Tuesday, January 27, 2009

List of Indian Prime Ministers Till Date

From the Year 1947 till date

1. Jawaharlal Nehru August 15, 1947 to May 27, 1964

2. Gulzarilal Nanda May 27, 1964 to June 9, 1964

3. Lal Bahadur Shastri June 9, 1964 to January 11, 1966


4. Gulzarilal Nanda January 11, 1966 to January 24, 1966


5. Indira Gandhi January 24, 1966 to March 24, 1977

6. Morarji Desai March 24, 1977 to July 28, 1979
7. Choudhary Charan Singh July 28, 1979 to January 14, 1980




8. Indira Gandhi January 14, 1980 to October 31, 1984

9. Rajiv Gandhi October 31, 1984 to December 2, 1989

10. Vishwanath Pratap Singh December 2, 1989 to November 10, 1990

11. Chandra Shekhar November 10, 1990 to June 21, 1991

12. P. V. Narasimha Rao June 21, 1991 to May 16, 1996

13. Atal Behari Vajpayee May 16, 1996 to June 1, 1996

14. H. D. Deve Gowda June 1, 1996 to April 21, 1997
15. Inder Kumar Gujral April 21, 1997 to March 19, 1998
16. Atal Behari Vajpayee March 19, 1998 to May 22, 2004

17. Dr. Manmohan Singh May 22, 2004 to till date



18. Mr. Narendra Modi, 26 May 2014 to Till Date

Cultural Malignance!!

The recent event that transpired in Mangalore has left me shaken. The site of young girls being beaten up by roadside hooligans masquerading themselves as the custodian of Indian culture was a disgrace to the respect and dignity by which India supposedly held their women kinfolk and others.

All this is in a name of a culture that was effectively ripped apart by their own hands. I won't mention the name of the organization and give them the pleasure of seeing their name anywhere respectable. They deserve to be ostracized away from the anvil of civil society much deeper than their ignorance and cowardliness have already taken them. These people deserve to be paid back in the same coin for what they so boorishly highlighted in Mangalore. If they are allowed to get away, they'll seen be encountered with a Sena of our own to counter the malice of these thugs and by force if need be.

The authorities who were dosing off or worse conniving with the perpetrators better get their act together or they'll be contending with lot more than they are right now. There are enough bravery and chivalry left among in the society to tackle the menace they have suffered at the hands of these criminals for far too long. If these attacks on our women and children continue, there will be hell to pay. Don’t consider our civic sense to be our weakness and reason our bane.

I just had to get that out of me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LIST OF ORGANISATIONS DECLARED AS TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS UNDER THE UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1967

1 United Liberation Front of Assam ( ULFA )
2 National Democratic Front of Bodoland ( NDFB )
3 People’s Liberation Army ( PLA )
4 United National Liberation Front ( UNLF )
5 People’s Revolutionary party of Kangleipak
( PREPAK )
6 Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP)
7 Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup ( KYKL )
8 Manipur People’s Liberation Front ( MPLF )
9 Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF ) in Manipur
10 All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF)
11 National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT )in Tripura
12 Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC)
13 Achik National Volunteer Council ( ANVC ) in Meghalaya
14 Babbar Khalsa International
15 Khalistan Commando Force
16 International Sikh Youth Federation
17 Lashkar-E-Taiba/Pasban-E-Ahle Hadis
18 Jaish-E-Mohammed/Tahrik-E-Furqan.
19 Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen/Harkar-Ul-Ansar/Karkat-Ul- Jehad-E-Islami
20 Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen/Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen
Pir Panjal Regiment
21 Al-Umar-Mujahideen
22 Jammu And Kashmir Islamic Front
23 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
24 Students Islamic Movement Of India
25 Deendar Anjuman
26 Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
- People’s War

All Its Formations And Front Organisations

27 Maoist Communist Centre (MCC),
All Its Formations And Front Organisations
28 Al Badr
29 Jamiat-Ul-Mujahidden
30 Al-Qaida
31 Dukhtaran-E-Millat (DEM)
32 Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA)
33 Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT)
34 Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj (ABNES)

Note: There are few other organizations that deserve to have their names up there. I wish they are there soon looking at some of the incidents that have transpired recently.

Original Source: 2006-07-23 06:45:57
Original Source : MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
My Source: Jan Samachar

Thursday, January 22, 2009

List of American President's


Since George Washington's election in 1789, 43 men have served as President of the United States. They have led in times of peace and war, hardship and plenty, and served in tenures as short as one month and as long as 12 years. Learn more about America's Presidents.

1. George Washington


2. John Adams


3. Thomas Jefferson

4. James Madison


5. James Monroe


6. John Quincy Adams

7. Andrew Jackson


8. Martin Van Buren


9. William Henry Harrison

10. John Tyler


11. James Knox Polk


12. Zachary Taylor

13. Millard Fillmore


14. Franklin Pierce


15. James Buchanan

16. Abraham Lincoln


17. Andrew Johnson


18. Ulysses S. Grant

19. Rutherford B. Hayes


20. James Garfield


21. Chester Arthur

22. Grover Cleveland


23. Benjamin Harrison


24. Grover Cleveland

25. William McKinley


26. Theodore Roosevelt


27. William Howard Taft

28. Woodrow Wilson


29. Warren Harding


30. Calvin Coolidge

31. Herbert Hoover


32. Franklin D. Roosevelt


33. Harry S Truman

34. Dwight D. Eisenhower


35. John F. Kennedy


36. Lyndon Johnson

37. Richard Nixon


38. Gerald Ford


39. James Carter

40. Ronald Reagan


41. George H. W. Bush


42. William J. Clinton

43. George W. Bush


44. Barack H. Obama

Source: White House Official Website

Heralding the Change of Barack Hussein Obama



Change is what he promised and change is what we need, to rid the world of all the violence, mistrust and greed.

You want to put your trust on him and follow his words of wisdom, but the challenges he faces are indeed tough and have left many undone.

The look in his eyes fills us with confidence and gives us a reason for optimism, but his ability to deliver and perform will surely turnout be a fiery baptism.

After many years a leader has emerged from the cradle of democracy and liberty,
Although still a novice he is already a messiah for many with style matching a celebrity.

After so much waiting we have leader elected neither by his color or creed, but who rose to the pedestal promising hope and change with his ability to lead.

It is not his country alone that celebrate his ascend to the ultimate seat of power,
But his influence will transcend all barriers like the fragrance of a flower.

The world is looking towards him to shepherd it out of confusion and trauma,
He is a true genius orator and a leader among equals and goes by the name of Barack Hussein Obama.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Beacon of a Million Dream - Slumdog Millionaire






Among the many questions that I've come across after the success of the Slumdog Millionaire (SDM, here are some that have intrigued me the most: Does India have a true reason to be proud of the film. Does the success of the film constitute success for Indian film industry and more importantly a success for the talent that is present in the industry? A.R Rahman being the biggest case-in point to this argument. Was it an appreciation long overdue for our industry and the talent within it?



Will this signal a change in the way Indian cinema is viewed around the world. Although, I have a personal view on all of them, let's have a look at the facts first:

Fact File:

• Slumdog Millionaire is a Hollywood sponsored British film set in India, acted by Indians.
• The Film is based on a Novel "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup
• Majority of the Producer, Technicians, including Cinematography, Art direction and Sound and Costume are either American or British
• Apart from Rahman, other major contribution has come from Loveleen Tandan, who was the co-Director and did casting for the film, Natasha Nischol who did make-up and hair, and Tabrez Noorani who was the line producer.
• Rahman has given better music than SDM many times over and didn’t get the same acclaim
• The movie is a love story set amidst poverty and despair in a third world country. It was never intended to be a good PR exercise for India, especially Mumbai

So looking at some of the facts mentioned above, although we have some reason to feel proud, we should also make sure that we are not ignoring the fact of the matter. Although one should appreciate the movie as a true masterpiece, the fact still remains that the story is truly universal and would have had the same impact had it been set in any other country which faces the same hard realities as Mumbai. May be this is where the true genius of the movie lies!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Salvaging a Lost Cause??




Although the Israel and Palestinian conflict has been subject to all the metaphors and clinches one could think off, one can't resist oneself from coming up with a new one everyday. After the UN resolution asking for a ceasefire was effectively rejected by the two parties, I have coined some new terms that define the present scenario, which are, a Joke' and a 'Disaster'.

The United Nations and all the other so called world bodies which are supposed to ensure just and a long-term solutions to conflicts and prevent suffering and persecution of the effected population, is today made out to be nothing but a big, bloated, ineffective and a sad 'Joke.'

It's as if the Joker [The Security Council] goes through his endless ritual of antics, and the audience [Isreal, Palestine and the US], choses to ignore and laugh off their endless attempts [UN Resolutions] to draw their attention. I wonder, have these parties concerned decided to turn the entire conflict [The Most Dangerous in the World] into a big Circus, and are those affected by nothing but the props and paraphernalia that is just there to amuse and play around. It's hard to come up with a better description than, what a joke!!

The much touted and celebrated 'Peace Plan', the brainchild of the President Bush and Prime Minister Blair has ended up as a big 'Disaster. The plan which was supposed to ensure security, peace and hopefully a solution to the conflict only helped to delay the inevitable by the showboating and chauvinism brought on by the sheer rhetoric. But the cost of waste of precious time has only resulted in sparking a war among seemingly unmatched adversaries. Here,s there is only one winner, the casualties are much more than the statistics reflect.

The repercussions of the current incursions and the preceding and reactionary rocket attacks are sure to be felt around the world. The extremists of the world have just found a voice to support what they call the the Holy War to protest the Muslims. An entire generation is being brought up on the diet of bloodshed and hate. That doesn't augurs well for the coming generation. The children of Israel and Palestine are going to blame us for letting them down, and we are going to be left no answers to their question.

I know, me writing this won't achieve much but i needed an avenue to speak out. And this is it. So when you around the word 'Joke' and 'Disaster', you know there are more to it that what it seems.

Ode to Sachin

Feeling a bit low don't know why,
Can't see the reason how much I try.

I know there is a reason deep down,
It was always there but has recently grown.

Aimlessly I wander searching for a reason,
Reason to feel good in this lonely prison.

I hope I can soon recover,
As every moment stretches forever.

The willingness to quit slowly grows,
Hide it as much but it clearly shows.

I sit here in search of a healing prayer,
Waiting for that protection and care.

The walls seem to slowly get closer,
Building on a slow but relentless pressure.

I look back at the time I was stronger,
With friends that made me feel so much richer.

I look forward to that salvaging prophecy,
That steers me away from this depressing ecstasy.

I hope whether my prayers will ever get answered,
Or will it fade like a plea that was wasted.

I hope someone there is listening,
Seeing the pain that I am experiencing.

Would there be an answer that brings resurrection,
Bringing me what I have so craven.

I wait for the angel that brings me wings of salvation,
Or I might resemble a corpse looked down by a raven

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Making Every Vote Count



Urban Indians may have a sense of pride for their country’s democratic credentials but as electoral records will tell you, these sentiments don’t translate into any significant contributions into the system. Voter turnout has been dismally low in cities across the country. The lack of awareness about the formalities and documentation has also kept many potential voters at bay.

Few NGO’s and government agencies are working to reverse this trend. This year saw the emergence of a new initiative heralded by Tata Tea and Janaagraha, a Bangalore-based NGO working on urban governance which claims to have been successful in getting people listed and eligible to vote in unprecedented numbers. With states like Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi already in various phases of elections, the initiative couldn’t have come at a better time.

'Jaago Re - One Billion Votes' campaign, which covers 35 cities aims to reach out to the young, unregistered-eligible voters who have been hesitant to apply to vote due to the excruciating amount of time and effort that goes into getting oneself enlisted on the electoral roll.

Talking about the success of the campaign, Jasmine Shah, Campaign Coordinator, said, "Our unique campaign has been a resounding success with exciting responses from across India. The biggest response has come from Mumbai city with over 20% of total registration coming from here. This is twice as much as compared to any other Indian city.

This campaign has been one of the first attempts at using technology to simplify the process for applying for an election card. The application process involves registering online, after which, the applicant will be required to fill a two page form and forward it to the local ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) whose contact details is provided in the website. The applicant can also track the progress of his application online.


A recent visitor of the site, Kuldeep Jalan expressed satisfaction over the information provided and the overall look and presentation of the site." It can get a bit confusing at times as all the information is bundled together. As you spend more time navigating the site it does get interesting. The campaign is definitely welcome and has my full support," he said .


“We launched our website on 16th September, 2008 with the aim of creating awareness about the voter registration process and to make it easier for the youth and unregistered-eligible voters to exercise their right, while having the maximum knowledge about the their rights and the electoral process,” explained Prashant Nanaware, Outreach Associate of West Zone of the Jaago Re campaign.


The Jaago-Re website is very popular with over 15,000 unique visitors everyday."We have received 60,000 email leads with over 14,000 volunteers showing interest", says Rajesh Choudhary, Technology Coordinator for Janaagraha". He also informed that the next set of voter list will come out by January and another one between March-April, before the elections.

It is hoped that the campaign will add a significant number of voters to turn up at election time and contribute to our much cherished democratic system.

The future plans of the campaign include:

* Planning a tie-up with the Election commission
* Making voters list available to the public
* Providing candidates list and their profile
* Sending reminder SMS and voting booth details
* Enhanced Profile, Blog, and City pages to be added soon

Jaago Re Fact File:

* Covers 35 Cities
* Targets the Youth and Unregistered-eligible voters
* Provides Information and Updates to new Voters
* Applicants can also Volunteer in the Campaign
* India's first online voter registration engine

Source: Mumbai Mirror