As I write this column, Job is half done by UPA in pushing the bill in favor of 191-1 in the Upper House, and in all probability, bill is poised to take its course and go past the chequered flag. As everyone from a hardcore political analyst to a common man eagerly awaited this day to witness the proceedings of the Upper House, UPA finally brought smiles to the women of this country. One must appreciate the work done by floor management today as they were quick to learn from blunders committed previous day, and managed to pull the collars of hundred hooligans out of the upper house and smoothened the proceedings for a final vote. A bill which was long haunting, at least for the past thirteen years, then primarily envisaged by the congress government, had faced enough blockades on its way. For the first time, in Indian history, UPA, BJP and the Left, had come together onto a common platform putting aside their political and ideological rivalries , and opined the same voice. It demanded great courage and will for a woman at helm to successfully push the bill to empower women in securing 33% seats for Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. It is very coincident that today, we've a woman as the president of this country, we've a woman as the Leader and principal architect of the UPA government, we've a woman as the speaker of Lok Sabha, we've a woman as the opposition leader in the parliament, all holding their hands together and celebrate this defining moment in the country's history. I perceive this as a beautiful gift to the women of this country as we all celebrate golden jubilee of International Women's Day. Amid shrinking support to the UPA, from its allies outside, RJD & SP, it stood firm in slating this bill to its completion. What remains a challenge for UPA is in its ability to place financial or future bills, where even a single wrong move could prove costly to them from its closest allies.
Bill in its current form, looks a little immature and half baked. May be the bill demanded an intellectual and healthy debate in the House for some more time. I'd love put forth my views on this bill here under four points. First, Reserving 33 percent of the seats in Lok Sabha, majority of small parties will be ruined by this decision as they currently do not have as much bench strength as Congress, BJP do. Second, considerable number of independents, who are known in the constituency with their hard work and persistent commitment towards people's common problems would go vanished. Third, unless there are strict amendments made to this bill, wives of all the local political leaders under the shadows of husbands would ruin the country as before. Four, How can one expect a woman to come onto the streets after decades of suppression, inaccessibility to a common pool of resources, inequalities in government jobs and high offices? I believe the government will soon pitch onto these issues and address them before the sun sets. I'd love to see an amendment, where women are empowered at Grama Panchayat and Municipal bodies as well. I wish more and more women now occupy the high offices and make India an example to the rest of the world.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
It's not About the Bike - Lance Armstrong
Rating : 3.5/5
My fav quotes/one liners .....
1. “Make every obstacle an opportunity” / “Make every negative a positive”
2. As a parent, you gotta be with your child whenever he/she finds it tough going through, you never know how much your child draws confidence/inspiration from your presence (ref: He won all the events when Linda was there)
3. Never lose hope even if things look worse and don’t work in your way, you gotta believe in yourself and strive through those.
4. Maintain few healthy friends who can have helping hand in adversaries.
5. Being stubborn helps @ times, and do not lose your heart, ever, ever n ever.
My fav quotes/one liners .....
1. “Make every obstacle an opportunity” / “Make every negative a positive”
2. As a parent, you gotta be with your child whenever he/she finds it tough going through, you never know how much your child draws confidence/inspiration from your presence (ref: He won all the events when Linda was there)
3. Never lose hope even if things look worse and don’t work in your way, you gotta believe in yourself and strive through those.
4. Maintain few healthy friends who can have helping hand in adversaries.
5. Being stubborn helps @ times, and do not lose your heart, ever, ever n ever.
Diplomacy - Henry A Kissinger
Rating : 4/5
My fav quotes/one liners .....
1. Man is immortal, his salvation is hereafter
2. "Traveler", there are no roads, Roads are made by walking - Spanish Saying
3. "Knowing what was wrong was easy, Knowing what was right was the hard part" - Gorbachev remarked this way, about the communist system needed to be changed from top to bottom
4. "a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought" - Reagan's overused epigram
5. "the eyes are burned from the head and the hair falls from the body and so forth." - Reagan believes this passage foretold Hiroshima.
6. "We are not involved in the world because we have commitments; we have commitments because we are involved. Our interests must shape my commitments, rather than the other way around" - Richard Nixon's first foreign policy in 1970 expressed this view.
7. "Careful elaboration of political goals and military strategy to achieve them before the decision is made to go to war" - When you need a war ?
8. "When we talk about the violation of the rules of war, we must keep in mind that the fundamental violation, from which all other specific violations follow, is the very waging of this kind of war" - Even Hans Morgenthau, the doyen of American Philosophers of the national interest, commented during America's war in Vietnam
9. "A conventional war is about control of territory; a guerilla war is about the security of the population" - Definition by H.A.Kissinger, while describing the events unfolded during Vietnam war
10. "all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves as they see fit….. We have sought no territory. We have imposed our will on none. We have asked for no privileges we would not extend to others" - Truman in his inaugural address of January 20, 1949
11. "Man limited by his nature is infinite in his desires" - De Gaulle in 60's
12. "There can be no peace - without law. And there can be no law - if we were to invoke one code of international conduct for those who oppose us - and another for our friends" - Eisenhower in his address of October 31st 1956
13. "We will not accept a Hitler-dominated world. And we will not accept a world, like the postwar world of the 1920s, in which the seeds of Hitlerism can again be planted and allowed to grow.
14. We will accept only a word consecrated to freedom of speech and expression - freedom of every person to worship God in his own way - freedom from want - and freedom from terror " - Roosevelt in his radio address on May 27,1941
15. "The peace, the freedom and the security of ninety percent of the population of the world is being jeopardized by the remaining ten percent who are threatening a breakdown of all international order and law….. It seems to be unfortunately true that the epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading. When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the diesase" - Famous Quarantine Speech by Roosevelt after his victory in 1936
16. "I feel as if I am pushing open the door to a dark room, never seen before, without knowing what lies behind the door" - Hitler in December 1941 before the second world war
17. "In 1914,there had been a strategy but no policy; in 1939 ,there was a policy but no strategy" - H.A.K's assessment of two world wars
18. "I do not want to be extinguished like a lamp that is smoking. I want to sink down as though I were a star"
19. "Bridge the gap between formulation of an idea and implementation"
20. "It is reality, not publicity, that determines whether a leader has made a difference"
My fav quotes/one liners .....
1. Man is immortal, his salvation is hereafter
2. "Traveler", there are no roads, Roads are made by walking - Spanish Saying
3. "Knowing what was wrong was easy, Knowing what was right was the hard part" - Gorbachev remarked this way, about the communist system needed to be changed from top to bottom
4. "a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought" - Reagan's overused epigram
5. "the eyes are burned from the head and the hair falls from the body and so forth." - Reagan believes this passage foretold Hiroshima.
6. "We are not involved in the world because we have commitments; we have commitments because we are involved. Our interests must shape my commitments, rather than the other way around" - Richard Nixon's first foreign policy in 1970 expressed this view.
7. "Careful elaboration of political goals and military strategy to achieve them before the decision is made to go to war" - When you need a war ?
8. "When we talk about the violation of the rules of war, we must keep in mind that the fundamental violation, from which all other specific violations follow, is the very waging of this kind of war" - Even Hans Morgenthau, the doyen of American Philosophers of the national interest, commented during America's war in Vietnam
9. "A conventional war is about control of territory; a guerilla war is about the security of the population" - Definition by H.A.Kissinger, while describing the events unfolded during Vietnam war
10. "all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves as they see fit….. We have sought no territory. We have imposed our will on none. We have asked for no privileges we would not extend to others" - Truman in his inaugural address of January 20, 1949
11. "Man limited by his nature is infinite in his desires" - De Gaulle in 60's
12. "There can be no peace - without law. And there can be no law - if we were to invoke one code of international conduct for those who oppose us - and another for our friends" - Eisenhower in his address of October 31st 1956
13. "We will not accept a Hitler-dominated world. And we will not accept a world, like the postwar world of the 1920s, in which the seeds of Hitlerism can again be planted and allowed to grow.
14. We will accept only a word consecrated to freedom of speech and expression - freedom of every person to worship God in his own way - freedom from want - and freedom from terror " - Roosevelt in his radio address on May 27,1941
15. "The peace, the freedom and the security of ninety percent of the population of the world is being jeopardized by the remaining ten percent who are threatening a breakdown of all international order and law….. It seems to be unfortunately true that the epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading. When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the diesase" - Famous Quarantine Speech by Roosevelt after his victory in 1936
16. "I feel as if I am pushing open the door to a dark room, never seen before, without knowing what lies behind the door" - Hitler in December 1941 before the second world war
17. "In 1914,there had been a strategy but no policy; in 1939 ,there was a policy but no strategy" - H.A.K's assessment of two world wars
18. "I do not want to be extinguished like a lamp that is smoking. I want to sink down as though I were a star"
19. "Bridge the gap between formulation of an idea and implementation"
20. "It is reality, not publicity, that determines whether a leader has made a difference"
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