Shadow Warrior

Indian Space Rocket Program Lags Behind China's

2012-02-14T19:37:00.000-08:00

Prof U R Rao of PRL reminds everyone that India's space rocket program lags seriously behind China's. However Dr Goswami says that India can and should go to Mars.

India Probing Google, Yahoo for Possible Forex Rule Violation - WSJ.com

2012-02-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

I strongly suspect that some journalist who has put up the case against Google AND Yahoo, is a small time lackey. Someone who is just a front for this diabolical Government.

The latest charges on money laundering are just to get the worried executives embroiled in court cases and make them access the data.

This has happened because there is a rise in the mobile internet users, facebook applications and email with both these companies. Money laundering is perhaps the easiest charge that they can bring on to stick to them.

I exhort the users to move away from Google and it's properties. I have extensively outlined the way to ensure your privacy.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204883304577220631859782456-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwMzExNDMyWj.html

While the government official didn't provide details of the latest notices to Google and Yahoo, the Press Trust of India reported Friday, citing unnamed sources that the finance ministry division is probing whether Google violated local rules on foreign-exchange transactions while transferring funds to its foreign entities, including to Ireland, and investments from abroad.

The notices are the latest legal tangles for U.S. companies in what is a fast-growing market for Web consumption. Both Google and Yahoo, along with 21 social networking websites including of Facebook, have been embroiled in legal cases in at least two different courts in New Delhi for what the complainants say is objectionable content on their websites. Google last week told one of the two Indian courts--following a complaint by an individual Ajiaz Arshad Qasmi--that it has removed some "controversial content" from its Indian services to comply with a court order in a civil lawsuit.

There are many alternatives to Google. (Duckduckgo/ixquick/clusty). Look for an independent email service provider (Fastmail). Avoid Yahoo/Google for anything.

Beware users. Beware. The Big brother is watching you.

Bomb Attack on Israeli Diplomatic Vehicle

2012-02-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

An Israeli diplomatic vehicle was hit by a bomb attack in New Delhi's diplomatic quarter, roughly 500 meters from the PM's office.

The rise and rise of the Indian zardari. Tavleen singh

2012-02-13T05:51:00.001-08:00

Sadanand Dhume (dhume01):
The Son-in-Law Also Rises: @tavleen_singh on Robert Vadra and #India's best known family firm. http://t.co/VYDmKWVw

http://twitter.com/dhume01/status/168513614783852544

(Sent via Seesmic http://www.seesmic.com)

on sony android phone

Thaipusam In Singapore

2012-02-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai.

Huffington Post:

Hindus Celebrate Thaipusam Festival In Singapore

BBC Reporter Alleges Assault by BJP Goons

2012-02-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

A BBC reporter is alleging that he was assaulted by goondas sent by a local BJP politician whom he had criticized for shoddy management of his apartment complex. So is this all that BJPers do these days, in addition to suckering the rest of us into believing they're fighting for Hindus? Will real Hindu nationalists please stand up, and tell these thugs to p*ss off?

Wsj; The Taliban Five. America's AI 814 moment is here

2012-02-11T17:49:00.001-08:00

http://bit.ly/yayB1A

So will hillary personally escort the Famous Five from gitmo to Qatar? Wsj gives a thumbnail on five Taliban who are rapidly becoming 'good Taliban'. War criminal? What war crimes? Killing a few hazara? Naah.

on sony android phone

NYT: Big Data's Impact in the World

2012-02-11T17:48:00.003-08:00

http://bit.ly/zJWsLL

In India big data is more likely to be used to spy on undesirable groups of people (we know who they are). Before ushering them to the gas chamber, that is.

on sony android phone

NYT is shocked that India is looking after its own interests in iran

2012-02-11T17:48:00.001-08:00

http://bit.ly/wBDOIs

For a change, despite American bullying. So, will rupee become a convertible currency? We also don't want Hormuz closed.

The point about afghan Northern Alliance is important. Neither India nor Iran want pak to own afghan as the US wants.

Not that Iran is some great country or great civilizational ally as secular claim. No, just realpolitik.

But what happened? Why isn't UPA toeing US line? Who died? Is it that some checks bounced?

on sony android phone

simon long of @theeconomist says pak has pluses: demography, geography, geology, culture, democracy

2012-02-11T08:38:00.001-08:00

feb 12th, 2012 CE

i rather like simon long. unlike his successor james astill, who was a pill of the first order, simon was a good india correspondent and attempted to be rather even handed. he wasn't the usual saheb-who-hangs-out-with-self-hating-JNU-jholawallahs-with-beards-both-girls-and-boys.

but he seems to be on another planet -- a common affliction for many when they talk about pakistan -- when he says pakistan's pluses are: demography, geography, geology, culture and democracy

http://www.economist.com/node/21546884 is the link to simon's 14-page essay. it is worth reading, but i must take exception with his five pluses (why am i reminded of panchasheela?)

demography? they are breeding like mad! the average pakistani woman has 6 kids or something, and they *have* to kill off these aggressive young men they grow into! hence the taliban and jihad. it gives the 'boys' something to do (and die)

geography? it is only interesting to the chinese to get a warm water port. but gwadar ain't it: the balochs will sooner or later revolt

geology? not clear there's that much under them thar hills

culture? is that arab culture as most paks claim, hilariously, that they are arabs or, as rushdie famously put it in shame, "the 5000 years of indian history they are trying to cover up with 50 years of Pakistan Standard Time"?

democracy? what they have is an army with a country as a fig-leaf. sort of like what's said about religion: "a cult with an army". pak is an army with a parliament.

itty achuthan kollatt and the hortus malabaricus: history of medicine and botany via maddy and rakesh

2012-02-11T08:10:00.001-08:00

feb 11th, 2012 CE

yet another example of how indian IPR has been appropriated by whites (another good one is the capture of the infinite series for trigonometric functions -- they should be credited to madhava and paramesvara of the kerala school of mathematics and astronomy circa 1400 CE, not to taylor and maclauren). one more is the story of vaccination.

i haven't personally seen the 12-volume hortus malabaricus but it was clearly a stupendous achievement.

there are some controversies about authorship. i recently read a konkani man's contention that it was written not in malayalam and sanskrit, but in malayalam and devanagari (the latter being used by the konkani bhats because their language did not and still does not have a script).

thanks to rakesh krishnan simha whose link got me to maddy's interesting and thorough writeup on itty achuthan kollatt and the hortus malabaricus. http://historicalleys.blogspot.in/2010/01/itty-achutan-and-hortus-malabaricus.htmlthere are many good blogs on malabar. for instance, sri c k ramachandran's blog http://calicutheritage.blogspot.in/

wael ghonim, anointed #tahrir square hero by #paidmedia, has new book out. anybody read it?

2012-02-10T08:35:00.001-08:00

Feigning Friendship, EU Tries To Screw India

2012-02-10T05:32:00.000-08:00

Efforts by India and the European Union to strengthen trade are threatening India's ability to deliver lifesaving medicines to the world's poorest, analysts say as the two sides push through protracted negotiations on a free-trade pact.

The two sides said after a summit Friday in New Delhi that they would speed up efforts to reach an agreement this year.

Health industry workers and activists worry India may bow to EU demands for strict intellectual property protections and investor guarantees, which could close down the world's generic drug supply.

India's $26 billion drug industry has become an immense profit engine, growing at 15-25 percent a year — but also a lifeline for millions of patients in poor countries, many in Africa, unable to pay sky-high Western prices to treat illnesses that include HIV, malaria, asthma and cancer. For HIV alone, India makes more than 80 percent of the world's medicines.

The EU says it has suggested a clause in the free-trade pact "to ensure that nothing in the proposed agreement would limit India's freedom to produce and export lifesaving medicines."

Despite the EU assurance, Indian drug makers and health workers say two broad provisions in the agreement — one on intellectual property rights, and the other on investor lawsuits — would make it much easier for international pharmaceutical giants to sue the Indian government, drug manufacturers and distributors.

India's global pharmacy role threatened by EU pact

chennai secular teen stabs hindu teacher to death

2012-02-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

feb 9th, 2012 CE

the spin is that he was 'driven to kill'. the old spin that he was 'a laborer's son' has been dropped.

but the reality is that he is a 'minority', so he can kill 'communal hindus' with impunity (especially if, like jews in germany, they are tambrahms in DMK-land)