Anna’s Next Obsession: Electoral Reform

Hailing Parliament’s nod on key elements of Jan Lokpal Bill as “people’s victory”, Anna Hazare on Sunday broke his 12-day-old fast declaring that electoral reforms will be on top of his agenda next so that corruption can come down.

The 74-year-old Gandhian accepted a glass of tender coconut water mixed with honey from a Dalit and a Muslim girl, Simran and Ikrah at 10:20 am on the dais at the Ramlila Grounds ending over 288 hours of fast that began on August 16.

After a brief address, Hazare was driven straight to Medanta Medicity in neighbouring Gurgaon run by eminent cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan who was attending to him along with his team during his entire period of fast.

He was admitted to the hospital and is under strict observation of a team of doctors who have begun administering liquid diet to him. Hazare will be there for a couple of days.

“I have only deferred my fast, not given it up. Only when these reforms are complete will I really end my fast. I will not rest until all the changes that I look to are achieved,” he said to a thunderous applause from thousands of his supporters waving tricolour and shouting slogans like ‘Anna Hazare Zindabad’.

Dismissing the charge that his campaign was against Parliament and Constitution, he said the change has to be through constitutional means.

Flanked by his team members, including Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia, Hazare said what has been achieved in Parliament on Saturday is a victory of the people of India, democracy and those assembled in Ramlila Ground.

Team Anna hoped that the Government will convene a special session of Parliament to pass the Lokpal Bill in a month’s time.

Minutes after Hazare ended his fast, Bhushan said, “We hope that the government convenes a special session of Parliament within a month’s time to pass Lokpal Bill.” Hazare said his fight would now be for Right to Recall and Right to Reject as part of electoral reforms so that corruption can be reduced.

“While Right to Recall would be for those elected, the Right to Reject will be a column in the ballot paper which would ensure the voter has a right to say that he does not like the listed candidates.

“We have to reform electoral system. (we need) Right to Reject. You should be able to reject your candidate in the ballot paper. We have to do that.”

“If the majority in a constituency says that they reject a candidate, even then the election should be cancelled. How much money they (candidates) will distribute? Once the candidate spends Rs 10 crore for one election and if the election is cancelled, then right sense will dawn upon them,” he said.

Maintaining that people’s parliament is bigger than “Parliament in Delhi”, Hazare said that is why Parliament had to listen to people’s parliament.

“This movement has created a faith that the country can be rid of corruption and we can go ahead with implementing laws and the Constitution made by Dr BR Ambedkar,” he said.

Referring to Parliament’s decision to refer three of his demands, citizen’s charter, inclusion of lower bureaucracy and creation of Lokayuktas through Lokpal bill for Standing Committee’s consideration, he said, the country can be proud of this moment. Thirteen days of agitation has yielded fruits.

Source – PTI

Related articles

• Team Anna demands special session to pass Lokpal Bill (kurseonginfo.wordpress.com)
• Anna Hazare launches new campaign to reform India (telegraph.co.uk)
• Hazare expands ambit of his crusade (thelawfile.wordpress.com)
• Anna Hazare breaks fast, renews faith in people power [VIDEO] – Christian Science Monitor (news.google.com)

Best Workplaces in India in 2011

India is the primary destination for outsourcing and shared services companies today. Online Marketing trends, a research analysis have conducted a survey which made striking revelation on Indian work places.

Here is the list of companies that topped the charts in the year 2011.

1.Google India

Google India, Bangalore is ranked as the best place in India to work for. Here, Google engineers work on projects of massive scale, develop and build great systems, and produce quick and accurate solutions to challenging problems. They make it a point to match projects with our employees’ background and interests. Google engineers are experts in C/C++, Java, AJAX and HTML and focus on these key areas: started on 13 October 2004.

Right now Google India Bangalore has 1,259 employees working with them and the total voluntary turnover is 30 percent.

2. Intel Technology

Intel started its operations in India by setting up a sales office in Bangalore in 1988. The Bangalore-based Intel India Development Centre (IIDC),

 Intel’s largest non-manufacturing site outside of the U.S., commenced its operations in 1998. Intel India?s main areas of operations include Sales and Marketing, Product Design and Development, IT applications development and infrastructure solutions delivery and, Venture Capital. It has 2,430 employees in Intel technology at Bangalore (1:3.99 of gender ratio) and almost voluntary turnover of 4.4 percentage.

3. Make My Trip

Make My Trip.com is an Indian online travel agency that holds a major market share, with one out of every twelve domestic flights in India booked via it. Make My Trip.com offers its customers a variety of travel services and products, with international and domestic airline tickets, Indian Railways tickets, domestic bus tickets, international and domestic hotel reservations, car rentals, international and domestic holiday packages, and more.

Founded in April, 2000 by Deep Kalra, now MakeMyTrip.com today has offices in 20 cities across India and 2 international offices in New York and San Francisco, in addition to several franchise locations. Located at Udyog Vihar Phase I, the MakeMyTrip.com office in Gurgaon .

Well now Make My Trip has more than 674 employees with 1:2.55 gender ratio, with 23.89 percent of voluntary turnover.

4. American Express

The company which started Indian operations in 1921 offers online access to its world-class Card, Financial, Insurance and Travel services and its  Gurgaon branch in India has been bestowed as the sixth best place to work. It registers an employee force of 5,200 and a voluntary turnover of 15.00 percentage. It records a gender ratio of 1:1.33.

5. Marriott Hotel Mumbai

Marriott Hotel is the Indian division of the Marriott International hotel chain. It was established in 1998 and opened its first hotel, the Goa Marriott Resort, was the first Marriott hotel on 15th Dec 1999. It has hotels in Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad and Chennai.

In Marriott Hotel Mumbai there are around 2,433 employees working and the voluntary turnover is about 27.37 percent.

6. Classic Stripes

Classic Stripes was founded in the year 1987, the flagship company of Astarc Group with its headquarters in Mumbai, India is one of the largest manufacturers of Automobile graphics & Retail Engineering with technologically advanced facility in the World. It has employees of 459.

Classic Stripes today supplies its products to the best-known brands in India and abroad.

7. Scope International

Scope International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, UK, is an integral part of the Bank’s strategy to consolidate and rationalise operations into Shared Services Centres. This is an ambitious project that the Bank undertook and today Scope International services all 56 countries of the Standard Chartered Group processing over 80 million transactions a year. It ranked as one of the best place to work in India in the year 2011. The numbers of employees stand at a striking 8,064.

8. Agile technologies

Agile technologies which started its operation in India in the year 1991 deals into testing products, measurement products, general purpose instruments, oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, function generators, lcr analyzers, impedance analyzers. It offers flexible working hours, education leave, telecommuting, executive health check up, yearly employee health examinations, and education assistance for children of employees.

9. Claris Lifesciences

Founded in India in 1999, it is one of the largest sterile injectables pharmaceutical companies in India, Claris Lifesciences ranks high on career growth. It also scores on working towards comfort of the employees’ family. It employees people over 1,325 in number.

10. NetApp India

NetApp provides an integrated solution that enables storage, delivery, and management of network data and content to achieve your business goals. The survey ranks NetApp, Bangalore as the fourth best place to work in India, with estimated employees of 1,042. It has a gender ratio of 1:4.51 and a voluntary turnover of 5.95 percent.

Places on Earth Aliens Could Thrive?

Shark Bay, Australia

For about 85 percent of the history of life on Earth, only microbes existed. The only large-scale evidence of their activities is preserved by stromatolites, ancient structural records of life on Earth that hold evidence both of the biology of the microbial mat communities that created them and the nature of the environments in which they grew. They are rocky, dome-shaped structures formed in shallow water through the trapping of sedimentary grains by communities of microorganisms.

Yellowstone National Park

What is causing the beautiful colors in this hot spring in Yellowstone National Park? Life, that’s what! Many microorganisms live in the pools there, and because the temperatures of the springs are so hot (most are well over 100 degrees F, or 37.7 degrees C), they are called extremophiles (extreme-loving). They contain molecules that absorb the damaging rays of the sun, protecting their DNA. Those same molecules are also pigments that cause the different colors we see. Different extremophiles thrive in different temperatures, so the color of a particular area is determined by which organisms are living in it. A veritable rainbow appears as the water temperature decreases as it flows further and further away from its superheated source.

Mono Lake, California

Calcium carbonate formations called tufa give California’s Mono Lake an otherworldly feel. Mountains surround the lake, forming a closed hydrological basin—water flows in, but it doesn’t flow out. Because the only way for water to leave Mono Lake is through evaporation, it is naturally hypersaline—roughly two to three times saltier than the ocean. Freshwater streams and underwater springs have brought trace amounts of minerals into the lake over the eons, including arsenic. Recently, bacteria which appear to incorporate arsenic rather than phosphorus into their basic biological molecules were found living in Mono Lake

High Lakes, South America

The highest volcanic lakes in the world are located in the Andes Mountains of South America. Their elevation and isolation make them some of the least understood lakes on Earth and excellent analogs for lakes that existed on Mars 3.5 billion years ago. Simba Lake, at an elevation of 19,265 feet (5,872 meters) in the Chilean Andes, is red because of algae that developed pigments to protect themselves against high UV radiation. They float in the water near the surface, not deep enough to use the water column as a natural protection.

Pilbara, Western Australia

Created in a shallow pool on early Earth more than three billion years ago, these stromatolites represent a record of the most ancient life on Earth. They formed because colonies of microbes, as they grew, incorporated sediments from the water to create rocky structures. Found in Western Australia, the stromatolites take several different forms, including the slightly cone-shaped ones seen here resembling an egg carton. The structures shown in this picture are each about half an inch (1.2 centimeters) high.

Rio Tinto, Spain

Cloudy with particulates and flowing along terraces made of iron oxides, the Rio Tinto in southwestern Spain stretches for more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) before reaching the Atlantic. Despite its acidic waters and high concentrations of iron and other heavy metals, the river supports an incredible diversity of extremophile microorganisms, including algae and fungi. Microbial biofilms colonize the riverbed and are covered with yellow iron oxide precipitates, seen here. Because of geological similarities with Mars, the Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) team tested equipment at Rio Tinto in 2005 for drilling on Mars in search of subsurface life.Svalbard, Norway

Svalbard is a remote archipelago in northern Norway, deep within the Arctic Circle. Scientists with the Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) traveled there to test the protocols, procedures, and equipment needed to detect traces of organic chemistry and perhaps life on Mars. Instruments that will fly onboard NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and ESA’s ExoMars missions were tested in Svalbard by the AMASE team. With a unique combination of volcanoes, hot springs, and permafrost, the Bockfjord Volcanic Complex on Svalbard is the only place on Earth with carbonate deposits identical to those found in the famous Martian meteorite ALH84001 (aka Allan Hills).

Flinders Range, South Australia

Piece of upturned sandstone in the Flinders Range of South Australia shows ripple marks of an ancient sea bed. This area of Australia hosts fossils of the first complex, multicellular organisms, which began to emerge on Earth about 600 million years ago. The study of these early fossils, known as the Ediacaran Fauna.

Ellesmere Island, Canada

Borup Fiord Pass Glacier on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut is a site in the Canadian High Arctic where astrobiologists study the potential for life on Jupiter‘s moon Europa. Water rich in sulfur-containing compounds flows from the top of this 656-foot-thick (200-meter-thick) glacier, a chemical mix that is capable of supporting microbial life. Europa’s icy surface is similarly stained with sulfate salts.

Of cricket, farmers and fashion

Baba Gyani Triviani said:
“Now I know why the CD burner software is called Nero“

One of the best articles that I read – I didn’t write this, got it as a mail. But the views are those that I fully endorse. Read it.

—
The Hindu – Open page

Yes, you read it right; to hell with the World Cup; to hell with the celebrations; to hell with all the free land and money being showered by different governments on the players. How can I jump, scream, have gallons of beer and cheer for the nation when a few kilometres away the farmers and feeders of my country are taking their own lives in hordes?

Do you know that, on average, 47 farmers have been committing suicide every single day in the past 16 years in our shining India — the next economic power, progressive with nine per cent growth?

Last month, on March 5, Friday evening, when Bangalore’s watering holes were getting filled up, when all the DJs were blaring out deafening music, when we were busy discussing India’s chances at the World Cup, sitting in CCDs and Baristas — just 100 km away from Bangalore, Swamy Gowda and Vasanthamma, a young farmer couple, hanged themselves, leaving their three very young children to fend for themselves or, most likely, die of malnutrition.

Why did they do it? Were they fighting? No. Were they drunkards? No.

Did they have incurable diseases? No! Then WHY? Because they were unable to repay a loan of Rs 80,000 (a working IT couple’s one month salary? 2-3 months EMI?) for years, which had gradually increased to Rs. 1.2 lakh. Because they knew that now they would never be able to pay it back. Because they were hurt. Hurt by our government which announced a huge reduction in import duty for silk in this year’s budget (from 30 per cent to 5 per cent).They were struggling silk farmers and instead of help from the government, they get this!

Decrease in import duty means the markets will now be flooded with cheap Chinese silk (as everything else!) and our own farmers will be left in the lurch.

On average, 17,000 farmers have been committing suicide every year, for the past 15 years on the trot. Can you believe it? Most of us wouldn’t know this fact. Why? Because, our great Indian media, the world’s biggest media, are not interested in reporting this! Why?

Because they are more interested in covering fashion week extravaganzas. They are more interested in ‘why team India was not practising when Pakistanis were sweating it out in stadium on the eve of the match?’ They are more interested in Poonam Pandey.

The media are supposed to be the third eye of democracy and also called the fourth estate, but now they have become real estate. Pure business.

So any attention from the media is out of the question. Who is left then? The government? But we all know how it works. The other day, I was passing by Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore and happened to read the slogan written at the entrance, “Government work is god’s work”. Now I know why our government has left all its work to god!

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa announced plots for all the players. But land? In Bangalore? You must be kidding, Mr. C.M.. So he retracts and now wants to give money. But where will it come from?

Taxes, yours and mine. Don’t the poor farmers need the land or money more than those players who are already earning in crores?

A government-owned bank will give you loan at six per cent interest rate if you are buying a Mercedes but if a poor farmer wants to buy a tractor, do you know how much it is charging him? Fifteen per cent!

Look at the depths of inequality. Water is Rs. 15 a litre and a SIM card is for free! For how long can we bite the hand that is feeding us? The recent onion price fiasco was just a trailer. Picture abhi baaki hai doston!

In 2008, Lakme India fashion show venue was in a Mumbai five-star hotel and was covered by 500 journalists and the theme was ‘Cotton’. A few hours drive from there, cotton farmers were committing suicide, 4 or 5, everyday! How many TV journalists covered this? Zero!

Sixty-seventy per cent of India’s population is living on less than Rs. 20 a day. A bottle of Diet coke for us? The electricity used in a day-night match could help a farmer irrigate his fields for more than a few weeks! Do you know that loadshedding is also class dependent?

Two hours in metros, 4 in towns and 8 in villages. Now, who needs electricity more? A farmer to look after his crop day and night, irrigate, pump water and use machines or a few bored, young professionals with disposable incomes, to log on to Facebook and watch IPL?

How can we splurge thousands on our birthday parties and zoom past in our AC vehicles and sit in cushy chairs in our AC offices and plan a weekend trip to Coorg when on the way, in those small villages, just a few minutes’ walk from the roads, someone might be consuming pesticide or hanging himself from a tree for just Rs.10, 000? How can we?

There was much panic when there was swine flu. Every single death in the country was reported second by second, minute by minute. Why?

Because it directly affected our salaried, ambitious, tech-savvy, middle-class. So there were masks, special relief centres, enquiry centres set up by government to please this section. On the other hand, 47 people are dying, every single day for the past 15 years.

Anybody cared to do anything?

It has been observed that within months of a farmer taking his life, his wife follows, either by poisoning the kids first or leaving them on their own. In Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, a distressed woman farmer went to the government seed shop, bought a bottle of pesticide, on credit, went home and drank it. She was under debt for most of her life and now — even her death was on credit!

Centuries ago, there was a Roman emperor, called Nero. He was a strong ruler and also very fond of parties, art, poetry, drinking and a life full of pleasures. Once he decided to organise a grand party and invited all poets, writers, dancers, painters, artists, intellectuals and thinkers of society. Everybody was having a great time eating, drinking, laughing, and socialising. The party was at its peak when it started getting dark. Nero wanted the party to go on. So he ordered and got all the arrested criminals, who were in his jails, around the garden and put them on fire! Burnt them alive, so that there was enough light for the guests to keep on enjoying! The guests had a gala time though they knew the cost of their enjoyment. Now, what kind of conscience those guests had.

What is happening in our country is not different from Nero’s party.

We, the middle-class-young-well-earning-mall-hopping-IPL-watching and celebrating-junta are Nero’s guests enjoying at the cost of our farmers. Every budget favours the already rich. More exemptions are being given to them at the cost of grabbing the land of our farmers in the name of SEZs, decrease in import duties in the name of neo-liberal policies, increase in the loan interest rates if the product is not worth lakhs and crores. Yes, that’s what we are, Nero’s guests!

I’m not against celebrations. I’m not against cricket. I’m not against World Cup. I would be the first person to scream, celebrate and feel proud of any of India’s achievements but, only if all fellow countrymen, farmers, villagers also stand with me and cheer; only if they do not take their own lives ruthlessly, only if there is no difference between interest rates for a Mercedes and a tractor. That would be the day I also zoom past on a bike, post-Indian win, with an Indian Flag in hand and screaming Bharat Mata Ki Jai. But no, not today. Not at the cost of my feeders. Until then, this is what I say.

To hell with your malls. To hell with your IPL. To hell with your World Cup. And to hell with your celebrations

Source -Chronicles of Nikhil Baliga

The Curious Case of Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi: “I feel ashamed to call myself an INDIAN after seeing what has happened here in UP”.

PLEASE DON’T BE ASHAMED OF U.P. YET

Please don’t be ashamed of Uttar Pradesh yet. Congress ruled the State for the Majority of the duration Pre Independence to Post Independence.. from 1939 to 1989 ( barring the Periods of Emergency.. Thanks to your Grand Mom Indira G. and a couple of transitional Governments)

8 out of the total 14 Prime Ministers of India have been from UP, 6 out of those 8 have been from Congress…

I think your party had more than half a century and half a Dozen PM’s  to build a State…

The Reason Mulayam Singh, subsequently came to Power is because your party wasn’t exactly Gandhian in their dealings in the State.. So May be If you look at in totality the present chaos in UP is the outcome of the glorious leadership displayed by Congress in UP for about 50 years!

So Please don’t feel ashamed as yet Dear Rahul.. For Mayawati is only using the Land Acquisition Bill which your party had itself used to LOOT the Farmers many times in the Past! 

WHY DIDN’T YOUR PARTY CHANGE THE BILL WHEN IT WAS IN POWER FOR SO LONG?

Not that I Endorse what Mayawati is doing.. What Mayawati is doing is Unacceptable..

But the past actions of your party and your recent comments, puts a question mark on your INTENT and CONSISTENCY.

YOU REALLY WANT TO FEEL ASHAMED

But don’t be disappointed, I would give you ample reasons to feel ashamed…  

You really want to feel Ashamed..?

First Ask Pranav Mukherjee, Why isn’t he giving the details of the account holders in the Swiss Banks.

Ask your Mother, Who is impeding the Investigation against Hasan Ali?

Ask her, Who got 60% Kickbacks in the 2G Scam ?

Kalamdi is accused of a Few hundred Crores, Who Pocketed the Rest in the Common Wealth Games?

Ask Praful Patel what he did to the Indian Airlines? Why did Air India let go of the Profitable Routes ?

Why should the Tax Payer pay for the Air India losses, when you intend to eventually DIVEST IT ANYWAY!!!

Also, You People can’t run an Airline Properly. How can we expect you to run the Nation?

Ask Manmohan Singh. Why/What kept him quiet for so long?

Are Kalmadi and A Raja are Scapegoats to save Big Names like Harshad Mehta was in the 1992 Stock Market Scandal ?

Who let the BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY Accused go Scot Free? ( 20,000 People died in that Tragedy)

Who ordered the State Sponsored Massacre of SIKHS in 84?

Please read more about, How Indira Gandhi pushed the Nation Under Emergency in 76-77, after the HC declared her election to Lok Sabha Void!

(I bet She had utmost respect for DEMOCRACY and JUDICIARY and FREE PRESS)

I guess you know the answers already. So My question is, Why the Double Standards in Judging Mayawati and members of your Family and Party?

I condemn Mayawati. But Is She the only one you feel Ashamed for?

What about the ones close to you? For their contribution to the Nation’s Misery is beyond comparison.

You talk about the Land being taken away from the Farmers. How many Suicides have happened under your Parties Rule in Vidarbha ? Does that Not Ashame You ?

THE 72,000 CRORE LOAN WAIVER

Your Party gave those Farmers a 72,000 Crore Loan Waiver. Which didn’t even reach the Farmers by the way.

So, Why don’t you focus on implementing the policies which your govt. has undertaken, instead of earning brownie points by trying to manufacture consent by bombarding us with pictures of having food with Poor Villagers….

You want to feel ashamed. You can feel ashamed for your Party taking CREDIT for DEBITING the Public Money (72,000 crores) from the Government Coffers and literally Wasting it…

You want to feel ashamed.. Feel ashamed for that…

WHY ONLY HIGHLIGHT THIS ARREST?

Dear Rahul, to refresh your memory, you were arrested/detained by the FBI the BOSTON Airport in September 2001.

You were carrying with you $ 1,60,000 in Cash. You couldn’t explain why you were carrying so much Cash.

Incidentally He was with his Columbian girlfriend Veronique Cartelli, ALLEGEDLY, the Daughter of Drug Mafia.

9 HOURS he was kept at the Airport.

Later then freed on the intervention of the then Prime Minister Mr.Vajpayee.. FBI filed an equivalent of an FIR in US and released him.

When FBI was asked to divulge the information, by Right/Freedom to Information Activists about the reasons Rahul was arrested … FBI asked for a NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE from Rahul Gandhi.

So Subramaniyam Swami wrote a Letter to Rahul Gandhi, ” If you have NOTHING to HIDE, Give us the Permission”

HE NEVER REPLIED!

Why did that arrest not make Headlines Rahul? You could have gone to the Media and told, ”I am ashamed to call myself an INDIAN?”. 

Or is it that, you only do like to highlight Symbolic Arrests (like in UP)  and not Actual Arrests ( In BOSTON)

Kindly Clarify…..

In any case, you want to feel ashamed, Read Along…

YOUR MOTHER’S SO CALLED SACRIFICE OF GIVING UP PRIME MINISTER SHIP in 2004.

According to a Provision in the Citizenship Act.

A Foreign National who becomes a Citizen of India, is bounded by the same restrictions, which an Indian would face, If he/she were to become a Citizen of Italy.  

(Condition based on principle of reciprocity)

[READ ANNEXURE- 1&2]

Now Since you can’t become a PM in Italy, Unless you are born there.

Likewise an Italian Citizen can’t become Indian PM, unless He/She is not born here!

Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI (The Man who Exposed the 2G Scam) sent a letter to the PRESIDENT OF INDIA bringing the same to his Notice. [READ LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT IN ANNEXURE -3]

PRESIDENT OF INDIA sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi to this effect, 3:30 PM, May 17th, 2004.

Swearing Ceremony was scheduled for 5 PM the same Day.

Manmohan Singh was brought in the Picture at the last moment to Save Face!!

Rest of the SACRIFICE DRAMA which she choreographed was an EYE WASH!!!

Infact Sonia Gandhi had sent, 340 letters, each signed by different MP to the PRESIDENT KALAM, supporting her candidacy for PM.

One of those letters read, I Sonia Gandhi, elected Member from Rai Bareli, hereby propose Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister.

So SHE was Pretty INTERESTED! Until She came to know the Facts!

So She didn’t make any Sacrifice, It so happens that SONIA GANDHI couldn’t have become the PM of INDIA that time.

You could be Ashamed about that Dear Rahul!! One Credential Sonia G had, Even that was a HOAX!

THINK ABOUT YOURSELF.

You go to Harvard on Donation Quota. ( Hindujas Gave HARVARD 11 million dollars the same year, when Rajiv Gandhi was in Power)

Then you are expelled in 3 Months/ You Dropped out in 3 Months…. ( Sadly Manmohan Singh wasn’t the Dean of Harvard that time, else you might have had a chance… Too Bad, there is only one Manmohan Singh!)

Some Accounts say, You had to Drop out because of Rajiv Gandhi’s Assassination.

May be, But Then Why did you go about lying about being Masters in Economics from Harvard .. before finally taking it off your Resume upon questioning by Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI (The Gentlemen who exposed the 2G Scam)

At St. Stephens.. You Fail the Hindi Exam.

Hindi Exam!!!

And you are representing the Biggest Hindi Speaking State of the Country?

SONIA GANDHI’s EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Sonia G gave a sworn affidavit as a Candidate that She Studied English at University of Cambridge

[SEE ANNEXURE-6, 7_37a]

According to Cambridge University, there is no such Student EVER! [ SEE ANNEXURE -7_39]

Upon a Case by Dr. Subramaniyam Swami filed against her,

She subsequently dropped the CAMBRIDGE CREDENTIAL from her Affidavit.

Sonia Gandhi didn’t even pass High School. She is just 5th class Pass!

In this sense, She shares a common Educational Background with her 2G Partner in Crime, Karunanidhi 

You Fake your Educational Degree, Your Mother Fakes her Educational Degree.  

And then you go out saying, ” We want Educated Youth into Politics!“

Letters sent by Dr. Swami to EC and then Speaker of Lok Sabha are in ANNEXURE 7_36 &7_35 RESPECTIVELY

Contrast that with Gandhi Ji , who went to South Africa, Became a Barrister, on Merit, Left all that to work for South Africa, then for the Country….

WHY LIE ABOUT EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS?

Not that Education is a Prerequisite for being a great Leader, but then you shouldn’t have lied about your qualifications!

You could feel a little ashamed about Lying about your Educational Qualifications. You had your reasons I know, Because in India, WE RESPECT EDUCATION!

But who cares about Education, When you are a Youth Icon!!  

YOUTH ICON

You traveled in the Local Train for the first time at the Age of 38.

You went to some Villages as a part of Election Campaign.

And You won a Youth Icon!! … That’s why You are my Youth Icon.

For 25 Million People travel by Train Everyday. You are the First Person to win a Youth Icon for boarding a Train.

Thousands of Postmen go to remotest of Villages. None of them have yet gotten a Youth Icon.

You were neither YOUNG Nor ICONIC!

Still You became a Youth Icon beating Iconic and Younger Contenders like RAHUL DRAVID.

Shakespeare said, What’s in a Name?

Little did he knew, It’s all in the Name, Especially the Surname!

Speaking of Surname, Sir

DO YOU REALLY RESPECT GANDHI, OR IS IT JUST TO CASH IN ON THE GOODWILL OF MAHATMA? 

Because the Name on your Passport is RAUL VINCI.

Not RAHUL GANDHI..

May be if you wrote your Surname as Gandhi, you would have experienced, what Gandhi feels like, LITERALLY ( Pun Intended)

Your Mother’s Indian Citizenship is in the name of ANTONIA MAINO, not SONIA GANDHI

You People don’t seem to use Gandhi much, except when you are fighting Elections. ( There it makes complete sense).

Imagine fighting elections by the Name Raul Vinci…or Antonia Maino….

It feels sadly Ironic, Gandhi Ji, who inspired Icons like Nelson Mandela ,Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon, across the world, Couldn’t inspire members of his party/ Nehru’s Family, who only seem to use his Surname for the purposes of FIGHTING ELECTIONS and conveniently use a different name on their PASSPORT.

You use the name GANDHI at will and then say, ” Mujhe yeh YUVRAJ shabd Insulting lagta hai! Kyonki aaj Hindustan mein Democracy hai, aur is shabd ka koi matlab nahin hai!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVFelgb136s  [ 0:36 Seconds onwards ]

YUVRAJ, Itna hi Insulting lagta hai, to lad lo RAUL VINCI ke Naam se!!! Jin Kisano ke saath photo khinchate ho woh bhi isliye entertain karte hain ki GANDHI ho.. RAUL VINCI bol ke Jao… Ghar mein nahin ghusaenge!!!

You could feel ashamed for your Double Standards.

YOUTH INTO POLITICS.

Now You want Youth to Join Politics.

I say First you Join Politics.

Because you haven’t Joined Politics. You have Joined a Family Business.

First you Join Politics. Win an Election fighting as RAUL VINCI and Not Rahul Gandhi, then come and ask the youth and the Educated Brass for more involvement in Politics.

Also till then, Please don’t give me examples of Sachin Pilot and Milind Deora and Naveen Jindal as youth who have joined Politics..

They are not Politicians. They Just happen to be Politicians.

Much Like Abhishek Bachchan and other Star Sons are not Actors. They just happen to be Actors (For Obvious Reasons)

So, We would appreciate if you stop requesting the Youth to Join Politics till you establish your credentials…

WHY WE CAN’T JOIN POLITICS!

Rahul Baba, Please understand, Your Father had a lot of money in your Family account ( in Swiss Bank) when he died.

Ordinary Youth has to WORK FOR A LIVING.

YOUR FAMILY just needs to NETWORK FOR A LIVING

If our Father had left thousands of Crores with us, We might consider doing the same..

But we have to Work. Not just for ourselves. But also for you. So that we can pay 30% of our Income to the Govt. which can then be channelized to the Swiss Banks and your Personal Accounts under some Pseudo Names.

So Rahul, Please don’t mind If the Youth doesn’t Join Politics. We are doing our best to fund your Election Campaigns and your Chopper Trips to the Villages.

Somebody has to Earn the Money that Politicians Feed On.

NO WONDER YOU ARE NOT GANDHI’S. YOU ARE SO CALLED GANDHI’S!!

Air India, KG Gas Division, 2G, CWG, SWISS BANK Account Details… Hasan Ali, KGB., FBI Arrest..

You want to feel ashamed..

Feel Ashamed for what the First Family of Politics has been reduced to…

A Money Laundering Enterprise.

NO WONDER YOU ARE NOT GANDHI’S BY BLOOD. GANDHI is an adopted Name. For Indira didn’t marry Mahatma Gandhi’s Son.

For even if you had one GENE OF GANDHI JI in your DNA. YOU WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN PLAGUED BY SUCH ‘POVERTY OF AMBITION’ ( Ambition of only EARNING MONEY)  

You really want to feel Ashamed.

Feel Ashamed for what you ‘ SO CALLED GANDHI’S‘ have done to MAHATMA’S Legacy..

I so wish GANDHI JI had Copyrighted his Name!

Meanwhile,  I would request Sonia Gandhi to change her name to $ONIA GANDHI, and you could replace the ‘R’ in RAHUL/RAUL by the New Rupee Symbol!!!

RAUL VINCI : I am ashamed to call myself an Indian.

Even we are ashamed to call you so!

P.S: Popular Media is either bought or blackmailed, controlled to Manufacture Consent!

My Guess is Social Media is still a Democratic Platform. (Now they are trying to put legislations to censor that too!!)

Meanwhile, Let’s ask these questions, for we deserve some Answers.

  For we are all Gandhi’s. For Bapu is the Father of the Nation!

To know more, Try looking for Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI. He is the reason today 2G SCAM is being Investigated!!!

YOURS SINCERELY

NITIN GUPTA ( RIVALDO)

Annexure-19_70

Annexure-19_71

Annexure -6_33

Annexure-6_34

Annexure-3

Annexure-7_39

Annexure-7_35

Annexure7_36

Annexure 7_37

ANNEXURE 1_01

ANNEXURE 1_02

ANNEXURE 1_03

ANNEXURE 1_04

ANNEXURE 1_05

ANNEXURE 1_06

ANNEXURE 1_07

ANNEXURE 1_08

ANNEXURE 1_09

ANNEXURE 1_10

ANNEXURE 1_11

ANNEXURE 1_12

ANNEXURE 2_13

ANNEXURE 2_14

ANNEXURE 2_15

ANNEXURE 2_16

ANNEXURE 2_17

ANNEXURE 2_18

ANNEXURE 2_19

ANNEXURE 2_20

Related articles

• Rahul Gandhi to Step in as PM? (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
• Rahul PLEASE DON’T BE ASHAMED OF U.P. YET (samhindu.wordpress.com)
• Rahul Gandhi says Indian’s fast is bad precedent (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• The Curious Case of Rahul Gandhi (richannkur.wordpress.com)
• Who is The Real Sonia Gandhi? Opposing Views. (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
• The Curious Case of Rahul Gandhi (heyithinkthisway.wordpress.com)
• Rahul Gandhi : The Activist or The Rapist ?? (ashbeezone.wordpress.com)
• India’s Rahul Gandhi questions Hazare’s hunger strike protest (cnn.com)
• India’s Rahul Gandhi questions Hazare’s hunger strike protest – CNN International (news.google.com)
• Indian Activist Anna Hazare Agrees to End Fast (time.com)

In the Name of GANDHI

Some eye opener for you. You should take out 5min. to read this for yourself and your childrens / generations to come :

·      Mrs. Sonia gandhi (vincci)

o  5th std. educated

o  Italian citizen name – Antonia Maino

o  Was a waitress. She met Rajiv Gandhi, who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1965 at a Greek restaurant (Varsity Restaurant) while working there, as a waitress to make ends meet

o  Then sales executive in UK

o  Holds a fake  degree in English of Cambridge university

This is the qualification of the lady, who is governing India (beneficiary of 6 biggest scams in Indian history including Boforce, KGB, 2G, Equity sales fraud, Hawala and Swiss accounts)…Sonia Gandhi is currently in Switzerland not in USA to move their black money from their Swiss accounts. She and Congress are fooling people of India that she is in USA for some surgery/operation. She can have an operation/surgery in India also. India has worlds’ best hospitals and medical facilities available now. She can even call any doctor from world to India as visiting doctor to take opinion on her surgery/operation but as it is all fake story to fool India and its innocent people to transfer Black money before Indian people demands government to act and get it black money back to India. Government is also protracted and not acting on black money now till all politicians take out their money from their swiss accounts.

AND her son Rahul Gandhi,

·      With 3 cases outside India caught high on cocaine

·      Had failed in hindi

·      Uses his mothers surname outside India and holds dual passports which are a big crime…

·      Having a columbian girlfriend, whose is a daughter of a drug mafia…

Please spread to as many as you can so Indians get to know the reality.

You should also come out from wrong notion of Congress and Gandhi. It is not at all related to Mahatma Gandhi the father of Nation.

Indira Gandhi, daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, She was named Indira Priyadarshini Nehru. She fell in love and decided to marry Feroze Khan, a family friend. Feroze Khan’s father, Nawab Khan, was a Muslim, and mother was a Persian Muslim. Jawaharlal Nehru did not approve of the inter-caste marriage for political reasons (see http://www.asiasource.org/society/indiragandhi.cfm). If Indira Nehru were to marry a Muslim she would loose the possibility of becoming the heir to the future Nehru dynasty. At this juncture, according to one story, Mahatma Gandhi intervened and adopted Feroze Khan, gave him his last name (family name/caste name) and got the name of Feroz Khan changed to Feroz Gandhi by an affidavit in England. Thus, Feroze Khan became Feroze Gandhi.

The Indira Gandhi was not Gandhi but Indira gained the surname “Gandhi” by her marriage to Feroze Gandhi. She had no relation to Mahatma Gandhi, either by blood or marriage.

Congress which is led by such a wrong people is not at all going to do anything good for India. Pls. do not depend and leave things on politicians and leaders you elect specially of Congress party.

Take active participation in Politics and be an active member in creation of better India for our generations to come.

Please open your eyes, mind and if you want India to be the best country in the World, we/ ourselves only will have to work for that.

Please do not get trapped into false and future dreams being shown and presented by your corrupt/criminal politicians. Go into depth and use your power of voting wisely.

Top 5 Things to Consider Before Renting an Apartment

If you can’t afford buying an apartment, your solution is to rent. It is noticed that renting apartments is gearing up over the period of time especially in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Even in emerging cities like Noida and Gurgoan renting apartments is gaining momentum. Looking for an apartment to rent can be a tiring process. After looking at many different options, you might be wowed by a place that stands out compared to the others. What you pay for your apartment and how fancy it is depends on your negotiation and deal-finding skills. However, before you negotiate anything, you’ve got to decide what you’re looking for in your rented space.

Before you sign your name on the dotted line and commit to an apartment, there are a number of things you should consider:

Check the Location

When deciding on a new place to live, you should consider the surrounding area as much as the actual apartment. Whether you know exactly where you want to live or not, you should investigate the neighbourhood. Check if it’s close to your workplace, or the close proximity to specific points. Check for the crime reports of that area if any. Are there particular points of interest you wish to be near, such as a park in which you can jog. The area you chose to stay should not come in the blacklisted area. Because in future if you avail a loan, it can be rejected because of the location you reside in.

What is the Rent

Before you even begin to look for an apartment, you should have decided how much you can afford for rent and also how much you are willing to spend. Go around and check what are the rent prices for the area you plan to shift in. Because some parts of town may be more expensive than others. Find out how much advance you have to pay to landlord. The standard rule is that rent should not be more than 30 percent of your monthly income. Also you will probably have to pay the first (and sometimes last) month’s rent and security deposit, along with start-up fees for utilities, before moving in. If you are planning to rent that house for more than a year then ask your owner about the yearly increase. Clear all queries related to money.

List your Amenities

The size and type of rental buildings greatly affect the range of amenities offered. Have a clear understanding of what you require in your apartment. From laundry facilities to parking, pets, exercise facilities, security and Internet and cable inclusion are all examples of amenities you could consider. Specify the amenities important to you, distinguishing your wants from your needs. Find out if they are available in your apartment.

Rental Agreement & Length of Lease

Find out how long the lease runs. If you’re a student and want a 9 month lease, make sure that that’s what you get. Most leases are for a year; find out when you will be expected to move out. Read the contract carefully before you sign it. How long you are locked into the lease, the beginning and expiration date, the rental price and what is included in the rent, notice of termination and responsibilities for repairs should be mentioned in the agreement. Take a copy of your agreement.

Check the Landlord’s Background

You will be relying on this person to complete maintenance on time, return your security deposit, and not enter your apartment unauthorized. Find out about the landlord from the people residing in that apartment. Because the owner shouldn’t deny returning your deposit when you leave. Is the landlord trustworthy is what you have to check before shifting into your new house.

Source- SiliconIndia

The Door to Hell – Burning Gas Crater in Darvaza, Turkmenistan

There are several places around the world that locals believe are a door to hell. Endless catacombs beneath the city of Paris, France for example or Dimmuborgir lava formations in Iceland. When it comes to sheer jaw-dropping effect, however, The Door to Hell by Darvaza in Turkmenistan takes the cake. I would also classify Darvaza as one of the places that should be on the must-visit list of every serious explorer who likes to visit Earth’s most breath-taking sites. Darvaza is a gas crater the burning gates of which have been flaming for upwards of 37 years

 

The Door to Hell in Turkmenistan, Photo

Darvaza Burning Gas Crater

Turkmenistan is very rich in natural resources. Currently a sovereign country, Turkmenistan was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. It was during rule of Soviet Russia, back in 1971 when geologists were conducting gas drilling in Kara-Kum desert and discovered an underground chamber close to the village of Darvaza (known in Turkmen as Derweze, but sometimes also referred to as Darvaz). The discovery of the chamber was accidental and resulted in drilling rig collapsing, leaving giant gas crater filled with poisonous gases exposed to the world outside. The concentration of gases within the crater was high so nobody dared to go down there. It was then when someone came with an idea to light the gas in the crater on fire so as to burn it before the poisonous fumes engulf the nearby town of Darvaza.

The geologists thought the idea of burning the gas was smart and went ahead with lighting the crater on fire. As it turns out, the supply of quality natural gas below the crater is near infinite as the crater’s been burning since. At the time of this post, on June of 2009 the gas crater in Darvaza is still burning and has been since 1971 without interruption. No one can even imagine how much quality natural gas was burnt throughout the 38 years of the crater being on fire. No one can estimate how much more gas there still is. When they first lit the gas crater on fire, they thought the fire would go out after a few days. It’s been more than a few day, it’s been more than a few weeks or months. It’s been decades and the gas crater is burning just as it did the day it was first lit. Putting all economical loses from wasted natural gas aside, imagine the ecological impact this burning gas has cause during decades of non stop burning!

Darvaza Gas Crater at Night with Silhouettes of People

The Door to Hell

The locals from Darvaza have given the burning crater a name that suits it well – The Door to Hell. And everyone who visits Darvaza agrees with the name and finds it appropriate. When you look inside the burning gas crater, you do feel like this is what the door to hell would look like. No one dared to enter the chamber when it was first discovered and no one has dared there since. After all, everyone knows what kind of path a door o hell takes you. And it’s not the path anyone would voluntarily want to embark on. Seeing the door to hell with your own eyes, however is an experience like no other. You will have long stayed in awe after experiencing the viciousness of the fire within the gorge of the burning crater. The Door to Hell would be an amazing vacation experience for the adventurous wonderers. This is a vacation idea that your mainstream tour operators don’t know about. And that’s the beauty of it.

Darvaza The Burning Gates Gas Hole in Turkmenistan

Darvaza Location

Darvaza is located in Turkmenistan but many sources mistakenly mention that it’s located in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is a country next to Turkmenistan and Darvaza is definitely not located there. Which is a good thing as there have been travel warnings for Uzbekistan for a long time, urging all travelers to avoid the country due to high risks of terrorist attacks and/or civil disturbances. But Uzbekistan is not where Darvaza is.

Darvaza and the burning gas crater are located in the central area of Turkmenistan, about 260 km north of Turkmenistan’s capital city Ashgabat. Check out the location of Darvaza on the interactive map below:

http://maps.google.co.in/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Is Turkmenistan Safe to Travel to?

Turkmenistan is located in the Middle East (Central Asia) and is surrounded by countries such as Afghanistan or Iran, which are known for frequent terrorist attacks, war, kidnapping and other crime against tourists. Despite proximities to war zones, the US Bureau of Consular Affairs has no warnings for Turkmenistan at this time, other than a recommendation to exercise normal degree of caution and keep aware of your surroundings at all times. For US Department of State Travel Website with more info and more up to date travel warnings, click HERE.

Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Office however warns that tourists to Turkmenistan should exercise HIGH degree of caution based on sporadic clashes that occurred in September of 2008 in the outskirts of Ashgabat in the northern district of Khitrovka. For Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Website with more info on Turkmenistan and more up to date travel warning, click HERE.

Despite its proximity to war zones and a violent clash from a year ago (which country hasn’t had one like that) Turkmenistan seems like a reasonably safe country to travel to at this time. Unless situation changes dramatically, the regions around Darvaza appear safe and friendly. A tourist should however always remain cautious and don’t needlessly attract attention on to themselves. Don’t show off and don’t walk desolate streets alone at night. Just general personal safety advice that should be in place no matter where you’re travelling to.

The Door to Hell Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGHxVW1NbrQ&feature=player_embedded

Darvaza The Burning Gas Hole Photo Gallery

Darvaza the Burning Gates Image

Pic of the Door to Hell in Darvaza, Turkmenistan

Photo source -  Google

source – Vacation ideas

Pearl Carpet of Baroda

 

The famed Pearl Carpet of Baroda has become world’s most expensive carpet beating the record of a silk Persian rug, sold last year. It has also set the record of a work sold at auction in the Middle East.

Embroidered with as many as one-and-a-half million of the fabled Basra pearls, harvested in the southern Gulf region and along the coasts of Qatar and Bahrain, the bejeweled masterpiece is traditionally believed to have been created as a gift for the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia and was commissioned by the Maharaja of Baroda, Gaekwar Kande Rao.

The intended gift was clearly never delivered as the Maharaja died before he made the donation and the carpet therefore remained in his family collection for more than 100 years.

The Pearl carpet broke the record held by a silk Isfahan carpet, Silk Safavid Carpet, which went under hammer for $4.45m at Christie’s auction, last year.

At the Arts of the Islamic World session, a Safavid work, exhibited for the first time after having resurfaced from a private collection, went under hammer at US $3,442,500.

British Rule in India (c.1600-1947)

Introduction

It has been said that the British Empire was picked up in a “fit of absence of mind.”  Nowhere was this more true than in the case of India which gradually came under British rule, not by the efforts of Britain’s government, but by those of the British East Indies Company, founded in 1599 by a group of merchants in search of nothing more than “quiet trade.”  However, circumstances would thwart these peaceful intentions, and over the next 250 years the British would find themselves more and more in the role of conquerors and governors than traders.  Not only would the British have a profound effect on India’s history, but the “crown jewel of the British Empire” would also affect Western Civilization.  This is reflected in such English words as bungalow, verandah, punch, dungarees, and pajamas, such customs as smoking cigars, playing polo, and taking showers, as well as more profound influences in the realms of religion and philosophy.

Company expansion (1601-1773)

Two main lines of development worked to bring the British East Indies Company to India and make it a power there.  For one thing, by 1600, Portugal was losing control of the East Asian Spice trade.  Therefore, in 1601, the British East Indies Company started sending ships to the Spice Islands to gain a share of this trade. At this point, there was no intention of even going to India, let alone of conquering it, since the Mughal Dynasty had a firm grip on the subcontinent.  However, the Dutch also had designs on the spice trade and rebuffed any British efforts to take part in it.  As a result, the British East Indies Company gained the right to set up trading posts along the coast of India.  Later, some of these trading posts would grow into major cities such as Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta.

The other factor pushing the British East Indies Company toward conquest had to do with the Mughal Empire.  This dynasty had ruled most of India peacefully and tolerantly for a century since the 1500′s.  However, during the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707) all that changed as he started persecuting Hindus.  Not only did this trigger centuries of religious strife that still continues, it also began the decline of the Mughal Empire, which suffered from weak and corrupt government from this time on.  The resulting turmoil forced the British East Indies Company to defend its trading posts against local princes, brigands, and a new European intruder, France.

The French, to compensate for the lack of European manpower so far from home, initiated the strategy of training and arming native recruits ( sepoys) like European armies.  Such forces were so effective that local princes would trade large tracts of land for French trained sepoys, thus giving the French control over much of Southern India.  In response to this new threat, the British responded in kind by training their own sepoys.  By the end of the Seven Years War (1756-63), British naval superiority and sepoys under the leadership of Robert Clive had virtually ended French involvement in India.  Clive dramatically demonstrated the effectiveness of European trained sepoys at the battle of Plassey (1757) when his army of 2800 British soldiers and sepoys routed a Bengali army of 100,000 men.  Clive’s victories over the Bengalis and French made the British East Indies Company a major power in India, able to install its own candidate on the Mughal throne and claim the wealthy province of Bengal for itself.  British dominance resulting from these victories had three main effects.

First, British power, plus the fact that their “honorable masters” in England were 7000 miles and nine months travel away, left India wide open to exploitation by the company and its employees.  Many British took full advantage of the opportunity to “shake the pagoda tree”, as they called the collection of “gifts” from grateful local princes ( nawabs).  While a noble in Britain could live well on £800 a year, even minor company employees were making huge fortunes.  One merchant was given a profitable saltworks with 13,000 employees while another was given his own mint.  A certain Mr. Watts was awarded £117,000 for bravery at the battle of Plassey.  And Clive himself received £211,500 for installing one nawab and another £27,000 a year from another grant.  Such opportunities for making quick fortunes unleashed a flood of applicants back home for service in India, some applications being accompanied with bribes of up to £2000.  Newcomers from England were often shocked when first encountering their colleagues already in India, since they typically mixed freely with the natives and had adopted their customs, food, and clothing.  Service in India had its risks for the British, mainly tropical heat and diseases.  As one local proverb put it, “Two monsoons is the age of a man,” indicating that few Europeans survived conditions in India more than two years.  Bombay was known as “the burying ground of the British”.

Growing parliamentary control and rising tensions (1778-1857)

However, while company employees who survived service in India were making their fortunes, the company’s loose management was costing it a fortune, forcing it to apply to the Bank of England for a loan in 1773 in order to avoid bankruptcy.  As a result, Parliament exercised increasing control over the company, establishing governors-general to oversee its activities.  This led to a succession of governors with different attitudes and policies.  While some governors, such as Warren Hastings (ruled 1778-88) were known for their tolerance of and willingness to learn about the native languages and cultures and to give Indians posts in their government.  However, other governors, such as Lord Cornwallis (1788-98), reversed many of these tolerant policies and dismissed most native Indians from higher posts in the administration. Getting into the nineteenth century, tensions grew between two factions: one advocating tolerance and respect for Indian culture and another claiming the superiority of European civilization over that of India.  This created a growing gap between the British and Indians that also fostered growing discontent.

Two other developments in the 1800s led to growing unrest among Indians.  One was the growing number of Christian missionaries coming to India to preach Christianity, which clashed with the more flexible beliefs of the Hindu majority and the strong beliefs of Indian Muslims.  Secondly, the British were bringing in modern technology (especially railroads) and business methods, which disrupted the traditional, slower paced culture and economy of India.

Things came to a head with the Great India Mutiny in 1857.  Sparking it was a misunderstanding about what kind of grease was used on the bullets for the sepoys’ new Enfield rifles.  Muslim troops thought pig grease, which they abhor, was being used, while Hindu troops thought the British were using grease from cows, which they hold sacred.  The resulting mutiny developed into a serious rebellion that the British finally managed to put down.  However, this was the final straw as far as the British government was concerned, assuming direct control over India in 1858 and eventually dissolving the British East Indies Company.  Just as one British queen, Elizabeth I had signed the charter forming the British East Indies Company some 260 years earlier, so another queen, Victoria, signed it into extinction.  Ironically, its career had started with a group of merchants in search of nothing more than “quiet trade.”  For the next ninety years, direct British rule would prevail in India.

From the British Raj to independence (1858-1947)

Britain ruled about 60% of Indian directly and the other 40% indirectly through native princes who followed British policies.  During their time in India, the British developed tea and cotton agriculture and coal and iron industries.  In fact, by 1940, the Tata Iron Works was the world’s largest Iron factory.  Likewise, the British continued developing India’s infrastructure with more railroads and telegraph lines, so that by 1900 India had the longest railroad in Asia.  British administration and bureaucracy were efficient, as was the British style education system Britain established.

However, even these developments contained the seeds of problems for British rule.  As before, the new industries, railroads, and telegraphs, however progressive they may have seemed to the British, disrupted the traditional culture and economy of India.  By the same token, however efficient the bureaucracy was, there were large gaps between the higher ranking British and lower ranking Indians that carried over to society in general.  Increasingly, Indians were getting tired of their second-class status and worked increasingly for independence.

The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, led the independence movement.  At first, its goal was to gain more rights for Indians and more say in the British administration.  However, as its power grew in the twentieth century, it agitated increasingly for complete independence.  This led to a parallel, but somewhat separate independence movement of Muslims in India who feared being a minority in a Hindu-dominated state.  Therefore, they wanted a separate independent Muslim state in the northwest.

World War I (1914-18) and World War II (1939-45) further catalyzed India’s push for independence, since Britain had to rely heavily on Indian recruits to fill its ranks.  In return, Britain promised more political concessions, thus weakening its hold on India, encouraging more demand by Indians, and so on.

In 1920, a new leader, Mohandas Gandhi emerged as the voice of the Indian National Congress.  Educated in both traditional Indian culture and British schools, Gandhi developed very effective non-violent tactics of resistance while protesting British policies. The British, not wanting to risk the bad publicity a violent reaction could generate, had to give in to Gandhi time after time.  Therefore, at the end of World War II, Britain promised independence for India.  Unfortunately, this revived the issue of whether there would be one large Hindu-dominated state or a separate Muslim state in the North, leading to violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims broke out.  Finally, in 1947 Britain the region between Hindu India in the South and Muslim Pakistan in the Northwest that also controlled a separate territory, Bangla Desh, in the Northeast.  Despite heroic efforts to keep the peace by Gandhi  (who was killed by one of his Hindu followers in 1947), tensions between Hindus and Muslims have continued to the present day and still threaten the peace and stability of South Asia.