Pratik’s Blogging Park

Did you know that there is a provision in the Constitution of India, as per the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1969 Act, in Section 49-O that a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked, and convey to the presiding election officer that he/she doesn’t want to vote for anyone! Yes, such a feature is available, but obviously these seemingly notorious leaders have never disclosed it. It is called “49-O”.

49-O: The voter (or elector) deciding not to vote:

If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.

If you think none of the candidates at the ward / constituency are able enough to lead the community, you can always opt not to vote, but if you will use this right of yours you may start a new things in our electoral process, which will further strengthen our democracy.

It is useful in the following way:

In a ward or constituency, if a candidate wins, say by ’x’ votes, and that particular ward has received “49-O” votes more than x, then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled.

Not only that, but the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people have already expressed their decision on them. This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election. This would change the way of our whole political system. It is seemingly surprising why the election commission has not revealed such a feature to the public.

Now here’s an interesting piece of information which just goes to show what a mess our system is. We know for a fact that Rule 49-0 states that “if a person decides not to record his vote, then the presiding officer shall make a remark to that effect against his name in the register of voters and obtain the latter’s signature or thumb impression against such remark. Most presiding officers are unaware of this rule. Moreover, the rule blatantly violates the principle of secret ballot, the contravention of which is an offence punishable with three months imprisonment by Section 128 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 .So even though there is a provision not to vote, the way its written in law breaks the process of voting in the first place, namely secret ballot. In other words this rule was sabotaged right from day one as to be effectively useless.

It is good to know what are the rights of a citizen and how these rights have been politically hidden or covered. So it was my duty to post this onto my blog!

………….Pratik Shah

We have achieved victory by killing all terrorist after 2 days of continuous combat with the terrorists. Salute to our commandos, army, navy and the Mumbai police. They have put in hard efforts to save the city from further destruction.

Is this enough! Are we adequately equipped to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future? Ask any Mumbaikar and the answer would be a straight NO. What are the reasons for being in such a situation as we are today? Lot of reasons will come on table. Some introspection on our Intelligence network

India has 10 different intelligence agencies, prominent amongst them being the RAW (Research and Analysis wing established in 1968) and IB (Intelligence bureau established in 1947). The former is responsible for external intelligence and latter for intelligence on domestic security. Both of these agencies have done tremendous work in cracking terror modules but it has not been proven enough to tackle the menace of terror. It has been alleged for internal politicization and lack of cooperation and interaction with other intelligence agencies around the globe. India can take a leaf from one of the best intelligence agencies in the world ‘the Mossad in Israel’

Mossad is one of the world’s most well-known Intelligence agencies, and is often viewed in the same regard as the CIA and MI6. It is known for its efficiency, and people believe it has made large contribution to the stability and security of Israel. Its many successes in serving Israel’s security interests has earned Mossad a reputation for being extremely effective as an intelligence agency

Mossad is headquartered in Tel Aviv and has eight departments:

• Collections Department is the largest, with responsibility for espionage operations.
• Political Action and Liaison Department conducts political activities and liaison with friendly foreign intelligence services and with nations with which Israel does not have normal diplomatic relations.
• Special Operations Division conducts assassination, sabotage, and paramilitary projects.
• LAP Department is responsible for psychological warfare, propaganda and deception operations.
• Research Department is responsible for intelligence synthesis.
• Technology Department is responsible for development of technologies to support Mossad operations.

The main objectives of Mossad are:

• Covert intelligence gathering beyond Israel’s borders.
• Preventing the development and procurement of non-conventional weapons by hostile countries.
• Preventing terrorist acts against Israeli targets abroad.
• Developing and maintaining special diplomatic and other covert relations.
• Bringing Jews home from countries where official Aliya agencies are not allowed to operate.
• Producing strategic, political and operational intelligence.
• Planning and carrying out special operations beyond Israel’s borders.

This shows that their intelligence is not only restricted to Israeli borders but pledges to protect Israeli’s worldwide. They do not have multiple agencies for intelligence unlike India and have folded all its intelligence needs under one roof. They do have two other intelligence agencies which works in close co-ordination with Mossad. One is ‘Aman’- Military intelligence and ‘Shabak’- domestic intelligence. India can look at options of rationalising its intelligence structure and increasing inter state intelligence network. This is the first focal point where we need to improve. If we hit the right target in this arena then we will be able to pre-empt all the imminent attacks on the country. We are good but we need to be the best!

Second point which I believe is on training of security personnel. We need to up our ante on training needs. One of our brave ‘Havaldar’ died because he confronted the terrorist with his yellow stick as against AK 56 rifle. It was brave of him but not sensible. Terrorist inside the hotel were well aware of the hotel layout as compared to our NSG commandos. They were finding it difficult to conduct their combat operations. It was one of the reason 5 terrorist were heavy on our 300 commandos. Strategic planning was believed to be missing before commencing the operations. Israeli commandos are considered to be the best strategic planners before conducting any raid or combat operations. Some lessons to be learnt from them also.

Israel trains its security personnel on Krav maga technique (which means close combat). Krav Maga is the official self defense and unarmed combat system of the Israeli Defence forces and every Israeli soldier learns Krav Maga as part of their training. Krav Maga is also the official combat system of the Israeli Police and all Israeli Intelligence and security agencies.

To summarise, I am not all praises for Israel and no praises for India. We are emerging and always evolving. We need to put our acts together and in national interests all political parties should join hands to formulate a concrete strategy to handle this menace. What if we need are required to take help from the best guys. It should not harm our ego. It is time we learn, develop, plan and implement rather than taking corrective action each and every time. We need to stop the blame game against each other and act as a cohesive force.

…Pratik Shah

From underworld to terrorist; from gangwars to bombings to open fire with hand grenades. This is the changing face of terror over the years
26th Nov 2008 proved to be the most dreaded evening for Mumbai when 20+ terrorist had taken the southern part of the city under seige.
-Iconic Taj Mahal Hotel & Oberai Trident captivated
-Nariman House under control of terrorist
-CST station witnessed open firing killing innocents
- Other stray incidents at different parts of Southern Mumbai

Mumbaikars are helpless, sleepless and clueless. It seems like their lives are taken for granted. One needs to be in the good books of GOD if he/she is to be considered lucky to be safe in such attacks. But imagine the sorrow and grief of the families of the victims who till yesteraday were a happy family! It is indeed a fearful sight and city is gripped with fear. We have been calling this city tolerant and people are brave to face such attacks. The fact is people are not tolerant; circumstances make them so; no body can sit at home with fear in their hearts. In the end they have to earn a living and go to work, though they know in hindsight that any thing can happen to their lives.

This time the terror network had used AK47’s and hand grenades to terrorise the city unlike the tradional method of bombing.

We lost three of our top decorated officers
Hemant Karkare-ATS chief
Ashok Kamte- ACP Mumbai
Vijay Salaskar- Encounter specialist

100+ people died. 300+ injured. Officials working at Taj had to give up their lives including the managing director of the Hotel for no reason. What a fate for them? Unexpected!

24 hours have passed since the incidents have been reported but we are not able to kill/arrest all the terroroist. NSG and Military have been deployed in big numbers. In my opinion this is going to be bigger than expected. More rumours of other hotels being captivated are flowing through. Some Fortune Hotel in Vashi has been evacuated following some anonymous phone call.

The strange thing is the security at these five star hotels. The entire terrorist group had been staying there for last 5 days (as per one of the Taj employees) and no body could notice or sense it. how did they manage to take so much of arsenal inside the hotel? AK 56 rifles, hand grenades and possibly RDX. These guys had entered the city via sea. Navy officials had caught hold of the Vietnam registered sea liner which came from Karachi. Why it was not scrutinised earlier especially when it was coming from Pakistan?

We have taken corrective action by deploying all the security forces as we always do. But what are we doing to take preventive action? Nothing great.

Newschannels are trying their best to provide information and also confusing the audience on the right picture. India TV leads the TRP as they managed to talk to two of the terrorist on phone. Great achievement and indeed flashed as exclusive content on television. These are the time when these news channels get the highest TRP’s.

How will this new face of terror unfold in future? Future looks bleak for the country and if no concrete action is taken by the government we will be folly to such attacks again and again. Innocent lives will be killed. Actual perpetrators will roam free and plan for more and more. This is a global issue and needs to be tackled tactfully.

All religions and all political parties should unite and face this challenge jointly rather than pin pointing fingers and trying to drive political mileage.Only joint and concerted efforts and the right political will can help tackling terror. Otherwise, civilians should be ready to give up their lives any moment any time as terror attacks can now happen anywhere; even at your home. Life has become difficult and people of this country are living under fear. No body knows what will happen next.

Security needs to be beefed up at all places even at the cost of the ex chequer. Create more jobs for security, educate civilians, make everybody vigilant. Tough laws need to be implemented ensuring they are not misused against any religion

I am shocked by these incidents and i am sure the entire country is under shock. Lets pray to god for a peaceful and harmonious country to live in. I love India but I hate this anti human events which are happening across the country. Can somebody stop it!

DNA ‘After hours’ of 06^th November had an article on how celebrities have become commodities. We had heard of people charging money for appearances in birthday parties, social parties, wedding occasions, etc but now it is has crossed the limit. People are appearing at funerals and shokh sabhas for money. Have we lost it? What are people trying to prove? Some celebrity is appearing to mourn at a funeral whom he/she does not know! Indeed these celebrities have become a tradable commodity. As per current information available, this list does not include the higher category of stars but definitely includes many TV celebrities who need money to sustain their high lifestyles and are ready to commoditise themselves even though it does not appear to be morally correct.

Few celebrities have turned down offers irrespective of money as their guilt and social consciousness is still alive and they have not stooped themselves to this extent. The worst is the family members of the deceased who hire agencies for getting celebrities at the funeral. According to them it enhances their image in the social arena. It takes them to a higher social pedestal. The man’s life has become so materialistic that we are using a dead person to achieve our materialistic ambitions. There is no dearth of fools and we are living in a fool’s paradise of some wealthy buffoons who can go to any extent to show off.

I use to think that realism portrayed by Madhur Bhandarkar’s film is skewed and compromised to suite the commercial needs of cinema. But after reading the article on the Shokh Sabha I do feel anything is possible in this ‘Kalyug’

You must have seen the posters all round the city of this new movie impending release on November 14^th. Yes it is ‘Deshdrohi’. The subject is a bit sensitive as it deals with the current alleged issue of atrocities on North Indians and divisive politics played around it. Even before the release, the protagonist of the film Kamaal R Khan has started getting unwanted publicity due to the sensitive storyline of the movie. KRK himself would not have expected so much attention from cops and political parties over his film before the release. He has become an unsung hero.

Though the censor board had refused to approve the movie, Delhi tribunal has allowed the release of the movie after cutting some objectionable scenes and dialogues. The legal cell of MNS has also demanded viewing of the movie before its release. City DCP has served a notice on Mr Khan for a special screening of the movie before the release. This is what the notice stated “As the central idea of the film has the potential to adversely affect peace, tranquility and law and order, it is desired to examine it prior to its release. Kindly arrange a pre-release show of the said film at the earliest”.

This is what Mr Khan have to say

“I have not made a controversial movie, as alleged by the MNS. It’s a sensitive and situational film on what’s happening in the city. I have made an incisive comment of the divisive politics promoted by MNS, who have already damaged two posters of my film”

All this apart, people are eager for this movie and it has gained more momentum after all this hype and hoopla surrounding the movie. KRK has shown guts buy making a movie on such a sensitive issue and I wish him all the best for his movie. Though the star cast is not of ‘A’ category but the storyline is strong enough to put the audience on the edge. We need to wait and see the exhibition of acting skills of KRK. The trailers have started appearing on television and seems that the dialogues would be worth listening to.KRK is also the lyricist, dialogue write and co-producer of the film.

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Nature is everything we feel physically around us. It is the entire universe, the planets, the sun, the moon, the stars, the land, the mountains, the rocks, beaches, greenery, living plants and animals, human beings and much more. It is something which is natural. The word ‘nature’ was derived from the Latin word ‘natura’ which means things with natural character. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. The beauty of nature is worth praising. Many poets, writers, painters have described the beauty of nature in their own way. We can talk about the nature’s beauty in many things. The beautiful sunrise and sunset, the waterfall falling through between the mountains, dense forests, the waves of the sea, animals running through the forest, flowers blossoming in winter, trees full of fruits and flowers, the shade of the banyan tree, birds chirping at sunrise, flock of birds flying in symphony, the rainfall, the sound of the nightingale, shining stars at night, full moon, the sunrays cutting through the trees, the morning dew over the grass tip, unpolluted fresh air, canals and agricultural crops, the culture, our heritage and our values. This list can be end less. Everything is the beauty of nature. God has created the nature and has beautified it with grace and perfection.

But, it is difficult to sustain the natural beauty in the populated metro cities. Industries and heavy vehicular traffic have polluted the environment and we feel short of fresh air. It is also impacting our health, the climate and the environment. When we go the country side (village) we feel very nice and soothing because we come closer to the real beauty of nature. Away from the polluted cities the country side really exhibits the nature’s beauty.

Thus, beauty of nature is something which we feel with our eyes and in our minds. We should thank god for providing such a wonderful place to live with perfectly created living beings and abstract surroundings. We all have a responsibility to preserve the nature’s beauty by protecting our environment from pollution, tree cutting and abetting green revolution. Lets pledge together to conserve the nature’s beauty.

Holidays are there to be enjoyed with friends and family. However, it can be a nightmare if it is not planned or arranged in a proper manner. I have seen friends who do not plan properly in advance and in turn end up spending more and having less of fun. How to make the best use of holidays? Apart from fun and travel there are lot other ways one can productively use their holidays

Travel

After studying for months in school all children want a good break wherein they can enjoy and have fun with their parents, friends and family. If we are talking about summer, Diwali or Christmas vacations then it makes sense to plan for a good outdoor trip. Since the holidays are known in advance people can book the train tickets, hotel bookings and other arrangements in advance. Packing of baggage is also fun. Do not forget to take the entire holiday gear including sun glasses, water sippers, sport shoes, camera, etc.  Capture the memories of holidays so that it can be cherished later with the entire family.

Pursuing a Hobby

The second best option is to pursue our hobby. It may be dancing, drawing, karate, acting, etc. There are special classes conducted in cities. One can enroll themselves for the activity of own choice and excel in that field. For e.g children who love dancing can enroll for either western or classical dance according to interest/hobby.

Sport

Students also have an option to take up a sport especially during summer vacations. There are lot of clubs who run summer camps which covers lot of sporting activity like cricket, football, basketball, etc. One can enroll for their favorite sport and learn the basics more perfectly.

Camping

Some organizations arrange for summer and winter camps for students where students learn to stay independently, take up sporting activity like trekking, mountain climbing, etc. This is also a good option to make best use of holidays

To summarise, it depends on student’s interest on how he wants to spend his holidays. It should be something in which the student learns and at the same time enjoys the break. Ideally summer vacations can be use to take up additional sport or pursuing your hobbies. Other vacation breaks can be used for travel and leisure. But remember without advance planning nothing will be fun and you might not be able to make the best use of your holidays

Take any sport and it has spirit and passion associated with it. SPORT means Spirit and Passion On Right Track. In India we play almost all sports ranging from cricket, football swimming to indoor games like chess and table tennis. Each sport has its own charm. The question is what values do these sports instill in us and how does sport benefit the masses and society in general

It aids in Community Integration

Participating in sporting activities increases people’s sense of integration with people of different religions and communities. This enhances national integration

Provides Health and Safety

Sport is an activity which keeps a person occupied and physically fit and mentally active.

Increasing Employment

Sport activity also aids in generating employment in the country. Also Sports fields and stadiums contributes to the environment in a positive way

Values to learn

Sports play a key role in shaping a child’s future. It teaches people the benefits of self discipline, team work, mutual respect and fair play. It enables youngsters, in particular, to channel their energy, competitiveness and aggression in a personally and socially beneficial way. Participation in sport enables young people to use their leisure time in a constructive way. Group activities such as team games can promote a sense of community and pride in achievement.

In short, sport is important to everyone. Millions benefit directly, through active participation. Each and every child should be encouraged to take up sporting activity and we can make a Young India who is cultured and physically fit and active

…Contributed in one of the email forwards

I loved this incident

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Only local train passengers in Mumbai will know how helpful commuters try to be……

Last week, a hapless victim fell prey to the overenthusiastic Bombay ’s local train commuters.

Our hero, a man from Pune, wanted to go to Matunga, but as luck and trains would have it, boarded a fast train not halting at his destination. He panicked on realising his mistake but by then the local had started moving. On seeing his plight, a sympathetic co-passenger decided to come to his rescue.

It seemed that he had been commuting by that particular train (6:03pm Kasara Fast) for the past 6 years and had noticed that the train always slowed down just before Matunga station and crawled at a snail’s pace while passing thro ugh it. He told the man to jump out of the running train as it slowed down and that with a little bit of fleet-footedness, he would make it safely on terra firma. However, knowing the man’s inexperience, he added some words of caution:

“Keep running the moment you jump or you’ll fall. Just keep running.” He stressed the word “running” lest the man not know the laws of motion. The train did slow down just before Matunga station and at the prompting of his mentor, our hero jumped out of the train and started running as if all hell had broken loose.

What he didn’t realise, of course, was that he was running parallel to the train instead of running away from it. Meanwhile, the train slowed down further, s o that the man was running faster than the train. In the process, he reached the door of the next compartment and the footboard commuters there pulled him in thinking he was trying to board the train! To his agony, the train picked up speed and sped past Matunga and his new co-passengers started to congratulate him on how lucky he had been, until he told them that they had actually undone what he had done with great difficulty.

Those standing at the door of his “ex-compartment” had witnessed the whole drama and just couldn’t stop laughing at the poor man’s situation, while he grinned sheepishly.

Yeh hai mumbai meri jaan………………….

I was talking with one of my office colleagues on Jainism and what it preaches and suddenly I recalled my days when I used to attend Swadhyay classes and seminars. I am going back to my older days where I was the member of Swadhyay Parivaar and still continue (but remotely). I used to attend ‘Bal Sanskar Kendras’ which nurtured Indian culture and values through stories, group discussions and tales. Each of the ‘Bal Sanskar Kendra’ was lead by a person who had devoted himself to Swadhyay philosophy. I always admired the philosophy which was on the simple concept of  learning and sharing of cultural knowledge and values and inculcation of self discipline. It was about practicing self study and self discipline. This Parivaar was formed by Late Shri Pandurang Shahstri Athavale.

What is the Swadhyay philosophy?

Swadhyay is a Hindu philosophy emphasizing on self-realization (swadhyaya literally means self-study). Swadhyay parivar follows this philosophy. there have been debates in the past on the antecedents of the Swadhyay concept and there are many owners to the concept. However, here i am talking about the philosophy and the Parivaar associated with that philosophy irrespective of who had founded the same. The Swadhyay Parivaar was founded by the Temploton & Megsasay Awardee Shri Pandurang Shastri Athavale in the 1940s. Swadhyay literally means the study, knowledge, and discovery of the self. As per book definition it is a “journey to work out a unity in a multiverse of cultures and worldviews, of harmonizing the self with a network of relationships, of creating and maintaining vital connections between self, society, and God, of knowing and enriching human action with sacredness.” Swadhyay has its antecedents in Gita, Hinduism and Jainism.

I used to attend lectures of Dadaji (or ‘Dada’ as called in Marathi) which were played on television at dedicated Sanskar Kendras and centers. They were really enlightening. I had also attented the ‘Dadaji’ rally at Narmada river front at Bharuch. It was a mind boggling rally and lakhs of people had turned out from across India. Shri Athavale’s teachings have about five million followers, mainly in Gujarat, Maharashtra and other parts of India. There are also some Swadhyayees in the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, and in the Middle East. Dadaji had also set up range of education institutions; the Bal Sanskar Kendras,  especially for children to instill the right values, Yuva Kendra to unleash the power of youth, Mahila Kendra for self respect and awakening of women and TatvaGyan Vidyapeeth in Thane,Mumbai which is an educational institution where students are taught Indian and western philosophy, comparative religion, logic, Sanskrit, Vedic rites and rituals. It is a two years course but it gives the student a sense of enlightenment and when he comes out of that institution he is a self confident and self disciplined person.

Few Principles of Swadhyay Parivaar

Ø       Devotion to God in its work

Ø       No human being is superior or inferior to any other

Ø       When wealthy Swadhyayees participate in movement activities, they should not look upon poorer Swadhyayees as ‘the other person’ in need of public assistance, but as children of the same Creator

Ø       Practice based on love and self-respect

Ø       The philosophy focuses on being God-centered, rather than object-centered.

You can visit the Swadhyay parivaar at http://www.swadhyay.org/.

I cherished those memories till today. It has taught me a lot which has helped me to live my life and to appreciate God in true sense.