Sunday, January 8, 2017

RIP Om Puri; Russian Influence on US Elections; PanamaGate Hearings; Modi Demonetization

What is Om Puri's Legacy? Will he be remembered first and foremost as an accomplished actor? Or as a vocal peace activist pushing for better India-Pakistan ties through greater cultural contacts? Why was he so viciously attacked by right-wing Indian media? And mightily harassed by Hindu Nationalist trolls on social media? Did the mounting stress from these actions contribute to his death?

Om Puri

Is the US intelligence report on Russian campaign to influence US elections convincing? Did Donald Trump win because of the Russian disinformation campaign against Hillary Clinton? Why did US DNI Gen Clapper say "people living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"? Was he referring to covert American campaigns to influence elections in other countries?

Why is the Sharif family having so much difficulty documenting the money trail in the Panama case hearing in Pakistan Supreme Court? Was it because the money to buy London Mayfair flats did not come from legitimate sources? Who has the burden of proof in the case? The accusers (PTI) or the accused (Nawaz Sharif and family)? Can the Supreme Court judges reverse the burden of proof in money laundering cases in Pakistan?

Has Modi Demonetization been a disaster? What does the latest data show? Why did FMCG and motorcycle sales decline in November? Was it the impact of sudden demonetization of 86% of the currency in circulation? What will be its impact on India's GDP?

Viewpoint From Overseas host Misbah Azam discusses these question with Riaz Haq (

RIP Om Puri; Russian Influence on US Elections; PanamaGate Hearings; Modi Demonetization from Ikolachi on Vimeo.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Hinduization of India Under Modi

India Media's Malice Toward Pakistan

Bollywood Eyes Pakistan Market

Impact of Trump's Appointments on US Policy

Planted Stories in Media

Pakistan PanamaGate

India's Demonetization Disaster


Ruski said...

Russian disinformation against Hillary? What kid of a joke is this? Post one thing that constitutes as disinformation by Russia.

The old hag committed multiple federal offenses, it's her reckless behavior that resulted into her emails being hacked. Everything about crooked Hillary in those emails was 100% authentic. Voters seen her for what she was, an above the law, corrupt politician with a history of poor decision making and bribery.

As for the US accusing Russia in meddling in the elections, as if the US has some stellar record of not meddling in other countries elections. In Ukraine they practically stole the elections and threw money at the opposition. The US has basically tried to rig the election in every country by throwing money at the opposition and launching propaganda campaign, as well as offering political support

Riaz Haq said...

Ruski: "Russian disinformation against Hillary? What kid of a joke is this? Post one thing that constitutes as disinformation by Russia."

Fake news reports have been a problem throughout the presidential campaign. We’re not talking about reports that are merely flawed or thinly sourced; we’re talking about stuff that is completely made up. The Fix’s Philip Bump wrote in April about a fake news site called Prntly that has routinely duped Donald Trump supporters — and even Trump himself.

As everyone knows, Trump’s doctor has stated “unequivocally” that his patient “will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” So no one should have believed Trump was dead.

Hillary Clinton will be indicted
Many conservative news sites have been hoping to print those words for more than a year. The fake news site WorldPoliticus decided not to wait for reality to catch up to the dream and last week claimed to have the scoop — courtesy of unnamed FBI sources — that Clinton was going to be indicted in connection with using a private email server while she was secretary of state. Tens of thousands of people shared the “news of the millennium” on Facebook.

BuzzFeed reported that WorldPoliticus is just one of more than 100 pro-Trump websites originating from a single town in Macedonia, where online scam artists are pumping out fictional clickbait for the real estate mogul’s followers.

Clinton’s campaign chairman is into the occult
Among the hacked John Podesta emails published by WikiLeaks was one in which Podesta’s brother, an art collector, forwarded an invitation to a “spirit cooking” dinner party hosted by performance artist Marina Abramovic. Podesta appears not to have responded to the message from his brother, and he did not attend the dinner.

Never mind that. Infowars, the site run by 9/11 truther Alex Jones, used the original email to concoct a story last week about how Podesta “is apparently into spooky occult rituals involving menstrual blood and semen.” From there, the Drudge Report ran a banner that declared “Podesta practices occult magic.”

A postal worker in Ohio is destroying absentee ballots cast for Trump
This was a joke. Not a very funny one, perhaps, but no one should have taken it seriously. It came from a Twitter user who frequently makes ridiculous, obviously made-up claims on social media. Claims such as:

Conservative blogger Jim Hoft thought the ballot destruction was real and wrote about it. Drudge picked up the story. So did Rush Limbaugh. The U.S. Postal Service and Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted ultimately debunked the tweet.

President Obama is thinking about fleeing the country if Trump wins
This was also a joke. It originated on a Canadian satire site called the Burrard Street Journal, which in August published a story that pretended to quote Obama saying a move to Canada is “something Michelle, the kids and I have discussed as a potential solution to the Donald.”

“He's working very hard to make sure that nobody has to move — has to leave the country as a result of an electoral outcome that the president doesn't support,” Earnest answered.

The Daily Mail then used that exchange to report that the White House was refusing to give a straight answer to the “rumor” that Obama might leave the United States. Sean Hannity did the same thing on his radio show. But there was never an actual rumor — just a joke by a Canadian version of the Onion.

Obama unfollowed Clinton on Twitter
After the FBI renewed its investigation of emails that passed through Clinton’s private server, Your News Wire fabricated a report that Michelle Obama had unfollowed the Democratic nominee on Twitter and also deleted supportive messages. That led to additional false claims on the Internet that Obama and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had done the same.

Ganesh said...

Modi does not want to admit that demonitization was an utter failure.Latest figures is that 97% of the money is back in the banks. Now the govt. will fish through millions of bank accounts for those black money deposits. Good luck with that.!

PSU banks who were holding bad loans or NPA's to tune of lakhs of crores will be the main benificiaries of this exercise. I would venture that this whole demonitization was an exercise in disguise to bail out NPA's of the PSU banks.

Now the new mantra post demonitization is digitization of transactions. With most ATM still not functioning we are being forced to use debit/credit cards or forced to go to bank to withdraw cash. When you don't have basic infrastructure to fecilitate digitization this will cause unwanted hardship to comman man. I am still waiting for check books from my bank and it is more than three weeks. How long are we endure this unproductive endeavour?

Riaz Haq said...

SRK: Use #MerylStreep's Golden Globes’ speech to condemn #Hindutva attacks on #Pakistan artists … via @IndianExpress

Meryl Streep’s powerful speech at the Golden Globes, to quote her own words ‘sank its hooks in my heart’. It also made me recall how our own award nites are nothing but blah. It is exactly what actor Govinda says it is: “One camp announces the award, another from the same camp receives it while a third one from their camp sits in the audiences and claps vigorously.” That’s a Bollywood awards night for you where nepotism rules supreme and God, along with corporate sponsors, find frequent mentions in thank you speeches. But never even once will anyone ever do what Meryl Streep did.

Will you ever see Karan Johar (an eloquent speaker) openly talking about the troubles he and Bollywood at large had to face from MNS, a political outfit that is not even in power? Shah Rukh Khan preferred a quiet settlement rather than taking the bull by its horns, which in the prevailing circumstances looked like a smart move. Their continued public silence emerges from the fact that every time they have aired their opinions on an issue that is political in nature, it has only earned them political wrath and calls for forcible bans on their films. Both Aamir and SRK have suffered for their statements on intolerance made in the past. Not wanting to invite anymore trouble, all major stars have now clamped up and adopted the ‘silence is golden’ method when faced with such questions.

Questions asked by the press on public podiums about such issues are either disallowed or met with ‘no comments’ response. For those who feel like reacting, opt for the safe way out – record a video in the safe confines of their luxurious house and post it on Twitter. This provides them the immunity from speaking about it on a public platform. “I have already said what I wanted to on Twitter,” is their terse response if ever asked about it by the press. While to expect Bollywood stars to speak their mind out will remain a Utopian dream, what I couldn’t avoid noticing is how Streep’s speech could be a perfect one for SRK to address the Pakistan controversy at an upcoming awards nite. And here is how it should go with some minor changes.

Riaz Haq said...

Right-wing Indian media claim love of Indian soldiers deployed in Kashmir. But they don't cover the poor treatment of these soldiers by their own Army:

#Indian Soldier Yadav on Insufficient Amount & Poor Quality Food. #India #Modi #Kashmir via @YouTube

Tej Bahadur Yadav serving with India's 29th battalion of Seema Suraksha Bal (BSF) in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir says,: “From morning to evening we work, standing in all weather conditions. No matter the rain, no matter the snow, in all conditions we do our duty, but neither the media nor any minister pay heed to our problems. This dal just has turmeric and salt, but no taste. There are times when we are forced to sleep off empty stomach. We get one paratha for breakfast in the morning and we have to eat it just with tea. We have been getting this same food for 10 days continuously. Can a BSF jawan do 10 hours of duty after eating such food?"

Riaz Haq said...









Anonymous said...

Amrish Puri was one of the rare Indians who was a realist. He would call a spade a spade. I was one of the rare breed of Indians who criticized India's Kashmir policy and Pakistan policy.

G. Ali

Riaz Haq said...

Intel Reports Allege #Trump Has Deep Ties To #Russia. Speak of Trump's lewd conduct. #FSB … … via @kenbensinger

The dossier, which is a collection of memos written over a period of months, includes specific, unverified, and potentially unverifiable allegations of contact between Trump aides and Russian operatives, and graphic claims of sexual acts documented by the Russians. CNN reported Tuesday that a two-page synopsis of the report was given to President Obama and Trump.


Riaz Haq said...


by Pooja Thakur Mahrotri
Land prices may decline 25 percent, homes 20 percent: analysts
Cash component of home purchase often as much as 50 percent











Riaz Haq said...



Two for the Show


Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan gasoline consumption up 18% in 2016. …

Pakistan's gasoline demand averaged 557,000 mt/month over July-October, according to latest government data. This was up sharply from 365,000 mt/month over the full fiscal year 2015-2016 (July-June).

The country (Pakistan) imported 4.2 million mt of gasoline over January-November this year, 18% higher than the same period of 2015.

India's gasoline demand rose 12.6% year on year to 21.69 million mt (483,000 b/d) over January-November 2016 and is expected to maintain the same pace in 2017. India exported 15 million mt (334,500 b/d) of gasoline over the same period, up 4.7% year on year.

Riaz Haq said...


