Blog@GraceJunction

Barack Hussein Obama II, born on August 4, 1961 to a Kenyan father and White American mother has become the President of the United States of America, the first African American to do so. This news flashed on every news screen in the first week of this month. The President elect of the United States is all set to officially take over from George Bush on the 20th of January, 2009. (more…)

Democratic systems derived from British democracy have the system of recognising a official opposition to the ruling party. The traditional role of the opposition can be classified under three broad headings:

1) the voice of the voiceless,
the opposition expresses the view of a significant section of the electorate and helps to ensure that concerns of the various groups and other interests not represented in government are not forgotten or trampled upon.

2) alternative to the ruling government,
the oppostion constantly reminds the electorate that there is a viable alternative to the incumbent government. One that has a real or imagined potential to improve the quality of life of the people and let them realise their aspirations. (more…)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 8:00pm

The Manmohan Singh led UPA government finally did win the trust vote by a margin of 19 votes amidst the mudslinging and all the hoopla in House of the People (Lok Sabha). The victory they said was sure. They described it as a ‘convincing win’. Meanwhile the battered opposition almost predictably termed it as ‘corrupt victory’.

Over the past few days, the nation woke up to numerous stories about MPs switching loyalty for payoffs ranging from rupees 3 to 25 crores. Charges of horsetrading were doing the rounds since the past three days but the countrymen did not expect MPs to suddenly start disgorging wads of currency on the table of the House, allegedly given to them as a ‘bribe’ for abstaining from voting in the confidence motion moved by UPA government. The MPs also claim to have videographic evidence (Rajdeep Sardesai trying to earn some brownie points over Tehelka and Pranoy Roy’s NDTV, with a stunning sting operation) of the whole bribery deal. India was stunned (perhaps more by the flashing of the wads, in the sanctum sanctorum of world’s largest democracy, than by the allegation per se). This cash-on-table was the first for the Lok Sabha! (more…)

The Manmohan Singh government seeks a trust vote in the Lok Sabha today and the political drama in India has managed to attract widespread attention worldwide, as it will decide the fate of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. Under this bilateral pact, the United States will provide India access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel in exchange for IAEA-safeguards on India’s civilian nuclear reactors.

A lot of time and energy was spent behind the passage of the Hyde Act in 2006. The leading opposition party BJP which laid the groundwork for the deal criticized the deal and does not want the government to accept the deal without a vote in the legislature. The Left too had withdrawn its support. The nuke deal has been scripted by Manmohan Singh but the political risk is almost that of Mrs. Gandhi. The possible UPA meltdown will be a hard blow for the party to bear. The loss could be terrible and a win might have a few downsides. (more…)

I wasn’t so scared and afraid earlier during the day as I was now, driving down nervously, with my senses on peak alert, searching everywhere for any signs of rioters and trouble makers. We sneaked thru the streets very close to my house, and I could see all around my house burning cars and trucks, stone strewn streets, shattered glass. I choked, my tongue stuck on the roof, trying very hard to gulp my spit as my mind began to recreate the images of what transpired during the day, when my wife made a distress call. Sobbing uncontrollably and tearful, she was scared and terrorized, while locking her self up in the confines of our house.

I had never attended a call like this before and those moments seem permanently etched in my memory. I was at the factory up on a giant machine, explaining it all to a foreign customer whom I had picked up at the airport early in the morning. While I left home it was all ok, the air was a bit tense but as I drove further from my house I did sense the turmoil in the air. I drove past people, up in small mobs and saw shattered windshields and glass all over the streets. I just reminded myself of God’s love and protection on our lives and confidently drove past all of it, seemingly ignoring it all. (more…)

Few men sat together and played with the LIBOR rates in the wake of the US funds crisis and this has allowed in artificial interest rates into the world economy which could have serious ramifications very soon. LIBOR rates are used as benchmark for over 300 trillion USD worth of transactions worldwide!

Few men sit together at the OPEC and decide how much you and I will pay for our petrol or diesel. They decide the production limits of its constituent countries and this gives them large control over the prices of crude. The crude cost per barrel is estimated to be around 15 USD per barrel, that however is now selling at 130 USD per barrel or even more. (more…)

The Reserve Bank of India came out with advertisements titled ‘Know your Bank Note’in newspapers across the country to educate people in spotting counterfeit currency. Indians were exposed to terminologies and technologies there were unaware about earlier like watermark, latent image, micro lettering, see through register, optically variable ink, security thread, intaglio printing, omron anti-photocopying feature, flouresence et cetera. Most people never knew that the note in their hand had so many in-built security features. Most people, even now, do not understand the need for it!

Why should Reserve Bank be so concerned about counterfeit at all? Are these notes a threat at all? (more…)

Come Olympics and most of us would be glued to this mega event unfold itself. More so because the built up to it and the country in which it is taking place promises much drama. This is one event which commands the most number of eyeballs, with the Athens Olympics drawing more than 4 billion people watching it just on TV. Most of us have already witnessed the violence that has marred the carrying of the Olympic torch, which signifies the uniting thread between the ancient games and modern games.

The purpose of the ancient games has been replaced by the spirit of the modern games. The Greeks placed emphasis on the Artistic nature of athletics and the preparatory role it played for its warriors. Games were important due to the impact it had on the regions economy and politics. But over a period of time the athletes began to be paid heavily for their sporting achievements and sports heroes emerged resulting in the demise of the amateurs and with it so many other things that sports stood for. (more…)

Friday saw rioting Palestinian Arabs torch the wheat fields of Israel and later on, pelting stones at the local fire brigade personnel – exactly a day after a recorded message purportedly from Osama bin Laden called on Muslims to break the Israeli-led embargo on Gaza. He also declared Iraq to be the perfect base to set up the Jihad to liberate Palestine.

Bin Laden, who was behind the terrorist network’s 09/11 attacks, has been in hiding since the U.S. assault on Afghanistan that followed those strikes. His last public statement was an audio message issued in December, when he urged his followers in Iraq to continue battling U.S. troops there. But he has his eyes trained on Israel too.

Now if you thought that Laden was the only guy who eyed Israel, then you need to know that there is also an ambitious leader in the present Iranian President! His eyes too are trained on Israel! (more…)