A friend sent me this and I loved it.. So here it is.. (Apologies if this is copyrighted material)
USA
Italy
Holland
Dubai
France
China
Malaysia
South Africa
Greece
Switzerland
Bangkok
AND Finally India (after heavy rain in Bombay)
Monday, October 4, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Serious External Affairs Problem In A Neighboring Country Due To The Commonwealth Games
My cousin was telling me about a mail written by terrorists (from a neighboring country trying to ruin Commonwealth Games) written to the their boss, the head of ISI.
"
Boss,
1. Some of our bombs got wet and deactivated, because of leaks in the plumbing system
2. Rats ate many detonators so some bombs are out of action
3. While Kalmadi was inspecting a toilet, he pulled the flush in the toilet and the flush broke and the bomb inside the flush also fell down and got wet.
4. The rains have wreaked havoc. Two people in our team have caught a cold, a third slipped and fell down because the roads have been dug everywhere.
5. One of our team members was bitten by mosquito, got dengue and died..
The Indians are hampering our attempts at every step. Our presence here is not adding any value. Can you please tell us what we should do now?
"
I understand the country is complaining that India is quite unsporting, that India is not allowing them to make an honest living since Indians are doing by themselves what the crack team had sworn to do. I will wait for more update on this from my cousin.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
More On India's Capabilities
In a previous blog I had written about the possible problems that could happen in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) due to start in 10 days (http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-can-go-wrong-in-commonwealth-games.html).
Yesterday there was the incident of a footbridge that collapsed in the Jawahal Nehru Stadium. Today the false ceiling of the weight lifting venue seems to have collapsed. Now I am not sure whether these are incidents of sabotage or just examples of poor engineering capabilities. There was a story in the paper today that an Australian agency bypassed the security and carried inside a bomb that could have been made to go off inside the stadium had there been a detonator. The Delhi police are claiming that this is "bogus". It may be true or it could be an incident to embarrass the security agencies. Either way it's quite a sad reflection of India's security and/or engineering prowess.
Earlier today I read that India is ranked the 3rd most powerful nation http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/From-Third-World-country-to-third-most-powerful-nation/articleshow/6603835.cms. The ability and power that India has a nation is only equaled by its ineptitude in other fields. There seem to be multiple parallel organizations in India some extraordinarily talented and some extremely debilitating.
Other developing countries in Asia and outside have made quite a progress. China hosted the Olympics. Korea co-hosted the World Cup Football. Both events happened without any hiccups.
Can India scrape through with the CWG games? Or will it be an embarrassing disaster?
This is a news report on 24th Sep 2010 on how India bribed its way to being awarded the games
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/commonwealth-games/top-stories/India-bribed-72-nations-to-get-Delhi-CWG-Report/articleshow/6616467.cms) and another on how it might be better to award the games to the private sector to organize (http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2010/09/24/privatise-the-commonwealth-games/.) There is another interesting blog about Emaar Properties (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/richardspencer/100055018/dubais-unique-contribution-to-the-commonwealth-games/). This is another one about what India can learn from its mistakes (http://blogs.reuters.com/global/2010/09/23/at-indias-commonwealth-games-shame-might-be-a-blessing/).
How many more incidents and embarrassments will we see in the next one month? How and when do we make progress in our security and engineering?
This is a news report on 24th Sep 2010 on how India bribed its way to being awarded the games
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/commonwealth-games/top-stories/India-bribed-72-nations-to-get-Delhi-CWG-Report/articleshow/6616467.cms) and another on how it might be better to award the games to the private sector to organize (http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2010/09/24/privatise-the-commonwealth-games/.) There is another interesting blog about Emaar Properties (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/richardspencer/100055018/dubais-unique-contribution-to-the-commonwealth-games/). This is another one about what India can learn from its mistakes (http://blogs.reuters.com/global/2010/09/23/at-indias-commonwealth-games-shame-might-be-a-blessing/).
How many more incidents and embarrassments will we see in the next one month? How and when do we make progress in our security and engineering?
We need to have the conviction and ability to solve our own problems. We need to progress from providing just manpower in IT and BPO industries for serving Europeans and US customers to creating IP (Intellectual Property) providing solutions. I think it starts with education and research.
I think the next wave in India will need be Education and research. If we started now, we could become a leader by 2030.
Monday, September 20, 2010
World's Most Beautiful Garages !!!
I used to be mad about cars some 20 years back. I used to take lots of pictures of cars. Though I am no more as fascinated about cars as I was then, when I saw the pictures of cars and garages that my cousin sent me, I was exhilarated. I thought I would put those pictures up here. Unfortunately some garages don't have cars. Maybe there ought to be an ordinance against having empty garages.
Have fun.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Old Photographs Of Kolkata
Couple of friends of mine sent me these photos. I loved them. So here they are. Have fun.
Don't Know Where In Calcutta
Entrance To Ballygunge
BANDEL CHURCH - 1851
ESPLANADE - THE MASJID BEHIND THE PAVEMENT SHOP - 1851
STRAND ROAD - 1885
GOVERNMENT HOUSE - RAJ BHAVAN - 1860
DALHOUSIE - 1865
ESPLANADE - 1885
Saturday, August 28, 2010
An Interesting Response To A Woman's Query
I recently got this mail (http://imronil.blogspot.com/2011/04/ceos-of-jp-morgan-fantastic-reply-to.html) from a friend.. Another instance of someone who cashed in on my idea.. Its appalling to see that even CEO's (in this case apparently of JP Morgan) stoop down to stealing ideas. On a more serious note, while the question below asked by the woman is a little exaggerated, the answer seemed to make a lot of sense, something that I would say myself. Have fun.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Interesting Pictures
Some friends of mine gave me the following links. I am providing the links to the pictures here.
http://img.izismile.com/img/img2/20091102/landscapes_20.jpg. (If I remember correctly, in the 1st picture of camels is from National Geographic and the larger images of camels are the shadows while the smaller images are the real camels. A lovely illusion.
Here is another link: Autumn In Latvia. http://www.funtoosh.com/gallery/autumn_latvia.
Here is a link of flowers (click anywhere in the black portion of the page) http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf
Prenatal Surgery: Very Moving http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/samuel.jpg
A river over another river. So lovely http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_water_bridge.htm
Hugging the Lions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oEYH7m1cmo
Here is a picture of Gandhi before his assassination (I don't own the copyright for this picture. I could not find the link to this picture).
Here is a link of flowers (click anywhere in the black portion of the page) http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf
Prenatal Surgery: Very Moving http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/samuel.jpg
A river over another river. So lovely http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_water_bridge.htm
Hugging the Lions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oEYH7m1cmo
Here is a picture of Gandhi before his assassination (I don't own the copyright for this picture. I could not find the link to this picture).
Saturday, June 26, 2010
FIFA World Cup 2010 Results From The Last 16 Stage: Predicton vs Actual
Shown below is the schedule for the last 16 games.
The predictions are listed below. (W = Winner, L = Loser)
Predicted W Actual W Points
Match 49: Jun 26. Uruguay-Korea. Uruguay Uruguay (2-1) 1
Match 50: Jun 26. USA-Ghana. Ghana Ghana (2-1) 1
Match 51: Jun 27. Germany-England. Germany Germany (4-1) 1
Match 52: Jun 27. Argentina-Mexico. Argentina Argentina (3-1) 1
Match 53: Jun 28. Netherlands-Slovakia. Doesn't Matter Netherlands (2-1) NA
Match 54: Jun 28. Brazil-Chile. Brazil Brazil (3-0) 1
Match 55: Jun 29. Paraguay-Japan. Paraguay Paraguay (5-3) 1
Match 56: Jun 29. Spain-Portugal. Doesn't Matter Spain (1-0) NA
1 point for each right prediction at this stage. Total 8 points..
Quarterfinals
Match 57: Jul 2. Brazil - Netherlands Brazil Netherlands (2-1) 0
Match 58: Jul 2. Ghana - Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay (5-3) 3
Match 59: Jul 3. Argentina - Germany Argentina Germany (4-0) 0
(It's painful to have to contend with an octopus but such is FIFA fever http://bleacherreport.com/articles/412055-england-world-cup-2010-psychic-octopus-predicts-germany-victory. The octopus won!!! For a sneak preview of the octopus in action see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFvrAdyFUJ8&feature=player_embedded)
Match 60: Jul 3. Paraguay - Spain Doesn't Matter Spain (1-0) NA 3 points for each right prediction at this stage. Total 12 points..
Semifinals
Match 61: Jul 6. Uruguay - Netherlands. Uruguay Netherlands (2-3) 0
Match 62: Jul 7. Germany - Spain. Argentina Spain 1-0 0
7 points for each right prediction at this stage. Total 14 points..
Losing Semifinalist
Match 63: Jul 10. Uruguay - Germany. Brazil Germany (3-2) 0
16 points for each right prediction at this stage. Total 16 points..
Finals
Match 64: Jul 11. Holland - Spain. Argentina Spain (1-0) 0
(After reading http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294056, I am now having second thoughts).
50 points for each right prediction at this stage. Total 50 points..
Max points for all right predictions = 8+12+14+16+50=100 points.. I will keep updating the actual results (and, if possible, the points obtained as the matches proceed..). A big hip hip hooray for the person who either gets more than 33 points or less than 7 points.
Unfortunately i have accumulated 9 points at the end of the quarterfinals stage and will end with the same 9 points. So I neither get less than 7 points nor more than 33 points.. :(
Unfortunately i have accumulated 9 points at the end of the quarterfinals stage and will end with the same 9 points. So I neither get less than 7 points nor more than 33 points.. :(
Incidentally, I was looking at the number of teams participating in the World Cup this year from different regions and the number of teams that have made it to the last 16.
Total -- Made It To Last ---
Participants 16 8 4 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Americas (North and South) 8 7 4 1 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Americas (North and South) 8 7 4 1 0
Europe 13 6 3 3 2
Africa 6 1 1 0 0
Asia and Oceania 5 2 0 0 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 32 16 8 4 2
Guess that explains why the quota of teams from Asia is lower than for Europe and Americas.. Africa's performance has been very poor in this world cup with only Ghana making it to the last 16. Should FIFA consider increasing the "quota" (of number of teams qualifying in the World Cup) for South America at the expense of Africa?
Let's see what surprises are in store in the last 16 games.. The 48 games resulted in about 100 goals average a little more than 2 goals per game in the qualifying around.
This world cup has left a bad taste in my mouth.. This is the first time i realized (I am sure its been happening in all other world cups as well) the number of mistakes made by referrees and linesmen. I feel bad for the goal scored by Gerrard in England's match against Germany which was disallowed.. A lesser game like cricket has made use of technology by having a 3rd umpire which has largely eliminated wrong decisions. Football, which is so much more popular, still lives in the stone age when it comes to preventing wrong decisions. A friend of mine quoted her father as saying that a "3rd umpire" was difficult to implement in football since it takes a lot of time to get the right decision and it would affect the flow of the game.. I dont agree. How much time does it take for us to see the replay.. 4 seconds? 5 seconds? Is it too much if it can avoid the 2 or 3 wrong decisions (with goals, offsides, fouls) that we see in every game? When will FIFA wake up?
Guess that explains why the quota of teams from Asia is lower than for Europe and Americas.. Africa's performance has been very poor in this world cup with only Ghana making it to the last 16. Should FIFA consider increasing the "quota" (of number of teams qualifying in the World Cup) for South America at the expense of Africa?
Let's see what surprises are in store in the last 16 games.. The 48 games resulted in about 100 goals average a little more than 2 goals per game in the qualifying around.
This world cup has left a bad taste in my mouth.. This is the first time i realized (I am sure its been happening in all other world cups as well) the number of mistakes made by referrees and linesmen. I feel bad for the goal scored by Gerrard in England's match against Germany which was disallowed.. A lesser game like cricket has made use of technology by having a 3rd umpire which has largely eliminated wrong decisions. Football, which is so much more popular, still lives in the stone age when it comes to preventing wrong decisions. A friend of mine quoted her father as saying that a "3rd umpire" was difficult to implement in football since it takes a lot of time to get the right decision and it would affect the flow of the game.. I dont agree. How much time does it take for us to see the replay.. 4 seconds? 5 seconds? Is it too much if it can avoid the 2 or 3 wrong decisions (with goals, offsides, fouls) that we see in every game? When will FIFA wake up?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
About Football, Goals And Saves: Videos
World Cup Schedule: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/index.html
http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/mundial/sudafrica-2010/calendario-english.html (Lovely calendar)
For an explanation of why women don't like football: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cng3P2uthWU
A beautiful 10 minute video of exquisite goals: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2Kg80r/:@gFK48DH:EsHev._W/www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A5YIfiyES4
The goal at 1:18s is wowowow. Many of the goals are lobs over the goalkeeper's head. Look at the goal at 7:18. In many of the goals, I couldn't have imagined a goal being possible until after it happened. How many such "goals" are been possible in life when one has given up...Almost epic goals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GXjRG2g1qQ See at 3:25, how the dark guy saves a goal. It's fantastic.
A lovely video showing celebrations of goals (incidentally a Coca Cola ad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M3Q54rPjQw
Pele Top 20 Goals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhlwe99GbVI
World Cup Top 10 Goals All Time http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=_DUQin9fA5Y&feature=related
Top 10 Solo Goals of Fifa World Cup http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WaO-62fNCs
Top 10 Maradona Solo Goals http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=72au08M7Kyo&feature=related
Ronaldinho's Top 10 Goals http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=rcdNGxF-hTI&feature=related
BBC Best 10 Goals of World Cup http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Qj4RxCWYpW0&feature=related
Best Penalty in the World http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=_Gi98iEziKQ&feature=related (Lovely)
Best Goals in History http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=rH3wNqCyphA&feature=related
David Beckham's Freekick with Greece http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=t0GESlaVNdE&feature=related
Top 20 Best Saves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjuqzWPlD20
Insane Goalkeeper Saves http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=p1cyPFoy2JQ&feature=related
Thanks to my friends who gave me some of the links above.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
What To Look For In A Partner
Again a nice article. So I am providing the link here..
http://www.ehow.com/about_4571720_what-look-relationship-partner.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_4571720_what-look-relationship-partner.html
Thursday, May 20, 2010
My Lessons in Life : An Article Written By An Eminent Industrialist
I received this article today. I liked it so much that I am providing a link to the article. Enjoy reading.
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