DATA Encryption

India boasts of being one of the giants in IT in this part of the world at least, but look at the fact that our telecom ministry forced the IP providers & the Telecom Industry to reduce the encryption levels to 40 bits or lower so that our security agencies could have access and control on all incoming and outgoing data & mails. This was done only last last year. In fact the Government forced RIM Canada, the manufacturers of the Blackberry mobile phones to reduce encryption levels from 256 bits ( International Standards ) to 40 bits or lower, before these phones could be allowed in the country. What a regressive thinking that is ?? Instead of moving with the times & upgrading the capabilities of our systems and that of our security agencies and bringing them at par with the international standards, we moved backwards. We did not realize that this not only makes the lives of the hackers that much more easy, but also leaves huge loop holes in our banking and financial systems. The Government has woken up at last. But again, instead of taking a quantum jump from 40 bits to 256 bits it has chosen to move to 128 bits initially. Are we not underestimating our IT capabilities, even now ?

From Pages of My Dairy - Fallout of Shifting IPL

The IPL was moved out of India as the schedule coincided with the general elections. Thanks to the home ministry and some states that dragged cold feet on the matter of security perceptions. Many people including politicians had pointed out that this step could well have a cascading effect on all future sporting / other international events in the country. The Australian Tennis Federation have pulled out of the forthcoming Davis Cup tie at Chennai citing the IPL example and giving the same reason that since it coincided with the ongoing elections there, the level of security would be questionable. I do not understand how a Davis cup tie which involves only two teams with a contingent of maximum a dozen players and officials and one venue, could be compared with an event like IPL which had 8 teams of 25 players and half a dozen officials in each team and half a dozen venues ? Anyways, this was bound to happen sooner than later. Now India will always be under the microscope. This issue will come up again when the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup Hockey Games planned in 2010 and the World Cup Cricket planned in 2011 come closer. And yes, the politicians will not hesitate to encash this during the phase II of the ongoing elections. Media is bound to have a field day.

From Pages of My Dairy - Model Code Of Conduct

The poor Election Commission issues the model code of conduct before every election. Still the politicians get scotfree because the commission does not have enough resources at their disposal to prove the veracity of complaints lodged against such law breakers. The State Governments, the local police do not act in time and some time act in a partisan way. I strongly feel that the election commission should have a separate paramilitary force and a law wing under their command so that they can book all such elements and fight the cases on their own, like the armed forces where they are dealt with by the martial law proceedings. Finally the persons proven guilty can knock the doors of the supreme court, but with a very high fee and very very high penalty if proven guilty there too. This will be a revolutionary reform, if the parties could agree upon this and pass it in the parliament. Yes, the commission should then be also empowered to debar all politicians with a criminal back ground and bahubalies, besides those who break the model code too. How is the idea ??

From Pages of My Dairy - Who is Communal ??

Every election precedes with hue and cry about some parties which are termed as communal. The media also fans the debate because it sensitises the whole atmosphere and gives them good TRP ratings. These are forgotten for the sake of convenience after the elections are over. If communists are not communal, Muslim League is not communal, Parties based on cast like the BSP for a long long time, or parties headed by KSR Rao, Lalu, Paswan, Mulayam Singh etc who say that they are for the causes of minorities and their castes then how come BJP or Shiv Sena or MNS be termed as Communal ?? And by whom - The Congress and all these parties ?? Who gives them the right to sit on a judgement, particularly when their own hands are stained ?? Yes, if any of the acts on the part of any party disrupts the harmony of the society, spreads hatred or violence the state / central government, the police and judiciary should deal with the case with out prejudice and punish the perpetrators of such acts. The parties should not protect them and take concrete actions by weening out such elements from their cadre. If any ideology is divisive then the election commission should seek advise from the supreme court and then term it as a communal party and should then ban it from having its operations in the country, forget fighting the elections. The ban should be actually slapped by the government , once such a ruling is given by the supreme court. Till then no party should have a right to such mud slinging during or after the elections. I fail to understand why this can not be done ?? May be there may be other alternatives too. But it is high time now to define who and what communal is ?? And yes let us stop these ugly debates on the electronic and print media. In fact these have more polarizing and divisive effect on the masses, in my opinion. It is time to say " Enough is Enough " .

From Pages of My Dairy - Tooth to CBI

Today I read a good article by Mr. Joginder Singh in the Deccan Chronicle. I completely agree that CBI should be made an autonomous institute on the lines of the Election Commission, if we really want to see that the even the high and mighty in the politics are brought to right terms, and fair & speedy investigations are done in all cases of criminal offences which are assigned to them. Unfortunately today the CBI is a puppet in the hands of the ruling party. So the outcome of most of the cases is far from the real truth. The CBI should have its own law wing which should weigh the merit of all cases which are to be filed and augment it if required so that the case is not termed weak or with out adequate evidences in the court of law. It is a reform that needs to be given utmost priority.

From Pages of My Dairy - Disrespect to National Honour

It was shocking to see our national heroes and the sport icons like MS Dhoni & Harbhajan Singh being conspicuously absent from the Padmashri Award Function. It is alleged that they chose to carry on with their real love - Chase of money making advertisements. That is how their priorities get reflected. The BCCI and the Minsitry of Sports should both slap tough disciplinary actions against both of them. If they can be and should be disciplined on the field and get punished for their acts of misconducts, abuse, tempering the ball, showing disrespect to the umpires etc etc, then certainly they should not be let loose. If their misconduct is proven, then they should not only be fined ( because loss of couple of thousands or lacs hardly mean any thing to them ), they should be banned for couple of five dayers, half a dozen one dayers and a dozen of T 20s. And MSD should be stripped of Captaincy too.

From Pages of My Dairy - Kasab's case

Yesterday I heard the " Buck Stops Here " on NDTV on this subject. Mrs. Waghmare was shunted out of the case as she was already having a case of a witness in teh same case. " Conflict of Interests or Professional Misconduct " was the reason, so said the judge. Mr. Ramjethmalani, Mr. Nikam & Mr. Shantanu ( who lost his wife in the attack ) were on the panel besides Mr. Bharat Kumar Raut & Mrs. Waghmare. It is but natural to give Kasab a fair trial and a lawyer to fight his case. No body would argue on that. But the moot point is that how long the country will have to wait for it to be taken to its logical conclusion ? Mr. Shantanu through open a Pandora's box when he said that he and his 12 year son would like to forgive Kasab. Mr. Jethmalani & Barkha joined the bandwagon of sorts and complimented him for his passionate & matured thoughts. Why ?? Mr. Jethmalani said that it would put the terrorists heads in shame ?? Too Lofty ideals and thoughts. Even During the periods of Ram & Krishna one had to fight and finish the Evil. Both, Ram & Krishna, the avtars of the almighty could not change the minds of such people. Do you think that Only Gandhi's Ahimsa got us the freedom ?? Surprising to see such thoguhts even in 21 st Century. I also heard Mr. Muslim Khan ( Taliban Chief's Spoke Person ) on another Chanel just 30 minutes later. He spewed venom in his talk and only talked of uniting all Muslims for Jihad and fight against all, including India. Do you believe such fundamentalists with criminal mind set would be moved by such lofty ideals ?? I also read in a paper about some terrorists who are in jail. The act for them is like meeting the god face to face. So the killing of innocents does not matter much to them. Can you beat that ?? I personally feel terror of any kind and violence have to dealt with a firm hand and with out showing any mercy to the perpetrators of such act. Be he or she from any cast or religion or country. The history is a proof .

From Pages of My Dairy - Bloody Dusty Country

Today I crossed two old people ( Telgu Speaking from AP ) during my morning walk. They were talking to each other at top of their vocal chords, so I could hear their scrap conversation. They had probably returned after a long stay abroad, most likely from US / An European Country. One of them was reluctantly dragging along and said to the other " Come on, Lets go back. Don't you know its a bloody dusty country " and then he laughed and spoke some thing in telgu. I just boiled with in but refrained from venting out my anger. However I had a passing thought " what bloody nonsense. To hell with such bloody Indians with Dusty Mind Set ". And I walked off, cooling off my heals. I am happy like many of my countrymen in what we have and in what we are. We are the slumdog millionaires in mind and soul.

From Pages of My Dairy - One More Shoe

Ah ! the fever seems to be catching up very fast. I used to think only the cricket fever moves us crazy. This time it was a shoe thrown by a teacher / principal ( media is not sure about that ) threw a shoe at Mr Jindal, some where in a rally in Hariyana. It appears that the people from the teaching class too have a jaat budhi. I am sorry if I have hurt the community. But it is the way every one talks there about people with low IQ. very sad about whatever has happened. One observation and a food for thought - if teachers of today, who are responsible for building up the generation - next, set such examples, what would be the impact and influence on youth ?? But I liked Shobha Dey's idea. Why hurl sports shoes ( Reebok / Adidas / Nike etc ) which are very costly. I have a suggestion like her to all people with pent up anger. Please use the desi chappals or Khadus or Sleepers instead and save some money. It is hurting your pockets only dear ones, and that too in such a huge global economic down turn.

Letter to Shri Advani

Today i wrote a letter to shri LKAdvani and posted it on his web site - http://www.lkadvani.in/. This is how it goes:

Dear Sir

All my family members & I have been staunch supporters of BJP. In fact my uncle, a Sangh member, was behind bars during the emergency. However Now I am disappointed to say that the BJP is no longer a party with a difference. I have following suggestions for the growth of the party: Let us all move to the 21 st century. That can happen only when the party shuns away from the old Ram Mandir Plank. At best you should have said ( in your manifesto ) " We would take this issue to its’ logical conclusion through the Supreme Court route. Then it would not have hurt any one. " Wean out the politicians with criminal records, corruption charges. Don’t encourage any Baubles or tainted politician either, howsoever powerful he or she might be. Don’t use the same rhetoric “ Unless they are so proven in the court of law ”. Write in your manifesto what you can do and please do what you write. Say for example women reservation. Implement that at all levels in all Panchayat or state level elections, at least where you are in power. Apologize for the merciless killings in Gujrat and also for demolition of Babri Masjid and say publicly that your party would help the investigating agencies , NGOs and the Judiciary to ensure that speedy justice is delivered. That does not mean in any way that you or any of your party members were involved. Make BJP an all inclusive party. Give nominations to people from all casts and creeds, be they Muslims, and people from other minorities like Parsis, Sikhs etc and people from backward classes. If you start this way you will certainly be in power in the next elections at least. If I see your intentions in action I can work for your party with out any hesitation, and I assure you of bringing hundreds of volunteers with me. Till then I can only wish “ Good Luck ”

From Pages of My Dairy - Below Poverty Line

Ratan Tata has probably brought out the people's car - NANO at the right time. The politicians have declared their assets while filing their nominations. Surprisingly Many of the bigwigs like Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar & Lal Krshna Advani are so poor that they do not own a car, which is no more considered a Luxary in the 21st century Bharat. It hurts. I would like to request Mr. Ratan Tata to gift them at least the Nano so they can be car - sevaks and not pad - sevaks ( servers on foot ) of the society. It is a different matter that their trillions may be stashed in Swiss banks which could not be disclosed, and so they fall in the category of slum dogs amongst the politicians. I am not to sure about that.

मेरी डायरी के पन्नो से - जूते के साइड इफ्फेक्ट

कुछ महीनों पाहिले ईराक में जनाब बुश पर एक पत्रकार ने जूता क्या फेंका अब सब जगह इस प्रयास की जैसे एक होड़ सी शुरू हो गई है। भारत जैसे देश भी , जहाँ सदियों से " पहले आप , पहले आप " की लखनवी परम्परा रही हो , इस में पीछे नही रहे । इसे कहते हैं २१ वी सदी में देश का सही मायनों में पदार्पण । अब तो हम गर्व से कह सकते हैं " हम किसी से कम नही " ।

दैनिक जागरण के पत्रकार जरनैल ने गृह मंत्री श्री चिदाम्बरम पर अपनी कलम की बजाय जूता चलाना ज्यादा उचित समझा की नही यह तो वही जाने , उसकी वजह ( कॉज़ ) भी वही जाने , पर उसका परिणाम ( इफ्फेक्ट ) शायद दूरगामी हो इसमे मुझे कोई संशय नही है ।

अब जगदीश टाइटलर और सज्जन कुमार का चुनावी भविष्य " बीच भंवर में गुड गुड गोते खाए " जैसा हो गया है।

इसे कहते हैं " जूते के साइड इफ्फेक्ट " ।

पहले तो सिर्फ़ विधान सभाओं और लोक सभा या राज्य सभा में कुर्सियां फ़ेंक कर राजनैतिक अपनी व्यथा या क्रोध व्यक्त करते थे । तो आम आदमी ने उनसे सीख ले कर दो कदम आगे बढ़ना ही मुनासिब समझा । आखिर पत्रकार भी तो आम आदमी ही है । मुझे तो यह भी लगता है की अब वह दिन दूर नही जब हम तुम जैसे व्यक्ति भी अपनी व्यथा या क्रोध व्यक्त करने के लिए , हर जगह अपनी जबान या कलम छोड़ कर जूतों का ही प्रयोग करें।

कहीं लडाई हो - चलाओ जूते, ऑफिस में सालाना बढ़त से आप खुश न हो - चलाओ जूते । सरकारी दफ्तरों में वक्त पर आप का काम न हो - चलाओ जूते। परीक्षा के नतीजों से आप खुश न हो - चलाओ जूते ।

शायद इस दिन का भगवान् को पूर्वानुमान होगा, इसी लिए उसने शुरुवात से ही आदिमानव को रचते समय दो दो पैर और हाथ दिए । उसने भी सोचा समय पर शायद एक जूता और एक हाथ कम न पड़ें । भगवान् !! आप अन्तर्यामी हो । आप की लीला अपरम्पार है ।

From Pages of My Dairy - Partly Political

The current elections have been reduced to a number game. I doubt if any one can really tell about the number of small and big parties in the fray. The media terms them as national parties with a national presence and the regional parties with a regional / local presence. Last 2 / 3 elections have been giving a fractured mandate and So it is going to be merry time again for smaller parties. Long live our democracy which is really crazy. In good old days we used to know “ who is who ” & “ who is where ” in the parliament. Now it is a dynamic situation and the situation is as fluctuating as our mindless Sensex on the market. There is no reason, rationale or logic. So the advice to the common man like me is to stay away from it. But that does not mean staying away from voting. I would have been very happy personally if the Supreme Court or election commission had kept the option of “ None of the above ” in the ballot paper. I think this matter is pending in the Supreme Court. Now if you wish to cast your vote in that category, you have to ask the returning officer to give you a separate form. That is little dicey or unsafe for the voter. You know why. This one freedom alone may force the various political parties to think differently and refrain from fielding candidates who fall in the categories of Bahubalies, Corrupt politicians, Politicians with criminal records and last but not the least Non Performing politicians. Would you not say “ Waat an Xillent Idea, Sir Ji ” ??