Month: August 2007

Is India a banana republic?

India
Comments

India is a nuclear power and a country of more than a billion people.  It has a strong army, navy and air force.  Yet its past and present shows it to be a soft state. 

In 1989 Rubia Sayeed, daughter of the then Home Minister of India Mufti Mohammed Sayeed,   was kidnapped.  Five terrorists were released to secure her release.  Terrorism in Kashmir got a boost. 

Later the country followed an inconsistent policy with regard to kidnappings.  In some cases nobody was released.  When Doraisamy was kidnapped there was release of terrorist(s) to secure his release. 

In 1999 Indian Airlines aerpolane was hijacked.  The aeroplane was in Amritsar at least for 25 minutes.  It was allowed to take off.  It went to Kandahar.  Three terrorists were released.  One of them later attacked Jammu & Kashmir Legislature building which killed 41 people. 

Terrorist acts are frequent in India.  Very few times people who are involved in crimes are caught.  Fewer times they are punished. 

Naxal movement is spreading its wings.  It is a challenge to the nation.  Nothing substantial is done to contain it. 

What is the use of having nuclear weapons if a few terrorists can hold the country to ransom? 

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Oval Test

Cricket, India, Sports and Games
2 Comments

India did not enforce follow on at Oval in spite of having 319 runs lead. India batted and declared at 180/6 setting a target of 500 for England to win. The excuse by Dravid was that bowlers needed rest which was contradicted by Zaheer Khan. Chandu Borde said a team can score 500 runs in the last innings. What was happening?
It was immaterial that India won a series in England after 21 years. A Test that could have been won by enforcing follow on was not won. England could not have crossed 319 and scored many runs to defeat India. At the most the Test could have ended in draw.
In India’s second innings Dravid faced 96 balls and scored 12 runs. In England’s second innings he dropped Michael Vaughan who was on 18.
It is for the third time in recent years that India did not enforce follow on. First time Sachin Tendulkar was the captain and we had 275 runs lead against New Zealand. Second time Sourav Ganguly was the captain and we had 230 runs lead against Australia. Rarely a team loses after enforcing follow on and when happens there is something fishy. Once Australia lost to England after enforcing follow on and Lillee and Marsh were involved in betting.
Did Dravid not enforce follow on or was he told by someone from BCCI? During India vs Zimbabwe match in 1999 World Cup India had to score six runs for victory with two overs remaining and three wickets at hand. Raj Singh Dungarpur told the Indian players to finish the match in one over and India lost three wickets and the match in that over.
Was there match fixing at Oval? Lot of money in involved in betting and that leads to match fixing. I appeal to all not to bet.

Floods

India
Comments

Floods play havoc every year. This is mainly uneven distribution of rain. When some areas are flooded some areas are drought stricken. Also during monsoon on some days there is heavy rain followed by many days without rain.
All efforts must be made by nations to study the reasons for flood and their prevention. In case prevention is not possible, evacuation of people should be done well in advance.
Deforestation is a reason for floods. Afforestation can prevent it. The sum of rain is constant. If it is spread over areas and months there is no problem. When some areas don’t get rain and there is a long duration heavy rains follow resulting in floods.
Once there is flood, effort must be made for quick outflow of excess water. This will make return to homes fast.
Money spent on armaments may be reduced and spent on flood prevention.