tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70548952297513176732012-01-15T23:16:02.460+05:30Every truth is printableSurajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.comBlogger811100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-61519164486014730912011-05-11T17:26:00.030+05:302011-12-22T11:56:52.384+05:30

How Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Co took the unassuming people of this country for a ride [Click on the headline to hear Shambhu Dutt Sharma speak] The 5-8 April spectacle at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, was nothing but a corporate conspiracy of expending the energies of the Great Indian Huddle-and-Muddle Class, as mass mobilisation by Baba Ramdev and satyagraha by veteran Gandhian Shambhu Dutt

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-6150252176811903572011-03-23T13:40:00.003+05:302011-03-24T11:59:50.802+05:30

Response to Purnima S Tripathi's article[click on the headline for the Frontline feature]From an editor's perspective, I see some loopholes in the writer's argument. First, it's a leftist viewpoint, which dictates that profit-making PSUs should not be divested. As per the point of view of an advocate of liberal market, however, government has no business being in the telecom trade; it must

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-80008254391607179342010-09-25T20:45:00.002+05:302010-09-26T13:37:17.417+05:30

... India and the Games' apologists blame the victim — Indians — for not being nationalistic enoughAn international games event is often hosted in a place with the aim to uplift the local economy. The Commonwealth Games has so far served this purpose well in several cities in various countries that hosted them (this event is strictly associated with the hosting city and not the hosting country).

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1New Delhi, Delhi 110001, India28.635308 77.2249628.333978499999997 76.75804099999999 28.9366375 77.691879tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-74243555838991296882010-08-02T11:04:00.000+05:302010-08-02T11:04:41.668+05:30

_______________ Surajit Dasgupta _______________ Can Challenge 2009 find the missing notes? Na jAnE koI kaisI hai yeh zindagAnI,’ sang Debojit Dutta from Kolkata so marvellously — albeit he was out of breath once, a point conveniently ignored by the judges — last night that the audience, going a step ahead of whistling hysterically, gave him a standing ovation to mark the end of the first

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-20509894284973229302010-06-10T23:42:00.007+05:302010-09-24T15:25:27.119+05:30

Unless Mamata does a volte faceMore than a quarter-century of political praxis looks like changing. The Left Front’s sweep in West Bengal is giving way! To the politics of a maverick, a firebrand woman politician who, in the eyes of her constituency and friendly Bengali media, pursues a dedicated political career to the exclusion of other calls on a woman’s life (such as marriage), who lives a

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-19184192223435249462010-04-09T19:02:00.025+05:302010-04-13T11:31:00.304+05:30

Operation Lalgarh may bear fruit for the Central Government. Rather, from the Union's point of view, it's an imperative. However, it bodes ill for the political party that heads that government. The Congress has compromised with its electoral prospects in West Bengal, in all likelihood, to cut Mamata Banerjee down to sizeUnlike the other states where the Maoists are active, West Bengal had had no

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-71687704981214309702010-01-08T13:37:00.005+05:302010-01-08T14:09:21.749+05:30

... even if politics decides to do without him_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________Much caricatured as he is for turning the Samajwadi Party from a club of socialists into that of socialites (former party member Raj Babbar’s accusation), Amar Singh’s separation from the party is unthinkable... well, almost! For long, the man has been the public face of the SP, perhaps to a greater degree

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-57151959835036871092009-12-23T13:35:00.004+05:302010-01-08T13:36:31.847+05:30

The suggestion by two judges of the Supreme Court to Government of India to turn prostitution legal leaves one flummoxed_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________As per the understanding of the US Department of State, "While the act of prostitution is not illegal (in India), most activities such as the selling, procuring, and exploiting of any person for commercial sex as well as profiting

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-59878606018162479042009-11-17T20:27:00.004+05:302010-01-08T13:36:47.581+05:30

The alleged scam to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore involving former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda is a teaser. It sounds like the political equivalent of the Jessica Lall murder case, hearing which a judge had famously quipped, "It's known she was killed, but no one murdered her!" The BJP, apprehensive of the possibility that Jharkhand being under President's Rule would have the Centre

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-59789273233383284992009-08-07T10:53:00.047+05:302010-01-16T13:38:58.487+05:30

Screaming headlines declaring India's first 'swine flu' death followed by measured editorials advising people level-headedness, or the sight of people moving about masked followed by pacifying messages from doctors days later. Honey-I-Blew-Up-The-Kid has been the story of media's information management on the potential H1N1 worldwide pandemic, which in India is still merely an outbreakWhen I

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-42834335214063909022009-07-10T10:41:00.005+05:302009-07-12T11:49:51.452+05:30

Suspecting foulplay is unfortunate__________________Chandramouli Suresh__________________The general elections in India concluded a couple of months ago and the ruling Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won. The Congress party won over 200 seats. The main opposition BJP was pushed to a distant second securing a little over 115 seats. Just about two months since the results

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-39377138130571431482009-07-05T01:00:00.050+05:302010-02-02T13:28:14.768+05:30

The media is hysterically celebrating the reading down of Section 377 of the IPC that has decriminalised homosexuals. Fine prints of the judgment are being overlooked at will and ignorance of both science and religion are being bandied about by English media journalists, gay rights activists and, yes, also religious heads. In this backdrop, Research, setting out to put the records straight, finds

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-1486034055013317602009-06-28T10:13:00.020+05:302009-07-01T13:49:10.769+05:30

Otherwise, there is little that has merit in his hastily proposed new education policy_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________The then Science & Technology and Ocean Development (ST&OD) Minister, now the Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal unknowingly made my transition from a teacher to a journalist a smooth affair. Hardly three days into what was then my new vocation, as

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-87076144938235616872009-06-13T11:02:00.008+05:302009-06-16T14:21:04.987+05:30

A month or more after the shocking incident of an asthmatic girl's death inside a Delhi school for its authorities' negligence, the pressing need for sensitisation of the schools to the issue seems to have been relegated to the backburner____________Nithin Sridhar____________The Government had, on 19 November 2007, set up the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights as a statutory body

Nithin.Snoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-16208957038220191222009-06-07T18:47:00.010+05:302009-07-07T21:51:06.756+05:30

The awareness about the just-launched New Pension Scheme is abysmally low. That is unfortunate because the NPS may turn out to be the best long-term investment productFrom May 2009 onwards, Indians have had access to another investment avenue to plan for retirement in the New Pension Scheme (NPS). The scheme had been in the pipeline for at least five years but it finally took shape in 2007-08.

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-52158725868961870472009-06-07T18:39:00.017+05:302009-06-13T15:07:09.526+05:30

The Indian tour and travel industry is by and large unaffected by the global economic downturn_________________________________MoneyLIFE Bureau & Surajit Dasgupta_________________________________Has the economic slowdown decided to leave the tourism industry alone? Or are things looking good because, as the song says, everybody wants a summer holiday? It is a bit of both. Outbound tourism is

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-58868115125897464542009-05-16T21:36:00.009+05:302009-05-23T17:26:56.924+05:30

... even as India votes for advertised 'truth'_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________Right wing economists must welcome a UPA Government minus the left. Let’s hope the Congress does not betray its ally, the Trinamool Congress, to shake hands with the socialists who still have some more seats with them than their rival if both Kerala and West Bengal are counted, despite the rout the

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-57387725425640067572009-05-12T20:50:00.007+05:302009-05-13T10:40:50.288+05:30

UDF is likely to sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, thanks to a negative vote for the CPI(M)-led dispensation's governance in the state______________________________Arun Lakshman | Thiruvananthapuram______________________________The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress is expected to make major headways in the Indian state of Kerala in the general elections with the

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-4563250581732097422009-05-11T01:34:00.005+05:302009-05-13T10:40:50.289+05:30

... as Prachanda-led Maoists see the country's president have a truck with India____________Nithin Sridhar____________Nepal is again in news. After gaining prominence in 2005 and finally becoming Prime Minister in 2008, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Comrade Prachanda, Chairman, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), finally stepped down on 4 April 2009 after a spat with the country's President

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-14320883673373704502009-04-30T11:35:00.003+05:302009-05-13T10:41:28.910+05:30

The report carrying her clarification on Rahul Gandhi's MPhil raises more questions than answersDear Prof Alison Richard,I am a Delhi-based journalist investigating the academic credentials of Rahul Gandhi, the Indian National Congress candidate contesting from the constituency of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, for the Lok Sabha elections 2009.I would like to get a detailed confirmation of your interview

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-11878162670575794802009-04-22T03:18:00.048+05:302011-06-07T23:01:50.113+05:30

How would you react if this man were your colleague? _______________ Surajit Dasgupta _______________ In 1994, this writer came across a young girl who was then serving a direct sales associate of a multinational bank as a telemarketing executive. She must not have met the right people at the right time till then. For, with a PGDBM from IMT-Ghaziabad and a degree in commerce from SRCC, she

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-11732045541090656602009-04-11T18:08:00.028+05:302009-04-11T22:05:57.101+05:30

... on a wing and a prayerPerception, say some. Reality, say others. Recession, say some. Slowdown, say others. A few contradict themselves, moving from one question to another. What they all agree to consensually is that it does affect them. A report on the state of employment of fresh MBAs this year_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________Parents of final year students of IMI waiting for

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-75167059896919162472009-02-21T22:34:00.013+05:302009-02-23T00:33:40.773+05:30

The state has every material it takes to be developed but no human element to make the best of it___________Sanket Dash___________Orissa is one of the most ill-known states of India. For starters, it is located in the south-east corner of India, measures around 150,000 sq km in size, and has a population of 35 million. It is among India's top 2 states in mineral wealth with plentiful deposits of

Sanketnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-52491923452615091962009-02-20T16:28:00.018+05:302009-02-20T18:56:36.293+05:30

That is what the Government of India is up to issuing, by proposing to deem certifications by madrassahs and the CBSE equivalent_____________Nithin Sridhar_____________The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry plans to set up a Central Madrassa Board on the lines of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), HRD Minister Arjun Singh said on Tuesday.This would help modernise the

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-66606090236055623802009-02-09T22:26:00.004+05:302009-02-09T22:40:47.518+05:30

_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has surprised nobody by stating he does not rule out the possibility of the Marxists' joining a coalition government post-2009 elections that is not led by the Indian National Congress but where the latter plays a participatory role. In their recent interviews, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-51180777007516568502009-01-27T02:14:00.004+05:302009-01-27T04:53:29.155+05:30

... that freed India in 1947_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________Today, the attention of this writer was drawn to an article written by Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar on the occasion of India's Independence Day in 2003 (though it appeared in print two days later as that was the closest Sunday, the day when Swami's column appears in The Times of India). The article insists the British left

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-56829117422037708462009-01-16T22:13:00.099+05:302009-06-17T11:08:15.076+05:30

... to Islamic extremism in India______________Surajit Dasgupta______________This article is not to suggest that the only security problem India is facing at the moment owes to the intolerant part or interpretation of Islam. For sure, the Hindutwa movement, increasingly turning violent in several parts of India, is a cause for concern. And so is the Christian evangelical zeal that entails abusing

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-41833269662541607522008-11-27T13:24:00.015+05:302008-11-28T15:02:27.384+05:30

The return of an old terror strategy will ultimately lead to public defiance of law in IndiaA terrorist in actionHere he is joined by an accomplice (snaps from a television footage)Fire engulfs the Taj Palace HotelEmployees and guests of the Taj Palace Hotel being rescued by a fire crewPolicemen taking position at the site of attack in the Colaba areaAll photos above: AFPA policeman supports an

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-16251107885399823442008-11-04T20:44:00.007+05:302008-11-27T16:14:51.990+05:30

It's time the Hindu right wing owned up the black sheep in its herd and the administration stopped hounding innocent Muslims______________N Jamal Ansari______________Some of the recent revelations on the 30 September Malegaon incident of bombing indicate that some fanatics from the Hindu community are indulging in terrorist activities and they are sure that the blame will go on to the Muslims. It

N.Jamal Ansarinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-29527461932642364132008-10-31T11:09:00.016+05:302008-11-27T16:14:51.990+05:30

So what if the RSS is not involved? So what if just a handful of Hindus have taken to terrorism? It's an ominous beginning for sure_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________Local residents and police officers clear debris ata blast site in Malegaon, 29 September 2008Photo courtesy: REUTERSMuch as the journalists may detest the forum for having encroached upon their exclusive right to comment

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-10530888329115194902008-10-22T14:26:00.025+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.190+05:30

Inside Chandrayaan I:Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft undergoing pre-launch testsMoon Impact Probe integration with Chandrayaan-1 spacecraftReadying Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft for Thermovac testFully integrated Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft (left) and loading it to Thermovac Chamber (right)PSLV-C11 Third and Fourth Stages:PSLV-C11 fourth stagePSLV-C11 Vehicle stacked up to fourth stageHoisting of third and

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-16763008777347109022008-09-27T13:19:00.019+05:302008-10-01T11:45:01.536+05:30

The VHP, Bajrang Dal and their supporters in the RSS are blots on Hindu society; it's time the community's visible, educated faces disowned them openly_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________In the aftermath of the Union Government's gentle threat to the Orissa and Karnataka Governments and the mild censure of the militant Hindu outfits by BJP leader LK Advani, some apologists of the Sangh

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-27675464954333492142008-09-01T14:00:00.083+05:302011-05-16T23:37:21.312+05:30

Secularism and Gandhi: Revision of contemporary history for school kids[The link to a debate in an orkut forum on this article appears at the end of this article]_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________This article has been necessitated by a debate that followed the last blog-post, "Can't Let Go," which went in for a major digression on to a debate on secularism at the insistence of a

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-65861391909933991492008-08-18T11:42:00.042+05:302010-10-30T15:04:27.532+05:30

Hurriyat-Lashkar-Jaish-Harkat's Kashmir would be Taliban's Afghanistan IIWorld beware! Masood Azhar's rally in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, where he had vowed to recruit half a million terrorists. He managed to recruit many more_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________There is no need for any Indian to get worked up for what national self-flagellation champion Arundhati Roy said yesterday — that

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-8357060195590735212008-08-18T00:54:00.005+05:302008-08-20T14:22:26.190+05:30

After putting its view on Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Parliament during the trust vote, Research visits the other darling of the media, the man whose speech on the same day at the same venue caught the fancy of the Fourth Estate — Omar Abdullah — in the form of a debate in the wake of the seemingly endless strife in the Indian state of Jammu & KashmirCelebrating tyrants__________________Saradindu

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-83280272457771596002008-08-12T11:29:00.001+05:302008-08-12T11:47:26.477+05:30

____________Press release____________Dhaka, 11 August 2008: The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM), an NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, has, by its Bangladesh Chapter‘s Secretary General Mr Rabindranath Trivedi, who is also an ex additional secretary to the Government of Bangladesh, filed a writ petition to the

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-66405748461841232932008-08-06T11:59:00.035+05:302010-09-11T18:27:42.715+05:30

______________Surajit Dasgupta______________People, especially apolitical Hindus, have got so used to hearing scandals involving the so-called saints that news of the type does not shock them anymore. To theologians, these scandals are but expected as they can tell a true spiritualist from a fake religious leader. As people drift away from faith, disillusioned with the present crop of evangelists

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-7767622041490372922008-07-29T13:56:00.006+05:302008-07-30T16:08:03.324+05:30

The metaphors he used in Parliament during the debate for the confidence motion were far-fetched, on the verge of being laughable_________M Ratan_________When the handsome crown prince of the ruling party, the Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi stood up in the Lok Sabha on July 22 to expound on energy security while defending the India-US civil nuclear cooperation deal, in the debate on the

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-7256538656942845572008-07-29T12:00:00.013+05:302008-07-29T17:16:38.874+05:30

______________________Indraneil Roy Choudhuri______________________Today with a lot of gratitude, I share with all of you my experience in dealing with the passing away of my father.It all started the beginning of last month when during his regular check ups, the doctors found that my dad’s blood count was unusually high. My father had been diagnosed with the cancer of the lymph nodes in 2005,

Indraneilnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-65791635931829270432008-07-26T15:18:00.015+05:302008-07-28T18:18:26.771+05:30

_____________Nithin Sridhar_____________Two more terrorist attacks, a series of bomb blasts in two prosperous cities, many people dead, many more injured and a grave national loss! This has become a part and parcel of Indian life. The target shifts, outfits involved in terrorism changes, but the impact remains same and the intentions remain the same. This time the location was first Bengaluru,

Nithin.Snoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-72929617857212722552008-07-19T11:01:00.023+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.191+05:30

_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________Going by science, electricity from nuclear energy was an afterthought. Going by history, China eyes Arunachal Pradesh the way Saddam Hussein eyed Kuwait. Talking about the present, India is still surrounded by hostile countries. In terms of dealing with defence apparatus, this country, which never built a dangerous weapon before its enemy did, is

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-6395428324281800212008-07-13T16:10:00.017+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.192+05:30

Scrap it. The messengers being wrong does not make the message wrong_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________Guess who is lying! On 8 August 2008, the IAEA uploads this statement on its website: “Note to editors: The text of the draft Agreement is not public. IAEA Officials will not be giving interviews at this time.” That very night two blogs upload a portable document format file of the

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-48764530085346708382008-07-09T14:59:00.018+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.193+05:30

[Click on the headline for the "agreement between the Government of India and the IAEA for the application of safeguards to civilian nuclear facilities (including the ‘Additional Protocol’)"]Every party to the dispute has been economical with the truth about the civil nuclear cooperation deal between the two countries since July 2005_______________Surajit Dasgupta_______________How much nuclear

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-29818571177486260232008-07-09T13:10:00.008+05:302008-07-11T11:04:45.424+05:30

And it bluffed about the 'inevitability' of fuel price hike when it indeed had other options, reports Dibyendu DasFill it, shut it and forget it! This once-famous slogan from an advertisement of a motorcycle seems to be the motto of the UPA Government as it has conveniently set aside the worries of the poor and the middle class reeling under the pressure of the recent hike in the prices of fuel

Dibyendu Das.noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-37826121224742701472008-06-27T12:49:00.022+05:302010-08-02T16:15:06.503+05:30

Any Tom, Dick, Harry or Philip Kotler can be a marketing guru________________Surajit Dasgupta________________If there are three natural numbers ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘c’ such that a^2 + b^2 = c^2, you call them a Pythagorean triplet (e.g., 5, 12 and 13 make such a triplet as 5^2 + 12^2 = 13^2. And if you substitute 2 by any number, say, ‘n’, then you see that you are unable to find any set of three

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-19667423505876613862008-06-25T17:00:00.013+05:302008-07-02T17:55:38.583+05:30

A student wants to write a thesis on an untouched subject. He approaches a 'guide', a professor in the know of previously researched topics and also the person who can fetch the student his research degree. The latter exploits the former to the extent of extracting personal, menial jobs from the poor student. If the young chap obliges — which most of PhD aspirants do — he gets a doctorate,

Sandeep Nagarnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-61503858165389313242008-06-23T14:31:00.007+05:302008-08-07T22:42:52.258+05:30

______________________An anonymous soldier______________________Though this is not a poetry blog, the newsworthiness of the following ballad merits its inclusion here. It has been composed by a fourth generation, 24-year old career officer in the Indian Armed Forces, spurred by the report of the Sixth Pay Commission and an insensitive article written by a 'respectable' denizen of the country in a

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-50525532925160324262008-06-22T21:01:00.005+05:302008-08-07T22:43:35.551+05:30

President Sarkozy is a big disappointment_______________Mathieu Mercier_______________Last year, during the presidential election in France, facing Nicolas Sarkozy was another candidate, a woman. France, it seemed, was not yet ready to elect a woman as the head of their state. Ségolène Royale was being criticized in every public forum, sometimes quite unfairly. People thought she was too naïve

Mathieu MERCIERnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-61541115390158306602008-06-18T17:22:00.011+05:302010-01-16T13:38:58.488+05:30

________________Surajit Dasgupta________________(Click on the headline for details of cognitive behaviour therapy for hypochondriasis by the Journal of the American Medical Association)The reproduction of this article in this blog has been provoked by a frequent topic of discussion at this writer's workplace: health profiles of the respective speakers. It amuses me, hailing as I do from a small

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-85314824081736508522008-06-18T11:59:00.013+05:302008-08-21T13:02:26.437+05:30

Things exist because they do____________Debarshi Dey____________Reason and reality: these are the two parameters we constantly invoke in our post modern lives to validate and justify all that we think and all that we do. Such is the absolute power of these two concepts on our minds that even our Gods and our innermost dreams have to pass the twin tests: Are they reasonable? Are they realistic? We

Rakhaliyanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-1995441967535939852008-06-17T17:32:00.009+05:302008-06-30T23:30:50.600+05:30

Shivraj Patil must come clean________M Ratan________Ambala, New Delhi, Latur, June 6: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s record in office may not be much to write home about — a string of terrorist attacks across the country since he took charge and no sign of a breakthrough in any case. On one front, at least, the Minister has delivered — by providing the clout of his official address to help

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-92024700387953857052008-06-16T18:34:00.029+05:302008-08-07T22:55:50.414+05:30

Twenty-first century parents, shame on you________________Surajit Dasgupta________________There used to be a time when children were mere pawns in the hands of their parents. Not only in major decision-making processes pertaining to the child's career and marriage, but also in case of every little move in his quotidian life, the parents used to impose severe vigilance and censorship on him. The

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-15211017998114556582008-06-13T12:53:00.016+05:302008-07-29T11:13:21.833+05:30

Editors, shed a tear for yourselvesA report published in HT City's 13 June 2008 edition:Blogstress.comBurning the midnight oil, skipping meals, stressed out 24/7 - we aren't talking about students or BPO workers; we are talking of bloggers. Neck deep in competition to write the best post, get maximum clicks or make the most money, their lives are nothing but grist for their next post. They surf

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-24915195244994435742008-06-02T12:14:00.008+05:302008-07-29T11:13:21.834+05:30

The RSS's prevalence in orkut had made Google nervous, as it briefly blacked out all RSS communities a year ago. It shouldn't be difficult to guess who had arm-twisted Google into taking the action of intolerant censorship. Nevertheless, the youth protested vociferously and all those banned fora were back online. This is an announcement of the commemoration of the event, marking youth power, next

amitnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-4652817561608325782008-05-30T12:44:00.023+05:302010-01-16T13:38:58.489+05:30

(Click on the headline for a surgeon's prescription describing genuine cases of appendicitis)_________________Surajit Dasgupta_________________Anywhere in India, if someone suffers from stomach pain, the ailment could be anything. If it's West Bengal, and it's a woman, chances are high she will be diagnosed with 'appendicitis'. How reliable is this diagnosis?Background:This article was written in

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-41600306799118776032008-05-26T22:22:00.009+05:302008-07-02T17:55:38.585+05:30

______________Nithin Sridhar______________I bow to thee: Before taking the oath as the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka in Bangalore on 26 May, BS Yeddyurappa touches the feet of LK Advani as BJP national president Rajnath Singh looks onThe results of the Karnataka assembly elections are out and the BJP is all set to form the government with the support of a few independents.This election has

Nithin.Snoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-40769253623192718252008-05-14T15:42:00.052+05:302010-02-05T11:43:43.167+05:30

But that does not surprise, as they don't know Hindi either________________Surajit Dasgupta________________Almost everyday for several years now, one has been coming across headlines and texts in the Indian newspapers and sound-bytes in the television news channels that are horrendous examples of communication. Even if content is considered more important than language, what cannot be ignored or

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-9525226300141288242008-05-12T17:56:00.026+05:302009-06-09T21:26:34.265+05:30

Alliance Française, pull up your socks________________Surajit Dasgupta________________This article was written three years ago, more as a diary entry that was not intended to be published. It remained tucked, saved in my e-mail account all these years. Today I'm forced to tell the story to all, for I have just been through a horrendous week-long experience of total lack of professionalism by the

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-60498311068605112452008-05-10T14:13:00.007+05:302010-01-16T13:38:58.490+05:30

We are close to figuring out what we are made of, or are we?_____________________Chaitali Bhattacharjee_____________________What makes a human a human? Why are we so different from all other animals? What is it that makes us tick? These are questions that intrigued the human mind always. However, the answer kept eluding us till a series of momentous discoveries led one to believe that the answer

Chaitalinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-29158993865328495582008-05-01T10:51:00.017+05:302008-05-31T10:34:38.695+05:30

______________Nithin Sridhar______________ Her lap is a sacrificial altar; her hairs, the sacrificial grass; her skin, the soma-press. The two labia*(lips) of the vulva are the fire in the middle[Brhad-Âranyaka Upanisad, 6.4.3]This man (ama) am I; that woman (sâ), thou!That woman, thou; this man am I!I am the Sâman; thou, the Rig!I am the heaven; thou, the earth!Come, let us two together clasp!

Nithin.Snoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-17887170516639571042008-04-26T14:44:00.014+05:302008-08-07T22:55:50.415+05:30

Both sides in the debate are perverts betraying mid-life crisis[Click on the headline to read an exposition on mid-life crisis]There are a whole lot of things that look odd in the prevailing debate over what apparently is a non-issue: Should ‘cheerleaders’ be banned from prancing — or, is it dancing? — during the matches of the Indian Premier League? Blaming a certain minister from the Congress

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-50742711103090288462008-04-17T17:22:00.013+05:302008-06-19T14:23:36.478+05:30

Medical students in Kolkata, India, walk in a silent rally protesting police atrocities against them during an earlier protest against quota-based programmes for Other Backward Castes__________Anish Nair__________The issue of OBC reservations, which has been lying dormant for a while, has been catapulted to prominence in the public by a recent Supreme Court verdict. NDTV and IBN appear to be

Anish The Gr8noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-34220363743385154142008-04-16T16:06:00.050+05:302009-05-23T20:52:41.837+05:30

Interviewing the Father of the Internet25 January 2005On 4 January, a section of the press made it appear that people would soon interact with ‘Martians’, though no life is known to exist on that planet. Two days later, Vinton Cerf, after his plenary lecture at the recent Indian Science Congress, appeared flustered by such an ornamented report. Excerpts from an interview and subsequent Internet

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-61489423977597212722008-04-14T10:15:00.009+05:302008-08-07T22:55:50.415+05:30

Lesson learnt well in The PioneerIn my new office the other day, after I finished preparing company literature on products like power interface unit, phase change material, nano-cooled green shelters, filter-less air conditioner, compressor-less AC, etc, our department needed a French translation of the product descriptions for the overseas market. As I volunteered to translate the matter, my

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-43756621699811468612008-04-09T12:23:00.046+05:302008-12-04T19:25:08.340+05:30

आज की युवा पीढ़ी एक तरफ़ तो अल्हड़ लगती है और दूसरी तरफ़ संजीदा भी । यदि उन में राजनीति की समझ या उसके प्रति रुझान कम है तो विभिन्न तकनीकी विषयों में उन का ज्ञान हमें अक्सर मंत्रमुग्ध भी कर देता है । अतः उन पर कोई अन्तिम टिप्पणी करने से पहले उन के जीवन के अन्य पहलुओं की जांच कर लेनी चाहिए । यदि युवा वर्ग राजनैतिक विचार-विमर्ष में अपरिपक्व है तो इसके लिए न सिर्फ़ युगों तक की मलिन राजनीति ज़िम्मेदार

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-31407406937407278522008-03-14T13:45:00.007+05:302008-08-02T12:06:14.738+05:30

There are people who believe in God. Some believe in gods. Some believe in neither. Some say it is beyond human beings to be able to conclude ever whether God exists or not. This simple monotheist-polytheist-atheist-agnostic classification is as simple as Western philosophy (after the end of the era of Greek thinkers) generally tends to be. The differentiation becomes complicated in India whose

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-31213633011465894832008-03-09T13:25:00.025+05:302010-01-16T13:38:58.491+05:30

This is a part of my autobiography which I had circulated as an e-mail among many friends. The e-mail was provoked by frequent heated exchange of words in get-togethers, parties and canteen chats in which most women participants would argue that a man has to take a woman's word for it when she claims she is a virgin or accepts she is not and then wants to be appreciated for 'honesty'. This is to

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-68906071343106605502008-03-01T01:03:00.007+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.194+05:30

People were happy when it became the most popular search engine. When it offered virtually unlimited space in email accounts, only the competitors cribbed. Then it scared Governments with GoogleEarth and mobile phone operators with Rs 4,000 web-surfable cellphones. Here are two of its latest ‘Googlies’Google is coming up with Google Health, its latest service — this time of personal health

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-38154480901340852572008-02-25T20:55:00.008+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.196+05:30

The US claims that destroying one of its defunct satellites with a missile was necessary for the hazard its toxic fuel posed to life on Earth. It's an understatement that the world isn't convinced; neither are American experts. Here is an exposition of a six-week (perhaps more) long dramaKeep aside the game of American and international politics surrounding the recent shooting down of a defunct

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-52489817230214384422008-02-16T17:03:00.008+05:302010-01-16T13:48:28.527+05:30

While our educationists’ endeavour to increase the content of reasoning in school curricula is welcome, an examination hall is the last place students would like to be taken by surprise. CBSE must wait for a year to let students develop Higher Order Thinking Skills before testing themAll those who had been lamenting for decades that academic education in the country is all about devouring bookish

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-9254171947322142202008-02-12T22:50:00.005+05:302008-07-29T11:20:36.526+05:30

Are book fairs serving their purpose?We are told that books are important, and they indeed are. However, what comes across from the sight of authors and poets -- some singers and actors too, if you consider the Kolkata Book Fair -- chatting in circles inside and outside the stalls, taking themselves for Socrates, is the fact that intellectuals are perhaps more important.Indians who have lived in

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-1566603312220960862008-01-28T12:55:00.009+05:302011-01-25T13:03:56.732+05:30

Illicit trafficking in human organs is shocking news. But there's a much older racket that is thriving - unnecessary Caesarean section for childbirth. I expose a nine-month long conspiracy to create a medical situation that leaves women with no choiceNot only to medical practitioners, but also to the huge population of lay people who must see a doctor for the treatment of apparently routine to

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-86747114570737664002008-01-21T23:37:00.001+05:302010-01-16T13:38:58.493+05:30

Government is once again displaying its shocking lack of preparedness to prevent bird flu from entering the country and containing its spread among poultry thereafter. If people have not been infected so far, thank luck, not authorityAs this article is being written, an Associated Press report filed at 5.30 pm, Saturday, January 19, informs that Government officials in West Bengal, despite

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-48379484707935973922007-12-11T17:29:00.000+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.197+05:30

The Indian Railways’ act of using signal detonators (crackers) about a quarter kilometre away from outermost signal points to warn train drivers of approaching stations and yard’s staff of incoming trains under foggy conditions is a ludicrous anachronism in this high-tech era. The news comes in the wake of a recent Press release by the Railways that talked of a laser technology to be developed

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-33097475603854001122007-11-26T20:53:00.006+05:302008-07-31T17:08:47.936+05:30

{Excerpted from my autobiography}An immense hunger for knowledge that about a dozen of us had ensured that we kept ourselves abreast with the latest that was happening around the world not in the fields that comprise matters of general knowledge interest, but ones that the students learn reluctantly.We found mistakes in the suggested academic curricula. We suggested improvement in teaching

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-45503787771168028612007-11-21T19:35:00.001+05:302008-08-07T22:55:50.416+05:30

“Dream Girl” of yesteryears Hema Malini was, in January-February, in the eye of a storm for reportedly asking the migrant labour class from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — it’s funny, they are referred to pejoratively with the respectable address bhaiya — to leave Mumbai for ‘home’. It must be her personal opinion as none from her party, the BJP, seconded her ‘motion’, though some said she was

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-35690063072763919062007-11-19T15:42:00.001+05:302010-01-16T13:47:54.590+05:30

From the issue of cloning to publication of research in journals to intelligence tests carried out on various peoples to reproductive health, a brigade of 'conscience keepers' springs up to protest something it does not understand fullyCloning is now a hot topic of discussion in the fora of medical ethics. Prof Ian Wilmut of Edinburgh University, who gained celebrity status and attracted

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-82304462727908514562007-11-13T15:12:00.010+05:302009-07-22T13:31:40.945+05:30

[Caution: The use of Bengali expletives could not be avoided in some parts of this article for the sake of an authentic feel of Bangla, in which street language, I observed in course of my life in Kolkata and visits to some suburbs, is indispensable. Readers are advised discretion.]Relevant portions of my e-mails to friends will be added towards the end of the blog (after Anjan Dutta's lyrics)

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-38322682221979808302007-11-12T21:34:00.000+05:302008-08-07T22:55:50.416+05:30

The train was moving as if inebriated. After hundreds of jigsaw-puzzle shaped irrigated fields, thousands of trees and lampposts, millions of rhythmic taps of the train-wheels' on the conjoint tracks and a billion stars in a moonless night, it stopped at a semblance of a station. A ramshackle structure was there, in which an excuse of a government servant, whose designation is a euphemism: "

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-41088228388474824012007-11-12T20:05:00.000+05:302010-01-16T13:47:54.591+05:30

Google's new platform, Android, takes on the might of Nokia's Symbian, Microsoft's Windows Mobile, and Research In Motion's BlackBerry, promising to turn handsets into fully functional PCs. Google must now take the quantum leapIt has been reported that Google, through a collaboration with 33 other companies, is going to launch in two years a Rs 4,000 mobile phone that will replace personal

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054895229751317673.post-27938284743428848412007-10-10T18:23:00.001+05:302010-01-16T13:46:16.198+05:30

The James Bond film, Die Another Day, had a fictitious North Korean terrorist scheming to set the Earth ablaze with harnessed solar energy. Now, some scientists want to use the idea to burn out asteroids rushing headlong towards us. Surajit Dasgupta differentiates science from fictionLast week, a large section of the popular Indian media was abuzz with the possibility of an asteroid, Apophis,

Surajit Dasguptahttps://profiles.google.com/117958621145361079820noreply@blogger.com3