Social Mirror

On April 28, 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan were seen walking together along a sidewalk on the shores of the enchanting East Lake, a large freshwater lake in Wuhan city, also the largest urban lake in China. And this “relaxed and friendly”, in a bright and sunny atmosphere, meeting between the two leaders was publicized as an “Informal Summit”. According to the government, Mr Modi and Mr Xi exchanged their views on major issues of bilateral and global importance and that they shared the view that, in the middle of current global uncertainties, peaceful, stable and balanced relations between India and China will be beneficial for the world. Even Pakistan. Productive discussions over tea. Strong India-China friendship is beneficial for the people of our nations and the entire world. pic.twitter.com/ZBPiVu7a5A — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 28, 2018 They later enjoyed freshly prepared Chinese tea, and had a boat r...

From the colonial times, cricket and politics remained an inseparable thing in the Indian subcontinent. Ashutosh Gowariker’s "Lagaan" gives a hint of when did they began mixing together. But the whole episode of Bhuvan ’s struggle of not paying the lagaan (taxes) to the British government —at times of monsoon crisis ( ghanan ghanan )— becomes small and insignificant, if politics over cricket between India and Pakistan is taken into account in the past few years. Just a few days before the commencement of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Pakistani cricketers began to shower their ‘alleged’ love and sympathy for Kashmir, now when they know couldn't take part in IPL, they are showcasing their outrage on Twitter —not against IPL— but against Indian army and India as a state. After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, perpetrated by Pakistan based terror organization ' Lashkar-e-Taiba' , the Indian government has put a ban on Pakistani players from participating in I...

Before beginning, I would like to reiterate that Salman Khan is just a cinema star, nothing more nothing less. So leave celebrity worship aside and try to be pragmatic. Salman Khan’s past was nowhere similar to his modern-day superhit films. Infamously known as the bad boy of Bollywood, he has been directly involved in criminal cases of pretty grave nature. Hit-and-run case , in which he allegedly under the influence of alcohol ran his car on the footpath in which one person was killed and four got injured. In that case, first his driver was made a scapegoat but a little while later, things became murky the result of which Khan was acquitted by the Mumbai HC in 2015. His relationship with Aishwarya Rai (Bachchan) fetched an excellent TRPs to our media, first with and rumours about their relationship, then with confirmed rumours, and even after the break-up, when former miss world accused him of harassing her. Black Bucks/Chinkara poaching case , about which this post is all abo...

This year’s CBSE board exams have been conducted ‘extra’- ordinarily. Never before such rampant corruption in the board has been exposed so brazenly. In place of students, this time, the administrators and those in power cheated. And, all happened the same year when PM launched his book 'Exam Warrior' in which he preaches the importance of exams to the children and provided some measures to help them cope up with exam pressures. When one of my acquaintance, who gave board exam this year, informed me about the unusual activities, I thought she is bluffing and it’s her mere excuse for not studying throughout the year. But now we all know that the bluff was real, that papers have leaked. The leakage, as we know, took place on a popular messaging app Whatsapp, from one forward to another, to all others, even to those who are not connected to the exam at all. Though not every time and not all questions were leaked on WhatsApp. After all, why would the scamsters forward que...

SSC or Staff Selection Commission , an organization under Government of India, conducts examinations to recruit personnel for different posts in the various ministries and departments of the Government of India and in subordinate offices. Every year, lakhs of government job seekers apply for SSC exams in hope of a stable government job they can bank upon their future. This year too, the examination was conducted as per schedule in February. The difference, this time, is the allegation of mass cheating being executed by some corrupt coaching institutes which somehow managed to obtain the question paper of SSC tier II exams and sold them to the rich and powerful people. The candidates who appeared for exams this year are saying that it is only possible in collusion with the SSC higher authorities. There is a facebook page SSCtube from where we got a clear hint of the leak. They posted screenshots of questions before the exams which was shared widely. As per the candidates, the s...

Little birds, my source of joyousness, I know you since the finest moment of my childhood curiousness. Your sweet chirp was my alarm tone, Redundant was the alarm clock or the app on my phone. Come and wake me up, dear sparrows. Every day from our balconies, some of us watch you with utmost fascination; Some selflessly feed you with great affection. While some, maybe most, do not pay heed, Towards your stubby trunk, short tail, and the cute beak Through which you pour the entrancing melody. Friendly sparrows, don’t deprive us of your song. Why are you abandoning us? Think about those among us, Whose day begins with your sweet chirps. You've lived with us for ages, Became our house member, of sorts. Don't leave your home, little sparrows. Your disappearance is troubling, You aren't just another bird to boost Earth’s biodiversity, You are an indicator of a civilization prosperity. I think AR Rahman has dedicated a s...

AFTER AN EXHILARATING HOLI, comes the boring and haunting board exam, the exam for which no amount of preparation gives an impression of sufficiency. Students across the nation get excited as well as depressed. They are ‘excitingly depressed’. Excited to give the final exam of their school life, to enter into a new world, and depressed thinking what society would say if their marks won't be that good. Sharma Ji’s meritorious child is making things worse. While the level of questions asked in the exams has become easy these days, the quality of students being produced is decreasing, WhatsApp, Social Media and expansion of internet are to blame. The internet and smartphones may help students in their higher studies, but it misfires in case of younger kids. It only serves as a distraction, the biggest of modern times. Earlier, when kids go out to play some sports , it was treated as a distraction from studies. But now, it has been understood clearly that it wasn't seeing...

With few Modis coming out as corrupt doesn't imply that all people with Modi surname are corrupt. But, it certainly hurt the humble chaiwala PM MODI brand image in public. PM MODI DURING HIS 2014 ELECTION CAMPAIGN, in a public rally, asserted that he will serve as a chowkidar (watchman) of India and will stop the ongoing loot. The rhetoric was so powerful that even corruption crusaders like Anna Hazare fall for it and almost came out openly in support of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. But, he appears to have failed in his role as a chowkidar . With the fall of Nirav Modi brand after Modigate, the question is, is it going to affect the political ‘Modi’ brand? If yes, how? Nirav Modi’s association with PM Modi is not very clear. But the owner of Gitanjali gems and Nirav Modi's maternal uncle, Mehul Chinubhai Choksi has also been named in the PNB fraud . In a public speech, the way PM Narendra Modi mentioned his name indicates how well he know...

India’s second largest bank, PNB, has been duped with a massive amount of 11400 cr by a billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi, now a fugitive. Before being named and investigated in the mega- bank-fraud, the celebrity designer has been featured in Forbes India's Richest People List 2016. Not to mention, Mr Modi has been seen in the World Economic Forum summit at Davos with PM Modi himself. It explains his network. There must be multiple levels of corruption involved in Nirav Modi scam — from the highest management in the bank to bureaucracy, all must have colluded together to make this scam come true. Netas, too, are part of big businessman-banker nexus as they are the ones who fund the election campaign secretly. To reiterate, political parties fundings still do not come under the scanner of RTI. Indian Banking Exposed PNB, in a statement, said that fraudulent transactions took place in one of its branches in Mumbai with their apparent connivance. A single br...