Shashi Tharoor Quits

Shashi Tharoor stepped down, at last, when it was apparent that the Congress core committee wouldn’t take him at face value again. A brief stint, which lasted only 11 months, has ended, rather ignominously for a famed former international civil servant.

He was one of the under-Secretaries-General and an able guy in Kofi Annan’s team. His track record at the U.N was impeccable and the nation’s hopes rested on him when he unsuccessfully tried to be in the race for U.N Secretary General when Annan retired. Tharoor’s chances were dim, right from the start in a skewed scenario where China exercised the power of veto. It soon became clear that China will fulfill the wishes of its bosom-friend, Pakistan to oppose Tharoor and he backed down and left the U.N.

Every one thought that Tharoor will go back to the one activity he cherishes, which is literature. We expected more novels from him and was surprised (shocked, rather) when he lobbied and obtained a seat to contest from Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency in the 2009 General Elections. Congress appealed to vote for the future Foreign Minister of India while the opponents wanted to reject the ‘new guy’ who was not in touch with the common man and the way the politics was handled in the country. Tharoor got elected by a thumping majority of nearly one-lakh votes. He was in for a little disappointment when the Prime Minister appointed Mr. S M Krishna, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka as the boss of Tharoor who was made only a Minister-of-State for External Affairs. From the attitudes of both stalwarts, it was clear that Krishna didn’t give Tharoor any leeway in conducting the business of foreign relations.

The first strike came when the media projected the news that Tharoor and his boss was staying in five-star hotels at government cost, when it was calling for austerity measures in the wake of the global economic crisis. Tharoor responded that he was paying his own money for the stay, but it didn’t sink in well with the public. Tharoor was very fond of publishing tweets in Twitter. It could be seen that he was tweeting even while on the move. There were two or three unfortunate incidents when his tweets were construed to be against the government’s stated policy and caused much embarrassment to the party bosses. As part of the government’s cost cutting procedures, every minister was expected to travel in economy class, which he likened to ‘Cattle class’ in one of the tweets. This caused an uproar and even his followers got the first hint that he’s not identifying himself with the ‘common man’ which was Congress’ mantra for the elections. He properly apologised.

Tharoor’s tweets again created PR nightmares when he offered Saudi Arabia the status of an interlocutor for the vexed Kashmir issue with Pakistan. At the ministerial level, it was becoming evident that this former U.N heavyweight was underperforming as he miserably failed to make any impression at all as a Minister-of-State!

Tharoor met his Waterloo in the IPL auction. The managing committee of the Indian Premier League had decided to add two more teams to the lineup and many states campaigned actively to form a team. It is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals like us to know what was happening behind the screens of these ‘deliberations’. Tharoor virtually pulled a rabbit of the hat when a startup firm ‘Rendezvous Consortium’ was awarded the opportunity to form a team at Kochi, Kerala. Many of the directors were not even acquainted with each other and suspicions were aroused at every level regarding the role of the minister in these murky deals and who was behind the assemblage of this motley crowd. Matters suddenly gained momentum when it was known that Sunanda Pushkar, a business-woman from the Middle East would be allotted equities worth Rs. 70 crores for her efforts in inking the deal. Rumours appeared that Tharoor was going to marry her after divorcing his second wife who was an American.

Even though Tharoor bravely rejected all accusations against him and denied the rumours connecting him with Ms Pushkar, the Congress was finding it difficult to accommodate such a man who was proving to be a magnet for controversies. When the opposition put up a combined protest against the Minister, his fate was sealed. As the government was anxious to prevent any tie-up among the prominent opposition parties, it had no choice, but to ask him to put in his papers, which he did on Sunday, April 18, 2010 ending the ministerial career which lasted a little less than 11 months.

The people are waiting for new gambits from him, as he has declared that he won’t give up the position of the Member of Parliament. Tharoor, being Tharoor can’t stay idle for long and we can rightfully surmise that he’d soon appear again with another card up his sleeve!

Silence of our friends!

On the Monday morning of March 29, 2010 at 7.56 am local time, the commuters on the busy Moscow metrorail service were in for a nasty shock. A female suicide bomber exploded a bomb tied to her body. 40 minutes later, another suicide attack on the same line in the same fashion woke Moscow to a terrible day of shock and dismay. Estimates confirm that 38 people died and more than 60 badly injured, to say nothing of the mentally injured, those innocents who’ll carry the memories of that fateful day to the rest of their lives. In exactly 42 minutes, another crime against humanity was committed adding another page to the thick and growing book of Islamic terror. Muslim Chechen rebels claimed responsibility which was anyway suspected by Russian authorities. What shocked the people with conscience all over the world was the photograph released by Russia portraying the innocent looking female suicide bomber. Jannat Abdurahmanova, aged 17 was already a widow of another Chechen terrorist. What prompted this baby faced girl to commit such an atrocity on the scores of women and children against whom she presumably didn’t have a grudge? What ideology, what religious principle, what social pressure made her do it? The world must sit and take notice.

Victims of terror










Proponents of terror

It is totally unacceptable and erratic to accuse the entire Islamic community as the cause of terror. Some people do, and they are as much misguided as the terrorists themselves. The silent majority of Muslims are against terror which disgraces their religion as well as themselves. But, we are struck by their silence. Practically no outrage against such violence is raised from that community, making people suspect that they too are in connivance with the extremists. Remember what Martin Luther King once said – “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. Yes, why our friends are silent? The Muslim clergy, which is notorious for issuing Fatwahs for the elimination of people who insulted the religion (whether true or imagined) are breathtakingly silent on this issue. There is death warrant in the form of fatwah against Salman Rushdie (for writing a novel), Taslima Nasreen (for writing a novel), Kurt Westergaard (Danish cartoonist) and several others, but none against Osama bin Laden, Aiman al Zawahiri (Second in command in Al Qaeda), Doku Umarov (Chechen terrorist leader) and hundreds of others. Failure to oppose may be construed as condoning by the unsuspecting public.

Silence of the moderates are indeed alarming. Why are they so?

Blood-thirsty Mughals

The mughal dynasty was notorious for its blood-thirstiness. Being a military state, it was always engaged in wars of conquests and collecting brides and revenue from the conquered states. Whenever a reigning monarch passed away or fell ill, a bloody war of succession commenced in which the axiom of ‘Winner-takes-all’ prevailed. The losing princes lost, in addition to the empire, their eye-sight and more probably, their lives too. Blinding by gouging out eyes was a common pastime enjoyed by the victorious princes on their unlucky brothers, nephews or sons. The following is a list of such occurrences obtained from ‘The Mughal Empire (New Cambridge History of India)’ by J F Richards.

Sl.No	Killer/Torturer	Victim	Relation and cause
1	Humayun	Kamran	Humayun’s brother who ruled north-west provinces. When Humayun returned from Persian exile, he was arrested and blinded.
2	Akbar	Adham Khan	Akbar’s foster brother. Killed for insubordination. He was thrown down from the palace terrace by Akbar himself. Whe he didn’t die, he was again pushed from the terrace and killed.
3	Jahangir	Khusrau	Jahangir’s eldest son. Blinded in war of succession.
4	Shah Jahan	Khusrau	Shah Jahan’s brother (same person as above). Killed by Shah Jahan’s troops to wipe off all opposition
5	Shah Jahan	Parvez	Shah Jahan’s brother. Died of alcoholism, even though allegations of poisoning were prominent
6	Shah Jahan	Shahryar	Shah Jahan’s brother. Blinded in war of succession
7	Shah Jahan	Dawar Bakhsh	Shah Jahan’s nephew (son of Khusrau). Killed by Shah Jahan
8	Aurangzeb	Dara Shukoh	Aurangzeb’s brother. Killed in war of succession by Aurangzeb and Raushan Ara Begum for apostasy from Islam and idolatry.
9	Aurangzeb	Sipihr Shukoh	Aurangzeb’s nephew (Dara Shukoh’s son). Killed in war of succession by Aurangzeb and Raushan Ara Begum
10	Aurangzeb	Murad Bakhsh	Aurangzeb’s brother. Killed on a trumped-up murder charge.
11	Bahadur Shah	Azad Shah	Bahadur Shah (Muazzam)’s brother and son of Aurangzeb. Killed in war of succession.
12	Bahadur Shah	Mohammed Kam Bakhsh	Bahadur Shah (Muazzam)’s brother and son of Aurangzeb. Killed in war of succession
13	Jahandar Shah	Azim-ush-Shan	Jahandar Shah’s brother and Bahadur Shah’s son. Killed by Jahandar Shah
14	Jahandar Shah	Rafi-ush-Shan	Jahandar Shah’s brother and Bahadur Shah’s son. Killed by Jahandar Shah
15	Jahandar Shah	Jahan Shah	Jahandar Shah’s brother and Bahadur Shah’s son. Killed by Jahandar Shah
16	Farrukhsiyar	Jahandar Shah	Farrukhsiyar’s uncle and then Emperor. Killed in war of usurpation.
17	Rafi-ud-Darjat	Farrukhsiyar	Rafi-ud-Darjat’s uncle and then Emperor. Blinded and killed in war of accession

The list is applicable till 1726 only. For the remaining lesser monarchs, the data is being compiled, though it is sure that it is not going to be any less sanguine. We can also notice that the killer in one generation becomes the victim in the next!

It is true that fratricide was practised by all kings at all places in the world. There is not an iota of doubt that power corrupts and lust and greed can surpass all emotions of love and comradeship. Hindu kings also resorted to occasional murders in the family. Emperor Ashoka had killed his half-brother Sushima in the war of succession and Shambhaji, son of Shivaji, killed his step-mother, Sorya Bai (but he spared his brother, Rajaram who was the contender for the throne). But, nowhere in the history of India, fratricide has been elevated to the status of state policy as had been done by the Mughals. Every Mughal’s hand was red with his sibling’s blood.

Here's a good page on Mughal dynasty:

http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/misc/mughal.html

Nobel laureate Engineers

Science and Technology together drive the modern world. But, there is a subtle difference between the two, apparent in the attitudes of the people involved. Scientists make original theories while engineers put into practice. Here are a few engineers who dared to venture into the theoretical aspects and achieved the highest distinction in science, the Nobel! The list shows the name of the person, discipline, year and field of prize, commendation of the Nobel committee, in that order. The list is by no means complete, we hope!


26. John Bardeen
Electrical Engineer
1956 Physics & 1972 Physics

1956 "for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory"

1972 "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect"


25. Charles K Kao
Electrical Engineer
2009 Physics

"for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication"




24. Koichi Tanaka
Electrical Engineer
2002 Chemistry

"for their development of soft desorption ionisation methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules"




23. Hideki Shirakawa
Chemical Engineer
2000 Chemistry

"for the discovery and development of conductive polymers"





22. Jack S Kilby
Electrical Engineer
2000 Physics

"for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit"





21. Mario J Molina
Chemical Engineer
1995 Chemistry

"for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone"




20. Paul J Crutzen
Civil Engineer
1995 Chemistry

"for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone"




19. Martin L Perl
Chemical Engineer
1995 Physics

"for the discovery of the tau lepton"






18. Georges Charpak
Civil Engineer
1992 Physics

"for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber"




17. Charles J Pedersen
Chemical Engineer
1987 Chemistry

"for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity"





16. Karl Alexander Muller
Electrical Engineer
1987 Physics

"for their important break-through in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials"




15. Simon van der Meer
Electrical Engineer
1984 Physics

"for their decisive contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction"




14. Ivar Giaever
Mechanical Engineer
1973 Physics

"for their experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors, respectively"




13. Dennis Gabor
Electrical Engineer
1971 Physics

"for his invention and development of the holographic method"





12. Hannes Olof Gosta Alfven
Electrical Engineer
1970 Physics

"for fundamental work and discoveries in magnetohydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics




11. Lars Onsager
Chemical Engineer
1968 Chemistry

"for the discovery of the reciprocal relations bearing his name, which are fundamental for the thermodynamics of irreversible processes"




10. Giulio Natta
Chemical Engineer
1963 Chemistry

"for their discoveries in the field of the chemistry and technology of high polymers"





9. Linus Pauling
Chemical Engineer
1954 Chemistry

"for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances"




8. Edward Mills Purcell
Electrical Engineer
1952 Physics

"for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith"




7. Petrus Josephus Wilhemus Debye
Electrical Engineer
1936 Chemistry

"for his contributions to our knowledge of molecular structure through his investigations on dipole moments and on the diffraction of X-rays and electrons in gases"



6. Paul Dirac
Electrical Engineer
1933 Physics
"for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory"






5. Irving Langmuir
Metallurgical Engineer
1932 Chemistry
"for his discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry"






4. Nils Gustaf Dalen
Electrical Engineer
1912 Physics
"for his invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys"





3. Henri Becqurel
Electrical Engineer
1903 Physics

"in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity"




2. Jacobus Henricus van t'Hoff
1901 Chemistry

"in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions"




1. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
Mechanical Engineer
1901 Physics

"in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him"

Bid Farewell to M F Husain

M F Husain, now 94, has accepted the citizenship offer from Qatar and with this new development, he has officially ceased to be an Indian. He enjoys the support of a lot of fans and the opposition of a much larger crowd. The nation has conferred the grandest civilian honours on him, the Padma Shree in 1955, the Padma Bhushan in 1973, Padma Vibhushan in 1991 and a nomination to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. Now, the greatest honour the country can favour him with is the Bharat Ratna and it was probable that appeasing politicians would have conferred that also on him sooner or later, had he remained an Indian citizen. Husain sought greener pastures and left without a moment of introspection of whether he owes the nation anything worthwhile.

Maqbool Fida Husain was born at Pandharpur, Maharashtra on Sep 15, 1915. He started off by painting cinema hoardings and luck and strong connections lofted him high to the highest paid painter of India. His single canvases fetched up to Rs. 10 crores. As a young artist, he rebelled against the national traditions established by the Bengal School of Art. His rebellions were strictly restricted among the artists and he was supportive of the British rule in India. He neither participated nor supported the nationalist cause. When the country gained indpendence in 1947, Husain soon realized that his artistic philosophy works best only among the international audience and his first solo exhibition was held at Zurich in 1952. Over the next few years, his works gained acceptance in Europe and the U.S. Since they are successful abroad, they attracted modest enthusiasts in India as well. The quality of his work was always controversial and with the advent of computers, he shifted to that medium for drawing. The mediocrity of the works was largely overshadowed by the dazzling popularity he commanded in Europe. See two of his paintings below.

As he grew old, he became extremely fond of Bollywood actresses, notably Madhuri Dikshit and Tabu. He produced and directed the movie ‘Gajagamini’ as a tribute to Ms Dikshit. He went on to make ‘Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities’, with Tabu in the lead role. His film attracted blasphemical allegations from a section of the community because he had included a large portion of the Quran verbatim in a song in the film. After some of his paintings became controversial in 1996 and accused in a series of criminal cases across the length and breadth of India, Husain emigrated overseas and practically lived in London and Dubai and now, he has become a Qatari national.

In the brief sketch given above, where’s the affinity to anything Indian can we find in Husain’s psyche? Apart from some film actresses, there was no Indian idea which was painted in a glorifying light by his brush (or his mouse, rather?). On the other hand, the country had given him everything it could offer and he opportunistically cashed it fully. The only thing we can give him at this moment is to wish him good bye and a peaceful and happy life in his adopted country. That we do now.

An inimitable life of sacrifice

Nanaji Deshmukh has become part of history. But, you won’t find him among the who’s who of India. This man, who dedicated his entire life for social service for the downtrodden and less privileged didn’t find it worthwhile to enter the executive arm of the government even though it was offered to him in a platter. Instead, when he thought the time has come, he retired from active politics and went back to a stretch of forest in northern India and stayed there till the end of his days constantly working for the upliftment of the forest dwellers. His service doesn’t end in death, as his body will be donated to the All India Institute of Medical Research for study.

Ambadas Amritrao Deshmukh (Oct 11, 1916 – Feb 27, 2010) was born in Maharashtra in a poor family. His desire for education prompted him to work as a verndor and sell vegetables to raise enough money. He lived in temples and received higher education at BITS, Pilani. He joined RSS and was one of the founding fathers of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) in 1951. He worked along with Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Jaiprakash Narayan (JP). By his fearless crusade against corruption which was the fertilizer for Indira Gandhi’s rule, JP alienated the power caucus at Delhi. The police baton-charged a procession held by JP with the clear intention of getting at the leader and injuring him. Nanaji intervened and covered the leader, getting the full complement of the brutal torture by the policemen eager to please their overlords. Emergency was soon declared and Mrs Gandhi put all opposition leaders behind bars and suspended civil rights for a 2-year period from 1975 to 77. But she had badly misjudged the mood of India. No wonder that a person who was totally cut off from the popular emotions by the coterie around her lost badly in the elections conducted immediately after lifting the emergency. Morarji Desai assumed prime ministership and offered Nanaji the post of the Cabinet minister for industry which he promptly turned down. In 1980, when he turned 64, he retired from active politics and went to Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh where he performed social service till the end. He was a bachelor who had given all he had for the movement. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1999 and honoured with Padma Vibhushan.

An unusual leader, who stood apart among India’s ‘netas’ and deserved the title of a true pioneer in social life. Einstein’s remark about Mahatma Gandhi is equally applicable to any selfless leader and more so to Nanaji. “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”.

Campaign 10:23 against homeopathy

At 10:23 am on Jan 30, 2010, more than 400 protestors across UK took overdoses of homeopathic medicines by publicly swallowing an entire bottle of medicines to prove that there is nothing in it and homeopathy is pseudo-science. The protagonists were incensed at the fact that the National Health Service in UK was planning to put more funds for homeo medicines and treatment at various hospitals. The program was organised by the Merseyside Skeptics Society which is a non-profit organisation which aims to develop and support the skeptical community on Merseyside, UK. They chose 10:23 because unusual times are more likely to stick in the mind, and as a reference to Avogadro's number, 6.022x10²³.

See the Youtube video of how the program was successfully performed at Edinburgh



The homeopaths promptly declared that "treatments are 'person specific' and based on taking a series of small doses, so it did not expect any reaction in the protesters unless one already had symptoms matched to their remedy". Homeopaths have a clever way of sidestepping awkward moments! It is amazing to see the stupidity of some patients who fall for this snake-oil treatment!

At this moment, it'd be opportune to have a brief look into homeopathy to see what it is. Most of the material is based on the info on 1023 campaign home page and a related New Scientist article dated 30-01-2010.

Homeopathy is based on three laws put forward by the inventor Samuel Hahnemann in 1796. The three laws are

1. The law of similars: It states that whatever causes the symptoms would also cure those symptoms. For example, caffeine which keeps you awake can be used as a cure for insomnia, streaming eyes due to hayfever can be treated with onion etc. It doesn't require any medical background to dismiss this rubbish.

2. The law of infinitesimals: According to this law, the potency of a remedy is improved by repeated dilutions with water. Diluting one unit of a homeo medicine with 99 units of water makes what they call a 'centesimal' or 1C. Taking one unit of this 1C medicine and mixing it with 99 units of water makes a 2C remedy which is nothing but 99.99% water. This process is repeated further and most remedies are commonly sold at 6C dilution in which the original medicine will be in the ratio of 0.0000000001%. This solution is then dripped on to sugar pills for ease of consumption. There are instances where the dilution goes up to 30C. However, after 12C, the concentration (or dilution?) crosses the Avogadro limit such that the resulting potion may not even contain a single molecule of the original remedy! At 30C, you have a better chance of winning the lottery five times in a row than finding a single molecule of the medicine in the potion.

3. The law of succussion: This law specifies that vigorous shaking and ritualistic tapping of the solution while preparing it increases the potency. Hahnemann made this 'discovery' while transporting the remedies on horse-drawn carriages over poor roads at that time. The shaking process is called succussion and it is believed that this process allows the water to retain the 'memory' or 'vibrations' of the original substance, long after it has been diluted away to nothing.

So, it is clear that the entire homeopathic edifice is based on these three absurd laws which have no scientific basis. Then, you will obviously find some ardent supporters of this treatment who are convinced of its efficacy and they are not freaks or fraudsters. How is it possible? We have here what the medical people call 'placebo effect'. Placebo is a neutral thing which does not affect the patient in any chemical way. This sets in motion a healing process effected by psychological belief that the patient is given the right medicine. Obviously, the inner brain has a good role in making us cured of the disease. In fact, placebos are used in the testing of new drugs in modern medicine. Two groups of patients will be given a placebo and the test medicine without disclosing which is which and the results are analysed to see if the test medicine performs markedly superior to the placebo. There are two types of diseases, one which is healed by medication and the other which is healed without any medicine. Homeopathy, with its placebo effect, is effective only in the second instance!

Often, people ask, "what is the problem in trying homeopathy, since it won't cause any side effects?". Of course, there are no harmful side effects other than the possibility of a crate full of homeo medicines accidentally falling on your head. There are no side effects, but there are no effects, either! It is a bit like justifying building a car without any wheels on the basis that you can still enjoy the comfy leather seats and play with the gear shift. Even with the pure water they use, there are some indirect side effects which may cause severe trauma for unsuspecting victims. Most homeopaths oppose vaccinations of any kind thus putting the lives of their trusting patients and relatives at risk. This irresponsible insanity is based on the three fraudulent homeo laws mentioned above.

To wind up, kudos to the Merseyside Skeptics who demonstrated the fallacy of this mode of treatment which gobbles up precious tax payer's money for unscientific treatment based on outdated rituals of the 18th century. It is high time that such a protest be planned in India as well.