Telangana - Facts

As we have seem time and again, it is very easy to score politically by engaging peoples emotions. Telangana is one such cause that is stirred up by unemployed career politicians. Telangana movement 40 years ago was probably has some basis, as Telangana was truly under developed under Nizams who apparently cared more about their own wealth than their citizens well being. Their apathy towards their public is demonstrated by the fact that while his population is among the worst served, he was named the richest man in the world by TIME magazine.
But times have changed, under United Andhra Pradesh, Telangana regions advancements in socio-economic development well outpaced rest of the state. The 3 Rayalaseema districts and some Coastal districts have been worse off with the united AP.
Following chart is prepared from two separate reports with the 1971 rankings and 2001 rankings for the districts. I've taken an average of Agricultural, Infrastructure and Socio Economic rankings of 2001 and compared with the 1971 ranks. The difference in the rankings from 1971 to 2001 is listed in the last column, which clearly demonstrates the improvement in the standing for Telangana districts.

Sources:
for 2001 rankings: http://isas.org.in/jisas/jsp/volume/vol63/3-Prem%20Narain.pdf
for 1971 rankings: http://66.201.66.231/cerpa/DistrictDevelopmentIndices.pdf

My Apple Experience!!

I wasn't a fan of Apple products for a long time. My first introduction to Apple products was in early 2005 when my employer gave me a Powerbook and I bought an iPod shuffle. They were both nice looking products and worked just fine, but I wasn't terribly impressed.

Those days I used work on my powerbook with Mac OS X Tiger at home and had a light weight 12" dell for work. As fas as the OS goes, I didn't find Mac OS X to be any more powerful or stable or easy to use than my XP. I found myself more at home with XP than with OS X. Lack of the range of software was a big negative and even for the apps that were available, the Mac versions are limited in feature set compared to my PC. Yahoo messenger didn't have video chat, websites with telugu scripts didn't work with firefox or safari neither does Yahoo music and telugu radio, iphoto couldn't handle a gigabyte of photos without freezing. Many little problems add up and made the experience less than ideal. I liked the hardware very much, a lot of thought is put into the placement of the keys on the keyboard and some special keys that makes life easier. The look of the machine was pretty cool and the coolness factor is pretty much evident. I carried it around to coffee shops, libraries, friends places etc...

And iPod shuffle, I just wanted to check out what the fuss about an iPod was all about and I bought the cheapest one I could get. Not the magic I was expecting. No display, no FM, its just a dumb device. The sleekness will only make u happy when u buy, after all its the utility. For the price $129, it was a rip off. May be if I went with regular iPod, I might have had a different experience. But Hey... the shuffles were selling as many as the regulars. Also, I never had a music player before shuffle and I never understood how can some one spend so much money on a device that does only one thing, play music.

With my experience with powerbook and shuffle, I couldn't understand what is so great about Apple products that people around me love so much and are willing to pay a hefty premium, I was certain that it is just bought by young and hip people to feel cool and so a great but mere marketing win by Apple.

When a phone from Apple is rumored a couple of years before it was released, I vehemently argued with my friend that the mobile phone market is not that easy to crack. Some of the most innovative companies like Nokia, Motorola, Sony, Microsoft have been in the market for years. I said it is impossible for Apple to beat them at their own game. I told him this time it would be different and apple is going to get smacked. My friend said he don't know how, but Apple will come up with something new that can compete with other phones on the market.

When MS was coming in with Zune and its marketing muscle, I said MS will neutralize iPods halo as well. My friend was sure that Apple would continue to innovate on iPod, and MS will be left chasing iPods tail.

I suspected he joined the cult of Apple and cannot see the truth. Not really. His prophecy came true.

Apple announced iPhone. I was on road for a conference and checked out Jobs key note after work. I called my friend and said I would buy it today if they sell it for $500 unlocked and if it is available on Verizon, since my employer pays for the service. I was so impressed with the device I was willing to shell out 500 bucks with out seeing it. But I was disappointed to learn that it is going to be available only on ATT and only 6 months later. Months followed with discussions on lack of keyboard, lack of features, blah blah... When the crazy rush subsided after it was released, I went to an Apple store and was disappointed with the phone as it took me less than two minutes to run out of things to check. I wrote about how expensive it is for the limited stuff to do and declared Apple just sells cool overpriced stuff for stupid kids.

Then things changed. I became a Product Manager. I had to shop for phones as I moved to my new job. I checked out Blackberrys, WinMos, Nokias and what not. I suddenly realized how inelegant and antiquated the rest of the phones and their interfaces are compared to iPhone. I could not believe how stuck the biggies are. There is nothing in those phones that says 'User Experience'. But was sure that Nokia will slam a dozen phones at Apple and drown it. Then, Apple announced App Store. Applications treated like MP3 songs? How did they even come up with that? That made me relate to the MP3 world before iPod and iTunes and why they were such a hit with music lovers. As I continued working on my product as a Product Manager trying to decide what to build and how to build, I started to truly understand the magic of Apple. The fact that after all these years, all these big wigs are still chasing iPod's and iPhone's tails.

I was not around to understand the impact when the first Mac was released or when the first iMac, the first iPod or iTunes were released. But I bet the excitement and WOW factor would have been as much as I have felt when I first saw and read about iPhone and about App store in iTunes. It is truly incredible how Jobs remade so many industries over and over.

Democracy in Andhra... Really?

The flood crisis has hardly subsided and YS Jagan shifted to Hyderabad and is openly disappointed about being denied the Chief Minister-ship. Some elected MLAs and MPs, openly state that they are incompetent and cannot govern with out Jagan as their leader. Other elites claim that since YSR has apparently done so much to the state, it is the duty of the people to do justice to his family and make Jagan the next CM. Following the news media, it sounds like there is sizable population in the state about the legitimacy of his claims for his father's throne.

Claiming the throne after his fathers death like in good old days of old world is the least of the problems. There are other reasons that makes this worse. For  one, YS Jagan is the head of one of the leading media empire with a news paper and 24/7 news network. And he is using both the platforms to forward his cause with out an inch of shame. Media, news media in particular is called the fourth estate that works as a watchdog to keep the government and other institutions from going out of control and preserve the democracy. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to Andhra. And not a single soul seems to worry or care about this state of the affairs. 

Don't think for a minute that it is just Jagan that is ruining this supposedly great democracy. The alternative options in Media and politics are equally fraud.  

Current CM, Rosaiah, how ever experienced and qualified he might be, is not an elected MLA. He is nominated to the Legislative council. He is not even elected by the legislative body of the majority party, but is nominated to the post by the godly 'High Command' which is an anti thesis to 'Democracy'.  All democratically elected Congress leaders state their allegiance to Soniaji and not to their constituents. And it has become so ridiculously acceptable to every one in the media and the rest of the state do not raise or discuss it as an issue and actually doesn't even seem to notice this anti democratic modern version of royalty worship. 

And Jagan's competition in Media, Ramoji's Eenadu group, equally blatant in promoting its own interest and cannot claim to be neutral anymore. They promoted the unethical alliance of TDP and TRS as the savior of the people and given unparalleled coverage to an young movie star's melodramatic campaign for this alliance. The fact that this guy has zero political experience or work to show for and is just a campaigner is ignored and he was portrayed as a statesman whose words carry an unprecedented weight. An organization which claims to be the torch bearer for ethics in media, this is an absolute disgrace. 

The common man cannot be more stupid. He passionately takes sides supporting the partisan media that promote the political party they sympathize with. They cheer every strike and punch that their team delivers to the other side, not realizing that it is them taking the blows. They just seem to think they are watching a cricket match cheering for their home team.

We can just stop call ourselves a Democracy and get over with it.

The Teachable Moment - Obama's Olympic Lesson

It is admirable that Obama went all in to bring in 2016 Olympics to his home town. Not sure if he knew the risks and still went for the pitch OR if he thought US has the games in the kitty. It is honorable either way, the former scenario would bring in more points for his love for Chicago. The time and money would have been more than worth if he had come back with a win. It would bring in a few billions into the country and a lot more cheer to the nation now and in 2016. It would have provided the country a great opportunity for America to engage with world culturally. It is a no loss scenario, as opposed to what some Republicans say to score some political points. 

But, it is indeed a teachable moment for the Obama when dealing with international community. His team was highly confident about their pitch, their strategies and goodwill of US in a new changed world led by Obama.

“There won’t be a dry eye in the room,” said Valerie Jarrett, “I’m sure that it will touch the hearts of each of the IOC members,” before heading out to Copenhagen about the dramatic speech that Michelle Obama is going to give to the IOC. Michelle Obama her self was all in for the pitch. "It's a battle. We're going to win," she apparently boasted, with good humor. "Take no prisoners." Though Obama's speech was decent and professional compared to Mrs. Obama's self referencing political campaign style 'personal story' speech, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/president-obama-michelle_n_307637.html) it doesn't matter. 

In fact, majority of the votes would have been decided much earlier. It is not enough to put a nice effort pitching a plan and putting a nice face. There are a number of geo political and economic factors that would decide the votes in an international body. If US managed to come last contesting for a sports event with not much at stake, even after taking a number of steps to please international community as a part of an image make over and even after the most powerful man on Earth making the pitch himself. Imagine what lies ahead when you need to win over the UN body in more serious and consequential situations. 

Obama's team seems to have similar confidence in their strategies and the goodwill Obama has created in the world when it comes to foreign policy.  It is fine that Obama is trying a new inclusive politics to bring every country in the world together as equals (?). But the IOC has given him enough indications that the world doesn't work his way. 

Shameful politics of succession in Indian Democracy

When you hear the chants of 'YS Jagan, Next CM' at the burial of YSR instead of 'YSR Amar Rahe', you cannot but feel sorry. 

The proposal by the elected legislative members of the Congress party to anoint the son of YSR as his successor to carry his legacy minutes after the crash site is found and even before the body is retrieved is a shame to Indian culture and Indian democracy. 

Of course, Dynasty politics has been in the culture of Congress party since the days of Nehru, with 3 generations becoming party chiefs and as a result the Prime Minister of the country. In fact, Rajiv Gandhi with zero direct political experience was sworn in as Prime Minister when Indira Gandhi was assassinated even before she was cremated. Such is the sycophancy prevalent in the Congress.

After Rajiv Gandhi's death, his wife Sonia Gandhi was reluctant to enter politics and as a result a Senior and experienced leader PV Narasimha Rao has lead the country for 5 years and proved to be one of the best PMs the country had and has sown seeds for the current economic resurgence of India. The congress culture is so pitiful that, when he died years later, the leaders did not care enough to give him a proper send off.  But of course, the 100 year old party couldn't bring itself together with out a Gandhi (but not a Gandhi) to dig itself out of the drain. Even now, it is an open secret that the current PM Manmohan Singh, another successful PM, is just keeping the seat warm for the prince Rahul Gandhi. I have greater respect for Sonia and Rahul for working hard for the party and still staying out of power than the entire sycophantic Congress machinery. 

Though this kind of succession politics is identified with Congress for about 40 - 50 years, unfortunately this culture has now spread to almost every party. Even the parties with strong idealogical foundations such as DMK is being transfered to Karunanidhi's son Stalin, Hindu/ Maratha Nationalist Shivsena is being handed to second generation of Thackereys, even the Jammu and Kashmir which is mired by years of militancy has no qualms with Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba. Orissa has Patnaiks, Karnataka has Devegowda's son, Andhra has NTRs family, KCRs son and nephew, you can list pages of such cases that happened in the last two decades. I have to give credit to two notable exceptions, the BJP and the communist parties. 

This practice has become so mainstream and mindset of the Indian population has become so tuned to it, if all the stray polls in the television in the past couple of days, the population honestly seems to believe that YS Jagan is the rightful heir to the King YSR's throne!! 

Torture.. hmmm!!

I won't go into technicalities of what is considered as torture. Based on the time and space given to this, you'd think US is torturing detainees on a large scale. But it seems they have done this to all of 'three' people. Very prominent and high profile suspects. They are not even POWs of a military conflict and do not belong to or owned by any country to apply the treaties from Geneva conventions (knowledge from Wikipedia ;)).  

Trying to prosecute people trying to protect the country while the country is still waging wars that kill, injure for life, displace and scar millions of innocent people can only be the highest form of hypocrisies. 

 

PrajaRajyam's Identity?

What does Praja Rajyam Party stand for??

Every political party needs to have an ideology and identity to begin with. And for succeeding in electoral politics, this ideology needs to have emotional impact. Historically, you can see this in a number of examples, where political parties succeeded.

Take TeluguDesam, it started as a flag bearer for Telugu Pride, when there was no respect for elected Congress leaders from the state. BJP, it represented Hindu nationalism when Rajiv Gandhi succumbed to vote bank politics with a pseudo secular agenda to catapult itself from 2 parliament seats in '84 to 89 in '89. Take Telangana Rashtra Samiti for a separate Telangana state, BSP for Dalit Empowerment and so on.

All these parties have an identity with a strong ideological cause. It doesn't matter if they end up as any other vanilla flavor political party once they have created this voter base. 

But the problem with Praja Rajyam is that it has a very mixed and confused message on what it stands for. 

Before the party was announced, they organized a number of discussions with the lawyers, doctors, IT and other educated classes and recruited people who are not career politicians. By all accounts it appeared that they are headed to work on an Lok Satta like agenda with clean politics with a slogan of change. This goes very well with Chiranjeevi's image as a clean and fresh person who is entering the political arena to serve with out selfish motives. He has done many movies with social causes and is running a charitable trust that promotes blood and eye donations. His association with organizations helping blind and handicapped people adds to this image. And he also used his fan base to do some social service and changed the way these fan clubs behave to a good extent. The tag line that was later chosen 'Premae Lakshyam, Sevae Margam' also suits well for his image and his supposed vision of running a clean government with compassion. It all seemed right. 

But the party is announced as an organization that would fight for social justice (Samajika Nyayam). It appeared that they are just trying to imitate the success of BSP in UP. This does not go with the image that Chiru has developed for 30 years.  He was not associated in any way with the causes of BCs. Even the initial team he assembled hardly had any BC leader. After this, the party started recruiting hard core politicians from other parties and carry a lot of baggage. Chiru continued to push the message of 'Change' after filling up the party with career politicians.  

When the candidates for the Assembly are announced, the fan clubs who stood behind him for ever,  the cadre that was built so far, the educated class that was looking forward to his entry and the clean non political team he assembled - got disillusioned and started leaving the party, some silently and some making a lot of noise. Those leaving the party and the accusations of taking money for nominations (thanks also to the coverage by media keen to break him) hurt the party beyond recovery. 

Now the party having received a major setback in the elections, didn't seem to realize this major branding mistake. Despite some borrowed leaders leaving the party, the remaining bunch is going forward with the stated purpose of 'Social Justice/ BC Party'. But actions doesn't follow the stated goal. But the small agitations the party has conducted also have nothing to do with their 'Social Justice' brand. Chiru continues to make efforts to present himself as a clean politician (which I believe he is) and not as a representative of BC cause. 

If PRP wants to succeed, it either has to own up to its mistakes and fashion itself as the party of Change pointing the corruption and the incompetence in system. Which I would love to see.

OR, go full force as a BC party demanding reservations in everything, crying injustice every time a BC is involved, no matter the truth. In which case they might have better chances for success, but it will make me sadder.  

If they do neither, just pray to their SUN god for some miracle. 

Prajarajyam??

It's been a few months since the elections are held, but the state of the PrajaRajyam seems to be as uncertain as it could be. It is good that the career politicians have started leaving PRP and getting back to their homes (??). Sure, PRP has done some dharnas against the rise of prices, but where is the follow up? Sure, the party has done district wise reviews of their performance in the elections. But, I do not see them coming up with the right reasons for their failure. More troublesome is that, they are not even acting on the reasons they came up for their failure. 

Even if we assume that Chiru is working hard for his assembly sessions and on reviving the party, he is doing a very bad job in sending the message to the people. For a common man who views the world through the eyes of Media, PRP has done a horrible job in marketing itself. And even worse at protecting from smear campaigns against it. If the current media is sold out and have their own agendas, be with the people and force them to cover you. 

For what ever reasons, people were unsure in the last elections if Chiru is capable of delivering, but 17% gave the benefit of doubt. Now if he doesn't deliver for Tirupati at the least, all the doubts will be removed. Chiru would have trouble retaining his own Tirupati in the next election if he does not spend a week every month in his constituency and produce some demonstrable results. 

Music and Emotions - My Take

RGV in his recent post he wrote about the effect of background scores in the movies and his experiences with music in movies. 

http://rgvzoomin.com/2009/07/25/the-psychological-aspect-of-background-music/

This takes me back to a discussion I had  with one of my roommates  (non Desi) back in Oakland about what makes music effect our emotions. Is it something that is hard wired in our genes or is it some thing that is learned and our brain is trained over the years. 

I think it is a learned emotion. Whenever I hear 'Sare Jaha Se Achcha', 'Vandemataram' and 'Jana gana mana', some kind of patriotic fervor captures me. Whenever I hear 'Suprabhatam' or 'Jai Jagadeesh Hare', I will be a peace. The popular telugu movie dance numbers like 'Bangaru Kodi Petta' or 'Chikubuku Raile' makes me tap my feet. I wouldn't think some one from an alien culture would feel the same emotions. It's not the specific numbers, but the emotions become associated with the instruments, the ragas, the vocals associated with the numbers that had impacted our emotions. 

This was evident when I was listening to some of the melodies by Indian female singers like Lata, Asha, Chitra and the likes whom we consider to have very soothing and melodious voices, my non desi roommate found them to be shrill and harsh. May because our emotions are shaped by some of their older songs which might have become memorable for a number of reasons including the instrumentation, the lyrics, the movies they were part or any other reason. 

It works the other way to, I for once can not appreciate the hard rock and find it cacophonous and disturbing, while an old colleague of mine listens to the music while at work and claims it makes him productive.

To be sure, there is some music that encompasses cultures, but I think it might be because of the sharing and borrowing of these elements across the cultures. I am now a big fan of Eminem's rap music, but would it have happened with out Baba Sehgal or Rahman's 'Peta Rap'? Or would I have liked Lionel Richie (I know :) ) without the listening to his tunes in the memorable 'Maine Pyar Kiya' ? 

Would a piece of music bring in the same emotions to people who are brought up in different countries and cultures if they are listening to a new kind of music alien to all of them?

Indian Television Conglomerates/ Networks

INX Network
9x
9xm
News X

Network 18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network18#Network_TV_Channels
CNN IBN
IBN 7
CNBC Awaaz
CNBC TV18
IBN Lokmat
MTV India
Nick India
VH1 India
Colors
Home shop 18

SUN Network http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Network#Channels
Sun TV Tamil Entertainment Channel KTV Tamil Movie ChannelSun Music Tamil Music ChannelSun News Tamil News ChannelChutti TV Tamil Kids ChannelAdithya TV Tamil Comedy ChannelComedy Thirai Tamil Comedy Channel(DTH)Udaya TV Kannada Entertainment Channel Udaya Movies Kannada Movie ChannelU 2 Kannada Music ChannelUdaya Varthegalu Kannada Documentary ChannelChintu TV Kannada Kids ChannelUshe TV Kannada Comedy ChannelHaasya Tere Kannada Comedy Channel(DTH)Gemini TV Telugu Entertainment Channel Teja TV Telugu Movie ChannelGemini Music Telugu Music ChannelGemini News Telugu News ChannelGCV Telugu Comedy Channelkushi tv Telugu Kids ChannelNavulla Tera Telugu Commedy Channel(DTH)Surya TV Malayalam Entertainment Channel Kiran TV Malayalam Music ChannelKochu TV Malayalam Kids ChannelChiri Thirai Malayalam Comedy Channel(DTH)

ETV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETV_Network_(India)
ETV Telugu

ETV 2

ETV Bangla

ETV Bihar

ETV Gujarati

ETV Kannada

ETV Madhya Pradesh

ETV Marathi

ETV Odia

ETV Rajasthan

ETV Urdu

ETV Uttar Pradesh

ZEE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zee_Network#Channels
Zee TV - Hindi General Entertainment Channel and Flagship stationZee Next - New Hindi General Entertainment ChannelZee Cinema - Hindi Movie ChannelZing - Hindi Music ChannelZee Sports - A Sports ChannelTEN Sports - 50% in the Sports ChannelZee Premiere - Hindi New Movie ChannelZee Action - Hindi Action Movie ChannelZee Classic - Hindi Old Movie ChannelZee Smile - Hindi Comedy ChannelZee Jagran - Hindi Religious ChannelZee Trendz - A Fashion ChannelZee Café - English General Entertainment ChannelZee Studio - English Movie ChannelZee Aflam - Hindi Movie Channel with Arabic SubtitlesZee News - Hindi News ChannelZee Business - Hindi Business ChannelZee Telugu - Telugu General Entertainment ChannelZee 24 Ghantalu - Telugu News ChannelZee Bangla - Bengali General Entertainment ChannelZee Kannada - Kannada General Entertainment ChannelZee Marathi - Marathi General Entertainment ChannelZee Tamil - Tamil General Entertainment ChannelZee 24 Taas - Marathi news channel24 Ghanta - Bengali news channel

STAR http://www.startv.com/rde/startv/india_channels.htm
Asianet

ASIANET PLUS

Channel [V]

ESPN

Sitara

STAR ANANDA

STAR CRICKET

STAR GOLD

STAR JALSHA

STAR MAJHA

STAR MOVIES

STAR NEWS

STAR ONE

STAR PRAVAH

STAR SPORTS

STAR UTSAV

STAR World

Suvarna Kannada entertainment channel.

VIJAY Tamil entertainment channel.
NDTV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDTV#NDTV_Channels
NDTV 24x7

NDTV India

NDTV Profit

NDTV Imagine

NDTV Imagine Showbiz

NDTV Lumiere

NDTV Good Times

NDTV MetroNation

NDTV Arabia

ACTVE Cooking

UTV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTV_Software_Communications#Broadcasting
Bindass
Bindass Movies
UTVi
UTV Movies
UTV World Movies

NTV
NTV Telugu
Vanitha TV
Bhakti TV

India... Hmmm!!

It has been 10 days since I arrived at Vijayawada, after cleaning up my base in SF Bay Area to making a permanent move back to India. I've been away from home for about 12 years now, 8 of them abroad. For days leading to my departure and few days after, I was expecting the big move to hit me and either make me feel excited about the new opportunity or feel dejected with some kind of buyer's remorse. But, the hit never came. I continue to feel nothing. It feels just like any other day.

I am glad.. that Chiru lost!!

Yes.. I supported him because he is a honest person who want to serve his people.

But, I'm happy that his party's politics didn't work. I hope he would now stay with the people and create a grass roots movement with a clear agenda and conviction and not rely on his charm or caste equations or political calculations.

Oversight and Regulation!!

Oversight is like Highway Patrol - Sit on the pavement at a random location with your radar gun. This requires very few resources and works really well.

Regulation is like TSA - manually scanning every person and carry on baggage before letting a person into a flight. This is a tremendous strain on resources and slows down everything costing time and money.

Even in the freest of markets, there is a need for checks and balances. There are areas where Govt. has to use oversight and there might be areas where Govt. should regulate. But it is important to use the right tools for each situation and avoid choking the economy. We can only hope the right calls are being made.

Now... I am confused!!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Harry Truman Was Not a War Criminal
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

I never can understand where the line is drawn...

the same Pro-Life people who goes all the way to extend Terry Schiavo's life, defend going to war in Iraq, which would obviously cost lifes...

the same Pro-Rights people who goes all the way to condemn torture of a few captured terrorists, support troops to Afghan and support a decision to use a nuclear weapon...

Daily Show's hidden agenda??

Daily Show covered France and Sweden and in a very positive light, in a span of one week. Is this a coincidence? OR Are they trying to influence their viewers in support of Obama's administration plans for increased regulation, employment benefits and other European style policies?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
The Stockholm Syndrome
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
The Stockholm Syndrome Pt. 2
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Christine Lagarde
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

Obama - 21st century Nehru?

Closing Guantanamo Bay.
Releasing Torture Memos and potentially trying the people who approved them.
Banning secret CIA prisons.
Allowing travel and remittances to Cuba.
Appeasing Muslim Nations.
Talking to Anti American communist regimes.
Proposing to back off of Missile Shield plans in eastern europe to trade for Russian help talking to Iran.
Ignoring Israel Lobby.
Accepting American responsibility for anti americanism across the world and almost openly disowning 50 years of American foreign policy.

These are the things that you would expect to hear from liberals on the streets of SF and Berkeley. Or hollywood and media personalities.

Talking morals is one thing and acting on them as a President is another. It feels like Obama strongly believes that American policies are responsible for the current state of the world. He seems to believe from the heart that world can be ONE and we can all be friends. It's almost unreal.

I am not sure if the world can be one. But it is probably worth trying. But it sure takes more than 8 years Obama potentially has and lot more grit and determination to continue these policies. Every country has it's own priorities and politics and will not turn the page because America wants to. I hope Obama has at least an 8 year plan and the political will to continue even in the case of major crises.

PS: Nehru apparently believed in such ideals, trusted UN and considered Chinese his brothers, ended up conceding half of Kashmir to Pakistan and China, allowed chinese to occupy tibet.

Random Thought!!

Is Obama going to end up on a coin or a bill?

Random Thought!!

I see some people saying torture doesn't work.
Would torture be OK if it works?

Flexibility in Ethics??

War on Drugs is a failure -> Legalize Marijuana
Abstinence doesn't work -> Provide condoms to Kids
Can't stop piracy on the web -> Music should be free

I guess if enough people are doing - wrong becomes right!!

Desi CIO and CTO for Obama's Administration!!

Do not know if these appointments has any significance at all for India, but it is interesting nonetheless to have two Indian descent people in key roles in Technology!

Aneesh Paul Chopra - CTO
Chopra serves as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology. He leads the Commonwealth’s strategy to effectively leverage technology in government reform, to promote Virginia’s innovation agenda, and to foster technology-related economic development. Previously, he worked as Managing Director with the Advisory Board Company, leading the firm’s Financial Leadership Council and the Working Council for Health Plan Executives.

Vivek Kundra, Federal Chief Information Officer
Vivek Kundra formerly served in Mayor Fenty's cabinet as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the District of Columbia, responsible for technology operations and strategy for 86 agencies. He has been recognized among the top 25 CTO's in the country and as the 2008 IT Executive of the Year for his pioneering work to drive transparency, engage citizens and lower the cost of government operations. Kundra is also recognized for his leadership in public safety communications, cyber security and IT portfolio management. Before Kundra came to the District, Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed him Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the first dual cabinet role in the state's history. Kundra's diverse record also includes technology and public policy experience in private industry and academia. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia's Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership and holds a MS in Information Technology from the University of Maryland.

High Speed Show Off???

Obama unveils a 'Strategic Plan' for the high speed rail future in US. Fantastic.

"Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination. Imagine what a great project that would be to rebuild America."

When you hear Obama saying these lines, you sure would be excited as hell and start dreaming about the day you step on to one of these trains in San Francisco Transbay Terminal. So I was all excited about the plan and digged in a bit to check the dates when I can start riding in one of those machines. There is nothing!!! The plan boasts of $8 Billion allocated to project in the Stimulus. What a joke!!

Just the line from 'SF to LA' has been in plans for ages and state is struggling to find the $40 Billion it costs according to the current estimates. Just one line from SF to LA. The plan doesn't even mention the total cost of this vision, forget about how they plan to raise the money. Check out the strategic plan here - http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/31

This takes me back to one of the line that got me excited from his 'Not State of the Union' speech, that they already identified $2 Trillion in spending cuts. Which turned out to be nothing more than the savings for not continuing the 'Surge' in Iraq.

I still like a lot of things that he is saying in his speeches, at the face value, but am afraid to dig in, for it may just be another farce.

Movies to Watch this Summer!

May 21 - Terminator Salvation
May 29 - UP
Jun 24 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Jul 01 - Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs
Aug 07 - GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra
Aug 21 - Inglorious Basterds

What is the future of TV?

I suspect Television Sets would just become screens for 'Set-top' boxes. And set-top boxes would become next battle ground for OS wars after mobile phones. Apple TV, MS IPTV/ Xbox, Sony PS3, Google Android and probably some new players would compete to come up with easy to use software that delivers content and information (through widgets?) ondemand with unique advertising models and innovative controllers that goes with the software.

Caste wise party nominations in 2009 Andhra Pradesh Assembly Elections

2009 General Elections Candidate List Second Phase

http://www.eenadu.net/Electionsspl/8EC4-08.pdf

Is Chiru going to dissappoint??

When chiru planned to enter politics.. based on what we know about him and the initial team he put together and the meetings dr. mithra has organized, we thought he would start a party with an progressive agenda with IAS/ IPS, doctors, lawyers, engineers and economists. More like Loksatta, but much grander.

Something changed, he ended up starting a party with an agenda of 'Social Justice', a formula successfully implemented in the north, primarily by 'Mayawati's BSP', bringing political power to a coalition of backward castes, STs and SCs.

That is a disappointment to the pro reform people like me who supported Naidu's old TDP, Vajpayee's BJP and Jayaprakash Narayan's Loksatta.

But, most of us still believe Chiru is a honest and clean candidate who wants to do good to people. Which cannot be said about blatantly irresponsible 'YSR' and stoop to anything for power 'CBN'. He kept his first promise on giving a high number of nominations to the classes like he said. So, I still think people should vote for PrajaRajyam and give Chiru a chance.

Now, I spoke to some one in India and the talk doesn't seem to be positive for PRP. With all the allegations on selling the seats, allegations of prominence of Allu Aravind and family, core team quitting, doubts about the strength of his leadership qualities... all these promoted by the completely corrupt media (can write 100 posts about the media manipulation)... I feel sad.

Can Chiru succeed against all the odds? Is there a silent wave supporting him with women and youth friendly manifesto?

Or Is chiru going to disappoint?

Opinion Polls India Elections 2009

I am 100% confident that the opinion polls out there are going to be a matter of laughing stock again. I'm documenting the polls published so far and we can revisit next month when the results are out. 

. UPA NDA Third Front Others Date Sample Size . CNN-IBN CSDS 215-235(36%) 165-185 (29%) Feb 22nd . Star News (Nielsen) 257 184 96 Mar 17th 50K . Star News (Nielsen) 203 191 104 39 Apr 11th . India Today ORG Marg 191-200 172-181 169-178 Mar 10th 12K . India TV 178 187 121 52 . Times of India 201 195 82 65 Mar 6th

Out in the wild.. Politics and Caste in Andhra Pradesh

Caste has always been a core part of the politics in India. This time it is different, every one is embracing it openly. Merit and qualifications have never been the criteria in politics, but this time political parties are openly pitching caste as the criteria for the selection of candidate in the name of 'Social Justice'.

Should this development be taken as a progression from 2 rich castes ruling the state? or is this a regression to accepting caste as a qualification?

Allocation of Parliament Seats by the three major Alliances for 2009 General Elections. 

. Congress Telugu Desam Praja Rajyam . BC 10 12 14 . SC 8 7 7 . ST 3 3 3 . OC 20 16 12 . Minorities 1 4 6

2009 General Elections Andhra Pradesh Candidate List First Phase

Blessed are the Ignorants!!!

Star News, an Indian news channel has recently conducted an opinion poll ahead of the upcoming national elections. And they predicted 257 seats for Congress lead UPA, 184 for BJP lead NDA and 96 for the mix and match alliance with out a name tentatively being called 'Third Front'. 

Sounds Alright... until you see the sample size for the poll - 50, 402. Yes, about 50K in a country of a billion non homogeneous people. Less than 100 per seat. Any one with even a slightest idea of the complexity of Indian electorate understands how ridiculous this is.

Are these polls even eligible to laugh at?

Comprehensive Site...

... about the results in past elections and interesting caste demographics for Andhra elections.

http://teluguone.com/election/

What's made the iPhone successful?

Success of iPhone is phenomenal and beyond the imagination of consumers, analysts and competition alike. While 'Steve Jobs' and his pursuit for perfection has been the driving force, I'd attribute three reasons to its continued success - Design, AppStore and Marketing.

Design: 'Keep it Simple, Stupid'. There are more powerful mobile phones all over the world that are incredibly more powerful and feature rich than iPhone. But smart phone software had mostly been stripped down versions of the desktop software, ‘User Interaction’ paradigms from the personal computers with windows and menus with a key board are translated to mobile phones. iPhone redefined the mobile user interaction and kept it simple.

App Store: 1st generation iPhone is incredibly successful even with limited features. To sustain the innovation and maintain its leadership in a market that has innovators like Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony and RIM is a challenge. Opening up the platform and letting hundreds of other companies innovate is only part of the story. Providing a platform for these applications in iTunes AppStore, making it incredibly simple to explore, buy and install apps replicating the iPod/iTunes eco system is critical for the explosion of the app market. This increases the iPhone’s capacity to expand and retain the user base .

Marketing: Smart phones before iPhone have positioned themselves for business users and have been competing to capture the small but profitable market. iPhone instead marketed its smart phone for mass market. Its approach to market these ‘smart phone’ features to the mass market has opened up the incredibly large market. Apple's continued reliance on the ‘Apps’ instead of ‘coolness’ in its marketing campaign has taken iPhone beyond traditional Mac/iPod consumers would ensure its long term success.

It's the new world!!

It's time when TIME wants to know your thoughts on this ->

List of Major Scams in Andhra

sarasadevi & DIPEP scam Congress
passports & human trafficking scam Congress
Kodela Siva Prasada Rao involved in endowments land scam TDP
Gowru venkat reddy Scam Congress
Endowments land scam TDP & Congress
krishna yadav and telgi scam TDP
Satyam scandal TDP & Congress
costal corridor Congress
sports village, in gachibowli TDP
velugubanti Surya Narayana Fisheries scandal � Congress
Corruption in Upadhi hami pathakam Congress
Paniki aharam padakam TDP
Krishi Bank Fraud TDP
Corruption in Rajiv Arogyasri scheme Congress
Iron ore mines Obulapuram mines in anatapur dt scandal Congress
Indiramma Illu Congress
grabing of temple lands , wakfat board property TDP & Congress
Corruption in Vox Congress
sand scam JC diwakar rao Congress
bhimrao bada - firing slum dogs from their homes Congress
Murder of Paritala Ravindhra Congress
Aluminium diggings from Araku Valley Congress
Diverting Iron ore from Vishaka to Private Steel Factories Congress
Destroying Noble Hills in vizag and making real estate buiness Congress
Maytas Metro Rail Project Congress
Charminar Bank Fraud TDP
THE VANPIC link Congress
POWER FRAUD Y S Jagan Congress
WAQF LAND SOLD ILLEGALLY Congress
SAKSHI: INVESTMENTS AND REWARDS Congress
Raghu Ram Cements Congress
Sripada Sagar irrigation project Congress
Heritage Scam TDP
Diveting SC, ST Funds to other schemes Congress
Releasing Criminals from Jailson the occasion of Independence day Congress
Murder of 250 TDP workers Congress
Murder of Moddhu Seenu in jail Congress
Prostitution in Devotional Places Congress
passport & Human Trafficking Congress
GO 1439 TDP Congress
Sale of Govt Lands TDP Congress
maytas Frauds like never before Congress
IMG Bharata TDP Congress
Stationary TDP
margaDarsi TDP
Donations from Satyam TDP Congress
Wolkswagon Scam Congress

Source: Some user forum.

Right problems - Wrong solutions (Education)

In his 'Not State of Union' speech Obama recognized some important problems that needs to be addressed for long run health of the economy.
Health Care, Education and Energy. I'd add social security and defense spending to that.
I was impressed. But once his solutions are being laid out it is not good.

Education
California has the highest state taxes in the country and it spent 31% and 10.3% on K-12 and higher education respectively in 2008-2009. (20.4% and 8.6% in 1992-1993)
I have no big problem with spending on higher education. US has the best of the schools in the world. It is an merit based open system. Any one can study anywhere as long as they can get an admit.
But K-12. Spending 31% of all state tax revenues on state run education system is unacceptable. This is not all that is spent on education, local and federal governments also spend money on k-12 education.

What is the problem with the state run education? too many to list.
low paid teachers
no competition and no incentives for the brightest minds to be in the teaching...
choice of schools
you can only go to the school in your community. no regard for choice. homogeneous class rooms. artificial inflation of real estate in communities with good schools.
no child left behind
...
...

Pouring more money into the failed education system would not lead to more quality or quantity, it just goes down the drain. giving computers to the schools wouldn't help if they don't have competent teachers. competent teachers would be possible only with competitve incentive based market. Most of my friends never knew how to use computers until they got admitted to engineering schools, but now they are doing cutting edge work in computer science because they all came from a very competitive education system and knew all the basic mathematics and sciences.

It's so easy to see anywhere in the world and I am stunned how the US is turning a blind eye to the facts. Govt. involvment should be in oversight, not in management.

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf
http://www.caltax.org/RESEARCH/spending96/spend96.htm

ICL

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/nzvind2009/content/story/392501.html
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/nzvind2009/content/story/392882.html

Wow!! I can't believe the players are being denied their careers because they play for ICL. They are not doing drugs, they are just playing cricket. What gives BCCI/ ICC or other cricket boards any right to dictate what players can and should do??

This is Ridiculous with a CAPITAL 'R'.

Apple netbook/ umpc??

I see the tech blogs rooting for Apple netbooks. I say apple will not and should not get into the netbook business.
In fact, I say they have already have a netbook. It's called iPhone/ iPod Touch. Serves the same market fairly well. They do not need to design and market yet another device.

Words No More!!!

Obama on Fire... Way to Go!!

>> Transparency with Recovery.gov
>> Healthcare reform kickstart in 2009.
>> Iraq withdrawal timeline
>> Increased troops in Afghan
>> Closing Guantanamo
>> Tax increases for those earning more than $250K.
>> Increased govt. spending - short term and long term.
>> Potential spending cuts

Though there are no details on how he is going to achieve many of these goals. Love the fact that he is ambitious in setting his goals, I don't understand the talk that he is trying to do too many things. He can hire enough people to drive these things.

May not be successful or if successful may ruin the country, but the fact that he is actually attempting to do what he said he'll do is impressive.

Now we know how those billions disapper...

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1881770_1881787_1881780,00.html

In 2007 Google Earth sleuths found that four unconnected buildings on the base formed an unfortunate shape when viewed from above: a swastika. The Navy says it's spending more than $600,000 to mask the shape.

Race and Cowards?

How can americans of any color talk about race when things that are not even close to being racist are being called so and the person who says them are vilified.

Remember when Bill Clinton mentioned that Jesse Jackson won twice in SC, he was branded as racist. He might be wrong in his purely political calculation, but racist? how??
NYPost's cartoon, their politics not withstanding, is a insensitive comment on the pet chimpanzee, but how in the world can some one come up with the racist theory?

No wonder that Americans are scared to talk about the matters related to race. Can they afford not to be cowards?

Nice slide show of Indian Cricket Jerseys

http://specials.rediff.com/cricket/2009/feb/18pic1-team-india-jersey-changeth.htm

Invest in the developing world??

One of the fundamental reason for all this economic mess seems to be 'Gluttony' or 'Over Saturation of Markets'. Needless spending as a driver for growth instead of required spending.

A simple look at the USA how wasteful things are -
Hundreds of car models in tens of auto dealerships in each city.
Couple of huge malls for every few miles. A JC Penny next to a Sears or Kohls. A Macy's next to a Nordstorm. A Best Buy next to Circuit City. Office Max next to Staples. 4 gas stations around 4 corners of major cross streets. You see this everywhere.
More houses built than people could afford for.
More TV Channels than people could ever watch.
A new cell phone, an ipod and a camera every year, leasing a new car every 3 years. You cannot continue this for ever. We should realise the fact that growing for the sake of growing is not sustainable.

Spending on things that increase productivity is good, like adding lanes to decrease commute time and save on gas, building high speed rail, spending on next generation broadband network. Invest in R & D and promote innovation.

Instead of investing in rich countries with saturated prosperity, invest in developing countries like India where major portions of people are still struggling for basic amenities and the productivity is criminally low when compared to the developed world. The clogged streets, flood farming, rotten food for the lack of proper storage, dated weather forecasting and many inefficient processes in every aspect of living. Invest in developing world to lift them up and in turn benefit from their spending by selling stuff to them.

Just Words!!

Bipartisan - I'll accept your opinion only if you agree with me.
Transparency - I'll give you the details when you can do nothing about it.
Hope - You can't hope for something if it already happened. (synonyms: Catastrophe)
Lobbyists - Lobbyists minus my friends
Healthy Debate - 'I Won!!'

Too Soon??

Quote on a T-Shirt on BART

"Do not have a strong opinion on things you don't understand."
- Right, tell that to our friends in Media.

Superbowl Ads at one place.

Random Thought!!

Is Rafael Nadal Human?

Indians in Australian Open 2009

Just realised we have Indians in finals of three events in Australian Open Tennis.

Yuki Bhambri - Junior Boys Singles

Bhupathi - Men's Doubles

Bhupathi/ Sania - Mixed Doubles

Paes lost in Men's Doubles Semis

Yuki Bhambri lost in Junior Boys Double Semis