Owner: .pOINT_bLANK URL:http://www.pointblank2006.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:24:38 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Editorial Cartoons from India with top news of the week. If laughter is the best medicine then politics is the most generous pharmacy. Site statistics:Click here
Not So Happy New Year 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Seeking to allay any security related apprehensions of Non-Resident Indians, Home Minister Shivraj Patil today assured them that India was as safe as any other part of the world. - Indian Express, 09 January 2007 Read more:Happy
, Happy New Year
Small Favour 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Until now, Rs 18 crore has been released for seeds and Rs 50 crore for tools. However, just like the 75% subsidy for cows — as reported in The Indian Express yesterday — both these offers have had little impact on the ground. Instead of 2.5 lakh quintals that was needed, only 1 lakh quintals was supplied through Mahabeej, the state government's seed marketing unit. Result: it reached only 40% farmers in a quantity just about enough to plant a tiny patch of land in the backyard. - Indian Express, 22 November 2006 Read more:Small
, Favour
Nithari: Serial Lethargy 1970-01-01 00:59:59 As more skeletons and human remains continued to be unearthed from the house of horrors in Nithari on Thursday, the Supreme Court for the first time commented on the issue and blamed police inaction for the gory massacre of at least 17 women and children. - www.moneycontrol.com, 11 January 2007 Read more:Serial
ULFA Back With A Bang 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Violence by the ULFA in Assam continued unabated on as the banned group gunned down two migrant workers, taking the toll in attacks on non-Assamese people to 68, and carried out two bomb blasts even as additional army and paramilitary forces were deployed for counter-insurgency operations. - Times of India, 08 January 2007
Do Hazaar Bigha Zameen 1970-01-01 00:59:59 After a week of protests in Nandigram, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has said that the acquisition related notification by the Haldia Development Authority in Nandigram was a mistake. He also admitted, for the first time, that the Haldia Development Authority had issued a notice on land acquisition, something the CPM has consistently denied. - NDTV, 09 January 2007 Read more:Zameen
Sporting Blues 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Men's hockey was a disaster waiting to happen as India lost to China and for the first time ever in the games history failed to qualify for the semi-finals and in the process also failed to directly qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The over 350-strong (exact numbers not known) contingent which took part in more than 28 disciplines was reduced to the 'also ran' category at the continent's biggest sporting arena. Display by most of them did not even merit mention in any local paper or TV shows beamed all over the world. - Zee News, 16 December 2006 Read more:Sporting
, Blues
Hide Act 1970-01-01 00:59:59 A section by section analysis of the Act passed by the US Congress reveals stipulations that tie India down. Yet the fiction has been purveyed by the government through the media that these provisions have been dropped. The prime minister's assurances to Parliament may not mean anything. Arun Shourie, Indian Express, 22 December 2006
Indian Cricket Hits Rock Bottom 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It did not take long for coach Greg Chappell to slump forward in his chair, hands locked together, supporting the weight of a thousand thoughts. His team was on the verge of its sixth straight defeat, its second series loss in six months, the tricolour lying trampled and limp somewhere on the highway to the World Cup. One block away, South African batting great Barry Richards was reaching for the coffee, shaking his head as former home skipper Kepler Wessels walked in. "No, No," said Richards to Wessels, who replied with a wry smile. Even they had wanted India to put up a fight at the Centurion. Hoo Haa India? By the end of it all, the Blue Billion had given it their own spin: "Hai Hai India" Indian Express, 03 December 2006 Read more:Cricket
, Bottom
Nuclear Co-operation or Compromise 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Indian scientists have raised objections on certain points of the Indo-US nuclear deal. They have objected to the clause, which says India can't reprocess nuclear fuel. Questions have also been raised on the clause dealing with the inspection process. Scientists feel this will destroy the secrecy of India's nuclear program. More objections - this time to the clause, which forbids India from testing nuclear weapons, making the safety of existing nuke weapons difficult. - CNN-IBN, 17 December 2006 Read more:Nuclear
, Compromise
Taking Reservations Little Too Far 1970-01-01 00:59:59 In a significant development after the tabling of the Sachar report, Muslim MPs, cutting across party lines, today handed over a wishlist of sorts to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh: IITs and IIMs exclusively for Muslims, 5,000 schools, 2 lakh scholarships and more campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University across the country. - Indian Express, 20 December 2006 Read more:Taking
, Reservations
No Water? Drink Coke! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 "We have arrived at the decision to ask both Coke and Pepsi to stop production and distribution of all their products, based on scientific studies which have proved that they are harmful," said Mr. Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan. Chief Minister Achuthanandan also pointed to the four year campaign by the community of Plachimada in Kerala where the community has protested falling water levels and pollution of the groundwater and soil - directly as a result of the Coca-Cola company's bottling operations in the area. - http://www.anitaroddick.com/readmore.php?sid=587, 10 August 2006 Read more:Drink
Don't Mine Please 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) wrote to Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, urging him to abandon immediately the proposal to lay landmines along its border with Afghanistan, announced in late December 2006. "Using antipersonnel mines is not the answer to a country's legitimate security problems," said ICBL's Executive Director Sylvie Brigot. "History has shown that the human cost of using these weapons is far greater than their military utility, as recognised by the overwhelming majority of the world's nations." - Paktribune.com, 16 January 2006 Read more:Please
Racism: The Goody The Bad & The Ugly 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Maybe it isn't racism, maybe it is only a reality show. But I guess we should give the benefit of doubt to ourselves & make sure we don't tolerate racism in any shape, size or form. Your views welcome. Read more:Racism
, Goody
Bail The Rich, Jail The Rest 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Relatives of the 1993 blasts convicts reiterated their demand that other convicts too be given bail and discharged from TADA charges, like Sanjay Dutt. "Is Sanjay God that only he is being talked about? Aren't the others human beings?" asked convict Yusuf Kasim Khan's wife Rubina at a press conference organised by Jan Morcha. - Indian Express, 10 February 2007
The Nero Of Bengal 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Violence rocked Singur again as members of the Singur Save Land Committee who tried to uproot fences at four places around the project area clashed with the police who lathicharged and then lobbed tear gas shells to turn them away. The protesters alleged that the police also fired rubber bullets, but the police refuted the charge. - Indian Express, 8 February 2007Violence erupted for the second time today since the first outburst on January 3 when people protesting against land acquisition for a proposed SEZ in Bhawanipore near Nandigram murdered a policeman of the district intelligence bureau around noon today. - Indian Express, 8 February 2007 Read more:Bengal
Indibloggies 2006 1970-01-01 00:59:59 .pOINT_bLANK has been nominated for the most humorous Indiblog at Indibloggies 2006. To vote go to www.indibloggies.org. Voting is open till 20th Feb 2007. Some say that the ballot is stronger than bullets. Thank You!
Killer Policies 1970-01-01 00:59:59 70 Farmer Suicides in Vidarbha in 2007. In the last three days, nine more farmers have committed suicide in Vidarbha. This brings the number of suicides in six districts of Vidarbha to 1000 - after the visit by the PM and an announcement of a special package of Rs 3750 Crores on July 1st, 2006. Even official data shows that the state of cotton growers in west Vidarbha has worsened with the wrong policies of the state, and free trade policies tied to economic liberalization. - www.thesouthasiam.org, 11 February 2007 Read more:Killer
, Policies
Communal Violence 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Barley 10 days after communal clashes in Bangalore city, Section 144 has again been imposed in the Bidar area of Karnataka. - Moneycontrol, 02 February 2007As political parties gear for Assembly elections, this town in eastern Uttar Pradesh (Gorakhpur), finds itself in the grip of communal tension. - Indian Express, 30 January 2007 Read more:Violence
Communal Violence 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Barley 10 days after communal clashes in Bangalore city, Section 144 has again been imposed in the Bidar area of Karnataka. - Moneycontrol, 02 February 2007As political parties gear for Assembly elections, this town in eastern Uttar Pradesh (Gorakhpur), finds itself in the grip of communal tension. - Indian Express, 30 January 2007 Read more:Violence
January Murders 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It's been a bad bad start (it's not a typo) to the new year. Hoping that it gets better soon. Read more:January
, Murders
Bailing Out The Rich 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is in Patiala jail, was today granted bail by the Supreme Court which also sought response from the Punjab Government on his plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a road rage case to contest Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll. - The Hindu, 12 January 2007 Read more:Bailing
America Goes Green 1970-01-01 00:59:59 In the speech, Bush highlighted a new proposal to cut U.S. gasoline usage by "20% in 10 years," to be accomplished primarily by mandating higher proportions of alternative fuels and increasing the fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. - Forbes, 2 February 2007 Read more:America
, Green
Blinded By Capitalism 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The world sat up and listened when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its report released last week in Paris, said that climate change was real and man-made. The first report said that temperatures in the next century are expected to go up by 2.5 to 4.5 degrees Centigrade. What does this exactly translate for India? Most figures add up to a serious shortage of water and threat to food security. It just might be the wake up call that policy-makers in India need. - Indian Express, 12 February 2007 Read more:Blinded
, Capitalism
Common Indian: Born Victim 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Indian President APJ Kalam has expressed concerns over the country's rising inflation, saying the government will strive to keep it in check. India's inflation has soared to over 6.5% this year, exceeding the government's annual target. - BBC.co.uk, 23 February 2007. This in the same week where another bomb went off in a train in Panipat, India killing almost 70. Read more:Common
Pakistan Warned To Act On Terror 2007-03-05 10:36:00 America warns Pakistan
to act on terror. Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday to deliver what officials in Washington described as an unusually tough message to General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda. - Indian Express, 26 February 2007 Read more:Terror
IT MATters 2007-03-05 10:27:00 Reacting a good four hours after the FM finished his Union Budget speech in which he sought to levy a minimum alternate tax on 11.33% on IT companies, the main lobbying association for the sector Nasscom said in a carefully worded statement that it was dismayed at the proposal and described it as a “regressive step”. - Indiatimes Infotech, 28 February 2007
Hide & Seek 2007-03-08 01:53:00 The cat-and-mouse game involving Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi has taken a dramatic turn. Even as the Supreme Court took exception on Monday to being kept in the dark about Quattrocchi's detention, the government let on that the fugitive, who is wanted in the Bofors payoffs case, had secured bail on Friday—the very day the CBI formally announced his detention in Argentina. - Times of India, 27 February 2007
Human Rights & Wrongs 2007-03-15 11:01:00 This year's State Department annual report on human rights practices around the world puts China at the top of the list of violators repressing freedom of speech and information, including blocking access to Internet sites. For the last eight years, China has issued a rebuttal in the form of its "Human Rights
Record of the United States." This year is no different. In its annual 'back-at-ya' document, China criticizes the United States for using its military might to trespass on the sovereignty of other countries and for violating human rights domestically and across the globe. - ABC News, 08 March 2007 Read more:Human Rights
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