While hosting the Cricket World Cup 2007 Finals on Set MAX with Charu Sharma, Mandira Bedi was seen wearing a saree which had national flags of all the countries which participated in the tournament. As seen Mandira was seen wearing a sari, which had an image of the Indian Tricolour below her waist, which was against the constitutional norm. Mandira's sari on the occasion had images of national flags of all the cricket-playing nations printed on it. But the image of the Indian Tricolour was in a rather disrespectful position.
The Indian Government had cleared wearing of images of the Indian Tricolour on clothing in 2005 following a raging debate over the provision of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, according to which using the Indian national flag as a drapery in any form except in state funerals was a crime.
The restrctions were eased after a legal fight by industrialist and Congress party MP Naveen Jindal, demanding that all Indians and institutions be allowed to fly the national flag respectfully. After the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Jindal in 2001, the Government brought in an amendment in the Act in 2005.
However, even that amendment made it clear that the flag can only be displayed on garments above the waist. As per the order, caps and T-shirts are in, but swimsuits and evening gowns are still a no-no. The flag can not be embroidered or printed even on cushion covers, gloves, handkerchiefs, napkins and dress material. Mandira has worn garment with Indian tricolor on previous occasions but it was well above the waist.
as an afterthought......either way the auction for the boys at IPCL went of well....... no one knows who had the last laugh as they both seem to have benefitted from it !!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Narayana Murthy
One of the most powerful tech CEO is Mr Narayana Murthy, Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies....
Murthy founded Infosys in 1981 along with six other software professionals and served as the CEO for 21 years before handing over the reins of the company to co-founder Nandan M Nilekani in March 2002. Under his leadership, Infosys was listed on NASDAQ in 1999. He served as the Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor from 2002 to 2006.
Murthy is the recipient of numerous awards and honours. The Economist ranked him 8th on its list of 15 most admired global leaders in 2005. He was ranked 28th among the world's most respected business leaders by The Financial Times in 2005.
Murthy holds a BE (Electrical) from the University of Mysore (1967) and MTech (Electrical) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (1969). He has been conferred with honorary doctorate degrees by leading universities across the world.
Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT empire in India but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits Infosys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session with another IT company in India . He is incidentally, one of the top 50 Influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication.
This is an extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session : "I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I don't know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace."
"Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue."
"Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday. Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who aren't working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behavior poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another."
"As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office.
First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM , Sunday.
Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read books/comics, watch a funny movie, play with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.
This is called recreation. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them."
In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss something. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out. Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they don't want to miss anything when they leave the office.
The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you're asleep, butyou will have the energy to catch up when you wake up....... Hence...
LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU
Murthy founded Infosys in 1981 along with six other software professionals and served as the CEO for 21 years before handing over the reins of the company to co-founder Nandan M Nilekani in March 2002. Under his leadership, Infosys was listed on NASDAQ in 1999. He served as the Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor from 2002 to 2006.
Murthy is the recipient of numerous awards and honours. The Economist ranked him 8th on its list of 15 most admired global leaders in 2005. He was ranked 28th among the world's most respected business leaders by The Financial Times in 2005.
Murthy holds a BE (Electrical) from the University of Mysore (1967) and MTech (Electrical) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (1969). He has been conferred with honorary doctorate degrees by leading universities across the world.
Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT empire in India but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits Infosys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session with another IT company in India . He is incidentally, one of the top 50 Influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication.
This is an extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session : "I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I don't know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace."
"Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue."
"Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday. Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who aren't working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behavior poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another."
"As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office.
First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM , Sunday.
Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read books/comics, watch a funny movie, play with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.
This is called recreation. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them."
In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss something. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out. Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they don't want to miss anything when they leave the office.
The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you're asleep, butyou will have the energy to catch up when you wake up....... Hence...
LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU
Monday, January 28, 2008
Obama says SC win turns a page
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Democrat Barack Obama said Sunday that his landslide win in South Carolina's presidential primary marks a turn in political history, showing that a black candidate can appeal to voters of all colors and in all regions.
The Illinois senator told a raucous crowd of more than 9,000 here that his big victory Saturday disproved the old notion "that if you get black votes, you can't get white votes," and vice versa.
"We're going to write a new chapter in the South, we're going to write a new chapter in American history," he said during his 64-minute speech to a capacity crowd at the University of Alabama at Birmingham basketball arena. The crowd was roughly two-thirds black and one-third white.
Earlier Sunday he made a similar argument, responding to comments by former President Clinton that some interpreted as an effort to diminish Obama's win Saturday over Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bill Clinton noted that Jesse Jackson won the South Carolina primary in 1984 and 1988. Jackson never became the party's presidential nominee.
Obama, speaking during a television interview, said "there's no doubt" that Jackson set a precedent for blacks seeking the presidency. But he noted that was two decades ago.
"I think that what we saw in this election was a shift in South Carolina," he said, with implications "all across the country. I think people want change. I think they want to get beyond some of the racial politics that, you know, has been so dominant in the past."
Obama resisted being drawn into a spat with the Clintons, even though he suggested they are part of a political past the country is ready to leave behind.
"I think that Bill Clinton did important work back in the 1990s," he said. "The question is, now we're in 2008, and how do we move it forward to the next phase?"
"I think that in the '90s, we got caught up in a slash-and-burn politics that the American people are weary of," Obama said.
"Now, that is not the Clintons' fault," he said on ABC's "This Week." "It is all of our faults, in the sense that we've gotten into these bad habits and we can't seem to have disagreements without being disagreeable."
Later, speaking with reporters during a flight from Georgia to Alabama, Obama said, "I think the country wants to look forward, and that has always been the central thesis of our campaign."
He said Hillary Clinton will have an advantage in the sprawling race on Feb. 5, when Democrats vote in 22 states, because of her nearly universal name recognition. "It presents more of a challenge for us," he said, because he needs time for voters to get to know him.
Obama declined to directly condemn Clinton for urging that Democratic Party officially recognize delegates awarded to the winner of Tuesday's largely ignored Democratic primary in Florida. The national party has said it will not sanction Tuesday's results because the state insisted on scheduling its presidential primary too early in the year. Clinton said she will travel to Florida on Tuesday.
"All the candidates made a pledge that we would campaign in the early states and we would not campaign in Florida and Michigan," Obama said. "I will abide by the promises I made."
As Obama campaigned in Georgia and Alabama, party officials confirmed that Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy planned to endorse him Monday in Washington. Obama was endorsed during the weekend by Caroline Kennedy, the senator's niece and daughter of the late President Kennedy.
In Macon, Ga., Obama spoke for about a half hour to about 1,000 people at the interracial and interdenominational Harvest Cathedral. He talked about how he became a committed Christian as a young man in Chicago after rarely attending church as a child.
On his first visit to the church he now belongs to, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Obama said, "I was introduced to Jesus in a way I had never been before."
Part of his mission as a politician, he said, is "to go out and do the Lord's work."
Recounting the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, Obama said, "Our commitment cannot rest so long as we are still divided by race" and have homeless veterans, poor schools, uninsured people and unemployed workers.
Georgia and Alabama are among the 15 states holding Democratic primaries on Feb. 5. Seven other states hold Democratic caucuses that day.
The Illinois senator told a raucous crowd of more than 9,000 here that his big victory Saturday disproved the old notion "that if you get black votes, you can't get white votes," and vice versa.
"We're going to write a new chapter in the South, we're going to write a new chapter in American history," he said during his 64-minute speech to a capacity crowd at the University of Alabama at Birmingham basketball arena. The crowd was roughly two-thirds black and one-third white.
Earlier Sunday he made a similar argument, responding to comments by former President Clinton that some interpreted as an effort to diminish Obama's win Saturday over Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bill Clinton noted that Jesse Jackson won the South Carolina primary in 1984 and 1988. Jackson never became the party's presidential nominee.
Obama, speaking during a television interview, said "there's no doubt" that Jackson set a precedent for blacks seeking the presidency. But he noted that was two decades ago.
"I think that what we saw in this election was a shift in South Carolina," he said, with implications "all across the country. I think people want change. I think they want to get beyond some of the racial politics that, you know, has been so dominant in the past."
Obama resisted being drawn into a spat with the Clintons, even though he suggested they are part of a political past the country is ready to leave behind.
"I think that Bill Clinton did important work back in the 1990s," he said. "The question is, now we're in 2008, and how do we move it forward to the next phase?"
"I think that in the '90s, we got caught up in a slash-and-burn politics that the American people are weary of," Obama said.
"Now, that is not the Clintons' fault," he said on ABC's "This Week." "It is all of our faults, in the sense that we've gotten into these bad habits and we can't seem to have disagreements without being disagreeable."
Later, speaking with reporters during a flight from Georgia to Alabama, Obama said, "I think the country wants to look forward, and that has always been the central thesis of our campaign."
He said Hillary Clinton will have an advantage in the sprawling race on Feb. 5, when Democrats vote in 22 states, because of her nearly universal name recognition. "It presents more of a challenge for us," he said, because he needs time for voters to get to know him.
Obama declined to directly condemn Clinton for urging that Democratic Party officially recognize delegates awarded to the winner of Tuesday's largely ignored Democratic primary in Florida. The national party has said it will not sanction Tuesday's results because the state insisted on scheduling its presidential primary too early in the year. Clinton said she will travel to Florida on Tuesday.
"All the candidates made a pledge that we would campaign in the early states and we would not campaign in Florida and Michigan," Obama said. "I will abide by the promises I made."
As Obama campaigned in Georgia and Alabama, party officials confirmed that Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy planned to endorse him Monday in Washington. Obama was endorsed during the weekend by Caroline Kennedy, the senator's niece and daughter of the late President Kennedy.
In Macon, Ga., Obama spoke for about a half hour to about 1,000 people at the interracial and interdenominational Harvest Cathedral. He talked about how he became a committed Christian as a young man in Chicago after rarely attending church as a child.
On his first visit to the church he now belongs to, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Obama said, "I was introduced to Jesus in a way I had never been before."
Part of his mission as a politician, he said, is "to go out and do the Lord's work."
Recounting the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, Obama said, "Our commitment cannot rest so long as we are still divided by race" and have homeless veterans, poor schools, uninsured people and unemployed workers.
Georgia and Alabama are among the 15 states holding Democratic primaries on Feb. 5. Seven other states hold Democratic caucuses that day.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
The creation
In the beginning, God created the Earth and rested.
Then God created Man and rested.
Then God created Woman.
Since then, neither God, nor Man has rested.
Then God created Man and rested.
Then God created Woman.
Since then, neither God, nor Man has rested.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
What Is Politics?
A kid goes to his dad and asks, "Dad, what are politics?"
His dad replies, " Put it this way; I am the breadwinner of the family so I am capatilism. Your mom is the owner of the money so she is government. The government is the provider for the people so you are the people. Your baby brother will be the future, and the nanny is the working class. Now think about that."
So he went to bed. He was woken by his brother. The baby had pooped in his daiper. He went to tell his parents, but he only found his mom asleep in the bed. He didn't want to wake her, so he went to the nanny. The door was locked. He checked through a hole and saw the dad in bed with the nanny. He went back to bed. The next morning, he went to his dad and said, "Dad i know what you mean now."
"You do? Tell me."
"OK, while capatilism is screwing the working class, the government is sound asleep, while the people are watching the future being pooped on!!!"
His dad replies, " Put it this way; I am the breadwinner of the family so I am capatilism. Your mom is the owner of the money so she is government. The government is the provider for the people so you are the people. Your baby brother will be the future, and the nanny is the working class. Now think about that."
So he went to bed. He was woken by his brother. The baby had pooped in his daiper. He went to tell his parents, but he only found his mom asleep in the bed. He didn't want to wake her, so he went to the nanny. The door was locked. He checked through a hole and saw the dad in bed with the nanny. He went back to bed. The next morning, he went to his dad and said, "Dad i know what you mean now."
"You do? Tell me."
"OK, while capatilism is screwing the working class, the government is sound asleep, while the people are watching the future being pooped on!!!"
Monday, December 31, 2007
Suicide bomb attack kills 12 in Iraq
A suicide bomber drove a truck rigged with explosives into a checkpoint manned by members of a U.S.-backed security volunteer group in a town north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people, police and a member of the volunteer group said.
Another three people were missing following the explosion in the town of Mishada, 20 miles north of the capital, on part of the main highway linking Baghdad to northern Iraq, according to a police officer and Adil al-Mishhadani, a member of the volunteer group.
The groups, known as Awakening Councils and dubbed Concerned Local Citizens by the U.S. military, have been credited with helping reduce violence in the country. The groups are made up of mainly Sunni tribal fighters who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year and are now paid by the U.S. military to help provide security.
But they're also increasingly becoming targets in Iraq.
All 12 people killed in Monday's attack, as well as the three people missing, were believed to be council members, al-Mishhadani said.
In a separate attack, a female suicide bomber detonated herself near a police patrol, wounding five policemen and four civilians in the town of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, said police Brigadier Khudeir al-Tamimi.
Last week, a new audiotape of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden emerged warning Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining the Awakening Councils or participating in any unity government.
He denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Awakening Council in Anbar province, where the movement started. Abu Risha was killed in a bombing in September.
The Awakening Council movement now includes more than 70,000 fighters in Anbar, Baghdad and other Sunni-dominated provinces. The councils, along with a surge of extra U.S. troops into Baghdad and a cease-fire declared by radical Shiite extremist Muqtada al-Sadr for his Mahdi Army militia, are credited with a 60 percent reduction in overall violence in the country since June.
In the capital, a mortar round wounded three civilians when it landed on a house in Baghdad's western neighborhood of Amariyah Monday, a Baghdad police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to the media. The intended target was believed to have been a nearby Awakening Council headquarters.
To the south in Wasit province, gunmen shot and wounded an Awakening Council member in the village of al-Hafriyah, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said.
In the town of Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen traded fire with police and Awakening Council members, leaving one council member and one policeman dead and wounding three policemen, a police officer said.
Separately, six mortar rounds landed near an Iraqi Army checkpoint near the town, wounding two soldiers, the officer said.
In other violence Monday, a roadside bomb targeting a patrol near the Iranian border killed two Iraqi soldiers and injured another four, police said.
The attack occurred shortly after dawn in the frontier town of Mandali, about 30 miles from the Iranian border in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release information to the media.
Diyala has become one of Iraq's most dangerous areas. Most of the activities of al-Qaida in Iraq have been pushed out Anbar province and Baghdad, into Diyala and the northern city of Mosul, following the surge of U.S. troops and the work of Awakening Councils in Anbar.
"Diyala has been one of the tougher fights," U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said in Baghdad Sunday. "Diyala is an area of significant interest for al-Qaida."
"We realize that security in Iraq is very fragile and tenuous," Smith said. Although much progress had been made, "there is no place in Iraq today that is safe from terrorism."
Report Courtesy : SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
Another three people were missing following the explosion in the town of Mishada, 20 miles north of the capital, on part of the main highway linking Baghdad to northern Iraq, according to a police officer and Adil al-Mishhadani, a member of the volunteer group.
The groups, known as Awakening Councils and dubbed Concerned Local Citizens by the U.S. military, have been credited with helping reduce violence in the country. The groups are made up of mainly Sunni tribal fighters who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year and are now paid by the U.S. military to help provide security.
But they're also increasingly becoming targets in Iraq.
All 12 people killed in Monday's attack, as well as the three people missing, were believed to be council members, al-Mishhadani said.
In a separate attack, a female suicide bomber detonated herself near a police patrol, wounding five policemen and four civilians in the town of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, said police Brigadier Khudeir al-Tamimi.
Last week, a new audiotape of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden emerged warning Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining the Awakening Councils or participating in any unity government.
He denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Awakening Council in Anbar province, where the movement started. Abu Risha was killed in a bombing in September.
The Awakening Council movement now includes more than 70,000 fighters in Anbar, Baghdad and other Sunni-dominated provinces. The councils, along with a surge of extra U.S. troops into Baghdad and a cease-fire declared by radical Shiite extremist Muqtada al-Sadr for his Mahdi Army militia, are credited with a 60 percent reduction in overall violence in the country since June.
In the capital, a mortar round wounded three civilians when it landed on a house in Baghdad's western neighborhood of Amariyah Monday, a Baghdad police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to the media. The intended target was believed to have been a nearby Awakening Council headquarters.
To the south in Wasit province, gunmen shot and wounded an Awakening Council member in the village of al-Hafriyah, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said.
In the town of Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen traded fire with police and Awakening Council members, leaving one council member and one policeman dead and wounding three policemen, a police officer said.
Separately, six mortar rounds landed near an Iraqi Army checkpoint near the town, wounding two soldiers, the officer said.
In other violence Monday, a roadside bomb targeting a patrol near the Iranian border killed two Iraqi soldiers and injured another four, police said.
The attack occurred shortly after dawn in the frontier town of Mandali, about 30 miles from the Iranian border in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release information to the media.
Diyala has become one of Iraq's most dangerous areas. Most of the activities of al-Qaida in Iraq have been pushed out Anbar province and Baghdad, into Diyala and the northern city of Mosul, following the surge of U.S. troops and the work of Awakening Councils in Anbar.
"Diyala has been one of the tougher fights," U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said in Baghdad Sunday. "Diyala is an area of significant interest for al-Qaida."
"We realize that security in Iraq is very fragile and tenuous," Smith said. Although much progress had been made, "there is no place in Iraq today that is safe from terrorism."
Report Courtesy : SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Thought for the day
Linda Blair with great favour confessed,
She'd been exorcised, thus finding rest,
But alack and alas
Her old demon came back
and now the poor girl's repossessed.
She'd been exorcised, thus finding rest,
But alack and alas
Her old demon came back
and now the poor girl's repossessed.
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