Thought Garage

A researcher argues, Booming economy may change the dynamics of Caste and politics around Caste system. Most of us certainly hope so, but we do not believe that would happen.  Look at different organizations and clubs in US, established by Indians working in US. Most of these organizations are polarized and implicitly all members belong to a certain caste. Grouping under a caste, only promote, caste system.  These are all very well educated, in a much better financial conditions. But Caste is something they consider almost equal to Nationalism and next to being patriotic. And this is election season, you would see strategies, promises and every thing politicians do to win in the elections revolve around Castes. The debate over caste in the New India is more than academic. India’s leaders are under growing pressure to alleviate poverty and inequality. Now, all kinds of groups are clamoring for what Dalits have had for 50 years — quotas in university seats,...

Warangal police setup their own district level web site, WarangalPolice.org   to better reach out to people and provide statistics along with up-to-date information on various cases pending. Also attempting to use the website to promote safety and alert people about various scams. There is a public grievance form, where people can submit their grievances to seek help from Warangal police. The district police launched their own website warangalpolice.org extending their services and bringing more transparency in their operations. District Collector B. Janardhan launched the website at a function here on Saturday. Superintendent of Police V. C. Sajjanar said they launched the dedicated website to make use of the latest technology and bring in more efficiency. He hoped the new facility will help reduce the number of pending cases and infuse confidence about the police among the people. The portal would contain all the details about each case, its stage and time needed for...

The former TDP leader Devender Goud started his own political party and set a dead line for current Governments at both State and National level to make a resolution for Telangana. If they fail to make a resolution by Nov 1, Telangana will declare self-rule as Seperate state, Devender Goud threatened. The newly founded Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP) will unilaterally “declare statehood to Telangana” on November 1 when it proposes to implement self-rule in the region. The party will “change” the name of the State from Andhra Pradesh to Telangana on all the signboards. The number plates on all vehicles will also have the name of Telangana, the NTPP president T. Devender Goud told a public meeting to mark the launch of the party here on Wednesday. Mr. Goud asked the Government to adopt a resolution either in the Assembly or Parliament “creating separate Telangana” by November, the State Formation Day. Otherwise, the NTPP would mobil...

This is election year, and more promotions on the way to lure voters. We have seen huge traction in the last two weeks in awarding Reservations to Kapu community by all political parties. Here is another, to waive loans given to SC/STs in the last 30 years. The State government has decided to waive margin money loans sanctioned by Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes Finance Corporation over the last 30 years. It appears most of those loans did not reach expected beneficiaries at all. The decision threatened to expose irregularities in the sanctioning of loans and nexus between bankers and brokers in denying the benefits to SC families and in defeating the objectives of welfare schemes. The Scheduled Castes Corporation has sent letters to the ‘beneficiaries’ in Gudlur and Ulavapadu mandals that their margin money loans have been waived. The letters have caused more surprise than cheer among the addressees. They thronged the SC Corporation office here saying that ...

More often, they get away with huge bundles of money. Once in a while, they get caught. Here is a story of a Deputy Collector that directly engaged in extortion and corruption  and get caught by ACB(anti corruption bureau). Click on the image to see full image (via Andhra Jyothi News story)

Beware of new credit card offers by Sales agents. They could steal your current credit cards and apply for new credit cards on your name. They may also apply for loans on your name without your knowledge. Read the story for full details and follow the story, by clicking on the link at the bottom of the excerpts. The Task Force police apprehended a techie who used his skills to cheat many by withdrawing money from their credit cards through fraudulent means. By taking up freelance work from various registered direct sales agencies, who get credit card promotion works from various banks, Rajesh exploited loopholes in the system for wrongful gain. Rajesh then gave advertisements in newspapers and appointed four telecallers and an office boy. The telecallers used to target credit card holders . They called on the phone numbers in yellow pages and those found on a website, and enquired whether the creditcard holders needed credit cards of other banks. "Once a custom...

We recently came to know about these 'Aarogya Mela' ( health camps) that are being conducted at various places all over India.  These camps will greatly benefit poorer sections, who normally do not have access to health care (no doctors and no money)  and if they do, they resist contacting a doctor. These camps are conducted through out India and accountability has been assigned to the MP (Member of Parliament) to organize and engage local government facilities to follow up on initial counseling. For example, in Andhra Pradesh, those who are diagnosed through these camps, will be treated under ArogyaSri ( a state + private owned insurance scheme for poor). An excellent strategy and initiative.  If conducted extensively, it would greatly benefit the poorer sections of the society. The State and Central governments jointly conceived the parliamentary constituency-level health camps to provide proper healthcare to the poor along with food and shelter, he noted. Sp...