The National Security Agency (NSA) and US Patriot Act Controversy

The recent discovery of the NSA program collecting telecom recordings has yet again sparked the debate on the validity of the US Patriot Act which allows the national agencies to tap into private data of the masses.

A recent leaked NSA document shows that on April 25, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) granted an order to the FBI, giving them unlimited access to obtain telecom recordings (within the country as well as between US and other countries) for a three-month period ending in July.

Following up on such spying activities that were carried out in the Bush administration, this document shows evidence that for the first time under Obama’s presidency, such measures are being taken, regardless of whether the citizens are suspected of any wrongdoing.

As per the FISA order, phone numbers of both parties on the call are handed over, along with location data, call duration, unique identifiers and the time and duration of all calls on the networks operated by Verizon, one of the biggest telecom operators in the country.

To add to the blows, it was also revealed that the court order had expressly barred Verizon from disclosing any existence of such activity or the court order itself.

It is still unknown if Verizon is the only provider to be targeted with such an order while previous reports have suggested such collections from all major mobile networks. It is also unclear whether the three-month order is for a one-off activity or the latest in a series of similar orders.

Privacy advocates have stated their concern that such breach of privacy and storage of unlimited "metadata" (also termed as business records) is a highly invasive form of surveillance and is in no way, a constituent of the US Patriot Act of 2001. Under the cover of “security concerns”, such activities fall into a grey area where these records enable the government to know the identity of every person with whom an individual has an electronic relationship, either via phone calls, texts or e-mails sent via phone.

The US authorities have tried for a long time to get their hands on such data to discover an individual's communication patterns and network of associations. This data collection request indicates that the agency is continuing some version of the data-mining program that began in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Apart from the hostility from the masses, other repercussions have also started surfacing. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is the first of the many to come, to file a lawsuit against the NSA for breach of privacy.

Working on mitigating the damage, Barack Obama, said in an interview with journalist Charlie Rose that all NSA has access to, is “call pairs”. The identity information is kept under wraps and the only revealed data is number pairs, the time and duration of the calls.

According to the President (also known as “Big Brother” post this leak), the database would be available to the national security agencies only to cross reference and match information in times of suspected terrorist activities. Also, this database would be a property of the FISA court and would require a warrant for access.

The security concerns and the measures taken by the state to “counter-acting terrorism” have always been a controversial topic. With certain revelations like WikiLeaks and now the NSA leaks, have grabbed a lot of media attention and portrayed the authorities in the bad light, giving rise to conspiracy theories and hostility towards the state.

Source(s):

Guardian.co.uk

Reuters.com

General press search

My Squish Squash Dreams !!

After more than a year of biting dust in the top shelf of my cupboard, my squash racquet has once again seen the light of day.

I developed a knack for this sport in school but it took a back seat after I left Chandigarh. I haven’t been able to play regularly, mostly due to unavailability of time, a second player and most of all, a good squash court (Gurgaon's public sports infra is almost non-existent and one can get a squash court constructed and recover the cost sooner than get benefits of the unreasonably expensive private clubs here).

I still remember the first time I set foot inside a squash court. Post dinner, clad in white kurta pyjamas and floaters, a friend had showed me the squash racquets the school had so generously issued to us hostelers (which I thought were thinner varieties of a tennis racquet).

The first few games I played weren’t as peachy. I couldn’t make proper contact with the ball, was too scared of being hit by it instead and it got so stuffy inside the court after a while that I almost swore never to set foot inside one again, dismissing squash as a boring, indoor variation of tennis.

But soon enough, I happened to set foot inside the court’s viewing area during school hours when the school squash team was practicing (which included my classmate Abhay Sood, a hosteler 6 years my junior, Rannvijay and Harinder Pal Sandhu, who is currently India’s 2^nd ranked squash player). Their games almost resembled an art form, quite like fencing but without the armor. The way they hit the parallel shots, placed their drops, never ever came in the path of the opponent’s shot and the most satisfying part, never got hit by the ball.

That caught my eye and little by little, I started playing the game in my free time. Being in the school cricket team, most of my afternoons and evenings were reserved for net practices or matches but living inside a boarding school has its perks when it comes to playing sports, even at night.

I played, I played and I played. I could hit some parallel shots, hit serves with 100% accuracy and defeat almost anyone in the hostel, Rannvijay too (The other school squash team players were day-boarders). I started loving the game and was used to be found, almost always, in those courts which I earlier deemed as "stuffy".

At that point in time, the thought of quitting cricket and taking up this sport never hit me. I was a good squash player coz of a lot of practice and sans training, never learned the tricks of the trade. Finally when that thought actually crossed my mind, it got sidelined by the board examinations and college admission forms.

A bachelor’s degree and 2 years into a consulting career, here I am again, picking up where I left off.

I bought new non-marking court shoes, am thinking of buying a new racquet, maybe also a kit bag and was completely content about where this was going. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, after playing squash at the Siri Fort Sports Complex for an hour, which is our weekly routine now, our court was booked by ‘Gaurav Nandrajog’, a professional squash player. Seeing him play brought back those memories when I fell in love with this sport, 10 years back. And those memories also carried along the regret of not pursuing the sport back then.

I’m not saying I could’ve become a pro or that I can’t take up some training and start playing like an amateur now but that missed chance, that late realisation of how much more I preferred squash over cricket will take me back to those days for a long time to come.

A French Immersion Trip !

When you start learning a foreign language (French in my case), it is a bit tough getting a hang of it. But when you eventually reach a certain level of comfort, you start enjoying it, you want to explore mediums other than your text books, like comics, songs, movies (with subtitles off course) and at an advanced stage, novels and documentaries.

At this point, to work on your speaking skills, take up a French immersion trip and experience the French countryside at the same time.

Being one of the most taught languages worldwide, there are not only a hoard of language schools in the country, some of them have taken this learning to another level; THE FRENCH IMMERSION SCHOOLS

The ones I’m fascinated with are the schools that offer courses ranging from as short as 2 weeks to as long as 9 months.

You study throughout the weekdays and on the weekends, explore the city, the country or the neighbouring countries even.

School 1: Institut de Touraine (Touraine; Central France) http://www.institutdetouraine.com/

Situated in the small city named Tours in the Touraine province, the place is accessible from Paris and other major cities via the TGV train.

Course Durations: 2 Weeks (€480) to 48 Weeks (€9,000)

Arrive in Tours on a Sunday, sit for an orientation test to get your French level assessed (if you are a fresher, join the fresher level straight away) and start your classes from Monday. 

for 5 hours a day on the weekdays, immerse into the French texts in a classroom with only 10 - 15 students.

In the evenings, explore the beautiful city, the Loire valley and the immense chateau, val de Loire

On the weekends, explore the local cuisine and check out the Cafe and Boulangeries or better yet, hop on an overnight train to Paris/Nice/Lyon/Marseille or to an exotic land in any of the 20 nearby countries connected by Eurail.

Accommodation: Living with a host family is the cheapest mode where you pay €175/week. the family will pick you up from the train station, provide breakfast and dinner on weekdays, 3 meals on weekends along with laundry, room cleaning and free wi-fi access.

Other options include a twin shared room (€100/week, cheaper than the host family but scarcely available) to rented apartments (€175/week) but without the food and other amenities.

All the books, materials and learning equipment is courtesy the institute and you receive a certificate as you complete the course.

Check out this video for more:

Estimated cost for a 1 month course (Visa + Flights + Insurance + Tuition + Accommodation): Rs. 200,000 

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School 2: Institut de francais (Villefranche-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur; Southern France) http://www.institutdefrancais.com/

Course Durations: 2 Weeks (€1,400 in non-peak months – €1,700 in peak months) to 4 Weeks (€2,800 – €3,400) 

Located in a small hilly fisherman town right on the serene French Riviera, this school will tell you what exactly an immersion trip means. 

Drown yourself in French 8.5 hours every weekday where you sit inside a classroom for some of the time, spend time in a listening lab and have one-to-one lessons with the teacher every single day. 

Coupled with outdoor teaching, meals and tea, this is one of the best places you’ll come across when you’re out on a learning plus exploration trip abroad.

On weekends, take a small ride to Nice, Marseille, Cannes or better yet, Monte Carlo and experience their cuisine and nightlife.

Accommodation: Live in a student community apartment (€380/month – €600/month) or a private studio apartment (€1,000 above) overseeing the ocean. 

All the books, materials and learning equipment is courtesy the institute and you receive a certificate as you complete the course.

Estimated cost for a 2 week course (Visa + Flights + Insurance + Tuition + Accommodation): Rs. 1,80,000 

Estimated cost for a 1 month course (Visa + Flights + Insurance + Tuition + Accommodation): Rs. 370,000


I will be off to one of these 2 schools next year and will surely update this post about it. Till then, you have info on a better school or have any further questions, reach out to me.

Bon Voyage !!

To learn a foreign language: French !

Many people want to learn a foreign language. Be it to strengthen your CV, to go exploring, meet new people, get to know new cultures or just for fun.

The 3 ways in which, not only French, but any foreign language would help you are:

1. Competitive Advantage

2. Broadening the Cultural Horizons

3. Help acquire skills that would help in further learning

Known as the most romantic language in the world, French is also one of the top second languages taught worldwide with 110 Million native speakers & more than 200 Million second language speakers.

One of the official languages of the UN & the European Union, it is spoken as the 1st language in France, Switzerland (Romandy), Belgium (Wallonia & Brussels), Monaco, Quebec & Arcadia region in Canada and as a second language in USA (Maine & Acadiana region of Louisiana), Gabon, Mauritius, Algeria, Senegal & Côte d'Ivoire.

Competitive Advantage

Learning French can be very beneficial. Companies incorporated in France, Quebec or other francophone countries hire French speakers to aid on projects. Other companies who deal with the French speaking clients also hire speakers on premium compensation packages to aid on projects in the francophone countries.

One of the great jobs that I was offered was as a French Hedge Fund Analyst, paying 40% more than my current job (Unfortunately, it was in Chennai)

The French Embassy hires proficient speakers & the French teachers, corporate trainers & translators are also well paid.

If you’ve attained the DELF B1 (3rd level of the French diploma exam), you can work in France as an English Teaching Assistant for a period of 7 months, teaching in French schools at a fixed compensation of €900/month.

Better yet, if you’ve attained DELF B2, you can go & teach French in France.

French can also help an individual in settling in any of the Francophone country. Quebec awards 4 to 16 points to a French speaker (depending on your proficiency) in its immigration points system.

Some Universities also award brownie points to applicants who've honed a foreign language. France is a great option for further studies in the finance, medicine, fashion & retail space.

Broadening the Cultural Horizons

A French speaker has the whole world of Wine, Cheese, Theatre & Gastronomy open to them. The French eras of film & culture are considered one of the best in the world and the various festivals of France are best witnessed in their native tongue. 

Paris is a culture in its own. “La Ville Lumiere” (The city of lights), along with its various cafes, fashion events, museums, monuments & shopping centres is worth experiencing. Although, you would be able to survive a few days with English, its worth interacting with the “Parisiens en français”.

Other famous vacation spots like Mauritius & Monaco also are French speaking nations.

Help acquire skills that would help in further learning

French, a romance language, is a descendant of Latin. Unlike English (A Germanic language), the romance languages have different masculine & feminine genders for the non-living objects too.

The other popular languages from the romance family are – Spanish, Italian, Portuguese & Romanian.

So if you’ve mastered French, you won’t have much difficulty in grasping any of the other romanic languages as compared to a new learner.

French, like any other European language is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR).

All the languages in the CEFR have 6 levels:

A1 – Breakthrough / Beginner

A2 – Waystage / Elementary

B1 – Threshold / Intermediate

B2 – Vantage / Upper intermediate

C1 – Effective Operational Proficiency / Advanced

C2 – Mastery / Proficiency

Attaining a B2 certificate is more than enough to live & work in a francophone country while C1 & C2 are needed for a Ph.D / further studies

Where to learn: The best institute to learn French is “Alliance Française”. There are 19 such institutes in India (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Karikal, Kolkata, Mahe, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pondicherry, Pune, Mysore, Trivandrum)

You can choose between the extensive course (4 hours/week) or the intensive course (8 hours/week) and select a weekdays or weekends batch as per your preference.

The fees structure & semester schedules vary from city to city. An intensive course in Delhi & Gurgaon costs around Rs. 15,000 and an extensive course around Rs. 8,500 (4 months) and with 3 semesters starting each year in January, May & September.

Log on to www.afindia.org for more or better yet, shoot me a query ;)

OH !! When I get my hands on you...

Like almost all of my posts, even this one is inspired by a song.

“Wow !! Wow .. You’re gonna kill me this way .. Oh, when I get my hands on you”

I know that sounds perverted & creepy !! But not in Portuguese:

“Nossa, nossa !! Assim você me mata .. Ai, se eu te pego, Ai, ai, se eu te pego”

I heard this song for the first time in a remixed version on Soundcloud. Although the song had 6-7 other songs too, this one particularly got my attention.

Well, for one, I didn’t understand a single word of it and also because of the way Michel Telo sang it.

You can listen to the song here:

This post is dedicated to all those songs that are sung in tongues unknown to us.

This one is Portuguese, the famous song “Aïcha”, is French, the English version of which was made popular by the Danish Hip-Hop band, Outlandish. The lyrics and the style of singing in the original French version is even more beautiful, written by singer songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman. The title refers to an Arabic female and was sung by an Algerian raï artist, Khaled. Then there’s the Spanish treat, “The Ketchup Song”, numerous hit numbers by Enrique & Pitbull and our very own Bollywoodised song, “Senorita”. 

These songs, except their tones & music, are unknown to us. There’s no “SA RE GA MA PA” in it and whether its an R&B song, a Rap, Rock Metal or a country song, we don’t have a clue.

But we do shake a leg on the songs of the trance genre (Think – Steroe Love by Edward Maya) in the nightclubs & the amazing remixes by the French DJ David Guetta.

What these songs do to us can’t be explained in some Ig Nobel Prize theory or by one of the stupid surveys the American Universities conduct. These tunes play with our minds !!

But so does Alcohol & Drugs.

One of my friends in high school, whose name I’ve long forgotten, bought some CDs of Trance Music while we were on a trekking trip to Manali. When I asked, he said, “This stuff makes me think & stimulates my brain cells”. (He said this in weird Punjabi metaphors so I gave you the crux of it).

And even I do agree. After I saw the movie, “Requiem for a Dream”, its leitmotif (theme song) "Lux Aterna" just stuck in my head. The song title is Latin for “The Eternal Light” and is a trance in its own. Give the song a listen on full volume with your headphones on and you will know what I mean.

So just log on to YouTube and listen to ‘em !! Trance, foreign songs (No Bhojpuris okay), trance music or even Opera (Not Opera Winfrey, she’s only here for motivational purposes) and you would be able to think clearly post that.

The Drunk Train Experience: All Aboard

If you guys have seen the latest season of “How I Met Your Mother”, you would know what the post title means.

For those who haven’t been fortunate enough to watch that episode, I’ll let you in on the story. So every night, the last train leaving from Manhattan to Long Island is full of drunk people who are returning from their respective parties and celebrations.

Well, the Delhi Metro has a Rs. 200 fine if you’re caught drunk. So, no one in the train was drunk, EXCEPT ME.

I was with a cousin brother & my brother-in-law when out of nowhere we just wanted to escape the evening heat and ended up at a beer shop. We didn’t really think it through practically while buying 3 large cans (You know what “CANS” I’m talking about right ??)of Tuborg STRONG.

On any other day, any 1 of us could gulp em all down without a sweat. But I had to leave for home in about 10 minutes and we didn’t have a place to sit & drink. Who thinks about all this when you have chilled beer in your hand ?? We cracked em open as soon as we parked the car below my cousin’s place (Dangerous territory BTW). All of us are down half our share when suddenly both of them hand me their cans too (Hand me their CANS .. Any1 else gets it or its just me ??)

The bro-in-law has to drive back home and Di would be back any second from South-Ex and the cousin has to go pick up his GF. Just a mere thought of their respective women refrained them from taking down another sip of this elixir of life (What has world come to L) and I’m fumbling with 3 beer cans in my hand and my mind a little hazy with the swigging from my share.

Who would like to waste beer ?? Water is so very scarce as it is ... So I take a deep breath and finish both of their beers and crush the tin cans with my bare hands (Feeling a little dizzy and like Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same moment).

I’m looking at my golden can of Tuborg when suddenly I realise we’ve reached the metro station. I force down whatever of the leftover I can and rush out.

In no time, I find myself in the metro coach when I don’t have any idea how I got there. Well, the amount of liquor isn’t much for us Punjabis but if you account for the time in which I forced it down my food pipe, it was way too much to handle at 6PM on a Sunday eve.

So, I have a book in my hand. I’m kinda reading it, well my eyes are at least. I don’t think my brain actually received whatever was happening between Khal Drogo and Danaerys or what Jon Snow was taking his oath in front of, in the Game of Thrones.

Another blurred series of minutes and I’m sitting now. But here’s how the people sitting across me looked like:

·         A Malaysian Stripper

·         An old friend from school

·         An Al-Qaida Leader

·         A dumb rich playboy

·         A computer whiz kid/hacker

·         Veerappan

·         A crazy in love stalker

I was staring at them and the display board with the book in my hand & the headphones shouting a Portuguese song in my ears and I’m tripping inside a trip, something like an inception of drunkenness.

Well, somehow I manage to reach MG Road.

But ... The trip isn’t over yet !! Due to the rains and hyperinflation driven rates of the autorickshaws, I take the bus which drops me just metres away from my home (Yes ppl, Gurgaon has SOME public transport)

The amazing breeze & the drizzle actually helped another tripping session and in minutes, I de-boarded the bus.

I know its hard living with your parents & siblings again after 9 long years. Its difficult to adjust & you don’t have any space or freedom anymore. But does that mean that as soon as you get off the bus, they’re standing there to receive you ??

Even if they have just come there for a “Stroll”

So a long story short, treading in the minefield, I reach home safe & sound, without a beating & not even a pravachan or scolding.

SAFE & SOUND ... (But what when my lifelines finally run out L ) 

Tennis: The Tri - Wizard Tournament

I just got my new laptop and I'm back to blogging.

Between selling off my PC and relocating to Gurgaon permanently, I didn't have much of a time to write and any time I got, was spent watching TV Shows and the Tennis Grand Slams.

Tennis is a game which is quite different from the other popular sporting events we watch. Here, we have a classical era and a modern era. Whenever drawing comparisons, we never compare the classical errans with the modern errans (That's a word I made up, so deal with it).

But why so ?? Has the game changed ?? Have the rules been modified ?? Was a new ground breaking technology invented ??

Whatever the reason might be, this post doesn't deal with the issue of this separatism. This post is about the current era of tennis we are witnessing. This era, possibly from 2010 - Current Date, is what I like to call, the TRIWIZARD ERA.

Like Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, we have Federer, Djokovic & Nadal. FedEX is our favourite no matter what happens, just like Hogwarts. Djoker is what they call the super good looking face of tennis (atleast my friend Diksha says so) and Rafa is the muscle and strength which Viktor Krum was made of. The three masters, ranked top 3 in ATP Rankings since don’t know how long back, battle it out not only in the Grand Slams but also the Davis Cup, Olympics and the other ATP Tourneys, be it for their country, their WAGs or themselves.

Until now, we have witnessed 3 Grand Slams in 2012. Djokovic defended his Australian Open title by defeating Nadal, Nadal took his revenge and defended his French Open title against Djokovic while Federer won his 17th Slam and 7th Wimbledon by defeating the Scottish hope Andy Murray.

Each of them won these titles on their best playing surfaces. Would you call it a home advantage or just a coincidence ??

In most famous tennis rivalries, we have seen at best 2 great players who were famous for being the corner stone of that age of tennis. Whenever a 3rd star entered the scene, one of the them would ultimately be etched out until only two remain.

Same was the case when the best tennis rivalry in the Tennis ages was formed; Federer v/s Nadal, who bagged all the Slam titles between them from 2005 – 2010.

Jelena Ristic (Djokovic)

Thus entered Djokovic. Taking the two champs by surprise, he won 5 Slams in the last 2 years. The usual trend almost followed when Federer dropped to World No. 3, lost to the likes of Tsonga & Murray (No offence to the French & the Scottish but Cmon, Its Roger Federer). Till now I believed the Swiss Maestro has lost his class and soon will be phased out but he proved the ordinary wrong when he came back won his record 7th Wimbledon title.

So. Is this the era of the triwizards or what ?? And along with that, it’s the age of the unlucky Scottish. No matter how super hot girlfriend he has and no matter how hard he tries, he always ends up on the losing side.

And now that I’m on it, how the hell do all of em so HOT WAGs ?? Its not like the women scouted for the best tennis talent and roped them in (No puns here fellas). Nadal, Djoko & Murray are all in their respective relationships for more than 4-5 years each while Federer met his wife during the Davis Cup.

Kim Sears (Murray)

Keeping Ivanovic, Sharapova & Kournikova aside, who knew Tennis was this glamorous ??

Coming back to the topic ...

The 4th and the final Slam will take place in US later this year where the defending champ Djoko will be the favourite. But we also have the Olympics before that. Federer & Nadal already have the Gold Medal under their belt but the World No. 1 would be ready ...