Since we pulled out of Iraq, there has been a return of the same old carnage that we saw in the past. There has recently been bombings that killed 60 people in Baghdad stemming from Islamic sects that want to show their power and it is plain to see that there are violent extremists in Iraq who desire to have their presence felt. The tensions between the Sunnis and Shiites are rising and the prime minister who is a Shiite, Nouri al-Maliki, is being put into a corner of creating an independent Sunni region in Iraq but has recently been quoted as saying it would only serve in “dividing Iraq and to rivers of blood.”

Anna Hazare has been agitating against corruption in Indian Administration and politics for the past few years. He went on a fast in April that met with widespread support for the institution of the Jan Lokpal Bill or the Peoples Ombudsman Bill. Anna Hazare is to now fast at a Mumbai Ground to pressure the government to pass the Bill that is tabled before it in Parliament in the format of the Jan Lokpal Bill without the exclusions that the Government seeks to make. The non negotiable demands are that Lokpal and Lokayuktas should have power to suo moto initiate their own investigations, the obmudsman should be able to carry out independent probe, selection of Lokpal should be through consensus of the selection panel and bringing the lower bureaucracy under direct control of the Lokpal.

Amazingly, the time has finally come that people of different shapes and sizes can all aspire to be anything at all. The world’s shortest woman wants to be a Bollywood Star. Fame does not faze her as she used to be the world’s shortest teenager till her 18^th birthday last week. Well travelled, she has visited Japan and Italy on Guinness sponsored trips and meetings with other record holders.

At this moment Jyoti Amge is a student who wants to join the Indian film industry after she finishes her education. It is heartening to see that Jyoti has grown up in an environment that celebrates her uniqueness rather than shuns her for being different. At 62.8 centimeters (24.7inches) she is 7 centimeters (2.76 inches) than the American Bridgette Jordan the erstwhile holder of the same title, and is not expected to grow any taller as she has form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. Jyoti enjoys the support of her extended family 30 of who attended the Awards ceremony at Nagpur in Maharashtra, India.