Yahoo Online Games - Bridge

Latest hobby -
http://games.yahoo.com/br

Enjoy!

Cheers,
- Tosh

Nice article about fiscal deficit, inflation, economy etc.

Picked up straight from www.equitymaster.com

Fiscal deficit: Grim consequences...


While India's GDP has been growing at a strong 8% per annum rate, there are several factors that can derail this growth process in the long run. Bad governance, poor physical and social infrastructure, fiscal deficit, you name it! Out of these, while a lot has been discussed and debated on poor governance and sorry state of infrastructure, the consequences with respect to the high fiscal deficit of central and state governments and the burden that these impose on the overall financial and monetary system, can be really grim.

While it is not necessary that fiscal deficit should always be a matter of concern especially for developing economies like India, if unchecked, the same can lead to grim consequences. In this write-up, we shall examine the problems associated with a high level of fiscal deficit and the likely impact of the same on the economy.



What is fiscal deficit?
In simple terms, fiscal deficit is defined as the difference between government's expenditure and its total receipts. In other words, because the government fails to match its expenses with what it earns, it has to resort to 'deficit financing' by borrowing in various ways.

One important argument against fiscal deficit is that it results in the crowding out effect i.e., the government 'crowds out' private investment leading to a possible hike in interest rates. To put things in perspective, if the government garners a higher share of the borrowings from the market, the private sector will consequently have a lesser share. This will lead to a rise in interest rates and a higher cost of capital for private investors. On the inflation front, a high fiscal deficit enhances the inflation of an economy. The reason is that government's borrowings to meet its expenditure lead to a rise in the money stock in the economy without a consequent growth in capital productivity. This is said to have an inflationary effect as few goods are chased by more money. This is especially so, if the borrowings of the government are utilised for the financing of the deficit rather than for accelerating the output.

Therefore, the crux of the matter really is the composition of the government expenditure. Are the government borrowings utilised more for productive purposes? The answer is 'no'. As can be evinced from the table below, a larger chunk of the government expenditure is being diverted towards non-plan expenditure such as interest payments and subsidies. This means that the government is effectively borrowing to pay off debts and the interest on the existing debt, further compounding the fiscal deficit problem.


Expenditure: Is it productive?
FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06
Total expenditure (Rs bn) 3,256 3,623 4,132 4,712 4,977 5,087
(% of GDP) 15.4% 15.9% 16.9% 17.1% 15.9% 14.4%
Plan expenditure (% of GDP) 3.9% 4.4% 4.6% 4.4% 4.2% 4.1%
Non-plan exp (% of GDP) 11.5% 11.4% 12.3% 12.6% 11.7% 10.3%

Source: CMIE
To conclude...
As mentioned earlier, a fiscal deficit is not a bad sign, if the government is utilizing the borrowings for productive purposes. Given the fact that India faces huge constraints on the infrastructure side, the focus has to be on development of roads, airports, highways, and curbing power shortages. This is more so if the current level of GDP growth has to be sustained. While the strong forex reserves position and GDP growth rate has ensured that India does not re-visit the 1991 crisis again, the government needs to understand that prudent utilisation of resources will go a long way in charting and sustaining India's economic health in the future.

My favourite quote for the month

"There can be no greater calling than public service" by (FDR) Franklin D. Roosevelt - President, United States of America.

Picked up from - [My current reading] - The Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey Archer. I am loving it. Highly recommended - especially for those with interest in politics.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Review - Punjabi Dhaba in Cambridge, Massachusetts - USA

Today I had been to the Punjabi Dhaba located at 225, Hampshire Street, Cambridge. Here's a review of the restaurant based on my experience.

Positives:

1. Variety of Punjabi dishes.
2. Good location - Easily accessible even by the public transport. It is located at the intersection of the Cambridge street and the Hampshire street. It is just besides the "Inman square" stop of the Bus Route # 69 which runs from the Harvard Square to the Lechmere station.
3. Prices are comparatively low. There are many other Indian places to eat around here but this one is really cheap as compared to the others I have seen.

Negatives:

1. The place is just too small. There are just a couple of tables on the ground floor and even these are not spacious at all. There are a few more tables on the 1st floor but to take your plates and climb upstairs is not a good option.
2. The taste was not that good. I had Alu Gobi and Parathas. The curry had too many hot spices, though it was not spicy. I could not finish the curry because I got bored with it after a few bites. It had too much masala in it. The parathas were hard to chew and the curd had some additive which made it impossible to eat for me.
3. There is no buffet.
4. The food is not ready. They prepare it after you give the orders. So be ready to stand in a crowd waiting for your food to be cooked for at least 15 minutes.

Overall, I think it is a nice place for some college students to go and eat at a relatively cheaper rate but if you are looking for a peaceful place with good food and are willing to pay a little extra, then please avoid. The other similar but good places around are: Kathmandu, Diva and Tanjore.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

Geoffrey Boycott is Back!

Today I was waiting at some place. There I could see that a TV was showing the cricket match between West Indies and Bangladesh. I had no interest in the one sided affair so I ignored it. However, sometime in between, the words of the legendary commentator fell on my ears, and I now wanted to see the match. That's what Geoffrey does. He makes you glued to the TV set not only for the match but also for is commentary. And that's why he is my favourite. He is honest, frank, and mostly correct.

I was dissapointed after finding that he had a throat cancer. But glad to know that he is back. And with a bang!

Cheers,
- Tosh

Russian Space Shuttle Soyuz returns safely

After NASA's Atlantis, the Russian Space Agency's space shuttle Soyuz returned back safely to earth last week. The space shuttle visited the International Space Station and ferried the world's first lady space tourist - Anousheh Ansari. Here's a link to her blog that she wrote from up there in the space.

Cheers,
- Tosh

The most honest interview

Of my most favourite hero, taken by the one and only - Karan Thapar. I watched it tonight on CNN-IBN. Take a look.

Cheers,
- Tosh

NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis comes back safely to earth

On Thursday morning at Florida, the space shuttle Atlantis landed safely. The NASA's Landing Blog gave nice updates about the re-entry and the landing of the shuttle.

Some interesting facts:
1. The shuttle covered the distance from the Indian Ocean to Florida in one hour flat.
2. It was flying at the speed of around 13,000 miles per hour.
3. This was the (approximately) 6th flight of the Shuttle Atlantis.

Till the next time, Bye Bye Atlantis.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Farmer Suicides - A good article from The New York Times

While browsing for some other news on the New York Times, I came across an advertisement for this article. Its a very good report on the ever-increasing and disappointing story of the farmer suicides mainly in Vidarbha and also in other regions of rural India. It covers many aspects of the issue including the BT cotton, the moneylenders and so on.

Take a look at On IndiaÂ’s Farms, a Plague of Suicide if you are interested.

Whenever I read about these stories it makes me feel really sad. On one hand, India is seeing a lot of GDP growth. The standard of living of the urban society has gone up by leaps and bounds since the past two generations. However, the conditions of living in the rural areas have gone from bad to worse. Isn't it pathetic?

The blame undoubtedly lies with the government who is sitting blindly, not making good policies to ban something like BT Cotton, not doing enough to crack down on the illegal money lending business and not caring enough about the nearly two-thirds of the population.

The gap between the rich and the poor - sadly - gets bigger by the day.

Ex-Intelligence Bureau Director's Interesting views on Indo-Pak peace process

Picked up straight from Indian Express. The author has critisized the latest Indian stragey in the peace dialogue. Here's the complete article:

A strategic setback for India
Ajit Doval

Pakistan’s military leadership may consider Havana statement a dividend for the terror attacks in India

India has suffered its first strategic setback in the fight against terrorism by certifying that Pakistan is not an aggressor but a state aggressed upon. On the terrorism front it brings both countries at par. For a quarter of a century, we felt Pakistan was the aggressor — first in Punjab, then in Kashmir and now in rest of the country — leaving more than 60,000 dead. Perhaps India was right in the past to blame Pakistan but no longer, apparently. Pakistan might have done so much in the recent past that there is justification not to carry the baggage of history and grapple with the new positive realities.

Let’s examine the contemporary realities which overnight transformed our perception of Pakistan from a terrorist-sponsoring state into that of a counter-terrorist partnership state. In the past 12 months, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists struck across the country, killing nearly 400 persons (the heaviest casualties suffered in a year by independent India outside the terrorist-hit states).

In Kashmir, it has increased infiltration and upped the ante of violence. In fact, Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said as much on NDTV 24x7’s Walk The Talk programme (published in The Indian Express on September 18). ISI-sponsored militants, he said, “have been let loose”, adding, “I don’t think this could be possible without the knowledge of Musharraf Sahab”.

Under the pretext of helping earthquake victims it handed over relief work and the funds that poured in to Lashkar-e-Toiba to enable it to entrench itself there. It still harbours Salahuddins and Dawoods, provides them Pakistani passports and identity cards and facilitates their anti-India activities. A decade and a half since the demise of Punjab militancy, the ISI still harbours more than a dozen top commanders of various Sikh outfits.

National Security Advisor MK Narayanan revealed that Pakistan supported the Taliban in the kidnapping and killing of Maniappan, an Indian worker in Afghanistan. In a post-Mumbai blasts interview he warned that Pakistan-linked terrorists could strike our nuclear facilities, scientific establishments and defence forces. The ISI has substantially upgraded its presence in Bangladesh and is increasingly leveraging fundamentalist groups for anti-India action. The CBI believes that fake Indian currency notes are being “supplied by the Pakistan government press at Quetta to Dubai-based counterfeiters who smuggle it into India”. It pegs the volume of such notes at Rs.1,69,000 crores.

By conviction and experience, Pakistan feels that once the dust settles and the ritual of brave statements is over, India eventually bends to coercive power. When asked, in June 2003, whether Kargil was a mistake, Musharraf told Gulf News: “We don’t trust India. Before Kargil, Kashmir was a dead issue. Bilateral talks started only because of Kargil. Another Kargil taking place would depend on how the peace talks proceed.” Pakistan’s army leadership may be considering the Havana statement as a dividend for heightened terrorism in the mainland.

Just a month ago the Prime Minister asserted that “We are certain that the terror modules responsible for the Mumbai blasts are instigated, inspired and supported by the elements across the border”. How do we reconcile this with India’s statement in Havana: “The fact is, terror is a threat to Pakistan. And it has been a threat to India. We need to have a collective mechanism to deal with it.” For Pakistan, using terror to achieve its strategic and political objectives is part of its state policy and that is what India is opposed to. If for reasons political, religious or otherwise Pakistan society becomes violence ridden it does not bring Pakistan at par with states it has continuously targeted and bled.

That Musharraf, who during the SAARC summit in Nepal in January 2002, said that the Kashmir issue “was linked to Indian terrorism and cannot be separated”, is now going to be our comrade-in-arms in our war against terrorism betrays both a lack of history and strategic vision. Pakistani commentator Ahmad Rashid told German newspaper Der Spiegel that “Pakistan remains the global centre for terrorism. The fact is that, after 9/11, despite the May crackdown by the Musharraf regime, we haven’t shut down Pakistani militant groups. The reason is that these groups are very closely tied with the military’s foreign policy, especially with respect to Kashmir and Afghanistan.” This holds good today — every indication points in that direction.

Musharraf is currently under heavy pressure from all sides. Domestically he has lost much of his credibility and legitimacy; democratic forces are ranged against him. The least that democratic forces in Pakistan expect is that India will not do anything that will strengthen the forces of totalitarianism. Baluchistan was in flames after the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti. Despite the recent accord, the Waziristan agency is still unstable. Was it for Indiato have given this breather to Musharraf?

If Pakistan was sincere and we were really strong and farsighted we should have demanded Pakistan rolling back its terrorist infrastructure lock, stock and barrel, hand over the people harboured to bleed India and stop arms, financial and logistical support to terror-linked collaborative networks. Giving a clean chit to Pakistan without any basis and at the most inopportune time is baffling.

Most likely, repeating history, Musharraf would have promised to bundle up the Salahuddins and Dawoods, close the camps, choke the financial channels or even stop ISI run printing of Indian currency. He may even deliver on some to give his Indian counterparts some mileage before the next Assembly elections. For a few months there might be a fall in acts of terrorism, which would only prove Pakistan’s tight control over the issue. However, Pakistan agencies will simultaneously redouble their efforts to establish new sleeper cells and strengthen the old ones, move and dump weapons and explosives in targeted parts of the country. There is no paradigm shift for Pakistan.

General Aziz Khan, Musharraf’s former Chairman Joint Chief of Staff, addressing an army function in Rawalkot on June 24, 2003, had said: “Pakistan not only knows how to tackle India but has leaders with the guts.” I wish we could say the same.

The writer is a former director, Intelligence Bureau

Why did India enforce the Power Plays?

India were defeated by West Indies in the second game of the DLF cup in Kuala Lumpur. The match was abandoned after 20 overs of West Indies innings and they were 141/2. With the 50-over target of 309, the 20-over target using the Duckworth Lewis system was 113. And hence the match was awarded to the West Indies.

After the match Lara in the interview said that they knew that there was always a chance of rain and hence they made sure that they were always ahead of the asking run rate. My question is :- Why did India not make more efforts to make sure that the West Indies' run-rate was kept down? Was it this ignorance that cost them the match? Had they not enforced the two powerplays, the West Indies would not have scored so heavily and India would have had a great chance of winning the rain-truncated game!

What surprises me the most is not just the fact that India did not consider delaying the PowerPlays. But the fact that this lapse went un-noticed. I have not come across a single comment on television or news or internet which would suggest that the loss could have been avoided by this simple tact! The whole world is so busy praising Sachin Tendulkar that they seem to have forgotten the fact that India lost the match. In doing so India have rewarded West Indies with a bonus point and I now see it almost impossible for India to reach the finals. In order to do that, India will have to beat the West Indies with one bonus point and end up with higher run-rate. This is so because, on current bowling/fielding form, I do not see India beating the Australians.

If only I knew the email address of Rahul Dravid, I will request him to consider the option of delaying the PowerPlays in future such secnarios. And if only there was an alias like all@CricketCrazyIndia, I will tell them to stop over-praising Sachin and also think about the team.

Please let me know your comments.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Horse Riding @ Table Top Mahabaleshwar

Cheers,
- Tosh

The economics after 9-11 & Indian Stock Markets

Below is a fantastic write-up from EquityMaster that talks about the effects of September 11 attacks on the US, world economy and its relation to the Indian Stock Markets. Take a look...

Today is a day that will mark the fifth anniversary of the deadly attack that brought down the world trade center, the symbol of the American economic might and the one that forever left an indelible mark on the American psyche. The repercussions, however, were not just political. The attacks completely knocked the winds out of the sails of US economy, which was already reeling in the aftermath of the tech bubble burst. Something had to be done to prop the consumption levels, which had hit quite a low since people opted to save rather than spend, as uncertainty loomed large before them. US central bank, more popularly known around the world as the Federal Reserve, then took the all-important step of slashing interest rates and bringing them to virtually zero, thus egging the US consumers to not just spend but splurge. And splurge they did! Armed with one of the lowest interest rates in decades, they went about buying anything and everything that came their way and in the process gave a much needed boost to the US economy. Elsewhere in the Far East, an event not as visible as the travails of the US economy, but equally important, was fast unfolding. With robust economic growth in the region of 9% to 10% behind it, China was finally coming into its own and was asserting its newfound economic importance on the world stage. With cheap labor force in abundance and ruthless utilization of economies of scale, the country was fast acquiring a reputation of being a factory to the world. However, maintaining the growth momentum required massive amount of investments in its infrastructure and the country soon turned into the world's largest consumer of a lot of industrial goods and services. In fact, more than half of world's total output of a lot of commodities was gobbled up by China in order to feed its ravenous appetite for manufacturing driven growth. Thus, the world economy fast turned into a two-horse chariot, with both the US and the Chinese economy perfectly complementing each other. Buoyed by rock bottom interest rates, the US consumer bought cheap Chinese goods by the truckloads and the Chinese manufacturer in turn utilized the money by investing in capacity expansion and sprucing up the country's infrastructure. However, neither was China going to be able to meet all its demand for commodities internally and nor was it the only market the US consumers relied upon. This bought other nations and their respective companies into focus and the economic revival, which was kicked off by the US consumer, and the Chinese manufacturer soon spread its tentacles far and wide. As the bottomlines of companies across the globe improved on account of this economic revival and their value became apparent, cheap money that was locked somewhere in the US bank account soon found its way into the equity markets. Infact, prices of all the assets started moving northwards. This period soon turned into one of those extremely rare cases in history where prices of almost all the commodities witnessed a simultaneous rise.

Although India's contribution to this revival was not that significant, this period coincided with one of the best ever as far as acceleration of the economy was concerned. This obviously whetted the appetite of fund managers across the globe and the same cheap money that found its way into other emerging market asset classes also found its way into India. Soon, the extremely well regulated and technologically savvy Indian equity markets witnessed an unprecedented buying interest. Notwithstanding a few bumps in the interim, the Indian benchmark indices have witnessed a more than three fold jump in their market capitalization over the last 3 to 4 years and turned quite a few people in millionaires and billionaires. Another important factor that contributed to this global economic boom was the re-emergence of Japan, the land of rising sun. After spending almost a decade in economic wilderness, the world's second largest economy finally shed the garb of its ultra-conservatism and is currently heading for its longest expansion in the post war period, one that has already lasted more than four years. Here again, exports to the US and China, like elsewhere, played a crucial role. Of late though, the Japanese consumer has also started spending liberally, thus leading to internal consumption also contributing towards its GDP growth.

Thus, while the rate cut by the Federal Reserve did help boost the world economy, the role of China in taking it to the next level cannot be understated. However, the step that was taken to boost the US economy started to backfire. Infact, a worry of exactly the opposite kind started haunting the US Federal Reserve. The consumption binge that Fed itself kicked off has risen to quite an alarming level and has left a gaping hole in their deficit. Before situation threatened to spiral out of control, it stepped in and did a U-turn by resorting to 17 consecutive quarters of interest rate hikes to stem reckless spending by the US consumer. The impact has been positive so far, as due to demand slowdown, prices of some commodities have indeed fallen. However, not wanting this to have a hard landing effect on the economy, the Fed is currently adopting a wait and watch approach. As far as the impact of this on India is concerned, we believe that unlike China or its South East Asian counterparts, growth in India is pre-dominantly internal driven and as such, it stands lesser exposed to the risk of a global slowdown.

However, the capital market perspective does not go in lock step with the economic perspective. While there is no denying the potential of the country as an attractive investment destination, the role of FIIs in the recent bull run cannot be overlooked. Thus, as seen on a couple of occasions in the past, any pull out of funds by them is likely to spark a much broader sell off in the Indian equity markets. Moreover, at the current valuation levels, the relative attractiveness of the Indian equity markets vis-à-vis the US interest rate is considerably lesser than in the recent past. Hence, we would advise investors to exercise caution at the current juncture with regards to their equity investments. Although the India growth story is still intact, most of the sectors currently seem to be overbought and hence vulnerable to FII outflows. A proper study of risk-reward ratio is of the essence!

Atlantis Space Mission launched successfully

NASA launched the Atlantis Space shuttle finally after a couple of initial setbacks. The mission is aimed to complete the construction of the half-built International Space Station(ISS). The ISS will serve as a launchpad for future spaces missions by astronauts from the earth - a truely fascinating idea.

Track the latest about Atlantis here. Also, worth looking is the Flash feature at the NASA homepage which mentions the daily mission schedule for the crew on board.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Azhar's son - Ayaz - Another cricketer in the making?

Mohammad Azharuddin was my most favourite cricketer. An ex-Indian captain, a wristy batsman and a sharp fielder. He said very few words but was a treat to watch when on song. Along with Mark Waugh and Aravinda De-Silva, he gave me great joy while watching him play.

Then the match fixing scandal broke. I still find it hard to believe that he could be involved in something as criminal.

Now his son is 14 years old and plays school, club cricket. Hope to see a similar player (with less controversies)!

More on Mohammad Ayazuddin at Like Father, like son.

Cheers,
- Tosh

European Space Agency concludes its Moon Mission

Impact landing ends SMART-1 mission to the Moon

3 September 2006
ESA PR 31-2006. Early this morning, a small flash illuminated the surface of the Moon as the European Space Agency’s SMART-1 spacecraft impacted onto the lunar soil, in the ‘Lake of Excellence’ region. The planned impact concluded a successful mission that, in addition to testing innovative space technology, had been conducting a thorough scientific exploration of the Moon for about a year and a half.

Taken from http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM7A76LARE_index_0.html

Cheers,
- Tosh

US Open Tennis 2006

* Can the great showman-cum-gentleman Andre Agassi do a Goran Ivanisevic and script a fairytale finish?
* Can the promising young talent Rafel Nadal get past the unbeatable champion Roger Federer?
* Can Maria Sharapova / Serena Williams win a Grand Slam again?

Enjoy the Action.
Cheers,
- Tosh

Shameless Media Allegedly egged on a man to set himself on fire

In these days of ridiculous media coverage by TRP-crazy TV news channels, anything can happen. It seems the media persons encouraged a transport contractor to set himself on fire. The man would get a voice for his complaints and the sick TV channels would get audience watching live flesh burning.

These channels and journalists will go at any levels nowadays to improve their ratings. Its a criminal act and the most chilling part is that, when the things got out of control and the man in danger of his life, still not a single of those greedy cameramen cared to douse the flames.

More details here.

Whatever is going on here is really atrocious. The guilty must be booked, charged, punished and we must stop viewing such insane news channels.

Astronomy: New Planets Possible in our Solar System

Recently, International Union of Astronomers proposed to change the definition of a Planet. Details at Solar System Could Gain New Planets Under Definition Change. This news led me to a few questions and answers. Some of them are:

Q1. What is the difference between star and planet: Observational Difference And Physical Difference.

Q2. Why is a planet/star always spherical? Answer - present on the above pages - The gravitational pull is so big that everything is pulled towards the center. Due to this, a sphere is created in the 3 dimensional space.

Oh, Astronomy is so damn Exciting!!!

Cheers,
- Tosh

Back to using the Linux Operating System

This is the history of my Operating System usage:

- Started with windows in VNIT/VRCE labs
- Used linux in VNIT labs for some assignments in COmpilers/other courses in VNIT
- Used Solaris for BE Project
- Used linux in IIT Bombay
- Used Windows in my office - Persistent Systems Pvt Ltd (For the past 4 1/2 years)

Now I have successfully installed and configured SuSe Linux 10 on my home PC. Its good to be back on Linux again. The latest versions of Linux are much better that the older one. Guess what, it detected my Canon digital camera, all my other hardware and also my ethernet card/VSNL (Tata Indiicom) broadband internet connection without any additional installations/driver configurations.

So back to Tetris and Mozilla :-)

Cheers,
- Tosh

Funny Place - Hilarious video advertisements

Take a look at Funny Videos of TV commercials

I find the ads absolutely amazing!

Cheers,
- Tosh

Test Cricket: The resurgence of England and Sri Lanka

What a spectacular week for test cricket! Two fantastic matches, which on the last day, could have gone towards any team. But the better teams kept their nerves and won the series along with the match.

Sri Lanka deserve a special mention. They have held England in England 1-1. Then beaten them 5-0 in the ODI series and now, at home, they have comprehensively beaten South Africa 2-0. They are the most promising team of the year and we should be looking forward to their future series. The change in captain was a welcome move for them as Mahela Jayawardena just keeps on getting better and better. His knock in the last innings of the last match against the SAFs was one of the most memorable innings played under pressure that I remember watching. Murali as usual spun a web and continues to be the genius that he has been for so many years. Other bowlers have also supported him very well, the most interesting being Malinga. Sangakkara and Jayasuria are also hitting good runs and helping Mahela along. Kudos to the Lions. Sri Lanka was my favourite team at the time of 1996 world cup and they seem to be getting close to that sort of form once more.

England's easy series win has been a bit of a surprise. How often do you see a team making > 525 in the first innings and go on to loose a test match easily? That's what Pakistan did yesterday and they must be utterly disappointed that they could not hang on for one day. As I had written earlier, The two Ys and the I have been good but there has been absolutely no support from other batsmen and that has proved to be critical. England turned all the screws on them with brilliant batting, bowling and Fielding. I am reallly happy for England with their two wins. This now means that they will be ready, charged and raring to go at the Champs in the Ashes. They have many things working for them - the outstanding forms of Bell, Cook, Pieterson, Strauss and Trescothick. Peiterson and Strauss's efforts were kind of expected but both Cook and Bell have been sensational. Of all of them, my favourite continues to be Kevin and he is already moving up places in my all time favourite cricketrs' list. He said at the start of the match that he sees a century coming his way soon and he hit one in the first innings! Isn't that brave? He has that ruthless arrogance and confidence in him which makes him extremely dangerous. He has no fear of failure. In my opinion, he will be on of the best batsmen of this decade. As expected, Harmison has bowled beautifully but the real surprise weapon was Monty Panesar. He has improved his game by leaps and bounds to compete now with the top spinners in the world. His will have be a pivotal role if England are to match Australia.

According to the form of the day, I cannot put my money on Australians for winning the Ashes. I badly want England to win the Ashes and I think they look good to do so on paper but then the Champions are always hard to beat. It all makes up for an even more exciting Ashes tourney. Can't wait for it to start...

Cheers,
- Tosh

Loss of precious lives due to rain...

Over the past few days, one thing worries me. Why don't we shout and scream against the loss of lives of the poor due to the rains? In my opinion, this is one of the most important responsibility of a nation (or state) and its government. To save the citizens from periodic/yearly disasters such as floods and rains. There seems to be a chaos and lack of planning in handling such situations. So far, this year, rains and flooding have cost around 60 lives each in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

My concern is that not enough is being done to reduce this damage over a period of time. Not many people seem to be so serious about it. The schools in Mumbai being shut for a day or two make bigger headlines in papers/TV that the number of deaths due to floods! The funniest thing I saw on TV news was that on yesterday, they were showing a filthy-rich young kid playing video game at his house and the reporter reporting that this is what the rains and the floods have done to Mumbai! Is that it? I AM SORRY NO... The rains and floods have washed away lives. Taken away sons, fathers, husbands. Taken away the homes, bread and butter of millions. But not enough people that I see are taking this seriously.

And about the government efforts? They are all in rescue mode now. The relief operations are a knee-jerk reaction. But this should not happen time and again. There must be better planning to avoid the life-loss in the first place.

What are the solutions?
- More government plans and their execution.
- Rain water harvesting in cities [I have heard that there is a law in Ahmedabad where every new construction is not allowed a clearance unless they make sure that none of the rain water falling on its surface will go beyond its boundaries. It has to be harvested below its soil. Its an excellent initiative. Why is it not seen in all the cities?]
- A mega river plan wherein floods can be avoided or reduced.
- Early weather monitoring systems to warn - Heard that the Doppler radars which are coming in before the 2007 monsoon will help this cause.
- Any other thoughts?

I urge the governments to give serious thoughts to all these issues and start putting together short and long terms plans to avoid such calamities.

-Ashutosh

Registered for the IIT Bombay Distance Education Program

Today I registered for the IIT Bombay Distance Education Program. I plan to credit the course Solar Photovoltaic Technologies by Prof. Chetan Solanki. The course will run through the semester July end - November 2006 and will be offered through video conferencing at Persistent Systems Pvt Ltd. The classes start tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Mumbai Blasts - Horrible TV coverage

Let me begin by expressing deep sympathy and solidarity to those who suffered because of the deadly terrorist attacks on Mumbai local trains on 11th July 2006.

This article is to criticize the electronic (TV) media coverage of the news related to this terrorist attack by the Indian news channels. As is also pointed out in many other blogs at Indian Blogs Slam TV Coverage of Mumbai Blasts , the TV news coverage was horrible, crass, dangerous, and highly deplorable.

The scenes of dead bodies and blood and flesh and body organs lying around on streets is not something that anyone wants to see while tuning on to the news of a terrorist attack. Given that the children and kids watch the channels regularly, such coverage is absolutely ridiculous.

There is one more angle to such coverage. Such pictures only intensify the anger and can incite a feeling of revenge in the minds of the entire generations which is very disturbing for the security of the country. The last thing we want is internal riots and thankfully we didn't have them this time round. But these images can stay put in minds for years and might lead the youth to some disturbing paths.

I wholeheartedly condemn the ghastly coverage. If you are interested more, you can click on the link provided above to learn about other blogs and bloggers who are raising their voices to protest the shameless show run by the news channels.

In the meanwhile, I noticed that on the said day, the news coverage of BBC and CNN was the most professional and clean. Both the channels had restrained from showing such sick pictures but at the same time their reporting and journalism was brilliant.

- Tosh

Current Reading...

"AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR The story of my experiments with truth" by Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi - Father of The Nation.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486245934/sr=1-1/qid=1153918326/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0512997-9399339?ie=UTF8&s=books

Cheers,
- Tosh

Bombay Brasserie @ Pune

This is about a restaurant in Pune on the Dhole Patil Road. The name is Bombay Brasserie. It is my most favourite restaurant in the city. Its a little on the costlier side. However, the service, the food and the ambiance is just terrific.

On a typical weekend nowadays in Pune, all such hotels are over crowded. Even if you get a table to sit after a long queue, the service is often pathetic with long waits for the orders. However, not so at Bombay Brasserie. This being one of the costlier places, it is not so much crowded as the rest, which is why, the service is excellent. The ambiance is also different from most of the other places I have been to. I have not experienced their open-air or the Kabab Factory buffet but I have heard that they are very good as well.

So, the next time you think about eating dinner outside in Pune, this is the place to be.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Site Meter : A Classic !

While browing through some other blogs today, I found out this cool website analytics tool (Free).

http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=home

What is does is:
- You need to register on the site along with the URL for your website homepage that you want to analyze.
- SiteMeter generates an HTML/Javascript for you that you need to embed in your web page.
- Everytime someone visits your web page, the Site Meter analyzes the visit. It records a number of different parameters for that visit e.g. Domain, IP, ISP, Location, OS browser, length of visit, page views in visit, referrer, entry, exit page and so on.
- You can always log on the Site Meter site and get different reports based on these straffics of the traffic on your web site.

Quite amazing, even more so when it comes absolutely free. Check it out!

Cheers,
- Tosh

Test Cricket: England Vs. Pakistan

From today, this new test series starts with both teams having a handful of injuries. England have been shaken up by a resurgent Sri Lankan team and will be hoping that they can forget that disastrous series. Pakistan, on the other hand are fresh from a break and are coming from a 2-0 drubbing of England in their home series. Looking at current form, injuries and recent past, Pakistan start as clear favourites.

However, they have their own problems as well. Their main fast bowlers are out with injuries. The opening pair has not performed yet on fast tracks. Their main strength is the middle order batting, which on current form is the best in the world. It will be interesting to find out how much weight Inzy, Younis and Yousuf can carry on their shoulders. I guess that England will make fast bouncy tracks now that many Pak quicks are out.

Given that, and given the home advantage, I think England won't be as easy to beat as they were against Sri Lanka. The other players to watch out for will be Asif, Kevin Pieterson, and Steve Harmison. Asif, I think is one of the best fast bowlers around today. Harmison is coming back from a long layoff and will be eager to do well without his partners. Pieterson is the man to look out for, he has been amazingly consitent and equally ruthless on all kinds of bowlers in the world.

My prediction: 1-1 or if not, then 1-0 Pakistan.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Sports Bonanza...

It was a month to remember. A lot of sports events were lined up live every evening. The England-Sri Lanka cricket series, the India-West Indies cricket Test series, the Soccer World Cup and the Wimbledon.

England were easily outplayed by SriLanka in the one dayers. Sri Lanka looked like a transformed unit under the new high-performing captain Mahela Jayawardena. He along with Sanath Jayasuria tore apart the England bowling. England missed half their full strength team - or even more. Despite that, the SL players really played out of their skin and the result said it. The return of Sanath is an ominous sign for the bowlers around the globe as the Cricket World Cup comes closer (6-7 months away).

Next the Ind-WI series. After edging India in the close and tight one day matches, WI just could not raise the level of their games in the tests. India lost out on fielding in the ODIs but they were back to their best during the tests. India looked like winning all the four matches which is a tribute to their game, really. India never had - and even doesn't have - a killer bowler who can run through lower orders - which is why, as expected, India could not finish off WI on a couple of occassions. But for the rainy day, India would have gone home 2-0 which was what they deserved. Kumble and Dravid stood out with talisman efforts but it was a team performance with most of the players chipping in at important moments.

World Cup Football. ITALY the champs. Brazil the villains. Zizou the double role - Hero + Villain! It was a great great show really. For the whole month viewers across the globe were a party to the superb entertainment that the players provided. For me, Zinedine Zidane was the best player, even after his shocking head butting incident. That incident will be discussed more that his missed header and the genius penalty. Really, the penalty that he hit was a magical masterpiece. It took a lot of courage to do that in a World Cup Final. And that too against the goalkeeper Buffon! It was the moment to remember for me out of all the matches in this cup. I watched most of the matches of the last few rounds and had a great time throughout the month.

The most exciting times came during the men's final of the Wimbledon. Roger Federer vs. Rafal Nadal. What a match! Roger was the favourite and he proved why he is the king on grass. It was a pure classic. The way Roger kept hitting the backhand slice and reducing the speed on the ball - The way Nadal kept blasting away but could not chase the winners that seemed to come from nowhere. Federer, as usual, tired him down and in a few flashes of brilliance, won the important points. Thats his speciality. He is, for me, the best tennis player I have seen play. And he deserved all the Four Wimbledons.

So all and all, an unforgettable month of Sports!

Cheers,
- Tosh

The Oil Scam in India?

The Global crude oil prices are soaring. Which means the Indian petrol/diesel prices will also increase substantially over a period of time. Petrol is already very costly here - around or more than 50 Rs. a litre. If these fuels' price increase, so does the inflation. And then it leads to an increase in the gap between the rich and the poor.

I was really surprised on reading one article in the newspaper Sakal. It said that if we remove all the central tax, state tax and excise duty from the Petrol prices, the rate per litre will come down to half! Isn't it amazing? It leads to the obvious question - Is it justified to tax the most sensitive commodity so heavily? That too in a predominantly poor/developing country?

I am not an expert economist. But I still think that taxing almost 100% of the petrol price is just way too much considering the spiralling effect it has on the overall prices/inflation. Agreed that the government needs money and taxes to run the nation. But should it come at the cost of every citizen including the poorest of poor?

And now, some state governments are claiming fame by not taxing the increased amount of 4Rs per liter of Petrol. But what about the 25 Rs or so that they are already taxing? Add to that the chaoitc handling of the issue by all state governments! Some states want the citizens to bear this additional burden. Why is there no central control of the state taxes especially for such an important item like oil?

I really think that the government should look at other ways to earn money rather than taxing the common man in such a rampant manner. If the inflation goes out of hand, the poor will become poorer. The rich keep getting richer anyways.

Let me know your thoughts.
- Ashutosh

Ind - WI One day series

It was a very closely fought contest. At the start, India had the edge. But the West Indies came back well and had the nerve to win all the close games. Fielding was the a key area that made the difference, but as always on the foreigh tours - Indian batting IMO was the main reason of the loss. The batsmen went from being over confident in the first few matches to being frightened in the last two. It was nerves, nothing else. Especially in the two games, when India had a number of wickets in hand at 40th over or 35th, but they just couldn't up the tempo. They were so low on the confidence at that time, they couldn't put away even the bad balls. Part time bowlers likge Gayle and Sarwan and Samuels were giving just 3 runs an over. No doubt India carried a lot of weight of expectations and burden on their shoulders and crumbled under it. Not that they did not have the opportunities, not that they did not have good players.

It has been a real problem with the Indian team. They are chokers outside the sub-continent. They have improved in the past few years before which they were plain losers on the away soils. Take the Australian test match - the farewell match of Steve Waugh - or the world cup or these one dayers. they have consistently created situations of strength and then just as they had promised a lot, failed to deliever the knock-out punch.

In this series, they were so close to puling off miracles - Yuvraj in the 2nd match and Sreesanth in the third - but they gave it away. Yuvi got bowled on a slower ball and Dravid misfielded when 4 were needed of 3. Its a perfect example of choking.

The blame should not be taken away from the top order batsmen and the big problem was that of No.3. India does not have a good enough No.3. Pathan was tried there but with no luck. If Dravid batted in that position then the middle order became weak. Raina was tried too, but not good enough technique. Which takes you back to two oldies - Laxman and Sachin. Honestly, either of them have to play if India is to perform well on foregn soil in ODIs. But Dravid and Chappell are not willing to compromise on age and fielding.

Another factor was the five-bowler theory. It worked wonders on Asian pitches but failed to impress in West Indies. As said earlier, it is still a good ploy, we just need an even better all rounder to take its advantage. I think the time is right to give another chance to Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Or Piyush Chawla.

All and all, I was sad with the Indian performance but not completely disappointed. Powar bowled well, Yuvraj batted beautifully and Sehwag came back to form. But one thing is clear, unless India sort out their top order selection and the all rounder problems, it will not be such a big force to reckon with when the great show starts next March in the Caribbean.

Cheers,
- Tosh

R e s e r v a t i o n s

It's been long since I have not posted anything. Have been pretty pre-occupied with work (for a change!) in the office, so didn't get much time for all such time-pass.

I have thought long and hard about the issue of reservations to OBCs in institutes of higher education. I have changed my stands a couple of times (or more) after taking a look at different angles, talking to different people etc. And finally I arrived at a conclusion. I oppose the move initiated by Arjun Singh. And here are my reasons:

1. I am not against the idea of reservations, and not even against the idea of reservations based on caste. However, which castes to reserve for, how much to reserve for them and so on is, according to me, a very important topic which is being missed in this debate. There are extremely conflicting numbers coming from many government agencies regarding OBC contribution in the total Indian population. Firstly, there has to be a consensus on this number. And then only should we finalize the quota. Its a topic which has not been given enough research in the controversy, which is sad.

2. If we apply the rule x% of the population then give x% reservations, then this rule must be strict. I mean, if x% is reserved for caste Y, then no institute should admit more than x% from caste Y. Even if those additional students can get admission in the general quota by virtue of merit. This is a point very few people are discussing but it is a very vital one. If you want to give someone x% representation then restrict it to x%. Otherwise you are doing grave social injustice to other sections.

3. There must be a limit to the whole issue. There should be a limit to max % of reserved seats per college. There should be limit to which places reservation applies. e.g. Why is their not enough debate on restricting reservations to graduation level? There should be limit to which fields - e.g. reservation in Defense, higher medical education, and other such hyper sensitive fields must be less than the other fields. There should not be a blanket rules saying x% reservation everywhere. There should be a limit on the number of generations for which the benefit is applicable. There should be a limit on the number of times the same individual gets the benefit. e.g. If a benefit (+ scholarship) is given at graduation level to a student, it should not be given at post graduation level to the same student. Why is the government not considering these alternatives?

4. The decision to increase the number of seats is impracticable. If institutes are forced to do so, their quality will degrade. The goverment should focus on why there are not enough teaching staff available to handle the increased load? Why does India have only 6 IITs and IIMs? Why is their number not increasing?

5. There must be a comprehensive study of reserved category students' performance and its trend over the past few years. This is the only measure of effectiveness of this policy. Why is the government not taking any step to measure that?

6. If the poiticians are so damn serious, why noone dares to speak about reservations in parliament?

If we try to find answers to these and many more such questions, we will agree on one thing. Social justice is not the only objective the government is trying to achieve. It is clearly playing a dirty game of populist vote bank politics. A game which has the potential to divide the nation. Recently, some reserved class scientists have made protests to increase reservations in Scientific domains. The fire once started is very hard to extinguish.

So much so about the problem. Now - how can it be solved? One solution - All higher caste citizens MUST vote. There is not much else that can be done. As one of my friends wrote to me - This is one disadvantage of democracy.

- Ashutosh

Stock Markets: Is the SEBI doing enough?

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/25bull.htm makes an interesting (and scary) reading. Especially the sections about PNs and FIIs are important. In my opinion, it may not be safe to invest in the secondary market. Mutual funds might be a good option as they keep booking profits.

Meanwhile, I got 50 shares of Emkay Shares and Stock Brokers. It will get listed on Friday. Looking at the latest IPO Listings, it might list on a premium. I am expecting a close of at least 150 (for Shares issued at 120). Lets see.

I am also planning to invest in DS Kulkarni's FPO.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Applied For an IPO...

Yesterday I applied in the IPO of Emkay Shares & Stock Brokers. I applied for 250 shares, each for Rs. 120. Hoping that I get some allotment and then some profits :-)

Cheers,
- Tosh

The Five Bowler Theory

This Saturday, NDTV showed an interview with Rahul Dravid, the Indian Cricket captain. The interview was very interesting. It started with a question to Dravid - whether he wanted to be remembered as the captain who won India the Rare Test Series outside the sub-continent. That question pretty much sums up the mission that captain Dravid and coach Chappell have been running for the past few months. Dravid's answer was the diplomatic No as usual but it is quite clear that this has been one of him main objectives.

The most controversial issue doing rounds right now is the five bowlers theory that Dravid and Chappell have introduced. The obvious de-merit is that if the top order collapses, there is a good chance that we might end up scoring a very small total. That happened in Mumbai and we lost the Test. But I am personally for this 5-bowler-theory. The reason is this. If you play only four bowlers, you are essentially being defensive even before the match starts. If we want to WIN test matches -abroad or at home- we have to play five bowlers. Sure, that will weaken the batting a bit. But then, there is no free lunch! You have to loose some to win some. Dravid's argument was that the current team has many mini-all-rounders in it. Dhoni, Pathan, etc etc. They have been given opportunities and they have flourished. With these players building a very strong lower middle order, India can take the risk of playing only 5 specialist batters. Dravid also spoke about the Ashes and how England won it because they had five regular bowlers. And about why Australia was playing Symonds &/or Watson.

The determination on his face looks amazing. One thing is pretty clear. The Dravid of the past has changed. Somewhere, the positive mind has woken up inside him. The monster who hit Allan Donald for a six over long on has now risen with full passion. He has gone through many ups and downs. At some times, he could not pinch singles. Then he could not hit boundaries in one-dayers. Sometimes he was made to keep wickets in order to retain his place in the team. He never complained. He took everything in his stride and kept performing exceptionally well. And he is now leading the Indian team with a vision to succeed. With the Ganguly saga over, and with Chappell extending full support, there is no reason why the dreams can't be realized. In the young team of today, India has the makings of a world-beating setup.

In the meanwhile, the golden run in One-dayers continues. India now lead the series 3-0 and I won't be surprised at all if they win it 7-0. They are on a roll. They cannot believe that they can loose, and when that happens, a team becomes dangerous. They have many top order problems to sort out, but even with that, they are coming out on top convincingly in each game they play. Its a dream dream run and one that we hope will continue as long as possible.

Meanwhile, my favorite-Raina has come back with a bang and Ajit has also made a surprising comeback. Harbhajan's return to form is heartening and it is important to note that Dravid supported him Fully during his poor run. One thing is sad though. Virendra Sehwag, I think, is taking his place for granted. I watched him live today. He was laughing after every ball. Playing careless shots, many of which he missed. And when he finally got out bowled, it was downright embarrassing. He must be sacked - at least temporarily, just to show to him that he needs to be a bit more serious. And remind him, that there is always someone who would be more happy and hungry to grab his place. Watch out for Gautam.

In the interview Dravid also spoke with great respect for Sachin Tendulkar. He said that Sachin is much more valuable to the team that just scoring runs and bowling a few overs. The way he prepares for a game, the way he carries himself, inspires and teaches others was very essential. That makes him an invaluable asset of the team. This was a clear indication that Sachin will not go the Ganguly way and will retain his place in the team, even if his poor form continues for some more time.

Cheers,
- Tosh

A small but adventurous trip around Pune

On this Sunday, we had some guests in our house. They had come to Pune from Roha via Tamhini ghat in the morning. They wanted to visit a place in Chinchwad along with me and my wife. After that they planned to start back for Roha via Lonavla by the 5 pm bus - and reach Roha by 10 pm.

To give some background, there are two routes to Roha from Pune. One is through the beatiful Tamhini Ghat. This is a short-cut. The longer route is through Pimpri-Chinchwad-Lonavla, which is a longer one. The only bus on this long route from Pune in the noon is at 5 pm which reaches Roha at 10 pm.

So we all started from my house in Kothrud at 12.30 pm and surprisingly reached Chinchwad in just 25 minutes. The roads were near empty in the hot noon and so it was a very easy and pleasant drive via the highway. Luckily, our meeting at Chinchwad ended in an hour and a half, so we had plenty of time in our hands before the visitors could catch their 5 pm bus. It was then that we all decided to change the visitor's plans.

According to the new plan, all four of us (The two visitors, me and my wife) would start immediately (@ 2.30 pm) from Chinchwad towards Hinjewadi. From Hinjewadi, we would take a road towards Pirangut. Pirangut is located on the Pune-Roha road about 30 KMs away from Pune. But the big advantage is, there are many buses from Pune that go towards Roha from this route at that time of the day, as compared to the only 5 pm bus on the Lonavla route.

So off we went from Chinchwad - back towards Pune on the Bombay Banglore bypass. We left the bypass at Hinjewadi, showed our guests a number of cool IT buildings in Hinjewadi. And then crossed Hinjewadi to travel towards Pirangut. It was around 2.45 pm. We knew that a bus from Pune would start towards Roha via the Tamhini route at 3 pm. This bus was expected to reach Pirangut at around 3.30 pm - 3.45 pm. So our target was to reach Pirangut before 3.30 pm at any cost so that the visitors could catch this bus at Pirangut. With so much of time on hand, we were more than confident that we would make it in time.

Then the shocker. With 5 KMs. still to go, we stopped at a place known to the visitors. They had an acquaintance working in a plant on this road. When we met that person, he told that the road ahead had a bridge before Pirangut which had recently fallen off! So according to him, the only way out for us was to go back to Hinjewadi, take the bypass, come to Chandni Chawk and catch the bus. But that would have taken us more that half an hour at least, and we would have surely missed the bus at Chandni Chawk. Disappointed that all our optimizations had fallen apart, we began our drive back. On the way back, about 5 kms still away from Hinjewadi, we saw a (kind-of-kaccha) road to Pirangut. We stopped a vehicle on that road coming from the other side and confirmed that the road was accessible right through to Pirangut and had no broken bridges :-) However, this road was severely damaged and kind of risky. We still decided to take the risk as the distance was only 10 Kilometers.

As we moved ahead, we realised that the ride was very bumpy but equally beatiful. This road goes through hills and rivers with lush green fields on both the sides. It was really enjoyable but scary. We had almost no other human being visible in the near vicinity. The road condition meant the car could break down or catch a puncture anywhere and we would have no help at hand! After a long wait, we reached Pirangut at sharp 3.30pm. The bus reached there at 3.45 pm and the visitors were only too happy! They reached Roha at 7 pm whereas via Lonavla they could not have reached before 10 pm.

It was a bit tiring, but the beauty of the nature generally over-rides such exhaustion. And so we had a wonderful drive. The sudden and un-expected changes in plans right throughout the journey made our day really memorable. Looking forward to many more such trips in the future.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Current Reading...

Autobiography named Samidha by Mrs. Sadhana Amte, the wife of Baba Amte. Baba Amte is a legendary social worker. SadhanaTai, his wife has supported Baba's work throughout her life. It is said that behind every successful man, there is a woman. And SadhanaTai has played a critical role in the service rendered to the society by Baba Amte.

More on Baba Amte here: http://www.rediff.com/freedom/amte1.htm

SadhanaTai married Baba Amte when he was in very initial stages of his service to the nation. His main project of Leprosy patients was launched a few years after the marriage. The book has two main parts. One, their initial days, when they faced many problems related to health and budgets. Once they started getting the finance from the government and others, they really created big projects of social service in which thousands of poor and affected people were nurtured, cured and developed.

One cannot help but get a strong urge of doing some or the other service for the society after reading such books. The other obvious realisation is that the comfort which we enjoy everyday is in complete contrast with the difficulties faced by the poor living in villages. This gap between the rich and the poor must come down if India has to become a Developed nation.

The book makes excellent and though-provoking reading. Highly recommended for all those who can read Marathi.

- Ashutosh

Related Links:
http://www.spcollegepune.com/DEPART/deptenglish1a.htm
http://www.dkpdindia.com/Samidha.htm

Catches Win Matches

What a match! Come the morning of the fifth day, and all the three results seemed possible. Curator's dream come true.

All the Indian dreams were shattered by an impressive England performance. After dominating the first two days of the match and holding on ever so slightly in the next two days, England produced a killer performance on the last day. Something that they missed so much in the earlier two games. Well played Colts.

I would say that India lost the match (And could not win the series) more because of their poor top order batting & catching than because of England's good bowling. In my opinion, the decision to go in with 5 bowlers was correct. Howeer, the decision to bowl first was not. If you are gonna play five bowlers then you must believe that the 5 batsmen will be good enough. If you don't believe that, they you pick 6 batsmen. Its as simple as that.

Anyway, it was a good cricketing series I feel, with almost all matches getting decided on the last day and that speaks tons about the quality of pitches. Andrew Flintoff was the star performer and he really relished the captaincy. India found two exceptionally good talents in Munaf Patel and S. Sreesant, both of whom bowled brilliantly. The Indian (mis)fielders dropped more than ten chances in a match, and no team should expect to win after that. There should be no excuse for missed chances. Add to that, the top order failures meant that we were expecting just too much out of our bowlers and so the end was inevitable.

Another impossible thing happened in Mumbai. Sachin Tendulkar was booed. The man tipped by many as the best to play the game was hooted on his home ground. What a surprise! It just goes on to show that Cricket is a game of consistent performances and not just past track records. [Feel free to think about Saurav Ganguly if you wish to :-) ] Tendulkar is probably at one of his worst patches in his career and he has only two options. Score or Go. It will be interesting to see how the champion reacts to the pressure.

In the meanwhile, kudos to the Indian sportsmen who are winning so many medals in the Commonwealth Games.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Current Music...

1. Rang De Basanti -> Rehman rocks as usual!
2. Taxi No. 9211 -> My Ishtyle. Ajama Le is my favourite!

Cheers,

- Tosh

Ind 1 - Eng 0

India beat England convincingly in the end in the second test match. Even after playing with only 5 batsmen. England scored 300 in the first innings and then India were reeling at 150 for 5. That was when the game changed. Indian lower order scored more runs than the higher order and got the invaluable lead of 30-40 runs.

These tailenders are so frustrating, aren't they? I have a theory about lower and tail end batting. It goes as follows: The team which performs better in lower order batting than the opponent, has generally a higher chance of winning a game. Sounds weird, ain't it? Look at the India Pakistan test series. Look at this test match between India and England. Look at the thrilling one day match between Australia and South Africa. Look at the previous test match between West Indies and New Zealand. The team that batted better in their lower order went on to win the games. Which undelines the fact that cricketers must have a high utility nowadays. Bowlers and keepers have to be good batsmen.

The most promising thing from India in this match was their positive attitude. They went in with 5 bowlers, which I think was a splendid decision. Hats off to the people made this decision.

About the new comer Munaf Patel. When I first saw his bowling, I had the impression that he uses his shoulder a bit too much. Which is how he generates the high pace. This is not very good in the long term because he might suffer shoulder injuries which can be career threatening for the fast bowlers. He should instead work on quickening his run-up just a bit to get the rhythm. All said and done, he moved the ball considerably. Especially the reverse swing in the second innings.

Reverse swing is a miraculous act. It depends a lot on the conditions and the ball. You will find so many times that one ball reverses, and as soon as its changed, it stops reversing. Something similar happened in the just concluded test between West Indies and New Zealand. Shane Bond himself admitted that there was something in the ball which made it reverse more than the one used earlier. If Munaf keeps reverse swinging all balls the way he did yesterday, then it will be awesome. But that consistency will be hard to achieve and we need to wish him best for that.

Dravid in the meanwhile has been the under-rated champion of this match. He was instrumental in India putting up a decent total so he should get the due credit. He is one of those captains whose performance has improved with the captaincy. Well done Rahul, you have led by example.

Off to Mumbai...

The Best Cricket Match Ever?

Wake up in the morning, check out any news channel, any newspaper, any news site. The top news is the match report of a cricket encounter. Surprisingly, India did not play that game. Still its the top news story. How'z that?

The game had a hot build-up to it. Two teams playing for pride. The grand finale of an evenly matched series hanging imperiously at 2-2. Conditions were perfect on the most beautiful ground in the world - The Wanderers. The bloody cocktail produced an extra-ordinary game of cricket, in which a near-impossible task was made possible - not once, but Twice! Australia scored 434/4 in 50 Overs. The first time any team crossed 400. In reply, South Africa, back to their walls, chased and chased successfully! Can you believe it? NO. No one believed that this was possible. The only men who believed it were the 11 members of the SA team. And it is because of this belief that they were able to pull up a miracle. It was something that could happen only a few times in a century. It was a match to remember. A celebration of a sport. Two thoughts come to my mind here:
"Whether you believe you can do it or not, you are correct". And
"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going".

One performance stands up and away from the rest. On a belter where batsmen murdered all bowlers, Nathen Bracken produced a magical display of bowling. With 5-60 odd, he almost took the game away from the hosts. Ponting, Katich, Hussey, Smith, Gibbs, Boucher played well. They are big names - champions, really. But the guy, who in my opinion turned the game decisively in SA's favour was Van Der Wath. An unlikely hero who came in when the high hopes seemed dashed. And played a gem of an innings, a cameo that took SA so much close, that even a flurry of wickets in the end could not deter them from reaching there.

The margin of victory was the smallest possible: One wicket, One Ball. What a match! Cheers to the (Ex :-) ) chokers. And Cheers to the game of cricket. And while we congratulate South Africa, we must not forget the entertainment provided by the Aussies.

Cricket rocks. Bigtime.
- Tosh

A Cool Dilbert

Quite a good one.
Source = http://www.dilbert.com

Cheers,
- Tosh

Blog Rolling...

Came to know about this cool tool from Mahesh's Blog.

Currently, I am using it to store a list of Links. The tool then powers the 'Other Blogs I Read' section on the Right Hand Side of this page.

Check it out, it's too good => http://www.blogrolling.com/

Cheers,
- Tosh

India Rising -> An American View...

Long but interesting, thought provoking and makes you feel proud :-)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11571348/site/newsweek/

Cheers,
- Tosh

Bharat Uday Mission

Take a look.

http://bharatudaymission.org/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bharatudaymission/

"Society doesn't go down by the activities of the bad people, but the inactivities of good people" - Swami Vivekanand
"You have to be the change you want to see in the world" - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

We have only one mission. The rise of a great nation.

Team Selection...

Surprisingly, after a long time, I am really happy with the team that the selectors have chosen. The overall Indian team setup seems to be very promising today with some seniors at the peak of their careers and at the same time some juniors being developed alongside the legends.

First and foremost, the most controversial decision. Saurav Ganguly, The Prince of Kolkatta. The man who brought steel into the fading Indian team of the late nineties. The captain who galvanised the unit into a winning combination during the time of 2003 world cup. The man who made Yuvraj, Irfan (probably Dhoni) and Harbhajan. The batsman who stood near the top of one day &/or test batting charts for consecutive years in 2002 and 2003. All his achievements are kind of getting forgotten with his recent outbursts against the coach. However, all said and done, I think his omission is justified, although it should not be used to erase all the good things that he has done in the past. All good things come to an end and end might be near for Saurav Da. In Pakistan, he played not spectacularly, but good enough in the only chance that he was given. His exclusion is based on his previous performances and the theory of developing some youngsters to replace the ageing middle order. I think this was a good decision.

Gambhir Agarkar and Zaheer were dropped. Ajith and Gautam were given a lot of chances and they couldn't grab many. Hence that decision is also justified. Kiran More said that he wants a backup of 8-9 fast bowlers in the country ready to play at the highest level and this vision is commendable. It will also create a healthy competition, as is visible from the present of VRVSingh and SreeSanth. I will really look forward to VRV. Sreesanth is an exciting prospect since he is not a left arm swing bowler and hence adds a vital veriety to the pace attack. I would love to see him bowl the second over at Nagpur.

Kaif and Raina were also automatic selections. Raina seems to me to be the most promising of the lot in this team. He must be nurtured and developed. But the most stunningly good decision was to get in Piyush Chawla. India is in dire need of more good spinners once Anil Kumble hangs his boots. Chawla could be an answer. Added advantage with him is his batting, something he has proven in the U19 World Cup.

Now comes the difficult part. Which 11 to play? Given that Dhoni + Pathan make up more than one batsman, should India go on the attack and play five bowlers? I suggest Yes. There is nothing better that being positive especially in the first game of the series and I would love to see the following team in the playing 11: Veeru, Jaffer, Dravid, Sachin, Laxman, Dhoni, Pathan, Chawla, Bhajji, Kumble & Sreesanth.

Till then, Cheers and All The Best in the City Of Oranges :-)

C r i c k e t

India-4, Pakistan-1. That was completely unexpected. Expecially after the consecutive losses in the last Test and first ODI. However, Pakistan went in Over Confidence, just the same day as India did on the opening day of the last test. For four consecutive matches, India chased successfully and now have done so more than 13 times at a stretch now. That's a great achievement given that their record earlier was very very poor while chasing.

A couple of interesting things came out during the series. Pakistan writers wrote off Sachin with comic columns alleging that he feared Shoiab and all... Sachin answered them with two superlative knocks that setup the successful chases. Yuvraj and Dhoni finished off two hard chases easily and that looks very promosing for the future. It will be very interesting though, to see how they perform on pitches outside the subcontinent, now that these two have ruled on all the flat tracks.

One matter of concern. Because Dhoni was promoted, Raina and Kaif did not get enough match practice and this is little risky. If they come in early after a collapse some day, then they will be short of experience, something that the team should think about pretty soon enough.

Agarkar (My Favourite) was promising but not very effective while Zaheer looked out of sorts. Most likely, both of them are on their way out of this team based on their current form. Pathan RP and Sreesanth will make up a good trio, though we do need another FAST bowler. Romesh Powar bowled very well and should be in contention for selection against England, along with Kumble and Piyush Chawla.

The team against England will be chosen today and I am very keen to see Raina in there. Ganguly is still the center of attraction and controversies and it remains to be seen what the selectors do to him now.

More after the selection meeting...

The Uprising of Rahul Gandhi

Do we have a future star in the making?

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article about him in Outlook. From that, I gathered, Rahul has started on the correct note. He has worked at grassroot levels in his constituency-Amethi. Around himself, he has a ring of both junior and senior knowledgable party workers willing to train him and support him at the same time. He is known to have a craze for techno-gizmos: a natural for any youth.

The big positive that I see in him is his age and his willingness to build up a team. If projected as the next PM candidate in the general elections, I think he has a big chance to win Congress party more than 50% of the Lok Sabha seats. While that will take some doing to happen, if it does take place, it will be a great positive. For the first time in about more than 15 years, India will have a government that will not be bound by coalition jokers. They will be able to take, approve and implement decisions without hinderance. And wouldn't that be a further bonus to the economy?

Plus, looking at the professionalism in which Rahul is going about his task, it will not surprise me if he becomes the most effective PM till date. The question is Will He? And for the first time, if that be the question, I will support the Congress party for that to happen. For the simple reason that he seems to be the only person capable to lead a stable government to make hard decisions for five continuous years.

At the same time, India have, once again replied spendidly to the huge Pakistani total and IMO are in with a small chance to win the test match - with not one but two Pak batsmen likely to miss out in the second innings. If India can convert this opening into an opportunity, I will call that team Champs.

Cricket & Tennis

Its a dream time for sports enthusiasts. The Australian Open http://australianopen.com/en_AU/index.html and the VB Series is rocking on! While the India Pakistan Test Series is also underway, it is of least interest because of the nature of defensive pitches prepared by Pakistan. It seems Pak is worried about the good show put up last time by India seamers and hence they have purposefully prepared placid pitches hoping that the sheer pace of their bowlers will be enough to take 20 wickets in a match. Meanwhile, India displayed great attitude by dropping a batsman and picking five bowlers while Pakistan took a step back by doing the revers. The presence of Geoffrey Boycott has really added value to the broadcast. He was, is and will be The Best.

About the VB Series, its very precariously poised with almost every team standing at the same level in the points table with half the prelim matches being over. I hope that SL and SA kick out Aus in these stages. Both the teams look good enough to do it but its just a matter of having the killer instinct for long enough. Australia are in the middle of a selection crisis due to rotation and this I feel is the biggest chance for world cricket to pounce on them. All the best to SA and SL.

Not much to write on the Australian except the exits of Sania, Rodick and Wlliams sisters. The second week now promises to be thrilling with many top seeds making their way into the final sixteen. That Martina Hingis is back is a great news for many tennis lovers :-)

Meanwhile, I found a pretty interesting group from the article in Sakal. http://www.esakal.com/static/raviwar11.html The group is located at http://bharatudaymission.org/ In my opinion, it is a very promising concept.

The Rise & Fall of my Favourite Political Party

Welcome 2006.

Top story at the start of the new year. BJP chief L K Advani steps down. Vajpayee calls Advani as Ram and Mahajan as Lakshman. It was really disheartening to see my favourite Bharatiya Janta Party crumble on its own weight.

BJP started from Jan Sangh on the ideology of the Sangh Parivar. Within a period of around 10-15 years, they rose from 2 to 200 members in the Lok Sabha and ruled the government for more than five years. That was a phenomenal performance. However, with power comes Responsibility. And that's where BJP failed. As is clear from the latest revelations of bribery and corruption in the party, it has lost its Different image. This is its biggest blow.

For me, the Vajpayee government did quite well when in the office. Except one blunder. Gujarat riots. More than the inability of the government to control the situation, it was the involvement of everyone in the system from the police to the CM to the Home Minister in the riots that was shocking. It was I think a prime factor behind BJP loosing the next general election although they were able to win the Gujarat assembly. However, it must be noted that BJP handled their coalition partners much better than what the UPA govt. is doing now (Please refer LEFT) :-)

More important than loosing the elections, it was the later events that did the party in. Uma Bharati sulked. And again, And yet again! Advani's Jinnah remarks were used by Sangh to re-establish their stronghold on the party organisation. Though NDA won a few assembly elections, their public image kept going down.

The biggest problem was they were not accepting their mistakes. Advani did not agree with the expulsion of the corrupt parliamentarians but instead took their side. Instead of doing some introspection, the party kept critisizing the UPA govt. during its national executive in Mumbai. They were unable to break the RSS shackles and could not install a dynamic president like Jetley or Mahajan. The party did numerous unnecessary and exaggerated dharnas in the Parliament and blocked its workingfor too long in the sessions. That is an unforgivable sin.

Overall I think the popularity of the party has suffered a big blow and Cong would win all hands down if a general elections were to happen right now. However, time makes people forget things and it will be interesting to see what happens in the Rajnath Singh-era. I am sure L K Advani is not finished. He will come back, and so will Pramod Mahajan who I think will become a good leader of the party and the nation.

Talking about Cricket, the Ind-Pak series is setup perfectly well. The excitement has reached a peak. In Australia, SA have hit hard on the 2nd day of the 3rd test. Aus will need to fight very hard to save the match from now on. It makes for a thrilling three days of attack and defense. If SA is able to beat Aus, then they will become the 2nd team after India last year to hold Aus in their home ground. And that will be some achievement. Earlier I was sure that Aus will run over SA. But now the recent form from SA makes me believe that they have it in them to come out better from this match. Lets see what result is in store.

Till then, wish you all a very happy new year.