MJ is dead! Music's one of the biggest (and most controversial) chaper is closed. He will always be remembered.

CnC Top 5!

1. Pak SC rejects Sarabjit's mercy plea (but will Pak use him to trade off with Kasab?? )
2. Ministry of HRD looks for major reforms, especially in school education - proposes scrapping Class X board exams
3. Swat cleared of Taliban says Pak
4. Bangladesh introduces SMS cyclone alert system (Bangladesh hits Top 5 for all right reasons!)
5. Dr Verghese Kurien's dream of India exporting dairy products to New Zealand comes true

Bangalore deserves a night life!

As much as I think about it, I can never fathom a reason for shutting down a city like Bangalore at 10/11 PM! I am told that Bangalore used to be a happening place with a vibrant night life a few years back. Then 'IT' happened, and then the people started flooding this peaceful city irking the localities, then we had the 'ausi-behavior' in 'Namma Bangalooru' and the people from Karnataka started turning hostile towards people not-from-karnataka (this sadly continues till date and random (unreported) incidents of violence dot the city).
Somehow, during all this turmoil that was happening in this over-burdened city the people up the civil ladder decided that the solution to Bangalore's problems was banning the night life (as if the night life was responsible for the narrow, unplanned roads, the disappearing lakes and gardens, the rising levels of pollution)!
Now, most of the shops, pubs and other places to hang around close before 11:00 PM. The interesting things to consider are:

• This city has the most number of companies operating at night (remember the BPO and other outsourcing?)
• The vibe of the city is predominantly young!
• Tourism/hospitality is also a flourishing industry in Bangalore as many companies have clients coming in from around the world.

A few high profile (and mostly private) parties do happen till late in the night but for most common people all the fun just ends at page#3. Last year Mr.Mallya also protested the ban on the night life calling the 'cindrella rule' 'dictatorial and utter rubbish'. What is even more stupid is the 'no-dancing-rule' imposed across all party places. Contrast this with the fact that Bangalore is also the operational centre of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who promises to give one a better way of life and dancing is a major mechanism in his teachings!
All work and no party would soon make Bangalore a pretty dull place!

5 'Hatke' news of the day!

Your daily dose of 'hatke' news, CnC style!

1. Though healthcare didn't sound to be an important agenda for the common man before the elections (unlike in US), the UPA government is now serious about extending the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) or the National Health Insurance scheme to cover all households below poverty line.
2. Indian largest private bank, ICICI is looking to restructure to save around Rs. 1300 crores.
3. Bangladesh shifts from GMT +6 to GMT +7. The reason being, the 1 hour gain would help the nation use sunlight more effectively and save electricity (What an idea sirji! )
4. Reading the PWC report on Indian sports, I wondered if sports in India would reach greater level so soon, but Saina Nehwal brings in new hope after wining the Indonesian Open.
5. A Sikh lawmaker is among the contenders for the Speaker of British Parliament.

Raping a boy is allowed by IPC!

The rape of a 'near-minor' household help by an established actor in Bollywood, Shiney Ahuja, has opened up quite a few debates in India. The 'reckless' behavior of 'guys' is being questioned all over again and stricter laws are being invited.
While there are a few criterion which are taken into account to convict a man of raping a girl more than 16 years old, any kind of sexual interaction with a girl of 16 or less is considered rape (even if it happens with full consent of the girl involved). Such an act of sexual nature involving a girl less than 16 years of age can involve very severe punishment and is fairly easy establish.
There is, however, no law that talks about the rape of a boy (minor or otherwise!). There have been many cases recorded in the past which involve a young boy being sexually harassed but they come under much milder offenses and often are never officially filed nor investigated. A report by WHO said that close to 50% of Indian children are unsafe (it includes acts of sexual nature against minor children of both the sexes). This is a classic case of the law of the land encouraging gender bias and discrimination based on the sex of an individual!

Harsha's pick for the day: Top 5

The top 5 pics from the desk of CnC for you:

1. Finally the Indian Prime Minister talks tough and delivers an impact on Zardari.
2. Two Japanese men were detained by Italian authorities last week, in an attempt to smuggle US bond worth whooping $134 billion (not sure, if its a true story or work of fiction, $134billion can put dollar on the edge and create a huge impact on world economy)
3. After the week long unrest, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to address the nation today.
4. Protests around the world to mark Aung Suu Kyi's 64th birthday.
5. Inflation turns negative after three decades (ask the reality to any Indian common man)

Harsha's Top 5 News of the Day!

Harsha's affair with the newspaper is legendary! And so is his infliction with 'electronic gadgets' (interestingly, he holds a B.Tech. degree in Electronics & Communication and spent most part of his college life building robots for competitions!). We don't get to read any of his posts lately on CnC because his system has crashed many a times in the last weeks, his cell phone has gone bonkers and his office policies don't allow him to post stuff on Blogger!
Starting today, we're going to go the 'John Naisbitt way' and pull out news from the newspapers that are interesting enough to make an impact in the future, we've decided to call them 'Harsha's Top 5 News of the Day!'. Here are today's top 5 (not in order of importance):

1. Japanese media reports a possibility of North Korean attack on Hawaii.
2. Indian Army personnel asked not to post information on Facebook, Orkut and other networking sites.
3. Anupam Ahuja says Shiney was raped.
4. SRK fires John Buchanan (finally!).
5. Its official now - NO CHINESE mobiles in India.

What foreign nationals feel about India and her beggars!

Ron (a friend of mine from the US working in India for over a year now), like any other guest in India thinks that beggars are one of the worst things about this country! He did see 'Slumdog Millionaire' and was offended by the sequences involving the beggars (and how they are 'made'). But, now that he has been in this country for quite sometime, he has stopped being 'nice' to the beggars (even the small children) and has in fact pretty strong reasons for not being charitable. I will write them down for you here:

• He has seen a number of beggars 'getting ready for work' early morning when he goes for a jog. One beggar helping his colleague tie bandages around his head, making sure the color looks like fresh blood, etc.
• He has observed a 'strategy' that these beggars adopt, specially for foreign nationals. One small kid would target one particular foreigner in a day and then follow him/her/group everywhere they go. Into the park, out of the restaurant, near the parking lot, outside his gym, near her spa; everywhere the person goes they would follow them with a face expression full of hunger, pain and helplessness. This particular strategy actually works wonders for them as this day's investment often results in a couple of hundred (and sometimes more) bucks at the end of the day.

My grandfather used to say, "Never say no to a beggar! But, always give a pinch of flour so that he/she gets to eat half a meal after working hard the whole day!" Forced beggary, forced prostitution are two big evils of Indian society. Often hidden (and ignored), these dark alleys of India need to be exposed to eradicate this evil which associates itself with a number of other crimes in our society!

Say no to beggars! Don't be 'nice' be practical and considerate about our nation and her pride!

Related posts:

1. The land of the poor.

Why did Shiny Ahuja rape a domestic help?

According to me, there could be 3 reasons (none can be justified by any means!) for rape:

1. An insatiable hunger for sex (either because of sex starvation or an ugly-huge appetite)


2. As a form of revenge/defiance (mostly associated with immaturity and/or youth)


3. An act of a reckless mind (mostly under the influence of a chemical substance, etc.)

For an actor like Shiny Ahuja, (happily?) married and with a 2 year old daughter, committing such an act is not just shameless but intriguing as well. What circumstances can probably drive this booming actor to such a reckless behavior? It is not a hidden fact that most bollowood actors have access to a lot of 'casual' sex (from both the sexes). In such a case rape could not possibly be an outcome of a starved sex drive!
Revenge? Most probably not! Why would anyone in his position want to take revenge from a domestic help!
This act of rape (if and when proven) is then probably carried out under the influence of some chemical substance which is worrisome! There are so many young females exposed to such reckless people in various parties, pubs, discos, etc. And such acts do happen but often go unreported for reasons like bribed officers, humiliation and shame (on the part of the female).
Just a few days back 100kg of 'rape drug' was seized by the Bangalore police which is worth thousands of dollars in the international market. The horrifying fact is how common the use of such drugs is and how easy it could be to procure such a drug. This particular 'rape drug' leaves the victim unconscious and unable to recall anything that happened to her. Devastatingly, she cannot bear children after consuming this particular drug!
Sex, the violation of it, the lack of it, the discrimination based on it, and all the other evils associated with it have been often covered on CnC. I will leave you with the links of the same now.

• Sex and the Indian society.


• The land of the poor :(


• A young girl's murder by her boyfriend.


• Homosexuality in small towns.


• Fashion ka jalwa!


• 3 Paki women rape a man


• Rape of a very young baby girl

Technology penitration!

They say, a picture speaks a thousand words!

Global Warming or Global Cooling?

Some decades back, the world, according to the many scientists and researchers, was going to come to an end very soon or at the least revert back to an 'ice-age' as the temperatures were going to fall drastically and as they always say, 'the end of human existence'! Books were written, movies were made, lectures were delivered (even small girls addressed gatherings to intellectuals asking them to save their future!).
Now those small girls have become young (or old may be!) and gradually the opinion of the whole world has swung a full 180 degrees! The world apparently is growing hotter now! From a 'global cooling' its become a 'global warming'; almost everything else remains the same though! Its the same sense of warning, caution, fear and an alarm to the human race to 'do your stuff with sensitivity towards environment.'
I found an interesting link. Not an official website but a lot of links that give a good read.

So is there going to be global warming or cooling? I can't tell you! But there are couple of things which I can:

• Protect the environment. It is your own.


• Do not pollute.


• Give attention to your health and that of your kids.


• Start to fall in love with the color green.