Rabbi Shergill - Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Wo Kahaa Hai

For all that is wrong with our country, for all those things that rile and rankle, for all that disgusts us, for all those things that make you go, "When will we ever learn?", there is a truly the most amazing song.



If there needs to be a patriotic song in these times, then this is it. For in the last few days, it is not the external factors that have threatened India. It's the ugliness within. The insurmountable agonies, the unspeakable debasement, the sheer insensitivity that ordinary Indians have to face. 26/11 is NOT an external attack. It is direct result of the callouness of our government and bureaucracy.

The song so beautifully summarizes our inadequacies in that regard. After all, Bilqis Yakoob Rasul, Manjunath Shanmugham, Satydendra Dubey and Navleen Kumar were not victims of the criminals who killed them. That were victims of the system that never enforced and ensured decent protection for those who stood up or swift and suitable justice to those who fell.

Criminals in this country (especially politicians, police and bureaucrats) and outside (terrorits) know this and play to its weaknesses.

Slumdog Millionaire - Indian Film?

It is galling, the ignorance of some of our Bollywood actors. Anil Kapoor says in this interview that Slumdog Millionaire, a film in which he plays a pivotal role (and not just a walk-in part) is a Hollywood film. Now it was ok for our entertainment reporters with their low IQs and poor GK to say something like that. But AK has worked on the film, got paid by the producers (Celador Films and Film4), taken instructions from the director, said the lines that the writer, Simon Beaufoy wrote.

Can you tell me AK, where does Hollywood come into the picture.

CDMP using CBIP

The credits you get on CBIP can be transferred to get CDMP - Certified Data Management Professional. Most speciality exams on CBIP are valid to get a CDMP. All you have to do is to contact ICCP or DAMA, send an application to transfer the credit (admin cost $50).

CDMP is conducted by ICCP and DAMA (Data Management Association)
Previous posts on CBIP 1, 2 and 3

Lloyds TSB is terrible

Following is the official complaint I made with Lloyds TSB. I am definitely moving my bank to protest against the ill-treatment and brazen rip-off I was subjected to. Please don't fall prey to their cross-selling tactics.

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I am furious at the way I have been literally duped by Lloyds TSB with my credit card account. I have faced recurring problems with Privacy Guard and then again with Payment protection and have lost almost £50 which I have been surreptitiously and incorrectly charged.

Privacy Guard - I took up the Privacy Guard facility based on a cross-sell that it was going to cost me £1 for the first month and that I would get my credit report from Privacy Guard. I was unable to get my credit report in spite of trying thrice. Subsequently I called up before the 1 month period to cancel my account. However, due to appalling processes, the cancellation was not registered in their systems. I was subsequently charged for the next month and had to call up again to cancel the service (not surprisingly, they didn't have any records of my previous call).

Payment Protection - I signed up to this when I visited York branch (Pavement) for some other banking needs. I clearly remember being rushed into this, and more importantly not being told anything about any monthly charge (my wife, who is an Accountant, was with me at the time and for a change, agrees with me on this one). I was not explained at all that this is actually an insurance for which I need to pay a monthly premium.

When I called up Lloyds TSB, it was made as my fault that I did not read the documentation that was sent later. That may be the case, but the advisor in the bank should have explained the main terms and conditions clearly to me, which he didn’t. The documentation is written obviously not to be read; else it would be simple, summarized and intelligibly show the charges with examples. It may be my fault that I did not read the documentation, but I have no doubt in my mind that I was misguided when I was sold the scheme and that the cost implications were not explained at all.

I think on both cases Lloyds TSB has used unscrupulous means to sell new schemes to an unsuspecting and gullible customer like me. I am hugely disappointed and angry at having being cheated by your bank.

I will be moving my credit card account soon to somewhere else and subsequently do the same with all my accounts with Lloyds TSB – current as well as online saver.

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article from outlookindia.com

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From Outlook

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magazine | Dec 08, 2008

Link to this Story : Ah, Bombay...
Falling to the mother of all security lapses

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Subscribe Online: Outlook Magazine

Seige of Bombay - The ugliness within

In the aftermath of the seige of Bombay, there is a lot of praise and pride of how the security agencies performed. I want to only focus on the ugly.

I think thanks to the utter failure of the top brass in the police to manage and control the situation, exacerbated no doubt by complete lunacy and depravity of the government, as also lack of training and common sense, the security forces deployed - police, commandos, army - have been exposed badly.

Exhibit A - Inadequately armed policeman runs away from the crime scene.
Exhibit A - Armed policemen unwilling to fire a single shot.
Exhibit C - Killing the terrorits who could have been captured
Exhibit D - Still some terrorists are at large.

Heads need to roll everywhere. Good that Home Minister has FINALLY resigned. Hope he dies of guilt tomorrow. CM, Deputy CM should go, too. For too long, they have sat there impotent, giving undue attention to dance bars and family weddings. But more than that, the heads of most intelligence agencies need to go. The work of these agencies is shrouded in secrecy - not only for outsiders but also for the guys who work there. They have no clue what they are supposed to do. If you don't know, I will tell you.

Protect Indians, you motherfuckers.

The whole response to the attack, particularly at Taj hotel was nothing short of a farce. Police turned out in shirt and jeans, many of them still without bullet proof vests. Some of just chatting away to each other, in the cover of a car or a wall.

Failure to control the flow of information was also stupefying. Why should anyone on the ground be ALLOWED to speak directly to the media, when the top officials themselves are clueless. No clampdown on media itself to stop images of a covert operation from being trasmitted live. Similarly mobile jammers are now used in schools, colleges and conference rooms. Have you even heard of the technology. Why were people in the Taj and Oberio able to communicate to the outside.

This is most retarded I have seen the establishment to be. But politicians and all officials come from the amongst us. I wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong with us. We are after all fine within the confines of our homes, but outside, we are a callous lot. We dont care of others, we disrepect our poor, and our general involvement for larger public causes is abysmal. Our organizational and planning skills in social environments (where the incentives are not directly aligned to your abilities) are inadequate, which is why no one got a measure of what the terrorists were upto.

Yes, I think the attack came from within India.