Subhajit Kundu

Why Jan-lokpal bill is overrated?

2011-08-25T04:33:00.004+05:30

Let me tell you why I think its overrated. Let me also define the boundaries of the debate. Let me not get into this version and that version. Let me not question how committed any particular side is in bringing the best possible bill. Let me discuss civil society's bill, or even best parts of all bills.

U see, old saying "Power corrupts." Corruption comes from unchecked power and political power is unrestrained in India. Our MPs roam around with their sycophants, blocking traffic, openly defying quotas and doing things at whim. What we need is checked power, probably distribution and dilution of it. This bill, on the contrary, shifts concentration of power from one center to another. So much for a solution! What is the guarantee that this new center of power won't be corrupt. A watchdog for politicians. But who will watch the watchdog? And encompassing every public servant under this bill, a noble idea, will generate unmanageable volume of work.

Let me exclude politicians of every cast, creed and colour temporarily. I have been following some articles/editorials on the bill, news-men's blogs and tweets. The general sense that I gather is none of them are out-and-out for the bill. Most of them have serious reservations against the bill. Yet few others opine that this bill will do more bad than good. Mind you these are apolitical and informed opinions coming from learned people. ...from people whose bread and butter is this and they watch every political development from close quarters, often even have inside information. But ya, they still cover Anna extensively. They support Anna in Voltaire spirit, i.e. "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". One can doubt Anna's tool, question his ways but can't disagree with his goal, just like Gandhi. Following are just few links that doubt the bill. (Disclaimer: I have handpicked only criticisms. However Google for it. 90% results are criticisms only. Let me know if that number is exaggeration.)

[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/of-the-few-by-the-few/772773/0]: by PB Mehta. Widely respected and referred article. So very popular that there are criticisms of it too. Google for them too. "News You Can't Use!" is one such criticism.
[http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2011/04/08/against-jan-lok-pal-and-the-politics-of-hunger-strikes/]
[http://in.news.yahoo.com/blogs/opinions/where-anna-hazare-gets-wrong-20110413-224657-743.html]: Another widely referred article.
[http://www.afternoondc.in/editorial/lokpal-bill-isnt-the-final-weapon-against-corruption/article_21765]
[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2116247.ece]: The Hindu Op-ed page.
[http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/04/28/idINIndia-56634220110428]
[http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-why-i-oppose-the-jan-lokpal-bill-anil-athale/20110617.htm]
[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/how-feasible-is-jan-lokpal-bill/1/134605.html]
[http://ibnlive.in.com/news/comment-is-the-jan-lokpal-bill-the-answer/148521-3.html]
[http://www.timesofassam.com/headlines/anna-hazare-and-jan-lokpal-bill-may-fail/]
[http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2011/04/jan-lokpal-bill-do-we-need-it/]
[http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article1766916.ece]
[http://iamstillzero.blogspot.com/2011/08/lokpal-good-or-bad.html]
[http://greatbong.net/2011/04/13/on-the-jan-lokpal-bill/]:(Last two are blogs. Can be ignored but a good read.)

Now let's come to politicians. Congress is against Civil Society's bill is well known. They have two to three versions of their own which, we are told, lacks bite and sometimes termed as Joke-pal bill. Left is against both the versions of the bill. (Google for it. I found in bits and pieces, here and there. Didn't find one single link that captures all.) Here is BJP's stand. (Somewhere read it is essentially Left's stand. They don't have there own opinion on issue of national interest. But anyways that is for some other day. Its beyond the scope of this topic) [http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws230811BJP.asp, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2389421.ece]. Same with other opposition parties. [http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-no-takers-for-anna-hazare-jan-lokpal-bill/20110824.htm] But all opposition parties are with Anna, attempt to corner Congress on the issue and ask Govt to bow before the public pressure.

True that recent relevant campaigns has been garnering huge public support and has seen mass-participation. But its more to do with exasperation of people against corruption. They are sick and tired of it, unwilling to hear any more of it, and quite naturally so. It has little to do with their understanding of the bill and genuine or informed support of it. Serve them anything against corruption, even a magic wand, and they will take it.

NANA!

2010-03-30T00:01:00.004+05:30

Have been watching NANA on etc with Taran Adarsh. What a man! Absolutely unpretentious. Some of the quotes he said.

Mumbai kiski hain? Meri nahin lagati hain. Jaisi Mumbai meri thi, waisi rahi hi nahin hain. Toh meri kaisi hui?

If I were before him when he said above, and the way he said it, I would have touched his feet.

What's fun in watching mindless comedies? Ghar mein dimaag rakh ke aao phir dekho! Ghar mein kyon rakh kar aau? Movie tabhi successful hain jab aadmi hall se nikle toh ek problem lekar nikle. Aur phir hum utne selfish bhi toh ho gaye hain. Pehle HUM the, ab woh "HUM" "MAIN" bankar reh gaya hain. Main, meri zindagi, mere log, mere problems. Toh jab aap movie dekhte hain aur agar aap khudko character ke saath identify karte hain toh uski problems aapko apni lagti hain. Aapko lagta hain ki woh problems aapbiti hain. Tab jaakar aapko problems ki ahmiyat samajh mein aati hain. Aur yeh zaroori hain.

Aajkal saare actors, koi iska scene katta hain, koi uska. Humein yeh sab nahin aata! Kya hota hain ki tu bada ya main bada mein ya tu jeetta hain ya main, but film haar jaati hain.

Calvin Quote!

2010-03-09T15:35:00.002+05:30

Why should I have to work for everything? Its like saying I don't deserve it.

Hostage!

2008-11-28T19:05:00.002+05:30

This is with reference to November-26-Mumbai-Under-Attack. (India-under-attack you fool!). Handful of men, they say 10, have been keeping best of Indian security forces engaged for 45 hours now at various places. No-hostage situation was declared at TAJ, at around 1200 Hrs yesterday, around 30 hours back, and they couldn't storm-in even after this long.

Let us assume the number of terrorists to be 100. Fighting against a nation of 100 Crore for this long, at economic capital of the country (its not a under-equipped village or town with remote access), is beyond my understanding.

And the terrorists have been successful in their mission in every sense of the word. They have created sufficient terror. They have kept India engaged for two days now. They have created much damage. And they have been creating headlines worldwide. BBC, CNN, FOX news don't speak much about India except for fistful documentaries on temples, Bangalore, human trafficking and prostitution, snake charmers etc. They have been mentioning India in last two days probably more than they did in last two years.

And news like "30 hostages rescued from Trident", "Seven hostages rescued from Nariman House" confuses me. Makes me think "REALLY???". Definition of the word "HOSTAGE" in Merriam-Webster reads "One who is involuntarily controlled by an outside influence". Is it not true for all of Mumbaikars? All of us? Terrorists have been attacking at will, where they want, when they want. At one time, not long back, they have been blasting every Saturday. We all, at every point of time are under their gunpoint, living at their mercy in our own country. Do we all not suit the definition of Hostage. Symbolically seeing hostages have not been rescued, they just have been taken out of the hotels.

Wonderul Code!

2008-09-20T00:28:00.004+05:30

Amazingly fast and accurate algo to generate random number in O(1) time.

int getRandomNumber(void) {
// We arrived at this number by rolling a fair dice.
return 4;
}

Oh ya, I have one more. A very famous interview question, in C, is to implement sizeof. Its as zimble as following:

#define MY_SIZEOF sizeof

Amazing! Borrowed thoughts though. :-)

Letter To CNN-IBN.

2008-06-27T19:58:00.003+05:30

I wrote the following letter to CNN-IBN Editorial Team today.

Dear Editorial Team Members,

Not entering into greetings and niceties, lemme directly come to point.

I have been following news through your channel for quite some time now. I sincerely consider you, and NDTV, as best and genuine news providers, placing you over and above NDTV. I also appreciate you for doing journalism as it should be done. I believe, I have few suggestions and programming ideas for your channel. Following are some:
1. I have an unique programming idea. How about a programme called "Address The Nation"?

I often find regular interviews and debates insufficient to put across a point. They are restricted to answering only what is asked and we, as viewers, only get to know bits and pieces of whole thing.

A programme like "Address The Nation" will help its speakers to connect directly with the viewers and explain subjects/view-points/opininons unrestricted and uniterrupted(by an interviewer). Like, say if Left stands against the nuclear deal they can have some representative XYZ and speak directly to your viewers through this programme and lay down the points why do they oppose. Not only laying down the points but also explaining the nitty-gritties. Like one of their points against the deal is Hyde Act. Now, how many of your viewers, do you think, know whats there in the Hyde Act. So Hyde Act is a point, which has come out through some of your programmes. Whats-in-it-that-we-should-be-wary-of hasn't. Similarly we can have someone for the deal speaking to the people. So leaders get to say all they want to say. Viewers are more informed. You get programming free-of-cost with no need to spend a penny on anchor or interviewer. You can ask the speaker to break his speech in such way that commercials can be pushed in when required. The duration of such programme should be two hours. We can have one speker consume the full time. Or two or three speakers speaking one after the other, speaking possibly on different topics. Look and feel can be very formal, like president addressing the nation, informal if the topic is light. Topics can range from political issues to view points to controversies to sports and films. Like I fancy Kapil Sibbal addressing the nation on why Nuclear Deal is safe and should be done. I fancy Sitaram Yechury addressing the nation on why Nuclear Deal is unsafe and should not be done. I fancy Yash Chopra addressing the nation for why agitaion against Fanna is Stupid. I fancy Ratan Tata addressing the nation on how environment concerns are probably invalid and Nano is a revolution. I fancy Sunita Narain addressing the nation on why Nano is a disaster in making.

2. Weather reporting should be a compulsory part of your prime time news bulletins. Also you can dedicate 15 mins every day, probably in not-so-prime-time, discussing weather of the country. You can also discuss Pollution levels of key cities, Noise decibels at random locations etc... (Actually I cann't thnk of any more... :-) ) Else don't make any hue and cry over how Government could not reach people affected of flood, earthquake etc.

3. How about having dedicated 30 mins everyday reading some of the most important news to dumb-and-deaf. Programme can be slotted in not-so-prime-time again. Resposible jouanalism. Right? All Inclusive Journalism. Right?

Wrapping-up for now. Have some more ideas... But some time later!

GoodBye.

Hundred!

2008-01-04T17:33:00.000+05:30

Unable to update my blog these days as I am too busy, and continue to be so, firstly with house hunt, and now with finalising the deal. So much so that I am visiting my blog after some 2 months. So much so that I almost missed the visitor count crossing hundred. Anyways, should be back and regular in a months time, after the deal is settled, home loan is finalised, agreement done.

Calvin Quote!

2007-11-22T01:34:00.000+05:30

I always have to postpone what I WANT to do for what I HAVE to do.

A curry of two stories...

2007-11-20T23:22:00.000+05:30

I had been to M.G Road today, primarily to get a pair of shoes that goes with my recently upgraded wardrobe. This upgradation was long due. Additionally, I had to collect my brother's old, and now faulty, mobile given for repair at Nokia Service Centre. First I went to the Nokia Service Center. He was quoting Rs 650 for repairing the mobile that I bought for Rs 1900 (These days it is available for Rs 1600.) Now I am in no need of an additional mobile... I have one! My brother has one! This piece in question was faulty and lying idle for long and so brother thought why not to fix it, if possible.

At service centre I gave the job sheet and asked for the mobile. He gave me and asked Rs 56 as RB charges. "RB charges"? "...Return back charges". We had a verbal duel on this. "But I gave my mobile to get the quotation firstly and repair if the quotation suits me. You gave me a quotation that I felt was unnecessary for me to spend. I haven't got any sort of servicing done so why these charges?" To this he showed me bills that he had been levying such charges on others too. The bills were for Rs 50, Rs 55 and Rs 56. "This is authorised Nokia service centre and theses are Nokia charges", he said. Now the job sheet given to me doesn't mention anything of this sort at the first place. Although it mentions all else like how service comes with warranty, warranty isn't extended for virus related problems, parts and replacement are over and above the service charges etc. But no mention of RB charges. "And if these charges are from Nokia then why it isn't constant, say 56. Why 50, 55, 56?". To this he says that "often people don't have exact change and they vary the charges to convenience". "What a story! So do you pay the rest from your pocket?" "Yes we do..." "Eh"? I could not come up with a better response. At the end I could not reason it out and had to give in. At the back of my mind I was recalling Winston Churchill's famous quote "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, GIVE UP!" Probably he didn't have a faulty mobile to be repaired and never had to bother about paying RB charges... (Incidentally I also saw a poster with this quote across the road.)

Then I started to look for my shoe. While entering "WOODLANDS" showroom a young boy, 8-9 years old, stopped me and asked whether I wanted to get my shoes polished. (He was carrying his equipments in Poly bag). I was wearing a pair of "WOODLANDS". I said no, you may ruin it. He said only Rs 2 for polish. I walked ahead smiling to his this offer. I said to myself "Money isn't the criteria, dear"! At my back he said "he is hungry". After some 10 minutes I came out of the showroom and found the boy still standing in anticipation. His anticipation, the hungry factor and mostly his age moved me. I took out Rs 10 and gave it to him. (But what more could I do?) He said he doesn't want to beg. He said he will polish my shoe just to rub off the dust. I noticed that his brush was having color from old polishes and still may spoil my shoe. I said don't consider this as alms. Tomorrow if you have money give it to some one as needy as you are today. He thanked me. I started to walk away but noticed that he is following me. I stopped. He comes up to me and says that he wants to say something if I don't mind. "Go ahead"! I sort of knew what was coming. He asked that can I buy him a box/foot-rest as people don't get shoes polished from him because he doesn't have a foot rest. Hummm... if he had asked for more I would have shoo-ed him away. But here he was asking for equipment. "Well, where's it available"? "Near Aurora towers..." "Let's go then". I bought him one for Rs 150, the best one.

I just hope that I am not fooled. Maybe he could sell that box to the same person I bought from. I don't worry about my money but just that I am not fooled. I will be happy to know that he sold the box and made some Rs 100 out of it. He was in need, indeed! I will be happier if he continues with the box and it helps him get more business. Whatever it be, still paying this 150 was satisfying and paying that Rs 50 as RB charges was troubling. Here with the boy I might have been fooled. And there at service centre, I surely was.

Critical About Critics!

2007-11-13T01:16:00.000+05:30

Recently, Anurag Kashyap, while accepting his latest movie, "No Smoking", was bad, had reservations about how some reviewers write reviews. Check it out here! ...and here! He Particularly named Nikhat Kazmi (of TOI fame) and Khalid Mohammad. Someone wrote that he probably was drugged when making the film... :-)

He is getting back on critics because his film is universally panned. However, I share some of what he has to say in his critic bashing blog. Reviewing becomes easy (and irresponsible) merely by saying that the object of criticism is good or is bad. Instead reviewers should give informed reasoning, methodical analysis and careful observation on the object of criticism. The best way will be one should classify and differentiate sections within a review. Some of the sections mandatory for film review, a case in point, should be:

Some background of the movie (Period/Sequel/Copied/Remade) and people involved in its making. (Their credentials.)
Summary of the plot keeping the climacs, suspense and thrill safe. (Very fine line to maintain here.)
What is good in it, as if one insists on finding some thing good no matter how bad the object of criticism is. (Bad films may have good performances, good songs, good dilogues etc.)Similarly, what is bad in it, as if one insists on pointing them.
Rating or making observations about broad fields in the area of object of crticism. For films it can be..

Individual performances.
Important scenes.
Songs, background scores.
Dialogues, Screenplay/Drama.
Camera work, effects, and other technical aspects.

Disclaimers. Maybe reviewer is involved with the film in some manner. Maybe he was invited by the makers of the movie for free viewing, maybe they also paid or made arrangement to come down and see the movie, treated with luxurious dinner etc. One should disclose these details to the audience for source of biases if any...
Any personal biases. (I don't like Salman Khan. I don't like art movies etc...)
Why, in their opinion, will the movie work. Or why not. Who should particularly go for the movie? Who, among audience, it may not work with?
Overall interpretation and rating.

However, I don't see such methodical approach (or should I say acaedemical) in reviews. Also these days reviewers pass judgement like don't waste your time on this one, go only if you have nothing interesting to do, meant only for dumbs etc. By saying explicitly they influence the business of the object of criticism, which reviewers should strictly abstain from. Reviewers exist because the object of criticism exists and not the other way around. Instead the reviewer should ask the audience to go for the movie and let the reviewer know how they felt about the movie. Publisher of the review should publish how different was the public's opinion from the one they hired. (Here comes accountability!)

And ya, no personal comments and ridiculing of the likes probably-the-creator-was-drugged, the-idiot-who-invested-in-this-film-obviously-had-money-to-waste etc...

I cann't help but recall the following.

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. World is often unkind to new talents , new creations. The new needs friends..."

--Quoting Anton Ego from Ratatouille.
(How true! Isn't it?)

Belief in the system.

2007-10-31T15:46:00.000+05:30

This write-up was sent to me by an old school-time friend, Vinod Prabhu. This is his friends story, supposedly true. ...and actually unpretentious enough to trust the claim. My friend asked to publish this write-up and hence its here. The write-up came with the title "Cricket and Politics from Grassroots". I changed the title to what seemed more apt to me.

My job Profile gives me lot of opportunity to travel and go to new places. These places include urban, semi urban and rural areas. When one travels through the length and breath of a state there are often lot of things happening around you and being a keen observer I have not missed out on any of these.

One such incident happened last month when I was returning from Sathyamangalam to Erode in a government bus. It was around 7.30 PM at night and due to moderate rains earlier during the day the climate was at its best. Even otherwise this stretch is one of the most fertile cum Picturesque areas which is often thronged by film producers .I was sitting in the last seat placing myself in a vantage position so as to catch a glimpse because I was on my maiden trip to this region.

At that moment when thoughts were criss crossing my minds I received a call from my colleague at central office inquiring about an issue , this conversation mainly took place in Hindi . After finishing the call , a person seated next to me asked me the time, he asked me in hindi quite to my astonishment .I gave a sheepish smile and replied, but the hindi still reverberated in my mind and not being able to hold my curiosity I enquired about his hindi knowledge for which his reply was " sir iam from bihar …iam from bhagalpur" .That was it I was literally flabbergasted to find somebody from bihar in that locality which is tucked deep in TN but a has flourishing agrarian and industrial economy.

Our dialogue continued and I came to know that he along with 15 others from his native were involved in selling clothing bits or " kapda "directly to tailors and also to households .In the meantime sensing my hindi proficiency and his eagerness to express joy he immediately started to speak about the recent T20 world cup win which concluded only a few days ago and arguably had not faded away. He showered his praise for the Indian team and unequivocally commended the Indian captain mahendra singh dhoni for his matchless leadership and captaincy.

He started to speak in length about dhoni and according to him, dhoni used to play for railways during 2001 and frequented Bhagalpur from Ranchi in Bimanchal express, he spoke with such an involvement that it was almost impossible to ascertain his nature of work and the uncertainty involved in it. He told that dhoni used to interact with onlookers in a very casual manner while most of his colleagues used to retire at the dressing room.

He was in full surprise and awe when he reminisced those moments and was very proud that India won the world cup under dhoni's leadership. It seems he used to get frequent pats on his shoulder from dhoni. I was just a mute listener and not a hearer because I was able to absorb the undercurrents that were being conveyed.

Then after some time I asked him about his daily business routine , his average income etcetera to which he told that their team set out on a weekly basis to all the surrounding places from their base and sell the material. The raw material was supplied to them by their uncle who usually was based in Chennai or Coimbatore.

Then I asked him about his parents and there whereabouts to which he replied that they were living in Bihar and whenever he feels like speaking to them he calls them from any local booth and almost impulsively he added that the Re 1 scheme on India plan was very helpful and this has enabled him to speak to his parents almost daily without spending significant amount , I could see the happiness and a sense of gratitude in his face and in this words…which immediately made me think about people like us who have almost made it a habit to foul mouth politicians.

Its people who are urbane, educated and pseudo-westernised who constantly ignore and stereotype politicians. but here was a person who was in all praise for this telecom initiative ( Re 1 all India calling scheme ) put in force by our former cabinet Minister for IT and Telecommunications hailing from Tamil Nadu.

There is a common feeling that ( quite widespread ) that politicians are just corrupt and not delivering on the electoral promises but I can strongly claim that some of them , have delivered immense value to our society in a very short period , we might not see/feel/ receive those services all the time because we belong to a new affluent , educated lot whose power of articulation and the means to do so are much greater than those who form the major stock of our demography viz, farmers , struggling workers and the underprovided for whom major programmes of the government are intended.

As as every body knows, bad word of mouth spreads faster than good things and is also greatly multiplied by the various communicating mediums.

At the moment our bus entered Gopichettipalayam bus stand where my friend alighted and I proceeded towards Chennai. As we exchanged our good bye I could see a unique happiness in his face and the a sense of contentment which gave him enough strength to face the next day and a new location tucked in the corners of our rural landscape.

His name is Mukesh and he is a person who belongs to a new resurgent , young, economically growing, hard working and most importantly a believer in the system which separates people like us( age wise we all belong to the same strata) ..so guys I think the lessons and the essence of this small incident is self explanatory ..try incorporating it deep into your psyche…because I strongly believe in the system.

Will communicate with another insightful true account,
Ur's Truly,
R Vijay Subramanian.

Dutt! Dutt!! Dutt!!! But...

2007-10-29T20:43:00.000+05:30

Sanjay Dutt gets Dussehra reprieve. - NDTV.com.
4340-page judgement stuns Dutt’s lawyers. - Daily News & Analysis.
Manyata visits actor Sanjay Dutt at Hotel ITC Grand Central.
Tin walls, wary cops greet actor at Yerwada. - Hindustan Times.
Dutt undergoes medical check-up at Yerawada jail. - Earthtimes, UK.
Dutt wants to be home for Diwali. - Hindustan Times.
Daunting paperwork dims Sanjay’s Diwali hope. - Telegraph.

The name that one mostly gets to hear in connection with 93-Bombay-Serial-Blasts is Sanjay Dutt. As if the whole 93-Bombay-Serial-Blasts was conducted by him. As if he killed 257 people. No other name is as prominent. The whole attention has narrowed down to Dutt. Has anyone read what is the present status of Memons and Turks and Tarranis and Shaikhs and Ghansars... Most probably one hasn't. At least I haven't. But I have read about, Dutt being awarded harsh judgement, Dutt in barrack number 3 making chairs, Dutt applying for bail, Cong. says spare Dutt, BJP says bare Dutt, Ujjwal Nikam dares Dutt, Pune jail scares Dutt, her sister holding talks with MPs, judges say no special treatment to his plea, Dutt shaking hands with cops, Dutt not received copy of sentence, Dutt not received copy of sentence (Repeated intentionally!), Dutt received copy of sentence, Manyata meeting Dutt, Dutt hugging sisters, Dutt stepping into van, Cops speeding towards Pune to evade media. And still counting... And all else is lost in shadow of Dutt. Maybe he is being used now. Used now to hide everything else. Else! Like?

Like has justice really been done? They say "Justice delayed is justice denied". And here justice comes after 14 years. I know that this justice had to be done through the mountains of documentation, through sheer bulk of facts and contradictions, through lapses in human memory, through over 3000 witnesses, listening to their version and yet conclude with one single story . Poor Justice P Kode must have faced all this. But then why this mammoth task was entrusted to one person? Why not "divide-and-conquer"?

Like What happened to Mumbai riots case. 93-Bombay-Serial-Blasts took place because of the riots that preceded. It claimed 900 people. (State figures, the actual toll is closer to 1,500 according to activists.) Justice Srikrishna Commission report included names of the likes of Bal Thackerey, Murli Manohar Joshi, Gopinath Munde etc, not to mention Hindu mobs and Hindu police officers. Aren't riots too not an act of terror? But Justice Srikrishna Commission was disbanded then reconstituted then report has been dumped with arguments that it is not binding on the goverment. Many indicted policemen were promoted by the government and indicted politicians continue to hold high political office even today.

Like why the trial of underworld don Abu Salem and kingpin in the blasts case should be separate. Why could we not get hold of Dawood? Even when at certain times his whereabouts were well known. Is it not failure of our foreign relations and extradition treaties?

Like Rubina Memon. Rubina Memon is the wife of Tiger Memon's older brother Sulaiman. She has been given rigorous imprisonment for life. She has been found guilty under TADA because it was the van registered under her name that was used to carry arms and ammunition for the blasts. But is there any proof that Rubina actually bought the car which was registered in her name? Or is it that the car was bought by her husband and registered on her name to save taxes? Did she actually know what her husband’s brothers were planning to do? Or is she a typical uneducated mute muslim woman whose only job is to take good care of the men folks, and do what they want her to do?

Like Zebunissa Qazi. Zebunissa Qazi is 60. She has been sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment. Her crime? The weapons, used in the blast, were merely kept at her residence, although they were possessed by those who brought them there. She says some boys handed her a bag and told her to keep it in her garage. She did not know what was inside the bag. Anything to prove that she was part of the criminal conspiracy? Nothing.

However, All that we get to hear is no Memons, no Thackereys, no Rubinas, no Zebunissas. Only Dutt! Dutt!! Dutt!!!

Searchable on Google!

2007-10-24T18:31:00.000+05:30

Just 11 days and my blog is searchable on Google! And guess what else? For search query "Subhajit Kundu" this blog is the first result. See the following image...

Also I notice that my last blog is second in the result. Dunno when it became searchable. It wasn't searchable for long time and so I lost interest in blogging. Why? Well, I am opinionated and want to express them. I want people to read them. I want people to visit my blog. I want them to comment on my opinions. I want to be popular. And Google plays a mojor role there. If it is searchable then people find it in their search results and you get visitors. Imagine I write something about, say, "Sourav Ganguly". Now Sourav must be popular search query. People google for Sourav and get to read What I have to say about him. Higher the page rank, easier to find.

Anyways! There isn't any page rank Information available for my blog. So it is just searchable. I am hoping to have a page rank of 4 or 5 in near future. How? Secret... Will blog on it someday, if and when done. I need to figure out first that what I am thinking is doable.

Ah, yes! Thanks google.

Logic!!!

2007-10-22T03:00:00.000+05:30

Following is probably the best known and most celebrated of all lateral thinking logic puzzles. It is a true classic. Although there are many possible solutions which fit the initial conditions, only the canonical answer is truly satisfying. However, surfing through a forum I found some interesting comments and solutions.

PUZZLE: A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator and, if there is someone else in the elevator or if it was raining that day, he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the seventh floor and walks up three flights of stairs to his apartment. Can you explain why?

SOLUTION: The man is dwarf/midget/handicapped. If he has an umbrella, which he carries on rainy days, he uses it to reach the tenth floor button. If he has company in the lift he can request to punch the tenth floor button. Else it is the 7th floor button that he can reach and rest of the floors he walks up the stairs.

COMMENT 1: May be he is seeking attention. :-)

COMMENT 2: Why doesn't he use his umbrella to reach the tenth floor button if it isn't raining outside? LOL

COMMENT 3: Why does he not carry pen or pencil everyday. (Note the puzzle does not mention that he is uneducated.)

COMMENT 4: This man is married and his girlfriend stays at 7th floor. When its raining he gets drenched and who wants to meet his girlfriend when he is all wet. If someone is in the elevator he tries to avoid notice and retribution. On the other days, he visits his mistress on the 7th floor and walks the three flights to avoid detection, and explain why he is sweaty and out of breath. This also gives him an excuse to rush into the shower.

COMMENT 5: Another dumb riddle. The question asks "Can you explain why?" Answer? "Yes" or "no." You can or you can't. The question should just state "Why does he do so?"

COMMENT 6: This needs to be qualified as "the dumbest dwarf in the world". Why would he walk three flights of steps, rather than stand on tips of his toes, or jump one inch, or carry a cane or stick or pencil, or wait for someone else, or make any sort of arrangements with his living space to not so grossly inconvenience himself on a daily basis.

How to calculate EMI?

2007-10-19T01:21:00.000+05:30

Well, without giving any background to my this random thought as to why and when let me directly get to the job. If,

R = (1 + r/100) where r is rate of interest divided by number of installments in the period of interest.
P = Principal or Loan Amount.
n = Total number of installments one has to make.
EMI = Equated monthly installment.

Then for a simple case of three installments,

((PR - EMI)R - EMI)R - EMI = 0

Simplyfying,

PR³ = EMI * (1 + R + R²)

Without any loss of generality,

PRⁿ = EMI * (1 + R + R² +... + R^n-1).

Thus,

EMI = PRⁿ(R-1)/(Rⁿ-1)

or,

EMI = P*r/100*(1 + r/100)ⁿ/((1 + r/100)ⁿ - 1)

Thus, if loan amount is 10,00,000 for 5 years @ 6% (half yearly), installments being paid every month then,

P = 10,00,000

r = 6/6 = 1. (Six installments being paid in half year.)

n = 12*5 = 60 installments.

So, EMI = 10,00,000 * 0.01 * 1.01⁶⁰/(1.01⁶⁰ - 1) = Rs 22,244.

I'm back, Baby!

2007-10-13T20:54:00.000+05:30

Well, back to blogging after long time. Not that I was an avid bloger earlier, but did have a blog which was only infrequently updated. A year back I lost my yahoo and blogspot password. Back then it seems blogspot had its own username-passwords, different from google. I tried to recover my blog but it sends login details to yahoo Id. And I am unable to match my critical details at yahoo to claim my account. Anyways not much is lost except for the customizations and URL. :-)

I hope to regularly update this one. (I thought the same when I created my last blog. ;-))