December-end is time for celebration, introspection and New Year resolutions. This article aims to introspect on the year (2013) gone by; to understand the hits and misses.
With the stupendous performance of the BJP in the recent state assembly elections, it is becoming clearer that the party, as expected by many, is likely to come out as the winner at the national level as well. How must the Congress be feeling right now? Is it still living in its ivory tower and cannot see the writing on the wall? Or can it actually see it, but refuses to acknowledge it publicly?
Come 11 November, 2013 and Google would implement some major changes in its Terms of Service. The moot question is how many people are actually aware of the current Terms of Service to bother about the updates? Well, there are a sizeable number of people like me who do care and actually go through the updates. So, here is a brief for the benefit of those who are so busy using Google and its myriad of services that, ironically, they do not have time to pay heed to what Google itself is trying to tell them.
General elections are due in May next year, but the brouhaha surrounding them is such that it seems they have already begun. Come to think of it, they have. Only the casting of votes is pending, but the drama associated with them had already begun a year back. So, what are the political parties of our country doing? What are their strategies for winning the next elections?
Given the current political scenario, to ‘not’ say that Narendra Modi is likely to be the next Prime Minister of our country, is to risk being discarded as ignorant and naïve. So, having established this as a foregone conclusion, let us look at what Modi’s plans or focus areas could be and should be, if he actually becomes the head of the next government at the centre.
The state of politics of any country affects not only the state of the government, but also the state of the economy, international relations, and above all, the mood of the nation. Right now, all these sentiments are anything but positive. The next round of General Elections is due in May 2014, but the entire nation has been talking about them since early 2013. So much time, money, and effort is being wasted in wondering about and waiting for the next elections.
India is a democracy with the freedom of speech and expression being enshrined as a fundamental right of every citizen, in its Constitution. Recently, many cases of censorship have come to the fore that raise many disturbing questions for all - the people from whom the messages are originating, the intended recipients, and the regulators.