Black money comes mainly from India: Assange

Author:సాయి      Blog :ENGINEER TODAY    Date: 4/26/2011 5:44:00 AM

At a stage where governments around the world have tried to hide away from the embarrassment caused by WikiLeaks expose on black money, founder Julian Assange speaks exclusively to Times Now's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on the Swiss bank data and Indian names features in the same. Julian Assange, made a stunning disclosure, that there could be Indian names in the data that WikiLeaks would publish. In the course of the interview, Assange appealed to Indians to absolutely not (...)

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Kanimozhi, Raja, DMK TV chief got Rs 200 crore bribe from DB: CBI

Author:సాయి      Blog :ENGINEER TODAY    Date: 4/26/2011 5:45:00 AM

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu's first family has been singed by the 2G scam. On Monday, the CBI charged Kanimozhi, DMK chief M Karunanidhi's daughter, of conspiring with former communications minister A Raja to receive a bribe of Rs 200 crore which was allegedly routed to DMK's Kalaignar TV. Kanimozhi along with Kalaignar TV CEO Sharad Kumar, Cineyug Films' Karim Morani and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables' Asif Balwa and Rajiv B Agarwal have been named in CBI's second chargesheet for (...)

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The Great Anna Debate

Author:Raj Jayaram      Blog :Midlife Popcorn    Date: 4/9/2011 5:47:00 AM

As most people will be aware, there is a great debate raging in India over whether the method adopted by Anna Hazare, of going on an indefinite fast to demand the establishment of an anti-corruption ombudsman, was constitutional. The matter is moot now as Anna has decided to end his fast and the central government has agreed to work with him to reach a mutually acceptable solution.At the outset, let me declare that I was on the side of Anna.But it was by no means a knock-out decisio(...)

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Children of the Revolution - Flower Revolutions, Middle East and Beyond

Author:Sajeev k      Blog :Astitva - Search for an Identity    Date: 5/28/2011 5:09:00 PM

Analysts are arguing about the ability of Flower Revolutions to change the thought process and political framework of North Africa and Arab heartland. Many of the analysis are concentrating on the future power equations in the area, how many autocratic regimes will be able to survive the uprising? How many people got killed and how many are yet to die? Will US, EU, UK, France etc will help them in attaining democracy? will these revolutions will slip in to the hands of extremists? w(...)

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Beyond the murky waters of religious division - An example from Narayana Hrudayalaya

Author:Sajeev k      Blog :Astitva - Search for an Identity    Date: 5/28/2011 6:35:00 PM

After one and half months late finally I decided to go to Narayana Hrudayalaya (In fact to Narayana Nethralaya, which is in the same compound - Hosur Road campus). I took the first BMTC bus I saw and and reached the hospital. It didn't take much time to finish the checkup, by noon I was on my way back.Curiously watching people from different states walking in and out of hospital, I reached the gate. Suddenly I noticed the small concrete building standing on the left side of the path(...)

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Will the filtering of information flow make the country stable?

Author:Sajeev k      Blog :Astitva - Search for an Identity    Date: 5/7/2011 7:45:00 AM

What is the importance of information in a democratic society? Thomas Jefferson summed up the answer in a single line – “Information is the currency of democracy”. Yes this is the currency which helps the democracy to prosper. It is the knowledge about the rulers and their policies, which help us to decide, whether we have to give them one more chance? It is as important to the society as the currency is to the economy, what will happen if we don’t know about the corrupt and destruc(...)

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Before you throw stones : Some thoughts on corruption

Author:Sajeev k      Blog :Astitva - Search for an Identity    Date: 5/5/2011 4:27:00 PM

It's a human tendency to find someone to blame, after all we don't want to blame our self for our problems, no matter whether it is in professional or personal life. We will be happy if we find our prey, so that we can demonize him/her for all the problems - existing or going to exist!!!What about us?This tendency is not limited to a particular region or time we are doing this knowingly or unknowingly in our day-to-day life. We are ready to buy pirated CDs from shops but when we se(...)

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Libya - Stalemate?

Author:Sajeev k      Blog :Astitva - Search for an Identity    Date: 4/4/2011 11:58:00 AM

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children" - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953Jasmine revolution bring many changes to Africa and Wet Asia, it removed the fear from people's mind. After its first emergenc(...)

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Assam going to polling station

Author:Sajeev k      Blog :Astitva - Search for an Identity    Date: 4/4/2011 9:04:00 AM

Guwahati Airpot - Yet to receive international carriersToday, when many parts of the nation celebrating the new year, Assamese are going to polling booth to select their next government. Like many other polls in this insurgent hit state, this one too is not free from the threats. Threats from ULFA and Kurbi militants are still hanging in the atmosphere like Democlasis sword. We have to appreciate the will of the people, who are casting their votes against these odds.According to the(...)

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Kakodkar Committee Report: Part 2. What else is wrong with the proposal to hike tuition fees?

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 5/29/2011 6:04:00 PM

Here is a summary of why I don't like Kakodkar Committee's recommendation for a hike in tuition fee hike: In my previous post, I said the fee hike implies a change in the character of IITs from public institutions serving a public purpose into essentially private institutions that can, potentially, go on to institute a regime of exorbitant tuition fees just "because we can," or "because the market can bear it." [There are two indications in the Kakodkar Committee Report about(...)

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Kakodkar Committee Report: Tuition Fee Hike

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 5/29/2011 6:03:00 PM

Last month, the Kakodkar Committee issued its report, available for download at the MHRD website [pdf 8MB]. The report bears the title "Taking IITs to Excellence and Greater Relevance." [Yeah, really. Taking them to Excellence! Don't tell Jairam Ramesh about it -)] Sidebar If you wish to read it in smaller chunks, I have the individual chapters in my Posterous blog.] * * * I read somewhere that MHRD has opened the report up for public discussion here's my contributio(...)

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Krugman Quip

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 5/9/2011 3:33:00 AM

The latest -- from his blog post, VSP Economics -- is about a recent WaPo editorial: ... the WaPo editorial tries to have it both ways. Monetary and fiscal stimulus “kept unemployment from rising out of control” — but somehow doing any more of the same would be disastrous. I guess we’re supposed to believe that there’s some kind of nonlinearity that makes exactly the amount of stimulus we’ve already done a positive, but any slight further stimulus very negative. It would be inter(...)

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Biggest News of the Day

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 5/2/2011 3:59:00 AM

Al Qaeda chief Bin Laden was killed by American troops in Abottabad [a couple of hours from Islamabad], Pakistan. [see also Nick Kristof's early reaction]. The Pakistan connection seems to me to be the biggest part of the news. From President Obama's address: Over the years, I've repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we've done. But it's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan (...)

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Amartya Sen on Learning from Others

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 5/1/2011 8:16:00 AM

In his NYRB article on Quality of Life: India vs. China, Prof. Amartya Sen makes the obvious point that the pursuit of GNP and its growth has a larger purpose: increasing people's welfare. Realizing, probably, that a direct comparison with China would allow his critics to counter him with China's longer experience with economic reforms (and, consequently, its higher GNP), he uses two different lines of argument. The first one is a comparison with Bangladesh, a country with half (...)

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New York Magazine Profiles Krugman

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 4/26/2011 3:25:00 PM

Awesome profile by Benjamin Wallace-Wells: What's Left of the Left: Paul Krugman’s lonely crusade. Here's an excerpt: Paul Krugman is a lonely man. That he is comfortable in his solitude, that he emphasizes its virtues, that his intelligence gives it a poetic gloss, none of this diminishes the poignancy of his isolation. Krugman grew up an only child and is deeply self-conscious. He will list his shortcomings as though he’d been preparing for the chance: “Loner. Ordinarily shy. S(...)

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Links ...

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 4/22/2011 1:21:00 PM

Paul Krugman: Patients Are Not Consumers. How and why health care economics goes beyond demand and supply. On his blog, he says he's channeling Kenneth Arrow's classic work. See also: this precursor blog post which has this memorable line: There’s a reason we have TV series about heroic doctors, while we don’t have TV series about heroic middle managers or heroic economists. Dan Ariely in Scientific American: How Self Control Works. "It's a skill, we are learning, that pro(...)

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Pakistan, in person

Author:Prashant Mehta      Blog :Mundane Journey    Date: 6/3/2011 8:47:00 PM

Pakistan, our most loved and hated neighbor! Pakistan is very similar to India yet the border between them is the most dangerous border in the world. Sitting on this side of the border, from the Indian, western and the Pakistani media, we have a mental image of Pakistan. The South Asian Youth Conference gave me an opportunity to interact with the youth of Pakistan. In the one week I was at the Conference, I made good friends with the Pakistani delegates. In fact, by the end of the c(...)

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Sculpture lessons

Author:Ugich Konitari      Blog :Strewn Ashes    Date: 4/20/2011 6:20:00 AM

My friend UmaS posted this as part of her Wordless Wednesday series. I've often felt that in addition to staying wordless, we need to keep our minds and ears open for some conveyed messages.Those conversant with the flavor of politics today, in India, might understand.(wood carving on the door panel in the entrance to a typical Chettinad style house. Picture clicked by UmaS at Dakshina Chitra – a place that showcases the culture and architectures of South India.)We never learn (...)

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Why I Was Reluctant To Support The Anti-Corruption Movement

Author:Giribala      Blog :The Grist Mill    Date: 4/12/2011 8:53:00 PM

Rs. 50 used to have great value back thenMany of my readers have wondered why I have not come forward in support of the anti-corruption movement. I am very sorry to disappoint you all. I have a long, sustained, economically beneficial association with this enormous amoeboid creature called corruption and I simply cannot start throwing poisonous darts at it.I am one of its favorite munh-boli daughters. I was born after paying bribes to a doctor and a midwife, graduated from various s(...)

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UP Minister Azam Khan blames Salman Khurshid for Boston airport detention

Author:Srinivasan Sampathkumar      Blog :Sampath Speaking : .. the thoughts of an Insurer from Triplicane    Date: 4/30/2013 11:00:00 PM

I had recently posted about the millions that converged at Kumbh mela and the opportunity provided to UP CM for speaking at a symposium on Harvard……. Perhaps I was a tad bit early… that is not to be….Reports quoting CNN-IBN  now state that, angry over the alleged detention of his cabinet minister Azam Khan at the Boston airport, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav cancelled a reception to be hosted in his honour by New York Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay on Saturday a(...)

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brutal attack in Kot Lakhpat jail kills Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh

Author:Srinivasan Sampathkumar      Blog :Sampath Speaking : .. the thoughts of an Insurer from Triplicane    Date: 5/2/2013 5:38:00 AM

Here are the starting lines of a newsitem in a Yemanese newspaper :  In most Western countries, a minor land dispute or the killing of a donkey would be settled in the courtroom – that is, if the incident even made it that far. But here, revenge killings over seemingly minor incidents are on the rise, claiming thousands of innocent lives.      The sad news is that ‘Sarabjit Singh’, the Indian death row prisoner in Pakistan, died in a Lahorehospital earl(...)

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HUMOR IN UNIFORM - YES-MEN MASQUERADING AS LEADERS - THE REASON FOR THE LEADERSHIP DEFICIT - A Naval Yarn

Author:Vikram Karve      Blog :Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve    Date: 5/3/2013 5:15:00 AM

HUMOUR IN UNIFORMYES-MEN MASQUERADING AS LEADERS THE REASON FOR THE LEADERSHIP DEFICIT Memories of My Halcyon Navy DaysVERY RIGHT SIRA Naval YarnByVIKRAM KARVEDisclaimer: 1. Please read this only if you have a sense of humour. This is a spoof. So first convince yourself that you have a sense of humour and only then read the yarn and have a laugh.2. All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to (...)

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Railway Bribery Case CBI Arrested Mahesh Kumar and Vijay Singla, nephew of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal

Author:SM      Blog :From Politics To Fashion    Date: 5/3/2013 6:10:00 PM

Railway Bribery Case  CBI Arrested Mahesh Kumar and Vijay Singla, nephew of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar BansalRead more »

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CORRUPTION IS NOT AN ISSUE - Corruption is an Accepted Way of Life in India

Author:Vikram Karve      Blog :Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve    Date: 5/4/2013 4:43:00 PM

Corruption is Not an IssueCORRUPTION - An Accepted Way of Life in IndiaByVIKRAM KARVEWe watch with a sense of helpless amusement the familiar pattern of dealing with grand corruption, as scam after scam unfolds with alarming frequency.1. The powers-that-be let the scam happen, though they seem to know all about it. They just look the other way and do not do anything hoping that the scam will never be discovered. It appears that in most cases scams (...)

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CORRUPTION MADE SIMPLE - A Mathematical Formula for Corruption

Author:Vikram Karve      Blog :Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve    Date: 5/4/2013 5:00:00 PM

CORRUPTION IN A NUTSHELLA FORMULA for CORRUPTIONMusingsByVIKRAM KARVEA FORMULA FOR CORRUPTION One morning while browsing through my old diaries I chanced upon something interesting – a formula for corruption told to me by one of my colleagues long back which I had jotted down in my diary.Corruption = Monopoly + Discretion – AccountabilityOr simply put:C = M + D – AwhereCorruption (C) equals Monopoly Power (M) plus Discretionary Power (D) minus Acco(...)

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Various Photographs of Mohammed Ali Jinnah in New Delhi May 1946

Author:Piyal Kundu      Blog :Old Indian Photos    Date: 5/5/2013 7:05:00 AM

 Mohammed Ali Jinnah, President of India's Moslem League, at mike, wearing a monocle as he reads from paper during a political speechMohammed Ali Jinnah, President of India's Moslem League, with his sister, arriving at a political meetingPalatial home of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, President of India's Moslem League, as his sister poses at front entrance.Portrait of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, President of India's Moslem League, dressed in Western-style suit, in the study of his&nb(...)

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Scams to PM vs Party !!!

Author:NishReval      Blog :Life = Thinking    Date: 5/7/2013 5:43:00 PM

Scams !!! Scams !!! Scams !!! The new way of driving the attention away from scams has been unleashed. It's PM vs Party now. Amazing to see the scam debate metamorphosing into a PM vs Party debate. Is it a deliberate attempt to shift focus or is PM really backing the ministers from his state? Or is it because PM has shredded off the resigning issue because no one tends to remember so many scams !!!

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Liberating religion from confines of social restrictions

Author:Nikhil Kulkarni      Blog :Nikhil Kulkarni's Blog    Date: 5/8/2013 1:00:00 AM

Even though it might have become quite a personal statement in the West, religious conversion is still a topic of taboo in India - considered sensitive both by the communal and secular forces, given the treatment quite akin to that given to the subject of sex. Indeed, where religion itself is a political weapon used by both the right and the middle (thankfully, the left in India is intellectually inclined and hence does not debate religion), religious conversion is a topic more vitr(...)

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Pak prisoner Sanaullah succumbs to the attack inside prison........

Author:Srinivasan Sampathkumar      Blog :Sampath Speaking : .. the thoughts of an Insurer from Triplicane    Date: 5/9/2013 5:00:00 AM

The neighbours who share common history have not exactly been friendly…… at a time when tension decreased at Ladakh, the relations with Pak turned more bitter…….There are reports that Pakistan advised its citizens travelliing to India to exercise “due caution” following reports that their security “may be in jeopardy”. “The Government of Pakistan wishes to advise its citizens who are planning to travel to Indiato exercise due caution and care while travelling to various parts of Ind(...)

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A Day Of Positive News!

Author:Sandhya      Blog :Maradhi Manni    Date: 5/9/2013 11:12:00 PM

.Whenever we open a newspaper, we are used to reading news about murders, accidents, RAPE, burglary etc.  We are so used to it that we just give just a glance to them.  We have become very insensitive to the misery of other people.  We never think that these types of news hurt the affected individuals...for us, they are just 'other people'. As far as nothing hurts us or our relatives or close friends personally, they are just news.  Even the rape of 5-6 year olds(...)

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New chief minister Siddaramiah's : A difficult ascent to throne

Author:Nishith Reval      Blog :Life = Thinking    Date: 5/10/2013 3:01:00 PM

K Siddaramaiah is all set to become the new chief minister of Karnataka. An interesting point to note here is his past affiliations. Favorite fifth child In the past, Siddaramaiah was associated with H.D Devegowda and was considered as one of Gowda's favourite so much so that some used to say Siddaramaiah was treated as if he was Gowda's fifth male heir. K Siddaramaiah served as deputy chief minister in the Congress-JDS coalition headed by Dharam Singh. But as the winds changed, he (...)

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HOW POLITICAL PARTIES WORK IN INDIA

Author:Navneet Singh Chauhan      Blog :Navneet Singh Chauhan- My Blog, My Way of Life...!    Date: 5/11/2013 9:44:00 AM

HOW POLITICAL PARTIES  WORK IN INDIA...!For 1st Four YearsEat EatEatEatIn last yearRemove all those who have been caught or suspected in corruption just to ensure good image of party. Pass a major bill (Example Last time - NREGA (Employee Guarantee bill) and this time - Food Safety (in process to be passed).Once passed....!Promote Promote Promote. Spend billions on TV ad and awareness campaigns...!Go to public stating we are going to do this and that...! (they will not say a wo(...)

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IQ, Race, Immigration

Author:Abi      Blog :nanopolitan    Date: 5/11/2013 12:05:00 PM

Heritage Foundation has stepped in it again, with a "report" on immigration reform [see Krugman's post]. It has led to one good thing, though: we get to revisit the topic of what IQ is and what it is not. Two links: James Heckman (1995): Lessons from the Bell Curve [pdf]. Dana Goldstein: Attention Jason Richwine: You're Not the First Guy to (Wrongly) Believe Immigrants are Dumb.

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CSK DD match on - Supreme Court directs de-sealing of 3 stands at Chepauk...

Author:Srinivasan Sampathkumar      Blog :Sampath Speaking : .. the thoughts of an Insurer from Triplicane    Date: 5/14/2013 6:47:00 AM

The IPL extravaganza is on…… and reaching a feverish pace.. today’s match at Chepauk between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils was muddled in controversy and its fate was reportedly uncertain due to a Court order……..The Apex Court is burdened with litigations and there is huge pendency.  Going by a bulletin of June 2011,  57,179 cases were pending in the Supreme Court of India…….. while the number of cases pending in the High Courts were 42,17,903 as on 30.9.2010 (...)

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AAP Targets Kapil Sibal Vodafone tax case out of court settlement

Author:SM      Blog :From Politics To Fashion    Date: 5/15/2013 12:43:00 PM

AAP Targets Kapil Sibal Vodafone tax case out of court settlementRead more »

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“Forgive him, he’s a superstar!”

Author:Keyur Seta      Blog :The Common Man Speaks    Date: 5/18/2013 9:48:09 AM

By: Keyur Seta The phenomenon of hero worshipping is very old among Hindi cinema lovers. There is nothing wrong with it since these actors have entertained us and helped us escape from our stressful routine. But when hero worshipping goes onto a level that people turn a blind eye to the high level of crime [...]

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அரசு பள்ளிகளில் ஆங்கில வழிக் கல்வி

Author:Harish.M      Blog :Start Dreaming    Date: 5/18/2013 11:54:00 AM

தமிழக அரசின் இந்த அறிவிப்பு தான் இன்று சமூக ஆர்வலர்கள் மத்தியிலும் தம்மைத் தாமே தமிழ்ப் பாதுகாவலர்கள் என்று நினைத்துக் கொண்டிருப்பவர்கள் மத்தியிலும் கடும் கொந்தளிப்பை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது. உண்மையில் அரசு வெளியிட்ட அறிவிப்பு தான் என்ன?"முன்னதாக, ஆங்கில வழிக் கல்வி தொடர்பாக, சட்டப்பேரவையில் பள்ளிக் கல்வித் துறை மானிய கோரிக்கையின்போது அமைச்சர் வைகைச்செல்வன் வெளியிட்ட அறிவிப்பு இதுதான்:'தனியார் பள்ளி மாணவர்களைப் போன்று அரசுப் பள்ளி மாணவர்களும் ஆங்கிலத்தில் பயிலும் வகையில் ஊராட்சி ஒன்றிய தொ(...)

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If My Dad Was A Politician: Though If It Had Happened

Author:jaideep khanduja      Blog :Pebble In The Still Waters    Date: 5/18/2013 5:24:00 PM

If my Dad was a Politician, though it appeared to be a rarest of the rare possibilities due to various reasons, but still, if my Dad was a Politician, he really would have been a big danger for Corruption in my country. He would have been very selective in nominating people for various locations, and the criteria would have been solely based on their merits and not on their power. He would have never bowed power but has been a genuine recognizer of right people having a good heart a(...)

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