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Friday 23 November, 2007

Serial blasts rock UP !

AGAIN!
Blasts have once again shook the nation. This time it was India's largest state, U.P.'s (Uttar-Pradesh) turn to bear the brunt of the unholy radical religious extremist's attack. The banned Islamic ultras, HuJI (HQ - Bangladesh) and Jaish-e-Mohammad are believed to have carried out these diabolical acts.

This is not the first time that militants have killed people or bombed or attacked places of national interests and it doesnt seem to be the last either. Many innocents have died, filling me with grief and sorrow. However the politicians have again disappointed me. The cruel leg-pulling and blame-game by these irresponsible politicians fuel my anger towards them. When will they come together? and act responsibly when the nation is gripped in sorrow?
God, give them senses!

Every time blasts occur or terrorists carry out attack, the government representative gives a speech claiming India cannot be harmed by such acts, Indian spirit lives and so on.. This is followed by strained relations with neighbors(Pakistan and Bangladesh) for few weeks. Vigilance is increased in all cities and chiken neck regions. People travelling in buses and trains look at each other with suspicion. This is the best - Malls can be seen carrying out frantic frisking and other security measures. All of sudden; people, police everybody move around in high alertess.
1 Weeks...2 Weeks... 3Weeks....
Then, all these start fading. The government,People, everybody forget the blasts and casualness once again prevails till one more blast occurs.

This is the ground situation in India.
Till when will all these continue ? Till when will India continue to be a soft target ?



Today, in the name of Islam and Free Kashmir; thousands of Muslims are being brain-washed in Madrassas and training camps prominently spread across Pakistan, Bangladesh. Illiteracy and poverty assist them in metamorphing into a fighting tool.
Insurgency is the tool being used and facilitated by Pakistan's ISI and other government agencies when conventional armed tussle with India for Kashmir has failed. They plant sleeper cells through out India to carry out their diabolical acts. Today, these radicals have turned up against the Pakistan government. Many parts of Quasi-Taliban inspired Baluchistan, Waristan and North-West Frontier Province, once land of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan is on boil. Its like fighting the mythical creature Hydra, it simply resurfaces even after all actions taken against them by Musharuff.

Why is it that this sub continent simply fails to understand, that the more you fall for extremist ideology, anarchy is to follow soon. How can one religion come in the path of the other? When did any religion teach this? How can you curtail a man his freedom? His freedom of speech, his freedom to express, his freedom to question and understand his religion with clarity?

Today, this cancer is spreading majorly upon Islam, tomorrow it might take in some other religion. I strongly believe that the Islamic moderates must come forward and help in steering the tender minds from being brain-washed. Proper religious guidance, literacy, and help from government to inculcate them in the mainstream from isolation will repair the damage.

Saturday 10 November, 2007

Indian Politicians - I am simply Speechless !

Has anyone heard of Ruling Party going on strike in its own state !

Well this recently happened in Tamil Nadu. The ruling party DMK, proclaimed strike(bandh or hartal) to pressurize the Union and show strength. DMK is in favor of going ahead with Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project over Adam's Bridge or Ram Setu. I am neither for or against the project, but the need for bandh evades my understanding! When you are the ruling party in the state and the your party is a member of the coalition in New-Delhi and that too no decision has yet been reached, why do you want to trouble the poor people. I am happy the Supreme Court took notice of it!
Hartals, Bandhs has lost its meaning! The political parties have diluted the concept!


One more case of Political Cheating or dirty politics !

This happened recently in Karnataka. Till October3, 2007 Karnataka was being ruled by BJP & JD-S coalition. As per their power sharing agreement, JD-S would rule till Oct 3 and then hand over power to BJP. However on Oct 4, JD-S headed by Kumaraswamy refused to vacate citing that BJP would destroy the communal harmony of the state. Finally, he resigned on Oct 7 and till date, President's rule is employed over Karnataka!
It is interesting to know that H.D. DeveGowda (father of Kumaraswamy) lead JD-S supported government (Congress coalition) was brought down by his own son(Kumaraswamy) and some more rebel leaders with the help of BJP! Then, DeveGowda resigned from JD-S leader post citing moral responsibility over the debacle. After some time when the matter cooled down, he withdrew his resignation and carried on! After that till Oct 3, he was openly justifying the BJP & JD-S coalition (Earlier he was a staunch opposer of BJP). After Oct 3, the pendulum swayed to the other side again! Now BJP has again become bad and unholy for him and his son!
Also this is not the first time BJP has been fooled! Earlier, even BSP has done the same in UP state(BSP ruled for half the tenure and then instead of power transfer brought the assembly down). They simply fail to get the point and move with short sighted goals! Disgusting!!

This coalition is unholy and make a mockery of the democracy and the people. Its funny that JD-S has suddenly understood that BJP could destabilize Karnataka, that too after its period in power! (I have read that both the parties are trying to form the coalition again but the governor has not answered back). The politicians follow a simple rule, ' Nobody is an enemy forever in Politics'.

This is a soap opera going on, but running on our Money! This must be curbed. People must recognise these moles of our democracy and outcast them.

Some links related to this
http://news.indiainfo.com/2006/01/20/2001betrayed-father-kumaraswamy.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/175211.cms?headline='I~am~the~CM's~son,~I~will~get~this~hotel~blown~up'
http://www.andhranews.net/India/2007/October/8-Kumaraswamy-resigns-18358.asp

Is Diwali festival of lights or festival of noise & noise & noise & NOISE !

When I write this post, my ears are being subjected to 100db noise (I think more than that) emanating from crackers being lit in my locality. Its like US recapture of Fallujah; every now and then there is a large explosion, rockets flying here and there. Then there are these electric crackers (high db crackers) which are like machine guns going rat-at-tat and the rassi bombs (crackers given extra tightness and covering with jute ropes or threads) nearly killing my ears. Then there are these rockets which go up and light up the sky. The thrust they produce shake my building. It’s like V2 bombing of London while we are below in bunkers. Though the sky gets lit up beautifully, I wish the I could mute the horrendous killer cracker noises!

In a densely populated city like Mumbai with serious crunch for open spaces; where there is not sufficient space for housing itself, even a medium decibel cracker can be a nightmare!
Lets take up my own locality. I am surrounded by buildings on three sides and an abandoned school on the other. The surrounding buildings are all very near by( I suppoz less than 40ft). Hence even a small decibel cracker echoes badly. Most of Mumbai is like this or even more densely packed. For me ,Diwali nights are like World Wars being fought over again. Aah! The headache is killing me!

I simply cannot understand how a person finds pleasure and happiness bursting crackers that in simple language is creating noise! I can understand Flower-Pots! They don't create noise but a visual treat for many. Hence they are popular among the tots. They too dont like noise! They seem to be more sensible than the elders who prefer noise over such visual treats! Also rockets need larger ground clearance to absorb the recoil force and noise during thrust! Hence, in localities like mine, its the biggest noise polluter. I am not against the festival or crackers, but you need space for them and much of Mumbai lacks them! Indians spend a large amount of money on crackers! Please dont justify as part of tradition! I wish they could spend that money on educating the underprivileged. They spend lots just to produce noise! Its simply insensible and atrocious! Its not just the teens, kids but largely the educated elders who are committing this crime! There are strict rules regarding decibels, pollution and time limit(cant go on after 10 pm) and people do know them, but neither the people nor the administration bothers about the rules! Infact, this time it has started only after 10 pm!

This is the worst time for the birds, plants, stray animals and humans like me who are sensitive to noise over 96db! But i suppose, we are in minority and hence they wont pay any heed! Diwali has become festival of NOISE! The festival nights are hell broken loose!

Tuesday 6 November, 2007

Digicams (Digital cameras) for less than Rs. 10,000 in Mumbai

Hello netizens, Happy Diwali to all!
Diwali (Deepawali), festival of lights is just 2 days away and my practical exams and orals(vivas), have just finished !After a hectic, nerve wreaking week filled with Process Engineering drawing & PCT project submission followed by Practical exams and vivas; Diwali comes as a relief before the main month long theory exams begin. The time seems to be the best for a shopping spree. Discounts and price drops can be seen everywhere. Though Gold and Gas are at record highs, the World's largest importer of Gold, India seems going for it. This is the best time for buying Digital cameras.

My budget is around Rs 10k and my aim is to search for a high performance, value for money digicam backed with a sturdy warranty. For Rs.10k, donot expect to get high resolution or SLR cameras.( They start from Rs 19k! )

My lookout is based on, (few i have listed)
7MP, 2inch LCD view-screen with optical view scope, 3-4x Optical zoom (Digital zoom is trash), ISO >= 800, no of modes, warranty, goodies available and Lens used.

Sony
(My fav. here is W35, around Rs11k, comes with Carl Zeis lens and 3Years warranty)
W55 W35 S650 S700
>W55W35S650S700

Canon
(My fav here is A550 around Rs9k; wish I could think of A550IS)
Powershot A550
A460 (i dont like its shape)
A550 IS

Kodak (i like them but heard to power hungry!)
m753
c763
c743

Nikon, Casio, Olympus,Panasonic,Pentax, Smasung are some more brands. But i didnt find much in them for less than Rs 10k.

Check their respective websites for latest product and pricing
I have provided a xls sheet with details and links. I hope this will be helpful in finding a camera for less than or around10k. Click here

prashant maxsteel. Get yours at bighugelabs.com/flickr


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