Voting : Recommendations for free and fair elections [Apr 27, 2016]

MaxxRamblings: Looking at all the reports of booth capturing, rigging, voter intimidation etc., I deeply believe that a few reforms in our electoral system is due. The governments which get elected after defeating their rivals try to cling to power and deny the fair execution of the same system which vested them the wand to govern..

My recommendations:

1. The EVM machines should be tweaked and modified a little so that they also house a 360 degree viewing webcam. Capturing the goings on of the entire booth. So not just the counting, this visual data should be consulted to determine whether the voting was free and fair.

2. Another major boost to the electoral process would be to introduce the concept of online voting. If super critical bank transactions can go online so can voting..

3. For people with disabilities and exigencies a door to door collection system can also be devised enabling many people to exercise their franchises

India: A banana Republic? [Apr 27, 2016]

With every passing day, the incidents of scams, grafts, corruption involving politicians of every colour and ideology, resulting to loss of lives or siphoning of money of incredulous and unheard of proportions, makes you gradually resolve to the fact that we reside in a banana republic and the fate of India is entrusted into wrong group of hands, who do not cringe even when their acts compromise the security of the nation.
Cutting across political lines they defend their ilk. That is the reason that, beyond the rhetoric and the brouhaha, no political bigwig has ever been convicted in any of the high profile scams.. They do a bit of rabble rousing and when the lemon has no more juice to be extracted, shove it under the carpet and pounce on the next juicy and meaty headline grabbing item..

My take on the Controversy - "Should Salman Khan represent India in Olympics" [Apr 26, 2016 ]

MaxxRamblings: Salim Khan, father of the great "Sportman", Salman Khan (the overgrown teenager of Bollywood) has tweeted that the movie "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" has brought back Milkha Singh from the brink of oblivion.. I shudder at the recalcitrant and irreverent comment from a senior citizen who ought to be more aware of the feats of the bare footed Sikh than us...

Coming to the statement itself, personally I see it as an act of desperation, a senior person resorting to childish prattle to garner support for his much maligned son. And in his over zealousness forgets decency, decorum and logic. "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" was not documentary, Bollywood had benefited far more by portraying the Flying Sikh than the man himself. C'mon, the producers and the ilk are not crazy nationalistic guys to be investing in a plot which they feel will not be successful and then cast the best of the stars in it as well....

What would Milkha Singh gain from his popularity? Net sponsorship deals? Feature in ads? C'mon we all know that will not happen.. Hit or not he will not be showered with endorsement deals and expert commentator jobs (like the ex-cricketers get)... The film on the other hand will help many a actor to boost their fledgling careers.. To prop up a industry not known for anything much beyond romantic song and dance routines.. Films like Bhaag..., Gangs of W.., Challo Dilli etc are too few and far between.. And your son isn't associated with anything of that calibre..yet...

Going by the same logic, why dont you also state that folks like Mary Kom, Dhoni etc were also "benefited" by their biopics.  😆😆😆😆

A TV debate gone awry: The Samjhata Express / Malegaon blasts....[Apr 22, 2016]

MaxxRamblings: I am currently watching a debate on TV 📺 hosted by the inimitable Arnab Goswami. The topic is that the ATS chief Mr. Raghuvanshi has suddenly come out in the open and declared that as per his team's investigation the Malegaon Blast and the Samjhauta Express blasts were conducted by Pakistani nationals and not by saffron ultras. The Pakistani who was arrested during the investigation process meanwhile was silently released and let go back to his homeland. Another interesting fact shared was that the FBI had also done their due diligence and pointed fingers towards Pakistani elements. The program started off in a UPA vs NDA angle and then a mêlée ensued slowly the program took a religious turn.. Everyone was busy filibustering...

I had a few thorny thoughts pestering me throughout the program.

1. Why was this being raked up after so many years. BJP had come to power 2 yrs back, couldn't this be unearthed earlier.. Definitely smells of something fishy.

2. But if the charges leveled have even an iota of truth, that the Congress/UPA govt had manipulated facts to wrongly put the blame on RSS/BJP and their ilk then the implications are far more concerning. Here is a political party hell bent on political one-upmanship tries to paint other in a darker shade just for political gains.. With parties in power like this, who needs Enemies. We are busy bickering and clinging on to power thus creating these unfortunate polemics.

I was following the argument and the ripostes. Which as with the current trend of tv debates ended as open ended as it had begun..

Just as a after thought, i would have liked to ask the panelists that maybe the Indian agencies were dancing to the tunes of their masters but why was even the FBI pointing towards Pakistan.