picture of the day

Alligator, Florida

Alligator, Florida

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Mumbai Worli Sea Link

Mahesh Bhupathi and Lara Dutta to get married on February 19

mahesh bhupati with lara datta

      Indian Tennis Star Mahesh Bhupathi and Bollywood Star and former Miss Universe, Lara Dutta is getting married on the 19th of February 2011. Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi born June 7, 1974 in Chennai, is an Indian professional tennis player widely regarded as among the best doubles players in the world with 11 Grand Slam titles to his credit. Mahesh was married to Shwetha Jaishankar and now they are divorced. Mahesh and Lara had got engaged during September 2010. The wedding function would be held at a luxury resort in Goa on February 19, will be an exclusive, by-invitation-only affair with some 300 guests, mostly family and friends.

The top films at the North American box office

LOS ANGELES, April 15 - Following are the top 10 movies at North American box offices for the three days starting April 13, led by "The Hunger Games" at No. 1, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters.

1 (1) The Hunger Games .....................$ 21.5 million

2 (*) The Three Stooges ....................$ 17.1 million

3 (*) The Cabin in the Woods................$ 14.9 million

4 (3) Titanic 3-D ..........................$ 11.6 million

5 (2) American Reunion......................$ 10.7 million

6 (5) Mirror Mirror .......................$ 7.0 million

7 (4) Wrath of the Titans...................$ 6.9 million

8 (6) 21 Jump Street.......... .............$ 6.8 million

9 (*) Lockout.... ..........................$ 6.3 million

10 (7) Dr. Seuss' The Lorax..................$ 3.0 million

NOTE: Last weekend's rankings in parenthesis.

(*) = new release

CUMULATIVE TOTALS:

The Hunger Games ..........................$ 337.1 million

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax ......................$ 204.5 million

21 Jump Street ........................... $ 120.6 million

Wrath of the Titans........................$ 71.3 million

Mirror Mirror .............................$ 49.5 million

Titanic 3-D................................$ 44.4 million

American Reunion...........................$ 39.9 million

The Three Stooges..........................$ 17.1 million

The Cabin in the Woods.....................$ 14.9 million

Lockout....................................$ 6.3 million

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp released "The Hunger Games" and "The Cabin in the Woods." News Corp's 20th Century Fox studio distributed "The Three Stooges."

Open Road Films, a joint venture between theater owners Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc, distributed "Lockout."

Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros. distributed "Wrath of the Titans," and Sony Corp's film division released "21 Jump Street."

Satellite,Space pictures pick up lots more penguins in world

LONDON

London

- Scientists counting emperor penguins from space have found twice as many of the birds in Antarctica as expected.

The discovery is reassuring for a species seen as under threat from global warming and will provide researchers with a benchmark for monitoring the giants of the penguin world in years to come.

Using high-resolution satellite images to study each of 44 colonies around the coastline of Antarctica, experts said on Friday they put the total emperor penguin population at 595,000, or roughly double previous estimates of 270,000 to 350,000.

"It's good news," team leader Peter Fretwell of the British Antarctic Survey said in an interview. "It gives us a bit more confidence not only that there are lots of emperor penguins out there but that we can actually keep track of them as well."

Seven of the colonies studied had never been seen before.

SYDNEY

Sydney

- Counting emperor penguins in their icy Antarctic habitat was not easy until researchers used new technology to map the birds from space, and they received a pleasant penguin surprise for their efforts.

Using satellite mapping with resolution high enough to distinguish ice shadows from penguin poo, an international team has carried out what they say is an unprecedented penguin census from the heavens over the past three years.

The good news was that the team found the Antarctic emperor penguin population numbered about 595,000, nearly double previous estimates.

But the bad news was that some colonies have disappeared altogether due to changing weather patterns and the long-term future of the birds is far from assured.

"Yes, this is the first comprehensive census of a species taken from space, absolutely," said Barbara Wienecke, a sea bird ecologist with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) who spoke with Reuters by phone from the Aurora Australis research vessel.

Previous counts have been inaccurate due to rough terrain that made some colonies inaccessible and frigid temperatures that can plummet to - 50 degrees Celsius (- 58 Fahrenheit).

Brent falls below $120 on China data, Euro zone worries

SINGAPORE - Brent crude fell below $120 on Monday as growing worries about the global economy from Europe to China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer, reinforced concerns about slowing demand for petroleum.

But the slide in crude prices was stemmed by lingering concerns that western sanctions could further disrupt Iranian oil exports.

Front-month Brent crude slipped $1.28 to $119.93 a barrel by 3:31 a.m. Eastern Time, after settling at $121.21 a barrel on Friday. U.S. oil slipped 79 cents to $102.05 a barrel after settling at $102.83.

"The weaker-than-expected Chinese data appears to be the key driver of the market right now," said Tetsu Emori, a Tokyo-based commodities fund manager at Astmax Investments.

Data showed that China's economy grew at the slowest pace in nearly three years in the first quarter, raising fears that the downward drift will extend into the second quarter and dampen oil demand.

China's implied oil demand rose moderately in March over a year earlier, but stood at a five-month low on a daily basis, as refineries scaled back runs to the lowest level since October on maintenance and poor refining margins.

A stronger dollar and a jump in the cost of insuring Spanish debt against default to a record high on Friday also renewed worries about the eurozone debt crisis.

A U.S. survey showed consumer sentiment had slipped in early April as higher gasoline prices hit household budgets.

Libyan oil exports to total 1.29 million bpd in May

Libyan crude oil exports are expected to amount to 40 million barrels in May, or 1.29 million barrels per day (bpd), a senior official at Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC)said on Monday.

NOC plans to sell 30 million barrels, while firms that receive oil for investing in Libyan production are expected to take 10 million barrels.

The May exports are on par with April's, also expected to be 40 million barrels, or 1.33 million bpd when divided over a smaller number of days in the month. NOC is selling a greater share in April at 34 million barrels, however, while firms with an equity interest are taking 6 million barrels.

The restart date of Libya's largest refinery, Ras Lanuf, is still uncertain, awaiting higher production by NOC subsidiary Agoco from the Sarir and Messla fields, which currently account for 200,000 bpd out of Agoco's total output level of 324,000 bpd.

Total Libyan crude oil production is averaging 1.484 million bpd, according to the official.

Libyan oil exports to total 1.29 million bpd in May

Libyan crude oil exports are expected to amount to 40 million barrels in May, or 1.29 million barrels per day (bpd), a senior official at Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC)said on Monday.

NOC plans to sell 30 million barrels, while firms that receive oil for investing in Libyan production are expected to take 10 million barrels.

The May exports are on par with April's, also expected to be 40 million barrels, or 1.33 million bpd when divided over a smaller number of days in the month. NOC is selling a greater share in April at 34 million barrels, however, while firms with an equity interest are taking 6 million barrels.

The restart date of Libya's largest refinery, Ras Lanuf, is still uncertain, awaiting higher production by NOC subsidiary Agoco from the Sarir and Messla fields, which currently account for 200,000 bpd out of Agoco's total output level of 324,000 bpd.

Total Libyan crude oil production is averaging 1.484 million bpd, according to the official.

Maersk shipping magnate Mc-Kinney Moller dies

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Monday partner and shipowner Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller died on April 16.

The company's shares rose over 6 percent as analysts said Mc-Kinney Moller's death could lead to a stock split or demergers.

shipping magnate

Mc-Kinney Moller, born on July 13 in 1913, died at the age of 98, having made his last public appearance at the group's annual general meeting last Thursday.

As the traditional main attraction at the AGM, Moller spoke briefly to shareholders and signed autographs but looked frail as he joked there were too few female photographers present.

An analyst said the group, founded in 1904, could now face change. "It could be a stock split or a demerger of for instance Danske Bank or Dansk Super market," Alm. Brand analyst Jesper Christensen said.

Moller-Maersk owns a 20 percent stake in Danske Bank as well as an interest in Dansk Supermarked Group, its website shows.

Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, son and grandson of the founders of the A.P. Moller-Maersk group, Arnold Peter Moller and his father, Peter Maersk Moller, took over the leadership of the group when his father died in 1965.

He handed over the daily management of the group to Jess Soderberg in 1993, and the chairmanship to Michael Pram Rasmussen in 2003. Soderberg was replaced by Carlsberg Chief Executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen in 2007, while Rasmussen remains chairman.

Moller, however, remained active in the decision making and activities of the group, frequently going to the Copenhagen headquarters and travelling around the world to represent Denmark's largest privately owned enterprise himself.

A 2.5 billion crowns Moller donation resulted in a new Copenhagen opera house in January 2005.

The Maersk group owns the container shipping company Maersk Line, and is also involved in oil and gas exploration, mainly in the North Sea, but also in many other parts of the world, as well as supermarket chains, industrial firms, shipyards and a container terminal operator.

The group employs about 117,000 people in 130 countries.

Moller, born in Copenhagen in 1913 to an Irish-American mother, was known for only rarely giving interviews. Moller married childhood girlfriend Emma in 1940 and together they raised three daughters.

Shares in A.P. Moller-Maersk initially traded up over 6 percent following the announcement, but were up 3.0 percent at 42.520 Danish crowns per share at 0958 GMT, against a 1.3 percent rise in the Copenhagen stock exchange's benchmark index

<.OMXC20>.

DE Shaw, PAG back Haitong's $1.8 billion offer: IFR

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Pan-Asia private equity firm PAG and asset manager DE Shaw & Co Ltd are among 11 cornerstone investors that pledged to buy almost one-third of the up to $1.8 billion Hong Kong offer by Haitong Securities Co Ltd's <600837.SS>, IFR reported on Monday.

The outcome of Haitong's deal will be closely monitored by investors, bankers and a growing list of companies hoping to raise funds in Asia's top IPO destination.

The share sale would the biggest public offering in Asia Pacific so far in 2012 and the largest in Hong Kong since the $1.9 billion New China Life Insurance Co Ltd <601336.SS> <1336.HK> dual listing in the city and Shanghai in December.

PAG, headed by former TPG Capital dealmaker Weijian Shan, agreed to buy $300 million worth of shares in the deal, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the plans.

Haitong is offering 1.229 billion new shares at an indicative range of HK$10.48-HK$11.18, IFR added. At the top end of the range, the deal would be worth HK$13.74 billion ($1.77 billion).

Other cornerstone investors include New York-based DE Shaw, Japan's SBI Holdings <8473.T> and Dah Sing Bank <2356.HK>, committing a combined $580 million.

Cornerstones back many Asian listings, committing to buy large, guaranteed stakes and agreeing to a lock-up period during which they will not sell their shares. Anchor investors have fewer restrictions on when they can sell the stock.

Haitong had scrapped a deal in December to raise up to $1.7 billion citing turmoil in global markets.

At the time the company had $222 million in pledges from two cornerstone investors, private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC and Japan's Chuo Mitsui Trust & Banking Co, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc <8309.T>.

The current offer is set to be launched on Tuesday and priced on Friday, sources said last week.

UBS joins Goldman in role for Formula One IPO: sources

SINGAPORE: Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has hired UBS and Goldman Sachs as joint global coordinators and bookrunners for Formula One's roughly $2 billion initial public offering in Singapore expected in July, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said on Monday. Goldman's role in the deal was expected, given the bank's early work on the process, while for UBS, the top status on the IPO is a major boost for its Southeast Asia operation. Several top investment banks are competing for a role in the offering, both for prestige in being part of such a high profile transaction, and for the tens of millions of dollars in fees the deal will produce. Like any major stock offering in its early stages, the final list of banks involved has yet to be determined. CVC, Goldman Sachs and UBS declined to comment.

Gwen Stefani Beautiful Free Wallpapers

Gwen Stefani Beautiful Free Wallpapers

Vanuatu include in Strong earthquake ,southern Mexico,indonesia

Strong earthquake

southern Mexico center point

Effect On Railway

MEXICO CITY (AP) – A magnitude-in earthquake5.4 early Friday morning ,earthquake shook southern Mexico , causing no reported damage but swaying tall buildings in the capital of Mexico City about 230 miles away.

In Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said via Twitter that everything was operating normally in the metropolis of more than 21 million people.

Pune Warriors to beat Super Kings (Lead) on 14/4/2012

IPL

     

" Pune Warriors now lead"

Pune Warriors now lead the points table with three victories from four games while Chennai drop down to sixth place with three losses in five matches.

      A brilliant 73 off 56 balls by Kiwi Jesse Ryder and a blitzkrieg by Australian import Steven Smith (44 off 22 balls) helped Pune Warriors overcome Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here Saturday. Chasing 156 for victory, Pune reached the target with four balls to spare. Rahul Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for the home team taking two wickets for 16 runs.

Kiwi Jesse Ryder

        The Australian all-rounder overall hit four boundaries and three sixes. Ryder’s hand was also equally valuable as his 56-ball effort included seven fours and a six. Earlier, opener Faf du Plessis (43) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (44) mainly contributed to Chennai’s 155 for five.

6th Summit in Americas

6th Summit in Americas

The sixth Summit of the Americas will be held at Cartagena, Colombia, on 14 and 15 April 2012.[1] The central theme of the summit is "Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity."[2] The host president Juan Manuel Santos said of the expectations for the summit that "if the United States realises its long-term strategic interests are not in Afghanistan or Pakistan, but in Latin America...there will be great results."

The scandal marks a major black eye for the White House — and threatened to overshadow Obama’s economic and trade agenda at the Summit of the Americas. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/president-obama-secret-service-agents-home-summit-americas-prostitution-allegations-article-1.1061543#ixzz1rxKdPvV4

Lady Gaga stirs up with PopSingersDontEat in Twitter

Lady Gaga

Some of her followers interpreted the inclusion of the hash tag as encouraging fans to avoid eating in order to become thin. But it upset those who recalled her admitting earlier this year to having suffered from bulimia as a student and imploring people to stop obsessing with being overly thin. "I'm gonna say this about girls: The dieting wars have got to stop. Everyone just knock it off," Gaga said at the conference held in Los Angeles and hosted by former California First Lady Maria Shriver. The singer also has been an outspoken advocate for empowering youth who feel like outsiders, and the irony between what the singer has said in the past and her tweet was not lost on her more than 22.7 million followers in the Twitterverse.

A separate blog post on proud2beme.org, which is affiliated with the National Eating Disorders Association, said "If it was meant to be a joke, there are plenty of people who aren't finding it so funny." Since the April 10 tweet, Lady Gaga has failed to address the flood of comments. She has only tweeted a few times, telling fans about listening to Radiohead and thanking them for buying tickets to her shows.

One post from @StuddedBlack on Friday read "I was on the verge of becoming bulimic and now I just might because of YOU. #PopSingersDontEat" Others, like this from @fluffness said, "People are taking the #PopSingersDontEat thing way too seriously! Acting like Gaga promotes that. She didn't mean it that way..."

RMS Titanic: As high as an eleven story building and nearly four city blocks long, the Titanic was one of the largest and most magnificent ships in the world (photographed April 10, 1912). (Photo Credit: Bettmann/CORBIS)

Radio Message from the Titanic: On April 14, 1912 the ship collided with an iceberg about 400 miles south of Newfoundland and sank with over 1,500 people on board. This radio message reads "We are sinking fast, passengers being put into boats." (Photo Credit: Bettmann/CORBIS)

Bow of Shipwrecked Titanic: In 1985, the wreck of the Titanic was found 13,000 feet under water. Pictured is the bow of the sunken ship. (Photo Credit: Ralph White/CORBIS.)

Bow of the Titanic Under Construction: Pictured c. 1910, the Titanic was built at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. At the time of its completion, many claimed that it was indestructible. (Photo Credit: Ralph White/CORBIS)

Propellers of the Titanic: Shipbuilders gather underneath one of the Titanic's propellers (1912). (Photo Credit: CORBIS)

Propeller from the Shipwreck of the Titanic: A propeller from the shipwreck of the Titanic. (Photo Credit: Ralph White/CORBIS)

Top Deck of the Titanic: Passengers stroll passed chairs on the deck of the Titanic (1912). (Photo Credit: Ralph White/CORBIS)

Deck Bench from the Titanic: The remains of a bronze deck bench lies among the wreckage of the Titanic.

Promenade Deck: The promenade deck of the Titanic, located underneath the top deck (1912).

Collapsed Boat Deck: A section of the boat deck that has collapsed onto the promenade deck below it.

Engine Telegraph from the Titanic: One of the engine telegraphs, placed on the bridge of the Titanic, told the engine room how fast the captain wanted to go.

 

Portholes from the Wreck of the Titanic: A section of the hull, covered with rust.

Argo: The camera-equipped Argo was the first vessel to detect the wreck of the Titanic (1985).

procedure for applay in dena bank,other bank recuitment

dena bank

procedure for applay in dena bank

Procedure to Apply

Step 1: Fill in the form downloaded from the bank website.

Step 2: File for challan. (The Fees Payment Challan /NEFT Receipt date should not be earlier than 28.03.2012 and not later than 12.04.2012, both days inclusive.)

Step 3: Register the challan online.

other bank recruit ment

Ambedkar was a true men by his history

Bust of Ambedkar at Ambedkar Museum in Pune

Ambedkar delivering a speech to a rally at Yeola, Nashik, on 13 October 1935

Babasaheb Ambedkar was a veritable phenomenon of the 20th century. There may scarcely be a parallel indeed in the annals of human history to the saga of struggle that his life represented. Born in the family of ‘untouchables’, he could nonetheless scale the highest peak of scholarship, leadership and statesmanship. When the Hindu caste system had ordained severe punishment for his community for so much as thirsting for education and knowledge, he had secured the highest academic honours from the most prestigious universities of the world and thus conclusively refuted the basic premise of intrinsic inferiority or superiority based on one’s birth proffered by the caste system. For over two millennia, the Hindu caste system had perfected itself into a self-sustaining mechanism of exploitation that fossilised all the social relationship into a caste cauldron and in process had completely robbed the labouring masses like untouchables of their human identity. He had reclaimed for them this identity, breathed political consciousness and galvanised them into a vibrant movement that changed the course of Indian politics. In the epic battle against the vile and complex caste system, he had single-handedly performed the roles of a researcher, a theoretician, an organiser, a journalist, a politician, a leader etc. against all possible odds and still come out with outstanding results. He was among few who dared the contemporary might of the then Indian National Congress and Mahatma Gandhi and stood his grounds even in the face of threats to his life. At symbolical plane, Manu who was the evil enemy in this epic battle as the code giver for the caste system, had to concede defeat and make place for Ambedkar code in the form of the Constitution of India. Eventually, he enacted the biggest religious conversion in the history that ensconced him with his western attire at the place alongside Buddha as the spiritual deity for his people.

During his lifetime Dr. Ambedkar had consistently faced despise, ignominy and insults at the hand of caste establishment. Even after his death, despite his outstanding statesmanship and sterling contributions like drafting the Constitution of India, Ambedkar continued to be despised and ignored by the ungrateful mainstream till the emerging imperatives of electoral politics needed him. Before that, the mainstream even did not concede him so much as leadership of all the untouchables and preferred to belittle him by projecting as a leader of his own community. It systematically either blacked him out from the recorded history or allowed him place in its margins. It strove to confine him to a small community of Maharashtra in which he was born. So effective was this establishment cunning that barring a few pockets outside Maharashtra, where the movement had penetrated in his lifetime, he remained a stranger for a long time to the very people for whom he lived and died. His published writings were all out of print and were available only in a few reputed libraries. A vast unpublished material was embroiled in ownership disputes and hence was decomposing in the custody of courts of law. A few biographies of Ambedkar, among them notably one written by Dhanajay Keer in English (first published 1962) and the other written by Mr. B.C. Khairmode in multiple volumes in Marathi (first volume published in April 1952 and the last volume yet to come), that constituted the earliest source material on Ambedkar had significantly contributed to spread awareness and evoke curiosity about him. However, in absence of an easy access to his original writings he was not even known to the well-meaning intellectual community beyond certain heresies and anecdotes. It is only as a result of struggles of his people that claimed increasing space in contemporary politics and partly influenced by the intrinsic need to woo dalits that the State moved to undertake publication of his writings. The Government of Maharashtra undertook to publish his writings and speeches and came out with its first volume in April 1979. So far 16 volumes have been published which are being translated in Indian languages of some States. Before this project, it needs to be noted that many organisations and individuals claiming allegiance to Ambedkar-thought had brought out reprints of his published writings, compilation of his speeches scattered at many places, and secondary material in his eulogy. It certainly did contribute to spread awareness about the Ambedkar-thought, but due to their meagre resources its reach remained acutely constrained. This constraint was largely overcome when the Government of Maharashtra offered his writings and speeches in well-edited volumes at reasonable prices. Thanks to it, this publication, particularly the ones containing his hitherto unpublished writings, for the first time provided comprehensive introduction to the treatise of his thoughts and expectedly gave impetus to discussions and research work on Ambedkar-thought. The eruption of dalit militancy in the form of Dalit Panthers movement in 70s and the spate of anti-reservation flare ups in 80s, that shook the oppressors as well as oppressed, also significantly motivated the study of Ambedkar-thought.

                       

             "Early life and education"

Dr. ‎Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar seen as a young man

As the development process picked up momentum in the post-independence period, the contradiction among the ruling classes started growing which in turn manifested into many political parties opening their shops in the electoral market of India. The heat of competition impelled them to see the importance of the vast market segment constituted by the dalit votes. The latter, being one-fourth of the total market, was significant enough even in any electoral constituency to tilt the scale. The broad strategic response possible was either to fragment this segment, which was easy to do along the existing sub-caste fissures, so as to reduce it to insignificance level or to consolidate it and lure it onto ones side. However, with the passage of time the trend of dalits transcending their sub-caste boundaries and getting emotionally bonded around Ambedkar was increasingly becoming visible. As such the former negative strategy became less attractive and was ostensibly adopted by only the hard-core fascist parties. The large-scale adoption of the latter positive strategy meant competition in claiming Ambedkar’s legacy that manifested in hijacking Ambedkar away to the camps of the ruling classes. This cooptation of Ambedkar by the mainstream politics essentially resulted in significant displacement of the genuine Ambedkar by the deformed Ambedkar in the gullible dalit masses. The universal eulogy reflected from the process of cooptation only helped latent tendency towards deification and iconisation of Ambedkar and that virtually made it impossible to review Ambedkar-thought as a living body in the context of changing times and circumstances without incurring the sin of sacrilege.

While the imperatives of electoral politics has changed the attitude of State to the extent of cooptation of Ambedkar, the civil society still reflects the casteist prejudice against him. The process of globalisation driven by the imperialist institutions like IMF and the World Bank since 1980s and which got formally adopted by the Government of India in 1991, in the crisis-ridden economic context unleashed new contradictions that manifested among other, the resurgence of the Hindu fundamentalism. These forces blatantly upheld everything that appeared conclusively condemned by liberal ethos during the post-independence decades. Ambedkar, as a symbol of these ethos naturally became the target for their vicious attack. Currently these attacks could be seen in the form of defilement of his statues and the pseudo-intellectual cunning represented by some reactionary individuals. Both, the cooptation as well as the vilification of Ambedkar are detrimental to the dalit interests. However, the former is much more injurious than the latter. While the latter represents open opposition to the ideology the former would mean adulteration of the ideology itself to suit the State interests. Unless, one is thorough about the ideological nuances and vigilant about its operative manifestations, it becomes extremely difficult to arrest or contain the damage done through the process of cooptation. The ideological weakness in turn incapacitates the struggle in the realm of the civil society and even its organisational apparatus. The present state of fragmentation of the Dalit movement may be largely attributable to this ideological weakness.

The problems of dalits are far from being resolved. Despite the constitutional provision to the contrary, they are being discriminated against day in and day out. This discrimination ranges from the subtle prejudice exercised against them in the modern sectors of economy in the urban areas to the stark practice of untouchability in the rural areas. Another significant constitutional influence on the dalits has been through the policy of reservation in politics, education and services. While, this policy implemented sincerely in political arena as it basically serves the interests of the establishment and provides legitimacy to the system, its implementation in other two spheres has been utterly pathetic. Even over the five decades of its implementation, the unsatisfactory representation of dalits particularly in the higher echelon of services and consistent denial of their dues by the executive as well as judiciary has amply bared the fangs of the State. The condition of majority of dalits in rural areas is no better than it existed five decades before. Pulverisation of dalit politics under the rollers of electoral allurements has incapacitated the dalit movement. The dalits masses today feel utterly cheated but they do not have wherewithal to see by whom.

The typical responses to the empirical state of the dalit masses and their movement are essentially of two types. The first one tends to externalise the failure by accusing the savarnas of cheating or of failing to implement the promises made in the Indian Constitution. The second one tends to internalise it in terms of failure of practice by dalits, particularly the dalit leaders and intellectuals. It accuses the dalit intellectuals and politicians of having snapped themselves off their roots and of betraying the dalit movement. They have come to be a class for itself. Both represent partial truth at some level. These very allegations however tend to submerge the basic question about the efficacy of strategy of the movement and in turn of its ideology that failed to firstly envisage and thereafter arrest the undesired happenings. As for the leaders and the dalit intellectuals (or more correctly the educated dalits), they represent the output of the movement. Insofar as Ambedkar represents a fountainhead of both the strategy as well as the ideology of the dalit movement, his thoughts should constitute essential terrain to search the causes of these failures.

The difficulty in this enterprise is immense despite much of Ambedkar’s writings and speeches are available in English language and a plethora of secondary and tertiary literature having been published in recent times. Ambedkar lived through a turbulent period of the Indian history, creating space for the dalit movement within the interstices between the movements of the contending classes with his meagre resources. His thoughts are therefore heavily contextised by the dynamics of this contention. While simultaneously trying to build the ideological foundation for the movement, they tend to reflect expediency of survival and his anxiety to maximise the short-term gains for dalits. While it may not be difficult to discern the ideological strains in his writings, the task of its precise definition (exaction) poses problematic on two counts. First, many a familiar construct and concept in his usage do not bear their familiar meanings as indicated by him. For instance, while he adores the dictum of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ propounded by Roussou that blazed the French Revolution, he faults it and finds its perfection in Buddha; while he reflects western liberalism and admires its proponents, he denies being a liberal; while he appears to accept the ideal of socialism in Marxism, he does not seem to talk about the scientific socialism in it and rather finds his dream world in Buddhist Sangha; while he accepts the premise that there are classes in society in contradiction with each other, he rejects the imperative of class struggle and foresees the class conciliation through the constitutional methods. One could easily go on listing the similar problematic of language. Indeed when eventually, when he embraced Budhhism, it was not to be the Buddhism familiar to the world but the one he interpreted to be propounded by Buddha, the Dhamma of Buddha essentially of his conception. Secondly, while he grants one freedom to test him out on the principles of rationality and on the basis of experience, he appears inaccessible for the purpose, well beyond the impregnable fortification erected by the powerful vested interests.

The collapse of so called socialist regimes and consequent emergence of the unipolar world order is casting its savage shadow on the struggles of the oppressed people all over the world. The ideology of neo-liberalism with the backing of modern media and military might is fast marginalising the resistance and transforming the world into a market where a person is granted a hallowed identity of a customer. His claim to liberty, equality and fraternity is conceded in proportion to his purchasing power in the market where everything is a commodity. The impact of this ideology is already visible in terms of gnawing inequality that is compounding with every passing year. The odds for the oppressed people are indeed mounting on every front. They face an unprecedented ideological crisis today for effectively articulating their emancipatory struggles. They need to objectively review the weapons in their ideological armoury, to identify the ones that could be regenerated, the ones that could be modified and the ones that need to be altogether replaced. Ambedkar-thought that constituted weaponry of dalits and oppressed people in India, has certain attributes that could be used to recreate the new weapons. It has certain regenerative potential to be of continued relevance provided it is used in the desired manner and not monopolised by the vested and sectarian interests. The time has come to consolidate the ideological armour of the have-nots of the world and the study of Ambedkar-thought here is envisaged from that viewpoint. It is imperative that it is made available to many people in the world. It is necessary that it be subject to review from many viewpoints. It is vital that it is evaluated on the basis of concrete experience. One respects contributions of great people not in blind allegiance but by serving the cause that he or she lived and died for. As Ambedkar said of great people and demonstrated in relation to Buddha whom he undoubtedly adored most, following him lies in not cold storing his thoughts in a time vault but in constantly using it in the struggle, constantly cleaning and honing it for its usage is bound to dirty it and deform it, constantly review its effectiveness as with the passage of time it might need supplement or replacement. Only the concerted struggle of many committed people can restore true Ambedkar to his people.

now-why-how- Nirmal Baba create demant on the Web

Nirmal Baba

          As per official website www.nirmalbaba.com Nirmal Baba's 'Nirmal Darbar' is broadcast on at least 40 channels including international ones like AXN, TV Asia and Nepal One. Thousands of people visit his Samagams by paying INR 2,000 each.

The past three months have seen a stratospheric rise in the interest shown in Nirmal Baba by netizens. Nirmal Baba, the man who was fairly unknown three years back, was first 'googled' in August 2009. Until the end of 2010, there was hardly a buzz about Nirmal Baba and his 'darbar'. The graph first showed an upsurge in September 2011. And the rest as they say is history. Since then, there has been a phenomenal rise in the search volumes of keywords related to Nirmal Baba.