India connects to the North East

It does sound weird, but the North Eastern States of Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura have received the Cabinet Committee on Economic affairs' approval for the proposal of the Manipur Government to extend the broad gauge 27- km line from Tupur to Imphal thus providing the direct rail connection of the State capital with the rest of the Country.... 60 years after India became independent.

It has been a longstanding demand of the northeastern state to connect its capital with the rest of the country through a railway line to end the transportation bottleneck. On the request of the Government, the survey of the line was again done so as to connect Imphal directly by railway line.

The proposed new broad gauge line will be providing rail connectivity up to Imphal as well as make possible direct movement of freight and passengers from this region to other parts of the country. The increased expenditure of the extension proposal is estimated to cost Rs 2,650 crores.

In the North Eastern Region, rail connectivity had been intensified recently after the Centre had taken up many rail projects as a National Project. Recently Agartala, the State Capital of Tripura had been connected with the railway line with the rest of the country. Tripura’s State capital Agartala on October 5 this year became the second Northeastern capital town, after Guwahati, included in the railway map with regular train service beginning between the State and other parts of the country. The survey for construction of the railway line from Dimapur to Kohima, the State capital of Nagaland is being taken up as a National Project with the process of laying of 125-km long railway line between Dimapur and Kohima began from November 25 this year.

Do we need anything else to show the utter disregard of all our governments at the Centre for the past 60 years towards the North Eastern States? It is time we bring ourselves together and end any step motherly attitude to any State, Province, Region or People.

Well, atleast now than never!!

Media, Politicians or a Bunch of Jokers?

It has always been a doubt, but now it is proved beyond all that, that indeed most of our politicians are a bunch of jokers. Take the case of R R Patil of Maharashtra who said that the Bombay attack was a small thing..saying.... "bade shahron mein aise ek adh hadse hote rahte hain. Woh 5,000 logon ko marne aye the lekin humne kitna kum nuksan hone diya ." (Such small incidents happen in big cities. They (terrorists) came to kill 5,000 people but we ensured minimal damage)”.

Then there was the reluctance of Deshmukh to quit. And his terror tourism of the Taj with his son and a film director.

There was the resignation of the Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the subsequent quip of Laloo that this should have happened earlier. And the advertisement issued by the BJP in Delhi during the Delhi elections.

While the Politicians are going full throttle to upstage one another, there are the media houses, which covered the terror attack saying "Breaking News, Exclusively covered by Us and such...". Are we interested in one upmanship at times like this?

And then the fiasco of Naqvi leaving the BJP blushing. And the CM of Kerala's spat with the slain martyr's father who refused to meet the CM.

By the way,there was this mail I received as a forward and I cannot vouch for its authenticity, but these people by the behaviour they exhibit do show that it might well be true!!

This is the state of Kerala Poticians, it seems!!


Taking Achudananandan or any other politician's remarks seriously is in actuality a waste of time...mine inclusive. Look at their Educational qualification and thereafter you could continue with your remarks!!!!
M. A. Baby - (Education!!!) degree fail

Premachandran - (Water and Irrigation) 10th class PhD (Passed with highest Difficulty)

A. K. Balan - (Electricity and SC/ST Welfare) 10th fail

S. Sharma - (Fisheries) 10th fail

Elamaram Kareem - (Commerce and Industries) 10th fail

Paloli Kutty - (Rural Development, Town Planning etc) 5th class and drill

Kodiyeri Balu - (Home, Vigilance and Tourism!!!!) 8th class and gundaism

Achu mama - (CM) 4th class - pass or fail doesn't matter
(Kerala Chief Minister)

I Want Peace

“I am afraid now the war is raging inside my house and not on the country’s borders. My PM is telling me not to be afraid and to keep calm and maintain peace and harmony. He is not angry and his body language conveyed that everything is under control. But my PM has Z Plus security which is perhaps why he is not agitated. I am an ordinary citizen. How can I remain calm when my own house is on fire?” – An anguished Indian, Naresh Kumar Jain’s letter to the PM published in “The Hindu”

A Placard held by an Indian Citizen infront of the Taj Mahal Hotel on 29th November read-

Mr. Terrorist, I am alive, What can you do?
Mr. Politician, I am alive despite you...

I am a MUMBAIKAR

This indeed reflects the mood of the whole of India.

Is it finally over?

Thank God for our Security Services!! And our salute to the many unknown brave men from our forces

Thank you Suchin for this message -

"Forgiving a terrorist should be left to God. But fixing their appointment with God is entirely our responsibility"

26th November 2008 - Mumbai's latest date with Terrorism

Mumbai is still battling with the entire city under siege by Terrorists. A shiver runs down my spine to think about the calculated manner in which these attacks have been carried out with such precision that has left the intelligence looking like fools.

It is claimed that the perpetrators of terror arrived in the Gate way of India in a boat. What was our coast guard and our defence forces doing? I used to look at awe at the huge navy ships and feel a sense of pride that they were guarding India. Now.... A boat laden with arms and explosives have been seized in the Gateway. An unestimated number of terrorists, divided into small groups and weidling hand held weapons and improvised explosive devices literally took control of Mumbai and targetted hotels, railway stations, hospitals..... How porous can our security be? Can it get worse??

The grand old lady of Mumbai was the first building to be lit by electricity. It was really heart wrenching to see the fire there. And, also the commando action at the Nariman Bhavan, Hotel Trident and Oberoi. Hope all emerge safe and sound, though reports of two ATS men succumbing has already been confirmed. It will only take a few moments for Uncle Sam and his sychophant to declare Mumbai , or it could even be India, out of bounds for its citizens, forgetting the next target could be anywhere

This is not the India in which I want to live. Give me peace. There will be thousands, millions like me who want peace.

Scary picture this...It is not like 9/11, nor is it like Madrid 2004, or London 2006. How could the terrorists have planned such an operation, of such magnitude without the intelligence world wide not sniffing this? Be it the handiwork of LET or the Deccan Mujahideen or which ever, terror is a reality, a pressing one at that, which has in the recent days moved from Jaipur to Bangalore to Ahmedabad to Surat to Delhi to Assam and now Mumbai. This is not the end of it all.

But the pertinent question which arises in my mind is how safe are our nuclear establishments? We have been assured of No- First use assurance from President Zardari with glee but have we checked the ground reality and what needs to be done?

Hoping we wake up to a bright safe and new India and world soon which is like Utopia. Will we or the generations to come see that day? But before that, hoping we redeem our Mumbai from the clutches of these terror vultures soon!!

Image Courtesy - Reuters

Courtesy -Sri. Raman, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai

Sexual Harassment in the name of Mankind!!

Ludicrous!! I really am not able to find a word or phrase or sentence to describe the thinking of people occupying "exalted" postions with such pea-brained mentality. Sexual Harassment meted out to a woman by a man is gallantary and a favour he does to mankind. Wow!! Wouldn't some people love this?

This is exactly what was decided by a judge in Russia on a case of Sexual Harassment filed by an employee against her boss. The judge in all his wisdom ruled that "If we had no sexual harassment we would have no children," Amazing!!

I have been advocating against the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill as I was feeling that a separate Act was not necessary but certain amendments to the Indian Penal Code would suffice as this Act would be like the proverbial Damocles Sword hanging over the heads of employers of women and consequently it would result in more and more women being denied employment. But after this judgement by the Russian Court, I am forced to do a re-think.

What are the International Organizations doing? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Russia is a signatory relegated to the back burner. The International Communities should pressurize Russia to ratify, accept, adopt and accede to CEDAW, else it seems like doom is spelt for Russian women.

Aamir's Shahrukh Fiasco

In a disgusting post Aamir Khan has divulged how petty minded he can be.

In a blog post titled, Settlers of Panchgani, he has stooped so low that whatever admiration I had for the man post Lagaan and Taare Zameen Par has flown out of the window. He might have been referring to the dog, but it is very much in bad taste. This spat between the two Khans is getting a little ugly. Why, is it a case of Aamir envying SRK for the success (or whatever) of the Kolkata Knight Riders?

Whatever it maybe, it cannot get worse than this while trying to maul or malign another person. Is it that we are losing gentlemen from the film industry? Sad state of affairs this!!!!