Syria : Civil War

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. Its official language is Arabic. Based on statistical analyses from 2006, the Syrian population mainly comprises of Sunnis including Sufis, about 74 percent, while the rest are Alawites, Twelvers and Ismailis. Basically, Syria is mostly Sunni Arab.

Officially, Syria is a republic. In reality, however, it is an authoritarian regime under the guise of a democratic system. Although citizens vote for the president and members of parliament, they have little choice and electoral results are often adjusted.

The President and his senior aides ultimately make most basic decisions in political and economic life with a very limited degree of public accountability.

Political opposition to the President is not tolerated, and allegiance to the President has become the criterion for loyalty to the state.

Melbourne … what’s so special about it anyway?

Melbourne. People call it “the city of dreams”. They say it’s a place you’ll regret not visiting. A place that enshrines the very essence of the world as created by nature and then developed by mankind to display its grandeur.

I have always been fascinated by Australia. The way it’s so disconnected from everything, surrounded by water from every side. I always wondered how it would be to live some place like that. Although I might not really like that but still a few says visit, a vacation, will definitely be fun.

It’s like a paradise away from the whole world, water enclosing it from all sides.

Apple v. Google

Apple’s late CEO, Steve Jobs, had felt that Android, an operating system for mobile devices developed by Google, was copied from Apple’s iPhone. But Google maintains it developed Android independently.

So far, Apple has done nothing to Google, directly at least. It sued Samsung, which is being viewed by people and analyst all over, as just a collateral damage. It would be difficult for Apple to prove that Google is benefiting financially from patent infringement, or that Google, and not the hardware manufacturers, is directly responsible for potential damages caused to Apple.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company. It is the world's largest mobile phone maker, world's largest television manufacturer and world's second-largest semiconductor chip maker (after Intel Corporation).

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana : The Perfect Platform for a Scam?

In the past, Government has tried to provide a health insurance cover to selected beneficiaries either at the State level or National level. However, most of these schemes were not able to achieve their intended objectives. Often there were issues with either the design or implementation of these schemes.

Keeping this in mind, the government launched the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (National Health Insurance Scheme) formally on October1, 2007, but its implementation started in April, 2008. Its objective is to provide health insurance coverage and protection from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization, for Below Poverty Line families.

Beneficiaries need to pay only Rs. 30/- as registration fee while Central and State Government pays the premium to the insurer selected by the State Government on the basis of a competitive bidding.

Mother of all Scams?

India's ruling Congress party has been hit by a series of damaging corruption scandals over the past year. The opposition has made regular calls for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign, over every scam that has gripped the nation.

The major corruption controversies to have beset the government in its second term of office are:-

2G Spectrum scan, 2011: It involved government officials illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would then use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones.

Fifty Shades of Erotica?

Recently the trilogy Fifty Shades, by the British author E. L. James, topped the New York Times Bestseller’s List. It set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time, surpassing the Harry Potter series.

The books tell the tale of a dominant-submissive affair between a manipulative millionaire Christian Grey and a college graduate, Anastasia Steele. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes which include elements of sexual practices involving bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism (BDSM).  

At first, when I heard about it, I got curious about all the attention it was receiving. It’s not like there aren’t any “erotic” or sex scenes in other books! Take Jeffrey Archer for instance, I think in each one of his books you’ll find a pretty steamy passage.

Freedom of Expression

On 6^th of July, The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva passed its first resolution on Internet freedom with a call for all states to support individuals' rights online as much as offline.

It affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice.

Despite opposition on the issue from nations including China, Russia and India, states promoting the resolution hailed the support of dozens of countries ahead of its adoption.

All 47 members of the Human Rights Council agreed upon the right to freedom of expression online, including censorship-prone countries like Cuba and China, whose frequent blocking of websites containing politically sensitive terms is often referred to as the “Great Firewall of China.”

The Fountainhead: A modern classic by Ayn Rand

So for today’s blog entry I have decided to write about my favorite book. It’s a book that I have read at least 6 times since I first read in eleventh. Every time I read it, something new comes forward, about me, about the people around me, about the society that we live in.

A friend had suggested this book to me, and I am really, really glad that she did. If there has been book that makes you think, really think, then this is it.

Well, firstly I want to post the book cover summary. What better to give you an idea about the book than the original summary which was published for this purpose only, right?

This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him.

The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand’s controversial novel, tell the story of the desperate battle wages by architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite … of 

Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy … of the fantastic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator.

Its theme is one of the most challenging ideas ever presented in a work of fiction – that man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress.
It contains Ayn Rand’s daringly original literary vision with the seeds of her groundbreaking philosophy, objectivism.

Music

As the left hand side of this page suggests, I am a member of Blogadda. It’s a blogger platform, where you submit your blog and it showcased among other Indian blogs. Well, today I received a mail from them about a competition.

Here’s what the mail was all about:

Didn't we tell you that we love our bloggers in Delhi/NCR? Well, we are back to show our love with an invitation to be a part of an one of its kind event organised by Red Bull. 

Red Bull is organizing a Thre3Style event, an International DJing competition where participants mix a selection of any three genres or styles of music in 15 minutes. The World Finals are in Chicago and right now Delhi is hosting the National Finals for the Indian subcontinent. Yes, you got it right, we are inviting you to be a part of it. Shveta Salve will be hosting the Regional Finals and Nikhil Chinapa & Pearl will judge and play at the Red Bull Thre3style National Finals. Isn’t that cool and exciting?

We are looking for few bloggers who have an interest in music and lifestyle and wish to be a part of the gala evening that not only has in store some awesome performances, but also a workshop with a top console DJ and loads of Red Bull goodies on offer. To participate, you just have to tell us how interested you are in music/ lifestyle through a post on your blog. (If you are interested in music but haven't got any post up yet, just remember it is never too late to start. What better an opportunity than this? The last day for expressing your interest is Aug, 22nd 2012. 

Just a Moment

Today I don’t really have a topic relating to the news or stuff that happened around the world. Well, of course there is stuff happening all around, but I just don’t want to write about all that at the moment!!

Right now I feel like writing about everything and nothing, but that would be a little hard to do, don’t you think?

It rained a little today in the evening, n for the small period of time that rain drops were falling on the ground, all I did, was look up at the sky and try to make out the shapes of the clouds. This is sort of my usual time pass when I don’t have much to do. Don’t you just love the fragrance of wet soil, that scent, which is spread everywhere just after it has rained? Well, I do.

Anyhow, across the street I saw a kid, who didn’t look older than 6 or 7, doing almost the same thing, although pretty soon his mother came and took him inside. Leaving me wondering what was that kid imagining when he looked up and how would it be different than what I thought I saw.

Miss World 2012

As most people must know, today was the Grand Finale for Miss World, 2012. 

The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant.  

Miss china PR was also awarded Miss Talent 2012.

Miss World 2012 Beach Beauty was Miss Wales, Sophie Elizabeth Moulds.

Miss South Sudan, Atong Demach, took away the Miss World 2012 Top Model award.

Finally, Miss World Sports Woman 2012 was awarded to Miss Sweden, 

Finally, Miss World Sports Woman 2012 was awarded to Miss Sweden, Sanna Jinnedal.

Muslims and Terroism

So, I was reading about the Kamra Air base attack in Pakistan, which happened in the early hours of Thursday, on the Times of India website. Well, as much as dreadful that was, what really disturbed me, were the comments that followed afterwards.

It is well known that there is no love lost between the people of India and Pakistan. But reading those comments, it dawned on me, how even the common man, has been sucked into the ever vicious cycle of the political blame game.

Every individual, be it Indian or Pakistani, all were blaming the other country for the attack. Indians were stating this as an irony, that people who have been providing refuge to terrorists finally got a taste of their own medicine. On the other hand, Pakistanis were positive that this attack was organized by the Indian terrorists. Just like the politicians of the world, we were taking sides and blaming the other party for the destruction.

Jealous

Hi,

This was something that I wrote sometime back, just wanted to share.

When I was young I used to be jealous

Jealous of all the people around me

Jealous of all they could have and not me

But even then I used to wonder

About the day when others would envy me

When they would realize what they had

But were careless enough not to understand it

Naive enough to worry about all the things they couldn’t get

And stupid enough to not be grateful for all they already have

And today, here I am, still jealous and still alone

Wondering when will I break this vicious cycle

When will I understand that this is how it will always be

I will always be that little kid who will look up every night

Trying to talk to the stars, the moon

And if nothing else then the solitary wind

Its as if I am never gonna find any peace and

I’ll always have that empty space

This should trouble me, should make me worry

But this realization has made me understand

This is how I always was

This is how I’ll always be

Independence day

When I was a kid, Republic Day and Independence Day were the only two days, when I bothered to get up early, despite the fact the fact that it was a holiday. You know, on Republic day, we have this huge parade, in New Delhi. Anyways, not here to talk about that, are we now?

So, Independence Day, a day which commemorates India’s independence from the British and its birth as a sovereign nation on 15^th August, 1947.

The Independence Day is a national holiday in India. The flagship event takes place in Delhi where the Prime Minister hoists the national flag at the Red Fort, followed by a nationally broadcast speech from its ramparts. The day is observed all over India with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades and cultural events.

Schools and colleges mark the day with cultural activities, drills, flag hoisting and distribution of sweets. Government as well as private organisations celebrate it similarly.

Political Parties in India

I have never really understood the politics of our country. I think its about time that I should have a basic knowledge and understanding about the political system, right?

In the Indian politics, the President of India is head of state and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, the highest national court being the Supreme Court of India. Elections are held at different levels. The two major election levels are at national level, after which the national government is established and at state level after which the state government is established. Elections are also held for city, town and village councils.

The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body, which basically means that it has the power to pass, amend, revoke or annul laws. It has the ultimate power over all political parties of India. It comprises of the President of India, and the two houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

India's Journey in Olympics 2012

Well this is my second entry to the blog, and there’s so much and so many things that I want to write about, that I don’t even know where to start!

But Olympics 2012 seems a pretty good right now, especially considering that its come to an end.

Well I always thought that India never does very well at the Olympics, in comparison to other countries, but being a naïve little person, never really thought about the reason behind it!

This time, Olympics was held in London, and India had sent 83 athletes to compete in 13 sports out of the 26, that were to be held in 2012. Initially the Olympics had only 9 sports when it first started in the year 1896. Boy, have we come a long way since then!

The First Entry : An Introduction

So .. starting my blog .. I have never actually written a blog or anything, I mean thought about it a billion of times, sure .. but never really got the time .. and now this, it sort of feels weird .. Hopefully, I’ll get used to this.

Umm .. so .. what do I say .. lets start with a little about me .. I am a very weird, freak of nature kinda person, utterly n totally confused but hoping that one day, somehow will manage to clear at least a few of my doubts ..

Now earlier I said that I didn't have time to start a blog .. well that was sorta true .. I know, i know, u have to make time blah blah, but I really had a very good reason for not having any spare time .. so I don't know how to manage my time, but how can u spare some when ur studying 24*7!!! Yes, that much .. well when ur studying to become a chartered accountant, that what u become, a mean, lean studying machine!! and its not like u can take a break or something but keep on studying till ur head starts to hurt n ur mind reaches its saturation point .. but thats not even the end of it .. I did all of that .. I really did .. but even after that I couldn't clear my group .. well thats not a good sign, now is it??

So I decided that i cannot do this ..  yes, I quit .. well I never wanted to become a CA anyways .. after 12^th it seemed a good option .. sure I had to work hard but the then young naïve little me thought “how hard could it be”, yeah, I really thought that .. well after 2 failed attempts n 2 years of my life that I am never gonna get back ..  I decided enough is enough .. I want time for myself .. time to read, read in a proper way n not trying to hide that I am reading a book or a novel .. a profession that I might actually like n not a job that turns me into one of those corporate, serious whiny, crying all the time about how their life turned out people!!!

So .. all this rambling leads to the conclusion of what I actually wanna do .. well when I finally came out of the shock of my exam result failure for the second time, I decided that journalism looks like a good option .. so with further research I decided that I want to be a journalist .. print journalist to be specific .. so now this journey begins where I actually try to decide and overcome my shy n confused personality ..

But now the main questions that is looming over my head like the sword that hovers over a man about to be beheaded is whether I’ll be able to make it to a proper post graduate course form a good institution, taking into consideration the limited no of seats available.

So this blog here on is going to be my practice ground, where almost everyday I’ll be posting my views along with facts of happenings all around the globe and of things that interest me.

Best of luck to me!!!