Sunday, April 05, 2015

Quick notes: Kerala unions, New Malibu...

  • Mafia Unions of Kerala: "This is a testament to the unions in Kerala and what they do to business and how they destroy business in this state."



  • Church steals temple land: Devotees confront the administration.


  • Govt against consent of tribals for displacement: The NDA govt is on the verge of passing executive orders that would do away with the veto powers of tribals that protect their fores tlands in most cases.


  • New Malibu Hybrid with Volt drive train: : Unlike her predecessors, who brought mainly financial backgrounds to the job, Mary Barra, the current CEO of GM, is a qualified engineer and a car geek, fully cognizant of the qualities that Malibu must possess to compete effectively.


  • Daimler Unveils SuperTruck: : 12-MPG Semi is more than twice as fuel-efficient.


  • Diesel fouls up Delhi air: In 1995, suspended particulate matter in Delhi had hit a high of 409 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre). In 2000, two years after the CNG verdict, scientists measured the tinier and virtually invisible RSPM for the first time and found the level at 191 µg/m3 — it fell to 161 µg/m3 in 2007.

    Then, as sharply as a sudden gasp, from 2008 to be precise, the levels begin to rise and rise. And rise to the current 316 µg/m3, nearly 16 times what is considered healthy by the WHO, and nearly twice that of Beijing, the next most-polluted city in the world.

    “Pollutant levels increased for 3 reasons — increase in diesel vehicles, mobile towers which had diesel generating sets, and small scale industries”.


  • Keep commerce out of medicine and education:


4 comments:

Sujeev said...

Off Topic:

The Curious Case of Vamsee Juluri


Vamsee Juluri has been in the news lately, before and after his book, "Rearming Hinduism" was released.

On the face of it, a tenured US Academic, writing a book in support of Hindus seems like a great thing, and it is a great achievement indeed, considering US academics are not generally encouraged to write or say anything in support of Hindu Dharma as we know it.

But I am troubled.

I have not read the book "Rearming Hinduism", but from what has been written about it in reviews, and what Vamsee Juluri himself has written in columns in various international media outlets, I get the feeling most of what he has to say has been brought to our notice already by Rajiv Malhotra a while ago. Yet, I am yet to see a single instance of public attribution to Rajiv Malhotra from Vamsee Juluri for at least some of the content of his columns, or his book.

And on top of everything, Vamsee Juluri seems to have been offered a chair at THE HINDU TABLE, A CHAIR THAT I BELIEVE SHOULD RIGHTFULLY BE Rajiv Malhotra's, for the amount of tapasya he (Rajiv) has put in over the last 3 decades or so.

That Vamsee Juluri has been embraced by almost everyone in India, including those fighting for Hindu Dharma, is evident from his recent appearances on Indian Television, gushing reviews of his book, and favourable interviews, in Indian print media, and his appearances at various events organized by Hindu organizations.

Here is a recent example - A talk at the Centre for Policy Studies,Chennai, that has in its ranks stalwarts such a Dr. J.K. Bajaj (who was on an NDTV panel recently, along with Rajiv Malhotra), Dr. M.D.Srinivas (who has recently been appointed to the ICHR), and Dr. S. Gurumurthy (whom everyone knows), amongst others, all of them from the Dharampal School of thought.

https://www.facebook.com/brharan/media_set?set=a.356108287926403.1073741941.100005817043473&type=1&pnref=story&__mref=message_bubble

And here is a superlative review of the book, Rearming Hinduism, by Dr. S. Kalyanaraman, Director, Saraswati Research Centre

Bharatkalyan97: Rearming Hinduism -- Nature, Hinduphobia, & the return of Indian intelligence --Vamsee Juluri. A sankhanaada for intellectual resistance.
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All this apparently easy success, where Rajiv Malhotra has struggled mightily, made me take a closer look at Vamsee Juluri's background, and if that had anything to do with his recent success as a voice for Hindus.

Vamsee Juluri's mother is the very famous Telugu actress, Jamuna, and she was elected as an MP once, on a (secular) Congress party ticket.

Vamsee Juluri (in his own words) has also claimed on occasion, to be related to Sanjaya Baru, who is closely associated with the secular Congress party, having been Media Adviser, and Chief Spokesperson for former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, from 2004 to 2008. In 2014, Sanjaya Baru also released the controversial book "The Accidental Prime Minister".

Here is a recent tweet by Sanjaya Baru in support of Vamsee Juluri's book, Rearming Hinduism.

All this makes me wonder if Vamsee Juluri's sudden arrival as a voice for Hindus is due to his own efforts, or if it has been facilitated by forces inimical to Hindus, and accepted uncritically by Hindu stalwarts, thankful that at last they have a sympathetic voice in US academia?

Is there some strategy around projecting Vamsee Juluri ahead of Rajiv Malhotra?

How can somebody from a family that is so closely associated with the "Secular" Congress party suddenly become Hindutva's golden child?


Thank you,

Sujeev Kommana

nizhal yoddha said...

sujeev, interesting questions about vamsi juluri. i had seen his writings over the years, and they did not strike me as particularly pro-hindu, more neutral than anything else. so i was surprised when he suddenly appeared with this book. on the other hand, several people have 'converted' recently, seeing the writing on the wall, i presume, eg. the economist rupa subramanya. so perhaps this is a marriage of convenience. as much as i like rajiv malhotra, and i like him a great deal, i do believe he has an abrasive side where he brooks no deviation from his perspective. vamsi may be a smoother talker, and that may also be part of his charm. but you have a good point, about how a congress-oriented family suddenly produces a champion of hinduism. i must give this some more thought and maybe discuss with some long-term hindu activists.

Sujeev said...

Sure, Rajiv Malhotra is ABRASIVE! But the other side (Abrahamics) is MURDEROUS. Can't we atleast bring an abrasive attitude to the table to tackle a murderous one? And shouldn't other Hindu thinkers and leaders be thankful that Rajiv Malhotra's abrasive attitude has stirred things up on the other side, while their own accomodative attitude has perpetuated the status quo of the past few centuries, and most especially, of the post-independence decades.

nizhal yoddha said...

i specifically asked malhotra, and he's ok with juluri. which is fine.

you have a point; his combativeness has made him a viable interlocutor to the smooth church types who have simpered and lulled less vigilant hindus into submission.

but he is also abrasive to well meaning hindus, which is what i meant.