Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Sailgate: Letter from the solicitors of Lt Col (Retd) Gautama Dutta and Anju Dutta

Today, I received a letter from Mr. Uttam Hathi of Brus Chambers Advocates and Solicitors acting on behalf of and under the instructions of Lt Col (Retd) Gautama Dutta and Anju Dutta in response to the post about the party on Belvedere. Please note that my posts are about Lt Col (retd) Gautam Dutta. Their [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Satyamev Jayate Episode 2: Child Sexual Abuse

I am glad they took up the subject of Child Sexual Abuse today on Satyamev Jayate. However, today’s episode left me vaguely dissatisfied. The uncompromising truth seeking of the previous episode seemed missing. It was good to see adult victims of child sexual abuse, but obviously, they were no longer children, and their having come [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Press Release: Reporters Without Borders / Reporters sans frontières

Press release 12 May 2012 INDIA Two cyber-activists end fast but campaign against IT Rules gathers  pace  <http://fr.rsf.org/two-cyber-activists-end-fast-but-12-05-2012,42614.html> More than a year after they came into force, Reporters Without Borders reiterates <http://en.rsf.org/inde-media-freedom-threatened-by-19-04-2012,42334.html> its demand for the repeal of India’s information technology regulations, known as the IT Rules 2011, as activists and Internet users rally to the Save Your Voice <https://www.facebook.com/saveyourvoice> campaign against these [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Reaping gold through cotton, and newsprint

An article by P Sainath The same full page appeared twice in three years, the first time as news, the second time as an advertisement “Not a single person from the two villages has committed suicide.” Three and a half years ago, at a time when the controversy over the use of genetically modified seeds [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Dianuke: Latest Pictures from Koodankulam: Women on Hunger Strike, Villagers Under Constant fear

The following post was originally published on dianuke.org The site seems suspended under questionable circumstances. The message is being republished here in solidarity of the struggle and with a view to the time sensitive nature of the appeal for help. =============================== With the Idinthakarai-based anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) protestors gearing-up for their ultimate agitation [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Dianuke: Latest update from Koodankulam

The following post was originally published on dianuke.org The site seems suspended under questionable circumstances. The message is being republished here in solidarity of the struggle and with a view to the time sensitive nature of the appeal for help. =============================== M Pushparayan, Idinthakarai M PUshparayan There seems to be some police operation tonight in [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Dianuke: Koodankulam: People Apprehensive of Police Attack on Idinthakarai Village TONIGHT

The following post was originally published on dianuke.org The site seems suspended under questionable circumstances. The message is being republished here in solidarity of the struggle and with a view to the time sensitive nature of the appeal for help. =============================== update from Nithyanand Jayaraman It is difficult to get reliable news. The folks in [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Dianuke: Urgent Message from Koodankulam: Police Seige Around Idinthakarai Again

The following post was originally published on dianuke.org The site seems suspended under questionable circumstances. The message is being republished here in solidarity of the struggle and with a view to the time sensitive nature of the appeal for help. =============================== Urgent Message from Idinthakarai Arrest Alert May 9, 2012 Curfew orders have just been [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty The Church and its irRationalist Ways

On 11th of April, charges under Section 295 A, Indian Penal Code, have been filed against Sanal Edamaruku in at least three Mumbai police stations: in Juhu, in MIDC and in Andheri. He has not got any papers that he can file a reply to, but an inspector keeps calling him and asking him to [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Rinkle Kumari and a tale of two countries

On the 24th of February this year in Pakistan, a Hindu girl Rinkle Kumari went missing from her home without clothes, money or even footwear. The next her family heard of her was when MNA Mian Abdul Haq called up her family to inform them that she was with him and she had converted to [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Sailgate: The Party that Wasn’t

Update 2: I received a takedown notice for this post as per the much hated IT Rules today 16-05-2012 at 4:15pm. This is a real take down notice by the solicitors of the Duttas, not Operation Test Drive. Considering that the motion for annuling the IT Rules is being moved in the Rajya Sabha by [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Some questions raised by Satyamev Jayate

Aamir Khan’s very excellent foray into television activism has stunned viewers and brought many facts to undeniable light. As I observed the reactions in social media, a few questions come to my awareness. What motivates cynics? It is a fairly known factor that any kind of an activist ends up with a struggle to retain [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Satyamev Jayate: Episode 1 Daughters are Precious: Female Foeticide and some thoughts

I had stuff to do today, and not being a TV watcher at all, I had no particular interest or awareness of a new show. Wandering into the kitchen, I overheard some and went to watch. This is the episode. For someone actively interested in human rights, the information in this show was no news. [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Bera Murder Appeal Partly Allowed

Bera Murder Appeal Partly Allowed By Vijay Panjwani, Advocate. Thursday May 3, 2012. The murder appeal raised important issues: (i)           of excessive incarceration than maximum permissible under  which accused appellants finally convicted by Supreme Court . (ii)          indiscriminate use of Section 302 IPC prescribing capital sentence rather than 304-B IPC in a case of dowry [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty India should have a sex industry

The collective sexuality of the nation is still very Victorian, and now moving toward worse Victorian. Moral judgments around sex are such that sex is near dead beyond the instinctive “itch” that gets tittered about by frustrated women or blustered about by equally frustrated men. I think we need to accept that sex exists, lots of [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Prostitution as a mirror of society

I came across a blogpost rebutting a comment made on a previous blogpost on legitimizing prostitution, and I found that I disagree strongly enough to write this: Go read that post first, because this one will be free flowing and not quote that post here. Then you might as well read my reply to a [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Freedom Fast: Third day of hunger strike for internet freedom

Aseem Trivedi and Alok Dixit from Save Your Voice completed the third day of their hunger strike to support annulment motion against IT Rules-2011 in Rajya Sabha. We started this hunger strike on 2nd May and we will carry on until we get any satisfactory response from the government and the opposition regarding the annulment [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Mourning our freedoms

Thought fragments There was a time when our people fought ferociously for their rights. And there is now when a hunger strike against censorship can’t rustle up a dozen people. When the Arab Spring showed signs of Islamic parties coming to power, many thought it was a failure of the Arab Spring. To me, it [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Bloody irritating men – quotes from chats

Was going through old chat transcripts of last 4 years to prove a point to a friend about the default of interactions of Indian men. About 80% of online new Indian male friends (148 chats) try to patronize me or make sexual conversation. In comparison, 90% Pakistani men (22 chats), and 20% of western men [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Women on the board

I saw this tweet by UN women, and RTing it was a no brainer. It was an interesting observation, particularly since there are growing voices about sexism among software related professionals. A few months back, at some Indian coders gathering (I forget) someone had made a comment about women mistaking the room for the kitchen. [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Marrying political parties is divorcing intellect

It makes sense to be vigorous in your support for a political party if they pay you for it, or if elections are near, and you would like one to win, for example, but defending political parties is plain stupid. NONE of them give a damn about you. On the other hand, listening blindly to [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty An Appeal to support AamJanata blog

I need funds if I have to be able to continue blogging. I have been trying to avoid this point for a long time, but now I must earn while being able to blog, or I must take up a job – in which case, given a special needs child and job, I am unlikely [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Tehelka should file a PIL against Government of India

In 2001, Tehelka did a sting operation called Operation Westend, where they pretended to be trying to sell thermal imaging binoculars and wanted to secure defense purchases. Recording all their interactions with hidden cameras, they ended up with an astonishing expose of some 34 people bought out on tape to sell a product to the [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty A politically incorrect stand on condemning online abuse

I had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but it did. The hideous comments made to Meena Kandasami became the subject of some major online activism/condemnation. I had wished it would not happen, because I condemn the abuse of Meena Kandasamy as well as agree with the rights of whoever wants to have a beef [or pork] [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Sachin Tendulkar for MP, PM and President too!

Yesterday, there was a bizarre news. It hit in two parts. One news headline was Sachin Tendulkar going to meet Sonia Gandhi. The other was the President nominating him to the Rajya Sabha. The gaga media immediately mentioned him as the first sports person to be nominated to the Parliament. Well, there is a reason [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Geniuses in the Wild

An argument with a friend had be angrily declaring that schools are intellectual lobotomies and are turning a country with a rich heritage into the world’s backend, and then into nothing. My views on our education system are no secret, but I am no enemy of knowledge. I see the school system as a process [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty A possible solution for India’s Healthcare crisis

I think governments should make serving in government institutions mandatory for all students who study in government institutions – specifically professions like doctors, engineers and architects, but all graduate education ideally. I say doctors here, because it is the most urgent and visible, but the ideas are suggestions across all professions. How many years the [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty Globalization – Brain Drain

So it is time to come back to the series on Globalization. Human Capital Flight or Brain Drain is the migration of educated and skilled professionals from less developed places to more developed places. The usual reasons are going abroad for further education and settling there or taking jobs in developed countries for better salaries [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty I don’t understand it. Therefore it is bad ~ Justice Katju

The recent outrage in the War on Free Speech is a letter sent by Justice Katju to Ambika Soni of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry requesting for censorship of social media. Naturally, she pointed him to Kapil “April Fool” Sibal whose Ministry takes on the noble task of wiping out Free Speech without openly amending [...]

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Highlights from AamJanata - Dismantling assumptions, unraveling certainty The IT Rules activism paradox

I have been trying to raise awareness about the IT rules for several days now. A few people are interested. By and large, most aren’t. I have been more and more horrified that people simply don’t care about their freedoms, till I realized what the problem was, through a few chance conversations. Here is a [...]

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