JD (U) first party to have Sahabhagi in its manifesto

Nitish Kumar led JD (U), takes to its credit for being the first party in India to have "Sahabhagi" in its manifesto. Sahabhagi is a concept of participatory governance where common citizens are also taken into account, in terms of decision making power. The basic idea behind this concept is to make government more decentralized and participatory.
Well, ultimately what matters is the implementation of the concept in spirit, that one has to wait and watch, but the very fact that such concept has made to the manifesto and political agenda of a party is laudable.
At least we all are getting to see Bihar in news for being 'FiRSt", for all the right reasons.

India Elections a fertile ground for new business ventures

If you look at the kind of budget political parties have allocated for e-campaigns, it is substantial to create a whole new model of business, around this concept. Just think of it, right from leaders of known stature like Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, to smaller not so known leaders, have their own blogs to promote their ideas. These blogs are being written and maintained by group of professionals, who are getting due remuneration for it.
In times to come this trend will continue and scale up in magnitude. In India there are innumerable tech geeks, Internet aficionados, who have great mastery over blog creation, writing, social media usage, who can surely utilize their skills to promote political parties and individuals in a focused manner.
There could be a cohesive business model around Internet consultancy or use of Internet to promote parties and ideas. In terms of investments all one would need would be time, broadband connection and access to free blog creation (which is there in 100's).
I feel, in this time of downturn, people should explore this business model and who knows, in times to come we might have an Indian Google or Yahoo of political campaign creation and promotion.

IPL: Pragmatism Vs Chauvinism

There has been a lot of noise around IPL (Indian Premier League) venue being shifted to South Africa. For some it has become a mater of national shame, that India a sovereign nation is being held to ransom to terrorists fear. I feel this is a matter which needs rumination , on the state of things not only in India but globally.
This is a true dilemma between pragmatism and chauvinism. Being pragmatic, one can easily say that the risk of holding the IPL during a general election is taking too big a risk. Especially in the light of what happened in Pakistan to Sri Lankan team. We just can't afford to shy away from the fact that terrorism is a national issue, and India cannot be truly insulated from it. Moreover, India lacks the intelligence and training to fight urban terrorism like the US has.
One can't just hold matches under such threat perception, especially when the sovereign nation is going through the biggest event of Democracy, i.e. election of government.
However, the chauvinists (ready to go on war at the drop of the hat), have their own views, they see it as a capitulation to terrorists forces, to the extent that the venue of such an event has to be shifted.

I personally feel, that under the present circumstances, its better to be pragmatic, and take steps in the long run that really obviates any such circumstances where one has to even think on these lines.
At the end of the day terrorism is a modern menace and very much on the face of all of us, it is no longer a traditional warfare, where uniforms can identify enemies.