MIM: Minority communalism gets its new face

The Super Saffron Sunday verdict, which saw the BJP emerge out of Shiv Sena's shadows as the single largest party in Maharashtra, also saw a new entrant in the state. Asaduddin Owaisi's Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (MIM) won two seats and came second in as many constituencies, officially moving out of its stronghold in Hyderabad, which it has represented in the Lok Sabha for the last three decades.

A debut of this nature is an opportunity to introspect also since it could provide a mirror to the mood in society. It is for this reason the MIM's Maha verdict outside its sphere of influence must be studied.To see MIM's entry into Maharashtra as only a reflection of aspirant Muslims is too simplistic and misleading. There is more to the story.

It began earlier this year when the BJP rode the Modi wave to Parliament and Race Course Road. The crumbling of the Congress brand of ersatz secularism in the face of the new Moditva die of development and anti-Congress rhetoric had many Muslims put on their thinking caps, wondering about their safety and security.

With Modi and Amit Shah comes the RSS and not-so-hidden agenda. Never before has the Sangh so close to the government at the Centre.

Most of Modi's recent actions have been guided by this core ideology. It would be naïve to deny that the dangerous and divisive love jihad campaign, Dina Nath Batra's bigotry passed off as science and even the controversial reinvention of Teachers' Day cannot have been done without appealing to the Hindutva agenda.

Was the MIM win possible in a non-Modified India? Why did Muslims in Marathwada vote in significant numbers for the hawkish party, whose leaders are known practitioners of minority communalism?

That is because majority communalism is now official. It is the cult now. The zeitgeist.

The BJP was never unapologetic about its hatred towards Muslims. That feeling grew exponentially with Modi at the helm. The community has negligible representation in his government. There is no Muslim MP from the BJP in Lok Sabha. The RSS ideologues keep harping on a Ram Mandir. And Yogi Adityanath is never censured when he speaks of a Hindu Rashtra.

Before the Lok Sabha polls, political pundits suggested that maverick Modi would rein in the RSS to prove his secular credentials, that being the prime minister was his only ambition and that he would mellow down now to wash away the 2002 Gujarat riots taint.

But it did not happen, leaving the Owaisi brothers to harvest the fear and insecurities of Muslims in Maharashtra into votes. And they now plan to go national. At least their Uttar Pradesh entry seems imminent given the post-Muzaffarnagar riots political matrix.

With the secular, and most times opportunistic, opposition mostly decimated, it is going to be a free run for the communalists - majority and minority.

The 21st century India must understand that communalism breeds communalism. In a Modi-fied India, minority communalisation has raised its head. The tinderbox is being made again. Gunpowder ready. Match sticks aplenty.

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How Kochi innovator Arvind Sanjeev saved you Rs 1 lakh

When Arvind Sanjeev was 10 years old, he took apart his new gift, a remote-controlled toy Ferrari. It exasperated his parents, Central Industrial Security Force scientists, Dr Sanjeev and his wife Usha.

But there were other signs that Arvind was going to become an inventor — visitors watched in awe as a hovercraft the schoolboy built during a local electronics exhibition took to the skies. Arvind's insatiable curiosity is still alive at 23.
It propelled the Kochi-based inventor to build his own version of the cutting-edge Google Glass — a head-mounted device that mimics its famous counterpart's specifics like first person video streaming and voice recognition.

Arvind's SmartCap is a rough-around-the-edges, do-it-yourself (DIY) project, but it took him just two weeks to build and cost him — wait for it — Rs 4,500.

How it all began

Arvind says that from the moment he first saw an advert for Google Glass, he was "pumped". He runs DIY Hacking, an initiative in Kochi that tutors students on hardware technology, egging them on to tinker with electronics and build their own cool robotics projects.

He was able to lay hands on Google Glass earlier this year during a trip to the Silicon Valley. What he loved about the groundbreaking spectacles was its sleek design. What he didn't  care for was its price tag, close to Rs 1 lakh.

"The Glass had innovative ideas, but its price wasn't appealing," says Arvind. And so, he worked on the SmartCap, a DIY tutorial to encourage students to make their own head-mounted devices, using open source technology like arduino and Raspberry pi.

Among other electronics, Arvind attached a web-camera, hands-free tech and LCD display with some Fevicol glue onto his old hip-hop cap. Voila, virtual reality, like the original Google Glass. "The components are bulky, so I used a hat instead of spectacles," he says. It charges with an adaptor or cellphone battery.

Why do-it-yourself

Arvind's SmartCap fired up friends to come up with their own versions. One cap had an e-reader attached, while another was a unique auto-security system. "The wearer can gauge if the driver of his car is falling asleep at the wheel," he says.

SmartCap isn't for sale though. "I registered the prototype, but only developed my own version of Google Glass to motivate students to invent projects."

It's part of his website initiative DIY Hacking, which he started while still studying his bachelors in Electronics and Communications from TocH Institute of Science and Technology in Kochi. Arvind graduated in 2013, even while simultaneously being CEO and chief inventor of his company ARS Device
 

It propelled the Kochi-based inventor to build his own version of the cutting-edge Google Glass — a head-mounted device that mimics its famous counterpart's specifics like first person video streaming and voice recognition.

Arvind's SmartCap is a rough-around-the-edges, do-it-yourself (DIY) project, but it took him just two weeks to build and cost him — wait for it — Rs 4,500.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/44180700.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

It propelled the Kochi-based inventor to build his own version of the cutting-edge Google Glass — a head-mounted device that mimics its famous counterpart's specifics like first person video streaming and voice recognition.

Arvind's SmartCap is a rough-around-the-edges, do-it-yourself (DIY) project, but it took him just two weeks to build and cost him — wait for it — Rs 4,500.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/44180700.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

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Defused Grenade Found on Air India Flight That Was on Standby for PM Modi's US Visit

New Delhi:  A defused grenade was found last night on the business class of an Air India jumbo aircraft flying to Jeddah, sparking a security scare. The Boeing 747-400 had been kept as a standby for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent five-day US visit.

The grenade was reportedly found by the Air India crew on board Flight AI-965 which was flying on the Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah route.

On landing at Jeddah, the incident was reported to the local security agencies who took over the aircraft, sources said.

"A suspicious object was found on board this aircraft. The investigations are on," an Air India Spokesperson told PTI.

The aircraft, which has been cleared and released by the Jeddah airport security, is still in the city as Indian security personnel were still investigating the matte

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Superwoman Mary Kom Wins Historic Asian Games Gold

 
India's M.C. Mary Kom punched her way to a historic gold medal on Wednesday. The world number five defeated Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan to win her first gold in an Asian Games. This is India's seventh gold at Incheon, South Korea. (Day 12 Blog | Medal Tally)
Mary was at her magnificent best in the final bout of women's flyweight (48-51 kg) division. While Shekerbekova - six years her junior - looked to put up a stiff fight, 31-year-old Mary used a combination of right and left jabs to assert her superiority.
Shekerbekova made a good start winning the first round, but Mary used her greater experience to claw back. Mixing her punches, Mary won the next three rounds as the crowd egged her on every minute at the Seonhak Gymnasium in Incheon.
The 31-year-old 'Supermom' began a bit slowly - studying Shekerbekova's approach before unleashing all her fury against the Kazak. She banked on all her experience from 14 years of boxing and rushed to claim top honours in the even
 
A five-time world champion, such was Mary's confidence ahead of the Asian Games that she had said she would settle for nothing less than a gold.
"Our preparation has been good so far and we are looking forward to the Games. I am definitely aiming for gold medal and a bronze will certainly not suffice this time," she had said days before leaving for Incheon. The determination was as much in her punches as was in her words.
Mary has come a long way since growing up as the child of an uneducated labourer in a Manipuri village, constantly being told not to take up boxing because it could ruin her looks.
Mary tried her hand at track and field before settling for boxing, inspired by the gold-medal winning feat of a fellow Manipuri, Dingko Singh, at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. Her other childhood idols included the legendary Muhammad Ali and his boxer daughter Laila. "I realised women's boxing was a serious sport even if it was not taken seriously in India," she had earlier said.
Mary is one of India's most decorated women having won the country's highest sporting award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, in 2009 followed by the third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, in 2013. Appropriately, Mary's autobiography is titled, the "Unbreakable." (Bout was Fixed, says Sarita Devi's Husband After Controversial Exit in Boxing Semis)
To ensure the hardships she faced as a young boxer did not discourage others, she started the Mary Kom Boxing Academy in Manipur's capital Imphal. The academy provides free training to underprivileged children.
To ensure the hardships she faced as a young boxer did not discourage others, she started the Mary Kom Boxing Academy in Manipur's capital Imphal which provides free training to underprivileged children.
There is even a Bollywood movie based on her life and Mary earlier said she was amused and taken by surprise when a producer had approached her about the movie. Interestingly, Priyanka Chopra -- who plays her reel version in the biopic -- had wished her luck before her final Asian Games bout. (Related: Mary Kom Wants Priyanka Chopra as Boxing Academy's Brand Ambassador)

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Chetan Bhagat’s Half Girlfriend releases on October 1

Half Girlfriend will be available in the UAE at DC Books and Jashanmal Book Stores

Bestselling Indian author Chetan Bhagat is releasing his seventh novel Half Girlfriend on October 1 in the UAE and India.

Half Girlfriend is the story of Madhav and Riya, students at New Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, and deals with the twists and turns of their love life.

Bhagat is the writer of novels such as Five Point Someone, One Night @ the Call Center, The 3 Mistakes of My Life, 2 States and Revolution 2020, which have inspired Bollywood films such as 3 Idiots, Kai Po Che and Hello.

The book will be available at DC Books outlets and Jashanmal Book Stores for Dh25. For more information, call 04-3548448.

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