Everything about New Year

Let me first wish 'Happy new Year' in advance to all fellow bloggers and blog readers.The dawn of the new year prompted me to think about the different New Years being celebrated in India by different states and by different linguistic communities in the same state.How this could have come in to being?Why there is no uniformity? Should we have different calendar years?Does it serve any purpose?.Is there any logic behind these?But irrespective of all these,January first is celebrated as New Year and December 31st as New Year eve by a huge majority in India too,in line with the global celebrations. New year was first observed in Babylon 4000 years ago.The first New moon after the first day of spring was celebrated as New year in Babylon.Still in West Bengal,Kerala,Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh New Year is celebrated with begining of Spring.Until recently it was so in Tamilnadu also.To add to the Confusion recently the Tamilnadu government changed the Tamil new year which was hitherto celebrated in April(As the first day of Tamil month Chithirai) to January (first day of Tamil month Thai ) .What prompted the government to do this is still anybody's guess.For Gujarati's New year coincides with Diwali.For the Jains,the New Year begins on the next day of the Diwali.The Sikh New Year begins with Chet 1 which normally coincides with March 14.The Muslim New Year is celebrated on the first day of Muharram.The Indian christians follow the westerners and celebrate january 1st as New Year.Jamshed Navroz is the Parsi New Year.It normally falls on March 21st.Navroz means Spring and Jamshed started the Parsi calendar.The Bhuddist New year is celebrated on different days through out the world.It is celebrated on the first full moon day in April in Thailand,Burma,Sri Lanka ,Cambodia and Laos.Tibetan Bhuddist celebrate in March.Bhuddists in China,Mangolia,vietnam,Korea,Japan and indonesai celebrate new year on first full Moon day in January. The Chinese New Year is celebrated on a different day every year.It coincides with the first day of the First Moon of the lunar calendar.The Romans were the most confused about new year,since the new year was frequently tampered with every emperor until Juius Ceaser set it right.Actually the first day of January was fixed as new year arbitrarily by Julius Ceaser.In 46 BCE Julius Ceaser fixed January 1st as New Year.Initially it was a celebration for God Janus,the God of begining.January is named after the Roman God Janus.Though observed for the first time 4000 years ago,New year is being celebrated by the world only for the last 400 years.New Year signifies completion and begining of a new period.Scientifically earth completes one revolution around sun at a particular point in its orbit.

Aiko,cyborg,transhumanism and the future

Vietnam born and canadian inventor Le Tung has created a female robot called Aiko at a cost of $25000.Aiko has unbelievable housekeeping skills,a page 3 pin up face,an enviable 32,23,33 contour,shiny hair,can talk English and Japanese,can do mathematics and manage accounts.Aiko is touch sensitive and reacts the natural way when showered with affection or hurt,recogonises faces says hello.she knows what drink Le tung likes and what he eats.Helps Tung with directions when they go out.Aiko can move her hands,nod head.She is patient,intelligent and never complains and above all she is just 20 ,5 foot tall,has silicone breasts says Le tung.Aiko undoubtedly is a perfect wife.Aiko means'Love child' in Japanese.Aiko can talk 13000 sentences in Japanese and English.She can tell about weather in all international cities through internet links.Le tung goes out for public outing with Aiko.Aiko is the first human robot to mimic pain and react to it.It took Le Tung 1.5 months to build Aiko.But it took years for him to program.BRAINS is the software used in Aiko to control artificail Intelligence (AI),speech,reading,doing maths,vision,colours,hearing,automation,sensors,temperature,face and object recogonition.Aiko can react to surroundings and environment also.Le Tung says future abilities of Aiko would include the following

"Facial expressions

Make Tea and Coffee

Feed Sushi to Tung

Making breakfast : Egg and bacon

Lying on Aiko's lap she would clean Tung's ears with Q tips

Ability to massage Tungs shoulders and neck

Able to print and write

Clean the windows

Dust the shelves

Clean the toilet and much more " says Le Tung

What more could be there except delivering a baby ?

I agree lot of positives from this technology can be utilised in various other fields like using mechanised limbs for those with amputated limbs,face recogonition can be utilised in investigations,intelligence services.But I strongly feel there should be some limits imposed on such future inventions.Integration of humans,computers and bioelectronics beyond a limit could have far reaching social consequences.The inventors of these technologies might try to implant these bio gadgets into human beings to augment capabilities or performance.That could prove fatal.It must be borne in mind human beings are not biological machines.There is much more and human beings are unique.It is foolhardy to stretch human capabilities and build organic humans with robotic capabilities.

Mind reading

A Japanese research team has developed a technology that would display on a screen what is in your mind.This may help in investigation.But I consider it as a blatant violation of one's privacy.Here the electrical signals of the brain are reconstructed in to images.Stretch your imagination and see how all this could be misused and the resultant chaos in every field you can imagine,be it official,familial or political.

Where do we draw a line and decide what is ethically right for the human race?Who will do it?I am not against technology or inventions.But there should be a right balance.Earlier robots were mere machines.But current robots are cyborgs containing mesh of flesh,wires,neurons,steel,blood and circuits.Or one may call it androids.There are organic components.In otherwords a human transformed in to a machine.Yet there is something called humanity,I mean the humane emotions.That gives me some hope, all that is human can not be duplicated.But the transhumanists will continue their attempts to radically change the human life.Future and posterity can only asess the psossible ill effects of transhumanism.

Trilingual blogger

Google Search results for "trilingual Blogger" has returned outshine and Aguas.It appears Aguas has a travel blog in three languages.But I do not know in what three languages he is blogging.From his "blog.travelpod.com" I can't find out the three language details.It also appears trilingual blogging was started by Aguas as late as September 2008 from the google search results.Trilingual postings by outshine started from June 2008.As it appears now outshine is India's and world's first trilingual personal blogger.Yet I would like to get some conclusive proof on this to check its veracity.Hence I request fellow bloggers to enlighten me on this.If you know of any one else blogging in three languages,no matter what the language is,please leave a comment.Outshine started blogging in three languages English and two other Indian regional languages Tamil and Malayalam from June 2008.

Mumbai attack and its aftermath

Before I dwell on the Mumbai attack,I would like to go back to the 9/11 USA attack.Since then there has been no attack worthy of mention in USA.How could they achieve this? But in India there have been attacks after attack and every time the government issued statments about gearing up security measures.I don't think any concrete action has been put in place despite umpteen number of attacks.The chief difference between USA and our government lies in the fact We in India were talking about taking defensive measures for future attacks.But whereas in USA they went on the offensive,and rightly,after proclaiming it to the sinister forces so loudly.It did yield results.It was very very disturbing to hear, such a senior former government officialMr.Brijesh Varma,responsible for national security, going on record in an interview to national Tv channel that the politicians are solely responsible for this inaction.He is right in saying we have been tolerating militant terrorism for more than two decades.There has been no political will to put an end to this. All because of electoral politics and efforts to appease sections and pockets of the vote bank.One can not but believe this,because in many cases including the present Mumbai incident, there has been intelligence reports about a possible attack on Mumbai.Despite all this how could there be a serious security lapse?It is now alleged that intelligence reports did mention about possible attacks on some hotels.We have been talking about federal policing to tackle terrorism for so many years.It is high time the government and voluntary organisations also involve themselves in creating public awareness against terrorist plots and ivolve them in giving vital clues about suspicious activities to the concerned.Implanting explosives in crowded places can never go unnoticed by everyone.Invariably after every blast or attack someone comes forward to give evidence about some suspicious activities which he or she had witnessed earlier.Lack of awareness prevents them informing them to authorities concerned.Recently in Gujarat after the first day of blasts,alert and vigilant citizens could give clues to diffuse umpteen number of bombs on subsequent days.How was this achieved? The Gujarat government did publicise elaboratley through placards and public adress system.The terrorists and militants must know crores of eyes are watching them through out the country.That will surely instill fear in them.Our politicians should take a solemn resolve not to interfere in Anti terrorist drive by police/special forces or do petty politicks in the efforts taken by law enforcing authorites to curb/end terrorism.

Ponting's scurillous diary

Now it it Ricky Ponting's turn to malign Indian cricketers.In his recently released book "Captains diary " Ponting has said that Gavaskar is no angel to make caustic comments about the on field behaviour of Aussies.Gavaskar was very pointed in his reaction to Pontings comments.He said "May be they have some books to sell"It is also puzzling to note that Aussies make comments about Indian cricketers only in their books.It surely appears as a scheme to promote sales of his book.The legendary Gavaskar has always been forthright and blunt in his comments.He is equally critical of many Indian cricketers on their attitude to the game and behaviour.He is known to be neutral and genuinely impartial.It is very obvious that the infamous Sydney Test is still haunting the Aussies.Describing about the 'Monkeygate' incident Ponting comments in his diary that,on the night of the incident an Indian player requested him over phone to drop the complaint on Harbhajan,as though the request was made clandestinely.After the incident Kumble did make it public that he has asked his Aussie counterpart to drop the charges on Bhaji in the mutual interest and in the interest of the game.In the same book Ponting remarks,Indians are good only in the shortest version of the game T20.Not knowing that he and his team will have to face a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of Indians in the longest version of the game so soon.All said and done one thing is certain,the Aussie supremacy over the gentleman's game is on the wane and the Aussies are bad losers of the game.

The King defending his King

World chess championship is being held at Bonn in Germany.Viswanathan Anand is just half a point away from his World Champion title,for a second time.It would be a stupendous feat by an Indian Sports person by any standards.He is playing a 12 game match against Valdimir Karminik.Anand is already having a 6-3 lead.If Anand manages, even a draw on the 10th game he would become the World Champion.In fact Anand won the first world championship in 2000.But at that time the world body was divided and there was another rival championship(PCA) and that title was held by Karminik.But when the world body became unified in 2007 Anand became the Champion and thus became the undisputed World Champion.No doubt,Anand is one of the five, all time greats of the game.The others being Bobby Fischer,Karpov,Kasparov and Karminik.With the first three not in contention any more,it is a tussle between Anand and Karminik for the world title.Only 4 players have crossed the FIDE ELO rating of 2800 points and Anand is one among them.

It is a matter of pride that the First Indian InternationalMaster(Manuel Araon) and First Grandmaster(V.Anand) are from Tamilnadu.In fact Tamil nadu has been a nursery for budding chess talent in India.As a mater of fact,out of the 14 GM's of India,four are from Tamilnadu.The others being Sashikiran,Mageshchandran and R.B.Ramesh.To top it all,the first woman grand master of India Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman is also from Tamilnadu.The National deaf and dumb Champion M.K.Alaguraja is also from Tamilnadu.The Asian under 10 Champion title was held some years ago byDeepan Chakravarthy,again from Tamilnadu.He is currently preparing for under 19 world championship.Other promising under 10 talents from Tamilnadu doing Indian colours are Jerome,Ashwini and Mugil Jayavel.Chess Academy's are sprouting everywhere and it is a treat to watch young boys and girls form the age of 5 and above playing intense chess in international tournament conditions using clocks and noting down moves.All these because of one man,Vishwanathan Anand.Though historically,chess is a game of Indian origin,Vishwanathan Anand only made it popular in Inida.This is an undisputed fact.Anand is also adept in Rapid chess and also blindfold chess.
Anand holds a commerce degree.The chennai boy now lives in Collado Mediano in Spain with his wife Aruna.Anand is popularly known as Vishy in international chess circuit.Ironically Vishwanathan is his dad's name.By some queer mistake, in his passport his name was recorded as Vishwanathan Anand against Anand Vishwanathan.Thus he became Vishy to everyone.In 2007 Anand was awarded Padmavibhushan and he is also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi khel Ratna award in 1991-92.Indian Chess fraternity owes a great to Anand for popularising chess in India and also making many turn as chess professionals.Let many more Anand's come and give a stiff fight to end the supremacy of Russian Grandmasters in chess.

Gilly reveals ' True Colours'

The cricket world was taken aback by former Aussie stumper Gilly's comments on Tendulkar in his recently published book.Gilly has played a silly joke on Sachin.Gilly says Tendulkar is a bad sport and his testimony in the Harbajhan row was a joke.Ironically the book is titled 'True colours'.It has brough to light the true colours of Gilly,incidentaly.During the infamous Sydney row of Harbhajan singh,Gilly restrained from making any uncalled for comments unlike many of his team mates.He was praised by the Indian as well as Aussie media for keeping off the controversy.It appears now it was a deliberate move by Gilly,since he planned his retirement from First class cricket then.He did not air his views frankly then keeping his retirement in mind.Now to boost his book sales, he has published some spicy criticism on Tendulkar in his book.While on a winning streak how the Aussies behave with their opponents is well known the world over.But when they do it, it is said"The Aussie mentality is to play it hard".They never bother about niceties.Even at the sydney test, after the controversial victory, Anil Kumble was a silent spectator watching the Aussie's celebrating wildly waiting in the ground to greet the Aussies on their dubious victory.But in Gilly's words, they are great sports and Sachin is a bad sport.Aussies behaviour in the podium after the ICC champonship final,pushingMr.Sharad Pawar BCCI President and subsequent apology for their behaviour is also still fresh in the memory of Indians. At a time when the Aussies are touring India and India are one up in the Test series,these comments of Gilly would start fresh rows among the teams.Gilly's image in India has taken a nose dive from the high pedestal, he occupied in the minds of an average Indian cricket fan.It has been proved once again that great cricketers need not be good ambassodors of the game.

Chandrayan -1

Chandrayan 1 is India's first unmanned lunar exploration scheduled to be launched on Oct 22 by ISRO.Likely to be launched at 0621Hrs from Sriharikotta on Oct 22.Project Chief M. Annadurai hails from Pollachi in Tamilnadu. This mission by ISRO is Indian only in terms of launch vehicle and the space craft.The instrumentation is jointly provided by ISRO,NASA,ESA and Bulgaria.Cost of the project is Rs 386 Crores.The signals from the Satellite will be recieved at Bylalu village 40 Km from Bangalore .This will be the master control facility for Chandrayan 1.The 1.5 ton space craft will take 8 days to reach its orbit, 60 miles away from moons surface.t The distance to be covered from base is around 240000 miles.So far ISRO has sent Satellites only to the earths orbit at a height of about 40000Kms .But the moon orbit would be around 386000 kilometers.Chandrayan -1 will have a 2 year operational life.Other Asian countries who have achieved this feat are China and Japan.China put its unmanned moon mission in orbit in 2007.Same year Japan also succeded in doing so.This project has not been insured,though it is in vogue internationally.ISRO has plans for a manned moon mission in 2014.

Is soccer a dying game in India?

Soccer popularly called Football in India is no more popular in India.Is it because TV channels don't get enough sponsors for football matches or Is it because there is no big money involved in football? Or is it because the AIFF has no big financial clout like the BCCI? I don't think all these are the real reasons.During World cup football there is great euphoria among TV viewers even though the telecasts are made at odd times in India.Most importantly India doesn't feature in any World cup football matches.Even then there were sufficient enthusiastic viewers all over the nation.One witnessed the same euphoria during the recent Euro 2008 Soccer games.Then What ails Indian Football?
Four decades ago football was played in almost all streets of India by bare footed kids.Therewas abundant talent to be groomed.Especially states like Bengal,Kerala,Punjab and Goa were cradles of football in India.If at all, some soccer is left in India,it is only in these states.More prominently in Bengal and Kerala.But even in these states it is a dying game.Cricket a predominantly urban game has taken strong roots in rural centres,thanks to the wide TVcoverage.The fame and money in cricket has also lured budding footballers to cricket.The TeamIndia Cricket skipper Dhoni himself is an example.Dhoni was a socer goalkeper in Ranchi,a small town in Jarkhand never known for cricket.The state federations and the AIFF should host as many tournaments as possible in all rural centres through out the breadth and width of the nation.Infra structure is not a problem at all.Tournaments can be held in school or college football grounds where ever stadia are not availbale.At school levels there should be specialised sports and games oriented professional curricula.Our schools still have the out dated Physical education curricula.The regional associations should get sponsors for kit,equipment,TV and media coverage.In this era of satellite TV, it won't be a difficult task.Public sector undertakings should promote the game by giving employment to talented players by sponsoring them.Public sector undertakings can conduct invitation tournaments or sponsor tournaments at league level.Even armed forces and police,who were hitherto promoting the game are not doing so.It is really a sorry state of affair.What is India's status in soccer at international arena? In 1956 Olympics,India came fourth.After that India has never figured in soccer Olympics.India has never figured in World cup Soccer.The only time India qualified for World cup was in 1950,that too by default.Since qualified teams like Burma,Indonesia and Philipines withdrew from the tournament.But then Indian footballers played bare footed and FIFA refused to acceed to the Indian request to play bare footed!!.What a tragedy! India could not qualify even for Asia cup since 1984 until recently.AFC challenge cup win over Tajikistan has now qualified India for the 2011 AFC cup to be held in Doha after a gap of 24 years.Thanks to the foreign coach, a former England player Bob Houghton.Currently India is ranked 151 in world and 24th among Asian teams.Will India qualify for the 2010 world cup?Let us hope for the best.

My reflections on Ethics

What is Ethics?The dictionary says it could be ideal,integrity,morals,mores,principles,standards,beliefs,conducts,customs and values.So ethics has a wide connotation.This means there could be ethics in every field.So ethics is a set of right principles of conduct.Any activity can be considered ethically wrong by some people and right by some others.This is primarily because it is something related to one's belief's and values.Values again,couldbe subjective.It could be personal values or cultural values and it could vary between cross cultures.Then what is the right value?.What is right in one culture may not be right in another culture.The cultural differences between East and West naturally ends in different value perceptions.So there are no right and wrong in ethics.Is there an universal or global ethics?.It could be some acceptable conduct and behaviour the world over.In other words,a preferable behaviour in a given situation or environment.Helping one another in times of distress,honesty,showing respect and concern for others,legal compliance and being fair.In a nutshell,I believe to be ethical is to have a justifiable means and a justifiable end for every activity of ours.If either the means or end of an activity is unjust,that is unethical.I consider this as the litmus test for ethics.

Eternal Life

I am sure one would shudder to think what would happen to this world, if human beings continue to live for ever and become immortals. I can't even visualise such a scenario . It will have far reaching familial,social and political impacts . Will governments offficially kill people who live beyond a certain age ? .Or will the life expectancy of a child determined at birth ? Don't for a moment thnik I am talking through my hat.The world famous futurist and life extension researcher Ray Kurzweil says that day is not far off.This is something akin to our Himalayan Yogi's (Like Baba - of the Rajini starrer) living for centuries.In his latest book 'Live Long enough to Live for ever' , he says this is possible and could be achieved in 2 decades time.Until now it is believed aging is a non reversible process due to degeneration and decay.He forsees tiny robots of the size of a blood cell called 'nanobots' injected in to our blood stream will keep us healthy and immortal . No doubt,world over,the life expectancy has been steadily progressing. This is attributed to better medical facilities and medical care. Already Japan has the highest number of centenarians in the world. It is quite astounding that by this month end Japan will have more than 36000 centenarians. This is an official report given by the Japanese government.Mind you , this has been achieved without Ray Kurzweil's nanobots !!!. What would happen all these Japanese centenarians have 'nanobots' injected in to their bodies?

Kunnakudi Vaithyanathan

The great Violin maestero passed away yesterday.He was a child prodigy.Hailing from a small town in Tamilnadu called Kunnakudi, vaithyanathan carved a special place for himself in the music world.He played violin for carnatic music giants like Ariyakudi Ramanujar ,Chemmangudi sreenivaa Iyer and Maharajapuram at a very young age of 12.His style impressed even laymen with no knowledge about the nuances of carnatic music. It was a treat to watch him play violin.Undoubtedly he was one of the greatest violinists of our time. He was fondly called as Kunnakudi by the music fraternity .He was known by the name of his place. Incidentally kunnakudi is a famous temple town of Lord Muruga.But when one mentions about Kunnakudi, the name of Vaithyanathan comes to ones mind.Kunnakudi's skilful handling of the violin is famous among his fans. He was like a snake charmer when he handles his violin. The audience would be spellbound by his subtle techniques. He always does lot of experiments while playing violin.The purists among the violinists had their own reservations about the way Kunnakudi handled his violin. Nonetheless they all agreed he was a gifted musician.

Even at a young age of 14 Vaithyanathan has done experiments with music therapy. As an young boy of 14 he played the raga Bairavi for days together in front of his father who was in coma and finally succeeded, when his father regained consciousness and lived thereafter for many years.He was also running a Raga Research Centre to analyse the therauptic effects of various carnatic ragas. When Jayalalitha was CM, the governement donated land for this research institute. Years before Jayalalitha has sung four devotional songs on Tiruverkad Karumari Amman composed by Kunnakudi . The audio was then released by Columbia . He was also running a residential music school .He introduced concerts with 'Thavil' a traditional percussion instrument ,which is normally played only with the wind instrument nadaswaram. His novelty in combining this percussion instrument with the string instrument violin was a great hit world over.He has performed the world over.

Kunnakudi was a freelance music director for HMV's devotional songs.He has composed music for many Tamil films also . Prominent among them are Navarathinam an MGR starrer, Vaa raaja Vaa,Agathiyar and Mael naattu Marumakal.He has given lot of violin solo performances on almost all TV channels . He also directed a Tamil film called 'Thodi' with famous carnatic musician T.N.Sheshagopalan in the lead. The music for this film was also scored by him.

He was the president of the Sangeetha Nataka Academy of Tamilnadu for decades.He was also the secretary of the Tiruvayaru Thyagabrahmma sabha which conducts the annual musical tribute to the great carnatic composer Thiagarajar.Kunnakudi recieved 'Best music Director' award,Sangeetha Mamani award,Kalaimamani award and also Padmashri from the government of India.Kunnakudi will always be remembered for the song "Maruthamalai Maa Maniyae Murigayaa' rendered so beautifully by Madurai Somu.Kunnakudi was also famous for his peculiar glittering attire,sporting a big smile always, and his bigger than normal safron dot on his forehead.A face that can never be forgotten by many.

AN OVERVIEW OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECTS

The government of India has made a detailed action plan to combat climate change and its effects.In this post I have made an attempt to explain climate change and its effects in a simple comrehensible manner.
The climate change is caused by golbal warming. Global warming is a result of greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases cause greenhouse effect.Greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor and chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFCs).The earth's atmosphere has a blanket cover of gases.These gases trap sufficient heat to sustain life on earth.They also control other environmental conditions such as rainfall and evaporation.
The naturally occuring greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere performs two functions.In the first place it allows the ultra vilet rays of sun light to pass to the earth .After falling on earth,there will be an out going terrestrial radiation of infra red rays of the sunlight.These outgoing rays are absorbed by the greenhouse gases and re-emitted back to earth.This natural process increases earth's temperature from -18 degree Celsius to + 20 degree celsius. This temperature is required to sustain life on earth.
Greenhouse effect refers to the thickening of the concentration of the atmospheric gases.Increase in concentration of greenhouse gases is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.Coal,Oil and Natural Gas are the three major fossil fuels.This results in trapping of more heat on the earth's surface. Thus increasing the global temperature on earth. This is called Golbal warming.This upsets the global climates natural balance.
The current problem is there is excessive accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.Greenhouse gases has been increasing beyond their natural levels.This results in an enhanced greenhouse effect,causing increase in temperatures called global warming.The sum of all these changes are refered to as climate change.
Increase in greenhouse gases in atmosphere are mainly due to burning of fossil fuels for energy generation and transport.Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources and requires millions of years to form a fresh resource.Available resources are getting depleted on one side .This depletion is faster than generation of new resources.Thus comes the need for renewable energy .
Real estate boom and construction activities have resulted in indiscriminate tree felling.Trees naturally absorb carbon di oxides released in atmosphere.Deforestation is another cause for excessive release of Co2 in atmosphere.In the absence of sufficient green cover the cO2 is released to atmosphere.Hydro fluro carbons released from industires are also another greenhouse gas that contributes to greenhouse effect.Toxic chemicals pollute rivers,airand oceans.
IPCC (International panel on climate Change) says if greenhouse gas emissions continue at present levels,extreme weather conditions,heat waves and floods are immediate threats.Rise in sea levels and decrease in agriculture productiona are also predicted by scientists.Extinction of existing species and biodiversity losses are also predicted.Natural ecosystems would be threatened.Heat spells and loss of human life is already common in India.Scientists have also predicted decline in summer rainfalls.Already there is a change in the monsoon patterns.Water resource problems will have an adverse cascading effect on agriculture,drinking water and hydro electric power generation.Flash flood risks are also predicted.Rise in sea level could inundate low lying areas,erode beaches,increase salinity of rivers.Temperature change could result in extinction of some vegetation types.Increased dry spells could increase forest fires.Change in temperature and humidity could adversely affect human health.Heat stress could result in cramps,exhaustion and heat stroke.A decade ago air conditioner was considered a luxury .Now it has become a necessity.Need of the hour is greenpeace activism,newer green technologies and green solutions to tackle hazardous emissions.
The Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions The government of India has made a National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).The draft action plan was released on June 2008.The NAPCC has focussed on eight National missions. They are
1.Increasing the share of solar energy in the total energy mix.2.Implementation of energy efficiency measures.3.Launching sustainable habitats4.Effective water resource management.5.safeguarding Himalayan glacier and mountain eco systems6.Making agriculture more resilient to climate change7.Enhancing eco system services8.Seting up a strategic Knowledge Mission for focussed research in this area.
An urgency is required in implementing the mission statements.The safe level of atmospheric CO2 is 330PPM.(parts per Miliion).Our current level is 387 PPM .This level was reached this year.The scientific community and greenpeace activistsfeel the government's action plan has no deadlines and is not time bound.Critics also feel NAPCC has failed to recogoniseconservation of existing forest cover.
China has already made major investments towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.China has invested in clean coal technology and carbon capture.They have also invested in low carbon innovation zones.Another Asian giant India should not lag behind and initiate steps in right earnest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Blogging in Three Languages-Multilingual blogger

I am blogging in English,Tamil and Malyalam for the past three months or so. Suddenly I noticed there are many,blogging in two different languages.They are 'bilingual bloggers'. Are there any one else blogging in more than two languages ? Can we call them 'multilingual bloggers' ?. I am interested to know if there are any one else in this category other than me ?Or am I India's first multilingual blogger !!!? I would be too glad to get responses of fellow bloggers on this.

Abinav Bindra's Mida's Touch

At last an Indian has won an individual olympic gold medal in the Beijing olympic 2008. Indeed a proud moment for all Indians. The title win in an individual event was eluding an Indian for so long. Ever since the start of olympics, we Indians have nursed this dream to come true . The 25 year old Delhi lad Abinav Bindra has won the title in the 10M air rifle shooting and has thus put to an end this agony of Indians. Bindra finished with 700.5 points.He has created history and will be ever remembered as India's first ever 'Golden Boy'.He surely has a Mida's touch. Let this be the begining and let us hope for more gold medals this time.

The previous best was trap shooter Rajyavardhan Rathore's silver at Athens, while there were bronze medals for wrestler Khasaba Jadhav (1952), tennis star Leander Paes (1996) and woman weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (2000).

Broccoli the super food

Broccoli is a wonder vegetable. It looks similar to cauliflower, but is green in colour. It is believed broccoli is fully laden with powerful nutrients.It is believed, consuming brocolli will prevent blodd vessel thickening and heart damage in diabetic patients. Broccoli is also said to fight cancer, cataracts, stomach ulcers . This has been published in a research journal for Diabetes.There would be a mad rush for Broccoli in the market henceforth . As usual ,the price of Broccoli will skyrocket and it will become scarce soon.

Busy Beijing -changing Chinglish to English

The Beijing olympics is scheduled to begin on 8 th August ,2008 .Authorities are busy changing sign boards, sign posts ,restaurant menus ,placards etc from Chinglish to English . Chinglish is a commonly used term for English from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Chinglish is known for its mistranslated sign boards and products. Chinglish can be quite entertaining and evoke instant laughter.Obvioulsy China does not want to become the laughing stock before visiting dignitaries and sportpersons from all over the world. Of cource English is a foreign language and mastering it is difficult . Countries under the former colonial imperialism , speak comparatively good English. Even in such countries this is restricted to metro cities where the imperialists ruled . Even the current statistics, reveal native speakers of the English Language is a negligible 15 % . Out of the estimated 2 billion people using the language, majority of them use it as a common link language. China always had a paucity of native English teachers . With 300 million chinese trying to speak English, English will become more like chinese.

Some chinglish sign boards to entertain you

• If you are stolen, call the police at once .

• please omnivorously put the waste in garbage can.

• deformed man lavatory.

• The stairs and Pu Jiang Hotel of the carving arm-rest is like the long history
  (on a wall next to a staircase in a hotel)

intended to convey "This staircase with carved banister has a history as old as that of the Pujiang Hotel."

• Those who suffer from high blood pressure, mental disease, horrifying of highness and liquor heads are refused.

(notice at the entrance to a ride in an entertainment park)

The four letter F*** word is used in the context of " to do " in some Chinglish boards !!!

• No tresspassing, violators will be shot survivors will be shot again
  

• Be dangerous we are insured

• Danger if you fall in the pond you will be boiled

• Smoking/naked light is prohibited within the petrol filling station

• Welcome to come again

• No photoing no smoking

• your careful steps keeps tiny grass invariably green

• please do not spilt everywhere and liter up .The violators will be amerced with in range of 20 to 50 yuan.

A sign board at world famous Great wall of China

welcome you to visit Mutiyanu great wall.For you and others security please attention to following items

1.please don't carve arbitrarily on the great wall .protect one brick and stone consciously

2.for your safety .please don't climb crelenated wall.

3.please walk carefully on abrupt slope and dangerous way.Dont run and pushes to pash violently and the laugh and frolic

4.please pay attemtion to your safety in the rain and snow weather.

5.old people and children must have been accompanied and leaded by their family members when climbing the great wall .

6.The fire is forbidden here .Please don't take the tinder.

7.When you have a problem please call the alarm tel 61626683

We can find equally funny sign boards in India. Neverthless , one can not understand how such a board can be displayed near the Great wall of China.The Language Police of China is all out to make the boards comprehensible . Let us wish them all the best.

The Sri Lankan Battlers

Murali and Mendis have spun out the famed Indian batting line up to a disastrous start of the Sri Lankan tour. Obvioulsy the Lankan team is on a high after the Asia cup win. The old guard's return to the Test side has not helped the Indian team . Of late one gets the feeling, only we Indians keep on saying that we have one of the worlds best batting line up .We also claim Indian batsmen are better players of spin. Kumble and Gary has lot to do and salvage the pride of Indian cricket in the next two tests .Hope the stalwarts would live up to their reputation and redeem the teams as well as their reputation .

Polarisation of Indian Politics

The leftists were running the government by proxy.But it seems on the Indo-US nuclear deal,they have rubbed the congress on the wrong side. Even an accomodative PM like Manmohan Singh finally decided to take on the lefts opportunistic withdrawal of support and challenge them on the floor of the house. The left pushed the PM too far on the nuclear deal issue. PM has rightly said that it was a 'mis judgement' on the part of Prakash Karat. The government has got a lease of life .But the next general elections are not far off.

The rise of a third front has become real now and is almost inevitable. Parties like Ajit singh's Lok Dal and Deve Gowda's JD(s) have fallen a prey to the baits offered by another power monger Mayawati.With Mulayams SP aligning with the congress, naturally Mayawati's BSP got a hearty welcome in the UNPA. Regional parties like TDP, Biju's JD,Chautala's Lokdal and JD(u) have welcomed the leftists joining with them as it would strengthen the third front.
All the more the leftists also had no other go. Having come out of the UPA, they can not obviously join with the NDA .They need to support the formation of an alternate third front at least for their own survival in the ensuing polls.The only other regional party worth its salt that is out of all the three fronts is Jayalalitha's AIADMK.Since AIADMK has no MP's in the current LOk sabha, understandably she has been keeeping a low profile. Had AIADMK a couple of MPs's in the current Lok sabha,she would also have jumped in to the fray. She is playing a waiting game.She is currently undecided on her possible allies at the state level. That makes her keep her cards close to her chest. In all likelyhood the congress DMK alliance may continue.That means the PMK may have to find another alliance partner.There is the likelyhood of a third front in TN also. With Vijaykant's DMDK and Sarat Kumars SMMK trying to form a third front with them in the lead. The left may have two options in TN.They can either align with the proposed third front or with Jaya's AIADMK front. But joining the AIADMK would mean that she will not have any truck with BJP in the state and central elections. This remains to be seen. All this points to one thing that is certain. The coming state elections in TN and the next Lok sabha polls would be fought between three fronts.The congress led UPA, BJP led NDA and a third front including leftists and fringe parties. All said and done the leftists have committed an 'historical blunder' by withdrawing support to the UPA. Mr. Jyoti Basu of CPM said some time back, by refusing to allow him become the PM long time back, the CPM commited an 'historical blunder'.This time the CPM has committed the same 'historical blunder' courtesy Prakash Karat.

If the leftists get a major chunk of the seats in WB,Kerala and Tripura,with a sizeable win for BSP in UP,TDP in AP along with few fringe parties support the third front will be a major force to reckon with and the leftists will again call the shots .They will not obvioulsy join the government,but would enjoy power by proxy.The coalition politics is here to stay.Hence with the national interest in mind the indian electorates would do well to give a decsive mandate in future polls so that we may not have to witness the ugly horse trading once again and bring the nation to shame in the eyes of the international community.

Homage to a fellow blogger

Understand worlds oldest blogger Olive Riley,at the age of 108 passed away on July 12th peacefully in Australian nursing Home . She did make her last posting about singing a "happy song" in the nursing Home in her blog .

In her final post on June 26, she wrote: "I can't believe I've been here in this nursing home for more than a week.

"How the days have flown, even though I've been in bed most of the time. I still feel weak, and can't shake off that bad cough.

"Penny, who's in the next bed to mine, had a visit one day this week from her daughter, who's a professional singer. Guess what happened! She and I sang a happy song, as I do every day, and before long we were joined by several nurses, who sang along too. It was quite a concert!"

(http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com). All her internet friends will surely miss her.

As a fellow blogger, I pay my homage to her .

Asia cup debacle

It is unfortunate India had no answers to the spin magic of Asantha Mendis. The Lankans have a found a worthy successor to the spin wizard Muthiah Muralitharan. Though it is too early to judge Mendis, he has proved himself beyond any doubts in the Asia cup.

Are the Indians back to their famous jinx in the finals? .This is the second time we are losing a match in the final in recent times .Both times the loss was to another Asian giant. Or is it Dhoni's magic touch is on the wane? As captain Dhoni has faced three successive failures in the finals.Once in the IPL , then in the Tri series at Bangladesh and now in the Asia cup.

It was the familiar and pathetic sight of a losing Indian captain talking about the positives after a defeat. But the fact is that the so called strong batting line up did not apply itself .Gary kristen also needs to do some plain talking. This is the second consecutive defeat in the finals after he took over the reins.

Moral of the story is don't rest on the past glories of the T20 world cup win and the victory down under. Let us hope Dhoni and his men will prove to be lucky atleast in the forthcoming Sri Lanka tour.

Indo US nuclear deal

The Manmohan singh government is under pressure to go ahead and approach IAEA to ratify the India specific safeguards. Time is running out for the Union government . The leftist allies of UPA are stalling this move, primarily because it is a deal with US. They don't seem to have a valid reason other than this. They are using the 'support pull out' so effectively, since majority of the congressmen are also not in favour of a snap poll. Governments failure to control inflation, and the recent gains by BJP in the just concluded assembly polls have made the congress, and its other allies minus leftists in UPA wary of early polls.

Nuclear power generation is the only answer to our increased energy demands. These energy demands will only grow further in the years to come.Further growth and development in nuclear power generation is possible only with external technological assistance.Most importantly for our nuclear fuel requirements, we have to depend on others. Continous hike in crude oil prices will be a regular affair in the coming years.There are no signs of crude oil prices coming down.under these circumstances, nuclear energy is the only viable alternative. After the pokhran test,other nuclear countries are not giving technological assistance.We are not a signatory to the NPT also. Getting fuel from NSG countries is a must for our nuclear plants.

Besides,as PM feels, it is a question of credibility for the country.India will cut a sorry figure in front of the international community. It will surely be a step backward for India. BJP is opposing the deal, for political compulsions. The scientific community, however has both supporters for the deal and those who oppose the deal.

By and large, majority of the public are in favour of the deal, as long as the deal does not jeopardise India's sovereignty.If SJP comes to the rescue and supports the government on the nuclear deal issue, the Manmohan singh government must muster courage to go ahead with the deal, at the risk of severing the ties with the leftists in the interest of the nation.

But the SJP could strike a bargain with congress.Support could be extended for the deal by the SJP in return for a consideration.Obviously the consideration would be dumping the 33 % women reservation Bill in cold storage again. It is a pity political parties have a self centered agenda also,apart from their ideologies. Most of the time compromises are made on ideologies, but not on the hidden agenda. Well, that is politics!

A right cue for government -implement this for cops

The Delhi high court has recently upheld Indian Airlines decision,to ground five overweight air hostesses.HC saw nothing wrong with the rules.HC also opined grace and concessions are not matters of legal right.Most important thing is, HC said there can be no illegality in policy matters.

HC also observed "air hostess job is strenuous and physical fitness is a must.Air crew has to be athletic to deal with any emergency and for that he or she has to be in good shape.One cannot shy away from the reality that by the very nature of their jobs, their overall physical personality is one of the primary consideration,"

Extend this philosophy to our cops.They need to be agile and physically fit and their job is more strenuous than the air hostess's. The demands made on our cops are much more. Most of our cops are pot bellied and are not athletic. Even during ceremonial parades where only selected few participate, one can see the pathetic sight of overweight pot bellied cops among the ranks.

Taking a cue from the HC judgment, all state governments can frame a policy to prescribe age limits, height and weight norms for cops. Those who do not conform to the norms may be given some sort of negative points during performance appraisals by their superiors.This would atleast motivate them to maintain good physique.I feel it is worth trying.

Ten avatars and tons of talent

Yes, it is about Kamal Hassan’s magnum opus Dasavadaram. The movie is just a showcase of talents of one of our best actors. No doubt, Kamal has given a stupendous performance to distinctly differentiate all the ten characters played by him. The make up,the dialogue delivery, modulation of different dialects are all done to perfection.

Still something is amiss in this great effort. It appears a conscious effort was made by Kamal to work for an international recognition. Apart from the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi audience World over, it is very evident he had targeted International viewers also.Seems he is yearning for an international acclaim, rightly so. With this in mind,all the 10 characters were selected by the script writer kamal. That could be one of the reasons that, four out of the 10 characters are foreign nationals, thus giving an international flavour. That has given him the scope to target the international audience and showcase his histrionic talents. As a result he has tailor made the story to suit his 10 characters. That has ended in a run of the mill story with usual stunts, car chasing and all other ingredients of a masala movie, unlike a Kamal film.

Kamal is an actor with great passion for innovation and doing something different in all his movies. On that score he has succeeded. Secondly, an actor playing 10 different characters in a movie is first of its kind in world cinema and is unique. We can be proud that something close to this feat was done by another great Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan decades ago in, Navaratri, donning nine roles. But that catered Tamil audiences only. Obviously Kamal wanted to better Sivaji’s record of nine roles. For commercial reasons he might have made it a trilingual film.

Kamal is a professed atheist. He does not want to antagonize millions of devout and piousViewers amidst his fans and the general public. So he has done a tight rope walk by making the characters talk, for and against religious beliefs and faiths. He has taken care to mouth the atheist dialogues himself, thus maintaining his atheist personal profile in tact. He has also made sure all three major religions of India, namely Hindus, Muslims and Christian characters are portrayed and their religious sentiments are not hurt by any of the dialogues.

The theme is about biological weapons, and might not be comprehensible to every viewer. Care was taken to start the story with a local 12^th century anecdote, rather than the Hollywood style alien scenes at US. To make the story travel to the present times from 12^th century and in many other places in the film, the script writer has to resort to voice over to explain the audience. It is a pity, Kamal has also succumbed to cheap gimmicks and has shown the ex Chief Minister and the current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in the movie. It is obvious many compromises have been made and care is taken not to antagonize any section.

The Rerecording by Devi Sree Prasad is good in patches, especially in the initial scenes and car chases shot in US. Otherwise there is nothing special to mention. Couple of songs by Reshmiah are good. Since Kamal is omnipresent in the movie, he has taken care to give lot of small roles to many others of note. Stars galore can also be witnessed in this film in a host of small roles. All of them have done justice to their roles.

On the whole it is a milestone movie in Kamal’s career and will find a place in record books of world cinema. Kamal has proved once again, he is an international cinema material. Given the hype created by the media , much more was expected .

Ilayaraaja the invincible mastero

The other day I was listening to the old hits of Ilayaraaja from the late 70s to mid eighties. I was just trying to figure out ,what makes him different from many of his compatriots and stand out, as one of the greatest composers of our time. Why even the present day composers are no where near him? .They shine in patches,but whereas the mastero was a class apart and a great number of his songs were a runaway hit.

I feel most of his compositions conveyed the mood of the situation in the movie so aptly .That could be one of the reasons for his composition to become an instant hit . Whatever be the genre of the composition, it aptly conveyed the mood of the song and the film in general. Besides in Raaja's composition the interludes were so different and catchy in almost all his composition.The interludes were in perfect sync and harmony with the main song .Ilayaraaja is a master in interlude orchestrations. You will never find a noticeable jump anywhere in the song after the interlude. I think only geniuses of Ilayaraaja's calibre can do this.

Some of the compositions of the mastero which I like most

Paadariyen (sindhu bhairavi) is a master peice
Thuliyele ada vantha(chinna thambi) is simply marvelous.
Aracha chandanam (chinnathambi)
Raasathi unna kaanatha (vaidehi kaathirunthaal)
Indraikku en intha (vaidehi kaathirunthaal)
Mathura marukozhunthu ( Enga uuru paattukaaran)
Chinna mani kuyile (amman koil kizhakkaley)
Aayiram thamarai mottukkaley (Alaigal oyvathillai)
Kaana karunkuyile (poonthottakavalkaaaran)
Kalaivaaniye (Sindhu bhairavi)
Poomalai vaanki vantheen (sindhu bhairavi)
Chinna thaayaval (Dalapathy) ..... and the list is not exhaustive .

It is very difficult to list out all the hits of the great mastero.

Tobacco menace - After all Anbumani Ramdoss is right

A recent study by WHO says more than 55 % of 13 to 15 year olds worldwide,take to smoking lured by advertisements on billboards and 20 % of them owned an item with the logo of a cigarette brand.This clearly shows Ads have a great influence on youngsters. The Ad companies target 80 % of the youth of the developing countries.

The May issue of 'American journal of Health Behaviour' says there is a clear connection between exposure to tobacco Ads and consumption.The tobacco companies are falsely associating use of tobacco products ,with qualities such as glamour,energy and sex appeal.No wonder that Ramdoss says the celebrity movie stars portraying cigarette smoking scene,will have a bad influence on the country's youth.

Some appalling statistics on the dreaded puff

• smoking is expected to kill 10 lakh people annually in india from 2010.

• smoking will be the primary cause behind one in five of all male deaths and one in twenty of all female deaths in India

• nearly 70% of these one million deaths,will die young.

• over 50% of tobacco deaths will occur in illiterate men or women. 80% of them residing in rural India.
  

• There are nearly 12 crore smokers in India .Smoking kills 1 lakh females and 6lakh males in India every year, between the ages 30 to 69.
  

Who else other than Anbumani Ramdoss, the union Health Minister,could be concerned over this?. Traditionally, movies,film stars and celebrities have a great influence on the country's youth.They tend to imitate their hairstyle,gait,dress,six pack physique,smoking etc,etc.What does it show?.They don't think it is just a film.They imitate them in real life.The argument that it is just a portrayal of a character is lost,when some one imitates them in real life . It is something beyond that.Film stars would do an yoeman service by avoiding such scenes in their movies.This appeal is made by an Union Health Minister of a country where the tobacco menace has reached a dangerous level.Anbumani Ramdoss is not making this appeal in his personal capacity .He is making this appeal as the Union Health Minister .I feel it is perfectly appropriate .

Ramdoss's adversaries say, there are other pressing issues to be addressed by the union Health Minister on priority.Amitabh Bachan has asked Ramdoss, to try to sell his ideas to government staff first. This is absurd .Agree ,there are other important issues before the Health Ministry.But that doesn't mean the Health Minister should not talk about,the ill effects of smoking and the influence of film stars on the country's youth on smoking . Besides, so far, Ramdoss has aired his views on this,only in appropriate forums.

Central government and many state governments have made documentaries in regional languages using many popular film stars, throughout India, for family planning campaigns ,to eradicate polio , to promote literacy ,to fight AIDS ,to create awarenes on many social problems/evils.Why was it done ?.Only because the film stars have a great influence on the public . On the same ground, Anbumani Ramdoss is making this appeal to the Actors to refrain from acting in scenes depicting cigarette smoking.Remember he is making only an appeal.An appeal for a good cause.Why should the actors get offended ?.Their defence is that creativity of a film maker, should not be curbed.I don't think,refraining from depicting a smoking scene would curb the creativity of a film maker .

Pandit Nehru and Kamaraj were believed to be smokers.But they have never smoked in public gaze. Why did they refrain from public smoking ? They did not want to set a bad example to others. Because they were role models,to many youngsters of their time.Obviously many film stars are role models to many of our youngsters.I feel Anbumani Ramdoss,in his capacity as Union Health Minister is perfectly right,in making this appeal to the film personalities.Despite taunts,jeers and criticism ,he is steadfast in his views. Great! Ramdoss ,carry on your crusade against smoking .

Gender inequality

The draft bill for women's representation in state legislatures and parliament has been placed before the house. Whether it will get the legal status, remains to be seen.On previous two occasions, the same draft bill was dumped on protests by parties like SJD and RJD .Although the professed stand of these parties are in favour of reservation, they have some reservations on the proposed bill.They seek a caste based quota on this reservation .
A pertinent question need to be answered. Forget about the bill,why sufficient women are not coming forward to contest elections to state legislatures and parliament as of now?

• Are they wary of the dirty politics ?
• Is the male political bastion not giving them sufficient elbow room ?
• Does the family members object ?
• Is it due to the illiteracy level among majority of the rural women folks ?
• Are political parties having a gender bias ?

There is considerable increase in women empowerment, in many other fields .But the percentage is abysmally low.Besides ,it is all from the elite group and not from the mainstream women folk.When this is the situation one can easily surmise on the thinking of some of the political parties, having a predominant rural support base.Once this bill is passed ,it would become imperative to field 33.3 percent women candidates in each election.In other words the men folk would coerce or intimidate women to contest elections (since many of them would not opt to contest an election on their own volition) . They would be literally driven by the menfolk in their party or family . With 33.3 percent women members in a house , it goes without saying, many of them would even become ministers. One can visualise the kind of extra constitutional authorities that might come in to play.This is what is happening in panchayats now , where this reservation has already been implemented.

Imagine a house ,with one third of the members as women.It would be a colourful house.The presiding officers of the house of representatives may, have some reason to smile.They can at least hope ,the women members would not let loose pandemonium in the house and they can conduct the business peacefully.The reverse could also happen. The women folk could get influenced by the male members and the situation could get worse also.

If the idea behind this bill is women empowerment , I feel the priorities should be elsewhere, as rightly said by the Nobel laureate Amrtya Sen. We should first start with eradicating the female infanticide.Improve literacy among rural women.Give equal employment opportunities in all fields.Above all, should work towards a society with equality in economic independence of women.Once all these are achieved , I don't think there will ever be a need for a bill like this.

The new face of Cricket

Cricket today is different from what it was years ago . During the Test era (When no ODI's were there) Cricketing skills of a batsman was purely his staying power at the crease. With the advent of ODI's it turned out to be the scoring power of a batsman .Now with T20 it is is the hitting power of the batsman for every ball he faces . Olden days Cricket was all about shot selection on the merit of the ball.Now it is all about how hard a batsman can hit the ball irrespective of the merit of the ball and sky rocket the ball out of the park .Coaches like Greg Chappel used to say Cricket is not a rocket science. But now it seems it has got some thing to do with rocket science , looking at the way SIXES are hit in the IPL tournament!!!After all cricket is an one ball game . One good delivery can get the batsman out . If the one ball game dictum is true , no one can find fault with the way even established international batsman play the T20 games .There is an element of risk in swinging the bat at every ball he faces .It is a question of probability .The batsman may connect or may not connect .There is also an element of luck , with the kind of field placements in T20and the fielding lapses.The batsman deliberatley takes these risks and the success rate of even a good batsman can be erratic .

The IPL T20 tournament's,Corporate Franchise's have already brought in a sense of insecurity to great players of the game .Big names in international Cricket are in disarray.They do not know what is in store for them . Few more bad games may even jeopardize their cricketing career.This is all because cricket has been commercialized and the niceties and nuances of the game has been lost .The HIRE and FIRE policy of corporate bodies are something new to the cricket icons of the nation. Even if the team on national duty did not perform , at the most the players were booed and had to face the public and media ire for some time . Soon it will be forgotten and the next time he or the team performs well , they get a different treatment from the media and the public. This was OK for many of our cricketers . This doesn't mean they performed below par on national duty .Every time they play for the nation , they give out their best . Win or loss in cricket depends on so many factors like the opponent , pitch , form of the players ,luck and skill .Remember , there are so many variables and after all it is a game. One wins and one loses .Good sportsman spirit understands this and does not mistrust its players BUT CORPORATE FRANCHISE'S are different . This is also a business venture for them . As is their won't they want accountability and deliverance and forget this is a game.

Is this good for the game ? Apart from many senior professionals , this could kill many budding talents also . The lure of money has made it an instant success with the players .It is also popular with spectators .Only the posterity can tell the impact of T20 on cricket !

Karnataka polls

Karnataka polls are scheduled for May 10,2008 .I feel the Karnataka electorate should vote for a single party rule.The largest single party should have simple majority to form a government on its own strength.In the event of a fractured mandate ,national parties like Congress and BJP would again be at the mercy of the smaller regional parties.
Once bitten twice shy .
Both Congress and BJP have learnt bitter lessons from the aging wily politician manniana maga Deve Gowda and his two sons. An hung assembly would once again make Deve Gowda the King maker.Public at large were disillusioned with HDK's refusal to hand over the reins to BSY last time.Despite this HDK,appears to be the most popular among the prospective CM candidates . Strange and inexplicable are the ways of the learned and knowledgable Indian electorate . Probably he appeared to be honest and simple in his approach and was fairly good at cheap gimmicks.
Besides the national parties , the DMK ,and TN political parties are keenly awaiting the Karnataka poll results. A congress ruled Karnataka would be in the DMK's wishlist.It would expect the congress government in Karnataka to resolve the Hognekal dispute to the mutual satisfaction of both the states.On the other hand a BJP win or a coalition government could further hot up and escalate the issue or it might go the Cauvery way as an unresolved and perennial dispute between the two neighbouring states .
Whatever may be the outcome ,and whoever occupies the saddle ,one fondly hopes the new incumbent government would in right earnest address to the growing needs of the metro and maintain cordial relations with its neighbouring states .

Language

Language fanatics only finally turn jingoists.Languages are only meant for communication .In many Indian regional languages lot of English words are used in day to day conversations.This is because it was used for ages and is convenient . Besides it is easily understood by others than taking pains to find out a native equivalent .Even if there is a native equivalent in some Indian languages ,most people are not familiar with them . Since it is unfamiliar you may have to explain them using the English word in some cases .Some langauage enthusiasts go to the extent of belligerence while dealing with people who use foreign words in conversation. I feel this is uncalled for .

To cite a few common English words in use are Bus , Bus stand, Train , Railway Station , Shirt Pants , Button ,Tailor ,Hotel ,Lodge ,cycle ,car so on and so forth .The list is by no means exhaustive.What is wrong in using these words in day to day conversations .

I appreciate people who try to coin new words or equivalents for these words in Indian regional languages.They should first coin such words and popularise them . Until such time there is nothing wrong in using foreign words.

The problem with chauvanists is that they decry those who use English words along with regional language.These language lovers should be tolerant and continue to strive hard to develop the language without hurting others who speak the same language of theirs .After all they are all their own brethren.

The Harbhajan Slap

The two bad boys of Indian cricket have made news again for the wrong reasons . The punishment handed out to the sardar is by all means perfectly alright . Just a couple of months back the entire nation stood behind the Sardar in the needless controversy down under on the firm belief the turbanator was not guilty at that time .The entire Australian media blamed Bhaji for erratic behaviour.But back home Indians thought otherwise.

Now Bhaji has let down the entire nation by slapping a fellow Indian teammate .Whatever might have been the provocation the Sardar shouldn't have done this to a teammate.The IPL match referee has again erred by letting Sree go scot-free.It is high time he is also given some punishments .Had Sree also been punished , it would have been a precedent and sent a strong message to all the players .

Hope better sense would prevail between the two, when they resume national duty together and will not carry any animosity .