Why is India so Angry with John Oliver ?

When John Oliver made fun of India about its colonial past not many took the humour lightly. In the issue of Kohinoor diamond, worn by the Queen of Britain at present, which was taken from India when British ruled the country, John Oliver mocked the nation for wanting it back and indirectly said, "finders keepers, go f*** yourself".

The reaction to the comedy has provocated many Indians who took Youtube to show their anger. One poster wrote, "It's funny how the british can demand reparations from Germany, but refuse to give to India for crimes that make the nazis blush. Remember killing 5 million in the Bengal famine? Or the many massacres your army waged? Well remember history repeats itself. India is rising, so maybe one day big ben will be in Mumbai."

John Oliver who is a renowned comedian, regularly makes such humorous jokes which some people find offensive. In spite of all the hate and swearing at him it is important to note that he often makes offensive remarks towards his own country. Therefore it is safe to say that the comedian did not necessarily intended to offend one specific community.

Watch the video here!

Mother Teresa - Saint or A Delusional Christian Missionary ?

 Mother Teresa officially became a saint today after Roman Catholic Church canonised her today at Vatican City 19 years after her death. In the wake of this event anyone would like to know who Mother Teresa really was. Mostly she is depicted as an ideal nurse who looks after poor and needy without expecting anything in return but do we really know who she was? Lets try to put things in perspective.

Mother Teresa received a calling to work with the poor in the slums of Calcutta. There are significant number of controversies surrounding her life. In 1952 her Missionaries of Charity organisation started her Kalighat Home for the Dying – a place where people could come to die in dignity and comfort. She wanted to make it possible for ‘people who lived like animals to die like angels – loved and wanted’. 

In reality Mother Teresa had no formal medical or nursing training, she got into the field because some voice told her to. In fact when qualified doctors visited the home, however they found that the medical care provided was very poor. Most of the volunteers had no medical knowledge and yet had to make medical decisions because there were no doctors available. There was no distinction made between those who were suffering from curable and incurable illnesses so people who might have survived had they been given access to treatment were left to die. Needles were re-used so many times that they became blunt and they were not sterilised between uses. In 1981 when the state of care in her facilities was challenged she said ‘There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering.

Mother Teresa's primary and only goal was to spread christianity. Helping the needy was a facade. In her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech she said she helped 36,000 people in Calcutta but the facts suggest her charity only helped 5,700 people. There are many discrepancies in the organisation's finances and she seemed to accept donations from almost anyone. The amount of money she received was more than enough to care for the dying in the most sanitary and scientific way but she was more interested in the suffering.

Mother Teresa spent most of her times travelling to various places like USA, Japan and Ireland pushing for her agenda of anti-divorce and anti-abortion. She was hardly found in Calcutta. The most startling thing is Teresa who believed in sufferings as a way to be in touch with Jesus, spend her old age days in a modern, high class facility where she got the first class treatment.

In spite of all these facts, the intention of this article isn't to defame Mother Teresa or her practices. It is entirely possible and highly likely that she thought she was doing good to the humanity by preaching Christian values and baptising dying adults. However, in the end all that counts is the objective goodness that has been harnessed. Now it is for all of us to decide who Mother Teresa really was.

King or No King

A day after late king Birendra Shah’s statue was removed and attempts were made to reinstall it in Nepalgunj city, the police yesterday sounded a high alert across the country to avoid clashes between supporters and opponents of the king.
The bust of Shah installed at Dhambojhi Chowk in Nepalgunj was pulled down by security personnel on Thursday night as it led to an altercation between the police and the erstwhile monarch’s supporters, the Kathmandu Post reported.
Earlier on Thursday, a group of youths reinstalled the statue which was pulled down during the People’s Movement-II in 2006.
Some demonstrators, including cadres of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, gathered again yesterday morning to reinstall the king’s bust. But this could not be done as the police force was deployed at the site, The Himalayan Times reported.
Many areas in the city were cordoned off by the police to avert any possible clashes between the supporters and opponents of the monarchy and the police forces.
“No one should carry out activities that give rise to conflict and hampers the peace and security,” said a senior police official.
A statue of Birendra Shah installed at Dhambojhi Chowk in Nepalgunj was pulled down by protesters during People’s Movement-II in 2006. The political parties
could not reach a consensus over whose statue should be erected there.

Source: Gulf Times

American National Arrested in Nepal

A 70 year old, Fomess Dolan have been arrested by Nepal Police for preaching Christianity with the intention to forcing people into changing their religion. Such acts are criminalised in the secular himalayan nation.

It has been established after his arrest that Dolan had entered Nepal through India illegally without a visa. He is accused of potraying himself as a Doctor and as reported by Himalayan Times “He asked the women, who came to him seeking treatment, to wash off sindur (vermilion powder) from their foreheads and discard potes (traditional glass beads worn by married Hindu women) in the name of Jesus.”

Nepal used to be the only Hindu nation in the world until it was promulgated a secular state in the new constitution of Nepal. Missionaries from the western nations have been criticised for taking this opportunity to spread their own faith into this tiny, peaceful country.

This is why ICC suspended Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN)

ICC Board Meeting - © ICC

The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee and ICC Board meetings was held at its headquarter in Dubai on 24th April this year. ICC decided to suspend CAN in light of the court case between CAN and Ad hoc Committee established by Nepal Government's National Sports Council (NSC).

As a result there has been a vacuum of cricket leadership in Nepal. The Board accused Nepal of breaching Article 2.9 of the ICC’s Articles of Association, which prohibits government interference and requires free and fair elections.

Also, the suspension will mean that CAN will not be receiving any funding from ICC however the cricket teams from Nepal will be able to feature in ICC events.

ICC puts further emphasis that the suspension will nit be lifted until CAN becomes free of government interference and that ICC is working with the stakeholders to lift the suspension.

"The Board maintained that it doesn’t accept government interference in the affairs of its Members as it wants all its Members to work independently with the best intentions of promoting and developing the game in their respective territories in accordance with the ICC’s objectives and strategy. It added that until such time as the CAN becomes free of government interference and is properly structured to begin exploiting the tremendous cricket talent and opportunities that exist in Nepal, the membership of CAN will remain suspended."

Indian Police Officers Arrested In Nepal by Nepal Police

Nepal police have arrested five Indian police officers including an inspector from Sanagaun today.

The Indian police officers were said to have been in civil uniform and were arrested while they were heading towards Achham to look for an alleged murderer of a doctor in Punjab.
The plain-clothed policemen were carrying arms, according to the National News Agency of Nepal.

Nepal Police have seized an AK-47 rifle and its 25 round of ammunition, a pistol and its 12 rounds of ammunition from the Indian Police..

Nepalese-born Australian residents were the fastest-growing overseas-born community.

The new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the proportion of Australian residents born overseas has soared to its highest level in 120 years.

In 2015, more than 28 per cent of the population were born overseas, the largest proportion since 1895, according to the research released on Wednesday. The percentage has increased every year for the past 15 years.

Nepalese-born Australian residents were the fastest-growing overseas-born community. Their numbers have swelled more than 11-fold over the past 10 years, from just over 3800 people in 2005 to more than 43,500 in 2015.

Although their population is small compared to other overseas-born groups, the rate of increase - nearly 28 percent a year, on average - is well above other groups. For example, the next fastest growing groups - those born in Pakistan, Brazil and India - increased their numbers by around three-fold over the same period.

The steepest decline among the top 50 countries of birth was for Serbian-born residents, followed by those born in Poland.


As the chart above shows, the share of Australian residents born overseas last peaked in the late 1890s. Nearly 30 per cent of the population were foreign-born at the time following the first mining boom and the surge in Chinese migration in the gold rush era, according to Anna Boucher, a senior lecturer in the University of Sydney's School of Social and Political Sciences.

"Then there was the introduction of 'White Australia' and the effective closing of borders, with the exception of some Commonwealth migration, up until the post-war period," Dr Boucher said.

This explains the steep decline in the share of overseas-born Australians during the first half of the 20th century.

The dramatic turnaround in the mid-1940s reflects the shift to a mass migration policy, driven by a belief that Australia must "populate or perish" to survive in the post-war era. A new migration scheme aimed to increase the population by one percent a year.

The dip in the late-1970s relates to low migration intake under the Whitlam and Fraser governments. Since 2000, the figure has risen steadily. "The story there is around bipartisan support for temporary migration," Dr Boucher said - in particular, rapid increases in the number of working holiday makers and international students.

Australia ranks fourth among OECD countries for the largest proportion of overseas-born residents, behind Luxembourg (43.7 per cent), Switzerland (28.3 per cent) and New Zealand (28.2 per cent) according to 2013 statistics from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"Australia has traditionally had a high proportion of migrants, but we've now hit a peak not seen since the late 1800s," said Beidar Cho from the ABS.

Nepali-born nurse Pushpa Belbase, who joined her husband in Sydney in 1996, said the first few years were difficult but now, she wouldn't live elsewhere.

"It was hard to leave home - our parents are still over there; there was no one here to support us in that time … but now I feel like Australia is home," she said.

"Two of my children were born here. It's a better life than Nepal. It's easy to survive and you can get a good education here. I'm so happy we came."

source: Sydney Morning Herald