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IndiaShining: Happy Independence Day India, Google does a Doodle - Explore the Web
Rambhai wishes bloggers and readers a very Happy independence day 2011. A true tribute to a magnificent country, Google does a doodle of the Red Fort. Salute to all countrymen and thanks for your support all these years to Rambhai. Continue posting....
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IndiaShining: Recommend Rambhai.com to your friends on Facebook
Dear Rambhaiyyas,Rambhai.com has been committed to bring independent thoughts and opinions that belong to INDIANS or are relevant to DESIS to the foreground for more than three years now.
At Rambhai we aim to blend serious politics, discussions, news with a tadka of of entertainment. We want to bring thoughts out from the remotest corners of India right into the mainstream to build a better and fairer nation.
We want to hear what you think what could be done in a better way to shape India's destiny in the coming days.
We have been doing somethings right, a testimony to that is about 5 lakh stories submitted to Rambhai in just 3 years. Not to mention the entertaining and thought provoking comments we receive on a regular basis.
However there is always scope of improvement, and we seek your help in improving and promoting Rambhai.com. Help us promote Rambhai.com through Facebook. If you think we have been doing anything worthwhile, please like this facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rambhaicom/rambhai.chaiwallah
You can also add Rambhai chaiwalla to your friends list and tell your friends about this site which is open to all Indians.
We will continue to work on improving this site and the user experience. Let us know what we can do to make your experience on Rambhai.com better by voting and commenting on this post.
You can also add Rambhai chaiwallah to your friends to receive updates from us right on your facebook profile.
Cheers!!!
Team Rambhai
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LetsDiscuss: Rambhai.com wishes all contributors and readers a very Happy New Year - 2010
Dear Rambhaiyas, Today as we all gather with family and friends, Team Rambhai wishes everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.
This is always a hopeful time, as we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. And while 2009 was difficult and challenging for Rambhai and the world in general, we must also look back on this year with the knowledge that brighter days are ahead of us – that although our challenges are great, we have the courage and determination to rise up and meet them.
Happy New Year, everyone.
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LetsDiscuss: Rambhai in Media - Rambhai co-founder on Startups in HT Shine
HT Shine covers Rambhai.com amongst emerging startups from IITs/IIMs. Some of the thoughts from Anshoo Sharma co-founder of Rambhai were somewhat misrepresented, However the article is worth a read and something for Rambhaiyys to cheer about.Cheers!!!!!
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LetsDiscuss: Vote for your PM - General Elections 2009 Contest
Elections are in the air. The world's largest democracy is going to polls next month. Who is going to hold the reins of a potential power horse for the next 5 years. India is certainly going to shape the world in the coming years, and this is a very crucial period for the entire world. Since we are going to be such a power house, we need to be more responsible as citizens. We should be proud of our work, our nation and we should contribute solemnly in the shaping of the destiny of the world. So citizens vote for your PM - who is the most dynamic person to lead the country for next 5 years, let us know your thoughts and stand a chance to win cool Rambhai Tshirts.14 comments | | category: LetsDiscuss | Content type: Text/Pictures | Add this link to... | tell a friend | bakwaas
Masti: Rambhai.on Twitter - Follow Rambhai on your mobile
Dear Rambhaiyyas, you can now follow Rambhai on twitter. You can follow minute by minute as hot posts make it to the home page. Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS, RSS, or through applications such as TwitterMobile, Tweetie, Twinkle, Twitterrific, Feedalizr, Facebook, and Twidget, a widget application. Here is Rambhai's twitter link Rambhai on twitter
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LetsDiscuss: MANMOHAN SINGH - Congress (UPA)
One of the more non-political faces of Indian politics, Dr Manmohan Singh is best known as the "liberator" of Indian economy. As the Union Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government (1991-96), he liberalised the economy to put India on the path of globalisation. He worked as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission from 1985 to 1987 and as the Governor of the Reserve Bank for three years before that. He has also been the Central government's Advisor on Economic Affairs, besides taking international assignments at the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. He was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1991, and has represented the Congress there since. In 1999, he contested the Lok Sabha elections from South Delhi, but lost. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House until becoming the Prime Minister of India.| He has won several awards for his work and contribution to society, including the Padma Vibhushan in 1987, the Euromoney Finance Minister of the year award in 1993 and the Asiamoney Finance Minister of the year award in 1993 and 1994. Singh was born in Gah in West Punjab (now in Pakistan) in September 1932, and studied economics in Chandigarh and later went to Cambridge & Oxford UK for higher studies. He later taught the subject at the Punjab University. He has authored a book on Indian export trends. FACTFILE Place of birth Gah in West Punjab (now in Pakistan) Date of birth September 26, 1932 Education MA, DPhil (Oxford), DLitt (Honoris Causa) Academic Career Senior Lecturer in Economics (1957-59), Reader in Economics (1959-63), Professor in Economics (1963-65) at Punjab University, Chandigarh Professor of International Trade, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi (1969-71) Honorary Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1976, and at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1996 National Fellow, National Institute of Education, NCERT, 1986 Honorary Fellow, (i) St John's College, Cambridge UK, 1982, (ii) Indian Institute of Bankers, 1982 (iii) All India Management Association, 1993 and (iv) Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, 1994 Wrenbury Scholar, University of Cambridge, 1957 Non-Academic Career Economic Affairs Officer, 1966 and Chief, Financing for Trade Section, UNCTAD, United Nations Secretariat, New York, 1966-69 President, Indian Economic Association, 1985 Chairman, (i) UGC, March 15, 1991 to June 20, 1991, (ii) India Committee of the Indo-Japan Joint Study Committee, 1980-83 and (iii) Committee on Commerce, August 1, 1996-December 4, 1997 Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, January 15, 1985 to July 31, 1987 Governor, Reserve Bank of India, September 16, 1982 to January 14, 1985 Director, (i) Reserve Bank of India, 1976-80 and (ii) Industrial Development Bank of India, 1976-80; Economic Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Trade, India, 1971-72 Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India, 1972-76 Advisor to Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs, December 10, 1990 to March 14, 1991 Secretary-General and Commissioner, South Commission August 1, 1987 to November 10, 1990 Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs), Government of India, November, 1976 to April, 1980 Member-Secretary, Planning Commission, April, 1980 to September 15, 1982 Member, (i) Finance, Atomic Energy Commission, Government of India, (ii) Finance, Space Commission, Government of India,(iii) Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, 1983-84 Member,(i) Committee on Finance,(ii) Committee on Rules, (iii) Committee of Privileges and (iv) Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance Leader, Indian Delegation to (i) Indo-Soviet Monitoring Group Meeting, 1982, (ii) Indo-Soviet Joint Planning Group Meeting, 1980-82 (iii) Aid-India Consortium Meetings, 1977-79, (iv) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Cyprus, 1993 and (v) Human Rights World Conference, Vienna, 1993 Attended as member of Indian Delegations (a) South-South Consultations, New Delhi, 1982, (b) Cancun Summit on North-South Issues, 1981, (c) Aid-India Consortium Meetings, Paris, 1973-79, (d) Annual Meetings of IMF, IBRD and Commonwealth Finance Ministers, 1972-79 (e) Third Session of UNCTAD, Santiago, April-May, 1972, (f) Meeting of UNCTAD Trade and Development Board, Geneva, May 1971-July 1972 and (g) Ministerial Meeting of Group of 77, Lima, October, 1971 Deputy for India in IMF Committee of Twenty on International Monetary Reform, 1972-74 Associate, Meetings of IMF Interim Committee and Joint Fund-Bank Development Committee, 1976-80 and 1982-85; Alternate Governor for India, (i) Board of Governors,IBRD, 1976-80, (ii) Board of Governors IMF, 1982-85 and (iii) Board of Governors Asian Development Bank, Manila, 1976-80 Governor for India on the Board of Governors of the IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1991-95 Participated in Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Meeting, Kingston, 1975; represented Secretary-General UNCTAD at several Inter-Governmental meetings, including Second Session of UNCTAD, 1968 and Committee on Invisibles and Financing related to Trade Consultant to UNCTAD, ESCAP and Commonwealth Secretariat Political Career Union Finance Minister, June 21, 1991 to May 15, 1996 Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha; elected to the Rajya Sabha in October, 1991 and re-elected in June 1995 Awards Recipient of honorary degrees of DLitt from Panjab University, Chandigarh, Guru Nanak University, Amritsar, Delhi University, Delhi, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupathi, Panjabi University, Patiala, University of Mysore, Mysore, University of Bolonga, Italy, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Nagarjuna University, Nagarjunanagar and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra Recipient of honorary degree of (i) Doctor of Laws from University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, (ii) Doctor of Social Sciences from University of Roorkee, Roorkee and (iii) DSc from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar and (iv) Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala Conferred,(i) University Medal for standing first in BA(Hons), Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1952, (ii) Uttar Chand Kapur Medal, Panjab University, Chandigarh, for standing first in M.A.(Economics) 1954, (iii) Wright's Prize for distinguished performance at St John's College, Cambridge, 1956 and 1957, (iv) Adam Smith Prize, University of Cambridge, UK, 1956, (v) Padma Vibhushan, 1987, (vi) Euromoney Award, Finance Minister of the year, 1993 (vii) Asiamoney Award, Finance Minister of the year for Asia, 1993 and 1994, (viii) Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress Association, 1994-95, (ix) Justice KS Hegde Foundation Award, 1996 ,(x) Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. (NIKKEI), publisher of Japan's leading business daily,1997 and (xi) Lokmanya Tilak Award by the Tilak Smarak Trust, Pune, 1997. Publications India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth, Clarendon Press, Oxford University, 1964
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LetsDiscuss: LAL KRISHNA ADVANI - BJP(UPA)
Lal Krishna Advani (Sindhi: लाल कृष्ण आडवाणी), also known as Lalchand Kishenchand Advani (Sindhi: लालचंद किशनचंद आडवाणी) (born 8 November 1927[1]) is an Indian politician and a former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004 and is currently the leader of opposition in the 14th Lok Sabha.
Advani, who began his political career as a worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is often credited with having made the BJP a formidable force in Indian politics.
Early life
Lal Krishna Advani was born in Karachi (then British India) to Kishanchand D. Advani and Gyani Devi. Initially, he joined the D.G. National College in Hyderabad, Sindh (now in Pakistan) for his education. He later graduated with a degree from the Government Law College, Bombay University.
[edit] Political career
[edit] Initial stages
Advani's political career began when he joined the RSS in 1942. He later became the president of the organization's Karachi branch. In 1947, Advani was sent to Mewat in Rajasthan, which had witnessed communal violence following partition, to oversee the affairs of the Sangh.
[edit] Jana Sangh days
In 1980, after the collapse of the Chowdhury Charan Singh government, Advani became a prominent leader of the newly founded BJP and represented the party in the Rajya Sabha.
[edit] The rise of BJP
Advani became the president of the BJP in 1986. He gradually brought in a shift in the party's policies by advocating Hindutva and subsequently, the party came to power in several Indian states. The period that followed also witnessed a change in Indian politics with the Congress party and especially its Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi getting embroiled in the Bofors scandal. After the elections that followed the Rajiv government, BJP decided to support a coalition headed by V P Singh.
Under Advani, the BJP had launched an agitation on the issue of Ramjanmabhoomi. For quite a while it had been the demand of many Hindutva groups that a temple be built at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, which had been built over the ruins of a Rama temple. The movement gained momentum in the early 1990s, when Advani embarked on a "rath yatra" to mobilize "karsevaks" to converge upon the Babri Masjid to offer prayers (During Rajiv Gandhi's reign, an idol of Rama had been installed at the mosque). However, despite assurances given to the government and the supreme court, the edifice was brought down by the "karsevaks". Soon after, Advani was charged with delivering inflammatory speeches to spread communal hatred.
These incidents brought in a huge surge in popularity for the BJP, especially in North India. In the 1991 general elections, BJP had won the most number of seats after the Congress party.
BJP, under Advani, sat in opposition from 1992-1996 during the reign of P V Narasimha Rao. The Rao regime was marred by accusations of corruptions and various scandals and BJP made good use of all these issues to project itself as the only corruption free alternative to the Congress.
After the 1996 general elections, the BJP became the single largest party and was consequently invited by the President to form government. Atal Behari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister in May 1996. However, the government did not last long and resigned in June that year.
BJP, under the umbrella of NDA, again came to power with Vajpayee as PM in March 1998, when elections were called after India saw two unstable governments headed H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral respectively. Advani assumed the office of Home Minister and was later elevated to the position of Deputy Prime Minister. As union minister Advani had a tough time with India facing a string of internal disturbances in the form of terror attacks and communal riots. Earlier, Advani had been exonerated in the Jain-Hawala scandal.
BJP suffered a shocking defeat in the general elections held in 2004, and was made to sit in the opposition with Advani as the leader. The NDA disintegrated with the Telugu Desam Party, which had supported their government from the outside, deserting the alliance.
During this period, Advani had to deal with opposition from within the party. His two close associates, Uma Bharati, and Madan Lal Khurana, and long time rival Murali Manohar Joshi public voiced against Advani. In June 2005, Advani drew much criticism when he, while on a visit to the Jinnah Mausoleum at Karachi - his town of birth, allegedly endorsed Mohammad Ali Jinnah and described him a secular leader. This did not sit well with the RSS and Advani relinquished his post a BJP president. However, he withdrew the resignation a few days later.
The relationship between Advani and the RSS reached a low point when K S Sudarshan, opined that both Advani and Vajpayee give way to new leaders. At the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the BJP in Mumbai in December 2005, Advani stepped down as party president and Rajnath Singh, a leader from Uttar Pradesh was elected in his place. In March 2006, following a bomb blast at one of the holiest Hindu shrines at Varanasi, Advani undertook a "Bharat Suraksha Yatra" (Sojourn for National Security), to highlight the alleged failure of the ruling UPA in combating terror.
[edit] Prime Minister candidacy
L.K. Advani with Dmitry Medvedev of Russia.
In an interview with a news channel in December 2006, L.K. Advani stated that as the Leader of the Opposition in a parliamentary democracy, he considered himself as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the general elections, scheduled for early 2009. This public revelation irritated some of his colleagues who were not supportive of his candidacy. In previous remarks, party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had told the press that the BJP would fight the elections under a second-generation leader.
A major factor going in favor of Advani is that he has always been the most powerful leader in the BJP with the exception of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who endorsed Advani's candidacy shortly after the interview was done. On 2 May 2007, BJP President Rajnath Singh, in an interview, stated that: "After Atal there is only Advani. Advani is the natural choice. It is he who should be PM".[2]
On 10 December 2007, the Parliamentary Board of BJP formally announced that L. K. Advani would be its prime ministerial candidate for the General Elections due in May 2009.
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LetsDiscuss: MAYAWATI - Third Front
Mayawati (Hindi: मायावती) (born January 15, 1956) is an Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She has been the Chief Minister during three other short tenures but her party holds the absolute majority in the state as of date. She is the highest income-tax payer among all politicians in India paying Rs. 26 crore for year 2007-08.[2] Early life Kumari Mayawati (i.e. Chandawati Devi) was born in Delhi to Ram Rati and Prabhu Das. Prabhu Das, her father worked as a clerk in the telecommunications department. She graduated from Kalindi College in Delhi and holds both Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Education degrees. She worked as a teacher in Delhi (Inderpuri JJ Colony) during which time she studied for the Indian Administrative Service exam. In 1977, Kanshi Ram became very influential in her life resulting in her joining his core team when he founded the BSP in 1984. Shortly after, she changed her career path and entered politics full time. [edit] Political career In 1984, Kanshi Ram founded the BSP as a party to represent the Dalits, and Mayawati was one of the key people in the new organization. In 2001, Kanshi Ram named her as his successor. BSP was formed in April 1984, and fielded Mayawati for its first election campaign from the Kairana Lok Sabha seat in the Muzaffarnagar district in 1984, and then again for the Lok Sabha seats of Bijnor in 1985 and Haridwar in 1989.[3] Although they did not win, the electoral experience led to considerable groundwork over the next five years, (working with Mahsood Ahmed and other organizers), and in 1989, the party won 9% of the popular vote, and 13 seats in 1989, and 11 in 1991. Because the Dalits are widely-spread over the state, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati then adopted a policy of attracting other groups, which continues today. Kumari first won for the Lok Sabha elections in 1989 from Bijnor. In 1995, while a member of the Rajya Sabha, she became a Chief Minister in a short-lived coalition government, and validated her position by winning from two constituencies in 1996. She was again Chief Minister for a short period in 1997, and then for a somewhat longer term in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2002 to 2003. In 2003, during one of her tenures as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati was accused of corruption by the opposition, Samajwadi Party. The Samajwadi Party legislators presented a video cassette and a CD to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, which they claimed showed Mayawati asking her MLAs to hand over money from their annual constituency fund towards BSP's party fund.[4] Shortly thereafter, Mayawati got more than 140 cases filed against her bete noire and head of Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav, for alleged misuse of the Chief Minister's Discretionary Fund when he headed the government in 1995-96. She also got first information reports (FIRs) registered against other leaders of the Samajwadi Party. In her tenures as Chief Minister, Mayawati has erected a number of monuments to Dalit heroes like Bhimrao Ambedkar and others also of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Gautam Buddha.[5] [edit] 2007 Election Newspapers in Calcutta announce the surprise majority for Mayawati's party in the 2007 elections in Uttar Pradesh Contrary to some poll predictions, BSP won a majority, the first such majority since 1991. Mayawati managed to attract support from Brahmins, Thakurs, Muslims and OBCs voted for the first time for a Dalit party, partly because BSP had offered seats to people from these communities. As usual, this was accompanied by a colourful slogan: Haathi nahin, Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu Mahesh Hain: The elephant (BSP Logo) is really the wise Ganesh, the trinity of gods rolled into one. [edit] Chief Minister, 2007 This article may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (January 2009) Kumari Mayawati was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time on 13 May 2007. Her announced agenda focuses on social justice through law and other means for weaker sections and on providing employment instead of distributing money to unemployed; her slogan is to make "Uttar Pradesh" ("Northen Province") into an "Uttam Pradesh" (Hindi for "Excellent Province"). Her first action was to suspend two IAS officers for non-performance to maintain the Ambedkar park in Lucknow: B.B. Singh, Vice-President (LDA), and S.K. Aggarwal (PWD Principal Sec.) and also one other lower rank officer. It is widely believed that these officers were close to the outgoing government of Mulayam Singh Yadav.[6] She has transferred around 100 police officers.[7] She is continuing the process clearing out of corruption in the UP Police Department. The campaign is a major crack down on corrupt police officers recruited during the previous Mulayam Singh Regime. So far 17,868 policemen have lost their jobs for irregularities in the recruitment process and 25 IPS officers were suspended for involving in corruption while recruiting the police constables.[8] She has also opened case files relating to land deals of the leading actor Amitabh Bachchan in Barabanki, who was close to the previous Samajwadi Party regime. Since attracting the votes of upper castes, she now talks about a policy for poverty-based reservations rather than caste-based reservations.[9]
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LetsDiscuss: Lalu Prasad Yadav - RJD
Although no political party is project Lalu prasad yadav as a prime ministerial candidate, however LP yadav has come a long way. His uncanny ability to marry realpolitik with serious reforms and corporate governance has taken Railways a long way. Team Rambhai would just like to explore what the intelligentsia thinks about Lalu prasad yadav as the Prime Minister. Lalu Prasad Yadav was born in Phulwaria in Gopalganj district of Bihar on June 11, 1947, to Kundan Rai and Marachhiya Devi, a poor peasant family.[4] Yadav married Rabri Devi on June 1, 1973. [4] They have two sons and seven daughters. According to him, his large family is a protest against the forced vasectomy and castration under the infamous family planning initiative during the Indian Emergency (1975 - 77) declared by Indira Gandhi [8] Indira's son, Sanjay Gandhi, was blamed for this abusive and forcible treatment of people. The eldest daughter is Misa Bharati, named after the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, the law which provided the police with an independent authority to arrest and detain persons without the permission of a court.[8] Early life Lalu Prasad Yadav was born in Phulwaria in Gopalganj district of Bihar on June 11, 1947, to Kundan Rai and Marachhiya Devi, a poor peasant family.[4] Yadav married Rabri Devi on June 1, 1973. [4] They have two sons and seven daughters. According to him, his large family is a protest against the forced vasectomy and castration under the infamous family planning initiative during the Indian Emergency (1975 - 77) declared by Indira Gandhi [8] Indira's son, Sanjay Gandhi, was blamed for this abusive and forcible treatment of people. The eldest daughter is Misa Bharati, named after the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, the law which provided the police with an independent authority to arrest and detain persons without the permission of a court.[8] [edit] Political career Flag of Rashtriya Janata Dal Yadav's first political step was his active involvement in the elections of the Patna University Students' union. He led the student movement inspired by Jai Prakash Narayan in the 1970s.The former Chief Minister of Bihar and the then President of Bihar State[9]Janata Party, senior leader Satyendra Narayan Sinha placed him as a candidate for the Lok Sabha and campaigned for him. [10][11]He was subsequently elected as a member of 6th Lok Sabha on a Janata Party ticket at the age 29, becoming one of the youngest members of the Indian Parliament then. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Laloo Prasad Yadav and Chief Minister Rabri Devi hold up lanterns, the RJD's election symbol, at a campaign rally in Jehanabad in Feb 1998 In a span of 10 years, Yadav became a formidable force in Bihar State Politics. During the Indian general elections in 1989 and state assembly elections, he successfully led the National Front coalition in Bihar. It was, therefore, no surprise that he was elected the Chief Minister leaving behind Ram Sundar Das, a former chief minister from the same party, when it came to power in the 1990 Assembly elections. The World Bank lauded his party for its work in the 1990s on the economic front. [12] A report was published by the BBC news in 1996 according to which the police unearthed a Rs 950 crore (US$ 267 Million) Fodder Scam in Bihar (dating back to the previous Congress Government), which allegedly involved Yadav and the State's leading bureaucrats and politicians, albeit the probe itself was ordered by him. Some people claim it to be an opposition's conspiracy to stop his unprecedented political growth. [13] The fodder scam forced Yadav to resign from the office of Chief Minister and he brought his wife, Rabri Devi, as his successor.[14] Yadav formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in 1997, after breaking away from the Janata Dal. According to Limca Book of Records, he is the longest serving president of an Indian Political Party. [15] Yadav remained in power in Bihar for more than one and a half decades during Mandal era. In November 2005 elections, his party, the RJD could win just 54 seats, which put his party in third place, after the Janata Dal United(JDU) and the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Nitish Kumar led coalition, consisting of JD(U) and BJP, came to power with a manifesto of development in an era which is termed as post-Mandal period.[16] [edit] Tenure as an Union Minister Yadav having tea in a kulhad (earthen cup), promoted by him through Indian railways Yadav was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Chhapra and Madhepura seats of Bihar. He became the railway minister in the UPA Government. Later, he gave up the Madhepura seat. During his initial year as a railways minister, Yadav banned plastic cups to serve tea at railway stations and ordered that they be replaced by kulhads (earthen cups). He claimed that the measure would generate more employment in rural areas.[17] Later, he also said that he had plans to introduce buttermilk[18] and khadi[19]. In June 2004, he announced that he would get on the railway himself to inspect its problems and went on to board the Patna railway station at midnight. [20] When Yadav took over, the Indian Railways was a loss-making organization. In the 4 years under his leadership, a cumulative total profit of Rs. 25,000 crore (US$ 5.2 billion dollars) has been reported. Ironically, under the previous government, the Rakesh Mohan Committee (headed by Rakesh Mohan, secretary, department of economic affairs) had termed The Railways a 'white elephant' and predicted that it would suffer a Rs 61,000 crore (US$15.4 billion dollars) loss possibly ending in bankruptcy by 2015. [21] The only solution seemed to be privatization. Yadav with 2008 Indian railways budget Yadav is now credited with engineering the financial turnaround of Indian Railways, that was on the verge of bankruptcy before his appointment to the office. He left passenger fares untouched and found several other profitable sources of revenue for the Railways. He also improved on his first year's performance by stating a profit of 14,000 crores with decreased freight and unchanged passenger fares in 2006. Then, in the 2007 budget, he increased the profit level to 20,000 crores with the introduction of cushion seats in all unreserved compartments.In 2008, profits were 25000 crore (equals $ 6.25 billion @ $1~Rs.40) Speech of Shri Lalu Prasad, introducing the Railway Budget 2008-2009, on 26 February 2008 “ Speaker Sir, I present the Railway Budget for the year 2008-09 with a sense of deep pride and satisfaction. Each year we have progressively raised the bar based on our own successes. The cash surplus of the Railways rose steadily from Rs 9000 cr in 2005 to Rs 14000 cr in 2006 to Rs 20000 cr in 2007. The august House would be happy to know that in 2007-08, we will create history once again by turning in a cash surplus before Dividend of Rs. 25000 cr. Our operating ratio has also improved to 76%. Indian Railways is a Government Department. However, we take pride in the fact that our achievement, on the benchmark of net surplus before Dividend, makes us better than most of the Fortune 500 companies in the world... [22] ” Yadav Presenting the 2008 railways Budget Yadav's railways budget Speech 06-07 “ Sir, .... Tenth Plan targets of 624 mt loading and 396 billion tonne kilometers have been surpassed one year in advance. Sir, I not only hope but firmly believe that we would surpass the Tenth Five Year Plan's incremental target of 63 billion tkm for freight business by over 200%".[23] ” Well known schools of management were interested in Yadav's leadership in managing the turnaround (with more or less the same IAS officers & the same workforce who worked under the previous ministers). He addressed over a hundred students from Harvard, Wharton and others in Hindi. He has received invitations from 8 Ivy League schools for lectures. [24] The turnaround of the Indian Railways is now being studied by the students of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.[25] Prof G. Raghuram, a faculty member, IIM-A, has already conducted a detailed study on the Railways turnaround.[26] In August 2008, CNN-IBN alleged that Yadav had misused his position as the Union Railway Minister to help his relatives acquire land. [27] [edit] Lalu in popular culture Yadav in the popular TV show, Saregamapa (2007) Many books have been written in praise of Yadav by local writers including Lalu Chalisa and Lalu Hala. Entertainers, in television and film industry, mimic Yadav for their profession. According to a media report, many local barbers and saloons are earning money by offering what they call the Lalu style hair cut. A barber of Hajipur was quoted saying, "The style is a craze among the youths and even policemen". [28] Yadav has been recognised as a brand on his own amongst a few industries in rural Bihar. [29] A Patna-based company had launched "Lalu Khaini" (tobacco) in 2004, which was a hit. In 2005, Speedage Corp. introduced "Laluji" dolls that became popular with kids. In 2006, Lalu ka Khzana, a chocolate produced by New Delhi-based Chetak company, became very popular with kids in rural areas of north Bihar districts like Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Madhubani. The wrapper of the chocolate packet depicted two different caricatures of Lalu — one as a politician and the other as a magician. More than 100,000 packets were reportedly sold.[30] Rail Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s look-alike toys on display at a showroom in Patna A cheap cosmetic pack branded as Lalu Chale Sasural ("Lalu goes to in-laws house") had become extremely popular among rural Bihari girls, especially in the areas such as Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Samastipur. Each packet, priced at Rs. 23 (rouglhy half a dollar), contains items of daily use like face powder, cream, earrings, sticker, and a necklace.[31] In June 2006, Prakash Agro Industries in Bihar started selling cattle fodder under the brand name Lalu Pashu Aahar. It was reported that the outcome of this branding strategy had surpassed the company's expectations and they were facing problems in meeting the huge demand for their fodder[32] Yadav has a sizable fan following in Bollywood, which includes actors Sunil Shetty and Raza Murad and directors Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahesh Bhatt to name a few. Indian actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, who is a political opponent of Yadav, once said, " Had Yadav not been a politician he could have been an actor". [33] Mahesh Bhatt has gone to the extent of saying that Yadav deserves to become Prime Minister of India.[34] A Bollywood movie titled Padamshree Laloo Prasad Yadav was released in 2004. Though his name appeared in the title, the movie was not about him, but had characters named Padmashreee, Laloo, Prasad and Yadav. These incidences as viewed by some people as an attempt by the mainstream media to make deliberate fun of Yadav's Bihari accent.
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LetsDiscuss: Towards a better rambhai
Dear Rambhaiyaas,This post is to thank all members of our vibrant rambhai community because of whom this virtual chai stall has come a long way since its humble inception more than two years ago.
Nevertheless, there a lot of distance is yet to be covered. Rambhai wants all its members know that on his part, he will be slowly and steadily making efforts to make rambhai.com a comfortable place for its members to keep stopping by for chai time news and discussions.
As a small step in that direction, we want to do some house housekeeping so that we improve the overall quality by reducing spam on rambhai.com, especially on the queue pages. We are making the following changes and will love to know your thoughts on the same:
1. Default view for stories in the queue will show them sorted in descending order of votes (you might have already seen this over the past few weeks) This means that karma becomes more important, as stories posted by users with high karma will show up first)
2. Given increased dependence on karma above, we are moving to a new and improved karma system which will penalize bad behaviour (might even result in negative karma and thus user's stories not showing up in the queue upon submission). The karma will now also give more weightage to recent activity to account for efforts of people who have done good in the recent past. You will start seeing these changes on rambhai.com over the next few days.
3. To stop people from using round about ways to flood the queue we have plugged-in some of the holes (like sql-injection) in our base platform but we need support from our user community as well. Do visit the queue whenever you are around to vote for stories as well as to highlight spam - simply click on the text 'bakwaas' next to the story tags Ofcourse, clicking on 'bakwaas' counts as good behaviour only if done judiciously and in the right spirit.
Rambhai will keep you posted on more initiatives towards improving this virtual chai stall. In the mean time, do let us know of your thoughts; we might not be able to take up all your suggestions, but will certainly keep them in mind when deciding next steps.
cheers,
Rambhai
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Miscellaneous: Wishing all Rambhaiyyas a very Happy New Year
Rambhai wishes all Rambhaiyyas a very happy new year. We have compiled together in our final newsletter in year 2008, what was best on Rambhai this year. Enjoy reading the best of Rambhai in 2008.discuss | | category: Miscellaneous | Content type: Text/Pictures | Add this link to... | tell a friend | bakwaas
Miscellaneous: Remote voting button for bloggers
Add the code available on this link to your Blog templates and you will get a "Go" button below your posts which your readers can use to Add your Blog Post directly to Rambhai! Once the post has been submitted, the button would allow your readers to vote for your story on rambhai.55 comments | | category: Miscellaneous | Content type: Text/Pictures | Add this link to... | tell a friend | bakwaas
IndiaShining: Team Rambhai wishes all Rambhaiyyas a very Happy Diwali
As Rambhai community moves from strength to strength, we wish to wish all our sincere Rambhaiyyas a very "Happy Diwali" and very special "Thank you" for making Rambhai.com such a nice place to spend time with a hot cup of chai. No matter whether one is looking to vent his anger on politicians or police or one is simply looking for wallpapers for his desktop, Rambhai has become the place to be as covered by various newspapers. Keep going Rambhaiyyas, Team Rambhai wishes each one of you a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous new year.
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Miscellaneous: Winners - India 61st year of Independence and Rambhai Anniversary Celebrations.
Congratulations J2imu and Denny for winning the Second anniversary contest at Rambhai. You guys just rocked this place with more than 6000 points scored between you two. 72 published stories and each one of them of of quality. Congrats to you both once again. Please send your mailing address to rambhai@rambhai.com so that we can send you the T-shirts.It has been two years, from a small community we are now more than 12000 strong. From a few thousand hits we've reached milestone of millions of hits every month. It's been a great journey for Team Rambhai and Rambhaiyyas. Would love to hear your comments on Rambhai's two years.
34 comments | | category: Miscellaneous | Content type: Text/Pictures | Add this link to... | tell a friend | bakwaas