This election (the Indian 2009 election) has seen a much more pronounced push for knowing more about candidates, what their past record, what their wealth levels are. The concept is that an informed decision makes citizens more aware, and if it forces voters to think about the choices they are making, then all the effort has been worth it.
One problem that ordinary people feel is that it is difficult for them to find information about their candidates; or that they don’t feel like making the effort to find this information. As a result, there are a number of forums that are trying to make this information (from the disclosures made by candidates while filing their campaign applications) public. Here is one of them:
myneta.info
From the site:
35 States/UTs, 543 Constituencies, 5501 Candidates and counting…
The primary source for the data used for these reports is the sworn affidavits provided by the candidates themselves. Sheer volume of data that has to be read from the affidavits that are often poorly scanned and the lightening speed at which these reports have to be brought out makes it quite difficult to ensure accuracy of every bit of data. In case of any discrepancy in our reports vis a vis the original affidavit of any candidate, the original affidavit should be considered accurate. If you notice any discrepancies between affidavit and our report kindly let us know and we will fix them on our end as soon as possible.
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It has always puzzled a large number of people as to why the Taliban seem to be generating a lot of support in the Pakistani countryside. After all, a group that believes in a harsh interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence and acts to implement their beliefs should not be succeeding at this rate. Even in a society where women are not supposed to have equal rights, are not supposed to show their faces (or their bodies) to strangers, or come out in the open, the customs imposed by the Taliban are draconian. Women cannot come out of their homes unless escorted by a male relative (even if it is an emergency), cannot study in schools, and numerous other such practices are enforced by the Taliban in the area that they control. However, even men are not left untouched – music is deemed un-Islamic unless it is music in praise of Allah, men are forbidden to shave and should have turbans, no watching movies, be sure to follow the calls to prayer during the day, and so on. Recently, they killed both the man and woman who had eloped and whose families had reported them.
So, a bit of research, and one started reading a lot more about the society where the Taliban thrive. The rural areas of Pakistan are societies that are extremely backward; there is little economic development, feudalism and the power of the moneyed and the landlords is immense, the instruments of the state (bureaucracy, police, judicial, etc) are not of much help to the common man and corruption is immense. In such areas, the promise of bringing in Islamic law (sharia) that does not distinguish between the rich and the poor can attract a huge number of people, can make them converts. As a bonus, the people who make up the Taliban are people who resemble the poor rural folks a lot; they are less educated, poor; the difference is, they are part of a movement that can look the moneylender / police man / feudal lord in the eye and not have to back down. Here is an article that explains the Robin Hood type of image (link to article):
For many years now, doctors and health specialists around the globe have been warning of a mass pandemic that could sweep the globe, involving the movement of bird flu to humans in a form that modern medicines cannot control and which become a huge health disaster over the world. From time to time, bird flu raises its head among poultry, mass culling happens, and the danger is declared over; as a result, the world has stopped responding to such kind of threats about future problems related to bird flu. Too much talk about it put out the feelings that this is another doomsday disaster, and if it has not happened till now, maybe it will never happen.
However, in the last couple of days, the world is starting to get a rude wake-up call from another disease that originates in animals and jumps to humans. In this modern inter-connected world. all such health disasters can spread quickly from region to region, country to country, and continent to continent. This is a disease called swine flu, that causes sickness in pigs, and has also spread to humans, causing a large number of deaths in Mexico, and illness in many other countries (link to article):