Manmohan Singh formed his second government following the UPA’s comprehensive win in the election. There was some drama over ministerial allocations with the DMK trying some hard bargaining for a few extra cabinet berths.
The beacon of change – Barrack Obama called up our Prime Minister. Maybe his inspirational effect will rub off on the new government, and we will see Manmohan Singh turn the economy around in 100 days like he promised before the elections.
Fareed Zakaria’s take on the Indian elections – he thinks the Indian voters got it right. Time has a list of 5 ways Manmohan Singh can do to make India a better place to live.
Horror of horrors – following their defeats in the elections, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan may face a security downgrade. Imagine the shame if our VIP’s have to travel on the road without a hundred gun toting commandos protecting them.
Mayawati’s hopes of becoming PM were dashed, and the disappointment was taken out on government officials as senior officials in all U.P. state government corporations were duely sacked for failing to mobilize people in favor of the party. This was followed by transfers of 34 IPS officers, including police chiefs of 17 districts.
In a news that doesn’t augur well for news websites and blogs, the government is seeking to censor the internet. Draft rules released recently empower a designated government officer to block public access to any information on the internet for reasons of national interest. There is no stipulation for a prior hearing before action is taking against offending sites.
Amitabh Bachchan’s wax statue was launched at Newyork’s Madame Tussaud’s museum. Dressed in a black sherwani, Bachchan is the first member of the all new Bollywood zone at Times Square.
Over in the US, the H1B visa for this year has still not been fulfilled. 20000 slots are open seven weeks after it was opened in April. To put this in perspective, last year the USCIS received twice as many applications as the number of visas within the first few days, and the visas were allotted in a lottery. Obama has certainly brought change to the Americas.
Watch this clip about Shahrukh Khan’s new Rs 3.5 crore toy – a custom designed luxury van that has a gym, a bar, a bedroom, and apparently all the comforts of a ’7-star’ hotel.
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Mayawati seems to have turned completely shameless by passing on her inadequacies on the officers. I am glad that people showed her the real picture.
And it seems that there were no shots taken inside the Vanity van. They just got some shots from outside and added some inside shots from somewhere else. Well, it is certainly not a “van”.
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Mayawati has got stuck in her own mayajaal. But she is too smart to remain trapped for long. I will not be surprised if she hands down another surprise of the 2007 variety by doing something which will turn out to be the masterstroke that everyone should have seen beforehand but did not!
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So, when is this world view going to get scripted from here ? I guess it does undergo some change…!!
And there are numerous stories about the IPL !! And the IPL is the biggest news of them all…if you are here. The world comes to a stop when cricket is played !!!
I guess you covered it by writing about the 3.5 cr van !
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@Amit – She is a smart woman – adept at playing the political game. Transfers are how UP works. When Mulayam Singh comes to power he transfers all Maya appointees, and she repeats the favor when its her turn.
About that van, i too would be very interested in seeing what’s inside that 14m bad boy!
@Vinod – Indeed, she is an expert at politics. I wont be surprised if she bounces back bigger and stronger, though her caste politics isnt very good for the welfare of the state.
@Kavi – Very soon! This was probably the second last weekly roundup from New york.
And yea, you must have noticed the lack of IPL coverage on this blog. I have lost touch with cricket these past few years, and am happy i am not wasting entire days watching cricket matches
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so, finally w will have a babu sitting over the internet and deciding on what we can write and we cant. Hmmm…. Not to worry, someone will go to the courts and the whole thing will die down.
As for Mayawati, these results have really jolted her our of her sleep. Hope UP sees at least some progress in the next 1-2 years before the elections happen.
As for MMS, hope he lives up to his 100 day promise. Else, its time to hold his feet to fire. He has no excuses this time. The commies are gone, the BJP is decimated and Sonia auntie is giving him a free hand. The only problem is Mamta auntie, but she can be controlled by Sonia.
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AD: SRK’s 7 star hotel-on-wheels is just a small 27 minute dance number
at some wedding for our hero sahib.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/4774/dancing-stars-bollywood.html
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Man! 3.5 crores for a van! Will he drive it? Will he allow a random driver to drive it? on Indian roads? Insurance? Tax? Main nahin hoon na!
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Behenji is one loony..
a smart loony but thats the more dangerous kind
the censorship of sites that ‘offend’ seems to be a dangerous one..
How will one define offensive?
About MMS Philip has said it all..
Hope MMS lives upto all the expectations…
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The proposed internet law is dangerous, and I am not sure if challenging it will be as easy as Liju says….”national interest” will take care of that!
Cheers,
Quirky Indian
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please please don’t tell me that SRK will act as Superman in some movie!! I nearly got a heart attack!!
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Thanks for the comments guys. Sorry i haven’t been able to respond – been crazy busy these past few weeks with the India move.
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I appreciate all the information. I love gathering world news, this scratches my itch for knowledge, thanks.
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