Detaining the King? You got to pay.

I seriously do not understand why there is a lot of fuss when someone gets checked at the airport. Dr. Kalam graciously brushed the topic aside and so should SRK. Sharukh might be the king of bollywood but instead of creating a buzz around him being checked and questioned he should make it an example and cooperate. To an extent I have to agree what SRK is decent enough. In his shoes I would have made a lot more noise. But you should also remember that many less illustrious individuals with similar last names go through much more without any fuss.

On the other hand US or for that matter any airport officials should be considerate and check who is a threat and who is not. It is not the short term benefit but the long term relationships that is at stake. Lack of information in a country like US about SRK and Kalam is depressing and stupid. Like Farah said they should at least have Googled him. May be not everytime you check some one but when some one claims he is a VIP. Better they should come up with a list of whom to check and whom not to. You are not dealing with people but with sentiments here. A little more caution and warmth, as SRK put it, would have avoided the situation. They could have turned it to a delight had they recognized him and ushered him out.

"What is the purpose of your visit to US?

What is your name again? Hmmm your passport show you are a frequent visitor!

Wait a minute... I know you... HEY ITS SHARUKH!"

This would have made SRK's day and brought in many roses instead of brickbats they are facing now. What an example they would have set and PR! What an opportunity missed!

O-BA-MA

The hands that hold the keys to the future of the world. They have a great responsibility and power. The dawn of a new presidency is always a time of awe and anxiety. The awe comes in bearing witness to the peaceful transfer of power as a new chapter of national history unfolds. The anxiety speaks to an untested new leader and the challenges he will face. The swearing-in today of the nation's 44th president is a moment of particular extremes: enormous joy, great hope, deep fears. 

Let us see how he would use them.

Myths about Pakistan

Here they go:

• Pakistan controls the jihadis
• Musharraf was in control, Zardari is not
• Pakistan and its loose nukes
• Pakistan is a failed state
• It is a deeply religious country
• All Pakistanis hate India
• Training camps
  
• RAW would never do what ISI does
• Pakistan is poor, India is rich

Evidence?

Source: TOI

Open letter to the PM

Scores of journalists have published details of the terror network including names and addresses and every time, the Pakistani government has brazenly denied them. Don’t forget it denied the existence of its nuclear programme, too, for years. How can you expect it to suddenly confess, when for most of the previous two decades, ISI and Pakistan’s army have nurtured jihadis to fight its proxy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan? Today, the monster is so big that ISI can’t control it even if it wants to.

Even with the most sophisticated intelligence and security systems, history suggests that you cannot stop an indoctrinated suicide bomber. But that doesn’t mean we don’t put those systems in place, at least to serve as deterrents to many more who would otherwise be tempted to take a shot. Convince the nation, give us one good reason to believe that such an attack won’t happen again.

We don’t need a Rambo today, so please don’t attack Pakistan in the heat of the moment, for we all know the limits of hard power after the US misadventure in Iraq. Can you not pour money into technology and arm our security agencies (the Chinese spent $6 billion on security during the Olympics alone), invest in setting up a highly sophisticated counter-intelligence agency, get the Mossad to train our commandos, step up the diplomatic offensive at every forum to isolate Pakistan and, most importantly, come down heavily on corruption at all levels, starting with your cabinet? Can you not ensure simple reforms in the criminal justice system (which scores of committees such as Malimath have outlined) to ensure certainty of punishment for any offence from pickpocketery to terror? Can you not lead legislation to keep criminals out of politics and try to stem the flow of illegal money into campaign funding?

If not, then what use is it being a prime minister if, even after reaching the very top, you can’t do a damn in an hour of national crisis? Soon, all this will be forgotten and it will be back to business as usual. But then, history will judge you. If you have some conscience left, please do something. Don’t forget, “mind without heart, intelligence without conduct, cleverness without goodness are all tools, but only for mischief”.

Read more here.

BRIC

BRIC, an acronym, is coined by Goldman Sachs & consists of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The BRIC countries are home to 40 per cent of humanity, three times as many as the G-8. Their combined gross domestic product (GDP), measured in purchasing power, is only half of that of the G-8 and is expected to overtake it by 2020.

Sustainable development of the global economy in the long-term perspective, as well as finding solutions to the acute global problems of our time, such as poverty, hunger and diseases, are only possible if due account is taken of the interests of all nations and within a just global economic system.

Republic Nepal!

The only official Hindu country in the world has become a republic and chosen democracy - Just like other British Colonies. This is a welcome sign as India will have a democratically thinking audience to talk to. It will see a good boost in business, technology, defence education. India has to be proactive and ensure that China keeps away from here. For all the ppl in Nepal its freedom, literally.