Aseem Trivedi got his chance to be hero and he grabbed it with both hands. He did not wait for police to come and pick him up in Kanpur. He came to Bombay and surrendered. When the police said in court they did not want him for investigation or questioning, he did not apply for bail. He imitated Anna Hazare. He was happy to be in jail. He was the talking point on TV channels. He did well considering the competition from protestors in Madhya Pradesh and Koodankulam. Somebody filed a PIL and got him bail.
Turning tracks
India won Test series against New Zealand 2-0. After winning the first Test at Hyderabad by an Innings and 115 runs Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the wicket was not turning enough. Spinners had got 18 wickets out of 20. R. Ashwin got 6/31 and 6/54, total 12/85. About Bangalore wicket he said it was like that of Napier. The curator said the wicket will be sporting one with equal chances to all. India won the Bangalore Test by five wickets.
Pistorius in Paralympics
Oscar Pistorius of South Africa had taken part in 2004 and 2008 Paralympics and won gold medal in 200 metres race. In 2012 he wanted to take part in Olympics. IOC officials did not want him in Olympics. Pistorius argued that prosthetics did not offer him advantage over normal athletes and was allowed to take part in Olympics. In one relay event his team did not complete the run because one athlete fell down and did not hand over the baton to Pistorius but the fall was blamed on an athlete of another team and Pistorius’ team was allowed to proceed to the next round.
Hitler Store
Israeli Consul General Orna Sagiv was in Ahmedabad on 3/9/2012. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had received many e-mails demanding a change of name. Employees of AMC visited the shop and showed the copies of e-mails to proprietors. Proprietors used to get at least 10 calls daily from USA, UK, Dubai, Germany and Israel, many at odd hours.
Goa for Goans
Manohar Parrikar said Goa is for Goans. Goans outside Goa are many times the number of Goans in Goa. Over the centuries Goans have migrated to many cities in India and to many countries. UK MP Keith Vaz is a Goan. Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN is a Goan. Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle are Goans. Goa is smaller than many districts of other states of India. It is smaller than Coorg in Karnataka.
Unmukt Chand controversy
All students are equal. Students who are sportspersons are more equal. A student who is the captain of a cricket team that wins U-19 World Cup is the most equal.
That is the view of Ajay Maken, Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Shukla, Kirti Azad, Arnab Goswami and many others who live in a world that is worse than George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Valson Thampu, principal of St. Stephen’s College, appeared on many channels on 30/8/2012. He faced hostile questioning on Times Now.
From chokers to champions
South Africa had abundance of talent before. It seems their losses were due to non-cricketing reasons. There was betting and match-fixing. When many people put money on South Africa winning South Africa lost. Bookies made money. People lost faith in South Africa’s ability to win. They stopped betting on South Africa’s wins. South Africa winning became profitable for bookies.
Azad Maidan riot
On 23/8/2012 Arup Patnaik was promoted as DG (Maharashtra State Security Corporation). One channel said he was kicked upstairs. Some channels presented it as if he had been made a fall guy or scapegoat. If any politician had shouted at a DCP and threatened him with suspension for nabbing a rioter these channels would have raised a hue and cry. Here is a case of Commissioner threatening a DCP for doing his duty and the channels have not condemned Arup Patnaik. Satyapal Singh took over as Commissioner. As per one report Arup Patnaik had fallen out with R. R. Patil and had become friendly with Prithviraj Chavan. R. R. Patil said Arup Patnaik’s promotion was under process since 6/7/2012.
Greatest Indian
CNN-IBN had conducted a poll on the Greatest Indian after Mohandas Gandhi. B. R. Ambedkar won the poll. The 28-member jury had voted Jawaharlal Nehru. The jury had a list of 100 persons. They reduced it to 50 persons. The people voted on the 50 persons the list was further reduced to 10 persons. After voting by people B. R. Ambedkar emerged the winner. The other eight finalists were Vallabhbhai Patel, J. R. D. Tata, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Lata Mangeshkar.
Mamata Banerjee on corrupt judges
Mamata Banerjee’s statement that court orders can be bought has evoked various reactions, most of them against her. Her statement was taken in the context of West Bengal Human Rights Commission slapping a fine of 50,000 rupees for the arrest of a professor who had sent her cartoons through e-mail. Her critics said her statement was unacceptable and irresponsible; she was dictatorial, intolerant and does not have a sense of humour.