Opinion Express Monthly News Magazine » January 2010

Why Raj Thackeray should be taken seriously

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:19:32 +0000

All that looks good is not necessarily good and what is generally perceived to be bad can be good for the society. Raj Thackeray style of politics is largely criticized by civil society and it should if it is breaking society. But what people have to realize that the man is getting support and has created solid base in Maharashtra despite the presence of all major national and regional political parties. The question is why and how he is progressing if his acts are deplorable? It is a fashion in our country to target public figure without probing the sin committed by them, score of people in different states piled up cases against Raj Thackeray, several courts issue notices and warrants against him but for what? The answer is simple that the authorities are looking for cheap publicity by framing Raj Thackeray. Nobody is seriously trying to put their own house in order to help native people of their own territory; instead they opt for a simple solution of blaming Raj Thackeray for all the problems faced by people in their respective states. He is framed to be a villain for all the misdeeds committed collectively by ruling elites in the so called backwards states.

ANDHRA BOILING OVER TELENGANA

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:13:39 +0000

In August 1947, the areas currently within the state of Andhra Pradesh were divided among the princely state of Hyderabad, the Madras Presidency and the Mysore state. Hyderabad State acceded to the Indian union at the completion of Operation Polo in September 1948. Potti Sriramulu worked towards unifying all the Telugu-speaking people, who were residing in the united madras presidency, into one state. Soon after his death due to an indefinite hunger strike in December 1952, the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru announcedthe state of Andhra would be formed which occurred on 1 October 1953 with Kurnool as capital. However, the princely state of Hyderabad which had been placed under the temporary governorship of the defeated Nizam from 1948 was reorganized as a separate state known as ” Hyderabad State ” in 1953 Burgula Ramakrishna Rao as Chief Minister. As per the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission in 1956, Andhra Pradesh became among the first states formed on a linguistic basis on 1 November 1956 by uniting the telugu speaking parts of Hyderabad State,Mysore state and the Andhra State.

AMBANI IN TOP LEAGUE

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:03:54 +0000

Mukesh Ambani, who heads India’s most valuable company Reliance Industries, has been ranked among top five best performing CEOs in the world by the prestigious Harvard Business Review.

Ambani, the only Indian to feature among top 50 CEOs, is in the same league as Steve Jobs of Apple, Yun Jong-
Yong of Samsung Electronics, Russian energy firm Gazprom’s Alexey Miller and John Chambers of Cisco Systems.

He is also ranked number two among the top 10 emerging market CEOs with Miller at the top.

K V Kamath of ICICI Bank is the other Indian in the list of Top 10 Emerging Market CEOs. He is ranked at number 9.

The Harvard Business Review said it ranked CEOs of large public traded companies in a study conducted over 2000
CEOs worldwide. The entire group represented 48 nationalities and companies based in 33 countries.

It put Ambani in the list of “up-throughthe-ranks leaders” along with theSamsung boss.

“Among the up-through-the-ranks leaders on our list are Yun Jong-Yong, who joined Samsung straight out of college
and worked there 30 years before becoming CEO, and Mukesh Ambani, who joined RIL in 1981, when it was still a textile company run by his father.

BJP’s ironman finally walks into sunset

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:54:25 +0000

It’s the end of an era for the BJP. LK Advani has been promoted to Chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party. This is a new post created for him with the party amending its constitution.

Political analysts describe this as a graceful exit for the veteran leader. Advani is expected to play mentor now to the party’s Gen Next, that took over its new role on Friday.

Sushma Swaraj takes over from Advani as the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha. Arun Jaitley is Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

After the official change of guard, Advani said, “I am not retiring from politics. My yatras will continue.”

Nitin Gadkari, formally took over as the BJP president on Saturday. There is a consensus in the BJP Parliamentary
Board on the name of Gadkari, Rajnath said. Senior BJP leader L K Advani and newly-elected Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj was also present on the occasion. The leaders congratulated Gadkari.

On record, the RSS gave its blessing to Nitin Gadkari as the new BJP President months ago. While his approval ratings may be high among the old guard, and it’s clear that he positions himself as a modernizer.

GAP 2000 FILMS

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:44:24 +0000

Premila is a film producer and UK/India Co-Production Advisor from London. Premila gained a BA Hons in Law and Management Studies and a Masters in Philosophy in Marketing from England. A corporate headhunter, Premila’s involvement in Delhi Boom! as executive producer focused on key role as investor and soundboard during reproduction. She continues to promote GAP2000 Films as a young, visionary production company to financiers, international buyers and agents. Premila is currently acting as an executive producer on Quick Slip Me A Bride, a UK production starring Bipasha Basu and advising several other high-profile Anglo-Indian co-productions.

Why India can’t trust China, explains former NSA

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:10:25 +0000

Former NSA Brajesh Mishra, during whose tenure India-China relations had improved significantly, has said that China’s present threat to India is more dangerous than in 1962, when the countries clashed in a war, and that Indian politicians were to blame for India’s weak defence position.

Mishra, who was the NSA during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, pointed out at a book-release function in New Delhi that there has been a change in China’s stand regarding Kashmir, which could lead to a bigger threat. India should remember that “we had two fronts since 1962″, he said.

“But, importantly, these two fronts were never simultaneously active. In 1962, it was with China, and in 1965, 1971 and 1999 it was with Pakistan. The change that is taking place today in Chinese thinking is that Jammu and Kashmir is ‘an issue’.

“It indicates that it’s possible, if not probable, that in next four to five years we may have to defend ourselves from both fronts at the same time.”

Politics with conviction, Chandra Shekhar style

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:06:32 +0000

New Delhi, November 1999: I was introduced to Mr Chandrashekhar, former Prime Minister of India by his close associate Mr. A.D Giri, former Attorney General of India at his New Delhi residence. I was looking to have Chandrashekharji view on Indian politics post Mandal era since long. Mr A.D Giri, Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr Ashoka Kumar Thakur were busy sorting out legal battle of another high profile former Prime Minister with me in a Delhi hotel, In between Mr Giri received a call from Mr Chandrashekhar’s house, and he took consent from Chandrashekarji to spare some time for an interview.

Mr Chandrashekar was socialist in appearance; he was dressed in traditional dhoti and kurta, sitting on carpeted floor. After few exchanges of pleasantries, we started conversation. Here are excerpts of the talks held on the occasion.

India to grow 8-9 per cent in next two years, say World Bank

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:03:48 +0000

World Bank president Robert Zoellick, on a trip to India, announced that India’s growth rates could see a return
to the 8-9 percent envisaged in the country’s 11th Five Year Plan, over the next year or two.

Zoellick who met PM Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India has emerged from the economic crisis with a clear vision of what it will take to accelerate to earlier growth rates and beyond, as its strong fiscal and monetary policies have helped counter the decline in exports and withstand some external shocks brought on by the multiple food, fuel andfinancial crisis.

The World Bank has delivered around $5.3 billion to India this fiscal with commitments to power, infrastructure, banking, rural development and water.

In the areas of agriculture and rural development the World Bank plans to raise its commitment between 2009-12 to $5.3 billion.

India became the largest portfolio last fiscal fo the International Finance Corp, the World Bank’s private sector
arm, at over $3.4 billion.