Passionate About India

Very rarely, I do realise the significance to write frequently on a particular issue, until and unless it is of national importance and requires national attention! But then Dr Binayak Sen’s case is unique and hence I decided to write once again for him! It is no secret that Dr Binayak Sen has been deliberately made a victim of an archaic law! The way this law has been used to suppress the voice of Sen and that of his likes is what prompted me to write this particular editorial. It is a matter of utter shame that even today how we clutch to our colonial past and their discriminatory laws which were crafted to boot-lick a select few who ran the government. We all know that Dr Binayak Sen was arrested for the first time on May 14, 2007 on the charges of allegedly helping jailed Maoist Narayan Sanyal under the garb of providing medical aid. Not to forget that the entire series of his meetings with Sanyal was being supervised by the jail authorities themselves. Despite that, on December 24...

WE MUST STOP SELLING OURSELVES TO RECESSION-STRUCK WESTERN COUNTRIES WHO ARE IN SEARCH OF PROFITS FROM INDIA AND WE SHOULD STOP OUR QUEST FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY. BY ARINDAM CHAUDHURI I have heard that in African countries, hunters find it tough to catch monkeys and in order to do so successfully, they place a jar with a small opening filled with nuts near the trees. The jar is so designed that it allows a monkey’s hand to go inside, but once in, the monkey finds it difficult to take it out. Most of the time, the monkey stays there as it is unwilling to let go of the nuts. These peanuts which trap a monkey are actually unrealistic desires of this animal! This is what brings me to the point I want to write on. There is no secret that we evolved from apes and thus few actions of ours closely relate to similar behaviour. Our penchant for having nuclear energy is quite similar, wherein we have no idea where it is going to lead us to. And unfortunately, right now we are unable to see beyond the ...

I have often said that we are a strange economy wherein the number of billionaires is increasing by the day, but we hardly have any worthwhile billion dollar global product. And this weird, inexplicable phenomenon – where billions are being made without having commensurate global products – is only prevalent in India. One wonders how these billionaires manage to make their billions without a supporting product? Well, of all the inexplicable means that are being adopted, one of the most fashionable has been the act of blatant land grabbing! In fact, land acquisition in India has been always the most ignored legislation, and obviously for understandable reasons! Not even three months have passed and 2011 has already seen its share of illegal transactions of land meant for public purposes. Among these innumerable and mostly untraceable public land deals, there are three deals that caught my fancy mostly due to the sheer nature of the deals! The first one being that of the Tamil Nadu gover...

At a point in time where not just India, but the entire world is grappling with the issue of food shortage and escalating food prices, especially owing to the worst drought that has recently hit China (affecting eight major wheat-growing provinces that account for around 80 per cent of the country’s total wheat output), and at a point in time wherein black money and corruption have taken up gigantic proportions, the least that was expected of our honourable Finance Minister was a few bold steps to arrest both the issues. To tackle the impending food crisis, most governments across the world are planning and drafting policies to control the expected food shortage and the anticipated food price hike. West Asian countries are stocking up grains, while countries like Iraq have already placed orders for 400,000 tonnes of wheat grain from the US. Following the trend, even Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are exporting grains and Russia has even announced a complete ban on f...

The movie Do Duni Chaar higlighted the power of simple truths & facts. This Alternative Budget based on agriculture is dedicated to Indians who deserve a less catchy & more simple theme Often, the most profound and transformational changes can be achieved by taking simple and easy decisions that are usually very hard to take. Those simple decisions become hard to take because we – particularly more so in India – have this inexplicable and inexcusable habit of trying our best to avoid reality; to blink and look the other way even when harsh realities stare at us unblinkingly. While brainstorming for the multiple award winning movie Do Dooni Chaar, we were very clear that the lead characters must be confronted with choices that are gut wrenching even though they appear simple. I personally think the movie touched a chord with people across India because it highlighted the power of simple truths and simple facts; and because it enabled ordinary Indians to transcend obstacles by st...

As I went through the shocking footages of the hotel cameras which reveal what went on inside the Taj on 26/11 (made public now for the first time as an exclusive by The Sunday Indian – read the cover story that follows), my blood boils once again in rage. Rage against Pakistan, rage against our spineless government which allowed it to happen and though there can be no justice at all for what happened, I demand that Kasab be hanged immediately. Shocking and Exclusive from the The Sunday Indian : 26/11 snaps from hidden cameras inside Taj. To check them out Log on now to http://facebook.com/Chaudhuri.Arindam I fail to understand what more does the Government of India need to punish Ajmal Kasab, who was caught red handed, causing mayhem in Mumbai on 26th of November 2008. More so, at a point in time where across the globe, governments have a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism! Such is the extent of intolerance that if on one extreme, the United States of America, under the guise ...

Although it is popularly known as a global predicament and India’s biggest, yet nothing is being done about it. I am asked almost everyday, in particular by my online friends on Facebook and other online communities, to write on it. Yes, I am referring to black money and the black hole that our reprehensible politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen collectively have created of this nation. To an extent that there is no other nation which has been looted by its own unscrupulous countrymen, as much as India has been shamelessly looted; and this insidious saga continues on an everyday basis. As per very well researched reports, Indians have stashed away as black money abroad a total amount of money, which is more than our entire national income. The figures are to the tune of an unbelievably staggering $1450 billion of unaccounted money in various foreign banks! And India happens to be the largest account holder of black money abroad. At the second place is Russia with less than a third o...