“If I have to give up my post as CM and my life for this country I will consider myself fortunate.” - Arvind Kejriwal; addressing his supporters at AAP HQ.
Last night (14-Feb-2014, Friday), Mr. Arvind Kejriwal after a short stint as CM (49 days) handed over his resignation to LG of Delhi after the Jan Lokpal Bill was not allowed to be tabled. The Congress and BJP did not allow the bill to be tabled stating that voting on such a bill without the permission of Central Government is unconstitutional. Most probably Delhi is now headed towards a re-election following presidential rule, which will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.
By now, the name Devyani Khobragade must’ve been etched into the minds of everyone who has regular access to the TV and internet. Well to the contrary belief of our youth, she is not any actress or a celebrity, she is actually one of the representatives of our country in the United States of America.
Also, to make sure I get the point clearly across to you, “The Visa Fraud” tag which comes along with her name everywhere is not because she did the Visa fraud for herself nor was it a part of her employment. It was because of her Nanny, in other words domestic help, whom she kept for working at home.
One of the most horrendous scars in the face of the Indian history would be ‘Operation Blue Star’. In 1984, the holiest place of the Sikh community was desecrated by the Indian army. Redundant to state the importance and the religious values that Golden Temple embodies, the attack took place on 3rd June 1984 in Amritsar at the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib). Lt Gen K S Brar headed the 1984 military operations, to give a vivid image, imagine the Golden Temple being surrounded by helicopters, military tanks and thousands of Indian Army soldiers fighting against the armed Sikh militants who harbored inside the temple complex. Until recently, it was perceived that Indira Gandhi was solely responsible for the operations in 1984, however a huge breakthrough regarding this event has been declassified. MP Tom Watson of Labour Party (UK) has told BBC Asian Network that top secret documents show that Margaret Thatcher’s government had assisted the Indian government in raiding the Golden Temple. This declassification gives rise to many questions, but most importantly, a country which preaches and hopes for peace and humanitarianism itself was involved in one of the deadliest attacks of all times.
As human beings, we do enjoy a certain amount of freedom regarding our various choices in life. Example, what we choose to become, what we choose to study, what we choose to do and such, also, who we choose to marry.
Considering the general case, the question of who we want to marry is a socially acceptable interrogation and is susceptible to intrusion by many near and far in your choices. Now, this is the common case, what about those special and exceptional cases which always seem to hide behind the backdrop. It’s not because of a choice that these cases exist.
In less than 48 hours, Delhiites will be casting their votes for 2013 Delhi Assembly Elections. Delhi is the capital of India, therefore it is probably unnecessary to state the importance of this election. Unlike every other mundane election which most of us usually scroll by, this one is going to be hell of a lot interesting one. Currently Delhi has been experiencing a lot of marriages and political rallies, well the former will go on for a while but today by 5 PM is the last day for rallies. Every Indian has their eyes set on the three prime candidates; Sheila Dikshit (Congress), Dr. Harsh Vardhan (BJP) and Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) . These may just be the assembly elections, however the result will be pivotal for deciding the future of 2014 PM elections.
Politics is a dirty game, no one is righteous or virtues, we all are well aware of that. However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t cast our (I am an Indian from Delhi) votes , the Delhiites will just have to pick their poison. So lets put these three candidates in a retrospect and briefly analyze the possible effect their presence would have on Delhi. We have created our own election poll at the end of this article, do cast your vote!
So by now, you must’ve heard of this a couple of times and probably have come up with your own assumptions and conclusions as to what it may mean.
If your conclusions are anywhere near the field of economy, politics and finance, you’re quite right. But if you think it’s about flights being cancelled or Disney world being sued, I’m sorry, you’re terribly wrong.
What basically happened is a fight between the two houses of the congress in the US government because they didn’t agree upon a new budget. Well, that’s typically the pocket money of the government. That wasn’t accepted by both and since it was going nowhere and things began to seem bad, the government entered a *partial* shutdown on October 1, 2013.
Those of you who still don’t know, wake up! The unpredictable has happened! Yes people, Iran has decided to reveal what’s there under its nuclear hood! Here is what happened.
Hassan Rouhani, President of Islamic Republic of Iran, in a recent address to the United Nations General Assembly stated that “Iran poses no threat to the world or the region” and assured that “WMDs and Nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s security and defence doctrine”. So now, Iran is ready to have open talks with the western world about its current nuclear establishments as well as undergoing research and make it clear to the world that Iran has no intentions to develop or possess Nuclear weapons as it contradicts the fundamental religious and ethical convictions. He re-iterated that sanctions by the West against the nation are violent, it’s Iran’s sovereign right to enrich Uranium for power plants and non-military purposes so that its citizens can access peaceful nuclear energy. Iran is even ready to discuss details about its nuclear activities BUT its right to enrich Uranium is non – negotiable.
Okay, so this is History! Who would have thought that after all these years of tension, Iran will extend the hand, which as of now seems of friendship, towards the West! Iran witnessed a regime change this year in June, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a never back down type of confrontational leader and an amazing orator, was succeeded by a moderate leader - Hassan Rouhani, who vowed to develop relations with the west and try to lift off the sanctions. This has been his first important address and it is quite impressive.
It would have probably been yet another pleasant day for the shopaholics and the mall addicts to waste another day in their life in the posh Westgate mall in Nairobi.
Luxuriously blessed with various shops which sold many different things, it catered to the masses from the city itself and even to the visitors from abroad. Many of the visitors that visited the mall on that day, that shall be hard to forget by the entire world, were diplomats from Canada, tourists from Britain, many Dutchmen, Indians and people even from China.
The mall attack was executed by 12-15 militants. Well, numbers are inaccurate because technically no one knows anything yet. The mall was under siege for two days before the police could finally force in to the mall to stop them. Well, the delay can never be fully understood except that the police were planning their rescue operation in a careful manner so that they don’t put the lives of the innocent multicultural group of citizens at risk. The rescue operation however involved the intervention of the military force too. Sadly, the majority of ruckus created in the mall was also due to the rescue operation. I tell you, military operation means a mess for sure; before execution, during it and after it too.
As I stand in my balcony at night, overlooking a busy highway, I can’t help but give in to my olfactory senses and inhale the soothing scent of jasmine flowers planted nearby. There is a deeper connection to jasmine and the country I am currently in, Tunisia. Other than the fact that jasmine is Tunisia’s national flower, it also symbolizes the Arab Spring or as many Tunisians may refer as the Jasmine Revolution, which took place almost two years ago. A lot has changed in Tunisia since its revolution, maybe a bit more than expected. While many may argue for or encourage to publicize the positive changes after the revolution, I believe it is extremely important to underline the negatives as well.