Its just a gist of the important & interesting happenings of 2009, mostly in India. Some news were interesting, some were serious, some were just hype. I am listing out some events which I found interesting. These are not in any order.
Shashi Tharoor - Cattle Class
Scrapping of CBSE Class X Exam by Kapil Sibal
Rakhi Ka Swayamwar
Google Wave
IPL 2 shifting to South Africa
Governor N D Tiwari's Sex Scandal
Mayawati's Statues all over UP
Water on the Moon
Maldives cabinet to go underwater
Nepal cabinet holds meeting on Mount Everest
Delhi's Gay Parade & Article 377
Goof up @ Sharm-el-Sheikh
1 Lakh Car - Nano
CAT 2009 Online
Tiger Woods Scandal
Actor Shiney Ahuja detained on rape charges
Journalist hurls shoe at P Chidambaram
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
2 Great Ad Campaigns of 2009
Nowadays news sites are flooded with many "Greatest in Decade" kind of lists. Today only I saw ‘50 People Who Shaped the Decade’ in FT.
After all these I thought of making my own lists too. I pondered over it and came out with '2 Great Ad Campaigns of 2009'.
1) 'Jaago Re': I dont know how many of you would remember the ads but I remember it very well. One was about a vote canvassing by a politician where the hero asks the politician about his qualification.
"Kon sa job??"
"Desh ko chalane ka Job."
Then there was also one ad where a group of students ask people to wake up, as they tell that "Agar aap Election ke Din Vote nahi ker rahe ho to aap So rahe ho."
"Roz subah sirf utho nahi, Jaago Re."
Jaago Re on Wikipedia
We were so inspired by this campaign that we did 8 Nukkad shows in our office on this theme of awakening people to vote.
Jaago Re has now started a campaign against Corruption / Bribe.
Hats off to Lowe & Tata Tea.
2) ZooZoo: ZooZoo is an advertisement characters / campaign promoted by Vodafone. It 1st started during IPL2. After that it caught the attention of the whole of India. Everywhere we could see talks of ZooZoos. So many forwards started floating about its making and all. Initially we thought of it as an animation. Only later we believed it to be men wearing such clothes.
The ads became great hit among people. People started following it on Facebook and other social networking sites. Wikipedia says that there are more than 200 pages on ZooZoos having more than 2 hundred thousand fans, growing daily. It further adds that the ads were viewed by lakhs of people in Youtube.
The campaign received the first People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) 2009 Glitterbox Award. Ogilvy & Mather gets the credit here.
And thus we lost our 'Hutch ka Kutta' - 'Pug'. :(
After all these I thought of making my own lists too. I pondered over it and came out with '2 Great Ad Campaigns of 2009'.
1) 'Jaago Re': I dont know how many of you would remember the ads but I remember it very well. One was about a vote canvassing by a politician where the hero asks the politician about his qualification.
"Kon sa job??"
"Desh ko chalane ka Job."
Then there was also one ad where a group of students ask people to wake up, as they tell that "Agar aap Election ke Din Vote nahi ker rahe ho to aap So rahe ho."
"Roz subah sirf utho nahi, Jaago Re."
Jaago Re on Wikipedia
We were so inspired by this campaign that we did 8 Nukkad shows in our office on this theme of awakening people to vote.
Jaago Re has now started a campaign against Corruption / Bribe.
Hats off to Lowe & Tata Tea.
2) ZooZoo: ZooZoo is an advertisement characters / campaign promoted by Vodafone. It 1st started during IPL2. After that it caught the attention of the whole of India. Everywhere we could see talks of ZooZoos. So many forwards started floating about its making and all. Initially we thought of it as an animation. Only later we believed it to be men wearing such clothes.
The ads became great hit among people. People started following it on Facebook and other social networking sites. Wikipedia says that there are more than 200 pages on ZooZoos having more than 2 hundred thousand fans, growing daily. It further adds that the ads were viewed by lakhs of people in Youtube.
The campaign received the first People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) 2009 Glitterbox Award. Ogilvy & Mather gets the credit here.
And thus we lost our 'Hutch ka Kutta' - 'Pug'. :(
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Ranking Rules
I can’t believe that so many engrossing things could happen in a cricket test series!! The first interesting thing was about the venue of the third test, i.e. the Brabourne Stadium. It was the first Test match here since 1973. Since then, the Wankhede Stadium was hosting Test matches in Mumbai. Now Wankhede is undergoing a major renovation for the 2011 World Cup. Another interesting thing about Brabourne is that it was built on land reclaimed from the sea.
The other equally fascinating thing about the Test series was the innings of Sehwag. We were praying for him to break Lara’s 400* record of the highest Test score in an innings, but alas he ended up at 293. It is the third highest score by an Indian, the top two scores of 319 and 309 are also with him. That day he also scored the second fastest double ton in the world, missing the fastest by just 15 balls. He also has the 3rd and the 4th fastest double century in his name. That high-octane, breathtaking innings with blistering pace helped India become the No. 1 Test-playing team.
No.1? How? Who decides it? On what basis the rankings are done? These questions were puzzling me. Then I searched for it in Wikipedia. There I found the rules of the ranking system. This is how the ratings or rankings are calculated:
• Each team's rating is equal to its total points scored divided by the total matches and series played.
• A series counts only if played in the last three years.
• Recent matches are given more weight. Series played in the first two years of the three-year limit count half.
• Find the series result:
o Award 1 point to a team for each win
o Award 1/2 point to a team for each draw
o Award 1 bonus point to the team winning the series
o Award 1/2 bonus point to each team if the series is drawn
• Convert the series result to actual ratings points
If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is less than 40 points, then the rating points for each team equals:
o (The team's own series result) multiplied by (50 points MORE than the opponent's rating) PLUS
o (The opponent's series result) multiplied by (50 points LESS than the opponent's rating)
If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the stronger team equals:
o (The team's own series result) multiplied by (10 points MORE than the team's own rating) PLUS
o (The opponent's series result) multiplied by (90 points LESS than the team's own rating)
If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the weaker team equals:
o (The team's own series result) multiplied by (90 points MORE than the team's own rating) PLUS
o (The opponent's series result) multiplied by (10 points LESS than the team's own rating)
• Add the ratings points scored by the team to the total ratings points already scored.
• Update the number of matches played by the team through adding one more than the number of games in the series (a two test match series will result in the match count getting incremented by three).
• Divide the new rating points with the updated number of matches to get the final rating.
India is now at the top of the Test rankings with 124 ratings. Bangladesh and West Indies are at the bottom of the table with 13 and 76 ratings respectively.
A similar calculation is for the ODI rankings. India there stands third with 122 rating points, just 8 ratings points behind the no. 1 Australia.
An interesting trivia; Afghanistan is the no.1 Asian country among the Associate members in the ODI rankings.
The other equally fascinating thing about the Test series was the innings of Sehwag. We were praying for him to break Lara’s 400* record of the highest Test score in an innings, but alas he ended up at 293. It is the third highest score by an Indian, the top two scores of 319 and 309 are also with him. That day he also scored the second fastest double ton in the world, missing the fastest by just 15 balls. He also has the 3rd and the 4th fastest double century in his name. That high-octane, breathtaking innings with blistering pace helped India become the No. 1 Test-playing team.
No.1? How? Who decides it? On what basis the rankings are done? These questions were puzzling me. Then I searched for it in Wikipedia. There I found the rules of the ranking system. This is how the ratings or rankings are calculated:
• Each team's rating is equal to its total points scored divided by the total matches and series played.
• A series counts only if played in the last three years.
• Recent matches are given more weight. Series played in the first two years of the three-year limit count half.
• Find the series result:
o Award 1 point to a team for each win
o Award 1/2 point to a team for each draw
o Award 1 bonus point to the team winning the series
o Award 1/2 bonus point to each team if the series is drawn
• Convert the series result to actual ratings points
If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is less than 40 points, then the rating points for each team equals:
o (The team's own series result) multiplied by (50 points MORE than the opponent's rating) PLUS
o (The opponent's series result) multiplied by (50 points LESS than the opponent's rating)
If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the stronger team equals:
o (The team's own series result) multiplied by (10 points MORE than the team's own rating) PLUS
o (The opponent's series result) multiplied by (90 points LESS than the team's own rating)
If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the weaker team equals:
o (The team's own series result) multiplied by (90 points MORE than the team's own rating) PLUS
o (The opponent's series result) multiplied by (10 points LESS than the team's own rating)
• Add the ratings points scored by the team to the total ratings points already scored.
• Update the number of matches played by the team through adding one more than the number of games in the series (a two test match series will result in the match count getting incremented by three).
• Divide the new rating points with the updated number of matches to get the final rating.
India is now at the top of the Test rankings with 124 ratings. Bangladesh and West Indies are at the bottom of the table with 13 and 76 ratings respectively.
A similar calculation is for the ODI rankings. India there stands third with 122 rating points, just 8 ratings points behind the no. 1 Australia.
An interesting trivia; Afghanistan is the no.1 Asian country among the Associate members in the ODI rankings.
Friday, December 25, 2009
United States of India
As found in Wikipedia, before Independence, regions of India were either directly ruled by the British or as Princely States ruled by local rajas. Independence in 1947 largely preserved these divisions. Following independence, instability soon arose in India. Many of the provinces as such did not reflect either the will of India's citizens or the ethnic divisions found throughout the subcontinent. Ethnic tensions spurred the Indian Parliament to reorganize the country along ethnic and linguistic lines in 1956 by means of the States Reorganisation Act.
After 1956,
> In 1960, Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
> In 1962, the former French and Portuguese colonies in India were incorporated into the Republic as the union territories of Pondicherry (later renamed as Puducherry), Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa and Daman & Diu.
> In 1963, Nagaland was made a state.
> In 1966, Punjab was divided along linguistic and religious lines, creating a new Hindu and Hindi-speaking state of Haryana, the northern districts of Punjab became Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh was designated, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, a union territory.
> In 1971, statehood was conferred upon Himachal Pradesh.
> In 1972, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura were conferred statehood.
> In 1975, the Kingdom of Sikkim joined the Indian Union as a state.
> In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram became states.
> In 1987 itself, northern exclaves of Daman and Diu became a separate union territory.
> In 2000, Chhattisgarh (out of Madhya Pradesh), Uttaranchal or Uttarakhand (out of Uttar Pradesh) and Jharkhand (out of Bihar) were created.
And now on 9th of December 2009, the Central Government gave the nod for a separate state of Telangana (to be separated from Andhra Pradesh) which, according to Economist, caused a wave of protests even bigger than the one it sought to calm.
I just wanted to go a little behind all these. I wanted to know as to how many other statehood aspirants are there. I wanted to know what actually is the reason behind similar demands. I investigated on internet as this is what I found out.
There are more than a dozen statehood aspirants:
1) Telangana: Telangana comprises the northern, non-coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, and includes the state capital, Hyderabad. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is currently the chief proponent of this demand.
2) Rayalaseema: Andhra Pradesh comprises of 3 divisions - Telangana, Rayalseema & Andhra.
3) Gorkhaland : Gorkhaland enjoys some measure of autonomy under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is its chief proponent.
4) Kamtapur: In northern parts of West Bengal, the proposed state consists of the districts of Koch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and southern plains of Darjeeling including Siliguri city.
5) Bodoland: Per that agreement of February 10, 2003 between the Indian Government and Assam, the Bodoland Territorial Council, an entity subordinate to the government of Assam, was created to govern four districts covering 3082 Bodo-majority villages in Assam.
6) Vidarbha: Vidarbha comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions in eastern Maharashtra. After British conquests from Mughals and Marathas in central India, in 1953 "Nagpur Province" was formed with Nagpur as capital. Though State reorganization act 1956 recommended Vidarbha as state with Nagpur as capital, Maharashtra state was formed with Vidarbha as part of new state, under pressure from leaders of western Maharashtra.
7) Bundelkhand: It encompasses parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it.
8) Harit Pradesh: It comprises of the western districts of Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it too, with Ajit Singh of RLD as its chief proponent.
9) Purvanchal: Purvanchal is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state. It is bounded by Nepal to the north, Bihar state to the east, Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state to the south, the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to the west. Purvanchal comprises three divisions - Awadhi region in the west, Bhojpuri region in the east and the Baghelkhand region in the south. Purvanchal area is represented by 23 Members of Parliament to the lower house of Indian Parliament, and 117 legislators in the 403 member Uttar Pradesh state assebly or Vidhan Sabha. Mayawati has proposed to carve Purvanchal out of Uttar Pradesh.
10) Mithilanchal: It is for the Maithili speaking people of Bihar. Mailthili is an Indo-Aryan language with 45 million speakers. It has its own traditional script.
11) Seemanchal : Eastern districts of Bihar with Bhagalpur as its capital.
12) Union territory status for Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh.
13) Kodagu: The demand for creation of a separate Kodava state, a region of Karnataka, is based on the region having a distinct culture.
14) Tulu Nadu: The demand for creation of a separate state of Tulu Nadu, a prosperous region of Karnataka and Kerala, is based on having a distinct culture and language (Tulu). Tuluvas are culturally very distinct from the rest of Karnataka.
15) Greater Nagaland: Comprising of Nagaland and the Naga dominated districts of nearby states. It also calls for independence from India.
Now the Indian Government is tinkering with the idea of setting of a second States Reorganisation Commission to settle the plethora of demands for new states.
Nitish Kumar, the CM of Bihar, has called for the unification of the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh, state of Jharkhand with the state of Bihar.
After 1956,
> In 1960, Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
> In 1962, the former French and Portuguese colonies in India were incorporated into the Republic as the union territories of Pondicherry (later renamed as Puducherry), Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa and Daman & Diu.
> In 1963, Nagaland was made a state.
> In 1966, Punjab was divided along linguistic and religious lines, creating a new Hindu and Hindi-speaking state of Haryana, the northern districts of Punjab became Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh was designated, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, a union territory.
> In 1971, statehood was conferred upon Himachal Pradesh.
> In 1972, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura were conferred statehood.
> In 1975, the Kingdom of Sikkim joined the Indian Union as a state.
> In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram became states.
> In 1987 itself, northern exclaves of Daman and Diu became a separate union territory.
> In 2000, Chhattisgarh (out of Madhya Pradesh), Uttaranchal or Uttarakhand (out of Uttar Pradesh) and Jharkhand (out of Bihar) were created.
And now on 9th of December 2009, the Central Government gave the nod for a separate state of Telangana (to be separated from Andhra Pradesh) which, according to Economist, caused a wave of protests even bigger than the one it sought to calm.
I just wanted to go a little behind all these. I wanted to know as to how many other statehood aspirants are there. I wanted to know what actually is the reason behind similar demands. I investigated on internet as this is what I found out.
There are more than a dozen statehood aspirants:
1) Telangana: Telangana comprises the northern, non-coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, and includes the state capital, Hyderabad. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is currently the chief proponent of this demand.
2) Rayalaseema: Andhra Pradesh comprises of 3 divisions - Telangana, Rayalseema & Andhra.
3) Gorkhaland : Gorkhaland enjoys some measure of autonomy under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is its chief proponent.
4) Kamtapur: In northern parts of West Bengal, the proposed state consists of the districts of Koch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and southern plains of Darjeeling including Siliguri city.
5) Bodoland: Per that agreement of February 10, 2003 between the Indian Government and Assam, the Bodoland Territorial Council, an entity subordinate to the government of Assam, was created to govern four districts covering 3082 Bodo-majority villages in Assam.
6) Vidarbha: Vidarbha comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions in eastern Maharashtra. After British conquests from Mughals and Marathas in central India, in 1953 "Nagpur Province" was formed with Nagpur as capital. Though State reorganization act 1956 recommended Vidarbha as state with Nagpur as capital, Maharashtra state was formed with Vidarbha as part of new state, under pressure from leaders of western Maharashtra.
7) Bundelkhand: It encompasses parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it.
8) Harit Pradesh: It comprises of the western districts of Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it too, with Ajit Singh of RLD as its chief proponent.
9) Purvanchal: Purvanchal is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state. It is bounded by Nepal to the north, Bihar state to the east, Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state to the south, the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to the west. Purvanchal comprises three divisions - Awadhi region in the west, Bhojpuri region in the east and the Baghelkhand region in the south. Purvanchal area is represented by 23 Members of Parliament to the lower house of Indian Parliament, and 117 legislators in the 403 member Uttar Pradesh state assebly or Vidhan Sabha. Mayawati has proposed to carve Purvanchal out of Uttar Pradesh.
10) Mithilanchal: It is for the Maithili speaking people of Bihar. Mailthili is an Indo-Aryan language with 45 million speakers. It has its own traditional script.
11) Seemanchal : Eastern districts of Bihar with Bhagalpur as its capital.
12) Union territory status for Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh.
13) Kodagu: The demand for creation of a separate Kodava state, a region of Karnataka, is based on the region having a distinct culture.
14) Tulu Nadu: The demand for creation of a separate state of Tulu Nadu, a prosperous region of Karnataka and Kerala, is based on having a distinct culture and language (Tulu). Tuluvas are culturally very distinct from the rest of Karnataka.
15) Greater Nagaland: Comprising of Nagaland and the Naga dominated districts of nearby states. It also calls for independence from India.
Now the Indian Government is tinkering with the idea of setting of a second States Reorganisation Commission to settle the plethora of demands for new states.
Nitish Kumar, the CM of Bihar, has called for the unification of the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh, state of Jharkhand with the state of Bihar.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
What is life??
A few days back my room-mate and school friend Nishikant was kind of atheist. We did not use to pray even a single time during the whole year. A few days back, he went to his native place, Patna. We thought that he would have prepared there for his CAT exam, but he did not. He actually spent time there on different ghats. He met a few sadhus there. His thinking made a complete turn. He became spiritual.
Earlier he used to discuss on these topics only a few times. The last I remember was our discussion on William Dalrymple's Nine Lives: in Search of the Sacred in Modern India. I was just thinking as to how a person like him can have such a sudden change of thinking about life and can start thinking in a totally different way. If he, then there could be many more who have gone through a similar situation. There could be many more who don't have the courage to change their way of thinking like Nishikant.
What is the True Way? What is the Right Path? What actually is the Real Meaning of Life??
Earlier he used to discuss on these topics only a few times. The last I remember was our discussion on William Dalrymple's Nine Lives: in Search of the Sacred in Modern India. I was just thinking as to how a person like him can have such a sudden change of thinking about life and can start thinking in a totally different way. If he, then there could be many more who have gone through a similar situation. There could be many more who don't have the courage to change their way of thinking like Nishikant.
What is the True Way? What is the Right Path? What actually is the Real Meaning of Life??
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Telangana??
There is a great debate going on through the whole of India. Its on the creation of new states, particularly Telangana. I just read an editorial in Economic Times. People everywhere is pondering over questions on the viability of the new state. Whether the new one will be able to support itself better than before? Whether the new one will cater to the social or economical need of the people? Whether the new state fulfil the greed of the local politicians? I think that this realm of discussion should also include the questions about the parent state, the state from where the new one is born.
Bihar, as an example, has nothing much other than agriculture to run its economy. It was already the poorest state of India, almost equivalent to Chad. Now, as it is said, it is left with only 'Bhayy' (Fear), 'Bhook' (Hunger) and 'Bharashtachaar' (Corruption). Though many people can argue with me on this but I just tried to give an example rather than giving exact facts about Bihar.
In a similar state, before carving out Telangana, I will suggest the Govt. to first study its impact on all the affected people and then only take any further step.
Bihar, as an example, has nothing much other than agriculture to run its economy. It was already the poorest state of India, almost equivalent to Chad. Now, as it is said, it is left with only 'Bhayy' (Fear), 'Bhook' (Hunger) and 'Bharashtachaar' (Corruption). Though many people can argue with me on this but I just tried to give an example rather than giving exact facts about Bihar.
In a similar state, before carving out Telangana, I will suggest the Govt. to first study its impact on all the affected people and then only take any further step.
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