What does Obama's victory mean for India?

What cheers India and what makes it cautious about Obama presidency:

What Cheers India:

Natural Ally: Obama says building strategic partnership with India top priority and sees India as a natural strategic ally of the US in the 21st century.

Terrorism and Pakistan: More focussed on ending terrorism and Al Qaeda by concentrating on finishing Al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan and bringing stability in Afghanistan. Plans to increase aid to Afghanistan.

Iraq and Muslim world: Promises withdrawal of troops in Iraq within 18 months - a fountainhead of hostility against the US in the Muslim world. Makes it easier for India to deal with a US with better standing in the Middle East.

Economy: Favours greater regulation of financial institutions.

Backs immigration reform and H1B visa programme.

What makes India cautious:

CTBT: Obama has strong views on non-proliferation. May try to force India to accept CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty) and provoke a fresh debate in India on this sensitive issue. Shouldn't be a problem after the US, China come on board.

Kashmir: May try to play peace-keeper in Kashmir, a tendency that is likely to be resented and opposed by India which sees Kashmir as a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and one that does not need third-party intervention.

Outsourcing: India fears global financial meltdown may force Obama to turn protectionist. Obama has promised tax incentives for US companies that create new jobs.

ISF--IM may be behind Assam blast

Message from little known terror group calling itself Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideen (ISI-IM) which took responsibility for the Assam serial blasts which took place on October 30.
Initial investigations reveal the SIM card used to send the text message was bought from the Morigaon district of central assam. According to Assam police, a person calling himself Nasir Ahmed had purchased the sim card.
In an SMS message sent to local television channel, the ISF-IM claimed responsibility for yesterday's blasts and threatened to carry out more bomb explosions in several parts of the country.
The message said, "We thank all our holy members and partners" for successfully carrying out the task.
Police officials are investigating the matter. The outfit was formed in 2000 in Lower Assam's Bodo-dominated areas "to counter" the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) and NDFB militants, police sources said.
The full text of the SMS is: "We, ISF-IM, take the responsibility of yesterday blast. We warn all of Assam and India for situation like this in future. We thank all our holy members and partners. AAamin."
First arrest in Assam blast case
Meanwhile, the first arrest in the Assam serial blasts has been made by the police. A man called Zulfikar Ali has been arrested from Nagaon district. Zulifkar Ali's motorcyle was apparently used in the Paan Bazaar blast in Guwahati.
Earlier, highly placed sources have confirmedu us by a report that the deadly terror strike was orchestrated by Bangladesh-based terror outfit HuJI in a joint operation with local and jehadi groups in Assam.
Despite ULFA having denied its role in the blasts Assam police believe that the blasts could have been set off by HuJI with the help of UlFa's 709 Battalion, based in Lower Assam. Sources also told me on behalf of Star Newshttp://www.indya.starnews.co.in/ that prior to puja celebrations, 10 cadres belonging to Jamait-E-Islami, Islamic Chatra Shibir and Huji were seen moving from Karimganj to Dibrugarh.
Sources further said that ULFA had provided them with local guides as well as explosives. Initial target was to strike during the pujas but heavy security deployement scuffled the plan. Of the six blasts in Guwahati, RDX was used in two of the explosions.
An Intelligence Bureau source has said that they had information that HuJI-Bangladesh was using northeast underground bases in Bangladesh to trigger blasts, and that in Agartala, they used All Tripura Tiger Force, and that they suspect they used ULFA in Assam.
'No links with HuJI'
Meanwhile, sources in the Bangladesh government have told Star News that no HuJI activity is allowed or acceptable in Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladesh sources said that they had banned HuJI three years ago in October 2005.
Sources also said that the Bangladesh government had already cracked down on HuJI and that anybody with even suspected HuJI links faces an immediate arrest.
RDX-TNT mixture used in Assam blasts
Sources have told us that a mixture of RDX, PETN and TNT have been used to carry out the Assam serial blasts.
PETN, which is commonly known as Pentrite is one of the most powerful explosives known and is usually used in missiles. Sources have also told that the ULFA does not have the capability nor have access to the technology and is too weak to carry out blasts with such devastating impact.
Anger on streets
A day after the blasts even as VIPs poured into Guwahati there was anger in the city. There were sporadic protests, but there were no answers forthcoming except for a political blame game.
The people are angy at being targeted by the terrorists, and the anger has spilt out on the streets.
At the Guwahati Medical Colelge the injured are still attended to. Over 300 people were injured in 9 serial blasts, As politicians made a beeline for the hospital, the criticism of the state and central government was quick.
Even as Assam copes with this latest terror attack, the response from the central government was slow. Home minister Shivraj patil visited the state but said little.
Assam is strategically important for India it being a gateway to the north east.
Even as the centre evaluates the new threat, caught in the political crossfire are the people of Assam.

Raped nun press conferance in NewDelhi

Yesterday i enjoy a very beautiful evening , one of india's veteran politician who self claimes as a "responsible leader"- say :"Nun is not raped, -this is an allegation not proved"-{mr.Singhal ,of BJP to TIMES NOW<
The chatter inside the packed room swiftly made way to pin-drop silence as Sister Mina Lata Barwa entered. The nun, who was raped and paraded naked during the Kandhamal communal violence in Orissa on August 25, came out in the open for the first time here on Friday.
She appeared covering most of her face with a scarf and read out her hand-written statement that ran into four pages, often with a choked voice. She narrated the trauma she had gone through, even as the constant camera flashes threatened to drown her voice, and asked for a CBI probe into the incident.
She went on to narrate her tale of woes. She said she was taking shelter in the house of a Hindu when the mob of 40 to 50 chased her. “They pulled out my saree and one of them stepped on my right hand and another on my left and then a third person raped me,” she recalled.
Even as she gathered herself to get away, another mob came and stripped her again and paraded her naked to the market half-a-kilometre away. “A dozen policemen were there. I went to them asking to protect me and I sat in between two policemen but they didn’t move,” she said. “I filed the FIR, but I was not given a copy of it,” she complained.
The police also did not accompany her up to Bhubaneswar.
She explained how she lost her faith in the police: “The state police failed to protect me from the attackers. They were friendly with the attackers and they tried their best that I did not register an FIR. They didn’t take down my statement as I narrated in detail and they abandoned me half the way.”
“I was raped and now I don’t want to be victimised by the Orissa police. I want a CBI inquiry,” she said.After that, she left the venue immediately.
John Dayal, member of National Integration Council, asked: “If you could set up a CBI inquiry in Arushi and Jessica Lall cases, why not for this?

Sourav quit

“This will be my last series,” … “Before coming here, I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock” Sourav Ganguly, yesterday, announced his retirement from International Cricket after the upcoming Oz series. The decision might be surprise for a few but it was expected ever since his name was included in the test squad. Ganguly has mentioned in the press conference that he wants this series to end on a high note without any controversies. But there will be definitely lots of talks in media over his retirement. However, I don’t wish to talk about the same issue.

Sourav Ganguly, is unarguably the best left hander India has ever produced. He is India’s most successful captain, a leader with the killer instinct and innovation, batsman of highest ability, class and elegance. Many of us love him and many of us hate him. But to me Sourav Ganguly has been a real inspirational role model. Throughout his career Ganguly made it his habit to defy the odds.

When he was first selected in 1996, there were many who doubted his selection saying that he was included in the side not on his ability but due to the quota system. He made one of the most splendid debuts in the test cricket hitting consecutive centuries against England in England. Ganguly never looked back again and in the coming few years was crowned the title ‘Prince of Kolkata’ by legendary Sir Geoff Boycott for his unmatched timing on the cricket ball. Soon, he became one of the most destructive one day player.

After the failure of the home test series against South Africa, Sachin Tendulkar resigned from the captaincy. Sourav took over from him and lead India to win the ODI series. But soon after winning the one-day series, there were allegations of match fixing on few of the leading players in the team then. The ban and retirement of few players after the incident left the team in the doldrums. It was during this juncture the great leader emerged in the Cricketing arena by the name of Sourav Ganguly aka DADA.

Ganguly rebuilt the team with a great vision. He identified the youngsters who had the potential and backed them to the hilt. At the same time he understood the importance of the seniors and fought with selectors many time for their place. The faith in the ability of new guns and veterans did wonder for the captain and the team. His enthusiastic sporting action and his aggressive nature in the field made a new style in the world of Cricket. The team reached the finals of the 2003 world cup, won the Champions Trophy and the very famous Natwest victory, defeating Australia in 2001 test series and then drawing against them in 2003-04, beating Pakistan in Pakistan for the first time. These were few of the achievements of this great cricketer. He dared to look into the eyes of the opposition and fought fire with fire.

Saurav was possibly the first Indian captain who lacked any regional bias while selecting players to the Indian team. The players like Harbhajan, Zaheer, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Dhoni, Irfan Pathan who are holding the team currently have been backed by Sourav and he has left a rich legacy for the team. But they say that the life is not bed of roses and Ganguly was sacked from the captaincy and lost his place in the side after the spat with the infamous coach Greig Chappell. He defied all odds again and made a dream comeback to the national side in the late 2006 against South Africa. He amassed over 1100 runs, with 239 his career-best score against Pakistan in Bangalore in late 2007, at a fantastic average of 61.44 last year, which compares very favourably with his career average of 41.74 in 109 Tests. In the same period he scored at an average of over 45 in the ODIs. This comeback indeed made him a true legend. Ganguly finished his one-day career with 11,363 runs in 311 matches, one of only seven batsmen to reach the 10,000-run mark in limited-overs cricket.

Off late, Ganguly lost his place in ODIs and his place in test was also not sure. He has announced his retirement at the right time. I say right time because this is the time when you need to start the systematic phase out of the seniors so that young players can be drafted into the team. This has been trend which is followed by Australians and it is heartening to see that Dada has lead in this department as well. I must admit that I have never seen any Indian great retire with grace like an Australian by announcing in advance. The others were practically removed. Dada has been all grace while quitting captaincy and cricket.

The void that will be left by Dada’s absence can not be filled but then the show must go on. Let’s hope that Ganguly will script one of the best swan song. I wish the loving Dada all the best for the upcoming series.

Ganguly’s Cricketing Trivia:

Test:

* Captained India in a record 49 Test matches* Led India to a record 21 Test wins* His test average has never been less than 40

ODIs:

* Hold the record of most 200+ ODI partnerships (6 times) along with Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.* Holds the record, shared with Sachin Tendulkar, for most 1st wicket ODI partnerships of 175+ runs (7 times).* Holds the record, shared with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for the second highest score by an Indian cricketer in an ODI — 183, against Sri Lanka in 1999.* Held the record, shared with Sachin Tendulkar, for the highest first wicket partnership for India in an ODI match, 258, against Kenya in 2001. This record was bettered by Sri Lankan opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tharanga in 2006 at Headingley.* Was involved in the first 300 run ODI partnership with Rahul Dravid.* Sixth on the all time list with 31 Man of the Match awards.* He is also the only player to win 4 consecutive Man of the Match awards in ODIs.* India’s most successful ODI captain.* First Indian to score an ODI century against Australia in Australia.* Highest ODI runs scorer in the world (in a calendar year) in 1997,1999,2000.* Third in the list of hitting maximum number of sixes in ODIs.* Second in the list of highest number of centuries in a single calendar year ever. 7 centuries in 2000.
Ganguly has been 1 Indian Captain who has rewritten History of Indian Cricket Probably a few days back Dada announced that atleast 2 years cricket is still left in him .But after visiting the Bangalore camp and witnessing the attitute of other cricketers with him he probably felt why to linger abt to fight for coming into the team which has players that reaaly dnt want his presence in the team namely(Sehwag,Dhoni,Yuvraj)and probably the previous selection team as well( Dilip Vengsarkar never wanted him to be in the team nor did his predecessors Kiran More)
What does this signify ?What has Ganguly to prove to anyone?
He has simply got tired of all this in and then out and then again in to the team (He has proved his mental strength and composure infront of the whole world by his comeback in 2006.
He turned a bunch of talented but directionless individuals into a todays High profile Cricketers like
(Yuvraj,Zaheer,Harbhajan,Dhoni,Pathan,sehwag)
and look these crickters are paying back to him in his times when needs the team the most he has been Devastated by the Team.
He turned India into what is famously called as "Team India"
He showed how to give it back to Arrogant Aussies and Egoful England cricketers and rude Pakistanis .
Ganguly will be remembered as the Laying stone or Pillar Of Todays And futures Team India.........
I wish Sourav a lot of success in his coming life and and wish that he may be able to turn his last series into a proving point That he is still THE DADA OF INDIAN CRICKET..........
I wish a very happy family life with Sana his daughter and his wife Dona and his entire family .....
I wish that BCCI should give him a very famous FAREWELL IN RIGHT SPIRITS lest he will never ever come back to serve TEAM INDIA AGAIN AS A COACH OR A SELECTOR IN FUTURE..............
OK DADA BYE BYE . I AM PLEDGING TODAY THAT I WILL PROBABLY SOME DAY IN FUTURE MEET U AND MAKE A FILM ON U AND UR CAREER .......
BYE DADA WILL REMEMBER U THROUGH OUT MY LIFE....................