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  • Porsche's Mueller takes reins at Volkswagen: Here's how lar

    Days after admitting that the world's top-selling carmaker had rigged diesel emissions to pass US tests during his tenure, longtime CEO of Volkswagen, Martin Winterkorn stepped down on Wednesday. Winterkorn, VW's boss since 2007, had come under intense pressure since the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) di[...]

  • From 'digital dinner' to FB townhall: Why PM Modi's Silicon

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  • Small banks mark the biggest banking revolution in India si

    Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) dominated the second set of differentiated and small finance banks announced by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday. Eight of the ten companies that received the in-principle nod from the central bank are MFIs.Of the other two that received approvals, one is a Rajasthan-based non[...]

  • Gold bonds are a clear winner but high chances of deposit s

    The gold bond scheme finalised by the government on Wednesday is a clear winner since the idea of issuing gold bonds can absorb a major part of the gold investment demand in the country.Presently, an estimated 300 tonnes of physical bars and coins are purchased every year for investment-purpose in India. Most of this[...]

  • Politics
  • Modi’s tears only drama? Why is it so tough to believe a st

    There was nothing unusual in the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke down at the Facebook Town Hall in San Jose. After all, this is not the first time that the country’s strongest political leader bared his emotional side to an audience that came to appraise him. What was unusual this time was the fact that h[...]

  • When it comes to Modi vs Sharif, we have our backs to the w

    Islamabad: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an astute politician with the ability to outsmart rivals and he is aiming for the "political and military dominance of India", said a Pakistani daily that noted he was “received like a star” in the US. An editorial in The Nation on Monday said that everyone loves[...]

  • AAP MLA Somnath Bharti faces arrest after Delhi High Court

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has rejected the bail application of AAP MLA Somnath Bharti in the domestic violence case filed against him by his wife Lipika. The former Delhi law minister had moved High Court after a city court had cancelled his bail plea earlier and issued an arrest warrant against him.&[...]

  • Why the Congress petition to suspend PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat

    The Congress wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop airing his Mann Ki Baat address, until the Bihar Assembly election concludes on 8 November. In fact, the party wishes to flag this as a serious issue of violation of the model code of conduct, and is petitioning the Election Commission to issue necessary direc[...]

  • Technology
  • India and Pakistan seem to be at war; this time in cyberspa

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  • Government exempts WhatsApp, social media from purview of e

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  • Indian IT companies among world's worst paymasters

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  • Bengaluru first Indian city to get Uber car-pool service

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  • Entertainment
  • Ranbir Kapoor's special working birthday on the sets of 'Ae

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  • Konkona Sensharma: My mother is shy around my son

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  • We Are Your Friends review: In Zac Efron's hands, even EDM

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  • Sports
  • Manpreet Kaur breaks national shot put record on road to Ri

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  • Champions League: Chelsea cruise but Dinamo Zagreb stun 10-

    The Champions League season is only one match day old, but it will be tough for anyone to better Alessandro Florenzi's eye-popping strike that gave Roma a 1-1 draw with defending champion Barcelona on Wednesday.Florenzi launched an audacious 60-yard (meter) lob from near the sideline and watched it sail over Barcelon[...]

  • Sanjay Bangar is right: We have been too quick to judge Roh

    Rohit Sharma, the much criticised India batsman, recently received some support from India batting coach Sanjay Bangar, who urged the critics to compare Rohit’s record to those of others at the same stage of their careers."If you look at the numbers, he has played 13 Test matches and scored 800-900 (870 runs) runs a[...]

  • With an eye on 2019 World Cup, it's time for Virat Kohli to

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  • Cars
  • 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show: 2016 Suzuki Baleno to be showcas

    The 66th Frankfurt Motor Show will witness the world debut of the all-new Baleno. Suzuki plans to showcase their new "ideal hatchback" to the media on September 15, 2015. The motor show will be open to public from September 17-27, 2015. In its new form, the Baleno takes after the IK-2 concept that was shown at th[...]

  • Maruti Suzuki launches S-Cross

    Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday launched its crossover hatchback S-Cross priced in the range of Rs.8.34 lakh and Rs.13.74 lakh as it looks to cement its position in the premium car market. The S-Cross will compete with models such as Hyundai’s recently-launched Creta, Renault’s Duster, Ford’s [...]

  • CCI slaps Hyundai with fine of Rs 420.26 cr for restricting

    New Delhi: Coming down hard on carmakers found to be restricting sale of spare parts in open market, fair trade regulator CCI on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 420.26 crore on Hyundai Motor India and asked two others -- Reva and Premier -- to 'cease and desist' from anti-competitive practices. This follows penaltie[...]

  • Recent Articles

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    Osama cited Bapu as inspiration in 1993 speech

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    Ranbir Kapoor's special working birthday on the sets of 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'

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    29 Sep 2015 | 0 commentsView Post

    Hardik Patel's quota battle is only an excuse, a stick to beat Narendra Modi with

    Hardik Patel. Image courtesy CNN-IBN
    A 22-year-old guy named Hardik Patel hogged headlines in the mainstream media and trended on social media on Tuesday (25 August). He addressed a rally that was reportedly attended by over 4 lakh Patels – who wanted to be declared "backward".

    This guy is demanding that Patels – who are traditionally considered socially and politically ahead of other castes in Gujarat – should be included in the list of OBCs and given the benefits of the reservation policy.

    The demand sounds like trolling, but since it is taking place in the offline world, it’s some serious business. And when it comes to reservations, it’s always serious business in India.

    Reservations are about politics and are about society.

    Let’s first talk about the politics.

    Hardik is from Gujarat, the home state of Narendra Modi. And Modi alone defines entire politics for various groups – his admirers and haters included – in India.

    Modi has always been a fascist dictator for his haters and thus he is someone who is supposed to impose another Emergency in India. You must have heard "undeclared emergency" thousands of times ever since Modi became the prime minister.

    Modi’s haters are waiting for Emergency just like Modi’s fans are waiting for Achchhe Din.

    And both these groups will latch on to anything that gives them a hope that their respective dreams – Emergency or Achchhe Din – are being realised.

    Emergency was preceded by a student movement called "Nav Nirman" in Gujarat. People were out in the streets protesting against the government of that time, and protests would often turn violent.

    Hardik, who looks like a student unlike the FTII guys, has been able to repeat those scenes in Gujarat today. He gives Modi’s haters a hope that history will repeat itself, and their dream of Emergency returning would be realised.

    This is the reason his demand of putting Patels in the list of OBCs — however illogical or unfair — will get support from Modi’s opponents. The Surat unit of Aam Aadmi Party had already supported him. Nitish Kumar has also supported him last Tuesday.

    All the nuances that were visible and audible prominently when Jats demanded reservations or when Gujjars went full Rambo on railway tracks will be missing when discussing Patel’s agitation, because this is something that is supposed to weaken Modi’s fort at his home. Nothing else matters.

    Obviously, there are other factors like domestic politics of Gujarat, but Modi factor is largely the politics around Hardik Patel becoming a trending figure today. The reservation issue is just incidental here. He could have as well taken out a rally demanding ice-cream, or something like Lokpal, and he’d still have trended and hailed as the next big thing if the crowds were as massive.

    But when it comes to the society, the reservation issue is not incidental.

    Disregarding whatever is the politics behind Hardik Patel’s rise, it is interesting to see the kind of arguments he had put forward while demanding reservation benefits for his community.

    Most of the news articles about him quote him saying, "A Patidar (Patel) student with 90% marks does not get admission in an MBBS course, while SC/ST or OBC students get it with 45% marks."

    This argument, not put forward by anyone for the first time, is supposed to have drawn a resonance with many, with many local newspapers publishing reports on similar lines.

    What is interesting that this argument has often been put forward by those who oppose caste based reservations, not by someone who is demanding the same.

    In yesteryears, demands of reservations, till the Mandal era, were based on how one’s community was oppressed and the others — mostly the Brahmins — were the oppressors. That was the only injustice claimed and thus "social justice" was demanded.

    But Hardik Patel has come up with the "post-Mandal injustice", which is measured by the admission cutoff marks.

    This post-Mandal injustice comes up each time IIT cutoffs, DU cutoffs, or any other competitive exam results are announced. Invariably there are jokes on reservations — not all of which make me comfortable — and there are demands to remove caste based reservations.

    So how can the very definition of injustice, which is considered to be the biggest argument against the caste based reservations, be the basis for demanding the same?

    The tragedy is that due to the Modi factor, this issue will be glossed over, and only the politics will be discussed.

    It is important to understand that this sentiment of post-Mandal injustice.

    The fact that Hardik Patel has been able to organise such a big crowd, which only likes of Modi could manage in Gujarat earlier, shows that this feeling of injustice is real.

    This is because the socio-political landscape of urban India has rapidly changed since the Mandal days. OBCs are not really "backward" as they were. Nor do they lack the self-esteem and confidence.

    This self-esteem and confidence was gained as they got political power and clout. Today a person with "Yadav" surname has no reason to feel diffident. We have actors, cricketers, and entrepreneurs (no jokes on Rahul Yadav please, he's really a smart guy!) with that surname and they represent "merit".

    And this is not only about top cities or only about Yadavs. Even in tier-II cities or in some rural pockets, the OBCs are catching up. They are doing almost the same things that "forward castes" are doing.

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  • Zuckerberg Vows to Daughter He’ll Donate 99% of His Faceboo

    SAN FRANCISCO — Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook, announced on Tuesday that he and his wife would give 99 percent of their Facebook shares “during our lives” — holdings currently worth more than $45 billion — to charitable purposes.From Our AdvertisersThe pledge was made in an open lett[...]

  • Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announce baby girl – an

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