Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in Nov. 2019
When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
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Good to see some efforts to ensure accountability in what seems to have been delayed response from the police to family's complaint about the lady being in danger, in this horrific tragedy.
Telangana vet's rape and murder: Three cops suspended over allegations of laxity, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/telangana-vets-rape-and-murder-three-cops-suspended-over-allegations-of-laxity/articleshow/72312507.cms
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Good to see the National Commission for Women highlight this aspect. If police officers/constables were slow to respond to the family's complaint about the lady being missing and in danger then such police officers/constables should be pulled up. Another sad thing the article says is that the police were fighting over jurisdiction where the complaint should be lodged due to which precious time was lost.
And if a police officer/constable really tried to put the family off from making a complaint by saying that the lady may have eloped with somebody, then action should be taken against him/her. Further, standing instructions should be given to all police officers/constables that they should never behave so callously and waste time when a complaint is being made about a girl/woman being in danger.
Hyderabad vet could have been saved but police wasted precious time, victim's family tells NCW, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/hyderabad-vet-could-have-been-saved-but-police-wasted-precious-time-victims-family-tells-ncw/articleshow/72311215.cms
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Here's my attempt at translating the Telugu of shared post/pic below into English (I think I got most of it correctly; otherwise I would not put up a translation). The post is put up less than an hour back by Puttaparthi MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly for Andhra Pradesh state - roughly equivalent to state legislature representative in USA) Shri D. Sreedhar Reddy.
In Andhra Pradesh, girls/women in danger (should) - dial these numbers:
112
181
100
[I think the above numbers are three separate numbers. So they can dial any of these numbers.]
For cyber (harassment?) complaints, dial: 9121211100
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/SreedharReddyYSRCP/photos/a.689917547732995/2710247945699935/ ]
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How poor people survive in the USA | DW Documentary, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHDkALRz5Rk, 42 min. 26 secs., published on 27th Nov. 2019.
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Fascinating to see Russian army cadets sing old Hindi film patriotic (freedom fighters) song - the video was shared by the Indian army as per the shared Times of India video link below. One presumes that the event is a recent one. Here's another youtube video link of the Russian army cadets singing the Hindi film song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTwZnzWD3s4, 27 seconds.
And here's the original song: 'Ae watan ae watan humko teri kasam' from movie Shaheed (1965), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaheed_(1965_film), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTLBPaN_XlA, 5 min. 50 secs. The video covers the scene of the hanging of Indian freedom fighter fearless martyrs Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev by the British run police forces, set in the period around 1916.
Note that some Hindi films made in the period of this movie's release (1960s) were quite popular in the former Soviet Union (Russian Federation today covers an area that was part of the former Soviet Union). Raj Kapoor (not in this film), in particular, was well known in Russia then.
If the Russian cadets event in Moscow where they sing this song is a recent one then I think it is extraordinary and wonderful. Russia has been, and continues to be, a trusted and time-tested friend of independent India over the decades since India got independence from British rule in 1947.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/international/russia-military-cadets-sing-ae-watan-song-at-an-event-in-moscow/videoshow/72308130.cms
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I decided to share this article as I think that knowing how the poor lady (her name is changed to Madhuri in the report) was trapped by four persons who planned to rape her, may help in prevention of such horrors in future. According to the report, Madhuri parked her bike at Shamshabad toll plaza (in Hyderabad) around 6 PM, and visited a clinic elsewhere hiring a cab. Meanwhile the four devils hatched their plan and consumed alcohol. One of them deflated the tyre of her bike. When she came back at 9 PM, one of the devils told her that her bike had a puncture. One of the other devils then took her bike away for repairing it.
That's how she got trapped. She sensed the danger and phoned her sister. Perhaps she should have phoned the police then. I think a key learning from this tragedy is that ladies and even men who sense danger like Madhuri sensed danger from these four devils, while out on the road at night, should call the police right away (I believe the number is 100).
I also want to add that according to the police, there are four accused. Some persons on social media are sharing only one person's name, who is the prime accused and whose name indicates that he may be Muslim whereas they are not sharing the other three persons' names which indicate non-Muslim - Hindu/Christian persons. The report shares all the four names.
Four arrested for Hyderabad's vet's murder, she was gangraped confirm cops, https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/hyderabad-vet-was-gangraped-killed-and-burnt-4-men-arrested-113179, 29th Nov. 2019
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Extremely distressing that the USA has made such a mess of student debt which ***directly*** impacts lives of young people who have such debt. I recall reading about debt forgiveness programs of US government maybe four to five or even more years earlier when I was a blogger-activist for Indian Computer Science & Information Technology Academic Reform. They looked so good on official US government statements about such debt relief.
And now we see such promises were not kept for most of the students! I mean, they took low-paying professions deemed to be beneficial to society and so qualifying for debt forgiveness after some years, and now after many years of being on such jobs, they are told that they do not quality for debt forgiveness!
Heart-breaking to see USA mess up this serious student debt problem so badly.
I wonder how it is in India. Student debt is a problem in India too but perhaps not as big as in USA. But I think mainstream Indian media does not cover this Indian student debt problem well.
Broken Promises and Debt Pile Up as Loan Forgiveness Goes Astray, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/us/politics/student-loan-forgiveness.html .
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Justice delayed is justice denied. My considered view is that if the kin of a rape & murder victim want the killers to be hanged then, once Indian courts find them guilty, the killers should be hanged quickly. That will give some level of closure to the victims' kin.
Four of the rapists & killers of Nirbhaya, the victim of the horrible Delhi gang rape & murder in 2012, have been judged guilty of these horrible crimes and sentenced to death in Sept. 2013 and the appeal to the Delhi High Court upheld the sentences in March 2014. In May 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the sentences of these four convicts. In July 2018, the Supreme Court rejected the review petition of three of the convicts. [Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Delhi_gang_rape.]
None of these four convicted persons have been hanged yet. Note that, apart from these four, one of the accused died in jail and one was a juvenile who was sentenced to three years imprisonment and, after serving that term, has been released.
[Hyderabad Incident Barbaric, Want Justice Soon: Nirbhaya’s Mother, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/nirbhayas-mother-asha-devi-reacts-to-hyderabad-vet-murder ]
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
What happened was horrible! But I think we should not blame all the police right away. If there was negligence on part of any police officers to respond to the calls then they should be held accountable. .... Sometimes police are overburdened. ... But this case should result in changes in Hyderabad policing to prevent recurrence of such horrible crimes against women in the city.
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In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
I was not aware of what you said, "When this deceased victim's family went to lodge a complaint. They were told - your daughter must have eloped with her boyfriend." Hmm. This must be probed and that constable must be punished if it is proven to be true. But perhaps the police will not do a proper probe into such matters ... I have noted the rest of your valuable views. Thanks.
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Another very sweet romantic evergreen Hindi film song from the early 1960s. Tujhe Jeevan Ki Dor Se Baandh Liya Hai, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amRMVEXb-xI, 4 min. 16 secs. The singers are Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi. The film is Asli Naqli (1962) and the on-screen stars are Dev Anand and Sadhana.
..
Very sweet evergreen romantic hit song sung by Hemant Kumar in Hindi movie Bees Sal Bad released in 1962, which continued to be popular in 70s & 80s: Bekarar Karke Hume Yun Na Jaiye, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpIJQri622A, around 4 mins.
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Famous hauntingly sad and very pessimistic 1970s Hindi film song about life in Bombay from working class poor perspective
The movie is Gharaonda (1977), the singer is Bhupinder Singh, and star singing it is Amol Palekar, the famous common man hero of those times.
Ek Akela Is Shaher Mein, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpbjO-Qdfuc, around 5 mins.
Some of the lyrics of the song are so pessimistic that I decided not to share English translation of the lyrics. I will just say that the title, Ek Akela Is Shaher Mein, means: One alone in this city.
My life in Bombay, even when I and family were struggling financially, was never so pessimistic. Overall I have fond memories of Bombay life except the crowded and long commutes part of it. But still I was able to relate to the sorrow of the song and it was played quite often on radio. I have heard it many, many times on radio.
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Horrifying! The culprit(s) must be brought to justice and exemplary punishment must be given to them.
Telangana veterinary doctor rape-murder: Burn alive accused in full public glare, demands mother, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/telangana-veterinary-doctor-rape-murder-burn-alive-accused-in-full-public-glare-demands-mother/articleshow/72290495.cms
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'Don't Hang Up, I'm Scared': Hyd Vet's Last Call To Sister Before She Was Raped & Burnt Alive, https://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/hyderabad-vets-brutally-raped-and-murdered/
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One of the popular English songs I recall from my childhood in Bombay (late 70s). I remember liking it quite a bit then perhaps because I could follow some of the words in it :-) (clear pronunciation as against hard to understand pronunciation in some other English songs), and, of course, because it was, and still is, a sweet song but somewhat philosophical with some sadness too!
I don't know whether it was this singer - Mary Hopkin - or somebody else. But it was a female singer and I think it was her song that I used to hear. I think I got exposed to these and some other English songs through my elder sister and her friends.
Also there used to be a half hour or an hour program on one of the Bombay radio stations (government run) in the late evenings that would play English pop songs. Perhaps I have heard it being played there too.
Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days - 1968, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3KEhWTnWvE, 4 min. 25 secs, over 25 million views.
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It is not surprising to know that the Indian diaspora is the largest in the world. Right in mid 1980s in my foreign stints in Western Europe and USA, I have seen Indian stores and Indian food restaurants in Western Europe & USA which was a clear sign of settled presence of Indians there for some years in the past. And as globalization has grown & grown, more & more Indians migrated to Western Europe and USA, and Australia and New Zealand, along with many Indians working for decades in oil rich countries of Middle East (but not settling down there as that was, and continues to be, prohibited by those countries I think).
The vast majority of my friends & colleagues from my Bombay software industry days (1984 to 2002) are settled in USA, Western Europe and Australia (one person lived for some years in New Zealand but later returned to India). Only a small minority remained in India (with me being one of this small minority)! So I am NOT surprised at all to know that the Indian diaspora is the largest in the world.
However the article also says, quoting from the (UN agency) International Organization for Migration's Global Migration Report 2020: "This figure remains a very small percentage of the world's population (at 3.5 percent), meaning that the vast majority of people globally (96.5 percent) are estimated to be residing in the country in which they were born".
So the vast majority of Indians continue to live in India. Only a small percentage have migrated to, and settled down in, the West, and another perhaps small percentage again migrated (temporarily) for many years to oil-rich Middle Eastern countries for earning a livelihood but did not settle down there.
[Shared link: At 17.5 Million, Indian Diaspora Largest in the World : UN, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/indian-diaspora-largest-in-the-world-un-report ]
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Uddhav Thackeray becomes Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Uddhav Thackeray Takes Oath, To Lead Sena-NCP-Congress Alliance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCVwSMyXU1Y, 1 min. 46 secs.
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Extremely tragic! I hope some philanthropist steps forward and donates the amount of demonetized currency money in current currency notes to them.
Tirupur paatis painstakingly save Rs 46,000, but all are demonetized notes, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/tirupur-paatis-painstakingly-save-rs-46k-but-all-are-demonetized-notes/articleshow/72249561.cms
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Maharashtra News Live Updates: Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar Quit Ahead Of Maharashtra Floor Test, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/live-updates-maharashtra-news-devendra-fadnavis-ajit-pawar-quit-ahead-of-maharashtra-floor-test-2138971
Hmm. Supreme Court ordered a floor test tomorrow. BJP & Ajit Pawar faction of NCP did not have the numbers. First Ajit Pawar resigned as Dy. CM and then Devendra Fadnavis resigned as CM.
Now one has to see whether the Shiv Sena + NCP + Congress combine can stick together, form a govt. and then continue to be together.
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My comment on the post:
Thank you so much. As an Indian and a former Mumbaikar (resident of Mumbai), I very much appreciate this post of US embassy in India honouring the memory of martyrs of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. India and USA partnering together to combat terror is very good.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/posts/2745547275561284?__tn__=H-R
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CM of Maharashtra pays tribute to security forces and asks citizens to contribute to security forces work in protecting the homeland, on anniversary of the horrific 26/11/2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The video in the tweet is in Hindi.
https://twitter.com/Dev_Fadnavis/status/1199160596656033794
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Paul Newman playing the conman and card-sharp in The Sting (1973, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sting), and conning a mob boss at Poker (I haven't seen the movie but heard a lot about it):
Classic Poker Scene - The Sting, Paul Newman - "You won't be able to get a game of jacks", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPtEClW8M1I, around 6 mins.
Newman tells the mob boss after conning him in the Poker game: "You owe me fifteen grand, pal."!!! Ha! Ha! Awesome performance by Paul Newman.
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Fascinating to see Chinese dancers doing this Bollywood dance!
I had not seen the original (its from a 2015 Hindi film - Bajirao Mastani, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajirao_Mastani). Searching for it on youtube showed me the original song here: (song starts 1 min. into the video) Deewani Mastani Full Video Song | Bajirao Mastani, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6lHUn20J5g, around 6 mins.
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(UK) General election 2019: Boris Johnson vows to 'forge a new Britain', https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50532000
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Hmm. BJP-NCP combine form govt. in Maharashtra! That's an astounding turn of events!
Here's some info. on a few key events. But why they got together is not discussed. How will Shiv Sena react? Hmm. This is really surprising to me, with Maharashtra being my former state for four decades and me being born in Bombay, Maharashtra.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/here-is-how-things-unfolded-in-maharashtra-since-friday-night/864991.html
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Update: Sharad Pawar (big boss of NCP, former Union minister, and former CM of Maharashtra) says that Ajit Pawar (leader of NCP) acted on his own and did not act on behalf of the party.
Hmm. So now the big question is whether this combine of BJP and Ajit Pawar faction of NCP will win the floor test in the legislative assembly.
Bitter division and anger is what seems to be in store for the NCP in coming days. Sad but such is life!
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL role in these social media posts that I put up related to Indian political leaders which may include leaders in government currently and those not in government. I am an Indian citizen and resident of India. I do vote in Indian elections but I keep who I vote for as a private matter. I should also say that I am a beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy in India.
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Another famous song from the same movie Muqaddar ka Sikandar (as in previous post)
The song starts around 2 minutes 50 secs. into the video:
O SATHI RE TERE BINA BHI KYA JINA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OssRAVZhsRk, 7 min. 24 secs.
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Unforgettable Amitabh starrer song for Hindi film song fans of my generation
Rothe Hue Aate Hain Sab (english subtitles) - Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) - Kishore Kumar, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf36LmnD9ZQ, 3 min. 44 secs.
All come to the world crying, he who leaves the world smiling/laughing, O beloved, will be called (known) as the master (Alexander) of destiny
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Who/What was that Alexander (Sikandar in Hindi) who conquered the world with cruelty (war)
He who wins over hearts with love he gets the skies to bow down to him
He who writes the story of love on the stars
he will be called, O beloved, as the master (Alexander) of destiny.
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Life is unfaithful and will betray us one day
Death is our beloved who will take us along with her.
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It seems to be filmed in Bombay/Mumbai as I can recognize some landmarks of Bombay in the video.
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Johnson v Corbyn: The ITV Debate | ITV News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kEB5pqWpJw, 1 hr. 12 mins.
I have seen the first 16 minutes or so of it. Hope to see the rest of it later.
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I hope I don't upset some readers by saying that statements like India has not attacked any other country in past ten thousand years of its history are either misleading or inaccurate.
They paint a picture of Indians in the past ten thousand years never having wars of conquest. And that's just plain wrong. Wars of conquest within India by one king against another king well before Islamic invasion of India, was common.
Ashoka the great had a big war of conquest against Kalinga in or around 260 BCE which is reported to have directly caused 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations. It is after this horrific carnage that he converted to Buddhism in 263 BCE. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka.
Mahabharata war, if one accepts that as largely historical fact, is another horrific war of great carnage, which is said to have happened around 5000 years ago (which makes it around 3000 BCE).
The Cholas invaded SriVijaya kingdom in Malaysia and Indonesia in 1025 AD/CE, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chola_invasion_of_Srivijaya. This may have been an exception in the norm of mostly friendly relations between Indian kingdoms and South East Asian kingdoms of that age. But it is a documented invasion! So it clearly disputes the statement that Indians never invaded foreign countries in India's ten thousand year history!
Once again, my apologies to readers who get offended by my sharing some historical facts which counter some seemingly popular but inaccurate narratives.
Sathyameva Jayate! [Truth alone triumphs!]
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Broadband Internet become an issue in UK election campaign! I think Broadband Internet connectivity becoming an issue in general election campaign of UK shows so clearly that the developed world is living in an Internet age and that the rest of the world (including India, for sure) is either in the Internet age or will be doing so in the near future.
Johnson condemns Labour’s ‘communist’ free broadband plan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtp5sWa2Yaw, 11 min. 41 secs.
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Interesting John Wayne clip - around 2 mins,
John Wayne ~ ''The Hell I Won't!''., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3343LUHNb4
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Truth sure is stranger than fiction. Fratricide (brother killing brother) as part of succession war in monarchies is part of history perhaps worldwide. Hindu kingdoms of past centuries did have some fratricide with Mahabharata war also being a war close to fratricide as it was between cousins over land with the Kauravas refusing to part with even 5 villages of their kingdom for the Pandavas, their cousins. Fratricide in succession war for Mughal empire in India was also a reality.
But "a policy of judicial royal fratricide" being used in a monarchy is unbelievable! A sort-of pre-emptive move to prevent a succession war, even if there is no immediate threat of a succession war! It is true for at least one empire of the past!
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fratricide#Ottoman_Empire, "In the Ottoman Empire a policy of judicial royal fratricide was introduced by Sultan Mehmet II (ruled from 1451 to 1481 AD/CE) whose grandfather Mehmet I had to fight an extended and severe civil war against his brothers (which brought the empire much closer to destruction) to take the throne. When a new Sultan ascended to the throne he would imprison all of his surviving brothers and murder them by strangulation with a silk cord as soon as he had produced his first male heir. The largest killing took place on the succession of Mehmet III (ruled from 1595 to 1603) when 19 of his brothers were killed and buried with their father. The aim was to prevent civil war. Reflecting public disapproval, his successor Ahmed I (ruled from 1603 to 1617) abandoned the practice, replacing it with life imprisonment in the Kafes, a section of the Ottoman palace."
Hmm. One cannot deny the absolutely brutal logic behind such a policy of "judicial royal fratricide", as other brothers of the ruler (king/sultan) could become magnets for some powerful people in the kingdom who are unhappy with the new ruler, thereby becoming a threat to the ruler, and so to the kingdom. A kingdom in a war for succession could become an easy target for enemies.
But it is really the height of inhumanity for a ruler to brutally eliminate his own brothers even if they are not a threat at that time to him, but ****may****, just may, become a threat in future!
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The book FDR by Jean Edward Smith has some coverage of the "First Red Scare" in the USA immediately after World War I.
In June 1919, an anarchist exploded a bomb outside the house of US Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, damaging the house and killing the anarchist-bomber. FDR's home was opposite Mitchell Palmer's home. FDR and his wife were down the block when the bomb went off. One of his children, an eleven year old, was at the home when the bomb went off! FDR rushed home and embraced his son who was safe but was standing in his pyjamas amid splintered glass!
Then FDR went over to the Palmers house to help them. Nobody there was injured.
Hmm. This is just after USA and allies won World War I. I don't think I had known of such a serious situation in the USA with respect to fear of communism and violence, after it had won World War I.
There were workers'/labour strikes, race-riots in quite a few places including Washington DC and Chicago, and mail bombs during that period in the USA! Boston Police strike led to two nights of lawlessness before State Guard and volunteers were able to bring the situation under control!
Hmm. The October revolution in Russia in 1917 which abolished the Russian monarchy, seems to have triggered events even in USA!
Given below are extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Red_Scare :
The First Red Scare was a period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the Russian Revolution and anarchist bombings. At its height in 1919–1920, concerns over the effects of radical political agitation in American society and the alleged spread of communism and anarchism in the American labor movement fueled a general sense of concern.
The Scare had its origins in the hyper-nationalism of World War I as well as the Russian Revolution. At the war's end, following the October Revolution, American authorities saw the threat of Communist revolution in the actions of organized labor, including such disparate cases as the Seattle General Strike and the Boston Police Strike and then in the bombing campaign directed by anarchist groups at political and business leaders. Fueled by labor unrest and the anarchist bombings, and then spurred on by United States Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's attempt to suppress radical organizations, it was characterized by exaggerated rhetoric, illegal search and seizures, unwarranted arrests and detentions, and the deportation of several hundred suspected radicals and anarchists. In addition, the growing anti-immigration nativism movement among Americans viewed increasing immigration from Southern Europe and Eastern Europe as a threat to American political and social stability.
Bolshevism and the threat of a Communist-inspired revolution in the U.S. became the overriding explanation for challenges to the social order, even such largely unrelated events as incidents of interracial violence. Fear of radicalism was used to explain the suppression of freedom of expression in form of display of certain flags and banners. The First Red Scare effectively ended in mid-1920, after Attorney General Palmer forecast a massive radical uprising on May Day and the day passed without incident.
---- end wiki extract(s) ----
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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Brexit Party 'won't stand in 317 Tory seats' - does it make Johnson win likelier?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05of7tA-XN0&t=69s, around 10 mins, published by Channel 4 News.
One of the Channel 4 interviewers gives a leader of the Brexit Party (not Nigel Farage) a hard time on the change in strategy by the Brexit Party, in an interview towards the end of the clip.
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UK (Scotland): Nicola Sturgeon launches the SNP election campaign, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UMHT1qRtu8, 14 min. 31 secs.
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UK general election: drawing the battle lines I FT, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDEe9Q3MU_Q, 24 min. 30 secs.
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John Bercow says Brexit is the UK's 'biggest blunder' in 70 years, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LzNwip9BA, 2 min. 26 secs.
Bercow says, at the beginning of the video:
I do think that Brexit is the biggest foreign policy blunder of
the post-war period.
..
I think that we are in a world of power blocs and of trade blocs and it makes more sense for the UK to be part of that power bloc called the European Union and part of that trade bloc called the European Union.
If you add to that the civilizing effect of some of the social legislation that has been ushered in by the European Union, that seems to me to amount to a virtuous combination of benefits for the UK.
That's not to say the EU is perfect. It isn't. It's a human-made institution and to err is human and it's flawed and it has weaknesses and it has drawbacks and it's the source of frustration.
But the advantages of EU membership very greatly outweigh the disadvantages and in my view to walk away from that power bloc and that trade bloc is a mistake. I think that we will suffer in trade terms and suffer in terms of global standing and influence and that seems to me to be so obvious that only an extraordinarily clever and sophisticated person could fail to grasp the point.
--- end transcript snippet ---
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How a town can become severely crippled without proper water supply due to drought
South African drought town's warning to the world - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgw5NTH2Tlg, 5 min. 16 secs, published on 5th Nov. 2019
I don't know whether the drought here can be attributed to climate change. I mean, I simply don't know. It may be true or it may be inaccurate.
But what this video graphically and very realistically shows is how drought can be such a massive challenge for the ***very survival*** of a town.
Water is life! No water, no life!
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This is very scary! It happened in India's capital Delhi.
There must be a proper inquiry and those who are guilty of unlawful behaviour whether policeman or lawyer, should be punished. That's what will help prevent repetition of such scary situations.
Ordinary law-abiding Indian citizens like me depend on policemen for protection, and for those Indian citizens who have to go to courts of law for justice, they depend on lawyers for getting justice. Video is slightly over 3 minutes.
[Shared link: https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/420695931961627/ ]
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I admire the way US Congress holds corporate CEOs to account in televised hearings
As a guy who has worked in the international software industry for 18 years from mid 80s to early 2000s, I know how powerful CEOs of big companies are. And this is common to both USA and India. Even getting a chance of speaking to them is not easy for the average employee of the company, let alone outsiders. And they make megabucks! So as far as employees and the general public are concerned, big company CEOs are way, way beyond their reach. I mean, big company CEOs live in a different rarefied world as compared to ordinary employees and the general public.
And Boeing is really big! Very big! It is ranked 28th in 2018 Fortune 500 list with a revenue of 101 billion dollars and profit of 10 billion dollars, https://fortune.com/fortune500/boeing/.
What a grilling Boeing's CEO got from US Senators! That's how it should be. In India, such publicly televised Parliament committee hearings do not happen. Everything is behind closed doors!
Given below are video clips of a Republican senator doing the grilling, followed by a Democratic senator doing it.
MUST WATCH: Ted Cruz GRILLS Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUn5gdz_NCA, 5 min. 48 secs.
Sen. Cantwell questions Boeing CEO on when he knew flight sensors were defective, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avj0LYotc8s, 6 min. 58 secs.
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The real reason Boeing's new plane crashed twice, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2tuKiiznsY, around 6 mins, published by Vox on 15th April 2019, and has almost 9 million views.
...
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
Yes I too had read a similar article in some tech magazine I think which was saying that poor software by Bangalore outsourcing company was the cause. But I think that's just a cheap shot.
While I would love to look at the whole hearing (running into 2 hours plus I think), I had time only for the two clips that I shared. In those clips there was no reference to outsourcing to cheap Indian software company.
In the clips, the senators do a great job of focusing on top level responsibilty rather than getting caught up in the details, which is what perhaps the Boeing top shots would have liked them to get dragged into. The senators view was that Boeing seems to have ***lied*** or ***supressed information*** that they knew about the problems the Boeing 737 MAX had, when interacting with FAA (or some similar regulatory body) for getting certification.
Essentially Boeing testers (IN USA and not India) seemed to have ***known*** of this problem! To get FAA certification they seem to have ***lied*** to FAA.
The Boeing CEO dodged the question as he had to, I guess. If Boeing owns up to have ***known*** about the problem and ***lied*** to FAA, not only are we talking of huge civil damages (which probably is inevitable), but even criminal charges.
Hopefully, this grilling of the Boeing CEO sends a message to corporate USA that they better not try to cut corners on safety, or else they may find themselves in big trouble, including possible jail time.
So even if Boeing gets away with this with only civil damages, US Congress seems to have done a good job from future perspective.
One of the senators spoke very well about automation being something that we have to live with, and so safety procedures vis-a-vis automated stuff becomes vital.
--------
In response to a comment, I wrote:
Well, I go by reports like the above Vox youtube video and other mainstream US media reports, and I think they do give the key issues. If I recall correctly, there were reports that the software was faulty in that it relied only on one sensor's data (and when that sensor gave bad data the software went for a toss), but then bugs like that do happen in software. It is the QA and certification process that has to catch such stuff and not allow it to get into release. I mean, this is not just some ordinary software, but software that automatically controls an airplane!
Regarding Indian IT education and quality - that is a huge topic. So I don't want to try to get into that via an FB comment. BTW you may know that I have extensively blogged about the need for improving teaching of software development in Indian academia. If you do not know about that, then you may want to have a look at my blog's table of contents page here: http://eklavyasai.blogspot.com/p/table-of-contents.html . Note that I am no longer active in that space. I hope to take key contents of that blog and convert it into my next book as I think free ebooks tend to have longer longevity. So that way people who want to search on such topics may get my ebook through search results and so get exposed to my analysis of the issues and my suggestions to sort them out.
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In response to a comment, I wrote:
I agree that Boeing shouldn't have cut corners on any aspect of this matter whether it was software development, training of pilots, reporting to FAA etc.
-----
In response to a comment about criminal negligence, I wrote:
That's where it goes into very sensitive territory. And I think the Boeing top shots would have been closely advised by their lawyers on how to steer clear of that possibility.
==============================
A slightly modified version of a quote I read elsewhere today in some other context:
'If we allow an office to have no limitations, no boundaries, eventually, the (constitution) framers understood this: It is human nature to abuse power and to ultimately use it against regular people.'
Ravi: I think this is very true. And that is why I am a big supporter of accountability and democracy.
In Indian academia, the offices of vice-chancellor and registrar of a university, are particularly vulnerable to succumbing to abuse of power, as Indian academia has very little accountability. Those people who get into such positions should be very careful not to fall into the trap of abuse of power, as they may get away with some amount of abuse of power against persons who are not in a position to challenge them, but there is always a danger that eventually they will encounter a person who challenges their abuse of power and exposes them. Some such abuse of power can even be a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code!
So anybody who becomes registrar or vice-chancellor of an Indian university should be on their guard against the seductive temptations to abuse power and dominate over staff under them, so as to finish their term as registrar or vice-chancellor without major controversy.
=========================
Nigel Farage MEP on Not Standing for MP in Upcoming General Election | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2wxSv_z5PQ, 11 min. 8 secs.
========================
I have corrected my 24th October post to carry the latest info. that the victims were Vietnamese (and not Chinese as reported by Sky News then).
[Corrected post of 24th October: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2632169583666269
Update on 3rd Nov. 2019: The victims seem to be Vietnamese NOT Chinese. I have modified the post accordingly
Essex lorry deaths: People found dead were all Vietnamese, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-50268939
My prayers to God for the souls of these 39 persons who died, and for strength & courage to the friends & relatives of the victims as they come to know of the tragic fate of these people.
=========================
Electricity comes with a fire hazard - this is clearly shown by California fires
Maria Fire broke out minutes after utility company re-energized high-voltage power line, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/02/maria-fire-utility-says-blaze-began-minutes-after-power-restored/4138057002/
I think the learning we should take from this, is that while we need electricity for our lives (including for this post that I am putting up now), we need to be on our guard about the fire risks and try to take adequate safety precautions. Sometimes such precautions are not in our hands but in the hands of the electricity provider utility company. Then it becomes more difficult but then the utility company is answerable to the government and so pressure must be put on the company for following adequate safety measures.
=============================
Toward the end of the movie, They call me Trinity (My name is Trinity), Bambino (Bud Spencer) and Trinity (Terrence Hill) have trained the Mormons to fight (I think it is only bodily combat not gunfights).
In the initial part of this clip, Bambino is talking to the (polished) villain leader as the villain seems to be cornered, and there is prospect of peace, at least a temporary one. The Mormon leader walks up to them, and says to Bambino, "Have you seen what faith can do?" (seemingly in a reference to the temporary peace prospect with the villain leader being cornered). Bambino says, "It will work (slight pause) if you put it in a rifle barrel."
A little later, the Mormon leader reads aloud his holy book (the Bible though Mormons do have scripture related to Joseph Smith, their prophet and founder, besides the Bible), "In the words of Koheleth, son of David, king of Jerusalem - your hat (reference to leader of villains to remove his hat which he does) - there is a time to be born and a time to die, to love. There is a time to - (the Mormon leader gets excited) brothers, it says here there is a time to fight and a time to win. To win, brothers". [The Biblical quotes seem to be from Ecclesiastes, Old Testament.]
That starts the fistfights and other bodily combat (no guns) between the Mormons along with Bambino and Trinity on one side and the villains on the other.
They Call Me Trinity final fight scene, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkZoTHV5bJA, 6 min. 55 secs.
....
Trinity (Terrence Hill) and Bambino (Bud Spencer) are visiting a Mormon settlement and have sat down to eat with them. [Readers who don't know about Mormons may read up their wiki page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormons. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for President of USA, is a Mormon.]
Meanwhile bandits arrive with these bandits habitually taking advantage of this Mormon settlement and their practice of not fighting. The bandit leader wants wine and when he doesn't get it, wants to slap the Mormons. He starts with a few and while slapping one of the Mormons, says, "Turn the other cheek". Trinity & Bambino are also lined up to be slapped by the bandit leader but Trinity moves out and gets pulled in but after Bambino. The bandit leader slapping Bambino is a scene, which I am sure I would have enjoyed as a schoolkid but can't recall me seeing it then (even though I am quite sure I would have seen it). Nothing happens to Bambino and then he slaps the bandit leader around.
As the bandit leader is being helped to get to his feet, the Mormon leader tells him: "Brother, I tried to warn you that my two guests here (pointing to Bambino and Trinity) belong to another belief. They rigidly observe the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I'd say that you forgive them (and) return some other time."
My name is Trinity (1970) - This one is new to me, I've never beaten him before... (HD), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeURt5VTJJY, 5 min. 6 secs.
...
"They call me Trinity" - My name is Trinity (1970) - The beans were not much good anyway... (HD), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZH57odl_k, 7 min. 16 secs.
At around 5 min. 55 secs into the video, one of the two bounty hunters says, "Hey Trinity, they say you got the fastest gun around".
Trinity: "Is that what they say?"
The other bounty hunter: "Yeah".
Trinity: "Jeez".
This is followed a few seconds later, by a fantasy-land shootout where Trinity kills the two bounty hunters by firing nonchalantly behind him without looking behind, as the bounty hunters try to shoot Trinity in the back.
...
The Trinity Western spaghetti movies of 1970s were very famous in Bombay of my childhood (school days) among English movie watchers.
Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer were famous names. I recall them very well but I am not able to recall exactly which films of them I saw.
I have been watching a few clips of their Trinity movies over the past few days. I just came to know that both Terrence Hill and (Late) Bud Spencer are/were Italian! I thought they were American guys! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Hill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Spencer.
Here's a clip from Trinity is Still My Name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTmVLHXn3H4, 3 min. 12 secs.
===================================
India's largest trading partner in Europe is not UK or France but Germany! Good to see German Chancellor (equivalent of PM) Angela Merkel visit India and give a boost to Indo-German trade.
Shared link: Germany to spend 1 billion euro in 5 years on green urban mobility projects in India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/germany-to-spend-1-billion-euro-in-5-years-on-green-urban-mobility-projects-in-india/articleshow/71862627.cms
=============================
UK election: Prime Minister rejects Farage Brexit pact - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbXTUFT8Rv0, around 10 mins.
Mr. Farage is described in this video as the man with "the biggest grin in (UK) politics" :-).
...
UK campaign starts off; Farage seeks Brexit election pact with Tories, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghUJyjzSfsA, around 21 mins.
====================================================
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
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Good to see some efforts to ensure accountability in what seems to have been delayed response from the police to family's complaint about the lady being in danger, in this horrific tragedy.
Telangana vet's rape and murder: Three cops suspended over allegations of laxity, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/telangana-vets-rape-and-murder-three-cops-suspended-over-allegations-of-laxity/articleshow/72312507.cms
----
Good to see the National Commission for Women highlight this aspect. If police officers/constables were slow to respond to the family's complaint about the lady being missing and in danger then such police officers/constables should be pulled up. Another sad thing the article says is that the police were fighting over jurisdiction where the complaint should be lodged due to which precious time was lost.
And if a police officer/constable really tried to put the family off from making a complaint by saying that the lady may have eloped with somebody, then action should be taken against him/her. Further, standing instructions should be given to all police officers/constables that they should never behave so callously and waste time when a complaint is being made about a girl/woman being in danger.
Hyderabad vet could have been saved but police wasted precious time, victim's family tells NCW, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/hyderabad-vet-could-have-been-saved-but-police-wasted-precious-time-victims-family-tells-ncw/articleshow/72311215.cms
--------
Here's my attempt at translating the Telugu of shared post/pic below into English (I think I got most of it correctly; otherwise I would not put up a translation). The post is put up less than an hour back by Puttaparthi MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly for Andhra Pradesh state - roughly equivalent to state legislature representative in USA) Shri D. Sreedhar Reddy.
In Andhra Pradesh, girls/women in danger (should) - dial these numbers:
112
181
100
[I think the above numbers are three separate numbers. So they can dial any of these numbers.]
For cyber (harassment?) complaints, dial: 9121211100
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/SreedharReddyYSRCP/photos/a.689917547732995/2710247945699935/ ]
===================
How poor people survive in the USA | DW Documentary, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHDkALRz5Rk, 42 min. 26 secs., published on 27th Nov. 2019.
===========
Fascinating to see Russian army cadets sing old Hindi film patriotic (freedom fighters) song - the video was shared by the Indian army as per the shared Times of India video link below. One presumes that the event is a recent one. Here's another youtube video link of the Russian army cadets singing the Hindi film song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTwZnzWD3s4, 27 seconds.
And here's the original song: 'Ae watan ae watan humko teri kasam' from movie Shaheed (1965), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaheed_(1965_film), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTLBPaN_XlA, 5 min. 50 secs. The video covers the scene of the hanging of Indian freedom fighter fearless martyrs Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev by the British run police forces, set in the period around 1916.
Note that some Hindi films made in the period of this movie's release (1960s) were quite popular in the former Soviet Union (Russian Federation today covers an area that was part of the former Soviet Union). Raj Kapoor (not in this film), in particular, was well known in Russia then.
If the Russian cadets event in Moscow where they sing this song is a recent one then I think it is extraordinary and wonderful. Russia has been, and continues to be, a trusted and time-tested friend of independent India over the decades since India got independence from British rule in 1947.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/international/russia-military-cadets-sing-ae-watan-song-at-an-event-in-moscow/videoshow/72308130.cms
---------------------
I decided to share this article as I think that knowing how the poor lady (her name is changed to Madhuri in the report) was trapped by four persons who planned to rape her, may help in prevention of such horrors in future. According to the report, Madhuri parked her bike at Shamshabad toll plaza (in Hyderabad) around 6 PM, and visited a clinic elsewhere hiring a cab. Meanwhile the four devils hatched their plan and consumed alcohol. One of them deflated the tyre of her bike. When she came back at 9 PM, one of the devils told her that her bike had a puncture. One of the other devils then took her bike away for repairing it.
That's how she got trapped. She sensed the danger and phoned her sister. Perhaps she should have phoned the police then. I think a key learning from this tragedy is that ladies and even men who sense danger like Madhuri sensed danger from these four devils, while out on the road at night, should call the police right away (I believe the number is 100).
I also want to add that according to the police, there are four accused. Some persons on social media are sharing only one person's name, who is the prime accused and whose name indicates that he may be Muslim whereas they are not sharing the other three persons' names which indicate non-Muslim - Hindu/Christian persons. The report shares all the four names.
Four arrested for Hyderabad's vet's murder, she was gangraped confirm cops, https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/hyderabad-vet-was-gangraped-killed-and-burnt-4-men-arrested-113179, 29th Nov. 2019
===================
Extremely distressing that the USA has made such a mess of student debt which ***directly*** impacts lives of young people who have such debt. I recall reading about debt forgiveness programs of US government maybe four to five or even more years earlier when I was a blogger-activist for Indian Computer Science & Information Technology Academic Reform. They looked so good on official US government statements about such debt relief.
And now we see such promises were not kept for most of the students! I mean, they took low-paying professions deemed to be beneficial to society and so qualifying for debt forgiveness after some years, and now after many years of being on such jobs, they are told that they do not quality for debt forgiveness!
Heart-breaking to see USA mess up this serious student debt problem so badly.
I wonder how it is in India. Student debt is a problem in India too but perhaps not as big as in USA. But I think mainstream Indian media does not cover this Indian student debt problem well.
Broken Promises and Debt Pile Up as Loan Forgiveness Goes Astray, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/us/politics/student-loan-forgiveness.html .
=================
Justice delayed is justice denied. My considered view is that if the kin of a rape & murder victim want the killers to be hanged then, once Indian courts find them guilty, the killers should be hanged quickly. That will give some level of closure to the victims' kin.
Four of the rapists & killers of Nirbhaya, the victim of the horrible Delhi gang rape & murder in 2012, have been judged guilty of these horrible crimes and sentenced to death in Sept. 2013 and the appeal to the Delhi High Court upheld the sentences in March 2014. In May 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the sentences of these four convicts. In July 2018, the Supreme Court rejected the review petition of three of the convicts. [Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Delhi_gang_rape.]
None of these four convicted persons have been hanged yet. Note that, apart from these four, one of the accused died in jail and one was a juvenile who was sentenced to three years imprisonment and, after serving that term, has been released.
[Hyderabad Incident Barbaric, Want Justice Soon: Nirbhaya’s Mother, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/nirbhayas-mother-asha-devi-reacts-to-hyderabad-vet-murder ]
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
What happened was horrible! But I think we should not blame all the police right away. If there was negligence on part of any police officers to respond to the calls then they should be held accountable. .... Sometimes police are overburdened. ... But this case should result in changes in Hyderabad policing to prevent recurrence of such horrible crimes against women in the city.
---
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
I was not aware of what you said, "When this deceased victim's family went to lodge a complaint. They were told - your daughter must have eloped with her boyfriend." Hmm. This must be probed and that constable must be punished if it is proven to be true. But perhaps the police will not do a proper probe into such matters ... I have noted the rest of your valuable views. Thanks.
----
=============================
Another very sweet romantic evergreen Hindi film song from the early 1960s. Tujhe Jeevan Ki Dor Se Baandh Liya Hai, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amRMVEXb-xI, 4 min. 16 secs. The singers are Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi. The film is Asli Naqli (1962) and the on-screen stars are Dev Anand and Sadhana.
..
Very sweet evergreen romantic hit song sung by Hemant Kumar in Hindi movie Bees Sal Bad released in 1962, which continued to be popular in 70s & 80s: Bekarar Karke Hume Yun Na Jaiye, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpIJQri622A, around 4 mins.
...
Famous hauntingly sad and very pessimistic 1970s Hindi film song about life in Bombay from working class poor perspective
The movie is Gharaonda (1977), the singer is Bhupinder Singh, and star singing it is Amol Palekar, the famous common man hero of those times.
Ek Akela Is Shaher Mein, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpbjO-Qdfuc, around 5 mins.
Some of the lyrics of the song are so pessimistic that I decided not to share English translation of the lyrics. I will just say that the title, Ek Akela Is Shaher Mein, means: One alone in this city.
My life in Bombay, even when I and family were struggling financially, was never so pessimistic. Overall I have fond memories of Bombay life except the crowded and long commutes part of it. But still I was able to relate to the sorrow of the song and it was played quite often on radio. I have heard it many, many times on radio.
==================
Horrifying! The culprit(s) must be brought to justice and exemplary punishment must be given to them.
Telangana veterinary doctor rape-murder: Burn alive accused in full public glare, demands mother, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/telangana-veterinary-doctor-rape-murder-burn-alive-accused-in-full-public-glare-demands-mother/articleshow/72290495.cms
...
'Don't Hang Up, I'm Scared': Hyd Vet's Last Call To Sister Before She Was Raped & Burnt Alive, https://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/hyderabad-vets-brutally-raped-and-murdered/
=========================================
One of the popular English songs I recall from my childhood in Bombay (late 70s). I remember liking it quite a bit then perhaps because I could follow some of the words in it :-) (clear pronunciation as against hard to understand pronunciation in some other English songs), and, of course, because it was, and still is, a sweet song but somewhat philosophical with some sadness too!
I don't know whether it was this singer - Mary Hopkin - or somebody else. But it was a female singer and I think it was her song that I used to hear. I think I got exposed to these and some other English songs through my elder sister and her friends.
Also there used to be a half hour or an hour program on one of the Bombay radio stations (government run) in the late evenings that would play English pop songs. Perhaps I have heard it being played there too.
Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days - 1968, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3KEhWTnWvE, 4 min. 25 secs, over 25 million views.
=================
It is not surprising to know that the Indian diaspora is the largest in the world. Right in mid 1980s in my foreign stints in Western Europe and USA, I have seen Indian stores and Indian food restaurants in Western Europe & USA which was a clear sign of settled presence of Indians there for some years in the past. And as globalization has grown & grown, more & more Indians migrated to Western Europe and USA, and Australia and New Zealand, along with many Indians working for decades in oil rich countries of Middle East (but not settling down there as that was, and continues to be, prohibited by those countries I think).
The vast majority of my friends & colleagues from my Bombay software industry days (1984 to 2002) are settled in USA, Western Europe and Australia (one person lived for some years in New Zealand but later returned to India). Only a small minority remained in India (with me being one of this small minority)! So I am NOT surprised at all to know that the Indian diaspora is the largest in the world.
However the article also says, quoting from the (UN agency) International Organization for Migration's Global Migration Report 2020: "This figure remains a very small percentage of the world's population (at 3.5 percent), meaning that the vast majority of people globally (96.5 percent) are estimated to be residing in the country in which they were born".
So the vast majority of Indians continue to live in India. Only a small percentage have migrated to, and settled down in, the West, and another perhaps small percentage again migrated (temporarily) for many years to oil-rich Middle Eastern countries for earning a livelihood but did not settle down there.
[Shared link: At 17.5 Million, Indian Diaspora Largest in the World : UN, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/indian-diaspora-largest-in-the-world-un-report ]
==============================
Uddhav Thackeray becomes Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Uddhav Thackeray Takes Oath, To Lead Sena-NCP-Congress Alliance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCVwSMyXU1Y, 1 min. 46 secs.
==============================
Extremely tragic! I hope some philanthropist steps forward and donates the amount of demonetized currency money in current currency notes to them.
Tirupur paatis painstakingly save Rs 46,000, but all are demonetized notes, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/tirupur-paatis-painstakingly-save-rs-46k-but-all-are-demonetized-notes/articleshow/72249561.cms
=============
Maharashtra News Live Updates: Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar Quit Ahead Of Maharashtra Floor Test, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/live-updates-maharashtra-news-devendra-fadnavis-ajit-pawar-quit-ahead-of-maharashtra-floor-test-2138971
Hmm. Supreme Court ordered a floor test tomorrow. BJP & Ajit Pawar faction of NCP did not have the numbers. First Ajit Pawar resigned as Dy. CM and then Devendra Fadnavis resigned as CM.
Now one has to see whether the Shiv Sena + NCP + Congress combine can stick together, form a govt. and then continue to be together.
=====================
My comment on the post:
Thank you so much. As an Indian and a former Mumbaikar (resident of Mumbai), I very much appreciate this post of US embassy in India honouring the memory of martyrs of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. India and USA partnering together to combat terror is very good.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/posts/2745547275561284?__tn__=H-R
=========================================
CM of Maharashtra pays tribute to security forces and asks citizens to contribute to security forces work in protecting the homeland, on anniversary of the horrific 26/11/2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The video in the tweet is in Hindi.
https://twitter.com/Dev_Fadnavis/status/1199160596656033794
=================================
Paul Newman playing the conman and card-sharp in The Sting (1973, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sting), and conning a mob boss at Poker (I haven't seen the movie but heard a lot about it):
Classic Poker Scene - The Sting, Paul Newman - "You won't be able to get a game of jacks", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPtEClW8M1I, around 6 mins.
Newman tells the mob boss after conning him in the Poker game: "You owe me fifteen grand, pal."!!! Ha! Ha! Awesome performance by Paul Newman.
==================================
Fascinating to see Chinese dancers doing this Bollywood dance!
I had not seen the original (its from a 2015 Hindi film - Bajirao Mastani, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajirao_Mastani). Searching for it on youtube showed me the original song here: (song starts 1 min. into the video) Deewani Mastani Full Video Song | Bajirao Mastani, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6lHUn20J5g, around 6 mins.
================
(UK) General election 2019: Boris Johnson vows to 'forge a new Britain', https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50532000
===============
Hmm. BJP-NCP combine form govt. in Maharashtra! That's an astounding turn of events!
Here's some info. on a few key events. But why they got together is not discussed. How will Shiv Sena react? Hmm. This is really surprising to me, with Maharashtra being my former state for four decades and me being born in Bombay, Maharashtra.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/here-is-how-things-unfolded-in-maharashtra-since-friday-night/864991.html
==================
Update: Sharad Pawar (big boss of NCP, former Union minister, and former CM of Maharashtra) says that Ajit Pawar (leader of NCP) acted on his own and did not act on behalf of the party.
Hmm. So now the big question is whether this combine of BJP and Ajit Pawar faction of NCP will win the floor test in the legislative assembly.
Bitter division and anger is what seems to be in store for the NCP in coming days. Sad but such is life!
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL role in these social media posts that I put up related to Indian political leaders which may include leaders in government currently and those not in government. I am an Indian citizen and resident of India. I do vote in Indian elections but I keep who I vote for as a private matter. I should also say that I am a beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy in India.
=====================
Another famous song from the same movie Muqaddar ka Sikandar (as in previous post)
The song starts around 2 minutes 50 secs. into the video:
O SATHI RE TERE BINA BHI KYA JINA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OssRAVZhsRk, 7 min. 24 secs.
...
Unforgettable Amitabh starrer song for Hindi film song fans of my generation
Rothe Hue Aate Hain Sab (english subtitles) - Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) - Kishore Kumar, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf36LmnD9ZQ, 3 min. 44 secs.
All come to the world crying, he who leaves the world smiling/laughing, O beloved, will be called (known) as the master (Alexander) of destiny
...
Who/What was that Alexander (Sikandar in Hindi) who conquered the world with cruelty (war)
He who wins over hearts with love he gets the skies to bow down to him
He who writes the story of love on the stars
he will be called, O beloved, as the master (Alexander) of destiny.
...
Life is unfaithful and will betray us one day
Death is our beloved who will take us along with her.
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It seems to be filmed in Bombay/Mumbai as I can recognize some landmarks of Bombay in the video.
============
Johnson v Corbyn: The ITV Debate | ITV News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kEB5pqWpJw, 1 hr. 12 mins.
I have seen the first 16 minutes or so of it. Hope to see the rest of it later.
=============
I hope I don't upset some readers by saying that statements like India has not attacked any other country in past ten thousand years of its history are either misleading or inaccurate.
They paint a picture of Indians in the past ten thousand years never having wars of conquest. And that's just plain wrong. Wars of conquest within India by one king against another king well before Islamic invasion of India, was common.
Ashoka the great had a big war of conquest against Kalinga in or around 260 BCE which is reported to have directly caused 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations. It is after this horrific carnage that he converted to Buddhism in 263 BCE. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka.
Mahabharata war, if one accepts that as largely historical fact, is another horrific war of great carnage, which is said to have happened around 5000 years ago (which makes it around 3000 BCE).
The Cholas invaded SriVijaya kingdom in Malaysia and Indonesia in 1025 AD/CE, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chola_invasion_of_Srivijaya. This may have been an exception in the norm of mostly friendly relations between Indian kingdoms and South East Asian kingdoms of that age. But it is a documented invasion! So it clearly disputes the statement that Indians never invaded foreign countries in India's ten thousand year history!
Once again, my apologies to readers who get offended by my sharing some historical facts which counter some seemingly popular but inaccurate narratives.
Sathyameva Jayate! [Truth alone triumphs!]
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Broadband Internet become an issue in UK election campaign! I think Broadband Internet connectivity becoming an issue in general election campaign of UK shows so clearly that the developed world is living in an Internet age and that the rest of the world (including India, for sure) is either in the Internet age or will be doing so in the near future.
Johnson condemns Labour’s ‘communist’ free broadband plan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtp5sWa2Yaw, 11 min. 41 secs.
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Interesting John Wayne clip - around 2 mins,
John Wayne ~ ''The Hell I Won't!''., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3343LUHNb4
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Truth sure is stranger than fiction. Fratricide (brother killing brother) as part of succession war in monarchies is part of history perhaps worldwide. Hindu kingdoms of past centuries did have some fratricide with Mahabharata war also being a war close to fratricide as it was between cousins over land with the Kauravas refusing to part with even 5 villages of their kingdom for the Pandavas, their cousins. Fratricide in succession war for Mughal empire in India was also a reality.
But "a policy of judicial royal fratricide" being used in a monarchy is unbelievable! A sort-of pre-emptive move to prevent a succession war, even if there is no immediate threat of a succession war! It is true for at least one empire of the past!
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fratricide#Ottoman_Empire, "In the Ottoman Empire a policy of judicial royal fratricide was introduced by Sultan Mehmet II (ruled from 1451 to 1481 AD/CE) whose grandfather Mehmet I had to fight an extended and severe civil war against his brothers (which brought the empire much closer to destruction) to take the throne. When a new Sultan ascended to the throne he would imprison all of his surviving brothers and murder them by strangulation with a silk cord as soon as he had produced his first male heir. The largest killing took place on the succession of Mehmet III (ruled from 1595 to 1603) when 19 of his brothers were killed and buried with their father. The aim was to prevent civil war. Reflecting public disapproval, his successor Ahmed I (ruled from 1603 to 1617) abandoned the practice, replacing it with life imprisonment in the Kafes, a section of the Ottoman palace."
Hmm. One cannot deny the absolutely brutal logic behind such a policy of "judicial royal fratricide", as other brothers of the ruler (king/sultan) could become magnets for some powerful people in the kingdom who are unhappy with the new ruler, thereby becoming a threat to the ruler, and so to the kingdom. A kingdom in a war for succession could become an easy target for enemies.
But it is really the height of inhumanity for a ruler to brutally eliminate his own brothers even if they are not a threat at that time to him, but ****may****, just may, become a threat in future!
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The book FDR by Jean Edward Smith has some coverage of the "First Red Scare" in the USA immediately after World War I.
In June 1919, an anarchist exploded a bomb outside the house of US Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, damaging the house and killing the anarchist-bomber. FDR's home was opposite Mitchell Palmer's home. FDR and his wife were down the block when the bomb went off. One of his children, an eleven year old, was at the home when the bomb went off! FDR rushed home and embraced his son who was safe but was standing in his pyjamas amid splintered glass!
Then FDR went over to the Palmers house to help them. Nobody there was injured.
Hmm. This is just after USA and allies won World War I. I don't think I had known of such a serious situation in the USA with respect to fear of communism and violence, after it had won World War I.
There were workers'/labour strikes, race-riots in quite a few places including Washington DC and Chicago, and mail bombs during that period in the USA! Boston Police strike led to two nights of lawlessness before State Guard and volunteers were able to bring the situation under control!
Hmm. The October revolution in Russia in 1917 which abolished the Russian monarchy, seems to have triggered events even in USA!
Given below are extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Red_Scare :
The First Red Scare was a period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the Russian Revolution and anarchist bombings. At its height in 1919–1920, concerns over the effects of radical political agitation in American society and the alleged spread of communism and anarchism in the American labor movement fueled a general sense of concern.
The Scare had its origins in the hyper-nationalism of World War I as well as the Russian Revolution. At the war's end, following the October Revolution, American authorities saw the threat of Communist revolution in the actions of organized labor, including such disparate cases as the Seattle General Strike and the Boston Police Strike and then in the bombing campaign directed by anarchist groups at political and business leaders. Fueled by labor unrest and the anarchist bombings, and then spurred on by United States Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's attempt to suppress radical organizations, it was characterized by exaggerated rhetoric, illegal search and seizures, unwarranted arrests and detentions, and the deportation of several hundred suspected radicals and anarchists. In addition, the growing anti-immigration nativism movement among Americans viewed increasing immigration from Southern Europe and Eastern Europe as a threat to American political and social stability.
Bolshevism and the threat of a Communist-inspired revolution in the U.S. became the overriding explanation for challenges to the social order, even such largely unrelated events as incidents of interracial violence. Fear of radicalism was used to explain the suppression of freedom of expression in form of display of certain flags and banners. The First Red Scare effectively ended in mid-1920, after Attorney General Palmer forecast a massive radical uprising on May Day and the day passed without incident.
---- end wiki extract(s) ----
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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Brexit Party 'won't stand in 317 Tory seats' - does it make Johnson win likelier?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05of7tA-XN0&t=69s, around 10 mins, published by Channel 4 News.
One of the Channel 4 interviewers gives a leader of the Brexit Party (not Nigel Farage) a hard time on the change in strategy by the Brexit Party, in an interview towards the end of the clip.
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(UK) General election 2019: Brexit Party will not stand in Tory seats, https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50377396
Hmm. Perhaps some may have expected this but I am surprised.
Politics is the art of compromise! Farage wanted Johnson led Tory party to have a pre-poll alliance with him but Johnson was not interested.
The article quotes Farage as saying, "In a sense we now have a Leave alliance, it's just that we've done it unilaterally"! That's quite a line!
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UK (Scotland): Nicola Sturgeon launches the SNP election campaign, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UMHT1qRtu8, 14 min. 31 secs.
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UK general election: drawing the battle lines I FT, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDEe9Q3MU_Q, 24 min. 30 secs.
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John Bercow says Brexit is the UK's 'biggest blunder' in 70 years, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LzNwip9BA, 2 min. 26 secs.
Bercow says, at the beginning of the video:
I do think that Brexit is the biggest foreign policy blunder of
the post-war period.
..
I think that we are in a world of power blocs and of trade blocs and it makes more sense for the UK to be part of that power bloc called the European Union and part of that trade bloc called the European Union.
If you add to that the civilizing effect of some of the social legislation that has been ushered in by the European Union, that seems to me to amount to a virtuous combination of benefits for the UK.
That's not to say the EU is perfect. It isn't. It's a human-made institution and to err is human and it's flawed and it has weaknesses and it has drawbacks and it's the source of frustration.
But the advantages of EU membership very greatly outweigh the disadvantages and in my view to walk away from that power bloc and that trade bloc is a mistake. I think that we will suffer in trade terms and suffer in terms of global standing and influence and that seems to me to be so obvious that only an extraordinarily clever and sophisticated person could fail to grasp the point.
--- end transcript snippet ---
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How a town can become severely crippled without proper water supply due to drought
South African drought town's warning to the world - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgw5NTH2Tlg, 5 min. 16 secs, published on 5th Nov. 2019
I don't know whether the drought here can be attributed to climate change. I mean, I simply don't know. It may be true or it may be inaccurate.
But what this video graphically and very realistically shows is how drought can be such a massive challenge for the ***very survival*** of a town.
Water is life! No water, no life!
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This is very scary! It happened in India's capital Delhi.
There must be a proper inquiry and those who are guilty of unlawful behaviour whether policeman or lawyer, should be punished. That's what will help prevent repetition of such scary situations.
Ordinary law-abiding Indian citizens like me depend on policemen for protection, and for those Indian citizens who have to go to courts of law for justice, they depend on lawyers for getting justice. Video is slightly over 3 minutes.
[Shared link: https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/420695931961627/ ]
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I admire the way US Congress holds corporate CEOs to account in televised hearings
As a guy who has worked in the international software industry for 18 years from mid 80s to early 2000s, I know how powerful CEOs of big companies are. And this is common to both USA and India. Even getting a chance of speaking to them is not easy for the average employee of the company, let alone outsiders. And they make megabucks! So as far as employees and the general public are concerned, big company CEOs are way, way beyond their reach. I mean, big company CEOs live in a different rarefied world as compared to ordinary employees and the general public.
And Boeing is really big! Very big! It is ranked 28th in 2018 Fortune 500 list with a revenue of 101 billion dollars and profit of 10 billion dollars, https://fortune.com/fortune500/boeing/.
What a grilling Boeing's CEO got from US Senators! That's how it should be. In India, such publicly televised Parliament committee hearings do not happen. Everything is behind closed doors!
Given below are video clips of a Republican senator doing the grilling, followed by a Democratic senator doing it.
MUST WATCH: Ted Cruz GRILLS Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUn5gdz_NCA, 5 min. 48 secs.
Sen. Cantwell questions Boeing CEO on when he knew flight sensors were defective, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avj0LYotc8s, 6 min. 58 secs.
...
The real reason Boeing's new plane crashed twice, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2tuKiiznsY, around 6 mins, published by Vox on 15th April 2019, and has almost 9 million views.
...
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
Yes I too had read a similar article in some tech magazine I think which was saying that poor software by Bangalore outsourcing company was the cause. But I think that's just a cheap shot.
While I would love to look at the whole hearing (running into 2 hours plus I think), I had time only for the two clips that I shared. In those clips there was no reference to outsourcing to cheap Indian software company.
In the clips, the senators do a great job of focusing on top level responsibilty rather than getting caught up in the details, which is what perhaps the Boeing top shots would have liked them to get dragged into. The senators view was that Boeing seems to have ***lied*** or ***supressed information*** that they knew about the problems the Boeing 737 MAX had, when interacting with FAA (or some similar regulatory body) for getting certification.
Essentially Boeing testers (IN USA and not India) seemed to have ***known*** of this problem! To get FAA certification they seem to have ***lied*** to FAA.
The Boeing CEO dodged the question as he had to, I guess. If Boeing owns up to have ***known*** about the problem and ***lied*** to FAA, not only are we talking of huge civil damages (which probably is inevitable), but even criminal charges.
Hopefully, this grilling of the Boeing CEO sends a message to corporate USA that they better not try to cut corners on safety, or else they may find themselves in big trouble, including possible jail time.
So even if Boeing gets away with this with only civil damages, US Congress seems to have done a good job from future perspective.
One of the senators spoke very well about automation being something that we have to live with, and so safety procedures vis-a-vis automated stuff becomes vital.
--------
In response to a comment, I wrote:
Well, I go by reports like the above Vox youtube video and other mainstream US media reports, and I think they do give the key issues. If I recall correctly, there were reports that the software was faulty in that it relied only on one sensor's data (and when that sensor gave bad data the software went for a toss), but then bugs like that do happen in software. It is the QA and certification process that has to catch such stuff and not allow it to get into release. I mean, this is not just some ordinary software, but software that automatically controls an airplane!
Regarding Indian IT education and quality - that is a huge topic. So I don't want to try to get into that via an FB comment. BTW you may know that I have extensively blogged about the need for improving teaching of software development in Indian academia. If you do not know about that, then you may want to have a look at my blog's table of contents page here: http://eklavyasai.blogspot.com/p/table-of-contents.html . Note that I am no longer active in that space. I hope to take key contents of that blog and convert it into my next book as I think free ebooks tend to have longer longevity. So that way people who want to search on such topics may get my ebook through search results and so get exposed to my analysis of the issues and my suggestions to sort them out.
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In response to a comment, I wrote:
I agree that Boeing shouldn't have cut corners on any aspect of this matter whether it was software development, training of pilots, reporting to FAA etc.
-----
In response to a comment about criminal negligence, I wrote:
That's where it goes into very sensitive territory. And I think the Boeing top shots would have been closely advised by their lawyers on how to steer clear of that possibility.
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A slightly modified version of a quote I read elsewhere today in some other context:
'If we allow an office to have no limitations, no boundaries, eventually, the (constitution) framers understood this: It is human nature to abuse power and to ultimately use it against regular people.'
Ravi: I think this is very true. And that is why I am a big supporter of accountability and democracy.
In Indian academia, the offices of vice-chancellor and registrar of a university, are particularly vulnerable to succumbing to abuse of power, as Indian academia has very little accountability. Those people who get into such positions should be very careful not to fall into the trap of abuse of power, as they may get away with some amount of abuse of power against persons who are not in a position to challenge them, but there is always a danger that eventually they will encounter a person who challenges their abuse of power and exposes them. Some such abuse of power can even be a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code!
So anybody who becomes registrar or vice-chancellor of an Indian university should be on their guard against the seductive temptations to abuse power and dominate over staff under them, so as to finish their term as registrar or vice-chancellor without major controversy.
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Nigel Farage MEP on Not Standing for MP in Upcoming General Election | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2wxSv_z5PQ, 11 min. 8 secs.
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I have corrected my 24th October post to carry the latest info. that the victims were Vietnamese (and not Chinese as reported by Sky News then).
[Corrected post of 24th October: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2632169583666269
Update on 3rd Nov. 2019: The victims seem to be Vietnamese NOT Chinese. I have modified the post accordingly
Essex lorry deaths: People found dead were all Vietnamese, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-50268939
My prayers to God for the souls of these 39 persons who died, and for strength & courage to the friends & relatives of the victims as they come to know of the tragic fate of these people.
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Electricity comes with a fire hazard - this is clearly shown by California fires
Maria Fire broke out minutes after utility company re-energized high-voltage power line, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/02/maria-fire-utility-says-blaze-began-minutes-after-power-restored/4138057002/
I think the learning we should take from this, is that while we need electricity for our lives (including for this post that I am putting up now), we need to be on our guard about the fire risks and try to take adequate safety precautions. Sometimes such precautions are not in our hands but in the hands of the electricity provider utility company. Then it becomes more difficult but then the utility company is answerable to the government and so pressure must be put on the company for following adequate safety measures.
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Toward the end of the movie, They call me Trinity (My name is Trinity), Bambino (Bud Spencer) and Trinity (Terrence Hill) have trained the Mormons to fight (I think it is only bodily combat not gunfights).
In the initial part of this clip, Bambino is talking to the (polished) villain leader as the villain seems to be cornered, and there is prospect of peace, at least a temporary one. The Mormon leader walks up to them, and says to Bambino, "Have you seen what faith can do?" (seemingly in a reference to the temporary peace prospect with the villain leader being cornered). Bambino says, "It will work (slight pause) if you put it in a rifle barrel."
A little later, the Mormon leader reads aloud his holy book (the Bible though Mormons do have scripture related to Joseph Smith, their prophet and founder, besides the Bible), "In the words of Koheleth, son of David, king of Jerusalem - your hat (reference to leader of villains to remove his hat which he does) - there is a time to be born and a time to die, to love. There is a time to - (the Mormon leader gets excited) brothers, it says here there is a time to fight and a time to win. To win, brothers". [The Biblical quotes seem to be from Ecclesiastes, Old Testament.]
That starts the fistfights and other bodily combat (no guns) between the Mormons along with Bambino and Trinity on one side and the villains on the other.
They Call Me Trinity final fight scene, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkZoTHV5bJA, 6 min. 55 secs.
....
Trinity (Terrence Hill) and Bambino (Bud Spencer) are visiting a Mormon settlement and have sat down to eat with them. [Readers who don't know about Mormons may read up their wiki page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormons. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for President of USA, is a Mormon.]
Meanwhile bandits arrive with these bandits habitually taking advantage of this Mormon settlement and their practice of not fighting. The bandit leader wants wine and when he doesn't get it, wants to slap the Mormons. He starts with a few and while slapping one of the Mormons, says, "Turn the other cheek". Trinity & Bambino are also lined up to be slapped by the bandit leader but Trinity moves out and gets pulled in but after Bambino. The bandit leader slapping Bambino is a scene, which I am sure I would have enjoyed as a schoolkid but can't recall me seeing it then (even though I am quite sure I would have seen it). Nothing happens to Bambino and then he slaps the bandit leader around.
As the bandit leader is being helped to get to his feet, the Mormon leader tells him: "Brother, I tried to warn you that my two guests here (pointing to Bambino and Trinity) belong to another belief. They rigidly observe the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I'd say that you forgive them (and) return some other time."
My name is Trinity (1970) - This one is new to me, I've never beaten him before... (HD), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeURt5VTJJY, 5 min. 6 secs.
...
"They call me Trinity" - My name is Trinity (1970) - The beans were not much good anyway... (HD), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZH57odl_k, 7 min. 16 secs.
At around 5 min. 55 secs into the video, one of the two bounty hunters says, "Hey Trinity, they say you got the fastest gun around".
Trinity: "Is that what they say?"
The other bounty hunter: "Yeah".
Trinity: "Jeez".
This is followed a few seconds later, by a fantasy-land shootout where Trinity kills the two bounty hunters by firing nonchalantly behind him without looking behind, as the bounty hunters try to shoot Trinity in the back.
...
The Trinity Western spaghetti movies of 1970s were very famous in Bombay of my childhood (school days) among English movie watchers.
Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer were famous names. I recall them very well but I am not able to recall exactly which films of them I saw.
I have been watching a few clips of their Trinity movies over the past few days. I just came to know that both Terrence Hill and (Late) Bud Spencer are/were Italian! I thought they were American guys! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Hill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Spencer.
Here's a clip from Trinity is Still My Name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTmVLHXn3H4, 3 min. 12 secs.
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India's largest trading partner in Europe is not UK or France but Germany! Good to see German Chancellor (equivalent of PM) Angela Merkel visit India and give a boost to Indo-German trade.
Shared link: Germany to spend 1 billion euro in 5 years on green urban mobility projects in India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/germany-to-spend-1-billion-euro-in-5-years-on-green-urban-mobility-projects-in-india/articleshow/71862627.cms
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UK election: Prime Minister rejects Farage Brexit pact - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbXTUFT8Rv0, around 10 mins.
Mr. Farage is described in this video as the man with "the biggest grin in (UK) politics" :-).
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UK campaign starts off; Farage seeks Brexit election pact with Tories, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghUJyjzSfsA, around 21 mins.
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