On 15/12/2014 Man Haron Monis held 17 people as hostages in Lindt Chocolat Café, Marin Place, Sydney. He was the lone gunman. He made some people stand near the window. Some hostages escaped during the day. At night there was gunfire in the café. Commandos went in and shot him. Two others died. One was…
Death of Phillip Hughes
On 25/11/2014 Phillip Joel Hughes was felled by a bouncer bowled by Sean Abbott. He was playing for South Australia against New South Wales in Sheffield Shield at Sydney Cricket Ground and was 63 not out. It was 2.23 p.m. local time. The ball hit him behind the ear where there was no protection from…
Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim
Why did Baz Luhrmann approach Amitabh Bachchan to play Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby? Why did Amitabh Bachchan accept the role? Meyer Wolfsheim is an American. Baz Luhrmann could have found some American to play that role. The problem seems to be Meyer Wolfsheim is a Jew who makes money by illegal means. He…
Supreme Court on CBI Director
The order said “We direct Ranjit Sinha not to interfere in the 2G spectrum investigation and trial. The next seniormost officer of the investigation team would take over from Sinha and continue proceedings.â€
Cabinet expansion
Narendra Modi expanded his Council of Ministers on 9/11/2014. He added 21 ministers; four of cabinet rank, three of Minister of State with independent charge rank and 14 of Minister of State rank. Manohar Parrikar was the first to take oath. He is not an MP. He was Chief Minister of Goa. He became Defence…
BJP wins in Haryana and Maharashtra
BJP won in Legislative Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. In Haryana it was clear victory as BJP won in 47 seats out of 90. In Maharashtra BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 123 seats out of 288. NCP which has 41 seats declared unconditional outside support to BJP. During by-elections that followed…
India and ISIS
Don’t trouble trouble unless trouble troubles you. ISIS is no danger to India. Joining USA’s Coalition of the willing in fight against ISIS is of no benefit to India. It can damage India. First of all there are Indian hostages in ISIS territory. If India joins the fight ISIS can behead Indians one by one. …
BJP breaks with Shiv Sena
On 25/9/2014 BJP ended its 25-year old alliance with Shiv Sena. BJP was not satisfied with Shiv Sena’s offer of seats for Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election on 15/10/2014. The day also saw Narendra Modi’s departure for USA to address UN General Assembly, gathering at Madison Square Garden, meet Barack Obama and corporates. It also saw…
BJP losses in by-elections
Modi government came to power on 26/5/2014. After that it has been downhill for BJP in by-elections. In Uttarakhand there were by-elections for three Legislative Assembly seats. Two of these were due to BJP MLAs resigning after winning Lok Sabha elections. BJP lost all three. In Bihar there were by-elections for ten Legislative Assembly seats. …
Coalition of the killing
On 10/9/2014 on Al Jazeera there was a discussion on ISIS also known as ISIL, IS or Caliphate. Phyllis Bennis referred to John Kerry’s plan to put together a coalition of the willing as a coalition of the killing. She said in American media the beheadings of two American journalists have been portrayed as danger…