42000 litres of herbal deodrant to control mumbai garbage stench.

It was so surprising to know that the Mumbai Municipal corporation is spending Rs. 48 lakhs to buy 42000 litres of deodrant to control the stench from one of its garbage landfills in the city's outskirts. Is it the solutions....well we all know the answer...This shows the blatant wastage of public money and so openly.

How this happens and who on earth comes out with such brilliant is difficult to fathom.

History - The start of the North London Derby rivalry..Arsenal & Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal & Totenham Hotspur rivalry...
The enmity between the two clubs was born when Woolwich Arsenal crossed the River Thames in 1913 in search of a more promising catchment area, and bought land from a College of Divinity at Highbury which they developed into a football stadium in what Spurs regarded as their back yard. The bitterness plumbed new depths in 1919 when the First Division was expanded by two clubs on the resumption of football after the First World War. Since Chelsea and Spurs had finished in the bottom two places in 1914-15, it was expected they would retain their top-flight status, with the first two clubs from the Second Division joining them. But the ambitious and Machiavellian Arsenal chairman, Sir Henry Norris, engineered a League Management Committee ballot to decide who should go into the First Division, and worked assiduously behind the scenes to deliver the votes Arsenal (who’d finished sixth in the Second Division, later amended to fifth) needed to ensure their elevation. The Gunners went up at Tottenham’s expense and have remained there without interruption ever since. Spurs have neither forgotten nor forgiven the politicking.

But the tremendous rivalry between the fans were much fiercer on the terraces than the respective dressing-rooms - but, to be fair, that is only to be expected. Most supporters live in the same area all their lives, while players come and go. Usually they haven’t grown up in the middle of Arsenal-Spurs arguments - comments from the legendary goalkeeper Pat Jennings, a genuine hero at both White Hart Lane and Highbury.

Indian Job scenario - 2.4 million apply for 20000 open positions

24 lakh applicants for 20,000 SBI jobs
State Bank of India, the country's largest bank, has received nearly 2.4 million applications for 20,000 clerical jobs. While the bank itself is surprised by the response, the interest has also generated some revenue for the public sector player. With each form costing Rs 250, the bank has raked in around Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million).
Source - Business Standard

I think India does not care ...It is indeed a soft state.

Its a shame that we have 2 million illegal Bangladeshi's in India
Yes, you read it right...we have over 2 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and over 6 lakh of them are in Delhi itself. What are we doing? Nothing...Infact it is a political issue..believe me ..Many of our elected representatives are not comfortable handling this as they think it might hurt Muslim sentiments..What does one mean by Muslim sentiments? It is an often used term in India along with Communalism. It's complete nonsense actually although i am not a Muslim myself but being a common man i can safely say this. It is our unfortunate political systems whoch has given thought to such ideologies like Muslim sentiments and Communalism. The most repeated statement by politicians who are opposed to BJP/Shiv Sena is that they are communal but what will congress say of it's tie up with MIM in Andhra Pradesh and Muslim League(IUML) in Kerala and even Left parties have a tacit understanding with PDP (Abdul Naser Madani) and some othe Muslim splinter groups in kerala. Arethey not communal? Also what does Raj Thackeray mean by stating that Mumbai is only for Maharashtrians. These thought processes are just unacceptable. We need to cut this crap and instead focus on challenges questioning the very integrity and uniqueness of this great country. I can say boldly that not a single politician in India today has the audacity to take the initiative of driving out the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from India. Do they know that in certain areas in Assam these illegal migrants are a sizeable minority and have a deciding influence on represents them in the local assembly or in New Delhi ( yes, they have even managed to get valid voter ID cards). Why can't we have a law enacted which ensures that they are all deported legally within a timespan and in a manner which conforms to the Human Rights issues involving the goverment and the NGO's. No we will never do this as this is int he interests of India....
In a country which is dilly dallying the issue of hanging the prime suspect of the Parliament attack because it may hurt the Muslim sentiments it is far fetching idea to expect deportation of all these Bangladeshi immigrants.
It is really sad to know that officially there was nothing done on July 26th the Kargil victory day ....what message will it send to the common man and to our enemies in general? We do not care...And hence....
dear citizens of India be prepared for further such dastardly acts of violence that you are seeing happening frequently in many cities of India. The root cause does lie with our own intentions of India becoming a great nation than just a nation with potential. We need action, words are a passe...

In the future, if Arsène stays at Arsenal, then Arsenal will always be at the top. He is everything for Arsenal."

These words from Alexander Hleb a.k.a Mr. Dribbley McNoscore is more than enough to assuage all the bad blood that we all Arsenists (Arsenal Supporters) carry with his protracted transfer to the " socalled big club " FC Barcelona. Anyways i firmly believe that his successor Samir Nasri might just do better than him (score more goals). Only time will tell .....but how wonderfull it will be if we go for either Gareth Barry or Xabi Alonso as they will just be the right one's for our season. I really like both of them but they way we deal it really will surprise me if Arsene will go for them......But nonetheless......... we still will continue our chant for our esteemed coach cum professor .... Arsene knows OR In Arsene , we know.

Bangladesh has encroached upon 500 acres: Assam (India)

This is really sad and unacceptable to digest beign an Indian. I have this basic problem with understanding India being percieved (actually it is) as a soft state.
It is totally unacceptable that Bangladesh encroach 500 acres of our land. How on earth it is possible? and their is only one way to get it back - just send your troops and reoccupy it. We cannot have our politicians compromising on our nation. This will also send a message to our immediate neighbours that they better not mess with us.

iPhone - the new apple 3G phone in India - My take on it.

What is my take over all this hype on the new iphone 3 G launch worldwide especially Asia..

I am ok...as it is not launched in India now and do not envisage iphone launched in India as claimed by this year end as we are yet to resolve and roll out the 3G platform in India. But iphone is to be provided by Airtel,Vodafone & maybe reliance(the last one ..not sure).

1. My intitial understand and feedback is the newer 3G version is lighter as it has a plastic back and not metal as in the initial one.
2. It ensures for better sound quality and will definetly be lighter in weight and carriage.
3. I also personally like the all black iphone than the former.
4. The new one will also be better to grip.
5. I think the internet will be faster in the 3G version and i have read that the speakers are much louder, offering better audio quality but it may be little taxing on the battery.
6. It has a great GPS navigation software and is a big plus (although i do not have any idea of its practicality in india). I have also heard that its touch interface is awesome.
7. The iphone has got keyboards in about 20 languages.
8. It has a facility to save photos received via e-mail directly into my photo albums, and an ability to see who left me voice mails (a capability called visual voice mail that was a hit with the prior iPhone as well).
9. The Safari browser lets you keep open as many as eight Web pages at the same time not ofund in other phones.
10. You can also save your favorite sites as icons on your home page for quicker access.
11. It has access to the Apple appstore offering access to hundreds of cool third-party applications, such as news and games and related reviews.

Some of the minuses are little difficult to understand though

1. it does not have a bluetooth function
2. it does not support a voice dialling feature
3. there is no video capature capability
4. The stocks seen online has a 20 minute delay and not real time
5. You can use the phone's iTunes application to purchase songs, but not podcasts. You have to download the latter onto your iTunes account first, then sync up the phone.
6. since it does not have a qwerty keyboard could also have an additional option of a stylus.
7. I also heard that iphone has a 152 page manual and it is far too much time sought to spend over a phone to understand it.
8. To delete an application from the device, for example, you need to put your finger on the icon on the screen and hold it there until the icon starts to "wiggle"—a shaking motion that's funny and cute. Then, you need to press a little cross that magically appears on the corner of the icon to delete the application. There is no way you can figure this out without instructions. ...little funny
9. GPS, which is one of the main selling points of the new iPhone, isn't fully integrated with the preloaded software. Instead of using the GPS capability to automatically link me with weather forecasts for my current location, I had to manually set up my city to get local weather. The included Maps application could use GPS to track my movements on a map, but didn't provide turn-by-turn navigation instructions in a convenient way. A slide may say, "Turn right onto Burnside Rd." long after you've made that turn (and the accompanying map shows that you've made it). I had to flip to the next direction manually—clearly, not something I am going to do while driving. I would have expected Apple to start offering turn-by-turn, voice-enabled directions by now.
10. Apple is also not clear as to what will be the manner in which a service provider will provide the iphone in India as we have a diammetrically different apporach on cellphone regulation and hence a big question mark on the 3G version of iphone's pricing.
    
    overall a great piece of marvell....of course good to own one.

Arsenal football club related news for India

This is great news that my beloved sporting club is doing some training for our own kids to help make future football stars in India.

Arsenal coaches Paul Shipwright and Martin Davis are imparting training to a group of 30 boys selected from across various Indian cities. 15 trainees will be shortlisted after a nine-day camp, scheduled to end on June 11, and flown to Arsenal's academy in London next month.
The 15 trainees will also get a chance to play against teams from England, Canada and Spain at an international football festival in London.
Shipwright said the Gunners are looking at the option of opening a soccer school in India.
"We are talking to local organisations in India. We hope we will be getting news on this soon," he said.

Source- rediff.com

some OIL related economics for us Indians

It seems even my decision to buy a the normal grocery on a weekend has got some serious connection with the OIL prices. This is a lot and too much for a common man to think through...i feel quite unecessary burden on his already heavy shoulders...
The latest talk is that the demand for OIL will come down globally with the emerging markets especially giant consumers like India (India is the 6th laregst OIL & GAS consumer globally) cutting down their OIL subsidies drastically, as the cost is turning out to be a big burden on the day to day running of the goverment. Fuel subsidies in emerging economies have been a major factor in keeping demand for oil strong, and so maintaining its high price.
US is also one of the major factors of this strong demand as over the last decade it has increased its OIL reserves (courtesy funded wars in IRAQ 1991& early 2000) considerably. I guess it has doubled its oil reserves in the last 2 decades or so.

When people speak of $ 200 per barrel prices in the near future, it makes me shiver as to what will happen to me at a personal level. Life is too tough and it is turning out to be one sordid saga without much to relish about...

Some startling facts of India being misruled...

The following are some extracts from the Approach Paper to the 11th Five-Year Plan, prepared and published by the Planning Commission last year(2007).

1. Official poverty stands at 28 per cent. Significantly, one has to appreciate that the current definition of poverty is hopelessly inadequate. It is defined on the premise of whether a person can afford to consume 2,400 calories of food in rural India or 2,100 calories of food in urban India per day. Naturally, this limited definition ignores the other bare minimum necessities required for a decent living. Obviously, if one were to consider a more realistically defined poverty line, based on the basic needs for a decent living, the number of poor in India could be far more than the officially stated figure of 30 crore (300 million).
2. Literacy rate is still below 70 per cent.
3. The most difficult task is to ensure good quality of instruction and the position in this respect is disturbing. A recent study found that 38 per cent of the children who have completed four years of schooling cannot read a small paragraph with short sentences meant to be read by a student of class 2. About 55 per cent of such children cannot divide a three-digit number by a one-digit number.
   Drop out rate in primary schools for the country as a whole was at a staggering 31 per cent in 2003-04.
4. India's infant mortality rates, under-five mortality rates, maternal mortality rates and immunisation rates are higher than that of Sri Lanka, China and Vietnam.
5. The biggest constraint in achieving a faster growth of manufacturing is the fact that infrastructure -- roads, railways, ports, airports, communication and electricity -- is not up to the standards prevalent in our competitor countries.

The net result is that today India languishes at the bottom half of the global Human Development Index (HDI) wedged between underdeveloped countries like Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, and Solomon Islands.
Apart from the underperformance in the social sectors, the impact of the lack of governance needs to be understood in monetary terms too. The debt of the central government stands at approximately Rs 25 lakh crore (Rs 25 trillion) as at March 31, 2007: that is, 25 followed by 12 zeroes!
What needs to be further understood is that like an individual, a government too can borrow -- provided it has corresponding assets. It may be noted that the foreign debt comprised within this overall debt is still computed at historical costs (when the exchange rate was say Rs 16 per US $), thereby suppressing the aggregate by trillions of rupees.
Secondly, what is indeed appalling is that the government concedes that it has a liability aggregating to Rs 12 lakh crore (Rs 12 trillion) without corresponding assets. Finally, for the balance assets, no provision is made for depreciation. Net of depreciation, this figure would be even more abysmal. All these are further manifestations of our mis-governance.
Needless to emphasise, if this is the position of the central government, one can imagine the financial position of the state governments. The interest bill coupled with the salary burden has a debilitating impact on the finances of the State. Even a 'progressive' state government like Tamil Nadu spends approximately 70 per cent -- yes, 70 per cent -- of its revenues on the salary of its employees.
If salary were to be such a high proportion of the total revenues, there is hardly any sum available for development, which in turn depends on fresh borrowings. For the benefit of a mere 2 per cent of the population, the rest are taxed and in the name of government, we continue to suffer this absurdity silently.
It would appear that the government exists not for the greater good of the greater number, but greater good of its own employees. Such a model is purely unsustainable.
Source - rediff.com; Mr. M.R. Venkatesh.