and ask your cable operator to unsubscribe you from such feeds.

Update: There is a lot more evidence of sheer idiocy and inanity from India TV. Thanks to reader Amit Jain for the pointer in comments.

Questions For Sarah Palin

 

Together at the Republican Convention 2008

Looks like everyone has a few questions to ask the Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, now that she has granted her first interview as the GOP’s VP-nominee.

Jack Shafer at Slate asks the following 10 questions:

1. What Bush administration policy do you disagree with most, and what would you have done differently?
2. How are you like Hillary Clinton?
3. You’re running as a reformer, a crusader against the special interests and politics as usual. Setting aside for a moment Sen. Ted Stevens’ legal problems, should Alaska return to the Senate this Republican who has delivered more pork to his state than virtually any other elected official? Yes or no?
4. Unique among all U.S. governors, you lead a state that shares a border with Russia, a sometimes hostile nation with a nuclear arsenal and new geopolitical ambitions. Given that, how do you evaluate Vladimir Putin?
5. Do you still disagree with John McCain’s position that global warming is caused by man? If you’ve changed your mind in the last couple of weeks, please tell me why you changed your mind and when that happened.
6. On the campaign trail or as vice president, will you try to persuade Mr. McCain to adopt your position on drilling in ANWAR? Or have you adopted his?
7. Were you for the bridge to nowhere before you were against it?
8. For most in the nation, you’re an unknown quantity. What questions should the press be asking you?
9. What have you learned about foreign policy from John McCain since joining the ticket?
10. Your son is being sent to Iraq. What is he fighting for?

He also has follow-ups to many of these questions. This is the list that I liked the most. As they say, read the whole thing [10 Questions for Sarah Palin]

The Foreign Policy magazine has put up a list of 20 questions they would like to ask her. Quite naturally, most questions on this list deal with foreign policy. I would have liked it more if they hadn’t included trivia-type questions in it (naming world leaders, listing books, is Iraq a democracy, which world leader would you meet first and why etc.).

Huffington post also has a list of 20 questions for her, but it seems to be unusually heavy on sensationalism.

The Anchorage Daily News, a newspaper based in Alaska, pitches in with 9 questions of its own.

How Can She Slap, Sir?

Apparently, there is this reality show called Dadagiri (TV’s meanest game show) on a channel called Bindaas. I’d never heard of either, till this happened (Via: Great Bong):

Part 1 – Prelude (01:03):

Part 2 – Real Action (02:18):

After being covered on TMZ, the video is a global hit and copies are available on virtually every video-sharing website.

Here is a short summary, if you can’t watch the videos for some reason:

The show pitches college students (contestants) against college bullies (hosts). Every round has different flavours of bullying (all intent on humiliation of contestants, basically). One of the hosts “Isha – The Goddess” – plays the role of the college rich bitch, who is supposed to insult contestants for their ugliness and for their lack of class.

She was doing her usual ‘your-sideburns-are-from-60s’ routine (Part 1, above) while the contestants managed to remain cool and didn’t respond to her comments. Infuriated (scripted, I think) she asked them whether they have tongues in the mouths (direct translation from the Hindi quip – ‘munh mein zabaan nahi hai kya‘). One of the two contestants said that they are quiet because they don’t want to talk to her. She barked at him to “fuck off”. The contestant managed a (weak) comeback of “you go”. Something cracked inside the hostess, and she slapped the contestant. Shocked, the contestant slapped her back (Part 2, above).

The other host then jumped into the fray to defend the hostess and started beating up the contestant who kept asking “how can she slap, sir?” Thereafter, the whole crew seemed to descend on the poor contestant and proceeded to beat him to a pulp. In the process, apart from getting physically thrashed, he gets thoroughly abused verbally as well. Expletives were all over the place, in Hindi and in English.

Now, quite obviously, the first slap wasn’t part of the script. That explains the reflexive return slap by the contestant. Moreover, he kept asking the host about the slap that he received. He has confirmed as much now (and is suing the channel):

“This incident occurred four months ago. The participants of the show had to pass through the litmus test of abuses and spats. And it was all scripted! We were all given our parts where 70 per cent was to be said as is and 30 per cent would be improvisations,” says Ravi. “There was this girl called Isha opposite me who was supposed to abuse me and I was to retaliate, but calmly. After a while when it came to improvisations, I presume she was out of words and came and slapped me hard. I was shocked and in the heat of the moment, I slapped her back. That led to the entire unit of about 70 people jumping on me beating me black and blue. It was a miracle in itself that I managed to escape from there,” he says. [TOI]

Legal tangles apart, I am on the contestant’s side on this one. She shouldn’t have slapped him in the first place. The rest of the crew had no right whatsoever to beat him to a pulp (he was thrown on the ground and kicked, and was reduced to tears). And the verbal abuse is just shameful, especially coming from a TV crew who are supposed to know better than to scream obscenities when the camera is rolling. Disgusting. Funny too, in a sad sort of way.

The channel, no doubt, is pretty happy with this turn of events. In fact, it probably deliberately leaked the clip to create controversy and raise TRPs.

PS: The incident has also become an internet meme. There is even a dedicated website, which sells “how can you slap” t-shirts.