After Nelson Mandela fought for the Blacks for his entire life and brought peace to the land of Africa through his tiresome effort over the years who would have thought that a man like Robert Mugabe would bring such immense shame to the continent and especially to Zimbabwe.Having been President for the past 20 years his political position has been questioned especially after killing of the tribes in midlands of Zimbabwe, expropriation of private property and printing of trillion of dollars therby triggering hyperinflation.He was also accused of harassing and intimidating political opponents.
All said and done Zimbabwe had a chance to bring about a reform with this year's election.Mugabe lost the election 43% to 48% to Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC.However the lack of 50% votes by any party forced the way to a run-off election.MDC memebers accused ZANU of rigging votes so as to swing the balance in their favour.Post elections Zimbabwe saw a completely harsh regime with members of the opposition party being tortured and murdered.The teachers who supporterd MDC in the elections went missing and many were killed.Even MDC leader Mr. Tsvangirai was forced to take shelter in the embassy fearing his life.Inflation already at 1.5m% the economy was crushed.After the re-election on june 27th Mr. Mugabe won outright.After all the opposition party had boycotted the election fearing the harsh injustice and crimes done against the people of Zimbabwe.The election could no way be considered legitimate.
FOUR months after the elections on March 29th, which were followed by a campaign of ferocious violence meted out by pro-government militias, President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, have agreed to start talking. That is a big breakthrough.One reason for the negotiations is that the UN, the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional group of 14 countries, have become more involved and seem less willing to give Mr Mugabe a free ride.
Is the ruling party now genuinely interested in sharing power and finding a lasting solution? Or is it buying time in a bid to outwit its rivals yet again? The circumstances have changed in Mr Mugabe’s disfavour.Indeed, Zimbabwe’s economy is now reaching a new stage in its meltdown, with inflation officially running at 2.2m% a year but in reality at least four times higher. The harvest has been bad; even bread may start to run out.The pressure is beginning to pile on the leader and if he does intend to bow out of this soon enough his neighbours are determined enough to show him the door.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
are we sitting ducks??
Two major cities are rocked by a series of blasts within a span of 24 hrs.The IT capital of India Bangalore and the capital of Gujrat Ahmedabad victim to the attacks.Belive it or not but India is under seige.With bomb blasts in these two major cities of India the fear still lurks in other cities like Mumbai,Kolkata and Delhi.The country is under seige and it is time to wake up to all of this.The minds of the citizens are struck by the eventuality of another strike.Going out of the house is no longer safe.The promises made by the government and other intelligence agencies are in no manner reassuring.The continous terror strikes in various cities in the past 5 years is proof to the sheer negligence and incompetence of our security departments.
There are multiple agencies that fight terrorism.They have heaps of information with them.But the truth is that hardly any of it is useful in actually preventing the disaster from happening.The blasts rocked Ahmedabad 24hrs after it rocked Bangalore.Gujrat was under high security alert and still nothing could be done about it.In other words information from intelligence agencies is hardly proving beneficial.There have been over 550 deaths since 2005.How many of the attackers have been arrested yet?..Surely there is a flaw with the security syatem of the country which need to be looked into at the earliest.The people deserve an answer and surely the Government has time to answer a few questions.
There is something that we can learn from the US.A look into the methods adopted by their investigating agencies would definitely improve circumstances.After the 9/11 attacks a new department known as the Dept. Of Homeland Security was formed and various other departments were brought under it.Co-ordination was much easier and information sharing became a norm as to the exception it was.To prevent such attacks we cannot rely on the the standard methods of fighting terror.Local intelligence is very crucial in tracking criminals and cracking down cases.The intelligence agencies should recruit from the under-represented sections of the society and develop awareness among them.Politicians too should give the agencies a free hand while dealing with the security of the nation.
Terrorists take advantage of the incompetence of the existing security apparatus.Weak laws only undermine the democratic foundations of the country.The government must wake up to this and take necessary measures at the earliest to curb terrorism.
There are multiple agencies that fight terrorism.They have heaps of information with them.But the truth is that hardly any of it is useful in actually preventing the disaster from happening.The blasts rocked Ahmedabad 24hrs after it rocked Bangalore.Gujrat was under high security alert and still nothing could be done about it.In other words information from intelligence agencies is hardly proving beneficial.There have been over 550 deaths since 2005.How many of the attackers have been arrested yet?..Surely there is a flaw with the security syatem of the country which need to be looked into at the earliest.The people deserve an answer and surely the Government has time to answer a few questions.
There is something that we can learn from the US.A look into the methods adopted by their investigating agencies would definitely improve circumstances.After the 9/11 attacks a new department known as the Dept. Of Homeland Security was formed and various other departments were brought under it.Co-ordination was much easier and information sharing became a norm as to the exception it was.To prevent such attacks we cannot rely on the the standard methods of fighting terror.Local intelligence is very crucial in tracking criminals and cracking down cases.The intelligence agencies should recruit from the under-represented sections of the society and develop awareness among them.Politicians too should give the agencies a free hand while dealing with the security of the nation.
Terrorists take advantage of the incompetence of the existing security apparatus.Weak laws only undermine the democratic foundations of the country.The government must wake up to this and take necessary measures at the earliest to curb terrorism.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Winning Or Losing???
How often have you ever set out to play a game of cards with your friends??..Quite a few times i suppose.But lets modify the question a bit now.How many times have you played with the cash in your wallet as the bet.Hardly ever i suppose.To tell the truth neither had i until a few days back when i was so excited to play my first game of Flash that i ended up losing 50 Rs.That day i realized why elders advise to stay away from such vices especially those which are tempting enough to win you a fortune in 10 games and rob you of your lifetime's earnings in a single.
With the masses becoming more and more sensible and of course realizing the value of their hard earned money i figure this is probably the reason why top casinos in the ever shining city of Las Vegas are begining to turn dim.The past 2 years have reported a major drop in sales in top casinos like the Bellagio,MGM Grand and Caesar's Palace .The trend appears to be reversing compared to 2001-2002 where they saw a 3% hike in sales equivalent to some US26$ billion.Analysts say the reason for this could be the decline in the number of visitors along with the complex Nevada Gaming commission rules.
Reports say that if this continues then it is the end of the line of these ever popular hangouts of the rich and famous of America.Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands, has seen the value of his shares in Las Vegas Sands drop by $10.8 billion, or 40 percent, since October.Kirk Kerkorian, the Los Angeles-based majority shareholder of MGM Mirage, lost $4.6 billion, or about 30 percent of the value of his stock holdings in the world's second-biggest gaming company.After all its time for the masses to earn something by saving.The owners of the posh casinos have minted gigantic amounts of green paper overnight by just the roll of a dice.Its probably time that the tables be turned.
The issue is not about winning or losing or casinos being shut down.People who have wallets flushing with money do need some kind of recreation and since they have only money to spend casinos are the best option.However a means of pleasure must not turn into a deadly addiction that sometimes can lead to disastrous consequences.The Sultans Of Cards should keep a check on their customers thus limiting their expenditure and retaining the spirit of gambling without facing any kind of trouble.The casinos would obviously not earn that much but they can continue operations for a longer duration which is nevertheless a good bargain compared to being shut down in near future.The role of an eager gambler is equally important.He too should be equally aware of his limitations and prevent any sort of loss on his part.
After all if both of them take care of each other then both can be Winners without anyone either a Loser.
With the masses becoming more and more sensible and of course realizing the value of their hard earned money i figure this is probably the reason why top casinos in the ever shining city of Las Vegas are begining to turn dim.The past 2 years have reported a major drop in sales in top casinos like the Bellagio,MGM Grand and Caesar's Palace .The trend appears to be reversing compared to 2001-2002 where they saw a 3% hike in sales equivalent to some US26$ billion.Analysts say the reason for this could be the decline in the number of visitors along with the complex Nevada Gaming commission rules.
Reports say that if this continues then it is the end of the line of these ever popular hangouts of the rich and famous of America.Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands, has seen the value of his shares in Las Vegas Sands drop by $10.8 billion, or 40 percent, since October.Kirk Kerkorian, the Los Angeles-based majority shareholder of MGM Mirage, lost $4.6 billion, or about 30 percent of the value of his stock holdings in the world's second-biggest gaming company.After all its time for the masses to earn something by saving.The owners of the posh casinos have minted gigantic amounts of green paper overnight by just the roll of a dice.Its probably time that the tables be turned.
The issue is not about winning or losing or casinos being shut down.People who have wallets flushing with money do need some kind of recreation and since they have only money to spend casinos are the best option.However a means of pleasure must not turn into a deadly addiction that sometimes can lead to disastrous consequences.The Sultans Of Cards should keep a check on their customers thus limiting their expenditure and retaining the spirit of gambling without facing any kind of trouble.The casinos would obviously not earn that much but they can continue operations for a longer duration which is nevertheless a good bargain compared to being shut down in near future.The role of an eager gambler is equally important.He too should be equally aware of his limitations and prevent any sort of loss on his part.
After all if both of them take care of each other then both can be Winners without anyone either a Loser.
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