Monday, November 20, 2006

US Senate's N-Bill facilitates spy operations

A snippet from a column written by Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan in rediff: link about the last minute introduction of a section in the Indo-US Nuclear deal bill, which might allow US spying in India!! Something that needs to be discussed in Indian media.

Of the changes that were made, what is most appalling is the inclusion of Section 115, which the Senate approved without any vote-counting or voice vote. After reading out the text of this Section, Senator Lugar just said one sentence, 'I urge adoption of the amendment', and without objection or discussion it was directly 'agreed to.'

This entirely new Section was neither a subject in any of the several open discussions between the US Congressional Committees and the various representatives of the US administration over the last year, nor was it part of any previous versions of the two bills, till it was abruptly introduced and approved quietly by the Senate on November 16


and this (emphasis mine)

The Indo-US nuclear deal is supposed to be for civilian nuclear cooperation in the hope that it will enhance the energy security of the country. Section 115 of the bill deals totally with matters of nuclear proliferation control. In the guise of conducting joint R&D in nuclear non-proliferation, with emphasis on nuclear safeguards, the US attempt appears to be in using the Indo-US nuclear deal as a vehicle to facilitate a formal entry for the US National Nuclear Security Administration into India.

The US' NSA is widely suspected to be involved in a variety of covert nuclear interventions and clandestine operations in many countries around the world, on behalf of the US government, and they work in close cooperation with intelligence agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency, the US National Security Agency and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The US State Department, US Defence Department and the Department of Energy are also closely involved with the NSA. Section 115 states that the Secretaries of DoD and DoE will be consulted in carrying out the envisaged R&D program.

Friday, November 17, 2006

India's Richest

Forbes compiled a list of Richest Indians. You can take a look at it here. LINK
I chose the list that's sorted by the age (just for the fun of it). The youngest one is 33 years old. And he earned his money by, no, not by inheritance but a popular online gambling website (http://partygaming.com/)

Thursday, November 16, 2006

RIP: Milton Friedman

A quote from Milton Friedman via Amit @ India Uncut. Friedman was a prominent economist. He died today. He was 94 years old.

There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Most Popular South Indian

Here are the links for voting your own popular south indian.

andhra pradesh: http://features.ibnlive.com/features/2006/goldensouth/ap/ap.php
tamilnadu: http://features.ibnlive.com/features/2006/goldensouth/tn/tn.php

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Huskers defeat Texas A&M

Huskers defeated Texas A&M today by 28-27. It was 21-10 by first half. Texas A&M defense shut down Huskers in the second half until the last drive with ~1 min play time. It was an awesome drive by the Huskers offense. I did not follow the 2nd half 'cos my wife was watchin 'The Color Purple'. When I had the game back on, A&M were leading 27-21. And I was right in time for the last drive. Its a wonderful win and Huskers clinch the Big XII North.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Elections 2006

I haven't written anything about this years US elections. I followed them very closely. I was ecstatic to see Democrats win this many seats and in almost a century got control of both the houses in a single election. I believe that it wouldnt have been possible with out the progressive netroots (mydd, dailykos, atrios and moveon) stepping up the ante and doing a lot of on the ground work. It was good to see Dems gaining the control of the senate in a nail biting finish. It was wonderful to see the Stem Cell research initiative win.

Somehow got interested in US politics like an year ago. I think Michael Moore was my initial window into US politics. I think I would have voted Democratic if I can Vote. In US I think its just the party that makes decisions. There are 435 congressmen and 100 senators. But most of them vote along party lines unless in an election year or if they are running for president. Or may be if you are a republican then your beliefs are pretty much in sync with all the republican initiatives in the congress. Same applies to democrats.

Jyoti Randhawa VS Tiger Woods

From HSBCgolf :

HSBC Champions leader Jyoti Randhawa is looking forward to matching his game up against that of the World No.1 Tiger Woods when the third round gets underway on Saturday.

Randhawa remains on top of the leaderboard after day two.

The 34-year-old remains in control of this year's event after a three-under-par second round 69 saw him climb to 10-under-par and take a one-shot lead into the weekend.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

7 New Wonders of the World

Here, go ahead and vote for your 8th wonder. The 7 new wonders are already decided for and will be revealed from nov 9th to 17th on Good Morning America.

IPL Players - Where are they from?