Friday, January 25, 2008

Dr. Kalam's inspiring message

Former Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam has given the following message to Rediff, as India celebrates the nation's Republic Day on 26th January 2008.


1. Wherever I am, a thought will always come to my mind -- *What can I give?*

2. Whatever the mission I will do, my motto will be *to work with integrity and succeed with integrity.*

3. I will always remember that *my winged days, be not spent in vain*.

4. I realise I have to set a great goal that will *lead me to think high*, work and realise the goal.

5. My greatest friends will be *great human beings, great teachers and great books*.

6. I will firmly believe that no problem can defeat me; *I will become the captain of the problem, defeat the problem and succeed.*

7. My National Flag flies in my heart and I will bring glory to my nation.

Source: Rediff.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Critical Suharto recieves graft settlement offer

Former Indonesian President Suharto, who ruled the Southeast Asian nation for 32 years, was offered an out-of-court $1.5 billion settlement of civil corruption lawsuits against him as the 86-year-old lay in hospital fighting for his life.

The settlement of the civil case against Mr.Suharto is based on allegations that he embezzled money from a charity during his rule.

It was announced that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed to the settlement offer after Suharto suffered multiple organ failure, in order to reach a 'win-win solution.'

Mr.Suharto, who had corruption charges against him dropped in 2006, is fighting civil cases for alleged misappropriation of funds.

Suharto is alleged to have taken as much as $35 billion, averaging 1.3 percent a year of Indonesia's gross domestic product, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Mohammad Assegaf, Suharto's lawyer, has said the UN report is ``nonsense.''

Suharto's family has rejected the latest offer saying the former president has done nothing wrong.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Taunting racial insults

Furious fans in India burn effigies of the Australian cricket team


India have stopped playing matches in their Australian cricket tour after one of their team was banned from playing.

Bowler Harbhajan Singh denies breaking the rules of how cricketers should behave by saying something racist to an Australian player.

Harbhajan is appealing against his three-match ban, and his team won't carry on unless he's allowed to play.


The international game is governed by The International Cricket Council (ICC) which has has 101 members: 10 Full Members that play official Test matches, 33 Associate Members, and 58 Affiliate Members.

The game is played not in the spirit of the sportsmanship and camaraderie that it used to be known for: the gentleman's game. It is driven by the big money of corporate sponsorships and broadcasting rights and highly paid contracted players.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Squeezing out net videos

YouTube fans in China may not find it easy to watch some videos when the new rules take effect.

China is to further tighten its grip on the internet and has announced strict new regulations on the broadcasting of online videos - including those posted on video-sharing websites – restricting them to sites run by state-controlled companies.

The new rules also require service providers to report questionable content to the government and "abide by the moral code of socialism".

China, the world's second-largest Internet market by users, has encouraged growth of the internet but at the same time has imposed increasingly tough controls on what can be seen online inside China.

The rules are aimed at stopping what the government calls "degenerate thinking" via the Internet and maintaining a "healthy online environment".

Pro-democracy websites are blocked, as are the sites of many international news organisations, and a force of about 30,000 internet police are thought to monitor the web for anything seen as undesirable content.

The new rules, which come into force on January 31, mark a fresh attempt by Beijing to curtail the internet habits of an increasingly web-savvy population that has become accustomed to decades of state intervention.