I'd like to draw your attention to the efforts being made to seek an end to the Subhas Bose death case. The matter is being complicated by the Govt, which is hell bent on not releasing several files connecting to the case. The matter also being pursued under the Right to Information by a couple of guys. The following is the latest news:

Destroyed Netaji file: PMO asked to respond in 15 days

In 1972 when GD Khosla Commission was inquiring into Subhas Chandra Bose's reported death, a suspicious thing happened in the PMO.

Manmohan Singh addressed the nation today with a speech, so rabid and full of oft repeated and done-to-death cliches of building the so called modern India.

Even though he talks about building "An India that is united in thought, not divided by religion and language. An India that is united in our Indianness, not divided by caste and region.", he is all for providing caste based reservations in our institutes.

Mr. Prime Minister, if its not so much to ask, please give us a break.

Subhash Kak writes an emotional piece on Rediff revealing the true nature of the struggle against reservations.

It seems such an unequal struggle: the cold apparatus of the government on the one hand, and the passion of the students on the other. The students appear to echo the words of the Hindi poet, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar:

....perhaps the agitating doctors in India are crying out for something much more than just the reservation of seats in colleges. They are fighting against the impending partitioning of India's soul.

Read the entire piece here.

CNN IBN interviewed Arjun Singh in Devil's Advocate. The text of the interview is available here.

"Karan Thapar: It says, that looking at the Delhi University, between 1995 and 2000, just half the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Castes level and just one-third of the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Tribes level were filled. All the others went empty, unfilled. So, again, even in Delhi University, reservations are not working.

Arjun Singh: If they are not working, it does not mean that for that reason we don't need them. There must be some other reason why they are not working and that can be certainly probed and examined. But to say that for this reason, 'no reservations need to be done' is not correct."

This clearly shows the homework our honourable minister did before making a law. In the entire interview he has not been able to justify the case for reservation and asserts that it is a decision taken by parliament. So he is not even ready to take any responsibilty for this. He is not at all concerned with the solution working or even figuring out if this is a solution after all.

Copied below are the views of Prof. M Balakrishnan, a computer science professor at IIT Delhi as expressed at the iit4equality yahoo group.

Nearly six decades after independence, this country is planning to announce that majority of its population is backward and does not have equal opportunity to pursue education and employment. Along with this, it is going to open up a Pandora's Box by various caste groups to be classified as "backward". What an interesting way to begin the 21st century when finally India was beginning to emerge as a serious player in the new knowledge economy! The major carrot that is being doled out is the seats in the elite medical, engineering and management Institutes. What bothers me is no one is interested in even consulting the people who have built these institutions and brought them to this stature. I have strong views on efficacy of reservations in general but here I would confine myself to the issues concerning IITs. At least here with my three decade long association, I can claim to know something. Many of these arguments may be applicable to the other elite Institutions in medical and management disciplines as well.

It seems that the IIT political party Lok Paritran has split.

Lok Paritran, a party launched by some IITians and other educated youth vowing to usher in a clean administration, has split with four of its seven candidates, who contested in the recent elections, quitting the outfit.

The faction accused the "national leadership" with financial bungling and lack of transparency.

Read more here.

The geek political party Lok Paritran has set it sights on the forthcoming assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.

The Lok Paritran has hit its campaign trail on a rather ambitious note. 38-year-old Ilanthirumaran, an IIT alumna, is the party's candidate for the Chepauk constituency.

And guess who the former US-based software professional will take head on? None other than DMK chief ministerial candidate M Karunanidhi!

But the fact that he'll face a tough contest from a veteran has not unhinged Ilanthirumaran.

Read more at Yahoo India, and if you are in Tamil Nadu, please VOTE.

India and the US have finally negotiated a nuclear pact that allows India access to Western civilian nuclear technolgy, while putting some of Indian reactors under international observation. However, the US Congress and the Nuclear Suppilers Group (NSG) still have to agree to the pact. MercuryNews has a piece on how the nuclear pact between U.S., India draws fire

A landmark nuclear pact reached Thursday by President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faced tough scrutiny by Congress and international regulators amid concerns that it would allow India to expand its nuclear arsenal by hundreds of weapons.

While welcoming the accord, several senior Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said they would give it a rigorous review.

The accord also will have to pass muster with the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group. It was formed to regulate civilian nuclear trade after India detonated a device in 1974 using plutonium obtained from a Canadian-made civilian reactor that was supplied with heavy water by the United States.