Where is Thalaivaa?

Available in the pirated CD stores around Chennai.. That's the sad state of affairs for this latest Vijay starrer which was supposed to released for Ramzan over last weekend.

Alas, we don't have a release and the poor movie going public have been subjected to 555.. Not that I am a fan of Vijay's movies but I would have watched that movie than watching Bharath with his steroid induced 6 packs. Or there is SRK and his mocking of Tamil language in the latest movie, a definite NO.

Oppressed Students Revolutionary Force, a completely unknown entity has sent threats to theatres against the release of the movie. Claiming that they were representing the SRM college whose owners were the distributors of this movie. If you have a axe to grind with the SRM College owners then go protest outside their colleges. Why in theatres?

What was a police doing when such threats come to theatres? I don't think that's the only reason for the film not getting released. When a politician gets an threat don't we increase their security? Like what the CM mentioned during the Vishwaroopam episode, don't we have enough cops to provide security for all theaters?

Then there were talks about movie not getting entertainment tax waiver, which was cited as the reason for the delay. This is the most bizarre thing that government is controlling in this state. What business does some bureaucrats have in deciding whether a movie gets an entertainment tax waiver or not? Earlier some great movies like Gandhi got entertainment tax waiver to get more general public watch the movies. The tickets were cheaper for those movies which had tax waiver. Then it was changed to all movies with Tamil titles will get tax waiver by the DMK regime. This was done to enable spread of the language. Now this has been changed to only movies with Tamil titles, U certificate and which really spread Tamil culture will get tax waiver. Our bureaucrats decide whether a movie spreads Tamil culture. Don't we have better usage of the official machinery than this?

Vijay released a statement that the movie has nothing to do with politics. Why did he do that? Did someone say that the movie has been stalled because it is a way of him expressing his intentions to get into politics or about his policies? Everyone in the state knows that he and his father think that he can be the next CM, why would anyone want to stop a movie because of that?

Jayalalitha, the CM had consciously decided to not meet Vijay and his father to show that she has nothing to do with this. Has she really done that?

Now there is also a case filed by grandson of SS Kandasamy, who claims that his father and grand father are shown in bad light in this movie.

Summary

The cops should have found out who really is behind the threat, the so called Oppressed students revolutionary force. And ensure that they are put in place. No one should get away with issuing bomb threats.

I might agree with Jayalalitha's approach of not getting involved directly, but she should ensure that the police are not keeping quiet.

This is not the first time this is happening in the recent past. We should ensure that this does not become a practice.

I personally believe this is real abuse of power. Don't really know who is abusing.

Movie a movie, and I am sure like most Vijay movies this will also bomb. Why give it unnecessary publicity?

On a lighter note : Maybe the movie heard the Thalaivaa song from Chennai Express and got offended and decided not to release :)

Food Security Bill & The Objections

The Indian Government has tabled the Food Security Bill in the parliament this week. The Bill entitles the following

1) 75% of Rural population & 50% of urban population will get 5kg at a price of Rs 3/kg for Rice, Rs 2/kg for wheat and 1/kg for coarse grains
2) Also entails free meals for pregnant/lactating women till 6 months after the delivery through the anganwadis and also a financial support of 6000 Rs for maternity support
3) Also entails free meals for children from the age of 6 months to 14 years either through the anganwadis or Mid day meal programs in schools.

Basically the law claims to address the following

1) Right to food for targeted households
2) Provide nutritional support for Pregnant/lactating women
3) Provide nutritional support for children

What are the objections that people have raised?

1) Some states like Tamil Nadu already provide rice at much cheaper price and they are complaining that this act will take that away.

Response : This is a myth. The act will only reduce the subsidiary burden of the state and pass it on to the center.

2) Some states where more people have moved to urban areas complain that their current food supply entitlement from the center will go down

Response : Partially true. Even though there were oral promises provided by the central government there is nothing in the act as it is tabled in the parliament.

3) Some states are complaining that this act takes away the federal structure

Response : This is a myth. The people who will receive the benefits under this act are to be identified by the state government. As in lot other central programs like MGNREGA, etc. the state governments will be implementer of this act

4) Some states are complaining that this is not universal and they already have a universal PDS.

Response : This is partially true. However, this does take away a huge subsidiary burden from the state government and pass it to the central government. This money can be used for various other social benefit programs.

5) Some intellectuals are complaining that 5kg per person is not enough and they want this to be increased to 7 kg.

Response : These entitlement of 5kg per person is more than enough as calorific requirements of individuals.

6) This does not address the mal nutrition issues

Response : This is true except in the case of Pregnant women and children upto 14 who are covered through free meals. Rice and wheat does not address mal nutrition concerns. We need to add proteins and iron to address those concerns. However, there is an ulterior motive of winning the elections which this will deliver as in the case of NTR winning his last election or Karunanidhi winning the 2006 elections.

7) PDS is already leaking and that's not the right way to deliver the subsidized food.

Response : Completely agree. Every time you don't buy anything at the ration shop, the staff there take away your entitlements and sell it black market. Probably an aadhar linked PDS with biometric authentication will ensure only such things don't happen in future.

Summary

We do not need such a large entitlement program to address mal nutrition. We do not have 67% of our population suffering from mal nutrition. And rice and wheat alone will not address mal nutrition. People will have more money now to buy milk/pulses etc. which they were using to buy rice/wheat. End of the day the state cannot provide everything at a subsidy.

I like the second and 3rd part of the acts which ensures free meals to Pregnant women and kids between 6 months and 14 years.

All the states are given 6 to 12 months to implement this act from the time it is passed in the parliament. Will that give enough time for the benefits to trickle down and the Congress government to use it? I doubt.

Killing of 5 Indian Army Jawans in the Poonch Sector

We had a firing incident this morning and 5 Indian Army jawans were killed. This is the 57th ceasefire violation in the year 2013. This happened around 400 metres inside Indian territory.

The army spokesperson this morning mentioned this morning that our Army patrol was attacked by the Pakistan Border Action Team along with 20 terrorists and in the ensuing firefight 5 army jawans were martyred.

The Defence minister in the parliament mentioned that the firing was done by 20 terrorists along with people dressed in Pakistan Army uniforms.

India has called the Pakistan High Commissioner and India lodged strong protest.

The opposition leader said the country and the army had to undergo the humiliation because of the weak and indecisive government at the center.

Questions

1) These are highly protected areas and how did so many terrorists cross the LOC and get into the Indian side without support of Pakistan border forces ?

2) Why does the Defence Minster say that it was people dressed in Pakistan Army uniforms and not Pakistan Army? Was this done to show Pakistan Army in good stead? Why was that important? Is this to ensure that the supposedly planned talks at secretary level in September happens?

3) How did the terrorists and Army get into the Indian territory and go unnoticed?

4)  Doesn't BJP remember that within few months of the Lahore declaration, Kargil happened and that Parliament attack happened during their regime? So does that mean that they were weak and indecisive?

5) Do we have to politicize everything in the country? From the Uttarakhand tragedy to this one, why doesn't our opposition parties behave so cheap. I am not blaming the current opposition party alone, this applies to every party which is/has been in the opposition.

6) The LOC is fenced and electrified and connected to sensors/thermal imaging devices. Then how did the infiltration go unnoticed? For that matter how does all infiltrations go unnoticed when we have the electrified sensors with all those high tech devices to track any movements

Summary

It is high time we restart our covert operations wing under the RAW which was shut down by IK Gujral.

We should also retaliate strongly whenever such ceasefire violations happen from the Pakistan side. However, the response should be restricted to that region alone. No one wants a full fledged war. That is what will ensure these such incidents are stopped.

Lastly - Arnab Goswami is back with his favorite topic of discussion in his Newshour show with his favorite guest Mahroof Raza. :)

Where is the freedom of speech?

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/one-sms-and-amina-waduds-lecture-was-called-off/article4971175.ece

There are hard liners in all societies. The hindus have the Bajrang Dal, RSS and the Ram Sene. Just to name a few.. Muslims have their own groups.. We cannot let them have their way in a civilized society. I did not see much coverage about the news of an American Muslim's events being cancelled in Chennai because of these hardliners. (except The Hindu which has been covering this last 2 days)

We had a movie release being stalled, we have had young couples being targeted in the name of moral policing and now this. Do we not have a right to express our views? This was supposed to be internal event within the premises of the University and the college. Why did the overzealous cops ask them to stop these events?

What is next, will they come inside my house and say I cannot say what I want to say inside my house because some one doesn't like what I say?

How many threats do our politicians get to their life? Do we ask them to not venture out or stop addressing public meetings? Don't we give them more protection every time there is such a threat? Shouldn't the cops be doing the same with Amina?

I personally do not know what views Amina endorses but we as a society are being dancing to the tunes of hardliners. It's time some action is taken.

How to look like a stupid on the road - Part I

Some of the irritations on the Indian roads that we face daily

1) You wait for the traffic light to turn green and the traffic cop who mans the junction shouts at you to go even when the light is red.. you look like a stupid for waiting for the light

2) You continue to wait for the signal when there are no traffic cops shouting at you and start to move when the light turns green and you have the guys from the other side who were waiting also moves and blocks your way. You start to question what was the purpose for waiting for light?

3) This happens especially when you are riding a motorcycle, you are waiting for the signal and the car or bus or a tempo which is behind you keeps inching forward and honking asking you to move. You are frightened that they will run you over. You fearing your life move to the left end of the road and hope that no bus or larger vehicle comes and stops behind you

4) People honking or flickering their lights to ask for way when you are in a bumper to bumper traffic.. Not sure where they want us to move to? I wish I can fly... even if I could the guy before and before that are not going to fly

5) People who cut across and you try to block them from doing that just to see the guy before you leave way....

More to follow