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Arvind Kejriwal resigned because he engineered the situation so as to facilitate his resignation.Brace yourselves, this is a long answer. If you’d rather skip all the talk about their short lived term, please scroll down to the bolded “What did AAP do in 49 days?”I’ll lay out here the facts, hopefully without bias, and provide my comments as well, which will be biased. For all purposes, I will use ‘AAP’ and ‘Kejriwal’ interchangeably. Facts are in regular text and my comments are in italics.I’ll start with the manifesto. This consists of the promises they’ve made before coming into power, to be executed when they come into power.Aam Aadmi Party’s manifesto can be found here: Page on media2.intoday.in and File Shared from BoxThe main objectives outlined in this manifesto are:Delhi Jan Lokpal bill that would be passed within 15 days of coming into power. (Lokayukta would be modeled along this line, and all ministers and MLAs would come under its purview. Whistleblowers to be given protection)Devolving power directly to people. Introduction of Swaraj Bill. (Power to Mohalla Sabhas, approximately 3000 new Mohalla Sabhas)Full statehood to Delhi. (Police to be under govt’s control)Cutting electricity bills by half. (Audit distribution companies, independent agencies to check meters, withdraw cases against those who participated in civil disobedience earlier with AAP, Discoms brought under RTI)Clean water in every home, cited as the party’s first priority. (Tanker mafia, installing water meters, use of Munak canal, provide water to unauthorized slums, free water to families that use 700l, rainwater harvesting, water recycling.)Building sewage systems and 2,00,000 community toilets. (Sewage meters, recycling water)Waste management. (Littering to be fined, plastic bags to be banned, segregation of waste)High quality education, with building at least 500 new schools. (Teachers appointed at all vacant posts, regulate fees in private schools/colleges, introduce child-friendly education system)Improving public healthcare, with a special task force getting to work on Dengue cases currently in Delhi. (Fill all vacant doctor and nurse posts, complete half built hospitals, controlling pollution)Increased security. (Citizen’s Security Force that would install lighting and CCTVs. Police and security martyrs’ famlilies to receive 1 crore compensation)Swift dispensation of justice. (Establish new courts, temporary courts for pending cases)Power to Gram Sabhas. (Remove restrictions on land use and claim, provide tenure to farmers, improve bus service in villages, veterinary hospitals, sports facilities)Regularize unauthorized colonies and rehabilitate slums. (Repair streets, provide water, waste management in slums first)Increasing employment. (Young entrepreneurs to get loans at lower rate, vacant posts in govt. filled, space, security, license to street vendors)Facilitate trade. (Withdraw FDI, make trade friendly policies, simplify VAT)No contractualisation of jobs and social security. (Ensuring strict minimum wage)Public transport imporovements. (Unified Transport Authority to be established, developing Ring Rail services, expand metro)Improved roads, parking, arrangements for drivers and commuters. (multi storeyed parking, pavements, special corridors for cyclists, auto stands)Ending pollution and encroachment in Yamuna, Delhi Ridge.Implement SC, ST, OBC reservation. (Simplify issuing caste certificates)Provide opportunities to Valmiki community.Peace and equality to Muslims. (Second language status to Urdu, Punjabi, no fake encounters against Muslims, resolve Muslim graveyards land issue, make Delhi Waqf board transparent)Justice to victims of 1984 massacre (infrastructure in areas where they live)Protecting people with disabilities, provide rights to trans-gender community and nomadic tribes.Encourage sports and culture. (Bring sports under RTI, public library in each constituency, recreation facilities etc)When they came to power, these are the key points they wanted: Aam Aadmi Party election manifesto's key points | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.comHere’s another link outlining the 18 points they made in a letter to the BJP and Congress: 18 issues raised in AAP letter to Sonia, RajnathEver since they were elected into power, and in fact, starting a few days prior, AAP’s modus operandi seems to have been to make sure they’re in the news every single day, for one reason or the other. I do not exaggerate, as almost everyone knows. Every.single.day, they’ve occupied more airtime than any other issue. {Edit: This may or may not be because of the media alone. But AAP ensures that if it's a slow news day, they have a plan.}I will now outline a timeline of AAP’s political and social activities each of the days they’ve been in power. I spent close to six hours on this answer, trying to obtain every type of news article published about the party every day they were in power. I’ve included positive news as well as criticisms. If I’ve omitted something, please point it out to me, and be assured it’s not intentional. I’ve also provided citations in brackets in the body of the answer itself instead of as footnotes for easier viewing.Dec 28: AAP is voted into power, with the support of Congress, and then taking a mass SMS poll,website poll, email campaigns, and public meetings from Delhi residents. (Delhi elections: 6.79 lakh took part in Aam Aadmi Party referendum | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com) The decision for a referendum evokes mixed responses. (AAP’s Referendum Good For Democracy - India Opines) (AAP’s referendum on govt draws flak from Delhiites - Hindustan Times) (Page on niticentral.com) {Edited}Members of the party and their background:Arvind Kejriwal: Reputed Magsaysay award winner. Mechanical Engg in IIT-KGP. Tata Steel 1989 to 1992, with one year’s sabbatical to study for the civil services exams (Kejriwal, Arvind). Joined IRS in 1995. Granted 2 years of paid leave in 2000 to pursue higher education on condition that upon resuming his work he would not resign from the Service for at least 3 years. Failure to abide by that condition would require him to repay the salary given during the leave period. Rejoined in 2003 and worked for 18 months before taking unpaid leave for 18 months. Resigned from his position as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in Feb 2006, in New Delhi. Government of India claimed that Kejriwal had violated his original agreement by not working for three years. Kejriwal refuted this, saying that 18 months of work and 18 months of unpaid absence amounted to the stipulated three year period during which he could not resign and that this was an attempt to malign him due to his involvement with Team Anna. The dispute ran for several years until, in 2011, it was resolved when he paid his way out of the Service with the help of loans from friends. (Govt finally accepts Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation) He has an impressive track record of activism, starting from 1999.Manish Sisodia: A journalist who had worked for All India Radio and Zee News previously. (Manish Sisodia: From journalist to Kejriwal’s Man Friday )Rakhi Birla: Masters in Mass Comm., previously a reporter for Jain TV.Somnath Bharti: MSc. from IIT-D, degree in law.Satyendra Jain: Former architect.Madhu Bhaduri: A former Indian diplomat, has served as ambassadors in Hanoi, Mexico City, Vienna, Belarus, Lithuania, Portugal, Hamburg. Also a writer.Kumar Vishwas: Hindi poet and literature professor in Rajasthan for 16 years. Recipient of numerous awards (Kumar Vishwas) Performed standup comedy and in Kavi Sammelan in multiple reputed education institutions and abroad.Shazia Ilmi: Mass Comm major, former prime-time television anchor at Star News. Regularly touted as the ‘Muslim Face’ of AAP, her family reportedly has ties with Congress (Shazia Ilmi, ex-journalist: The Muslim face of Team Anna) Her uncle is a member of Congress, while her brother in law, a former Congress politician, is now a member of BSP. Her brother contested against as an independent candidate (AAP vs BAAP! Shaziya Ilmi, brother Rashid Ilmi in faceoff), and publicly alleged her of concealing assets, and requested police protection from Shazia for allegedly resorting to violent behavior with him and their mother. (AAP Candidate Shazia Ilmi’s brother demands protection from sister) Her eldest brother is close to Salman Khurshid (‘Salman Khurshid is behind this attempt to malign me,’ Shazia Ilmi) She is also a film director and documentary maker. (Page on www.10francs.fr)Yogendra Yadav: Academic (political, social sciences), Senior Fellow at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, former member of NAC, appointed by the UPA government. Also a psephologist and analyst, appeared on numerous TV shows, writer, and award winner. (Yogendra Yadav | CSDS). He was, along with Shashi Tharoor, the former, informal political advisor to Rahul Gandhi (Expert boost is the secret of Rahul’s raw power | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com) (madhukishwar: Not long ago when Yogendra ...)Binayak Sen: A pediatrician and activist, he's the winner of numerous awards, including the Gandhian International Peace Prize. He had been detained for allegedly aiding Naxalites in 2007 in Chattisgargh, and then sentenced to life again in 2010 for helping Naxalite forces form a network, violating Chattisgargh state laws. He is currently out on bail, with the case still pending. (Dr Binayak Sen found guilty of sedition, gets life imprisonment - The Times of India) (Binayak Sen)Kundan Singh, an allegedly notorious outlaw in Bihar who has over 24 cases of kidnapping, extortion, and murder against him. His membership was subsequently canceled by Kejriwal after objections raised within the party. (History-sheeter Kundan Singh leads party in Bihar) (AAP’s rented office in Patna in the eye of storm)Kejriwal takes oath, with 6 ministers in Ramlila Maidan, where he traveled to via the metro. Expense of Rs.6.33 lakh was incurred, excluding expenses for public works department, north Delhi city corporation, Delhi water board, health and family planning department, Delhi fire brigade services, Delhi Police, power department, and information and broadcasting department. (Arvind Kejriwal’s oath-taking ceremony cost Rs 6L - The Times of India) {Edit: The actual expense incurred was Rs. 13.41 lakh Arvind Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony cost Rs 13.41 lakh, reveals RTI) The decision draws mixed response and is criticized by the opposition for tokenism display as taking the oath in Ramlila Maidan allegedly costs the tax payer Rs.50 lakhs, as opposed to only Rs.20,000 that would have been the cost had he taken oath in LG's residence. (Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony cost govt Rs 50 lakhs: BJP leader) {edited}He promises enquiry into the CWG scam. (Kejriwal to be Delhi CM-designate today, vows ministers won't use red beacons - The Times of India) He orders transfer of nine officials (Page on firstpost.com), banned red beacons, and removed security for all ministers and MLAs. (Kejriwal takes oath, says no to red beacon)Vinod Kumar Binny of AAP goes on record to call Kejriwal a dictator and states that his agenda, when fulfilled, will cheat the public.Dec 29: Deadline for the original passing of Lokpal bill as promised by Kejriwal, but revised since manifesto. (AAP will pass Lokpal Bill on December 29, 2013 if voted to power, says Arvind Kejriwal) .Delhi policemen come out to declare their support for AAP. (Common Delhi policemen approve AAP's 'Aam Aadmi' government).Party recruits new volunteers in Kolkata. AAP reaches out to ant-Kudankulam protesters. (After forming govt in Delhi, AAP reaches out to anti-Kudankulam protesters) Kejriwal urges Udayakumar to join them and contest in Lok Sabha elections.For a party that talks so much about development, this was another misstep, as talks with Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan were. Kudankulam nuclear project is known to be perfectly safe (Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant), but AAP appeals to people who now protest against it out of the blue, just in time for elections. Maulana Tauqeer Khan has ordered multiple fatwas and has announced a bounty for Taslima Nasreen’s head, all of which Kejriwal claims to have not known after his “chance” encounter with him on the streets.Dec 30: AAP attempts to implement their promise of 700l free water, but due to lack of pipelines and spiked costs, settles at 667 litres of water per household with pipelines, starting Jan 1st, 2014. Kejriwal clarifies that the decision is permanent, and not only for 3 months. The free water comes at a price though- a spike in water tariff of 10% for anyone consuming above this quantity. AK explains that this would cause a revenue loss for DJB of Rs. 160cr per year, and Rs. 40cr this year. Implementation of the system is expected to be faulty at best, as only a little over 65% of Delhi has pipelines, and the poor without water would continue to remain without water. Another issue raised was that the DJB has no existing system to measure the amount of water provided to a house or information on the population of an area, based on which water supply quantity is to be decided. (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/aap-delivers-on-water-promise/article5519122.ece) Almost only half of the installed meters are functional (Congress accuses AAP of cheating people on water)AAP confirms that it will contest in Lok Sabha polls. (AAP will be alternative to Dravidian parties: Prashant Bhushan)Dec 31: Members of the AAP continue to tout the press and media as being unbiased and bringing in attention to important and relevant events.The first meeting of the Secretariat was clumsy and haphazard as the ministers learn the ropes. Satyendra Jain calls for a press meet, but humbly apologizes for turning up late and cancels the meet. Manish Sisodia promises the party would be more transparent.Jain inspects healthcare facilities in N. Delhi and proclaims them as excellent, while Sisodia inspects primary schools and notes them as miserable, without infrastructure or even toilets. (AAP's first-time Ministers out of their depth)Jan 1: Former BJP MLA, Kanu Kansaria joins AAP. He is a gynecologist and states he was on the verge of joining Congress, but joined AAP instead. Retired IAS officer and director of MGLI, AR Bharadwaj joins AAP. (Former BJP MLA Kanu Kalsariya joins Aam Aadmi Party)Kejriwal promises 50% power subsidy on power consumption upto 400 units. This decision would cost the exchequer Rs. 200 crores practically (or Rs. 61 crores on paper). DERC claims that the government cannot fix the tariff as it’s a regulatory body issue. Kejriwal says that govt can’t fix the tariff but can provide subsidy (ie, compensate the power companies for the rest of the 50%, compensating for the loss incurred). Kejriwal requests CAG to order probe into 3 power distribution agencies. (Kejriwal’s new year gift to Delhi: 50% power subsidy), (AAP fulfills another poll promise: After free water,Delhi gets half-price power)There is a very obvious, huge, gaping flaw in this plan. 50% subsidy will cause a loss of Rs. 61 crores to the Delhi public, as admitted by Kejriwal. Slashing power tariff this suddenly to so many people would result in massive loss and mismanagement, as basic economics teaches. The budget is present for a reason. In effect, the government tells the public that they have 50% off on power, and then takes the rest of the money from the budget allocated to education or healthcare services. Or proceeds to increase the tax. Not to mention, charging higher tariff after 400 units in the middle of winter. A highly impractical system.Jan 2: AAP wins trust vote in Delhi Assembly. Kejriwal states that Jan Lokpal Bill is the next priority. AAP declares that they are against FDI in retail.Congress’s Arvinder Lovely backs Kejriwal, but states that the free water will make it more expensive for the poor people and easier for the ones who can afford it.First questions about AAP funding being raised. (Live: Kejriwal's AAP govt wins trust vote in Delhi Assembly)Jan 3: AAP’s MS Dhir wins the Delhi Assembly speaker post.Jan 4: AAP start preparation for Lok Sabha polls. (AAP members chalk out plans for 2014 Lok Sabha polls) AAP states that only people with no criminal or personal charges will be considered for candidates.It is revealed that Kejriwal was allotted twin bungalows of 5 bedrooms each, which he backs out of taking due to public furor. Expensive repair work on the twin bungalows is suddenly stopped, people question waste of tax payers’ money.The problem here isn’t the twin bungalows itself. Every minister gets bungalows. Kejriwal was perfectly entitled to live in them. However, he had made it very clear that he will not use government houses and vehicles if he came into power. So this move to live in bungalows was seen as rather hypocritical of him. For all practical purposes, he should have lived in those bungalows.{Edit: I‘ve been pointed out that Kejriwal was allotted two 5-bedroom duplex flats, not bungalows. The media has used the terms interchangeably. I’m trying to find the difference, but it looks like a duplex flat = bungalow is the way it has been used.So, to clarify, Kejriwal was allotted two five-bedroom duplex flats that he refused. And refused because “my friends, supporters have been calling me and sending messages saying I should not move into the five-bedroom flat. So, I have decided to forego them.” (Arvind Kejriwal rejects 5-bedroom house; requests government for smaller flat) Kejriwal also said that the houses that were allotted to him were much smaller than Sheila Dixit’s bungalow.This is the house that was allotted to Sheila Dixit (not her current residence) when she was reelected in 2008:This is the house that was given to Kejriwal:The government incurred expenses in trying to find a suitable accommodation for Kejriwal in the forthcoming days. (Delhi offers six housing options for CM Arvind Kejriwal | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com) Expenses are not mentioned, but the procedure and problems are outlined, and would have, no doubt, cost money.}Kejriwal takes to twitter to defend his minsters being allotted Toyota Innova cars, saying that they had refused only red beacons, not official cars. (We said no to red beacons, not to official cars: Kejriwal) The ministers should use cars, both for safety, and for convenience. It saves a lot of trouble for daily commuters.Delhi court sets hearing date as Jan 25 for five cases filed against AAP and Kejriwal for violating prohibitory orders, unlawful assembly, and other offences. (Delhi court to hear cases against Kejriwal on January 25)Kejriwal says that he will not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections despite the party going national. (Page on firstpost.com)Jan 5: Prashant Bhushan starts trouble by stating that there should be a referendum in Kashmir to decide whether the army should take care of internal threats. Err. What? It’s your country, man. Don’t you want to defend it? I’m sorry, but this gets me very angry. Why would you want to take a poll to find out if people of your country want to be protected? Kejriwal clarifies that the view's are Bhushan's own and do not reflect that of the party.{Edit: I’ve drawn a lot of flak for stating that I’m angry that Bhushan made a comment like this. I’m surprised, considering that this issue is the least pertinent to Kejriwal’s resignation. But I’ll clarify my stand anyway.Asking for a referendum is wrong because of various reasons. I’ll simplify this with an example. Let’s suppose there is a gang fight on your street and ten policemen are deployed for the protection of the residents. Out of these ten men, two or three misbehave and cause trouble. But together, they protect the street and curb the violence. They keep away members from other gangs into entering your street, and prevent fighting within. Now, people who look at it from outside feel that the ten policemen’s presence is too much of a limitation, so they should be taken away. Is a referendum a fair deal? Most of the houses might vote yes, but is that the reasonable thing to do, to expose the residents to threats? Besides, you know that there are a few residents who are secretly aiding gangs. Wouldn’t pulling away the police force make it easier for them?Expand this to Kashmir. It is common knowledge that many Kashmiris want to secede to Pakistan and some aid infiltrations. But it is the duty of the Government of India and the Army to protect the citizens. Remember, there are still people who want to be a part of India. And even if everyone wants to be a part of Pakistan, removal of army presence is not justified. Indian Govt holds supreme authority over Kashmiri land and will continue to do so. India has deployed armed forces to protect the land. Stating that there should be a referendum is not just an insult to the Constitution and the Armed forces, but also a highly dangerous statement, bordering on sedition (depending on how you look at it). Kejriwal said that the feelings of the people must be taken into account, otherwise it is a threat to democracy. No, it is ideas like these that are a threat to democracy. Going by Kejriwal’s contradictory statement, elections are a threat to democracy, considering the number of people who vote against a party that eventually comes into power.Re: “internal threats”, yes, it’s the duty of the government to protect against internal threats. There is no dearth of militancy in Kashmir – Pakistani or Indian. The nature of the conflict in the area and the geography of the land, coupled with the weather and the mostly sparse population, mandates an army presence, as opposed to a police presence. It’s common sense. It’s also an issue of national security. That cannot be decided by referendums. Should we take referendums for Naxalites? For Arunachal Pradesh? For Tamil Nadu coasts? Bhushan also said that he believes Kashmir is an integral part of India (Prashant Bhushan does U-turn on Kashmir) Then why did he make the referendum comment, instead of defending the troops in Kashmir? Bhushan’s exact statement is here: Prashant Bhushan for referendum on Army's J&K deployment Secession is unconstitutional, so should be avoided, he says. So 1. What is the point of the referendum, and 2. Why was it okay when passing the Jan Lokpal was unconstitutional? Kejriwal later states that Bhushan withdrew his comment about the referendum, and asks if people want to kill him or Bhushan for it. Do they want to kill me for Prashant Bhushan's J&K remark? Kejriwal asksAs to why Bhushan should not have made that comment: It is very easy to state that the remark that was made was by an individual and not the entire party. It might be Prashant Bhushan’s personal view, as Kejriwal was quick to clarify. But that is just a statement of convenience. If the view had been endorsed, it would have been a victory for the party. It drew criticisms, so it’s a personal view. Going by this, why was Binny expelled for stating his personal views about the party? It’s also a classic votebank move. Now, if and when AAP campaigns in Kashmir, Bhushan would go. The people would remember his statements (although they do not reflect the party’s) and vote for AAP. Stating that it’s a personal opinion makes it very easy for any member of any party to get away with any controversial statement. Had such a statement been made against more sensitive issues like riots or reservations, the issue would have escalated. Other parties are quick to reprimand their members who make controversial comments, but AAP chooses to field its candidates, with no apology. A party is voted for its idealogy, which is not always explicitly stated. It’s the members of a party that project the kind of ideas and stances parties take on issues. }AAP promises to initiate schemes for labour and against contract workers, as stated in their manifesto. (Delhi govt to initiate schemes for labourers,contract workers)Educationist and Padma Shri recipient, JAK Tareen joins AAP. (Educationist joins AAP)Shoaib Iqbal threatens to withdraw support over Kumar Vishwas’ remarks against minority community.Jan 6: Kejriwal goes on record to say that he would probe Sheila Dixit. (Will probe anyone guilty of graft, even if it is Sheila Dikshit, says Kejriwal) When asked about his expose on the CWG scam in 2010, and why he hasn’t taken action against those involved, he states that there were no names in the report.Rakhi Birla files an FIR stating that her car is attacked with a stone, but she is unhurt. Meanwhile, the police claim that a teenager’s gilli-danda stick hit her car accidentally.800 DJB employees transferred.AAP also announces 90% reservation in institutions fully funded by govt for Delhi students.Jan 7: Arun Jaitley reveals that Prashant Bhushan had previously suggested a referendum for the people of Kashmir, asking them to decide whether they wanted to stay in India or Pakistan. (AAP ideology will weaken India: Jaitley) Bhushan had been physically beaten up by unknown workers for his comments, back in 2011. Both Congress and BJP condemn the attacks, neither claims responsibility.AAP creates an internal committee to protect women within the party. (AAP establishes internal committee based on Vishakha Guidelines)Anti-corruption helpline to be setup in two days, Swaraj bill to be drafted in 10 days. (Anti-graft helpline in 2 days, ‘Swaraj’ Bill in 10)AAP announces that it will convert abandoned buses into shelters for the homeless. 1000 new shelters are announced. (AAP to convert abandoned buses into night shelter homes)AAP workers are beaten by Congress workers at Amethi. Congress defends itself by stating that none of the representatives of AAP were from Amethi. (http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/anti-graft-helpline-in-2-days-swaraj-bill-in-10/){Edited to include modifications} AAP members allegedly walk into a hospital and set up jhuggis, claiming that since the hospital has a lot of empty land that belongs to the government, they are free to do so. More AAP accuse an NGO of encroaching on a community center that the NGO takes care of, maintains, and pays bill for. Delhi Speaker and AAP member, MS Dhir does not allow discussion on this issue for the day, asking that it be brought up later. (‘Anarchy’ by AAP workers alleged ) Kejriwal promises to look into the issue.Jan 8: AAP office attacked by Hindu Raksha Dal workers.AAP draws flak for misleading the public about 90% reservation as only 12 institutions satisfy the criteria. AAP defends by saying that they plan to construct new colleges, carrying over the previous Congress govt’s plan. The reservation draws more flak as it is seen as regressive to promoting national integration. (No ‘outsiders’ in Delhi)Kejriwal and Somnath Bharti come under fire for illegally calling a meeting of all district judges in Delhi. This is because the judiciary is not under the executive in our constitution. Kejriwal claims that this step was taken to improve the system. A petition is filed against AAP in the Delhi high court. (Under fire, AAP says move to meet judges ‘to better system’)The govt threatens to cancel licenses of discoms who do not allow audits.Noted dancer Mallika Sarabhai joins AAP.Jan 9: AAP announces anti-corruption helpline number that receives almost 4000 calls in the first 7 hours. AAP talks about a rollback in CNG prices for auto drivers. (Govt explores legal options to effect CNG price rollback)Manish Sisodia given government residence. AAP very vehemently opposed VIP culture, but their members still travel in special cars bearing VIP numbers. (Manish Sisodia moves into Mayur Vihar flat) {Edit: AAP had stated they would not be taking up government bungalows, not government residences}Kejriwal urges the common public to undertake sting operations if they have a phone, and use video and audio recording facilities. This sees a huge spike in illegal spy gadget sale across the city. (Have a phone? Go sting the corrupt, CM tells Delhi)Kejriwal gets Z-category security. Senior journalist of Network 18, Ashutosh, quits upon the verge of being let go, and joins AAP.Jan 10: Kejriwal states that after the Lokpal bill is drafted, it would be passed in Feb. He also states that the bill will be passed to the public at Ramlila Maidan and the people’s consent taken. The Jan Lokpal bill provides the Lokayukta powers to tap phones, spy on, and put up surveillance on any member of the public or ministry who is suspected of indulging in corruption. (After telling Delhi to sting, AAP wants Lokpal to snoop)Hey, I think my neighbor, who’s a shop owner, is adulterating his goods. Please tap his phone and set up bugs in his house to spy on him?In a complete violation of the Electricity Act, Kejriwal promises exemption for people who had defaulted on electricity bills and withdrawal of cases against those booked for power theft since March 23 last year. (Kejriwal waives 10-month power bill default and theft, BJP calls it anarchy) This is upto 20,000 connections that bills haven’t been paid for regularly. Simple math gives an estimate of how much this would to cost the tax paying public. Note that this is also a form of anarchy. Encouraging people to break the law, ie, power theft. Tomorrow, if a political party asks people to join them in protest, steal power, and not pay bills, and promise a 75% off, it would be utterly and completely justified and the people would migrate to them.A helpline is announced to report power cuts. A Janta Durbar every day in the future is announced, starting the next day.Jan 11: The first Durbar is overrun with a crowd of 20,000 against an expected 500, prompting the government to cancel all proceedings. A bit of short sightedness there, displayed by Kejriwal. Being the CM of Delhi, he should have realized that more than 500 people would turn up. 500 is a ridiculously low number to expect. His swearing in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan was not that far away. Crowds complain about mismanagement and lack of access to the ministers. (Thousands spoil Arvind Kejriwal’s durbar debut)AAP volunteers attacked in Bangalore.Jan 12: Kumar Vishwas shown black flags in Amethi, due to his allegedly insensitive remarks against Hindus and Shia Muslims. (Kumar Vishwas shown black flags, stones pelted at buses of supporters)After the exemption in power that was promised two days ago, Kejriwal does a U-turn and states that the govt is not sure of this decision. (U-turn on power waiver: CM says no decision yet)Communist and CPI member, Kamal Mitra Chinoy joins AAP. (CPI member Kamal A. Mitra Chenoy joins AAP) (Why I joined AAP and Quit the CPI: Kamal Mitra Chenoy) He's a professor at JNU. He has previously courted controversy for alleged sedition, and for speaking out in defence of Osama Bin Laden, especially on twitter.Jan 13: Opposition slams the excessive power cuts and irregular water supply since AAP’s tariff reduction was announced. (With Bijli Andolan, BJP to protest power cuts)Kejriwal discontinues the idea of Janta Durbar.FDI in retail is withdrawn. AAP defends this action by claiming Delhi needs more jobs. (Claiming Delhi needs jobs, Kejriwal scraps nod to FDI in retail) Water supply is affected, Delhi faces water shortage.UP police force starts providing security to Kejriwal. This is over the Delhi police, who tail him in plainclothes wherever he goes. (After cops in plainclothes, now Z-category security for Kejriwal)Jan 14: Law minister Somnath Bharti is accused of tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses in a case last year, where Bharti’s client was facing corruption charges. (Congress attacks Bharti for questioning CBI judge)AAP member Mallika Sarabhai calls fellow AAP member Kumar Vishwas misogynist, anti-minority, and anti-women. (Kumar Vishwas slammed for comparing Narendra Modi with Lord Shiva)Danish national is gang-raped in Delhi.Jan 15: Congress claims FDI rollback violated the legal process, as it was not discussed in the cabinet and approved by the Assembly. (FDI rollback violates legal process: Cong to AAP govt) Top AAP member and Air Deccan founder, Captain Gopinath criticizes scrapping the FDI, calling the move populist. (Capt. Gopinath calls AAP's FDI move 'populist')Nothing about the rape. Nothing about the water problems.Jan 16: AAP promises that CCTV would be installed in buses after a gang rape of a Danish woman.Kejriwal states that the Jan Lokpal Bill would be ready in two days. (Jan Lokpal bill draft to be ready by Friday: Kejriwal)Kejriwal states that the government is looking into water recycling. (Govt looking at water conservation, recycling to meet needs: Kejriwal)Congress attacks AAP for taking a soft stand on the gangrape. Kejriwal blames the Delhi Police for not executing their duties. (Delhi rape: Congress workers protest before secretariat)Nothing done to improve the water situation, educational systems, sewage systems, or any of the other points in the manifesto yet. No news about the power subsidy. No Mohalla Sabhas. No new toilets or schools built. Nothing in place for rainwater harvesting. No shelters for homeless, no licenses for street vendors.Jan 17: Somnath Bharti acts upon the complaint of residents of Khirki extension regarding a sex and drug racket propagated by people of Ugandan and Nigerian nationalities, and conducts his infamous midnight raid. He gathers a crowd of people, informs the media, and goes to Khirki extension with policemen. When the residents of the house don’t answer the door, seemingly away, he orders policemen to break into a house without a warrant, which they refuse to do. All of this is captured by television cameras that were present at the scene. Bharti allegedly makes racist remarks, and crowds attack Ugandan and Nigerian female students, two of whom emerge out and three, who return home, who are then taken to a hospital to take drug samples and are allegedly forced to urinate in public. Samples come clean. There is no evidence of drug peddling or sex trade among the women attacked by the mob and pulled out by Bharti. (Somnath Bharti`s midnight raid: African woman forced to urinate in public) Rakhi Birla accuses police of shielding members of a family that burned their daughter in law.I have written more about this incident and what I feel about it here: http://www.quora.com/Nishtha-Sood/Posts/Somnaths-mistaken-vigilantism-1/comment/409388 Please note that I do not deny the existence of a racket, I only state that the methods adopted by Bharti are wrong and illegal.AAP puts Vinod Binny on notice.Sisodia threatens to “fix” the police. (Sisodia threatens to 'fix' Delhi police if they fail to act)18 people die of cold wave. Where are those buses that were supposed to be shelters?Ugandan woman complains to the police that she was attacked by a mob when returning home, physically beaten, and the police protected her. (In AAP minister's midnight raid, woman made to urinate in public)Jan 18: Government promises shelters for homeless to prevent deaths due to the cold.Kejriwal threatens to go on a dharna if the four cops involved in the previous night’s raid were not suspended. (Kejriwal to Centre: suspend four cops by Monday 10 am or we go on dharna)Kejriwal also appeals to the public to join him. Bharti is accused of vigilantism and flouting the law, attracts a lot of ire. When Sheila Dixit said she couldn’t take actions against rapists because the police weren’t under her control, AAP stated that she was making excuses and can escalate the matter to the center. Today, they have the same problem, and they choose not to escalate, but instead threaten to shut down the city with a dharna. The Lokpal Bill agenda clearly states that the police should report to the Lokpal/Lokayukta and be independent of ministers and MLAs on the one hand. And on the other, Kejriwal protests to bring the police under the Delhi government.Former Karnataka Lokayukta (yes, Lokayukta) attacks Bharti for his conduct. (Santosh Hegde flays Somnath Bharti's conduct)AAP goes on record to say that it supports Telangana.Kejriwal skips defamation case filed against him. (Arvind Kejriwal skips defamation case, court allows exemption plea)Jan 19: Sisodia states that carrying out sting operations is one of the rights of the people. (The idea exchange: ‘The common man has 2-3 powers… one is vote, second RTI, right to sting is another’)Six people die of cold wave. Them invisible shelters and buses.Somnath Bharti calls members of Congress and BJP ‘pimps’. (Somnath Bharti again: ‘Cong, BJP have pimps’)Ugandan woman lodges FIR against Somnath Bharti, identifying him in news vides as the person who instigated the mob against her. Seven women are deposed in court in connection with the case. One of them asks for a second case against Bharti. Bharti denies all allegations. (Somnath Bharti won't resign as Delhi's Law Minister: AAP) Delhi Police register criminal case against Somnath Bharti.Jan 20: Kejriwal calls for a 10-day dharna to have the five policemen suspended. Homeless people died again? No, these cops are more important. The protest would take place in the most protected zone of Delhi’s region, owing to the upcoming Republic Day parade. Kejriwal urges the public to not come join them, citing the issue of disturbance and safety, saying that the protest would only be undertaken by members of the AAP. However, AAP sends undercover messages to AAP units in Haryana and UP to mobilize crowds. (AAP govt told people to stay away from dharna, but quietly mobilised the crowds)Later in the day, Kejriwal calls out to the public, going back on his word, and join them. He also urges the police to throw away their uniform and join them. This is yet another instance of promoting anarchy. Asking people who are supposed to uphold the law to abandon their duties and join in breaking the law. Who would control the massive crowds, then? As Kejriwal wasn’t allowed to take the protest outside the Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s office, he launches his protest outside Rail Bhavan. Four metro stations shut down.The protests causes security concerns as the Republic Day parade is scheduled six days hence, with full dress rehearsals in three days. The parade is scheduled to take over the area 72 hours before the Republic Day. The threat of terrorism is high, and classified weaponry and crafts of the Indian military, navy, and airforce are scheduled to be present. Kejriwal dismisses security concerns, stating that there is no point in the Parade as the women in our country are not safe. Kejriwal refuses to take the protest to Jantar Mantar, despite the fact that it is an area of high security that has prohibitory orders on it to allow gatherings of more than 5 people, although he is causing major damages to security. (On Day 2 of Arvind Kejriwal's protest, four metro stations, roads near India Gate closed)I see two problems here. One is that Bharti, his own member, attacked women. Secondly, can a sworn in official talk like this about the Republic day? The parade is a source of major pride to all of us Indians, and is a display of the strength of our defense. It is honoring the military, navy, and airforce if anything. It is a nation-wide event. Kejriwal insulted and demeaned our military, and is now causing lakhs of rupees worth of security concerns (causing tax payer money, how do people not see that?). Instead, he chooses to give precedence to suspension of five cops for carrying out their duty and failing to obey their ministers.The protest turns unruly, with AAP volunteers jumping barricades and getting violent, hurting two policemen with stone pelting. The police is then forced to lathi charge. AAP members call the police brutal.Kejriwal defends Bharti by producing letters written by residents of Khirki extension to Bharti. He also displays a letter written to him from Ugandan High Commission that was allegedly handed to him by a Ugandan official, who encouraged Bharti, supporting his decision to lead a mob.Jan 21: AAP supporter allegedly grabs reporter’s neck and slaps cameraman. Sisodia urges people not to break barricades and become unruly, while Kejrwial is caught on camera encouraging people to break and climb over barricades.Captain Gopinath of AAP condemns the protest stating that the CM should not be sitting in protest. (Blog: Let AAP protest, Chief Minister must govern, writes Captain Gopinath)Supreme Court agrees to hear a PIL against Kejriwal and Bharti for resorting to street fight and agitation. Supreme Court also declares that holding constitutional posts, the AAP cannot agitate against other constitutional entitites. (On Day 2 of protests, Kejriwal threatens to flood Rajpath with AAP supporters - Hindustan Times)Hearing is scheduled for two days hence. If the Court stays the protest, Kejriwal would be forced to move the protest to a different location.Kejriwal makes a controversial statement that he is indeed an anarchist if people call him so.Center appeals to Lieutenant Governor to facilitate Kejriwal calling off the dharna so as to not hamper security and increase losses to the tax payer. LG appeals to Kejriwal, who refuses. LG then sends two of the five police officials on paid leave. Kejriwal terms it ‘people’s victory’ and calls off the dharna.Bharti states that he wants to spit in the faces of Arun Jaitley and Harish Salve. ('Want to spit on faces of Jaitley, Salve': controversial comments by AAP)Manish Sisodia tells an NDTV panelist that they’re asking for lawful protests over the burning of a girl, and to wait till his daughter is burnt.Jan 22: Yogendra Yadav tweets in defence of Kejriwal saying that even Gandhi did not get his original demands when he protested. (AapYogendra: Some felt that we did not get ...) Gandhi was protesting against the British, not his own country's government. And when Gandhi indulged in sedition, he was jailed. Here’s a timeline about his protests and his arrests: SparkNotes: Mohandas Gandhi: TimelineAAP defends the move, stating it was the principle that counted, rather than the results. Wasn’t the principle police reform? The police are still not under the state, the five policemen are still not suspended. Officer who stood up to Bharti is not suspended or sent on leave. A junior cop who is below the cop involved in the gang rape was sent on paid leave. No action against dowry case.(Partial success, but principles more important: Aam Aadmi Party on compromise deal)An FIR against Kejriwal is lodged by the Delhi Police. (Delhi police file case against Arvind Kejriwal's sit-in) Please read the points outlined here. Remember, NDTV is a channel that is still very much pro-AAP even today.Captain Gopinath urges Kejriwal to suspend Somnath Bharti. (Somnath Bharti too should be suspended: Capt Gopinath)CPM party, which has been pro-AAP so far slams Kejriwal for protests. (CPM slams Kejriwal for street protest)Congress workers protest for Bharti’s arrest or suspension. (In Pics: Congress workers' protest to demand Somnath Bharti's arrest)Committee is formed for drafting Jan Lokpal bill. (Jan Lokpal may trigger next faceoff) Finally. It was supposed to have been passed on Dec 29, and then Jan 10.Kumar Vishwas’s earlier tapes where he makes sexist and racist remarks against Keralite nurses comes to attention. He calls them dark and says that’s why people refer to them as ‘sisters’. Multiple FIRs are launched against Vishwas under IPC 499 and 509. (Sexist remarks on Kerala nurses: Kumar Vishwas's effigy burnt) Vishwas defends his actions, saying he was making people laugh, and asks Kerala CM to apologize to him for breaking into the AAP office in Kochi. (Kumar Viswas defends himself, wants Kerala CM to apologise)Kejriwal’s claims about an official who visited him and handed over a letter (previous image) is rubbished by the Ugandan High Commission. Uganda registers an official protest with India, accusing AAP of misusing the letter from a year earlier and lying about their officials. Two of the letters circulated by AAP are clarified by Uganda to be not related to the Bharti incident, and being from the previous year. ( Letters minus full story) African missions in India withdraw support, and Indian foreign office calls an emergency meeting with African envoys to assure safety, as Uganda talks to multiple journalists from India to clarify that the letter wasn’t genuine. (No one visited Somnath Bharti: Uganda HC rubbishes AAP's claims)Jan 23: Vinod Binny of AAP comes out to slam AAP’s governing tactics for not meeting the promises made to teachers in the manifesto about permanent jobs. (Binny shares stage with BJP to slam AAP) Oh yeah, there was something about jobs and stuff like that in the manifesto. Thousands of part-time teachers had canvassed for Kejriwal because of the manifesto objective to convert part-time teachers to full-time teachers. (A move that would have strained the budget). Binny also claimed that those who didn’t pay the bills by responding to Kejriwal’s call to shun the bills now have to pay exorbitant amounts.AAP’s anti-corruption helpline is now terminated due to the increasing amount of calls and the inexistence of a process to manage them. (Anti-corruption hotline goes cold, govt says it needs streamlining)Kumar Vishwas’s videos cracking offensive jokes about Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik emerge, where he reportedly calls Malik a eunuch.Eight senior govt officials are transferred.Jan 24: Binny meets the police, and requests action against Bharti. (Vinod Kumar Binny meets police commissioner, demands action against Somnath Bharti)AAP justifies its protest by releasing a video of Delhi cops’ brutality at Red Fort on Jan 12, unrelated to Bharti’s raid. Police suspend three officials in the video. (Delhi Police suspends three cops after AAP posts video of alleged police brutality)Supreme Court issues notice to Kejriwal for leading a dharna comprised of thousands of people in the capital when prohibitory orders were in place. (Supreme Court issues notice to Delhi government, Centre over Arvind Kejriwal's protest)AAP’s NRI donations drop by half, as a sign of disillusionment. AAP admits that many of its members are fake. ('Narendra Modi', 'Rahul Gandhi' now Aam Aadmi Party members. Here's how)Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Barack Obama, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi are all members of AAP, apparently.Somnath Bharti skips his court hearing and goes kite flying.Jan 25: Kejriwal does a U-turn in his stance about the media, suddenly complaining that the media is being paid to report negative stories about him. (Arvind Kejriwal at Republic Day eve function: Constitution does not bar CM from protesting)So long as the media lauded him, it was fair and just. Today, when it questions your methods and motives, it becomes a paid vehicle.Somnath Bharti apologizes for accusing reporters of being paid by Narendra Modi. (After accusing reporters of taking money from Narendra Modi, Somnath Bharti apologises)Bharti also apologizes for calling the DCW chief of being an agent of Congress and politically motivated. (Comments on DCW chief: Somnath Bharti apologises)Africans in Khirki extension start moving out. Delhi Court clarifies that a second FIR is not needed against Bharti as the first one is strong enough.AAP releases an alleged video of Ugandan women exchanging drugs. (AAP releases video showing Ugandan women exchanging drugs) Ugandan women who were met by Bharti claim he used racist remarks against them.Kejriwal reports that corruption has come down by 30%, the police have stopped taking bribe, tea sellers have reduced rates. Shazia Ilmi reaffirms this, stating a study undertaken by Transparency International proves corruption is down. ('Transparency International' rebuffs Shazia Ilmi's claims) Transparency International later claim that no such study was undertaken.AAP gives Rs. 1cr to officer who fought against liquor mafia. He says that the Jan Lokpal bill is almost ready, and a female protection committee is to be formed. The same one earlier, about protecting women within the party. This took twenty days.Kejriwal incites anger by breaching protocol before the Republic Day parade by refusing to return the parade commander’s salute and walking off the podium. These people represent true martyrs of our nation, who actually sacrifice their lives on the border. It’s an utmost form of disrespect. Internal troubles are internal troubles. The military isn’t involved in any of this.Jan 26: Bharti goes on record to say that he wasn’t aware of the procedures regarding the midnight raid he conducted. (AAP's midnight raid: Was not aware of procedures, says Somnath Bharti) I find it hard to believe that the law minister wasn’t aware of the law. Even so, shouldn’t Kejriwal have been fair then, and apologized? Or have Bharti suspended since he wanted those dutiful policemen suspended too? Imagine another politician who conducts a raid on someone without proof, and the police doesn’t act because they are protecting the citizen’s and foreign nationals’ civil rights. The politician then goes on dharna to say that the police officers should be suspended because they didn’t listen to him, and should come under him. Citizens’ letters don’t constitute proof. If Bharti had wanted, he could have obtained a warrant and gone, or escalated the issue to the center, or have brought it to the media’s attention.AAP lives up to its name and has an aam aadmi, a rickshaw driver, inaugurate an upgraded hospital. (AAP in power: “Aam aadmi”, a rickshaw-puller inaugurates hospital)President Pranab Mukherjee calls AAP ‘populist’ and ‘anarchist’ indirectly. (Populist anarchy cannot substitute governance: President Pranab Mukherjee) Kejriwal retorts, stating that the Presidet must have referred to Congress.Jan 27: AAP expels rebel leader Vinod Kumar Binny. (Vinod Kumar Binny pulls a fast one: AAP leader ends hunger strike within hours, gives more time to Kejriwal govt) Binny goes on record to say that AAP is planning a fall of government to “escape from duties”. (AAP wants govt to fall, says Binny after being expelled from the party)AAP reverses its move for increasing working hours for teachers, reverting to the old system. (Delhi government announces rollback of its move on working hours for teachers)Jan 28: Manish Sisodia states that 200 new schools will be created within one year, and will awarded tenders in 15 days. (30 days of AAP governance: 4 of 18 targets on manifesto checklist ticked)Kejriwal retweets a tweet by musician Vishal Dadlani, an AAP supporter. VishalDadlani: Stuck between a moron and a ... The tweet refers to Narendra Modi as a murderer and Rahul Gandhi as a madman. Yet another major misstep. Prejudices should be kept aside when you’re an elected representative. As someone who holds the post of a state’s CM, Kejriwal should have been more politically aware and not short sighted. Extremely insensitive, lacking dignity and respect.Yogendra Yadav holds a Google hangout to raise funds, Rs. 18 lakhs raised.Jan 29: DCW chief files complaint against AAP for harassing her for summoning Bharti. (AAP government harassing me for summoning Law Minster Somnath Bharti: DCW chief Barkha Singh)Kejriwal refuses to share details of funding and expenses incurred during his swearing in ceremony with the court. A PIL has been filed against him for illegally accepting NRI funding after flouting rules. (AAP has not given funding info to us, says Centre in court)A Delhi NGO invokes RTI to ask for details on AAP’s expenditure during Kejriwal’s swearing in ceremony, which is refused by AAP.Jan 30: After the now infamous interview of Rahul Gandhi by Arnab Goswami, where Rahul Gandhi conceded that some members of Congress were involved in the 1984 riots, AAP orders a special committee formed to probe into the riots. (Let SIT probe ’84 riots cases, govt tells L-G) There have been 9 panels set up to probe the case in the past. Whatever happened to the CWG scam? It’s more recent and all the evidence is sitting right under AAP’s nose.Kejriwal and Barkha Singh of DCW have a faceoff.AAP courts controversy again when Kejriwal states in Haryana that Khap Panchayats should be encouraged and are a part of the culture. Khap Panchayats are unelected bodies, known for their honor killings, and are branded by the Indian Legislative body as illegal and unconstitutional entities. (Arvind Kejriwal says ban on khap panchayats not needed) The gangrape of a 20 year old by 13 men was ordered by a Khap Panchayat. (West Bengal gang-rape, allegedly ordered by village council, stuns Supreme Court)Nido Taniam is killed in a racist attack by the Delhi public and police. Why no dharna now? Kejriwal is silent on the issue.Jan 31: Kejriwal threatens to revoke licenses of discomms if they fail to provide uninterrupted power. Who will provide electricity then? Discomms claim that they are short on funds and cannot pay public sector generation units for power supplies. (Public sector, mind you. Not Ambanis.) AAP leader Gopal Rai accuses discomms of being politically motivated as they didn’t complain of shortage of funds previously. Yes, because people were paying bills. (Will cancel licence if you fail to provide power: AAP warns Discoms) The NTPC, to whom the discomms pay bills, come out to state that power supply to discomms would be terminated if funds are not met. NTPC is a national body. (NTPC rejects AAP's plea, Delhi heads to massive power outage) So, you pay only 50% of the bill, you get only 50% of the power. Seems like a fair deal. Isn’t the government supposed to be providing the rest of the subsidy? What happened to that? Multiple areas in Delhi face 8 to 10 hours of power cut each day.Kejriwal names corrupt leaders in press meet. List does not contain Sheila Dixit. (Long time, no meet!) (AAP executive meet: Points to note)This decision was seen as a strategy by Kejriwal to force Congress into withdrawing support so that AAP falls. Congress reiterates that it will continue supporting AAP. In a bold move, BJP states that if Congress withdraws support, BJP will provide support.AAP member declares that they do not endorse Nido Taniam’s death and the police would be probed. (Student from Arunachal Pradesh beaten to Death in New Delhi)Feb 1: Nitin Gadkari threatens to sue AAP for defamation. (Gadkari threatens to sue Kejriwal for defamation)Kejriwals alleges blackmail when NTPC warns of blackouts. (Arvind Kejriwal alleges blackmail as power firm warns of huge blackouts)AAP founding member, Madhu Bhaduri quits, cites reason as never being allowed to speak in party meetings against Somnath Bharti, and AAP’s views about and behavior towards women. (Khirki raid fallout: AAP's founder member Madhu Bhaduri to resign from 3 committees - Hindustan Times)Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission allows 6 to 8% hike. Delhi Govt condemns it. BJP starts protest against power tariff hike.No statement by Kejriwal on Nido Taniam’s death.Feb 2: AAP states they will list out a list of corrupt politicians by state.Kejriwal asks for power licences to be canceled for two discomms. (In escalating conflict, Arvind Kejriwal asks for power firms' licenses to be cancelled)Information is unearthed that Somnath Bharti was a former unethical spammer. (Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti was once unethical spammer the link has a lot of details about his website’s service and hosting and records) He is the former owner of Magden Solutions. The Spamhaus Project accused him of spamming on behalf of TopSites LLC, naming him in Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) as one of the top spam operators in the world.( Page on spamevidence.com) PCQuest found that he had been sued in a California Superior Courtfor spamming by Daniel Balsam. Balsam's attorney revealed that in 2004, Bharti and two others had paid Balsam in damages apart from making a court declaration agreeing to use only confirmed opt-in e-mail addresses when sending commercial e-mails. Bharti claims that he chose to settle because defending the case in the United States would have been costlier for him. Bharti also claimed that he was in touch with SpamHaus, but the SpamHaus CEO, Steve Linford went on record to deny. (Top spammer? - PCQuest) SomnathBharti also sold porn domains. (How is Somnath Bharti connected to porn?)Feb 3: Madhu Bhaduri further exposes AAP’s internal policies and functioning. States that AAP doesn’t treat women as humans. She also states that the party has compromised its principles for votes. ('AAP doesn't treat women as humans,' says founder member Madhu Bhaduri as she quits) She publishes a written article about AAP and her reason for resignation. (A voice of dissent is drowned by the AAP high command | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com)AAP alleges that Arun Jaitley and Narendra Modi are conspiring against the party.An AAP member, Madan Lal claims he was offered Rs. 20 cr to split AAP before the election results. He also alleged that Arun Jaitley had tried to contact him via phone but he didn’t respond. (Delhi: BJP protests outside AAP MLA Madan Lal's house) BJP has rubbished the claims.Chaired by Kejriwal, Delhi Cabinet approves the Jan Lokpal bill, details of which are not revealed to the public. Some points have been outlined. (Delhi cabinet approves Jan Lokpal Bill)‘Pol Khol Abhiyaan’ announced to be started the next day. (AAP to launch 'pol khol' to expose BJP, 'Congress conspiracy' | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com)Kejriwal states that the Swaraj Bill is drafted. (Draft ready: AAP set to table Swaraj Bill)Feb 4: Kejriwal writes to the President to probe into CWG and take action against Sheila Dixit. (Meanwhile, Kejriwal asks President to act against Sheila) Why aren’t they doing it themselves?A day after Rahul Gandhi visits protesters from NE, Kejriwal joins the protest, apologizing for joining four days late. He announces measures to meet the demands of the protesters, one of which is the inclusion of NE history in textbooks. (Nido Taniam's death: After Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal joins protesters)Manish Sisodia makes a surprise visit to a school and finds the principal and teachers do not come on time. He declares that parents should be given powers to suspend teachers. (Parents should be able to suspend teachers: Manish Sisodia)Prashant Bhushan holds a press conference to name Karunadhi and Kanimozhi as beneficiaries of 2G scam. AAP claims to possess leaked audio tapes. Bhushan states he would upload the audio tapes. (AAP comes out with fresh charges against Karunanidhi, Kanimozhi, World , Aninews)Three women from the Ugandan community come forward saying that they were promised jobs in India, but were instead forced into sex and drug trafficking. DWC asks for more patrolling in Khirki area. (Delhi Women Commission wants patrolling intensified in Khirki)AAP states that their next agenda is targeting Narendra Modi.Feb 5: TV channel Headlines decides to investigate AAP’s claims that police do not accept bribes and invoke AAP’s statement on rights to conduct sting operations. A sting operation on Delhi police reveals more than four policemen who demand and accept bribes. (Sting operation exposes rot of corruption in Delhi Police)AAP reportedly finalizing a Lokayukta bill (not Jan Lokpal) (AAP government finalising Lokayukta Bill: Top 10 provisions)Delhi High Court seeks Centre’s assistance in hearing a plea to register a case of cheating against Kejriwal, Sisodia, and Bhushan for misleading the public with false promises under Section 420 of IPC.It emerges that Kejriwal had in fact requested for the duplex bungalows for himself as soon as coming into power in a letter to the LG.(Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had requested for Bhagwan Das road accommodation)Feb 6: AAP files FIR into CWG scam. The inquiry is closed immediately at the initial stage, although Bhushan alleges that there have been “strong findings”. The move is speculated to be another step in the tactical suicide, hoping to force Congress to withdraw support. Congress continues to support AAP. (After Delhi govt’s order, ACB files FIR in Rs 90-crore CWG street light scam)Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran writes to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, deeming the bill ‘unconstitutional’. LG writes back, seeking counselon two counts: whether presenting the Bill in the Assembly “without sending the legislative proposal to the Central government” — as Arvind Kejriwal’s government has sought to do — violates the constitution; and whether the Delhi government has the power to legislate on matters concerning the Delhi Police and the Delhi Development Authority. (Setback for AAP govt, Solicitor General rules: Lokpal needs Centre OK) Former Army Chief General VK Singh criticizes Kejriwal for taking to the streets. (Taking to streets won't solve people's problems: Gen V K Singh)Feb 7: Sol. Gen. Parasaran states that the bill can be passed only if approved by Center and recommended by the LG and assented by the President. This is because the bill is a financial bill which draws funds from the Center. To support his opinion, the Solicitor General has relied on provisions in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991. Since the Jan Lokpal Bill’s provisions will overlap with those in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, Parasaran suggests the law can never come into force without the President’s assent. Also, Article 239AA of the constitution stipulates that the Delhi government cannot make laws with respect to the police, unless it is approved by the President. Parasaran has not been provided a copy of the bill by AAP, flouting protocol. AAP states that it will push the bill without the approval from Center. (Setback for AAP govt, Solicitor General rules: Lokpal needs Centre OK)In short, AAP wants funds from the Central government to be used in a manner that is not even disclosed, but it does not want to seek approval from the Center. AAP also seeks to pass the bill in a manner that clearly violates the Constitution. Yet another step in the strategy to make sure that the AAP govt is dissolved.This answer outlines the legal procedure and implications: User-12487416925627785344's answer to What is wrong with how the Jan Lokpal Bill was presented by the AAP Government in the Delhi Assembly on 14 February 2014?. The bottom line is that the bill needs LG’s recommendation to the President and the President’s approval before it can be tabled in the assembly. BJP goes on record to state that they support the bill, but only if introduced in the proper manner.AAP alleges that the LG is an agent of Congress and is trying to malign the image of the party. (AAP hits out at Lt Gov over ‘leak’ on Jan Lokpal bill issue, calls him a ‘Congress agent’)Auto drivers of Delhi accuse Kejriwal of cheating them and stating that their needs are being ignored by the government. (Arvind Kejriwal beats hasty retreat as angry auto-drivers shout slogans) Kejriwal had previously taken away from Delhi Police the power to fine autorickshaws drivers who refuse to carry passengers. (A move bound to please his party's biggest vote bank but the one that put the commuters at a disadvantage.)RIL takes discomms to court, Kejriwal warned prepare Delhi Govt for an ‘ugly situation’ that could develop and ensure that power is supplied to the public. (Reliance discoms take NTPC to Supreme Court)Kejriwal meets the German President. (Kejriwal meets German President, discusses Jan Lokpal, elections)Feb 8: RK Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute explains the economics of why Kejriwal’s plan to slash power tariff and provide free water is actually causing more problems and energy waste, leading to financial loss. (AAP's free water policy may end up in lot of wastage: RK Pachauri)Kejriwal writes a strongly worded letter to the LG, asking him to uphold the constitution. Ironically. (Kejriwal reminds L-G of oath to Constitution, forgets his own)Feb 9: Kejriwal says he would contest LS if needed, but first commitment is towards Delhi. (I would contest Lok Sabha polls if need arises, but my first commitment is to Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal)He also announces on the same day that he would resign if Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed. I find that rather contradictory to his previous statement.Feb 10: Rambeer Shokeen announces that he withdraws support to AAP because water and power problems have not been addressed. Shokeen alleges that Kejriwal does not respond to his calls. (Independent legislator to withdraw support to AAP government | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com)Power and water problems have increased due to the subsidy that was promised.Kejriwal meets the LG to discuss issues with the bill. LG then referred the bill to the Law Ministry for a final opinion.Congress goes on record to state that they support the bill in its entirety, provided it is introduced in a constitutional manner. (Won’t allow Jan Lokpal Bill to be tabled in Assembly: Cong)Manish Sisodia threatens to cut funding to colleges if members of AAP are not included in the staff. (AAP’s new front: Battle with DU over college bodies) A letter written by teachers at DU states that AAP is engaging in art-twisting tactics to get a hold in the university. 4,000 teachers wait for permanent employment, and that AAP has ordered priority of their own members over existing teachers. A backtrack on their words from the manifesto.Prashant Bhushan is caught in the midst of controversy over 15 acres of land he owns in Himachal Pradesh. HP Vigilance Bureau claims Bhushan’s institute was allotted the land for constructing educational institutions, and are in violation of the law as the building in the land is not affiliated with any education board. Bhushan retaliates, saying that the red-flagging is politically motivated because he complained against Virbhadra Singh. (Top AAP leader Prashant Bhushan in land row) (Himachal Pradesh govt may confiscate AAP leader Prashant Bhushan's Kangra land)Feb 11: Kejriwal orders FIR against Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani, Veerappa Moily, and Milind Deora for fudging numbers in natural gas after holding a press conference. Legal experts challenge the authority of the Delhi Govt to file an FIR in the national matter, but Kejriwal and Sisodia field their decision saying that since the act was committed in Delhi, it falls under their jurisdiction. Experts also question the validity of the criminal FIR against Ambani as there already is a civil suit against Ambani for the same offence, registered by the same people, that is pending. (Gas price FIR: RIL weighs legal options; may file defamation suit against Kejriwal)BBC reveals in London after a sting operation that members of the UK arm of AAP are involved in student visa fraud. (`AAP UK workers embroiled in student visa scam`)Feb 12: The Law Ministry upholds LG’s stance that the Centre’s approval is needed for introducing the bill. Congress and BJP reiterate that they support the bill in its entirety, provided it is introduced in manner that does not violate the Constitution. A man with a government less than two months old cannot and should not be allowed to pass a bill in the assembly without following the rules. Not only is it unconstitutional and illegal, it doesn’t make any sense. Exactly how much of a track record does he have as a successful politician for the assembly to even consider it?High court asks Kejriwal to justify use of a public stadium for anti-graft Lokpal Bill.Kejriwal modifies the Jan Lokpal Bill a day before introducing in the assembly to state that people found indulging in corruption will not be punishable by the Lokpal. (In climbdown, Arvind Kejriwal's Jan Lokpal can no longer punish corrupt officials)Why has nobody raised this issue? This effectively means that Lokpal would declare someone as guilty, and then pass it on to the court. Which would leave the execution again to the police. What is the whole point of the bill then?Feb 13: LG writes to the Speaker, saying that the bill cannot be tabled as it has not followed the proper procedure for introduction under Transaction of Business Rules, 2002. (Jan Lokpal Bill can't be tabled, says Delhi L-G)Bill draws criticisms from Kejriwal’s fellow Magsaysay award winner, Aruna Roy, writer Arundhati Roy, former Chief Justice of Supreme Court, the Director of CBI, with the President of Center for Policy Research, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, terming it “premised on an institutional imagination that is at best naïve; at worst subversive of representative democracy”. (Of the few, by the few) (Break lokpal into 5 institutions: Roy - Hindustan Times)Despite the Law Ministry’s ruling and the LG’s stance, Kejriwal attempts to table the bill in the assembly. The assembly is repeatedly disturbed by the opposition.Speaker MS Dhir of AAP attempts to introduce the bill, but is met with aggressive opposition by members who gather around his seat.Both the Speaker and Kejriwal walk out of the Assembly, and the assembly is adjourned.Feb 14: Introducing the bill is put to vote, with 42 members voting against the introduction of bill and 27 MLAs voting for it.Kejriwal resigns.Now, Kejriwal has iterated and reiterated that he will do “whatever it takes” to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill. (Will go to any extent for Jan Lokpal Bill: Arvind Kejriwal) So, why did he not adopt the simple solution of following the official procedure? Both BJP and Congress stated their support. Failing to introduce the bill after it is approved by the LG would only make Kejriwal’s claims that the Opposition is opposed to the bill that much stronger. Why did he not go through the proper channels? Is that what he means by whatever it takes? Is this the spirit with which to run a government? Quit the instant one thing doesn’t work out, when you’ve planned 17 other things?AAP reiterates that the Centre should consider former Attorney General, Soli Sorabjee’s views on Home Ministry 2002 order, where he states that it is an attempt to compartmentalize Delhi Govt. (L-G should consider Soli Sorabjee’s view on 2002 order: AAP)Just before resignation, AAP sends out mass text messages in Delhi, urging people to come out to the party’s office. (Before Arvind Kejriwal resigned, mass SMS brought crowd of supporters at AAP office)Here are some points from his resignation speech: They think they are 'angrez', Lieutenant Governor the viceroy: Arvind Kejriwal's top 10 quotesI would sit here and refute every one of them, but I’m not going to bother.Since resignation three days ago:Former Attorney General, Soli Sorabjee, defends the LG and criticizes Kejriwal for not following rules and repeatedly bringing up Sorabjee’s name for defense. (Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee backs Lt Governor Najeeb Jung's decision)Man who threw a shoe at P Chidambaram is now an AAP member and will contest LS polls. (AAP fields man who hurled shoe at P Chidambaram for Lok Sabha polls)Kejriwal appears for multiple interviews. States that since the Lokpal bill wasn’t passed, he saw no sense in continuing. (Since Jan Lokpal was blocked, saw no sense in continuing as Chief Minister, says Arvind Kejriwal: highlights)Of course, other points of the manifesto don’t hold a candle to the Lokpal Bill.He also states that he had inside information that Congress and BJP will allow the bill to pass, but after his filing an FIR on Mukesh Ambani, they would not allow it.AAP releases list of first 20 candidates for LS polls.Today, he was again on TV at CII. The point is, they’re still in the news every hour of every day, and for mostly the wrong reasons. When it’s a slow news day, they seem to have strategized press conferences. It’s a brilliant tactic, fully utilizing the “bad publicity is also good publicity” idea and constantly remaining in the public eye.What did AAP do these 49 days?Revoked FDI in retail, causing investment losses; introduced a water tariff cut that was extremely arbitrary as there are still no means to measure water supply and consumption, and not enough connectivity to provide free water to poor people; cut the electricity bill by 50% at the cost of Rs. 61 crore to the exchequer; take to the streets to protest against five cops and to get them suspended, only to call off the protest when two of them are sent on paid leave, causing thousands of rupees worth of damages to the Delhi public; attempt to table a Jan Lokpal bill unconstitutionally, that superseded the bill at the center; resign.The bigger picture here is that the whole situation was a win-win for Kejriwal. If he stays in power, well, he stays in power. If he resigns, he’ll be seen as a martyr who had to forego his Chief Ministership because the opposition did not allow anti-corruption reforms. Every action Kejriwal took was backed by the proclamation that he was fighting corruption. One cannot fight illegal problems by creating new illegal problems. But since it went against establishment and the established government at the Centre is corrupt, Kejriwal is going to be touted as a hero. This is exactly what has happened, and nothing could be farther from the truth. A simple look at the condition Delhi is in right now will tell. A simpler look at AAP’s 18 point manifesto is even more telling.What are the implications of his resignation? Here’s a sample:In a classic case of votebank politics, AAP declared a fee waiver of 50% to all members of the Delhi Public who support the AAP in agitation. On the day that Kejriwal resigned, he also piloted the appropriation bill (in the proper manner, might I add) to designate Rs. 372 crores towards subsidy for power companies. This sum was drawn from a consolidated fund from the Infrastructure and PWD budget allocation for Delhi. Now, he also has to subsidize the Rs. 6 crore loss caused due to the 50% tariff on the public. Since the specific relief to defaulters was not a part of the original manifesto, AAP has not worked out where the 6 crores are to come from. Now, the discomms are at a loss as to how to recover their share of the subsidy. Delhi is to expect power outages. (AAP ki sarkar's bonanza for power defaulters a hogwash? - The Times of India)Similarly, Delhi does not have water. There is water shortage, and there is an artificial water shortage created by the tanker mafia. Kejriwal promised water to all in his election manifesto, but settled for a certain amount for free water for every house that has a connection. Herein lies the problem. Not every house has a connection! Like I said before, only 65% of the population has water connections. 7 lakh households are not linked to the water grid. This means that people who have water already are going to get surplus water, and the ones who need the water are still in the same situation as before. Now, the “free” water isn’t technically free. It costs money to deliver and supply the water, and money is needed for the human labor and physical infrastructure. Where is the money going to come from? Tax, of course. Everyone pays taxes. But the poor (who do not have water) are now going to end up paying for the excess water the rich get. Economist Surjit Bhalla points out here (Not so aam aadmi policy), at 670 litres per household per day, the AAP government is basically giving every individual the right to consume around 170 litres of water a day free. This is much higher than developed countries like UK or USA. AAP’s decision to charge consumers for the entire amount consumed should they go even one litre above 670 a month will only encourage the manipulation of water meters on a gigantic scale, rather than rationalise consumption. It’s easy to look at this short sightedness and proclaim initial victory because most of Delhi might be (or might not be, I’m not sure, are you all?) getting free water. But this populist decision will hit and hit hard. AAP is wasting away the Rs. 446 crore profit made by the DJB, instead of utilizing it to improve infrastructure so as to provide water to all households, 24x7. Make no mistake, this decision was regressive, and if implemented, might just drag the Delhi govt into bankruptcy. Kejriwal’s plans have created problems, not solutions. (A better articulated piece is here: Page on firstpost.com) Here’s a completely simple article that states exactly what the problem is: Asit K Biswas & Cecilia Tortajada: Delhi's water supply - Going, going, gone?The Lokpal bill is the easiest argument of Kejriwal’s to refute, because you do not need any understanding of civics or economics to see the problem here.Why did Kejriwal quit?Because the Jan Lokpal bill was not passed.So?He said that he would quit if the Lokpal Bill was not passed, and he did. What’s wrong in that?A zillion things. Firstly he said that only on the 9th( he quit on the 14th). And saying that he will quit does not justify his quitting. Any government can now take a stance, saying that they would quit if a condition of theirs isn’t met. Let it be a condition built on the core principle of a party, it does not justify the quitting. If Kejriwal felt the parties were not cooperating in passing the bill, he should have gone to the LG and gotten it approved and passed it. If he didn’t want to do that, he could have amended the existing Lokpal bill of the Centre and implemented the Jan Lokpal, like so many other states have done. Remember, he said that he would go to any extent and do whatever it takes to get the Jan Lokpal passed. Well, it’s not passed. If he didn’t want to pass it, he could have let the situation be, used Congress and BJP as an excuse, and focused on other problems, like power and water. As an elected representative, he owed this to the public. He promised to quit if the bill isn’t passed, fair enough. He also promised to implement a lot of other things when he came to power. Where are those things now? How is the public even accepting his resignation as a sign of integrity when it’s nothing but running away from responsibilities? Is the public of Delhi so easily fooled and so short sighted that they accept a “because I said so” argument from a person they themselves elected? Bear no doubt, it was a brilliant political move by Kejriwal, for the party’s benefit. But it’s the public that is going to suffer.What’s the plan for Delhi now?Nobody has any idea. It is under the President’s rule, for now. But we don’t know if Delhi is going to get free water and power. We don’t know when the reelections are and who would win. AAP is now focusing on LS, so Kejriwal is out of running for the Chief Minister’s post again.Manish Sisodia is to be the CM candidate, while Kejriwal aims for Lok Sabha elections. (Good luck, Delhi!)AAP was a shining beacon of hope, full of opportunities. Powerful people like Kiran Bedi and even populists like Chetan Bhagat (sorry CB!) were very prominent supporters of AAP, and are now disillusioned with their politics. As are ordinary people like myself and many others who voted the party into power.Now what happens to the water supply? Are people going to get free water still? What about electricity? AAP is now putting its full effort in contesting the Lok Sabha elections, so what happens to the Jan Lokpal? Where are the educational reforms that were promised? What happened to converting buses to homes for the poor? Did anyone compensate the families of those who died in the streets? Did AAP compensate the families of military men, as promised? A government’s first duty is towards the people. What did AAP do for the people, and I’m talking majority of the people? Ban red beacons? How long is it going to take for them to come back? Where is the sewage plan, the waste management plant, the rainwater harvesting plan? Where are the new schools and colleges? What happens to the 90% reservation? What happened to making Urdu the second language? What happened to the 25 people who died because of the cold when Kejriwal was sitting in his dharna? What happens now to the foreign investment losses due to the sudden recall of FDI? And most importantly, why did Kejriwal not order probe into the CWG scam that took place under Sheila Dixit as soon as he assumed office?Is this the man our country deserves as a Prime Minister? Someone who can’t fulfill basic promises or expend the money in his possession in a progressive manner? Someone who is elected, but quits in less than 50 days without making a single progressive reform?While I know that there are thousands of supporters of AAP, and even here on Quora, I have to say, Delhi has lost a hard won battle, thwarted of its gifts by false promises. Kejriwal obtained the trust and votes of the Delhi public, but in all appearances, when he realized he could not manage the government, he bolted. I’d say he betrayed their trust. And I was one of the people who had high hopes for them, mind you. I’ll clarify that. I wanted them to come to power and to take on an anti corruption and developmental role.Congress and BJP are distasteful because they fool the millions of illiterates and uneducated people by buying their votes and making promises just before the elections. AAP is dangerous because they fool the educated public with their tactics and clever concealment of the full picture.I sincerely hope there is a reelection, and AAP wins again. They must clean up their mess.Note: I know this would invite a lot of comments and disagreement. I kindly request posters to stick to BNBR. Since I have tried very hard to not bring up Congress or BJP or any other political party as a comparison in this answer, please try to refrain from doing so unless necessary. If your retaliation is “But Congress did it and ten years ago, BJP also did it,” your point is moot, as you’re resorting to the exact argument used by Congress and BJP representatives, and are no different from them. And please, do not downvote comments you do not agree with, as has happened in other answers.

I was told that I had “zero possibility” of getting into a top 100 PhD programToday I am working towards my Ph.D. with the #1 professor in my field. Don’t lose hope. If you really want to do something, you will find a way ….From as far back as I can remember I have always enjoyed teaching and that was my long term goal. After finishing my BTech from the Bengal Engineering and Science University (formerly known as Bengal Engineering College), Shibpur, I joined IIT Kanpur for MTech in 2007 with a simple plan: I wanted to do PhD from a reputed university so that I can then get to teach in some engineering college. But 6 months down the line, my plan went haywire.. my CPI at the end of semester 1 was 7.5; in MTech a CPI of 8.0 is considered average and my rank at one point was 14th or 16th out of 20. During a casual discussion with my supervisor I was told that with a CPI less than 8.0 there was “zero possibility” of getting into a top 100 PhD program.No margin for errorWell, I think my relatively low CPI was mostly due to two things. First, I got exposed to a lot of activities all at once. At one particular time I was the student placement co-ordinator, student guide in the counselling service and was also taking French and guitar classes. I think this happens to quite a lot of students who come from colleges where there are not too many “non-academic” activities.Secondly, the grading system at IITK is particularly unfair for post-graduate students. We were exposed to a completely new system of exams and we take only 8 courses during the entire program. With even-point grading system (A=10, B=8, C=6, D=4, F=2), a small slip-up gets your CPI down by 0.25. I remember, one of the mid-semester exams where we were allowed to carry with us one sheet of paper filled with any information we deemed fit. I had no idea about what to include on the sheet of paper; so I decided to add as many things as possible keeping font size as small as I could read. I managed to stuff the entire syllabus in the sheet! I went to the exam hall very confident but found that my sheet couldn’t help me solve even one question; and I got a zero in an exam for the first time in my life! Luckily it was just a mid-semester exam. I think it took me time to understand the nuances of open book, take home exams and the likes. By then it was too late and since we only had 2 semesters worth of course work, one couldn’t really bounce back from such setbacks. The second semester was not too great either and by the end of it I was convinced that there was absolutely no way I could get admitted to a decent PhD program.A point worth noting is that more than half of the time spent during the MTech program is on thesis work (about 12-14 months out of 22). Quality of the thesis is also more important to professors looking for PhD students. However there are no grades awarded for thesis; thus I think CPI is not as important in the context of MTech.Is there really NO way I could do what I wanted to?Maybe people around me were right. Maybe there was no way I could do what I wanted to do, i.e., have a career in academics. My supervisors and seniors managed to convince me that I would probably not get a PhD in a decent place with only masters degree from IIT and a CPI of 7.33; so I stopped preparing for the GRE and decided to enjoy my thesis as much as I could. Also 2009 was a year of recession so my duties as the placement co-ordinator kept me really busy and pre-occupied. Initially I was not too worried about landing a job, but when companies one after the other started refusing to come for placements, I started suffering from sleepless nights. This was when I started questioning my earlier decision to not accept a job offer at SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) after BTech and instead join IITK for MTech. Suddenly help came from an unexpected corner. During a candid discussion with my thesis supervisor I told him how much I was enjoying the thesis work, but how I was also regretting my decision to refuse a placement offer with SAIL and do MTech instead. It was then that he assured me that he would help me get a job in case on-campus placement efforts don’t work out, provided I didn’t let the intensity of my thesis work go down.I never really felt any peer pressure. Perhaps this was due to the fact that my friends had similar grades as mine. All of us by now had decided that CPI was important only if we wanted to pursue a PhD somewhere. We all agreed to have as much fun as possible during the thesis and forget the PhD goal. Joint GRE preparation session turned into simple adda at the canteen. My parents never put any pressure on me with regards to grades; in fact the last time they enquired about my marks and grades was way back in 2002 when I was in class 12th. I think it was mainly due to the fact that my parents had enough confidence in me. So there was no real problem there.Once on-campus placements started, in my first interview, the interviewer asked me something about Finite Element accuracy, I had no clue as to what he was asking. I just mumbled “physical intuition”, to which one of the interviewer remarked “That is a top answer” and my interview was over; just one question, no discussion about having the lowest grades among those selected for the interview. Later I was told that I had topped the written test for the job. I was offered the job but as the luck would have it, the company suffered several reverses and the project I was selected for got postponed by a few months. I thought a 4-6 month holiday at home was not really an option and so I started teaching in a private engineering college close to my home. It was a wonderful experience for me, I really enjoyed giving the lectures. I loved the fact that I managed to get a lot of attention from my students, I liked talking about engineering and liked being surrounded by people interested in hearing me talk. This experience also further confirmed that without any research experience, I could never be a good teacher. All I felt I was doing was translating stuff from the text book and narrating it to the class. To put it simply, I was just indulging in “high school teaching.” I realized that I didn’t really have enough knowledge to be a good teacher in a college/university. PhD was an absolute must.Why are you so ambitious? Do you want to be Kalpana Chawla?I finished my three months’ contract with the college, accepted the earlier job offer and started working in Bangalore. Things in my company were depressing to say the least. The project I was hired to work on got further delayed and I was benched indefinitely. I just had to login to work. I had access to the internet and lots of free coffee to drink. This continued for about 6 months. This was when the memories of my experiences of teaching started hitting me. There was not a single day when I didn’t think about how good it felt to have people listen to my lectures. I knew I had to somehow look at a career in full time teaching long-term and for that I needed to somehow get a PhD. I turned once again to my supervisors who told me that with my CPI they couldn’t take me even in IITK without an interview. I applied for the PhD program at IITK and got an interview call. I was fairly confident that the interview in itself was just a formality, since my M.Tech supervisors wanted to keep me. I didn’t apply to any other institute.What happened in the interview room was pure horror for me. The first sentence that I heard was from one of the professors in the panel who actually told me that it was evident from my grades that I was not really interested in studying and the only reason I want to do PhD is due to the fact that I got fired from my job.The panel just refused to look at my MTech thesis and also disregarded the fact that my supervisor wanted to recruit me, he obviously had confidence in my abilities.I came back to Bangalore feeling a mixture of emotions; I was embarrassed, angry and also wanted to prove a point to the panel that what they were thinking was wrong; I had to find a way. My friends and colleagues thought it was very stupid of me not to apply to other IITs, to this day I am called “Ek goli-ka shikari”- a hunter who goes hunting with only one bullet in his arsenal.So I started randomly applying to all PhD programs that were even remotely linked to my thesis and experience. The free internet and coffee of my company helped me a lot during this search. It was also during this time that the project I was hired for finally got approved and now my company wanted me to work. It was fair from their point of view, but I now wanted to prepare a bit for the impending interviews. With no PhD offers in hand I decided to quit my job. I had saved enough money to sustain myself for a few months.However, I experienced a lot of pressure from relatives, neighbours and the society in general. One of my uncles told me “tum ko kaunsa Kalpana Chawla banna hai- pata nahin kyon itna ambtion hai? XYZ ko dekho tumhare saath engineering kiya, ab 50k earn kar raha aur tum ghar main baithe ho” (Do you want to be Kalpana Chawla, what is the reason for so much ambition, look at your friend who was your classmate in engineering, he now earns 50K a month and you are jobless).Those were really tough days, but my parents never doubted my abilities and that helped a lot.A Rank of 257 in GATE was more diagnostic of my worth than an M.Tech. CPI of 7.33Finally, after waiting for a couple of months, I got a few interview calls (a couple from top 100 universities list of Times Higher Education). I was very apprehensive about interviews; my previous interview for a PhD opening was horrible to say the least. Even though my CPI was low, I believed that IITK had prepared me well for PhD in two ways. First, it instilled a certain level of confidence and faith in my ability. Second, thesis work is taken seriously by professors at IITK. It is great preparation for PhD, no amount of course work can ever replicate that in my opinion.I had a telephone interview with a professor at Katholieke University of Leuven, Belgium – one of the top universities in the world in the field of composites [World University Rankings 2011-12: Europe] I was pleasantly surprised when there were no questions at all about grades, my to-be supervisor asked me about how I got into IITK? When I told him that there were about 25,000 students appeared in GATE and I was ranked 257, he found the numbers absolutely stunning. In fact he reconfirmed whether I meant 25,000 or 2500. The project I was hired for was a good match with my thesis work and I duly got the offer. I am now doing PhD work at Katholieke University of Leuven, Belgium. My research group is well known in the field of composites. In fact, according to Microsoft Academic Search database, both my supervisor (Stepan Lomov #12) and co-supervisor (Ignace Verpoest #1) make it to the top 12 of the most prolific researchers in the field of composite materials. [Page on microsoft.com]One day I asked my supervisor why he was not bothered about my MTech grades before giving me admission to PhD program. He said that if I was good enough to execute my master thesis so well, I was also good enough for the PhD. He said he looked at my grades keeping in mind how tough it is to get into IIT and that competition must be really hard within the class as well.I recently finished my first year of PhD with the world’s best professors in my field. On the yearly review my professor remarked that in terms of where a PhD student should be at the end of year one, I was way above average. I felt really happy with his remark. I have finally proven that I am indeed capable of doing PhD quality work irrespective of my grades or what my professors at IITK told me. I am finally doing what I am genuinely interested in.Ignore the people who tell you can’t do something, because you absolutely can if you put your mind to itThe best advice I ever got and would like to share with others is that our admission in IIT is not a matter of chance; there is a reason – we are intelligent, focused, and hardworking and that needs to be kept in mind even when things don’t go as planned initially. I don’t want to sound elitist but even the student who is at the bottom of his class in IIT was at one time in the top 1% of the country. So don’t listen to people who tell you can’t do something because you can and you are good enough.During my MTech program, I had 4 interviews: one job interview through the placement office just before finishing the MTech and 3 interviews for admission to PhD program after leaving IITK. There were absolutely no questions asked regarding my CPI and grades. It was enough for the interviewer that I had been accepted into the IIT and that my thesis was relevant to their work. Keep in mind that it is generally believed that grades are sacrosanct for admission in the PhD program.On a somewhat unrelated note, another piece of advice I would like to give is to be responsible in dealing with people. For a lot of people low CPI is a cause of worry because it doesn’t help you get a good job. This can be avoided if you behave responsibly and have good relationships with professors. During my stint as a placement co-ordinator, I met different professors from my department to request them for help with placement. My plea to all of them was quite simple, there are about 30 BTech students, 5 dual degree students and 15 MTech students adding to a total of 50 students looking for jobs. If all the 25 odd faculty members help two students each then there would be a 100% rate of placement. Almost all the professors remarked that this could indeed be done but in the past all of them at some time or the other had bad experiences with students “who would join a rival company even if the salary offered was one Rupee higher” which had resulted in a loss of face for the faculty who had helped the student get the job in the first place. I understand that everybody wants more money but maintaining transparency and responsibly dealing with people would definitely lead to more participation from the faculty. Responsible behaviour from students would therefore be part of the solution towards ensuring that even students with low CPI get jobs.Govind Jaiswal: An Impossible Journey of a Rickshaw-Puller’s Son who Rose Against the Odds to Become an IAS Officer“I am very sure that all the youngsters who are living in deprivation and facing consistent difficulties can accomplish anything and everything provided they have the will and courage.” – Govind JaiswalOnce an 11-year-old boy, the son of an illiterate rickshaw puller, went to play at his considerably rich and respected friend’s house. Minutes later, he was insulted, disgraced and literally thrown out. The educated man yelled at him, “How dare you come here and mix with my son; don’t you know who you are and where you belong?” Vindictive taunts and phrases like ‘However much you study, you will still be a rickshaw-puller’ son, ‘What is your worth? You can only take your father’s business a bit further’, ‘Your father’s one rickshaw can become two or three tomorrow with your initiation’ were very common in his life to stumble upon on a daily basis.But these ‘TAUNTS and INSULTS’ steeled Govind Jaiswal’s determination and initiated a dream journey for him to become an IAS officer.A question ‘What to do so that people respect me?’ knocked his deep and the answer, he received from somebody, ‘Either you request your father to change his profession or you become big’ shook him from inside. It was impossible for him to change the profession of his father so he chose the second. An 11 year old Govind did not know what it took to become an IAS officer but he knew he will do his every bit to see himself where he wanted to. Govind started spending most of his time studying with cotton jammed in his ears to stop the extreme clatter of printing machines and generators of his neighbourhood. His father somehow managed a math tuition for him by investing all his hard work, energy and courage to make his son’s dream come true. He studied in government school and college and took advantage of students’ library. Later, on completion of graduation, he was sent to Delhi with Rs. 40,000 that his father managed by selling his only remaining piece of land. Govind ensured his father’s investment don’t go in vain and studied 18 hours a day. He often skipped one or two meals a day to save money and practiced rigorously.In 2006, one of the most emotional and proudest moments came in his life when 23 year old Govind ranked #48 among 474 successful candidates in the Civil Services Exam. Unlike most of the toppers, it was his very first attempt.In an interview to a TV channel, his sister Nirmala said, “My father had hardest time sending me money; he was exhausted and could not go beyond this year. It was becoming tough pulling rickshaw with his wounded legs. Govind was also earning Rs. 1,500 from tuitions, which is still less for living in a city like Delhi. I don’t know what would have happened if he’d not have made it this year……from 10 days before the results were to be announced, my father could not sleep a wink”“Anyone who can understand my hardships and circumstances will realize that I had no other option. Neither I could go for a lower government jobs as they are mostly fixed nor I could start a business as I had no money for it. I went for the option I was left with: worked hard on studies” Govind said after successful medical procedures, which is mandatory for IAS. His success dramatically changed his life forever.Today, Govind Jaiswal is a respected IAS officer whose success story inspires and motivates thousands of youths across India.While our country India has been suffering from the lack of accountability and corruption, Govind’s thoughts are flamed by the honesty and idealism of youth. He is thankful to his hardships and struggles and is determined not to drown his character or honesty or be influenced by anything in future. It is apparent when he says, “Today I am thankful to my circumstances and hardships through which I have evolved and curved progress. Now that I am an officer my character has been be put to the test and that is a proof for me to see what a real man I am.”Lessons from Govind Jaiswal’s Story:Don’t break down if someone tries to show where you belong to. Give them a meaningful answer not by your words but by your actions and courage. These people are ignorant about you worth and potential.Willpower is the key ingredient of any accomplishment. Be so determined that nobody could stop you from moving ahead! There are and will be a bunch of negative people on your way of destination, ready to discourage you by saying ‘No’ and this is the time when you perseverance be put on test — break or achieve what you dream of; prove or only imagine.Never take you idleness for granted under the pretext of hardships that bring life lessons and help you to find out the right way to accomplish anything you want. Remember, every great personality emerged through their hardships.Don’t take shelter in some lame excuses as it keeps you from overcoming challenges and making a thing possible. There is a very good saying, “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” – George Washington CarverDon’t waste your energy on worthless and insignificant events. There were many times when Govind Jaiswal felt like hitting negative people who were consistently taunting him but he never did lost his cool; instead, he used his all his energy in pursuing his dreams.Written By: Mousmi Kumar Saha Source: http://www.successstories.co.in=================================================================Dashrath Manjhi, the Man who Moved a Mountain“When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve.” Dashrath ManjhiAlmost five decade ago, a landless farmer Dashrath Manjhi from Gahlor Ghati, of Gaya (a district of Bihar) resolved to end the difficulties of his villagers by shouldering a near impossible task of slitting a 300-feet-high hill apart to create a one-km passage.His village would nestle in the lap of rocky hills for which villagers would often face gigantic troubles for crossing small distance between Atri and Wazirganj, the outskirts of Gaya town. He started hammering the hill in early 1959 in the memory of his wife, who could not be taken to the nearest health care center on time for the immediate treatment as the nearest road that connected them to the city was 50km long.He knew his voice will not create any reaction in the deaf ear of the government; therefore,Dashrath chose to accomplish this Herculean task alone. He sold his goats to purchase chisel, rope and a hammer. People would call him mad and eccentric spirited with no idea of his plans. Unfazed by his critics’ discouraging remarks, Dashrath hammered consistently for 22 long years to shorten the distance from 50km to 10km between Atri and Wazirganj. The day came when he stepped through a flat passage — about one-km long and 16-feet wide — to his dream, ‘the other side of the hill’.After this impossible accomplishment, Dashrath Manjhi became popular as the ‘mountain man’. On August 18, 2007, he breathed his last after fighting cancer at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He got state burial on the following Saturday evening.Some invaluable lessons to learn from this Legend1. He never got panicked by measuring the whole task at once; instead, he started keeping his tiny steps one by one, faced difficulties on its encountering and progressed while solving them one by one. There is no point thinking much about the task that looks seemingly unconquerable and impossible; nobody completes them in one step. What matters the most is your small steps through which you reach there. So focus on your task and accomplish them with great care.“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” ― Molière2. Patience is the greatest virtue that leads us to success. Dashrath Manjhi cut through the hill for long 22 years. His patience give him the courage to overcome extreme pain, frustration, disappointments and personal loss.“Patience. A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.” Ambrose Bierce3. Dream the impossible! Dashrath Manjhi dreamt of making a walkway through two arrogant and treacherous rocky hills. He planned accordingly, accomplished the task and walked his dream. He was a legend who taught us to dare to dream the impossible. If you keep working on, the near-impossible task will seem a lot easier tomorrow.“Whether an idea becomes a reality or not, does not depend so much on whether it is possible — but on how great the desire for it is.” ― Edmond Danken Sailer4. Attitude matters! Don’t ever blame difficulties if you crumble if front of them; it is not the difficulties but the attitude that lets you down. If Dashrath Manjhi could triumph over difficulties, it was his attitude that kept him stay focused and going.“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” ― Winston Churchill5. Stay positive! Your positive thoughts and words initiate you to reach your destiny along with your own values.“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.” ― Mahatma Gandhi6. Don’t lose heart if people call you mad and crazy for you unique thoughts. The same people appreciate you, promote you and example your tale for encouragement on successfully completion of your plans. When Dashrath Manjhi began working on his plan, people called him mad and discouraged him with impossibilities, but these same people appreciated him and used the way that he created.“Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” Richard M. NixonWritten By: Mousumi Kumar Saha Source: http://www.successstories.co.in===============================================================N. SHIVA KUMAR: A NEWSPAPER-BOY-TURNED-VENDOR WILL JOIN IIM CALCUTTA BEGINNING JUNE 16, 2013BANGALORE: As the alarm goes off at 4am, N Shiva Kumar is up on his feet, stacking his bicycle with newspapers. He has to deliver them before the sun appears on the horizon. A habit since Class 6, Shiva’s life is set to change now. Come June 16, this newspaper-boy-turned-vendor will walk down the corridors of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta as a PGP student.It sounds like a fairy tale, but the TOI vendor who cracked CAT 2012 has indeed grabbed a seat in the premier business school. Shiva, 23, an engineering student from Banaswadi, is the son of an illiterate mother and a father who was a truck driver. He started working as a newspaper delivery boy and for his debt-ridden family of four the Rs 150 he would bring home was a huge relief.“Every morning people would come home asking my father to return the money he had borrowed. My father had a truck. But there were more liabilities than what he could earn with it. When I was in Class 3 or 4, I sold flowers that my mother strung into garlands by the roadside. It was only later that I found the job of newspaper boy,” said the 8th semester computer science student of Bangalore Institute of Technology.Shiva managed the part-time job along with school. “I was studying in an ICSE school. In Class 9, I was asked not to come to school till I paid the fees. The next day, I approached the first customer I was delivering the paper to, Krishna Veda Vyasa, and requested him to fund me. He hesitated, and said he didn’t even know me. I asked him to do a background check, and he found I was the topper there. I requested him to pay one term’s fee, but he paid for the entire year. He continued funding me ever since. I owe it all to him,” he said.He soon found an opportunity to be a vendor and started his own agency when in Class 10. “I’d learnt the tricks of the trade by then. My vendor had some 50 extra copies to sell and I took them from him. That’s how I started,” he said. The 50 copies have now grown to 500. “After school, I would take my cycle and identify new buildings and residents. I would approach them for business and ensured the papers reached before 6am. I had my own targets for a month,” he explained his marketing tactics. He still delivers the paper along with four of his delivery boys.“It was hard work. I had to get up at 4am every day, deliver the papers and head to school. I had to skip breakfast to be on time, but would still be late. In college, I opted to sit in the last bench during the first hour so I could catch up on some sleep.”IIM could not have rejected a seat for an aspirant like him. “After my family stabilizes, I want to start a charitable institution, Educate India, by which I can help the underprivileged gain some education. I could achieve this because someone helped me. In turn, I want to help at least 10 people,” he said. Shiva is taking an education loan to fund his IIM course.At IIM-C, he plans to “work extremely hard” while he specializes in finance. It’s an attitude that has already made a mark on teachers and faculty members at his new school. “We are really impressed with the boy. He will certainly serve as an example to others and we will look forward to teaching him,” said Subir Bhattacharya, chairman of IIM-C’s post graduate programmes.(With inputs from Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey in Kolkata)http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Newspaper-vendor-from-Bangalore-walks-into-IIM-Calcutta/articleshow/20056795.cms=============================================================Where there is a Will……Privileges Not Needed: Abhishek Bharti, Son of a Cobbler Cracks IIT Entrance ExamAbhishek Kumar Bharti, son of a poor shoemaker from Kanpur, whose family lives in a 10×10 house has cracked the entranceexamination of the most premier institute of the country IIT.The son of a cobbler, Abhishek has managed to beat the odds and make it to the IIT with a rank of 154 in the SC/ ST category in the entrance examination. His life has been an endless struggle and it’s only his zeal to carry on that saw him reach thus far.A student of the UP board, Abhishek gathered 78 per cent marks in his class XII. Though he hails from a financially weak segment of the society but his deep inclination towards studies helped in meeting his goal – Goal to graduate from IIT.He helps his father, a cobbler, mend shoes in his spare time while his mother stitches rags to support the family, but financial hardships have not stopped Abhishek Kumar Bhartiya from coming out with flying colours in the IIT entrance exam.Abhishek has three young brothers and the family of six lives in a one room accommodation with no electricity.“We have just one small room where six of us live and that too without electricity. So, he used to study under the lantern for five-six hours in the night,” says his father Rajendra Prasad. Abhishek would work with his father as a shoeshine boy and at times would find a job as a labourer to earn some extra money. Talking about his elder son, Rajendra said, “He used to study in the night and help me in my work the whole day.”His three brothers – Abhijit, Anshul and Aryan – are below 12 years of age and study in a municipal school. Their mother Sangeeta Devi repairs old clothes of poor people and earns about Rs 50 a day. “My husband gets around Rs 100 and I earn Rs 50 in a day. It is not enough for us. But we don’t want to beg. We want to live with our heads held high. My children know how to go ahead with their pride intact. Abhishek never demanded anything from us. The table of my sewing machine would turn into his study table at night. All I did was to ensure that there was enough kerosene in the lantern,” she said.Moved with the achievement made by her son, Sangeeta Devi said, “We have been living without basic facilities at our end because we cannot afford to buy luxuries. Selection of my son has come as a gift to us from the God’s side. His hard work has borne fruits.”Abhishek emerged as a fine example for others who wish to crack the entrance exam of various competitions. He not only lacked electricity at his house but it was too tough for him to study in a small room of 10-by-10 wherein his entire family lives. His father is the bread earner and many a times he used to work as a labourer for six to eight hours in a day to arrange for the two ends to meet. Abhishek used to assist his father in doing so.Mahesh Singh Chauhan, the teacher of Abhishek who provided the boy with free education was overwhelmed with the success. Chauhan had raised a batch of 35 students last year wherein he had taken poor students as a part of his team. He taught them the basics of Physics, Chemistry and Maths along with a team of young IIT passouts to strengthen them. Abhishek was one among those fortunate who cracked the JEE and emerged as a winner.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Cobblers-son-cracks-IIT-JEE/articleshow/5978149.cms===============================================================Where there is a Will…..Eyes Not Needed: Pratish Dutta, Visually Challenged, Awarded Gold Medal at IIT KharagpurIndian Institute of Technology Kharagpur’s student Pratish Dutta who is visually challenged has proved that eyes are not required to see, one can see through his mind. Pratish Datta, who lost his eyesight when he was in college, was awarded Professor Jagadish Chandra Bose Memorial Gold Medal from President Pranab Mukherjee for the best academic performance among outgoing students of the M.Sc courses in the science disciplines at the IIT Kharagpur. His cumulative grade point average was 9.87 — higher than any other M.Sc. student at the IIT Kharagpur. After graduating with mathematics from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, he joined the institute in 2010.Born at Batanagar in north Kolkata to Prabir, a civil engineer with a government undertaking, and Ranjana, a home-maker, Pratish has depended on his mother for studies. She would read out his lessons and he would memorize them.From his childhood he was dependent on his mother for everything. “If I studied 10 hours a day, my mother used to study 15 hours for me as she is instrumental in helping me understand the subjects since I could not read,” said a jubilant Pratish who thanked his mother after receiving the award.Pratish was six months old when doctors told his parents that he had ‘retinoschesis’ , in which the layers inside the retina gradually get separated from each other, eventually leading to total blindness. By Class VIII, he had to use high-powered magnifying glasses to study.It was in his second year at St Xavier’s College that he lost his sight completely. Ranjana turned a full-time reader for her son and when he cracked IIT-JEE, she moved to Kharagpur with him. Pratish and his mother live in a rented apartment on the IIT-KGP campus. “We received a lot of help from people. His IIT teachers and classmates were very kind. At St Xavier’s , College they would print question papers on A3 sheets for him,” Ranjana said.“My parents are my inspiration. They never made me feel that there was anything wrong. I received tremendous support from my teachers and buddies. My friend and classmate Fauzal Atik took great care of me at IIT,” Pratish said.His father, who is a civil engineer, also played a pivotal role in shaping his career. “My father always told me to give my best effort and I followed his words. At last, I have succeeded,” added Pratish.“His mother would read out his lessons to him,” said Pratish’s father Prabir Datta. “All the credit goes to his mother. He even ranked second in the country in GATE this year. We feel so proud. My boy is no different… Rather, he has proved better than many,” Datta said. Keen to take up teaching and research as his career, Mr. Datta has enrolled in a Ph.D. programme on Cryptology and Network Security at IIT Kharagpur.His PhD guide Sourabh Mukhopadhyay is amazed at how a visually impaired person could score so high in a subject like Mathematics. “This has never happened in IIT, Kharagpur, or anywhere in the world,” he said.He could not solve a mathematical problem on a piece of paper because of his visual impairment.“I could not even write a simple mathematical formula, all I did was remember it. I do all the calculations mentally and then dictate it to my scribe, who puts it down on paper,” 23-year-old Datta said.“I would read out the lessons, including mathematical problems, and he would memorize them,” his mother Ranjana Datta said, adding that since Pratish was interested in mathematics, she encouraged him to take up the subject. But, this did not dampen Pratish Datta’s love for mathematics, or his zeal for pursuing a career in mathematical research. Not only was he able to do complex mathematical calculations but he scored the highest grade among all M.Sc. students this year.“Pratish has an extraordinary mind and his way of learning is only through listening to lectures. But whatever he listens, it gets inked in his mind. We were also confused when he joined the institute, but he emerged with flying colours with his ability to rise above adversities,” head of the mathematics department Professor P.D. Srivastava said.Sheer grit and determination can do wonders. And 23-year-old Pratish Datta knows all about it. Datta has been a topper all his life. He tells that if one tries, one can do anything; lack of sight is hardly an impediment.Listen to his talk at TEDxIITKharagpurhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6EbpqL8DhA&list=PLsRNoUx8w3rOVCghOFl92vbdyLMMjHggiYou did MSc in mathematics at IIT and are known to do complex mathematical calculations mentally. How is that possible?It goes back to my childhood. I lost vision in one eye at six months of age and had poor vision in the other. My parents felt that if I studied a lot, the pressure would damage this eye too. So my mother would read all my lessons to me and I would memorize them. Even maths sums were done mentally. I knew no other way to do it. Over time, practice made me perfect. I also manage to finish my exams in almost the same time as normal students. But a lot of higher mathematics is not just calculation but visualization too and I can handle that. Even Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler lost his vision in the last 17 years of his life. But he continued to do research. My mind is my eye now.How did you cope with the loss of your eyesight?I was doing my second year at St Xavier’s College in Kolkata in 2008 when I lost vision in my second eye. I was shocked to suddenly see a dark world but my parents and teachers stood by me. As I loved studies, I decided to concentrate on that. All my happiness is related to studies. Even when I came to IIT, there were many questions about whether I would be able to cope. But my faculty helped me with a competent scribe, which itself takes the load off students like me. He’s a computer operator here who understands mathematics symbols and has done presentations for various seminars.The dean of student affairs also helped me find accommodation within the campus. I also have nice friends, especially Fouzoul Atik who studied with me in MSc. He would sit beside me, dictate what was written on the board, take me from one class to another, xerox pages for me…he was very happy when I got the gold medal.Was it difficult to handle the pressure in IIT with this impairment? Your mother seems to have sacrificed a lot.As I was able to see in childhood, I understood math symbols and could do well. But for many others, the fact that higher education books aren’t in Braille are a handicap. An attempt should be made to convert them so that others like me don’t suffer. As for my mother, she has stood by me like a rock. Even when I said I wanted to study in IIT, she told me bravely, ‘Go as far as you want, I will be with you.’ And she did. She left Kolkata where my father is a civil engineer and came to stay with me, an only child, here at Kharagpur.You seem to lead a normal life -you use the mobile quite well and have a Facebook profile. How do you manage these?I have memorized the keys and functions of my mobile so I can use it effortlessly. I also have a computer screen-reading software called JAWS which reads out whatever text there is on it.“My aim in life is to serve the nation by inventing tools that will help society,” he added.http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-23/all-that-matters/34040184_1_iit-mathematics-poor-vision==================================================================“Just because a fish cannot climb a tree doesn’t mean it’s not smart.” – EinsteinKiran Jonnalagaddacleared his PU course after five attempts. And by the time hedid it, his friends had completed their engineering course. But Kiran’s story had just begun.This Bangalorean’s name now features in the team that developed the Human Protein Reference Database by John Hopkins University. The database contains entries on the 3,000 most-studied human proteins and their roles in diseases and is supposed to be the standard of developing a database internationally. Kiran has come a long way from an unsuccessful PU candidate to a successful entrepreneur.Like many who failed many times before tasting success, Kiran says it’s OK to fail. Stories of suicides by anxious students shock them. Exams are not the end of the world, they insist. “As Einstein said: ‘Just because a fish cannot climb a tree doesn’t mean it’s not smart.’ I was never good at Maths and Chemistry but I loved computers,” Kiran says.What kept him going through the five years in PU: “Fear. It was through an act of rebellion that I started working. I gained confidence and I wanted to get into a college. But I felt insulted when some people said I was too old for it. That was last straw,” he said. Kiran has worked with Chip magazine, the e-governance wing of the Karnataka government and then with the John Hopkins University.Another interesting example is renowned theater artist Vivek Madan. He dropped out of college when he was doing his first year BSc in Environment Science at St Joseph’sCollege. >”Some days, I’d revise a subject for days before the exam, but remember nothing during the exam. I’d think ‘What’s the purpose of studying?’ I realized I wasn’t stupid – it was either the subject or the way it was dealt with,” said Vivek.He added, “It wasn’t an easy decision to quit. My family did well in academics. My two grandpas are PhDs. Scoring 52% in PCMB was a horrifying experience,” he said.Yet that didn’t stop him from quitting college at 19 and plunging whole-heartedly into theater, despite of his parents’ disapproval — “I had a big fight at home when I did that,” he says. “It was supposed to have been a year-long sabbatical but I never went back to college.”He began with a series of musicals adaptations. He went on to direct his first play at the tender age of 20 and even won an award for it. “You know, I got kicked out of the dramatics team at school and college. I always wanted to go back and show the cultural secretary that award,” he grins.He then decided to tread a more conventional path and took up a job at Trump It – an events and marketing company. It was a short stint however that lasted all of ten months.So he went ahead and started his own entertainment company, Harlequin entertainment along with a partner.Karthik Naralasetty, 25, with an established business in the US, feels success in studies does not guarantee success in life. Karthik dropped out of Rutgers University, US,after a year. “I realized I had to spend a lot of my father’s hard-earned money to get a degree. I asked myself, ‘What do I want to do after getting a degree?’ I knew the answer – start a large business and manage it,” said Karthik, currently running a company called Socialblood Inc based in New York. “Funnily, though I don’t have a degree, I’ve got investors who’ve been to Harvard, Stanford, MIT and IIM,” says Karthik.He was labelled a poor student in school. Karthik said he couldn’t do much about his dislike for Mathematics. “Through school, I was bullied by teachers because of this. In Class X, my school officials openly declared that I and a few students would surely fail the examinations and be a disgrace to the school,” recalled Karthik. He said the mantra to be successful in life doesn’t lie in Class X or Class XII grades.Now much more successful than he may have ever been, Naralasetty is an Internet entrepreneur and the founder of the first of its kind site Socialblood.org. “In June 2011, I heard of a rare case in a four year-old girl who had thalassemia. She needed 30 units of blood a day every day. Not knowing anything about blood banks I realized how hard it was to find blood. My obvious response in the age of Facebook, was why can’t Facebook tell me when someone needs blood,” he says animatedly over the phone.Having started eight groups for different blood types on Facebook, his idea led to people posting requests for blood on the site. “Eventually, I formed the website that can connect you to people in your locality or the city to donate and receive blood. Within six months, 20 countries approached us to create a similar model for them,” adds this winner of the Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Award, 2011.At least Akshar Peerbhoy, a successful businessman, followed that mantra sincethe day he was enrolled in the school. I’m probably one of the only few students to fail in Class 1. Even during exams, I’d prefer playing some games” or later on, hanging out with my friends. Most teachers gave up on me. My parents were incredibly worried, as both of them are leaders in their field,” said Akshar, who had a brief stint at Deakin University, Australia but dropped out in the second year and returned to India.It’s been a rollercoaster journey so far for Akshar, who says that focus and power of mind are keys to real success. “Today, I’m respected among colleagues and clients. Today, when I meet school friends, they’re amazed at the change in me. At the beginning of my career, I started every morning with only one goal — be better than I was the day before,” said Akshar, a successful businessman.Reid Hoffman started his professional life with the intention of becoming an academic. But then he realized: “in order to be a professional scholar, you have to dedicate a vast majority of your career to writing esoteric books/articles that only 50 people will understand.” So instead, he got into the technology industry with a job at Apple, where he helped build eWorld, Apple’s version of America Online. Next, he started a company called SocialNet. It failed.A friend of Hoffman’s, Peter Thiel, recruited him to join a startup, PayPal. It sold to eBay in 2002. Then Hoffman went on a long trip to Australia. There, he decided to create an Internet company. It’s LinkedIn. Today, it’s worth $19 billion – and Hoffman is its biggest shareholder.Source : http://alumniconnect.wordpress.com/super-stars/

If you’re suffering from bad credit and want to get your personal finances in order, credit repair is a process that can help ensure your credit report is totally fair and accurate—and that your score is fair and accurate as well. Bad credit can follow you around for years — especially if you’ve never been taught how to fix it.John Schmoll was fresh out of college when he racked up $20,000 in credit card debt, on top of the $25,000 he already owed in student loans. “I was definitely in trouble,” he remembers. “He was using credit cards to fund a lifestyle he wanted but could not afford.” The amount of interest John owed kept piling up and he tried everything possible to chip away at his $45,000 debt.“I did a variety of things, from side hustles to selling plasma.”It took John around five years to pay off his debt, and during that time his credit score took a huge hit. He wasn’t sure how to get it back on track, so he turned to me for my services and help. “I directed him to take several steps and tips which help broughtJohn right back on track.First off, let me clear up what credit repair is and isn’t.Mistakes on a credit report can happen. That’s reality. Credit reporting agencies employ real people, and so do lenders and creditors. Human error can lead to inaccurate data reporting that negatively impacts your credit history and credit score, like an on-time payment being marked as late.The credit repair process involves three basic steps:Identifying credit report mistakes.Disputing incorrect information with the credit bureaus.Getting errors removed or corrected.The upside is that you can undertake all the necessary action on your own. Just be aware that my credit repair will require its fair share of elbow grease and effort. If that’s not your style, a credit repair company can help.However, credit repair only works for negative information that is inaccurate, unfair or unsubstantiated. If the information is accurate and timely, credit repair is probably not an option. That said, there’s no telling what credit report mistakes could be hurting you until you take a look! Your credit score affects a lot, including your eligibility for loans and the rates you are offered. Without a fair credit score, you might not get a fair quote or interest rate, which is why ensuring your score is accurate has long-reaching implications.Step 1: Request your free credit report(s)Credit repair all starts with your credit report. Your FICO score alone can’t tell you much about the specific negative information affecting it. You need your entire credit report to give you the full story.Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus every 12 months. Requesting your report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion is the first step in credit repair. You have a few options for getting a copy.Step 2: Read the report line by lineOnce you’ve got the hard copy, it’s time to dig in!Don’t be surprised if you find it hard to read your credit report at first. Unless you have experience with such documents, it can look like a jumble of names, numbers and boxes.Basically, it’s a summary of your accounts, payment history and other information reported by lenders and creditors.Step 3: Look for credit report mistakesWARNING: Credit report mistakes can come in all shapes and sizes, some of them not easily detectable. Here’s what to look for:Negative items that are outside the statute of limitations (i.e., older than seven years for most credit information and older than 10 years for bankruptcy information).Misspellings in your name or inaccurate personal information.Accounts that don’t actually belong to you or are mistakenly attributed to you.Closed accounts being reported as open, or accounts incorrectly listed as “closed by grantor.”On-time payments that were marked as late.The same debt being listed more than once.Accounts that were opened as a result of identity theft.Inaccurate or unapproved inquiry information.Wrong credit limit or paid balance amounts.So how can you root out these errors? It’s going to take a very close reading of your report. Your credit repair to-do list should, at the least, include the following:Making sure your personal information is all correct and your file isn’t mixed with someone else who shares a similar name.Taking a fine-tooth comb to your account information, specifically looking at account number, status, individual vs. joint responsibility, open/close dates, credit type, term, highest and current balances, credit limit, monthly payment, late payments and statements or remarks.Verifying the origin of hard inquiries, confirming you gave your consent.Looking for bankruptcy information that is older than 10 years.In that time, you can still take more steps to build credit yourself. Monthly budgeting, making timely payments and not maxing out your credit cards are all good strategies for smarter personal finances. Understanding the five factors that go into your credit score—payment history, credit utilization, account mix, inquiries, and age of accounts—can also help you target areas for improvement.Truth: You can do more to build creditCredit repair is best leveraged when you take action on your own part to build credit. Remember those five factors that comprise a credit score? Each of those is partly within your control as a consumer, and it may take some new lifestyle choices or spending habits to make poor credit history. For example:Always make timely payments. If you need to, set alarms on your personal devices, circle dates on a kitchen calendar or just enroll in autopay. Many organizations grant a small discount for automatic bill pay, additionally.Don’t open too many new accounts at once or in a short span of time. This could act in a doubly negative way. Each account you open will come with a hard inquiry while also reducing the average age of your accounts.Keep your credit utilization around 30%. This refers to the amount of your credit balance that you use or owe on. Accessing too much of your credit can be damaging to your score and make it harder to pay off debts.Looking for even more ideas? Check out my Space and Bio for free, easy-to-use tips and tools, or contact me using the information on my Bio.Hey! Remember to Upvote this article if found useful and keep in touch.