maradona visit india

The Kolkata visit has everyone excited.Some say that this is one of the most glorious moments for Indian football while others are merely overawed by the situation. Certain sections believe that Maradona will turn the attention of a cricket crazy media towards the most popular sport in the world.

People are waxing lyrical about the sports management agency and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) minister Shamik Lahiri for playing a key role in arranging the Maradona trip.

“If a man’s character would be formed by circumstances, then it would be necessary to make the circumstances more human,” wrote Karl Marx.

Very true in this case and certainly the only way to explain the reason behind West Bengal government’s involvement who trying their utmost to give a Communist angle to the trip, given Maradona’s leaning towards the left wing!

Many feel that Maradona’s presence will inspire many youngsters to take up football or even develop an interest in the game. Well, for those unaware, the curiosity for the beautiful game is quite widespread throughout the nation. The 2006 World Cup final was one of the most watched games in India and that was beaten recently by the Premiership battle between Arsenal and Manchester United almost a month ago.

Let’s be a little realistic. Maradona is coming, will attend a few events and then fly off. It’s an all -expenses paid trip. Surely, his presence will get even ‘those lukewarm football fans to read about him or maybe switch on their TV sets. But, beyond that, there’s nothing.

The men behind arranging Maradona’s trip are aware of the fan’s psychology and have worked on it very commendably. They know that there is a market out there and they have catered to that need.

The Argentinean coach will inaugurate the Indian Football School in Maheshtala, Kolkata. He shall also visit the ‘Missionaries of Charity’. He is also expected to have a football clinic at the Mohun Bagan grounds on Sunday. It’s just a two day trip filled with felicitations, an exhibition match, press conference and some meetings.

Apart from the football fans managing to get a glimpse or two of their idol, this trip is nothing more than a commercial gimmick. For Maradona, it will be a two day holiday.

Earlier this year when Bayern Munich came to play an exhibition match in May against Mohun Bagan, Indian national team coach Bob Houghton made a very interesting comment.

“I think the match organisers must have spent around $1.5 million though they must have recovered some later. But what was its benefit on Indian footballers? It was just filling up the pockets of Bayern players who are already rich with two million dollars a month salary. The money could have been spent in laying an artificial pitch in India for training of kids.”

Going by this statement, the organisers would surely have recovered their money with all the marketing and sponsorship deals despite having spent a huge amount to get Maradona to the country.

If the same money were to be utilized elsewhere and in a much more constructive manner keeping the future in mind, it would have benefited Indian football for good.

But ‘man is condemned to be free, because once thrown in this world, he is responsible for everything he does,” said the famous existentialist Sartre.

And so, how the other spends his fortune isn’t any of our concern and so, we are no one to tell them as to how they could have spent that money.

A few weeks back, Indian skipper Bhaichung Bhutia was quoted saying,” We can’t just expect his (Maradona) being here will change things. We need to have a long-term plan in place for the coaching centre and develop it accordingly. We need to do the follow up.”

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India’s Hospitality and Hostility

India may be a developing country but we are surely developed in medicine compared to other sectors. We are having one of the best hospital infrastructures in the world. We are self sufficient in medicine and should thank our stars that our doctors are the best in world. Even Indian nurses are in great demand all over the world. The world has recognized our development in this field which can be confirmed by visits of foreign nationals. Medical practitioners are considered gods because (unlike gods) they can save precious lives. But the big question is do all the citizens get the same service? The two incidents which took place recently will answer my question.
HOSPITALITY:
Starting on the positive note is a story about a Pakistani girl. The 15 year old girl is suffering from a major heart problem. There is a hole in her heart and her parents have diagnosed the problem. But the family is poor and the apparent lack of hospital infrastructure back home has further hampered their bid to save her daughter’s life. But they have come to know about India’s efficiency in handling this complicated surgery and have come here to heal their daughter. Despite the current tension between the two countries the girls parents have showed their faith in our doctors and we should be proud for that.
HOSTILITY:
But the other incident gives the real picture. This is about the death of a three-day old baby in Madya Pradesh…that too in ICU. The reason for the death…sheer negligence and red ants (Believe me!). Shanaz Bee delivered twins at a hospital. One of the babies is put in the ICU because it needed extra care. But what happened next is disgusting. The child has been destroyed by a horde of red ants. Even though the parents complained regularly to the hospital staff they have ignored their warnings and have allowed the ants to built hole in the child’s ear resulting in death. What is even more disturbing is they have blamed sugarwater given to the child for the death and didn’t even show any remorse.
Like a coin, hospitals in India have two faces. One showers service and hospitality towards rich and foreigners and the other showing its utter disrespect and hostility towards common man and poor…

am i safe?

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LTTE vs sri lanka

“LTTE is duty-bound to face Sri Lankan Army”

 

Special Correspondent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHENNAI: Human suffering and miseries being witnessed in the war in Sri Lanka should not be used as a pretext to call for a ceasefire since they are part of the LTTE’s strategies, said Arular Arudpragasam, chairman of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers (EROS) and Eelavar Democratic Front (EDF).

Unstoppable

 

 

“The LTTE is duty-bound to face the Sri Lankan Army. The war cannot be stopped without fulfilling the objectives that actually led to it,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The London-based Mr. Arudpragasam, now in Chennai, said LTTE leader Prabakaran had agreed to a ceasefire under pressure from India, particularly from Tamil Nadu.

“Let him tell the Tamil community that he cannot continue the war. Then we can think about other strategies,” he added.

Demands

 

 

Mr. Arudpragasam placed three demands, including “recognition and establishment of the statehood of Tamil people within the framework of a united Sri Lanka established over the North-East territory which Tamils claim as their homeland.”

Assuring the due share of Tamil people in the Central government and granting of full compensation to them so that they could restart their life were the other demands.

“LTTE should disband itself”

 

 

Stating that the world had become tired of the LTTE, he called upon the organisation to disband itself and transform itself into a democratic force. “EROS calls upon the LTTE to pave way for the functioning of the EDF in Vanni,” he added.

Colombo: Dual Tamil Tiger air raids on Sri Lanka’s capital and a northern military base show the guerrillas are not out of the fight despite the government’s confidence it is close to ending the 25-year-old civil war.

 

Analysts said the raids by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) ramshackle air wing followed a familiar pattern of giving the rebels a morale boost when they appeared under pressure in the northern war zone.

 

The military has been steadily advancing into Tiger-held territory in northern Sri Lanka with the aim of ending one of Asia’s oldest insurgencies.

 

The military on Wednesday said troops had captured the Jayapuram area after heavy clashes. The Tigers are fighting to create a separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils, many of whom complain of marginalisation by successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority since independence from Britain in 1948.

 

“When the Tigers are under pressure militarily up north, they try to divert attention to southern or central parts and hit where the government is weak,” Eurasia Group analyst Maria Kuusisto said.

 

“They understand that these are going to be psychologically and strategically good targets to attack.” The rebel raid at the Kelanitissa power station in Colombo late on Tuesday started a fire and killed one person who died of a heart attack and wounded two, hospital officials said. The military said an attack on the Thalladi army camp an hour earlier wounded three people.

 

Primitive planes, as a plane appeared on radar heading south to Colombo, authorities shut off the lights and scrambled jets then anti-aircraft fire streaked the sky off the capital’s shoreline.

 

The pro-rebel web site http://www.TamilNet.com on Wednesday said the Kelanitissa raid killed a turbine operator and knocked out two turbines and two air coolers, citing unidentified sources.

 

The government earlier had said only two coolers were hit. TamilNet also said the attack at Thalladi, in Mannar district near the war zone about 250 km (155 miles) north of Colombo, caused heavy damage. The military said it barely caused any.

 

Colombo-based defence analyst Iqbal Athas said the latest strike by the Tamileelam Air Force, or “Air Tigers”, showed the resilience of what is widely regarded as one of the world’s most ruthless and effective guerrilla groups. “However primitive, their air ability remains.

 

They have been able to demonstrate nine times that they can carry out a sortie and get away, and on all of those occasions the air force has not been able to neutralize them,” Athas said. The air force has been embarassed and frustrated by its inability to stop the propeller-drive two-seater planes despite vastly superior supersonic jets and radar.

 

The military has said it believes the Tigers’ air wing, which debuted in March 2007 with a bombing run on the military air base inside Colombo’s international airport, consists of three Czech-made Zlin-143 aircraft.

 

The last raid was in September, when the military said it had shot down one of the planes after it attacked a military base in Vavuniya, near the frontlines. The Tigers denied that and no evidence has ever been made public by either side.

Political leaders of Tamil Nadu, including Chief Minister Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, condemned Monday Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka for his derogatory comments on Tamil Nadu leaders in an interview to a Sri Lankan state-owned newspaper on Sunday. Vaiko, the General Secretary of the MDMK has announced a protest in front of the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai on December 10 demanding unconditional apology from the Sri Lankan Commander-in-Chief Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Army Chief Sarath Fonseka to the latter’s astonishing remarks in the Sunday Observer newspaper.

“If Sri Lanka fails to extend apology, the Indian Central government should expel the Sri Lankan High Commissioner from India,” Mr. Vaiko has demanded.

The Sri Lankan army chief had labeled Tamil Nadu leaders who were seeking a ceasefire in Sri Lanka as ‘political jokers’ and accused them of being ‘corrupt’.

Fonseka’s comments follow an all party delegation to New Delhi headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi seeking a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

Fonseka had expressed confidence that the Indian government “is not interested in a ceasefire in Sri Lanka” as it has listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation and added that the Indian Government would never influence Sri Lanka to restore the ceasefire with the LTTE and it would not listen to the “political jokers” of Tamil Nadu whose “survival depends on the LTTE”.

When asked by the newspaper reporter about allegations of Sri Lankan security forces’ disregard for civilian casualties, Fonseka replied: “These allegations are made only by the corrupt politicians in Tamil Nadu who have been bribed by the LTTE. Though they are very much aware that the civilians are not getting killed in any of these military operations they try to utter some words on behalf of the LTTE as their survival depends on the LTTE.”

“This is the time for them to realise the truth. And they should also realise their attempts to save the LTTE would not be successful as the LTTE is on the brink of extinction. Most importantly, they should realise that LTTE is an internal problem of Sri Lanka and need to honour the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.”

Warning that the LTTE’s separate state ideology is a “threat” to India, the Sri Lankan Army chief said: “If you consider the overall thing, the LTTE’s separate state ideology is a threat to India, because this ideology will spread in Tamil Nadu too. It is now proved by Tamil Nadu by staging protests against the Indian government and seeking help to take the side of the LTTE”.

This is not the first time for the SLA commander to come up with such remarks. In an interview to Canada’s National Post in September this year, Sarath Fonseka had said he “strongly believed that Sri Lanka belongs to Sinhalese,” and that the other communities “must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things.”

The SLA commander or his C-in-C failed to extend a public apology despite his comments had drawn protest from many political quarters.

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chennai airport threat

Under threat?

CHENNAI: Security at the airport has been beefed up following information that a flight bound for either Europe or the US might be hijacked, airport sources said on Sunday.Europe or the US, might be hijacked. The sources said an Internet centre in the US received an e-mail that said a flight emanating from India, bound for either They said police are checking vehicles round the clock and many police officials were moving around the airport complex in plainclothes. The e-mail threat comes close on the heels of a recent letter found in Tiruchirapalli airport that said there could be terror attacks on airports in south India. The letter prompted authorities to tighten security at airports across the country.   About 200 CISF commandos have descended on the Chennai airport which now resembles a fortress. But on closer scrutiny, chinks in the security armour are obvious. A multi-layer security ring has been thrown around the airport, from the runway to the periphery of the airport premises, and barricades put up to slow down vehicles. But there are no metal detectors or mirror undercheckers to detect vehicles fitted with explosives. chennai: security at the chennai airport has been put on high alert after three anonymous calls were received stating that an indian airlines aircraft would be hijacked wednesday. all the three calls in tamil were received by the ia office in a span of 15 minutes from 10:15 am, ia sources said. according to the sources, the callers’ tone sounded like that of a woman or a child. immediately, the airlines security informed the airports authority of india duty officer, who in turn alerted the airport police. ia sources said the enhanced security measures would continue throughout the day. a review meeting of various agencies was also held in connection with the matter. in a related development, security measures at railway stations in tamil nadu have also been beefed up. railway police said passengers were being frisked and their luggages being checked before being allowed to board respective trains. sniffer dogs were also used for conducting searches, sources said. at central railway station here a vigil was being maintained with the help of closed circuit tv also. New Delhi: Airports in Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai were on Wednesday night put on high security alert in the wake of intelligence inputs that terrorists of Pakistan or Afghanistan origin may strike these installations by this weekend ahead of the anniversary of demolition of Babri Masjid. The Civil Aviation Bureau is understood to have sent out the alert to the three airports following intelligence reports that several suspected terrorists have infilitrated into the country to carry out strikes. Keeping this in mind, sources said, “ladder-point” (at the time of boarding the plane) security checks have been introduced. Major airports across the country, especially those in the western region, have been on high alert and extra vigil for the past few days following the terror strikes in Mumbai. Extra surveillance has been mounted in most of the airports, with additional CISF and police personnel being deployed to keep an eye around the terminal as well as the perimeter. Sniffer dogs have been deployed in some airports, while watchers in plainclothes were also put on the job. Sky Marshals were being put on planes flying on sensitive routes, sources said. “Due to the alert, we have 10,000 policemen on duty looking after various parts of the city,” the commissioner said. “Normally, we would not have so many policemen on duty, but we have to check suspicious vehicles and lodges.” Initially, the city police will be on a high alert for 10 days. Sekar said. “After that we may need to mobilise additional resources. By tweaking shifts and allowing policemen to take rest in turns, we can maintain the alert status for months if need be.” The city police has 18,000 personnel. Sekar admitted that routine work like maintaining traffic, maintaining law and order, court proceedings and VIP security does not leave too many policemen for anti-terrorist work. “We want people to be alert for out of the way objects,” he said. “Like when you are in a mall, you see a tiffin box. People normally don’t carry their lunch for shopping. Or you see a car parked on your street for three days. Or an unclaimed bag on the bus or train. They have to call us when in doubt.” On his meeting with the citizens groups, Sekar said, “We have called the IT people, mall and theatre owners, lodge and cyber cafe owners. We will tell them how they can cooperate with us. They all have private security guards. We will tell them what they need to do. How to do vehicle checks, how to check people and when to inform us.” “Cyber cafe owners have to be alert or later they will face embarrassing situations,” the commissioner added. “Lodges too have to alert us when they feel suspicious about any person’s identity.” New Delhi: An e-mail threat from Deccan Mujahideen, the mastermind behind the Mumbai attack last week has put Indian airports on high alert. The e-mail specifies that the terrorist group are planning to attack three major Indian airports-Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore between December 3 and 7. In the light of the threat, security is beefed up in these airports.The e-mail was sent from Saudi Arabia and received by Indira Gandhi Airport officials, Delhi. There was also panic in the Tis Hazari courts, Delhi after an anonymous caller threatened to blow up the complex, leading to proceedings being suspended for the day not just in the lower courts but also in the Delhi High Court, police said. “A call was received at the nearest police station at 9.12 a.m. claiming that six people would enter the court complex in lawyer’s dress and would plant explosives in the premises,” the official added. He also said that the sprawling court complex in north Delhi would be blown up between 10 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. “We have rushed to the scene along with the bomb disposal squad. Intensive searches are being carried out in the court complex,” the official added. Following the threat, the Delhi High Court suspended all the hearings, which were scheduled today, to Friday.

 

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babar mosque

That fateful day

The biggest problem for India’s national unity and integrity in the twentieth century has no doubt been what Indians call ‘Communalism’, the political conflict between the religions, especially between Hindus and Muslims. The most conspicuous communal bone of contention in India in the years 1986-1990 has certainly been the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid issue. The material object of the controversy is quite small: an unimpressive mosque-structure on a hilltop in Ayodhya, the town traditionally considered as the birth place of the protohistorical hero Ram. This architecturally rather uninteresting building is known as the Babri Majid, Babar’s mosque. As such, it has been named after Babar, the first Moghul emperor, implying it was built on his orders, or in honor, in 1528.

Many Hindus believe that Ram was born on the very spot where Babar’s mosque is standing. Therefore they call it Ram Janamabhoomi, Ram’s birth-ground. They also believe that Babar’s men built the mosque after demolishing a temple which was standing on the same spot in commemoration of Ram. Some Hindu organizations want to rebuild this temple, which implies removing the present structure. The Hindus have already taken control of the building in 1949, when the mosque was not in regular use any more. They installed idols and converted the mosque into a temple.

By orders of the government, however, the worshippers could only after puja from outside. In 1986, a judge ruled that the temple be opened for unrestrained Hindu worship. Subsequently, the Vishwa Hindu Parihad started a nationwide campaign for the replacement of the existing mosque-turned temple with a proper temple structure.

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Religion-From an Atheists View

  

 

The only thing which is common among the residents (if not all) of this world is Religion. Every man or woman believes there is a superior power which is the reason the world is revolving without any major concerns. The people gave different names to the religion they are following. They put up a set of rules and regulations which should be followed by a person so that he could become a practitioner of that religion. Even though all the religions seems to have same ideologies, the people are in denial mode and in the way to prove they are superior they have taken the most serious weapon that none of the religion proposed…Terror.

                         The main reason to put up this blog is that we (Indians) are in the aftermath of the deadliest terror attack in our history. Every one knows what has happened in Mumbai in the name of religion. The so called saviors of Islam (!!!) have done more bad than good. This is not the first time they are doing like this. I don’t know how they are brain-washed to do this heinous act. Religion is a part of life, but it is not greater than life. They might have achieved their goal of terrorizing the people, but in reality they have degraded their religion. No wonder the whole world is seeing Muslims suspiciously.

                        I am not against any religion, infact I am opposing all the religion. Even Hindus have extremist groups. And also many European countries are practicing slavery which is not proposed by Christianity. Most of the conflicts around the world is due to religion…India-Pakistan partition is due to religion. We should not allow religion to dominate us…never.

                        Finally, if we could get out of our mindset about religion and if we could disown our religious identity we would be served better.We have to take the leaf out of the animal kingdom,so that we could save ourselves from being called animals…      

 

 

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Pakistan-The mystery land

The word Pakistan creates anger among the world countries, especially India, in the present scenario. This country which was created during the partition has remained a mystery till date. It is a country which was formed as a separate state for Muslims, similar to India. But since then India has thrived from its diversity and today has become the largest democracy in the world.Pakistan, on the other hand has become an example for a failed state.
If I could analyze and find reasons for the present state of Pakistan, the first thing that comes to my mind is their politicians and the army. The politicians are power-hungry and most of their rule has come to an abrupt end, either by military take over or by assassination. The politicians are corrupt like their Indian counterparts but they seem to have their heads bowed down to army. The army unlike their Indian counterparts is power hungry. They could coup against their government and capture power at the drop of the hat. Surely the people of Pakistan deserve better treatment.
The next thing that strikes me is the level they can go to capture Kashmir from India. Their intelligence agency (ISI) provided the place where the so called jihad’s can train in their freedom struggle. But what we are seeing now is their army is fighting the war on terror in their homeland. The greatest comedy or tragedy as I can say is that the terrorists are conducting trial runs across Pakistan so that they are better prepared to attack India. The ISI instead of providing intelligence about the attacks in their country, is more curious to devise plans to attack India.
Finally, The Pakistan people should understand that their problem is not India but their own government. They have to understand India has become a superpower and should stop sowing seeds of hatred and should concentrate on their own development. If they are going to continue in the same way as of now they will become history sooner rather than later…

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