Simple Sharing

The same old story repeated once again. Demand for a campus of a University at Kishanganj, Bihar and a very soft target, Stop the Railways. And that too, without much prior notice or news. Should I term it as conflict between  Right to have education and Right to free movement. I think, that will be oversimplification of the issue. The main problem is that we got so much used to this kind of situation, that this is just another incident. There is and there cannot be any sort of conflict. This is an attempt of covering your excuses. If you ask the agitators - “Why this agitation? So many thousand passengers are suffering due to this”, I know we will get the same old answer from them - “Ask the Government, they are not listening to us, our demands are justified and for the sake of education , we have been left with no other options and so on …..”.

Now, lets ask the State Government, their answer will certainly be like ” We are seriously considering this issue and hope to come up with something positive shortly, but the agitators are not understanding our limitations, they should be patient and ask the Central Government. In fact, our party have raised this issue before anyone else as we felt their is a genuine need of such campus before anybody else understood this. The opposition is unnecessarily trying to gain political mileage from this issue and so on …..” . Lets slide our mike towards the Central Government and their answer will be “There is a total failure of law and order in the state, the State Government has failed both in maintaining the law and order situation in the area as well as it overlooked the grievances of locals for many years and so on…”. Our next turn will be the Ministry of Railways and their excuse will be ” We are helpless, maintenance of law and order is a state subject, we are in continuous contact with the State Level Officials, but they also expressed their helplessness, in this situation, we are trying our best to provide sufficient food and water to the passengers and we also hope to run some extra services to normalise the situation. Passenger security is at our topmost priority”.

And after so many interviews, what we find is we have ended up where we have started, My humble questions and suggestion to the parties is as following:

Agitators – Go and paralyze the Government Offices, paralyze the Assembly, if your demands are justified, you shouldn’t be afraid of doing that. Do not put ordinary citizens at ransom.

State Government – Why haven’t you worked on this issue before, why there no negotiations before the agitation began. What compensation can you offer to the sufferers for this. This has to be big, may be Rs.50000/- per passenger.

Central Government – Why can’t you take action against the State Government for non maintenance of law and order? Is this a political compulsion? Why you haven’t negotiated with the agitators apart from Central Government? Mere saying that this is a State Government issue will not do anymore.

Railways – Are you informed about this agitation in advance, if yes, why haven’t you worked it out with the State Government well in advance?  if no, why your information channel is so poor? Again, you have to compensate the passenger, by say, another Rs.75000/- per passenger.

Passengers – Do not forget this incident, go to the court for your losses. Compel both the Railways and the Government to pay for their non performance. Go to facebook, if the agitators can form a forum, the sufferers can also do the same.

Please do not get used to what is going on.

My daughter is of the habit of reporting what happened in her school before sleeping. She is in standard II now. Stunnigly, she told that today Priyanshu and Sohel had a fight and during that Priyanshu told Sohel – “Tu muslim hai, tu ganda hai”.  Now, her question was if we have evolved from Apes, then whether Apes are also having religions like ours. When I answered her “No”, she again questioned – “If Apes can stay together without any religion, why can’t humans ?”

I answered her – “May be because not all of us are having that much of wisdom as her, May be because, the decision on whether to fight on religion is taken by adults, not by kids. May be because adults dont ask basic questions”

What do you say ??

I have been trying to guess and understand why and whom do people support while watching the World Cup Soccer. After watching different matches in different circumstances, I found some of the reasons which I think would be good to share.

Well, obviously if my country is playing, there cannot be any other reason. But, India is not playing and I can see giant national flags of Brazil and Argentina all over. Now, why do Kolkatan’s in particular support Brazil or Argentina?

The answer that many gave to me to this question is too over simplification of things. Most of them feel that the Latin American countries possess more skill than any other part of the world. I humbly beg to differ. We haven’t seen much of Pele live, what we know about this legend is through articles, “Giants of Brazil” and what our seniors told us. Now, from “Giants of Brazil” and even through “Escape to Victory”, without any shatter of doubt, it can be said that the then Brazil footballers were too skillful. Too skillful for even present Brazilian footballers. But at the same time we haven’t seen that much of Puscas, D Stefano, Eusobio, even Cruef. Yes, we witnessed the great Maradona doing impossible things in ’86. But, the fact that is also to be taken into consideration is there is no 2^nd Maradona or 2^nd Pele in Latin America now. Even a footballer even equivalent to Garencha or Kempes is difficult to find now a days. Yes, Messi of Argentina, Forlan of Uruguay has something, but no point in comparing them with the above legends.

So, are we just supporting Latin American teams because Pele, Garencha, Maradona, Kempes belong to this area? I think so. We are still occupied with the legacy of this extra ordinary talents of Latin America and also on the other hand as we haven’t seen enough of European legendaries like Puscas, D Stefano, George Best, Eusobio. So, a preoccupied skill supporting mindset is there which till today drives us towards Latin America.

But, what now? No doubt that we give more numbers on skill play than hard earned error free football. May be that’s one of the reason, despite having respect for Germany, its not our favourite team till now. But, if skill is to be given priority, Latin America does not stands tall at least in this World Cup. Apart from Messi and Forlan, I don’t think you can give much score to any Latin American, on the other hand, you have David Via, Didier Drogba (though he failed to deliver much this World Cup, but his Chelsea performance must be taken into consideration), Shalalara of South Africa, Gyan of Ghana, and a few African Defenders and teams like Slovakia, Switzerland, USA delivered quite a handsome skill play. Even a few Asian footballers have also left impressive performances behind.

So, are we a bit biased on supporting countries on the basis of skill or we are expecting too much from teams like Brazil or Argentina and they have done a reasonably good job so far. Hmmm, difficult to answer though, still I think we are a bit biased and pre occupied towards Latin America because of Pele and Maradona.

Also, I found some people whose support changes. It doesn’t means that since I am a supporter of Germany or Italy at the beginning of the tournament, it will continue to the end. Our natural favoritism towards Black may drive us to be supporter of an African team, especially if the opponent is England or France or any other European team. Also, on the other hand, I have seen people from Chandernagore, who support and dance for France as they have ruled them once. Strange reason, but it exists. A friend of mine, who was a die hard fan of Brazil, turned into a great supporter of North Korea after their excellent display against Brazil, but later got very disappointed when they digested the 7-0 defeat against Portugal.

I have been trying to be as impartial as possible and maintain to be a supporter of good football. But again, it is too difficult to be just neutral. During the last World Cup, I was really impressed with Cote’D’Ivorie because of their performance with Argentina though they disappointed a lot this time. Even today itself, at certain point of time, I started supporting Slovakia but again when Italy came back excellently, I wished that they have scored their third goal.

Though, the research is non conclusive, but I found many facets which I should have looked into earlier. Some support teams for Geo Political reasons, some of ethnic reasons, even people can support teams for religious grounds, one can hate a team as because they ruled him or his predecessors once or can also support them for being a good ruler. The basic that good football should be praised and appreciated often shifts and we look into the game with different perspective with preoccupied mindsets. Well, there is no harm in it. But still, some more thought to this could have made the game even better.

What a match! Simply great to watch. May be one of the best matches played so far in this world cup. Especially the 2nd half produced quite a good extent of quality football. I think, the change in the Italian side came with Pirlo coming in. The team gained momentum, the speed of ball play increased, fruitful moves were made and both the teams showed some good play of soccer. All the Slovak goals are cool headed scorers. They deserve extra appraise for this wonderful effort. Considering the pressure of the big match, I must say that they kept the things going wonderfully. The 2nd Italian goal was a gem of a goal. So well judged and well placed, the scorer must be very much disappointed with the final result. The final moments turned a bit more physical than necessary, still thanks both the Azuri’s and the Slovaks for presenting such a outstanding game.

A gaping, perfectly circular sinkhole appeared Sunday in Guatemala City, devouring a three-story building and killing at least one man in the process. The gargantuan cavity appears to be about 60 feet wide and 30 stories or 100 feet deep, according to National Geographic.

Now, some describes the formation as follows:

What caused the sinkhole?
Sinkholes often appear in areas where the rock below the ground is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can be naturally dissolved by circulating ground water. As the sediment dissolves, caves and air pockets develop underneath the land surface. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces, then the ground collapses and results in a sinkhole. Natural depressions that collect water and man-made structures such as houses and streets with poor drainage are especially vulnerable to sinkholes. Heavy rainfall, like that from Tropical Storm Agatha, only accelerates the process.

Where did all the material that used to be inside the hole go?
Most of it is eroded and washed to the bottom of the hole long before the final collapse into an open hole. When the hole opens, the surface material simply drops to the bottom.

While the Guatemala City sinkhole swallowed an entire three-story building, no one is listed as dead as a result. Residents in the area have moved out and scientists are studying the structural integrity of the hole and surrounding soil, in case it should widen.

More images can be seen here.

See the following video, really amazing.

The Calcutta High Court today allowed Kolkata Knight Riders, one of the teams competing in IPL, to use loudspeakers and set off firecrackers at the Eden Gardens stadium during T20 matches.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice MS Shah and Justice PC Ghose, in an interim injunction, stayed a notice by West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) banning use of loudspeakers and firecrackers.The board had also asked the Knight Riders to ensure that cheering and clapping by the expected 40,000 strong crowd should be restricted to below 60 decibels, which the court struck off in its interim order. While allowing Knight Riders Sports Private limited, co-owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, the court also permitted use of firecrackers within 90 decibel sound limit. The Knight Riders’ counsels assured the court that the crackers would be more a display of colours than sound. On February 24, WBPCB, citing the West Bengal Noise Regulation (Pollution and Control) 2000 Act, had issued a notice banning use of firecrackers, loudspeakers and also restricting cheering in the stadium.

Now, the fight is in between 60 and 90 decibels, The KKR has cited reasons that there are no nearby schools and the matches will be played during non-office hours. Fair enough, nothing to say against them. If the law is to protect students and ensure non disturbance to office workers, there lies the question. What about the pollution that are to be faced by the spectators? Are these laws meant to safeguard studies and working hours only? What about health hazards?

Wikipedia says “Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat, or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution.” So, leave aside living organisms, what about the physical systems that are going to get polluted? Who will determine the natural levels? Are this arguments have been submitted before the Hon’ble High Court? We will keep a close eye on this.

Heard and read a lot about Henry appologizing, FIFA denying replay. The argument of FIFA could have been accepted, if the handball was unintentional, but look at the video below, its clear like water, his left arm went ahead of its natural action to stop the ball. I know, this has been a do or die match for both the teams, but winning in this way, moreover letting a country enter World Cup in this manner is not acceptable. What is FIFA for? To implement things or to regulate the sports? Why a replay cannot be given? Ireland surely deserves a rematch. Watch this video and decide yourself.

The districts of Hooghly and North 24 Parganas are connected only through Nivedite Bridge at Dunlop – Bally where the width of River Hooghly is around 700 meters, (map the distance at http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm) .

Read the rest of this entry »

I have been searching long where I kept this formula of calculating EMI, well, while trying to find something else, I got hold of this again. A very usefull formula by which you can calculate your EMI instantly.

Loan Amount = L

Rate of Interest = R

Loan liquidation in no. of months = M

Then Instalment (A) is given by

V = (1+R/1200)^M/(1+R/1200)^{M – 1}

A = LR/1200 X V

Note that the calculation is based on the condition that the installment is monthly and interest is on monthly rests.

Royal Bengal Tiger

A Royal Bengal tiger attacked two fishermen at a Sunderbans forest on 25th August, killing one and seriously injuring the other.

Rohinikanta Das (40) was killed when the tiger attacked them at a creek in Chulkathi forest, Das, a resident of South 24-Parganas district, was killed on the spot while his friend sustained serious injuries and was hospitalised.

If noticed carefully, the increase of such conflicts have risen to an extent which is genuinely a matter of concern, there should not be any doubt on lack of prey base for this Big Cat at Sunderbans, yet no sincere attempts have been noticed from Government’s end to build a natural prey base for the Tigers. How many days they will have to wait to eat? Maybe 2011!

So H.S. results are out and its time now to get admitted to colleges, thankfully, days of long ques are gone and online admissions are on. Here are the link of some of the major colleges of Kolkata. Would be glad if you people add more.

Bethun College
www.bethuneadmissions.ac.in
Goenka College – Sealdah
www.goenkacollegeadmissions.com
Heramba Chandra College
www.herambachandradmissions.com
Lady Brabourne College
www.ladybrabourneadmissions.com
Presidency College
www.presidencyadmissions.net
www.presidencycollegekolkata.ac.in
Scotish Church College
www.scottishadmissions.com
www.scottishchurch.ac.in
St. Xaviers College
www.sxccal.edu
Bethun College
www.bethunecollege.ac.in
Jogmaya Devi College
www.jogamayadevicollege.org
Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College
www.brsnc.com
Sealdah Surendra College
www.surendranathcollege.org
Bangabasi College
www.bangabasi.org
Prafulla Chandra College, South City – Evening
www.pccsouthcity.com
Maharaja Manindra Chandra College – Shyambazar
www.maharajamanindrachandracollege.org
Shri Shikshayatan
www.shrishikshayatancollege.com
Dinabandhu Andrews College, Garia
www.dacollege.org
Moulana Azad College
www.moulanaazadcollege.org
Asutosh College
www.asutoshcollege.in

I have been wondering since a few months on the whereabouts of Mr. Comedy King – Kader Khan. Since a couple of years he seems to have been disappeared all of a sudden. No public appeareance, no movies, no script writing, no dialogue writing. While surfing through the TV channels today, I came accross one which was telecasting one of his movies, then after searching for his whereabouts, my respect for him even got deeper.

Before joining the films, he was earlier (1970-75) teaching in Saboo Siddik Polytechnic, Byculla, Mumbai as Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Read the rest of this entry »

What most of the citizens of West Bengal anticipated and what the CPI(M) polibureau and its State leadership failed to apprehend has taken place accordingly. CPI(M) are left with 9 seats out of 42 with the Left Front being able to manage only 15. Its true that the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance has won most of the seats, but it would be more proper to put it in this way – The Left Front rather the CPI(M) has lost most of the seats. What I mean to say is that the mandate seems to be more against the Left than in favour of the TMC alliance. The whole public mood was like, it doesn’t matters who wins, but the Left must lose. Read the rest of this entry »

I though some might require this to make a comparison. This is the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections Positions.

So, the exit polls are out and from all corners, left are in a uncomfortable position. From 59 in 2004 they are going to come down to 35-38 in 2009. Almost 30% reduction in seats will take the left in a jeopardizing state. Now, what the options open for the left post 16th. Lets analyze them. Read the rest of this entry »

While trying to import this WordPress blog  into my Bloggers Blog (http://www.247infohub.blogspot.com), I felt sharing this. Although you have the option to export wordpress blog. Go to your WordPress Blog Admin=> Tools => Export =>Select Author/Authors=>Download Export File. The downloaded file will be in xml format.

Now, if you try to import directly, it will show errors as it cannot understand the template part of the wordpress blog. So go to http://wordpress2blogger.appspot.com/ => Browse to the file you have just downloaded from your wordpress blog => Press Convert =>Save the file

Now go to the bloggers admin=>Settings=>Basic=>Import blog=> browse to the recently downloaded file and you are done.

The IPL’s official website reflects Kolkata Knight Riders as one of the eight teams participating in their famous league.  This posting is not to discuss their performance. I just want to raise one aspect which is not at all acceptable to me – the name. It might be true for other Teams also, but as I haven’t gone through enough details, it would not be fare to comment on them. I object to the name Kolkata Knight Riders, to be more precise, the objection is mainly due to the use of the word Kolkata. Read the rest of this entry »

So, the biggest Indian extravaganza is back. General Elections to the Lokshabha, nearly 542 Members of Parliament taking care of our country. Strange isn’t it? 550 wise men representing one hundred ten crores of population, it comes to around one man for every 20 lakhs. Kind of a lottery, right. So, what this wise mens are going to do in the next five years. Well, take our country to newer heights, bring down inflation to negative figure without bringing down the basic commodity prices etc etc. Read the rest of this entry »

Really good, take a look
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A few very very good Airtel ads too Read the rest of this entry »

I always felt that the Pidilite industries ads for Fevicol were consistently excellent. But, I haven’t seen such quality ads since long from them. Here are some which were truly brilliant. Read the rest of this entry »

First let me add that I am not at all a Hutch/Vodafone fan, I just like many of their ads, thats it. Enjoy the Ads, some are really good. The best one is on the top.
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This is amazing, truely excellent syncronization. watch this. Laurel and Hardy dancing to the Masak Kali Mazak Kali Tune

On Sunday Anandabazar wrote about acceptance of celebrities as politicians, especially, film stars. The very next day Dainik Pratidin criticized the article.

It cannot be denied the case of acceptability of celebrities is not at par with that of other parts of the country. While I was visiting Hyderabad, I was rather surprised to see the size of the cut-outs of film stars therein. When Chiranjibi launched his new party last year, the gathering was of a mammoth 10 lakh people. Just imagine Prosenjit or Jeet addressing a crowd of 1 million, well, for obvious reasons this seems impossible. Lets compare facts here and there. Read the rest of this entry »