BedTea.in | Ravi Matah's Blog

New York. The External Affairs Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, told reporters today that the Indian students of California-based Tri Valley University, which has been shut down on charges of massive visa fraud, should be absorbed into other US universities and not victimised.

“The student who came in good faith, they should not be victimised, and it is necessary they should be absorbed into other universities in the United States and allowed to pursue their studies,” he said. (more…)

Foreign journalists were beaten with sticks and fists by pro-government mobs on the streets Cairo last Thursday and dozens were reported detained by security forces in what the U.S. called a concerted attempt to intimidate the press. They include journalists from India also who are working for various TV news channels and newspapers and have travelled in recent days to Egypt to cover the latest developments taking place there. It is learnt that more are planning a visit in coming days.

Indian Government has now issued an advisory on travel of Indian journalists to Egypt. (more…)

India has still not beeen able to settle the issue of attacks on Indian students in Australia and is now facing similar humiliation in the United States. The US authorities have confiscated the passports of Indian students of the Tri-Valley University, California and have now radio-tagged them for exposing that the University is a fake. Indian authorities have condemned this inhumane act and the MEA has asked that stern action be taken against the erring officials.

The Tri-valley University in the US has been found to be dud then how can the Indian students be penalised for no wrong-doing on their part? They have been radio-tagged like criminals on parole. These people had gone to US on valid visas and had the status of a ‘student’ and suddenly they are being termed as ‘illegal visitors’ for  no fault? Actually it is the racket conducted by the Americans who are running a fake uaniversity and the Indians are being held to take over the responsibility for this mess. Why? (more…)

Memories of the year 2010 give us mixed feelings. Though we are a bit disturbed over some of the happenings we are also optimistic on some of the achievements done so far. Agreed we have to struggle with the problems a bit longer but are nothing that cannot be overcome.

Happy New Year 2011

The best part was that we have excelled in the areas of sports, athletics and Cricket to make us cheerful. The medals tally in the CWG and the Asiad tops the list of this year’s crowning achievements. Sachin Tendulkar’s double ton in an ODI was the best thing that could have happened to India followed by the Opening ceremony of the Common Wealth Games followed by the 101 medals at the CWG games.

In the disappointments India was challenged by the spiraling prices, the 2G scam and the PMs inaction to take the corrupt to task. (more…)

Sriharikota: It’s a jolt to the Indian Space programme that the GSLV-F06 exploded mid-air minutes after lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 4 pm on Saturday.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) witnessed a failure when India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) blew up shortly after lift-off. This is perhaps the biggest failure for ISRO so far.

GSLV-F06, powered by Russian cryogenic engine, lifted off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 4:04 PM on Saturday evening after the 29-hour countdown. (more…)

It was a misty morning with overcast sky when defence personnel and civilians from different parts of the country gathered at the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) to witness the spectacular passing out parade (POP) at the Chetwood Hall, Dehra Dun on December 11, 2010. 

534  Gentlemen Cadets including 4 Gentlemen Cadets from neighbourhood Bhutan passed out at IMA DehraDun.

Amd tight security as many as 534 cadets passed out of thee prestigious Indian Military Acadmey after a two hour parade at the ground outside the Chetwood Hall building. Out of these 518 became the officers of the Indian Army, twelve of them joined the para-military force viz. Assam Rifles. Out of these 102 officers were from Uttar Pradesh, 58 from Uttarakhand and 47 from Haryana. (more…)

A teenager who witnessed the stabbing incident of Nitin Garg, was sentenced to 18 months probation by an Australian Court. Garg was killed earlier this year in January and this had strained the relations between India and Australia.

The 16-year-old boy, who has not been named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to being an accessory to the murder of 21-year-old Garg in Cruickshank Park on January 2, according to The Age.

The court heard Garg was on his way to work at a nearby Hungry Jack’s outlet when the two boys, both aged 15 at the time, noticed him walking past while speaking on his mobile phone.

The prosecution said the accused told his friend “that bloke’s phone looks nice,” which prompted him to allegedly approach Garg and stab him in the abdomen.

Days after Garg’s murder, police interviewed the boy who did not say anything about the incident.

However, later during another interview on April 26, the accused changed his story and told police he and his co-accused were in the Yarraville park on the night of the stabbing.

His co-accused, also a 16-year-old boy, has already been charged with murder and is due to face a committal hearing in February.

Phone records showed Garg tried to ring 000 for help immediately after he was stabbed but the accused yelled at him to “drop the phone” because he was scared he was calling the police.

In April, the boy told a friend’s father “he was going to tell him something he had never told anyone before” and admitted to being present during Garg’s stabbing.

The court heard that the man contacted police with the information.

Court documents reveal he was an accessory after the fact by demanding that Garg dispose of his own mobile phone.
 
The boy then agreed to wear a listening device to record a conversation with his co-accused in which the alleged murderer incriminated himself.

The prosecution described the boy’s co-operation as significant and said that a non-custodial sentence was an option for the court.

Justice Paul Coghlan said the crime was serious but the boy’s undertaking to give evidence against his co-accused meant the probation sentence was warranted.

Coghlan said if the teenager had not pleaded guilty and not agreed to assist the prosecution of his co-accused, the 16-year-old would have spent two years in a youth justice centre.

Ravi Matah

Melbourne. –  After a brief lull in racial attacks against Indians in Australia, an Indian, a 31-year old cookery student was stabbed in the stomach by two men after he finished work in a South Yarra bar early this month.

The student who did not wanted to be named underwent an emergency surgery and had a 26-stitches on his punctured bowel after the attack on November 5, according to AAP .

The Indian who was studying cookery in Melbourne has recalled the night he was stabbed in the stomach by two men after he finished work in a South Yarra bar. (more…)

People surf through the net during Dewali, Thanksgiving and Christmas festive season shopping  with a view to send gifts to their loved ones. And shockingly, a few criminals have sent down spammed messages on the net offering some attractive incentives on various pretexts.

This time round the spammers have taken the route via @twitter,  the world’s most popular social-media website awarding gift vouchers for attractive schemes. They are sending down tweets containing holiday theme attacks with shortened URLs repeatedly to lure innocent tweeples.

These URLs accompanying the tweets, when opened, will lead you to web-sites, which, supposedly will send you gift vouchers which one can pass on as gifts or use it themselves. (more…)

US President Barrack Obama has left an indelible mark on this nation and memories of his three day whistle-stop tour will remain etched in their hearts forever. Be it the politicians, the ordinary men women and children, all are talking about the Obamas. And they created this huge impact within 3 days of their tour to Mumbai and Delhi. Barrack Obama’s body language is such that he attracts one and all towards him coupled with his cool and calm attitude.

Michelle dances with children

The school children were thrilled when US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrived to celebrate the Dewali festival with them at Holy Name School, Colaba, Mumbai. The Obamas, who lit a lamp to mark the occasion, were greeted by the students here in their traditional Indian attire.

The school kids later performed the ‘Koli’ dance in honour of the Obamas’.  Both President Obama and Michelle Obama joined the kids for a foot-tapping Marathi folk number.

The school kids appeared all excited and geared up to celebrate the moment as the Obamas posed for a number of photographs with the children and gave autographs.

It’s not often someone can say they have had an opportunity to dance with the leader of the free world. And that’s exactly what happened for pupils at Holy Name High School, after U.S. President Barack Obama along with wife Michelle joined in with their Diwali celebrations.

Following in the footsteps of the First Lady, Obama joined her with some enthusiastic students and these dances were telecast live on television and the viewers went ecstatic.

The president and first lady greeted dancers before lighting candles on the second day of their visit to India.

Obamas with dancing children

But he didn’t appear to take to the moves on the floor as readily as his wife and White House aides doubled over in laughter at their boss’s efforts.

President Obama with wife Michelle later addressed the students of St Xavier’s College at Town Hall here, where he had a date with India’s Generation Next.

Obama wearing a white shirt and dark trousers, lightly kissed Michelle before taking on the students. He assured an informal atmosphere and spoke after Michelle had asked the young boys and girls to ask tough questions from him.

He began with ‘I don’t like speaking after Michelle but if you want to ask some easy questions that’s alright. He involved the students with phrases like ‘good question’,’terrific question’ and ‘I was expecting this question’.  Students asked him questions on subjects like Pakistan and terror also. The students were glad that they got the answers to their questions.

After the event was over, one student said, “He is the most powerful man in the world. Still he is able to connect with us, the youth”.

The smiling Obama has taken the level of ‘charm’ to new heights. But how does Obama manage to create such an impact on people? Is it his body language, his approach to the issues or is it his charisma, character and commitment to the cause of betterment of the society at large? I think all these factors jointly contribute in creating the ‘appeal’. Also, his upbringing in the path of his becoming of a world leader, has also contributed tremendously to his popularity.

 India has fallen in love with Barack Obama and India admires him. He has been surrounded and treated like royalty everywhere he has gone – from visits to India’s greatest monuments to a meeting with business leaders to his speech to the joint session of parliament.

Ravi Matah.