Thursday, November 29, 2007

Goodbye LBSNAA

Cosmic Voices    Thursday, November 29, 2007    17 comments
All good things come to an end. So does the 81st Foundation Course. It started of on an exciting note but the hectic schedule, especially the early morning PTs and weekend treks, began to take their toll. Adding to that was the excruciating climb to the mess and somnolent speeches by the guest speakers. All along the way, we cried, cribbed and cursed. But as the course nears its completion, the beauty...

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Decline of Civil Servants? Not Really.

Cosmic Voices    Sunday, November 04, 2007    8 comments
It is widely perceived that there has been a gradual decline in the moral and ethical standards in public life since independence, which is also reflected in the character and conduct of public servants. Corruption has affected all sections of society and is prevalent from the highest to the lowest levels of bureaucracy. It was believed that, with rare exceptions, IAS officers were person of integrity...

Monday, October 15, 2007

Lessons @ LBSNAA

Cosmic Voices    Monday, October 15, 2007    23 comments
I am back !!! Ever since I joined the Foundation Course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), I have been suffering from intense pangs of anomie and laziness. Added to that are the various explicit and implicit restrictions that come with the status of being a civil servant. The conduct rules places a restraint on our freedom of expression under the clause of “criticizing...

Monday, June 25, 2007

Doubt I : Disqualification of Kalam

Cosmic Voices    Monday, June 25, 2007    14 comments
“Can we imagine an umpire or a referee who knows nothing about the sport. A President is not called upon to write poems, stories, novels nor talk about scientific research. He should take decisions on issues affecting political, economic and social life of the country,” Mr. Bardhan said giving a talk on Presidential elections at a meeting organised by the State council of CPI here on Sunday. Sir,...

Friday, April 20, 2007

Vignettes of a Tamil Refugee

Cosmic Voices    Friday, April 20, 2007    4 comments
This is my delayed response to Sambol’s evocative post on the pain of those who are forced to leave their strife-torn countries. [Link via Desipundit]. It brought back the memories of one such Sri Lankan Tamil family whom I had known during my stay at Madurai. The family consisted of a couple and their three daughters in their prime of youth. The youngest one had the loveliest oval face with big...

Friday, March 16, 2007

An IIT for Andhra Pradesh

Cosmic Voices    Friday, March 16, 2007    8 comments
The location of the new IIT in Andhra Pradesh has become a bone of contention. The CM has proposed the location at Medak, a neighboring district of Hyderabad which is being steadily encroached by Hyderabadi suburbs. However, Mr. Ramiah and others who have been at the forefront of the campaign for an IIT at AP, want it to be located at Basar in Nizamabad district as it has the famed temple of Goddess...

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Ayn Rand in Wonderland

Cosmic Voices    Sunday, March 11, 2007    15 comments
This month, Atlas Shrugged completes fifty years of its existence. It reminds of my non-iterative love-hate relationship with Ayn Rand. I was in high school when I completed this book. It was the first piece of serious literature I ever read. And, expectedly, I was blown off by it When I look back, the book resembles like an intellectual version of a bollywood potboiler. A fantastic escape for the...

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Budget Speech 2007-2008

Cosmic Voices    Sunday, February 25, 2007    14 comments
Mr. Speaker, Sir It is a pain to present the Budget for the year 2007-08. I hate the PM for making me stand for three hours and I hate Health Minister for refusing to give me a false certificate for acute arthritis. You will rot in hell. The budget speech has been deliberately made long so that all those who are listening can go to sleep and have a dream budget, like they had under a sleeping PM....

Monday, February 05, 2007

Back Scratching

Cosmic Voices    Monday, February 05, 2007    6 comments
Freudian Slips declares Goofy as the Person of 2006 for nominating me as the Person of the Year.Note: Retrospective nominations for Person of the Decade, Person of Century, Person of Millennium are invited. For details, please click he...

Friday, February 02, 2007

Animal Harm

Cosmic Voices    Friday, February 02, 2007    11 comments
Post-Rang De Basanti, there has been an increasing awareness on the use of animals in movies. I, therefore, wondered if “Veerasamy” had obtained the mandatory permission from Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), before using an unusual animal, Sloth Bear, for its title role. Rule 7 of the the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules, 2001 issued by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment says...

Monday, January 22, 2007

Singur: The Hindu responds, partly

Cosmic Voices    Monday, January 22, 2007    3 comments
It was a pleasant surprise to find the Reader’s Editor of The Hindu responding to the accusations made in my previous post on Singur/Nandigram. Thanks to Desicritics, Desipundit and Blogbharati for extending the reach of the post. I came across some interesting comments on some published letters on the Singur/Nandigram land acquisition controversy in West Bengal. A letter referred to "rumours...

Friday, January 12, 2007

Singur : The Emperors Have No Cloths

Cosmic Voices    Friday, January 12, 2007    6 comments
How much more will The Hindu defend the Marxist Government of West Bengal? For over a month, the campaign to paint the Marxist Government white has breached all decent limits of “fearless unbiased” reporting. As pointed out in my previous post, not content with the 22 pages it has everyday, The Hindu also wants to use the tiny “Letter to the Editor” column to propagate or rather thrust upon its views....
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)