Is It Indian Road???

Howrah Bridge during Bandh (Strike)

Park Street, Kolkata during Bandh (Strike)

Believe it or not, but yes this is Indian Road. And surprisingly, during the office hours, 10'clock in the morning. Really amazing scene, roads are almost empty... no vehicle at all, except a few bicycles.

These photos were taken by one of my friends on 27th of April'2010 during the 12-hour nationwide strike called by opposition parties (13 non-NDA, non-UPA parties) against price rise.

Shakti The Power - Bags Sunehri Taqdeer Ki Topi

The final result of Dance India Dance season 2 :
Winner: Shakti Mohan
1st Runner Up: Dharmesh
2nd Runner Up: Punit
3rd Runner Up: Binny Sharma
Finally we've got one female winner for Dance India Dance. Really it's a big achievement, a female won a reality show through public voting, unbelievable.
Shakti, who always wanted to become a bureaucrat, ended up being the country's new dancing sensation.

'Kya Baat, kya baat, kya baat... SHAKTI The Most Powerful'

        

Count Down Begins for Grand Finale of DID2

Finally we've got four contestants for the finale of Dance India Dance season 2. Kunwar Amarjeet was the last contestant to eliminate before finale. As I already predicted in my previous post, the four finalists are Shakti Mohan from Terence Ki Toli, Punit Pathak from Remo Ke Rangeelay and Binny Sharma & Dharmesh Yelande (Dharmesh Sir) from Geeta Ki Gang. The winner will get crowned with the Sunehri Taqdeer Ki Topi on the 23rd of April. The countdown has already begun for the finale, only 25 hours to go.
What do you think? Who will be the winner?
I guess it would be either Dharmesh or Shakti.

   

Scorching And Very Hot Weekend

I had planned to go to the stadium (Firozshah Kotla) to watch today’s crucial IPL cricket match (virtual quarter final) between our team Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers. But, I had to change my plan due to scorching heat outside for the last couple of days. It is the mid April, but Saturday recorded the highest temperature in the month of April since 1958 with the maximum temperature touching 43.7 degree Celsius, eight degree above normal. Today’s temperature is also around 43 degree Celsius. In the evening, I went for shopping; purchased some shirts for me and had burger at McDonalds. After coming back from shopping I have drunk lots of water. During the whole day, my main intake was water… lots of water… cold water, chilled water, with Glucon-D, even Cold drinks also.

As per the Met department, the temperature will fall marginally to about 40 degrees Celsius. A western disturbance, approaching the western Himalayan region, will bring rain to Himachal Pradesh and may be even Punjab.  

Now watching match on television, Delhi is not doing well. Six wickets have fallen, still 60 runs required from 30 balls with only 4 wickets in hand… it’s difficult… very very difficult. Oh no! One more wicket’s gone. The match’s gone I guess. 

India Celebrate New Year In Different Shades

Today is 14th April, the new year day in India. It marks the biggest harvest festival and beginning of a new Hindu solar year, different parts of the country celebrate the new year in different hues. Baisakhi - celebrated in Punjab and North India, Bihu in Assam, Nabo Barsho or Poila Boishakh in Bengal, Vishu in Kerala, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Maha Vishuba Sankranti in Orissa. In many places the day is marked by ritualistic bathing in sacred rivers like the Ganges.

Baisakhi

In Punjab, the celebrations start early as devotees, with flowers and offering in their hands, proceed towards the gurdwaras and temples before dawn. Processions through cities are also common. Baisakhi is the day on which the Khalsa (the pure ones) was born and Sikhs are given a clear identity and a code of conduct to live by. The event was led by the last living Guru, Guru Govind Singh Ji.

Shubho Nabo Barsho (Poila Boishakh)

In Bengal, on this day, Bengalis wear new clothes and go about socializing. Poila Boishakh is the day for cultural programs. Prayers are offered for the well-being and prosperity of the family. This day being auspicious, new businesses and new ventures are started.

Bihu

Bihu, the Assamese new year is a time of merriment and feasting that continue, in general, for seven days. The farmers prepare the fields for cultivation of paddy. The cows are washed and worshipped on the last day of previous year. On the new year day, people wear new clothes and village elders move from one house to another singing carols called husoris.

Vishu

The most important part of Vishu is the Vishukkani - the first to be seen on the day. According to the age-old belief of Malayalees, an auspicious kani (first sight) at the crack of dawn on the vishu day would prove lucky for the entire year. As a result, the Vishukkani is prepared with a lot of care to make it the most positive sight so as to bring alive a wonderful, propitious and prosperous new year.

Puthandu

Puthandu, the day is marked with a feast in Tamil homes and entrances to the houses are decorated elaborately with kolams. This day is celebrated by some communities with neem flowers and raw mangoes to symbolize growth and prosperity.

Maha Vishuba Sankranti

Maha Vishuba Sankranti , also known as Mesha Sankranti and Pana Sankranti. It is noted for subdued celebrations. The highlight of the day is the preparation of sweet drink called 'Pana', which is made of fruits, milk, card etc. Cultural programs are organized in some regions including literary meetings. People visit various temples and offer prayers and special pujas.

Dance India Dance 2 - Top Five Decided

One more great week, two more great episodes ended. Now only five contestants remain; this week's eliminated contestant is Amrita from Geeta Ki Gang. This week, Zee TV stars shared the stage with the six contestants of DID. Performances were entertaining and the serial stars really enjoyed dancing with dancing stars.
Shakti - Sushant and Punit - Swarn Abha got the Lux Performance of the day award. Bollywood's numero uno dancing hero Govinda was the special guest of 9th April's episode. All the contestants did excellent job to perform on the dance style challenge given by Master Terence.
The remaining five contestants are:
Kunwar Amarjeet and Shakti Mohan from Terence Ki Toli
Dharmesh Sir and Binny Sharma from Geeta Ki Gang
and Punit from Remo ke Rangeeley.
Superb result so far... two girls in the final five... for the first time in the history of public voting...amazing.

     

3G Spectrum Auction Begins In India

Finally, the much awaited auction for allocation of 3G spectrum began on Friday.
India will be among the last countries of the world to get access to 3G technology. The 3G-spectrum auctions, are expected to start a new era in broadband wireless access in the country by year end.
Nearly 132 countries across the world already have 3G technology and mobile services in one form or the other. Even in Africa, 31 countries already have access to 3G. These include countries like Botswana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan etc.
According to industry data, there are nearly 4.7 billion mobile users worldwide, out of which roughly 13% are 3G users.
The first commercial 3G network was launched by NTT Docomo of Japan on 1st October,2001. The second network to go live was SK Telecom in South Korea in January,2002.
The first commercial US 3G network was by Monet Mobile Networks, but the operator had to shut down operations. The second network was from Verizon Wireless in October,2003, followed by AT&T Mobility.
In Europe, mass commercial 3G services were introduced in March,2003 by 3 (part of Hutchison Whampoa) in UK and Italy.
The first African use of 3G technology was in Johannesburg on the Vodacom network in November,2004, followed by the first commercial launch by EMTEL in Mauritius.
The launch of 3G in China occurred on 1st October,2009 to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
India officially received its first 3G services through Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) in 2008, followed by BSNL.  3G services by private service providers are expected by the end of 2010.
There are six major telecom firms (Reliance Communications, MTNL, Tata Telecom, Tata Communications, Idea & Bharti Airtel) have started bidding for three pan-India slots across 22 telecom circles. On the first day, the auction yielded Rs.16,000 crore, it's likely to raise at least Rs.30,000 crore for the government and bring high-speed internet, video streaming, television and other next generation services to us.

Source: Wikipedia, The Times of India

DID 2 + DID 1 = Mind Blowing

One more weekend's gone, only 6 contestants are remaining. The show is heading towardsthe finale on 23rd April. The performances are getting better as the competition is getting tougher. Last weekend we saw some amazing performances by all contestants and lots of grand salute from grand master Mithunda. There was only one comment from Mithunda almost for all performances... "Kya baat, kya baat... kya baat".
The last eliminated contestant was 17 years old Saajan Singh.

All the contestants danced brilliantly against Master Remo's challenge and on Saturday we saw the top seven contestants from Dance India Dance season 1 joined this year's contestants on stage. King of locking and popping Prince was simply the best of the lot, nobody can beat him in his style, not even Dharmesh Sir. A duet of locking & popping by Prince and Dharmesh was mind blowing.

As the four contestants will make it to the 23rd April's finale, two contestants will be eliminated before that. It looks like Dharmesh, Shakti, Punit and Binny will be the four finalist. Let's see what will happen in the next two weeks.