In the News- 30-01-2012

In the news today……….
Remember the Taliban office in Qatar holding talks with the US government? Here is some follow-up:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Americas/US-Taliban-prisoner-release-talks-fail-report/Article1-804033.aspx
No matter what the outcome, I will always remember this as the time when the US negotiated with terrorists, in spite of their famous one liner “The US does not negotiate with terrorists”

On a different note, loved the new ad of The Hindu newspaper, hitting back at the Times of India with the catch phrase “Stay ahead of the Times”.
http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2012/01/the-hindu-hits-back-at-toi-with-its-new-campaign/
It is most definitely true that Times of India feeds its readers with a lot of crap and sensationalized news; finally the Hindu has stood up and made a great come back ad for it. From the point of view of ad film making in which I am involved to a certain extent, this ad is really good in making people think of what is more important- pulp fiction or actual current affairs.

Finally at least one article exploring few aspects of the baby deaths in West Bengal, India:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/lack-of-facilities-behind-crib-deaths-in-malda/225552-3.html
Of course this article does not explore completely the cause of the deaths, but at least talks about the social issue of child marriages prevalent in this region. So far all articles reported only justification from politicians saying it was not their fault, but the other party’s’. This also came from hospital inspection authorized team lead, much to the dismay of many Indians. An inspection team is sent to explore the conditions and report problems causing this widespread problem in the state, not to publicize your personal political preference/opinion.

Also loved some of these articles and the comments section of these articles in the ‘Opinions’ section of The Hindu, exploring policies of Norway’s Child Protection Services (CPS). The first article, written by, I assume a Norway national is an eye-opener:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2842917.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article2842992.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article2837613.ece

In the news!

Inspiring articles in the newspaper today:
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/article2798677.ece
And here we all are claiming we don't have enough time!

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/money-and-careers/article2795884.ece

Taliban office in my locality!

Have you heard? The Taliban, who in my opinion and understanding are a terrorist organization, are opening an office in Qatar for talks with the US!
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/printArticle.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=479278&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56
I didn't know that organization such as this could

1. Open an office


2. Open an office in another country


3. Open an office to negotiate with another country's government!

Whatever happened to the famous US dialogue that they will never negotiate with terrorists? We have been tortured on any travel around the world in the name of security for the last decade or more due to this organization and today they are opening an office.

Icing on the cake- this office is going to be in Qatar where I happen to live! The safe feeling is priceless. Happy New Year everybody!

Idli

New rescue this month....meet Idli*! Aptly named so by V, due to this peeping Idli face (pic 2) from the hedges, panting after dashing and running around during morning play. She is a beautiful little kitten that we brought home from outside a shopping complex in the city. She is living with us as an outdoor cat, due to the two dogs at home, but with full meals facilities and daily playtime. Pic 3 is of the poor little dog with the welcome sign, which has never managed to stand as it is supposed to for few minutes ever since Idli arrived! It is her little toy :)

We keep the soil beds moist at all times to keep it bearably cool for her in the heat of summer. She has managed remarkably well and we are having loads of fun with her :)

* Idli is a popular south Indian dish like rice cakes mainly had for breakfast with some gravy or chutneys.

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Social initiative

An amazing article about a great organization, started by this fabulous lady here in The Hindu:
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article2308291.ece
I can only imagine what struggles and dangerous situations this individual has had to go through in her work in rescuing and rehabilitation of sex workers! Hats off to this great initiative Prajwala and its fabulous contribution. I am truly inspired and intend to participate at least in some ways with this organization and others of this nature. Just sharing it here with other readers for your information.

Responsible reporting?

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2290625.ece

What more can be said about Indira Gandhi, who, almost three decades after her death, still continues to inspire people and instill this tremendous pride in fellow Indians/fellow women?
This article by a Bangladeshi war veteran captures very clearly, the views of a neighbor on India and her political views in history. We have always been a secular democracy, standing up against terrorism and it continues to this day. Hats off to great politicians like Indira Gandhi and her predecessors for setting these initial policies in place. While I was busy reading this article with pride on this great international recognition, the main headlines had not failed to grab my attention.
The new terrorist on the block, Norwegian Breivik, has hailed India’s Hindu Nationalist movement apparently and his manifesto has a lot of nonsense which I don’t want to mention in my blog as there is no need to publicize their terrorist movement. What is amazing is the depth of detail that media chooses to publish the same in! The details include the various countries which could participate, the organizations justifications, and acknowledgements of lives that will be lost etc., much like reporting a political leader’s opinions. One might wonder if it is a campaign for joining this group in their erroneous beliefs! The only good thing that the media have captured is the note on their racists’ beliefs that in spite of wanting to work with extremists from other countries, they hold Asians participating in the long term to be acting as laborers in their future plans. At least it puts everything in perspective for a very naïve person reading the article! He is just basically a Nazi in another era; just to be sentenced for life imprisonment or death rather than publish their manifesto and his smug face all over the news. I really wish journalists and media would practice responsible reporting. All the speculation, wrong reporting, and sensationalized reporting are hurting the world and it is about time to put a stop to this.

I liked this article in the Hindu very much for a fresh and very true analysis of the various political extremists groups and for once even the comments section has very interesting feedback and discussions http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2290619.ece .
Various democracies of the world should stay united and educated in the constant fight against these kinds of extremist terrorists and they should not be given such a big voice by the media in further publicizing their ideals. The strength of India lies in secularism and one can only hope the Hindu extremists do not get too encouraged with this global audience and hints of collaboration with these terrorist groups for “getting Muslims out of India”. They are fellow Indians and have the same rights as any one else in the country. Nothing can be accomplished by killing hundreds of innocent people in the name of religion, race and colour. At least a portion of these troubles can be eliminated by responsible reporting, which is of primary importance. We really request the media not to give a global platform for terrorists and extremists as this is what they wanted, which is being achieved through the media. Due to their irresponsible and sensationalized reporting!

Women and India

So much bad news about the treatment of women in India in recent times. Today's news screams that a third rape has occurred in UP in the last 48 hours:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/up-third-rape-in-48-hours-victim-burnt-alive/160892-3.html
Another headlines screams that women have been made guinea pigs due to poverty:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/170095/driven-poverty-ap-women-turn.html
All such incidents, well known trafficking, female foeticide and infanticide have got this name last week for India too:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-4th-most-dangerous-place-for-women-survey/159395-3.html
This survey done by Thomas Reuters, has declared India to be the fourth most dangerous place for women in the world!
However, lets analyze the causes which have led to this kind of a survey.....there are hundreds of issues that of course have to be taken care of and controlled by the legal system of India, and the government has to come up with severe punishments for people being involved in acts such as prostitution, trafficking and killing of innocent babies or foetuses. Every individual should be made aware of such problems, whether they live in rural or urban India. Every person should also take responsibility for these actions, whether theirs or someone else's and do something from their end to help eradicate such issues. Write your opinion on these issues, try to educate people, empower women, or if nothing else at least contribute financially to some of the organizations trying to help and working for these causes.
All this said, I completely also oppose this survey and the results! Who were the participants? It could have spanned over many continents, but what do other people know about life in India? Maybe they just read news which is sensationalized, or just guess since they think these are the backward countries. As a girl who grew up in India, I know there are some issues, but on the other hand, I know the whole country is not 'dangerous' for women as this survey claims. A lot of cultural contributions, poverty and so on contribute to these issues, but the rest of the world can be rest assured that this century is already different from the previous. By the end of this century, it will be clear which countries are actually dangerous and which are not.
If anyone is thinking that life in countries such as the US is excellent for women, please get rid of such misconceptions! I had the opportunity to follow the entire preliminaries of the 2008 elections in the US, from within the US. My blood had boiled so many times while listening to National Public Radio, where men - American men- had made statements such as "I can never bring myself to vote for a woman", "I don't want a woman ruling this country", etc., These remarks were all made against Hillary Clinton, who was a much better candidate than her opponent Barack Obama, competing for the presidential candidacy of the democratic party. The people could bring themselves to vote for an African American man for the first time in their lives, but still not even a white woman!
At the same precise time, we in India had a woman president in office- Pratibha Patil! Indian women may not have the same freedom and independence as an American woman in day to day life, but we have a chance to hold the highest office in our country! I don't have to remind anyone of Indira Gandhi in the 70s and 80s, long before women in the US had so much freedom, who was acknowledged as a peer and equal by the greatest politicians of the world!

Someone also please explain to me why in the US is it so important for the wife of the presidential candidates to made their specialty dishes and have them judged? I cringed at this insult to all women. Are you indicating that this is the woman's job? There were also digs at former president Clinton, even though Hilary Clinton was not a presidential candidate then, speculating what would have happened if she had been? What would Clinton have done? Would he have made his specialty dish? This was an important topic of conversation in the US that whole week!

So yes people, we do have issues in India. But for such vast population, problems are to be expected. We are overcoming them and the rest of the world will witness just how in this century, surveys like these notwithstanding!