India launches nuclear submarine

Launching its first nuclear-powered submarine, India became the 6th country in the world to do so. Named Arihant, the 6,000 tonne submarine was launched by Dr. Manmohan Singh. It was entirely built in India with Russian assistance.

Dr. Singh said this is not mean to be any indication of aggression on any country. However, the sea is becoming an integral part of India's strategy. India till now had only capabilities to launch missiles from land or air; this will change once the INS Arihant becomes fully operational in about two years time.

China has recently expanded its position in the sea by helping the Sri Lankan government fight the LTTE. In return, they have got a strategic location in the island country, which is bound to play an important role in the Indian Ocean. This new Indian foray will not only add a new aspect to Indian defence, but also act as a warning to the increasing Chinese naval presence.

Analysing the voter turnout

 A lot has been said about the sad voter turnout throughout the country. But has anybody analysed the reason?

Here is one of the analysis I read in The Economic Times yesterday 🙂

Ten reasons why South Mumbai did not vote

10. Clashed with Salsa class

9. Election whites not drycleaned

8. No candidate a hottie

7. Tony Jethmalani contesting from suburbs. Sigh

6. No valet parking at booth

5. Spotted servant in queue ahead of us

4. Driver not come

3. Elections over dude, Obama won!

2. No party tackling real issues, eg, reduce Gold Gym rates

1. No home delivery!

 

Why Delhi turned up to vote

1. They loved the Tata Tea ad

2. They saw the Chopras go out, and thought they must overtake the Lancer from left

3. Bunty’s girlfriend wanted to when they were going out for some Chinese

4. Diwan Saheb on second floor persuaded them. He is jaaaint saactry in DPCC

5. Without stable government, real estate will not revive

6. Election Commission directly asked Pappu. So nice of them

7. Grandfather started talking on Partition, and they had to run

8. Auntyji hoped some TV crew will come and take a soundbite

9.Baba Ramdev said it is good for health

And finally, 10. They had to beat the Bambaiyaas. Izzat ka sawaal hai, hainji?

A reply to Mr. Aviraj Singh Saluja

Dear Mr. Aviraj Singh Saluja,

I am deeply humbled by your praise for me and thank you for your wishes.

I agree with you that this country does deserve the stablest of Governments and the most honest of Leaders and I hope with all my heart that we are able to give this country what it deserves. However, it saddens me to know that you have no expectations from me or my Government. It is sad that you have lost all expectations.

You say you had expectations after I had been elected as the Prime Minister in 2004. However, I went through the election records and saw that you did not vote in the 2004 election yourself. I am not saying you have no right to have expectations, but it is your foremost duty to vote and be a part of the most basic of democratic exercise. You say you were happy that I was the Prime Minister, but you had nothing to do with me becoming the Prime Minister. I can easily say that you do not deserve anything in return, however, I will never say that.

You talk about the last 5 years as if that is all it takes to turn-around a vast and expansive country like ours and make life better for the common man. I cannot entirely blame you for having lost all expectations. But what expectations do you have? Are these expectations same as that of the all the other people in this country? You Sir, are one of the 7.1% of the elite population who use the internet. I again can’t blame you for being a part of such an elite crowd, as one of my Government’s responsibilty is also to make sure every person gets benefit of the internet revolution. However, there are more pressing matters than making sure that the common man gets his share of the WWW. It is not incorrect to compare our governance and systems to those of a superpower like the USA, it is however unfair to compare a 62 year youngster with a 232 year old veteran.

It is encouraging to see that you so deeply believe in the power of Goodness. I assure you that this victory will not make us complacent, it is rather a form of encouragement for us, a show of faith from the people. My enthusiasm will never deter; and as far as the things I personally wished to do for the country are concerned, I assure you that the seeds were already sown 5 years ago. Being from the urban middle-class, you would surely agree that Rome was not built in a day.

You believe that you speak for a large majority of the urban middle-class; I believe that you also voted for the same large majority of the urban middle-class. You also seem to forget that 70% of this country’s population resides in the “non-urban” areas and therefore it is essential for me to concentrate close to 70% of my efforts in serving them.

There is not much that I can take from your letter, but not because it does not have anything to give, but because I already know what my people expect from me. Please do not lose hope in the power the voice of a twenty-something has, this country is soon going to be run by the same people. For now, for today, I have been given the responsibilty to lead this country because I am the best we have as you say and not because I am ideal. The next five years Mr. Saluja, I will try my best to live upto your hope and other’s expectations.

Wish you the best when you go to America in July.

Faithfully,

Dr. Singh.

Mumbaites making Mumbai Shanghai

In an unprecedented initiative, the citizens of Mumbai have taken upon themselves to make sure that Mumbai becomes Shanghai.

Over the past few years, the promise that every administrator made was to convert Mumbai into Shanghai. All this while, these have just remained promises. But now, the citizens of the Maximum City have resolved that they will not let the ineptitude and inefficiency of the administrators discourage them. The people have now taken matters into their own hands.

The citizens know that Rome was not built in a day and this applies to Shanghai too. The masses have realised that one of the major things that differentiates both the countries is the Government by itself. More importantly, the way in which the Government is formed. The people of Shanghai have absolutely no say in who governs them. This seems to work for them. The citizens of Mumbai are trying to do that as well. Atleast 57% of Mumbai is trying their best.

If one looks at the trend in detail, one can see that this has been an attempt since more than a decade now. The voter turnout dipped to a low of 41.43 percent in 1991, but climbed to 45.90 percent in 1996 and 50.26 percent in 1998. The figure again nosedived to 44.86 percent in 1999 and then touched 47.15 percent in 2004 showing that people who do not want the progress of the city and this country still vote. But this year more have adopted the progressive mindset and decided to not vote, bringing the voter turnout to a whopping 41.24%!

This strategy was noticed by various NGOs, the media and various celebrities. They realised that they will be strangled and have no freedom at all if Mumbai becomes Shanghai and selfishly released campaigns encouraging people to vote. But finally, we, the people prevailed. The day is now not far when we can proudly say we are similar to Shanghai atleast in one aspect!