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Early life After almost one hundred and fifty years India was again invaded by another king of Turkish descent from the Afghanistan side. It was Mu’izzuddin Muhammad Bin Sam who is popularly called Muhammad Gori in India. He was the governor of Ghazni and younger brother of the Sultan Ghiyas uddin Muhammad of Ghor that is a province in the modern-day Aghanistan. He was ambitious king who had showed his expansionist intensions in his early age. He first defeated the Seljuks and brought Khorasan under his rule. It opened his way into India. He brought Sindh and Multan under his control and conquered Lahore in 1186-87. He was very much loyal to his brother and never declared himself independent or broke from him. After every victory he used to send best of his looted items to his elder brother in Ghor. Thus their relations always remained cordial and this allowed him to extend his territory towards eastwards in India. And at the other hand his elder brother Ghiyasuddin never interfered in his matters. Thus he was secure from the west and it allowed him to push his rule much faster as compared to any other Muslim invader. He conquered Sialkot and strengthened his position by building a fort. He slowly but steadily became the ruled of Punjab within the period of a couple of years. First of all he defeated all of his Muslim rivals and then strengthened and reorganized his military.

Battles of Tarain His Lahore win had brought face to face with the Rajputs of north India. At that time Jai Chandra of Kanauj and Prithvi Raj Chauhan of Delhi were the most powerful Rajput rulers. But they were very much jealous of each other and used to fight with each other. In 1191 Gori’s expansionist intensions had to face the Rajput might. A battle was fought between him and Prithvi Raj Chauhan. Prithvi Raj was assisted by some other Rajput rulers. Jai Chand of Kannauj also helped him in the battle. It is believed that Gori had captured a fortress at Prithvi Raj’s northwest-frontier. It was either in Bathinda or Sirhind towns of modern Punjab. Prithvi Raj’s vassal, Govind Raja of Delhi was sent to recapture and fight the invaders and recapture the fort. Both the armies met at Tarain that is vary near to Thanesar. The invaders could not face the Rajput fury and fled from the battle field. But Gori fought and was wounded in the battle. It was some of his loyal generals who protected him and had carried him away from the battlefield. Rajputs followed the fleeing Muslim army to forty miles and besieged the Sirhind fort after a long blockade.  But Rajputs did not gave a long chase to the fleeing Muslim army and it is considers Prithvi Raj’s biggest folly. But the very next year Gori returned with a much bigger army and again fought a battle in the same battleground in Tarain. Rajputs, too, has collected a much larger army. But, this time, Gori used some tactics and Rajputs had fallen prey to these tactics.  He arranged a fake truce and then suddenly attacked the Rajputs who were celebrating thinking that they had won the battle. This surprise attack broke away the Hindu army and they started to flee from the battlefield. Prithvi Raj’s brother-in-law Govind Raj was killed in the battle. Prithvi Raj, too, was captured and was taken to Afghanistan as a prisoner. He captured Ajmer that was the capital of Prithvi Raj and then gave it to his son on the condition of paying tribute.

Death After this victory he returned to Afghanistan leaving his loyal and favorite slave, Kutbudin Aibek in charge of the conquest. Under the able command of Kutbudin, his army had won many other parts of India that included Mirat, Aligarh, Delhi and Bihar. But Gori has to face some setback during some wars in his own country. A party of Khokhars killed him in 1206 during his journey from Lahore to Afghanistan. After his death most of his slave generals assumed independence and his empire was divided into many parts.

Kings in Democracy Barak Obama’s ‘anointment’ as America’s first Black President is a big news for the world. For the people of Punjab Sukhbir Badal’s ‘appointment’ as the Deputy CM of the state is not less important news. According to the democratic values this development is a wonderful fact in the history of Punjab politics. In democracy it is believed that rulers are not born to the queens but are decided on the basis of the votes of the ordinary people. But Indian democracy has become only ‘rule of some families’. The interesting fact is that this pattern is being followed even by those politicians who used to object to the rule of successors of Nehru/Gandhi family. Shaikh Abdullah of Jammu Kashmir, Chaudhary Devi Lal from Haryana, Orissa’s Biju Patnaik and Punjab Akali Dal Chief Prakash Singh Badal are among those leaders who have always objected to this new trend of ‘family rule’ in the Indian democracy. But, now it looks that they will stop targeting the Nehru/Gandhi family on the basis of this issue as they too are among those people who are following Nehru/Gandhi family pattern and are equally responsible for the murder of ‘ true democratic values’.

BJP Leadership To become or make a CM or Deputy CM of some state is not against any democratic rule as it has happened in many states. But It has happened for the first time that the CM and Deputy CM are not only from the same political party but are father-son due. It looks very ‘odd’ as for as the democratic values are concerned. With this development, some senior state level leaders of BJP are not happy, but BJP ‘high command’ is busy in wake of the upcoming Lok Sabha election and its problems have been doubled with the revolt of Bharon Singh Shekhawat in Rajasthan and Kalyan Singh in Uttar Pradesh. Because of these developments they do not want to increase their problems by objecting to Sukhbir Badal’s appointment as the deputy CM of the state. So BJP ‘high command’ ordered its state leadership to ‘compromise with the situation’ and following the dictations they left their differences behind and got ready for the ceremony.

Sudden Decision No doubt has been left in anybody’s mind that this is just a start for Sukhbir Singh Badal and after some months he will be ready to take the bigger responsibility as the CM of the state. Though he has taken the oath only on 21^st but he was governing the state from behind the scenes for months. Many political parties have blamed ‘junior Badal’ for interfering in the work of state government for many times. And now he has become the Deputy CM of the state and with this he has ‘shut the mouths’ of the opposition. Some people are feeling astonished with this sudden development. It is being said that ‘alarming statements of some senior Akali leaders are the reasons behind this sudden development. A few days ago senior Akali leader Captain Kanwaljeet Singh has shook the entire leadership by saying that the coming Lok Sabha election will an ‘acid test’ for young Akali leader Sukhbir Singh Badal. Some Akali leaders ‘got out of control’ and attacked Captain by saying that this is the same person who was the Home minister of the state in 1985 and had ordered the police to enter Shri Harmandir Sahib. Captain Kanwaljeet Singh had to adopt a ‘defensive posture’. But his remarks have indicated that the coming months are very important for the junior Badal. Failure in Lok Sahba elections can strengthen the ‘discontented voices’ inside Akali Dal which can stop Sukhbir’s march toward higher positions. So it was decided to make him the Deputy CM of the state before the elections. With this the possibilities of internal back stabbing have been neutralized and also Senior Badal has got ready to play an important role at the National level politics.

Acquisition There is news in the India corporate world according to which engineering field giant Larson&Turbo is searching for the possibilities of acquisition of fraud hit Satyam. According to some company sources L&T Chief A.M Naik met central corporate minister Premchand Gupta on Tuesday and discussed the matter. On the other hand the new Director Trun Das has said that some national and international IT companies have contacted the board to acquire the company.  Company’s new board of directors’ meeting is scheduled to be held on 22-23 January in which the names of new CEO and SFO will be discussed and finalized. Tarun Das told that many Indian and foreigners have showed their interest to acquire Satyam. Director Depak Parekh has already said that ‘all options of acquisition are open’. It is being also said that an investment Banker can be appointed to study various options of acquisition.

Meeting Agenda Board will discuss the various names for the posts of CEO and SFO. Board has already sent the ball into government’s court. It must be learnt that government has kept the rights of appointment of the CEO and SFO with it. PMorgan and Goldman Sachs are among the banks short listed to advise the new board of fraud hit Satyam Computer. There is some positive news for Satyam also. According to some sources some big clients will kept on working with Satyam. According to GE spokesperson his company will keep on taking the services of Satyam it has not canceled any project. Malaysian Airlines has also said that it will carry on taking the Satyam services.

Investigation Meanwhile, CID raided the residents of relatives of Ramalinga Raju and recovered more than one hundred land documents and sale deeds that cover the purchase of hundreds of acres in the name of Ramalinga Raju’s family and some benami names. CID team raided on SRSR Holdings at Jubilee Hills and SRSR Advisory Services Private Limited at Begumpet. It must be learnt that SRSR Holdings at Jubilee Hills and SRSR Advisory Services Private Limited are a part of the Maytas Infra Limited promoters. Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has extended scope of its ongoing probe according to the Centre Government directions and has brought Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure also under the investigations. Former  Satyam directors, including Raju, his brother B Rama Raju and ousted interim-CEO Ram Mynampati, have been directed not to ‘alienate, charge, mortgage or sell any of their shares, securities and fixed assets, without leave of the CLB’. This move points out that they had siphoned off the company funds for their personal gains. It is also being said that Raju had confessed to diverting the Satyam funds to the two real estate companies owned by his family members. During the interrogation he admitted that land was purchased across Andhra Pradesh with the hope of making huge profits out of the real estate price rise.

Frauds Indian Foreign Affairs minister has termed Satyam episode as an isolated issue which has undoubtedly pictured the Indian economy in a ‘wrong frame’. He appealed to the international community not to take this episode as the representative of the Indian corporate sector. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described it as a ‘blot on out corporate image’. In recent years Indian economy has been hit by man frauds. This has happened almost at regular intervals. It is happening because some people took the advantage of loop holes in the Indian judicial system and get away easily. This will kept on happening until those loopholes are not closed.

Resignation Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Bhartiya Janta Party vice president shocked everyone when he resigned from BJP’s primary membership on Tuesday. He has also quit all the party posts and returned the party MP ticket from the Bulandshehar. He was not happy with the party high command that was ignoring him for last some time. He was complaining that senior leadership of the party was ignoring him and he was not being given the due respect. With his resignation he also had hinted on his closeness with the Samahwadi Party. His close supporters had indicated that he can contest the MP election from Etah with the support of Mulayam Singh Yadav led Samajwadi Party. It must be learnt that when Left had withdrawn its support to the UPA government in wake of Indo-US N-deal, SP had worked as oxygen and had saved the UPA government from the premature downfall. SP has always remained in focus for its unpredictable political moves. After huge setback in the UP state assembly elections it had been pushed to wall and it was being said that it will be very difficult to SP to regain previous status in the state and national level politics. But in the recent months it has taken some bold and shocking steps that can turn the tide into its favor.

Reasons The initial indications showed that Kalyan Singh had decided to contest from Etah, as an independent supported by SP and Congress. It is for the second time that he has quit BJP. Last time he had done so was in 1999 but he had returned to the saffron party in 2004. Considering his return to BJP as a political mistake he said that he will not repeat his previous ‘political mistake’. He has sent a letter to BJP President Rajnath Singh and a copy of the letter to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Lal Krishna Advani. In his letter he has mentioned the ‘humiliation he had to suffer and the efforts made to sideline him’. He said that he never has compromised on his ‘prestige and integrity’ that is why he has resigned from the primary membership of the party. He has said that he was ‘feeling suffocated’ for last some time. According to some BJP sources candidature of Ashok Pradhan from Bulandshahr despite Kalyan Singh’s strong opposition is the main reason behind his resignation. It must be learnt that Kalyan Singh is the sitting MP from Bulandshahar.

Joining But his son Rajvir Singh’s induction into the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday has cleared all the doubts and has also increased problems for the BJP. SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav has appointed him as the national general secretary. With this development the relations between SP and Kalyan Singh have become stronger. Both sides have described their relationship as a natural one and without any deal between them. They have termed it as the real ‘bahujan’ force.

Battle With this development former wrestler Mulayam Singh has given a ‘pahalwani patka’ to BSP chief Mayawati and BJP leader Lal Krishan Advani. It must be learnt that both these leaders are dreaming to become the next prime minister of India. At one hand Bahujan Samaj Party chief is hopeful of becoming the next prime minister of India with the help of Left and some other parties and at the other hand BJP, too, is dreaming of retain the seat. UP plays an important role in the formation of government in Delhi as it has the maximum number of MP seats. Presently BSP is in power in the state and is hopeful of repeating its assembly election performance in the Lok Sabha elections also. But Kalyan factor can affect the results.  He belongs to the Lodh caste which is an OBC. Thus he can affect BSP’s lower caste votes.

Kareena to open a School

The dream was seen by the ‘showman’ Rajkapoor and his granddaughter has taken the responsibility of changing it into a reality. There is news that Bollywood hot actress Kareena is searching for a suitable plot to open a special school for the children in Mumbai. It is for the first time that a Bollywood star is going to open a school without the help of any Governmental or NGO’s help. Though she will consult the specialists regarding the establishment of the school but it is being said that she herself will spend the money on the project. It is being said that her elder sister Karishma is fully supporting her sister. She too will help her sister as for as the investment is concerned. According to some internal sourced the Kapoor sisters can change their family dream into a reality within a few coming years but it depends on the availability of a suitable plot. Kapoor sisters are finding a 2-3 acre plot at some good and suitable location in Mumbai and Bebo has not set any investment limit for the establishment of the project. It is being said that she has kept Rs.15 crore separately for the purchase of land. It is being said that Aamir’s ‘Taare Zameen Par’ is working as an inspiration for her and after watching it she has become very active to open a special school for the children. Kareena told that it is true that she is searching trying to buy a suitable plot to open a school. But she declined to tell something more about this project as a lot of work is required to be done.  But it is being said that school will be named after Bollywood showman Rajkapoor’s name.

Juhi Chawla’s New Look

There is news that Joya Akhtar’s directorial debut ‘Luck By Chance’ is packed with stars. It is also being said that Jhuhi Chawla, too, will play a short but an important role in the film. And for his role she has adopted a ‘blonde look’. It must be learnt that she never has adopted such kind of look in any of her previous films. She told that when Joya offered her this role she was very much excited to hear the story of the film. Though Joya already had told her about the ‘length’ of the role but she was very much excited to do this role as it was a significant role in the film. She told that the main reason behind accepting this role is that it is totally different from all her previous rolls played in various films. She is playing the role of the wife of a film director. The director’s role is being played by Rishi Kapoor. To give a realistic touch to her role she has adopted the ‘blonde girl’ look. It must be learnt that Farhan Akhtar, Kokana Sen, Isha, Sanjay Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple and Juhi Chawla are the main characters in the film and it is ready to be released on 30^th January.

Sanjay Dutt in Politics

SP general secretary stunned everyone when he announced Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt’s entry into the politics. This has not ended here. He has been selected as party’s MP candidate from the Lukhnow Lok Sabha seat. It must be learnt that Lukhnow is the ‘pet’ seat of former PM and BJP veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. With this development SP has given big jolts to Congress and BJP. It must be learnt that Dutt family has always remained very near to the Congress. His father Suneel Dutt had won many Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate.  But for last some time Dutt family was not happy with the Congress leaders. It is being said that Bachchan famlily’s strong ties with SP have encouraged Sanju to join politics. Some differences had emerged in the Dutt family after the announcement but Sanjay Dutt has solved them as being the ‘eldest in the family’. In the initial stages it was being said that he can not fight the elections because of his ‘tainted past’ but all such voices were neutralized when court permitted him to contest the upcoming elections. Now the time has come for him to do Gandhigiri in real life.

Relations After a heated media war between India and Pakistan the relations between both the nations have started to normalize. In the earlier stages Pakistan was in a denial mode and after a lot of international pressure Pakistan has initiated a probe into the Mumbai terror attack. Though most of the Pakistanis have accepted that the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack were their own countrymen but a strong anti-India lobby was not in an accepting mode. But it is the democratically elected government of the Pakistan that at last took the right decision and initiated a probe into the matter. It is a positive indication for the Indo-Pak relations but it also indicates that India has emerged as a responsible state. After the terrorist attack on Mumbai most of the Indian people wanted India to go to any extent to eliminate the terror menace from the world but it was the leadership of Manmohan Singh and his able ministers that not only handled the situation well and at the same time created such a situation of International pressure that Pakistan’s democratically elected weak government got enough internal and external support to take the right action.

Investigation Pakistan had on Saturday accepted it that the dossier on Mumbai attacks contains ‘leads and good clues’. Pakistan wants to have a ‘cooperative engagement’ with India to tackle the menace of terrorism that has become the biggest threat to the internal stability of Pakistan also. Speaking in a press conference Pakistan’s Interior Ministry chief Rahman Malik told that India has provided ‘quite a lot of material’ and Pakistani investigating agencies will work hard to convert it into a strong evidence so that it can ‘stand up to judicial scrutiny’. Pakistan has formed a three member team of investigators to probe the Mumbai terror attack. It has been directed to submit its preliminary report within ten days. Pakistan has said that after examining all the available information it will share its findings with India first. All this indicates that Pakistan has started to take on the terrorists.

Evil Elements Now everyone has understood the fact that war is not the solution to end the menace.  And Pakistan is in such a situation that it has almost attained the tag of a failed nation. There are many forces that are fighting with each other to take the control of the nuclear armed state. In this situation war can only help the evil forces of terrorism that have become a major threat to the world peace. There are several elements in the Pakistani military and ISI that are reluctant to accept the change in country’s leadership. People of both the nations also want peace with each other. But this is not acceptable for some elements who can survive only if both the nations remain at loggerheads. With the change in the government, Pakistan’s policies towards India had also changed but it was not acceptable for some elements in Pakistan who take India’s peace initiatives as methods of ‘economic terrorism’. They think that that India’s economic might will kill Pakistani industry.

Problems By creating a war like situation such elements wants to keep the fire of hate burning between both the nations and only war can serve their aims. In this situation terrorism can not be eliminated from the Pakistani soil without strengthening democratic forces. Pakistan is passing through its worst phase and only democracy can steer it away form the brink of collapse. Years of military rule and talibanization have changed the mindset of most of the people of Pakistan. They consider Western world, India and Israel as their enemies. It is because of the faulty education system. There are many other problems that will take years to get solved. And only a democratically elected government can take on such a vast majority of problems. For this the survival of Pakistan’s democratically elected government is necessary and India is doing the right thing.

Punjab There are many things in the Indian politics that nobody can understand. Whether it is north India or south India there is one common fact that has always worried the Indians and which has made Indian democracy a subject of thorough discussion. After Omar Abdullah in Jammu and Kashmir, now it is the turn of Sukhbir Singh Badal to become the Chief Minister of Punjab. Thus Punjab has become the second north-Indian state in which young politicians have taken the ‘command into their hands’. Sukhbir Badal will have to wait for some time to become the CM of Punjab as there are some ‘strong voices’ that are objected to his ‘anointment’ as the chief Minister of Punjab. These ‘strong voices’ are not of the Badal foes but they are their own friends from BJP. By making Sukhbir the CM of Punjab, his father and Akali Dal supremo Prakash Singh Badal wants to play a ‘bigger role’ at the centre stage and also not let his ‘grip’ loosen on his home state.

Change But nobody is able to understand that why Punjab BJP leaders are objecting to ‘Badal’ move. If there are some objections then why did they ‘come into open’?  For last some years it had become clear that After Prakash Singh Badal his son will lead the Akali Dal and will be next Akali leader to become the CM of Punjab. Whether it was any senior or junior Akali leader he has understood this fact and accepted the ‘truth’. Akali Dal’s election partner BJP’s centre and state leadership, too, was ready to such kind of situation. But all were shocked to hear the sudden announcement. Some people had raised their voices against this development though there objections had no ‘ground’. It is being said that the ‘sudden announcement’ of Sukhbir Badal’s appointment as the deputy CM of Punjab was the reason. Now all the ‘objecting voices’ have fainted and there is no possibility of any big objection. But these objections will deeply affect Sukhbir Badal’s working ability.  But it is the natural truth that changes have always been objected but nobody can evade this natural truth. But everyone will have to accept this truth that situation indicates that it is the time of change and this change will not only affect the state politics but also leave a big impact at the centre level politics.

Haryana After Punjab, Haryana politics, too, is ready to undergo a big change. There are three young leaders in Haryana who are in headlines these days and fortunately, they all are MPs. Indian Lok Dal leader Ajay Chautala is on his ‘janakrosh yatra’. On the other hand Ex. CM Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi is on his ‘janjagaran yatra’. All these developments indicate that Haryana, too, is undergoing a big political change. Public meetings are being organized and leaders are changing their loyalties. It won’t be right for us to discuss about the Haryana politics without mentioning the love story of Bhajan Lal’s second son Chardramohan Singh who has changed his religion to have become Chand Mohammad. But it looks that neither the people of Haryana nor the political leadership of the state has taken this development seriously. Though in the initial stages some leaders had tried to use it as a political issue but it was not accepted by the people of Haryana. Bhajan Lal family has almost forgotten this development. Some supporters of Kuldeep Bhishnoi have left him but such kind of developments happen before and after every election. The third young Haryana leader is Depender Huda who is mainly focused on his constituency. There are many other young leaders in Haryana but they are not much active. Meanwhile, Haryana politics is very hot these days and all the three leaders are ‘fighting the battle with their full powers’.

Indian Domestic Cricket

Champion Mumbai once again has reasserted its supremacy by defeating the last year’s runner-up Uttar Pradesh in the75 editions of Ranji Trophy. Mumbai had set a winning target of 525 runs for the Uttar Pradesh team but they could not stay in front of Dawal Kulkarni’s fury and all the UP team was bundled out for 281 runs off 71.5 overs on the last day of the match. It is for the second time that UP has to be satisfied with their runner-up position. The winning team was led by Wasim Jafar. Last year it was defeated by the Delhi team in the final.

Mumbai Bowlers It was the Mumbai bowlers who opened the doors of victory for their side. Dawal Kulkarni proved out to be the most successful bowler on the day five as he took five wickets for 76 runs off 18.5 overs. Off-spinner Romesh Pawar took three wickets for 75 runs while Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar also contributed in the victory by taking one wicket each. Uttar Pradesh team’s hopes of winning the trophy had already shattered when they had given the lead of 157 runs to the 37 time winner Mumbai in the first inning.

UP Batting On the fifth day the UP team had only one option and it was to evade the direct defeat.  On the last day only one thing was left to be seen that whether UP team succeeds to evade the ‘straight defeat’ or not. But Kulkarni broke the back bone of the UP team by taking five wickets and did not allow them even to evade the straight defeat. And with his five wicket haul he has joined Ravinder Jadeja who have taken 42 wickets in the trophy. Uttar Pradesh team skipper Mohd. Kaif tried to save the match for his side by making 72 runs. His team mate Bhuvaneshwar Kumar also tried his best by making 80 runs but they both could not succeed in saving the match for their side. They both made 112 runs for the fifth wicket. Bhuvaneshwar could not take the advantage of the chance that luck offered him when he was at 79 and was dropped by Tendulakar.  UP wicket keeper remained unbeaten for 43 runs. He added 55 runs along with Praveen Kumar for the last wicket. But Kulkarni wrapped up the UP team inning by taking the wicket of Praveen. Swinging beauties of Kulkarni defused the aggressiveness of Shivakant Shukla and Suresh Raina. Kulkarni’s out-swinger took the edge of Shukla’s bat and was caught at the slip by Rohit Sharma. Suresh Raina was caught at the first slip by Sachin Tendulkar. Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar soon joined the Mumbai wicket taking club when they took the prized wickets of Tanmay Srivastava and Parvinder Singh. Zaheer’s one late in-swinging delivery rattled Srivastava’s stumps while Parvinder Singh was caught by Vinay Samant. In this session of the trophy Buvaneshwar has emerged as an all-rounder which his 31 wickets and 407 runs. Tendulkar too got a chance of taking a wicket when substitute Sahil Kumar dropped Aamir Khan of UP on the third ball off his first over.

Performances In the first inning of the match Mumbai had made 402 runs. RG Sharma (141 from 275 balls) and AM Nayar (99 form 190) were they top scorers for their side. Agarkar had impressed with his 47 runs off 99 balls.  But UP team could make only 245 runs in the first inning and thus gave a crucial lead of 157 runs to their opponents. It was Zaheer Khan who wrecked havoc and took seven UP team wickets in the first inning. In the second inning Mumbai team had made 367 runs which included VR Samanth’s 113 runs and RG Sharma’s 108 runs. But Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar failed in both of the innings and made only four runs in the match. It was for the first time that he got out on zero in the Ranji history.

Selectors This Ranji trophy has created problems for the Indian national cricket team selectors and some players who have not performed well in some last matches. Selectors are in a state of dilemma to whom to select and whom to leave. At one hand Dhawal Kulkarni is knocking at the doors of the selection committee and at the other hand UP team’s all-rounder Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has also made his presence to be felt. Pathan brothers from Baroda, Saurashtra team’s Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara and Mumbai team’s Ajinkya Rahane are also among the race. In this situation Harbhajan Singh’s selection in the national team is under doubt.

India at Oscars At one hand when India is celebrating for A.R Rahmaan’s Golden Globe Award, the ouster of ‘Taare Zameen Par’ in the first round of Oscar race has distressed the Indians. Not only the Indian entertainment industry was shocked to hear the news but it has also disappointed the Indian fans. ‘Taare Zameen Par’ had been selected to represent India in the foreign language film category. It was the fourth Indian film that had been selected for the Oscar race. The first three were ‘Mother India’, ‘Salaam Bombay’ and ‘Lagaan’. It is for the fourth time that an Indian film had been selected for the Oscar race but could not succeed to win any award. Earlier famous Indian director Satyajit Ray had been awarded for his contribution for his work for the development and of Indian cinema. But some people have raised their fingers on Ray’s selection for the Oscars. According to them Oscar Committee had awarded him for his ‘special contribution’ in the field of cinema but this ‘special contribution’ has not been found in any of his films.

Questions Every year, 800 films are made in the Indian entertainment industry but at the other hand Hollywood makes around 100 films every year. But despite of this huge difference, no Indian film has succeeded in winning any of the Oscar Awards. International Film market is of 30 Billion while India’s entertainment industry’s business percentage in the International market is only 3.5 per cent. From this point of view we can make an estimate of the contribution of the western films in international film market. But there are many questions that rise in Indian minds. That are; what are those Oscar ‘measures’ according to which Indian films fail to stay in the race and win an award? At which levels Indian films fail to compete with the others? If there are any kind of short comings then Why Indians film makers don’t try honestly to remove those shortcomings to make best films?

Efforts There are many film makers who have presented true India through their picture. Some of them are Satyajit Ray, B. Santaram, Tapan Sinha and many more. They have presented various Indian classes with a great sensitivity in their films. There films can compete at the international level. Some Indian people have won Oscar Awards but no India film has succeeded to win an Oscar. But Taare Zameen Par’s ouster form the Oscar Awards’ race has satisfied the view of only those Indian film makers who say that ‘ India people like only the ‘masaaledar films that take them away’ to evade the harsh realities of the daily life. In recent times we have seen that Hollywood has made inroads into the Indian entertainment market through ‘dub’ or translated films. Today we can see many ‘Hollywood award winning films translated into various Indian languages’. This development has severely affected Bollywood’s home market. In recent years we had noted that many regional Indian films industries were at the brink of collapse. The Punjabi film industry is the exact example of it. But some people who had always remained connected with this regional industry made some ‘true’ efforts to revive the dying industry and this have got a lot in respect and support from the people to them. During these efforts many ‘world class’ Punjabi films were made and won many awards. ‘Waris Shah’ and ‘Shaheed-e-Azam Udham Singh’ are the examples of it. It is the story of a regional Industry but it also indicates that true efforts always return more than expected. Considering these facts Indian filmmakers should sensitively have a thorough thinking to improve the quality, better storyline, technique and sensitivity of the language. If it is done then there is no reason that can stop us from getting any achievement in this field.

Invasion on Thanesar (1011) After Nagarkot, Thanesar was the next major Hindu religious centre to face the loot. In 1011 he invaded Thanesar. It is said that Hindus tried to reach a compromise with Ghazanvi but he refused and whole of the town was destroyed. Hundreds of people were brutally murdered and enslaved. The sacred temples were looted and plundered.  The idol of Jugsoma, Hindu deity, was sent to be trodden under foot. Rajah of Delhi tried to save the temple from Ghazanvi but his armies could not reach the place in time and Ghazanvi had already destroyed it.  According to an Arab historian who was accompanying Ghazanvi, Mahmud wanted to attack Delhi but his ‘nobles’ advised him not to do so as it could become impossible for them to keep the loot of the temple safe as they were in the centre of India. But modern historians believe that Mahmud had to face a stiff resistance at Thanesar. While the unified forces under the command of Delhi Raja were marching towards Thanesar. It is said that Hindus form all parts of India had joined the Delhi armies to protect their sacred place. It such circumstances Mahmud was afraid and he decided to go back to Ghazni instead of staying in India for more time. It is said that Mahmud brought 200,000 captives to their country but according to the modern scientists the figure has been exaggerated.

Invasion on Mathura (1018)  His next attack was aimed at the famous Hindu religious centre Mathura. It was a city of temples and Mahmud was amazed to see the beauty and structure of so many huge temples. His armies entered the city without any resistance and they looted whatever they found. It is said that Hindus of the city opened the doors of the city and lay down on the ground to please the invaders. He returned to his country with untold wealth.

Kannauj Invasion (1019) Very next year after the Mathura invasion, Mahmud attacked the famous city of Kannauj. At that time it was being ruled by Pratihara King Rajpal Pratihar. Instead of defending his state fled away to save his life. But some local prominent people got united and decided to defend their state. But they were not a match to the well disciplined Turkish armies. Hundreds of innocent people were brutally murdered by the Mahmud soldiers and sacred temples were looted. The Pratihara king accepted the superiority of Mahmud and was returned his kingdom by the invader.

Kalinger Invasion (1021) Pratihara King Rajpal’s act of accepting the superiority of Mahmud made the other Rajput kings vary angry as it was against the Rajput tradition. Kannauj’s neighboring kings got united and attacked Kannauj. Rajpal was defeated and killed in the battle. This development made Mahmud unhappy as Rajpal had accepted his superiority. So he decided again to attack India and punish the ‘culprits’. His next move was aimed against the Kalinjar king Gandda Chandel who was responsible for the murder of Rajpal. Instead of fighting against the invaders he, too, accepted Mahmud’s superiority. He gave huge wealth to the invading king. Mahmud was pleased with it and he returned. From 1019 to 1021 he also had invaded Gwalior, Kashmir and Lahore but these invasions were not as successful as compared to his earlier invasions.

Invasion on Somnath (1026) Mahmud’s most successful and most famous invasion was on the famous Hindu pilgrimage centre Somnath situated in the modern Indian state of Gujarat. The aim of his invasion was to stop the ‘evil practices of the infidels’ and to loot the immeasurable wealth of the temple. A local tribal king Ghogha Rana resisted the invaders and tried to save the temple and thus sacrificed his own clan. It is said that the famous Shivalingam was cut into four pieces and was sent to four separate places in Middle East to be trodden over. It is said that Mahmud returned with huge wealth that was more than all of his previous loots.

Government Though this was another week of tension between India and Pakistan but there are some signs that indicate that ice has started to break between both the nations. Pakistan’s ‘one step ahead two steps backward’ policy has created doubts in Indian minds regarding it’s sincerely to take action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack. At the same time Manmohan Singh led UPA government is fastly loosing public support because of its failure to take some decisive action against the terrorists. Lok Sabha elections are nearing and people have started to count UPA government’s failure during its rule of five years among which Mumbai terror attack also figures at the first place. But it can not be said that Indian government is not doing anything.

Army Chief This week we saw Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Foreign Affairs Minister in the ‘for front of the action again’. But the statement of the Indian Army Chief had created tensions and fears in the border areas. He had assured his country men that it is ‘not a cause of worry’ as Indian Army had carefully considered these developments. There are some reports that say that Pakistan has moved some of its troops form its Federally Administered Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan to the Indian border. He also said that ‘we are keeping all our options open’ in case of diplomatic and economic measures fail. It was for the first time that Indian Army Chief had spoken in a ‘straight talk’ and indicated that ‘Indian army is always ready for war’. But he also said that it is the responsibility of the political leadership to take a decision on the options it wants to apply against Pakistan. He also admitted that ‘there had been more tension with Pakistan than usual after the Mumbai terror attack’.

Home Minister Chidambaram, too, accused Pakistan of not doing enough to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage. It must be learnt that Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taeba and its right wing Jamaat-ud-Dawa are behind these attacks but Pakistani government is reluctant to take action against these groups. Chindambaram had said that India may break off transport, business and tourist links with Pakistan if it does not take action against these terrorist groups that are operating from Pakistani soil and are carrying out terrorist and destructive activities in India. He had warned Pakistan that various links between India and Pakistan will become ‘weaker and weaker’ if it does not cooperate and does not help to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai terror attack to justice. When he was asked that what Pakistan is doing to help investigations, he said ‘Zero’. They have provided nothing in response to the dossier of evidence that was handed over to them. It must be learnt that India has given evidence to Pakistan that links elements within their country to Mumbai terror attack.

Mukherjee Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee had on Wednesday said that Pakistan should use ‘existing diplomatic channels’ to communicate with India instead of media which has increased the tensions between both the nations by ‘exaggerating’ the facts. A day after his comments Pakistan foreign secretary Salman Bashir had briefed Indian high commissioner about the Pakistan government’s actions it has taken to implement sanctions on JuD imposed b UN Security Council. For last some days there was a new in circulation stating that India has softened its stand on demand 26/11 plotters be handed over to India. In an interview to an Indian TV channel he said, ‘We have never given up the demand that perpetrators of terror acts should be extradited to India. Dastardly terror crimes have been committed in India. Therefore the perpetrators must face Indian justice’.

Financial Problems The latest rumors that have emerged from the Indian entertainment industry indicate that international financial melt down has started to show its impacts on Bollywood. The time limit of many film projects has been increased. In December we have seen that release date of many films had been canceled or had been postponed and it was said that these steps have been taken in wake of the Mumbai attack. It was said that mood of the public was not good at that time as India was recovering from one of the worst terror attack. But it was not the real issue. The reality is that Indian corporate world that is also involved in the film production has been severely hit by the financial melt-down. And it has directly affected the under-production projects.

Deal A news has emerged, though there is no official confirmation, that Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s home banner A B Corp and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment have canceled their Rs. 1500-crore joint venture. Both these companies had entered into the deal in June last year and were to make films, reality shows, TV serials and internet and mobile content jointly. Both the companies were the equal partners in the deal. Reliance Entertainment was to handle the managerial, marketing and distribution work of the projects while Bachchan family had agreed to provide all kind of creative inputs.

Impact It is being said that ‘Reliance has been going through a major up and down for some time now’. Those filmmakers who are making films jointly with Reliance have been asked to cut the costs. Many projects that were yet to be started have been reworked on their budget. It has directly affected Vashu Bhagnani’s ‘Do Knot Disturb’, ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’, Ravi Chopra’s ‘Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai’ and many others under-production films. It is being said that Reliance has decided to reconsider these films. It is being said that amid the air of uncertainty AB Corps have joined hands with Studio 18 to complete some under-production projects.

Reasons According to some unofficial reports lack of communication between AB Corps and Reliance Entertainment is the reason behind the ‘fall out’. According to ToI, ‘The deal between AB Corp and Reliance has fallen through as Reliance was taking its own time and there was no clarity from their side as to when they wanted to start the film.’ But it will be too premature to say that the deal between both the partners has been called of because of ‘lack of clarity’ on part of Reliance. Any one who has a ‘sound mind‘ can reach the conclusion that it is the financial problems that have forced Reliance to back tract. Reliance Entertainment has not commented officially on this report and at the same time Big B, too, has not issued any statement regarding this matter. Even an official of TV 18 declined to comment on this issue. All this ‘talk’ indicates that everything is not well between the Ambanis and Bachchans.

Agreement According to the agreement Bachchans were to work with four directors selected by Reliance Entertainment. These directors were Rohan Sippy, Sujoy Ghosh, Chandraprakash Dwivedi and Balki. It was decided that Abhishek Bachchan will work with Sippy while Amitabh was to work in Ghosh and Diwedi’s films. Abhishek and Amitabh both were to feature in R. Balakrishanan’s fims. With this development, it has become evident that in the coming months Indians will not be able to see big budgeted films as most of such projects have suffered because of financial problems. At the other end it is a good sign for the small scale films and regional film industries.

Death Veteran filmmaker Tapan Sinha, who was famous for his films based on Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagor’s novels, died on Thursday, January 15, in Kolkata. He was 84 years old and has been survived by a son and a daughter. He was ill from a long time and had been admitted at the Calcutta Medicla Research Institute in south Kolkata. He was suffering from pneumonia and septicaemia and had been kept on life support system. He had been admitted on December 6 with acute breathing problems. His wife Arundhuti Devi who was also an actress had died in 1990. During his long career in the film industry he has made many award winning films. He was basically based in the Tamil film industry but he also had made films in Hindi and Oriya. He is admired by not only the fans but also by the critics. Critic Shoma A. Chatterji said, ‘He was an unassuming gentleman who had a strong ear for music and great command over adaptation of famous literary works’.

Works During his long film career he had made 41 films, which had won many national and international awards for him. He had won 19 National Film Awards in various categories except winning laurels in international film festivals like those in Berlin, Venice, London, Moscow, San Francisco and Locarno. He had been awarded with India’s highest award for cinema- the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He had been awarded with the lifetime achievement award also. He was famous for his ‘out-of-line’ films. In his films he always tried to touch the real life problems with a great sensitivity. He can be matched by only a Mrinal Sen or a Satyajit Ray. ‘Kabuliwala’, ‘Safed Hathi’ were some of his best films which also depicted his-child at heart personality. ‘Kabuliwala’ is based on Tagore’s novel that depicts the story of a sensitive relationship between an Afghan dry fruit seller and a small girl. It has won the Music Award at the Berlin Film Festival. He directed the ‘Safed Hathi’ with a great sensitivity. His first film Ankush was also dealt with a great sensitivity as it had an elephant as the central character. It was based Narayan Ganguly’ story ‘Sainik. ‘Ek Doctor Ki Maut’, Nirjan Saikate, Haate Bazare and Admi aur Aurat, were some of his other award winning films. ‘Ek Doctor Ki Maut’ depicts the story of a young doctor’s scholastic pursuits and invention and how the talent is responded by the society. This film had won him numerous national and international awards that include National Award for Second Best Film, Best Director, 1991’s Special Jury Award for Best Actor, 1991’s BFJA Awards for Best Film and Best Director, 37th Film Fare Award for Best Screenplay in 1991, Red Cross Film Festival, Sofia (Bulgaria), 1991. Made in 1957, ‘Kalamati’ was another remarkable film that depicted the real life problems faced by those people who live in coalmine areas.

Life Born in Kolkata on October, 1924, Sinha studied at the Presidency College Calcutta and got a degree in Physics. He was very much fascinated to see the cinematic version of Charles Dicken’s novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and it inspired him to join the films. He started his career as a Sound Recordist and then shifted to Direction. In 1950s he went to London to sharpen his film making skills. He worked with British Director Charles Cryton’s unit as Sound Engineer for the film called ‘The Hunted’. He worked there for two years and returned with the purpose of filmmaking. His first film was released in 1957. And after that he produced some remarkable work that was very much near to the reality.

He also had made some documentaries and Biographical films. He also had made a biographical film on famous Indian scientist Jagdish Bose. 

Early Life Mahmud Ghhazanavi was the elder son of Sebukdin who was the ruler of Ghazni. After Subukdin’s death in 997 his younger son Ismail became the ruler of Ghazni but Mahmud also known as Yāmīn al-Dawlah Maḥmūd rebelled against him and defeated him. Thus he became the ruler of Ghazni around 998. Before it he had accompanied his father in many military campaigns which made him an accomplished warrior. When he took over the rule from his brother his state was very unstable. Years of military campaigns had made it financially weak and at the same time some of his neighboring states had become very adventurous which had created problems for him. To overcome these problems he spent his first three years on consolidating his rule and then thought about to expand his territory.

Invasions When Mahmud Ghazanvi became the ruler of Ghazani, India was divided into small princely states that used to fight against each other. There was no central authority of some powerful state that could end it. But at that time India was famous for its wealth, geography and seasons. Lack of central authority, wealth and seasons has always attracted the foreigners to India. Same happened with Mahmud. Fascinated by India’s wealth, Mahmud invaded India seventeen times. His invasions started at the end of the tenth century and lasted in 1017. Different historians have given different views regarding the objectives of Mahmud’s India invasions. But there is no specific view that can satisfy the others. But it is believed that he needed huge wealth to expand his rule towards in the modern Afghanistan and only India could satisfy this necessity. He invaded almost all of the north and central India but did not established his own rule in this territory expect the northern state of Punjab, that was considered to be the gateway to India from the north.

Hindushahi Kingdom His first invaded the frontier town of or the modern North West Frontier Province of Pakistan in 1000. This opened for him the doors to India. But he had another major power that was blocking his way and it was the Hindushahi Kingdom of Peshawar. They both had fought many wars for years. In 1001 he attacked Jaipal ruled Hindushahi Kingdom of Pehawar. Jaipal was defeated in the war. Mahmud looted all his wealth and almost 50,000 people were brutally murdered except 15,000 Hindu soldiers. Jaipal committed suicide after this humiliation. After Jaipal Anandpal became the king of Hindushahi Kindom. In 1008 Ghazanvi again attacked his kingdom but at that time Ananpal was being helped by many neighboring states. In the initial stages of the battle the Ghaznvi had to face many setbacks as almost 50,000 of his best soldiers were killed. But luck was not in favor of Anandpal. His elephant became ‘out-of-control’ and ran away from the battlefield. With this development the ‘hearts of his soldiers sank’ and they ran away from the battle field. Ghazni soldiers chased the Hindu soldiers and killed Almost 20,000 of them.

Invasion on Nagarkot in 1009 Mahmud again attacked India and this time his target was the state of Nagarkot that was famous for its ‘wealthy temples’. The ruler of Nagarkot offered no resistance to the invaders and opened the doors of the city. Mamud looted all the wealth of the city and from the temples. When Mahmud returned to his kingdom people were fascinated to see the ‘incredible wealth of India’.

By then Mahmud had found that Indian temples are full of wealth. So his most of his next invasions were led only the loot the famous temples. Who ever resisted, he was brutally murdered. But he did not establish his own rule. Most of the defeated kings had been restored by him. Thus we can say that expansion of territory was not his aim.

End of Strike With the end of eight-day old strike by truckers the ‘harhtaal season of India’ has also ended. The strike was called of after a series of meetings between the Government and the representatives of the All India Motors Transport Congress. This decision was taken after a meeting between the Road Transport Ministry and AIMTC. Union Transport Minister T.R. Baalu had held a series of the meeting with AIMTC representatives and Transport Ministers of various States and Union Territories. The AIMTC has promised to restart the transport services immediately while the related ministry has decided to release the AIMTC members in minimum possible time.

Impact With this announcement the Indian industry has heaved a sigh of relief. Indian industry is already suffering from the global financial melt down and this strike had hit it badly. In many industries the managements had to halt the production of material. It had also caused the scarcity of essential commodities in many cities and remote areas. It had caused a sharp increase in the prices of fruits and vegetables. At one end the Indian middle class had to suffer because of high prices and at the other hand it had severely affected the farmers who found it difficult to take their products to the market. It had created an air of uncertainty when the economy was undergoing through a critical phase. An Industry body has termed the end of strike as a matter of relief as it was ‘holding up major economic activities, including transportation of essential goods’. Had this strike remained for a long time its impact could have been worst.

Grievances In the initial first three days strikes impact was not seen in the market. But as the strike progressed its impacts started to show. The truckers had some ‘genuine’ demands which had been being ignored by various centre and various state governments. It must be borne in mind that there is a huge difference between the taxes levied by various state governments on the truckers. Transport industry provides jobs to lakhs of people. But in recent years the hike in the crude oil prices, implementation of new taxes by various state governments have minimized the profits of the related people. There are many other problems that truckers face and have been ignored by the governments for years. It won’t be wrong to say that they have been given a ‘step-motherly treatment by various state and centre governments. This shows that most of their demands are legitimate. They were demanding the doing away of present system, one single national level permit and rationalization of taxes levied by various state governments. Centre and the states’ government representatives have agreed to the proposals and had unanimously appealed to the truckers to end their eight-day old strike.

Committee In the meeting it was decided that a 14 member committee will be set up which will be chaired by Road Transport Secretary Brahm Dutt. This committee will submit its report within eight weeks that will be based on truckers’ demands regarding motor vehicle taxes, one single national permit and other related issues. Four members of AIMTC, three Finance Ministers and four transport commissioners from states, one member of the All India Confederation of Goods Vehicles Owners’ Association will be the members of this committee. The convener of the committee will be Union Road Transport Secretary Saroj Kumar Dash. These were the basic details that were disclosed after the meeting.           

OSOA Strike Earlier, on January 9, hundreds of petrol pumps had run out of fuel across the country and thousands of households were hit because of a strike called by the Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA). The production industry was severely hit by this strike and at the other hand in many parts of the country a drop had been noted in the production of electricity. As the strike had entered the third day the centre government had to take a tough stand against the agitating employees. Government had deployed military in many industries to keep the ‘operations running’. After government’s tough stand the OSOA had to end the strike and at the same time government had agreed to address their ‘genuine grievances’.