War Does Not Solve Problems?

It's a common saying these days that 'war does not solve any problem'. It's a politically correct thing to say.

However, history is witness to Mahabharat, World War I, World War II and many other battles and wars that did solve problems. If dialog, not war is supposed to solve all problems, then why did UK, US, France not insist on having a dialog with Hitler?

Dialog can succeed only when both sides are reasonable. If one side refuses to listen to reason and wants to change the other side's views by force or terror, then war is the only last option. And there is a good possibility that it may solve the problem.

Dialog is preferred, but one can't make a sweeping statement that war does not solve any problem. Because it does, many a times.

Will 180 Days Custody Help In Prevention of Mumbai Like Terror Attacks?

I am not sure that such laws can PREVENT such terrors. To me it seems like a knee jerk reaction of politicians to pacify us, average Indian citizen. They know we are angry that such an attack could take place and these politicians are trying to show us that they are taking action as result.

If the concerned authorities had acted on observations made by fishermen (about dubious characters coming ashore), in all likelihood such carnage would not have taken place at all. And this would have happened without a law where you can be locked up for 180 days without being produced in front of a magistrate because you are a suspect!

Ours is unfortunately quite a corrupt society and it is just a matter of months before we see the authorities misusing this dangerous tool in their hands. History is witness to it.

I think before such a law is passed in the Parliament, the law makers should tell us - the average Indian citizen - why such a law is necessary. They should come out with some very solid reasons, not some flimsy excuses as eyewash.

The average Indian would like to know why such a law would have prevented the Mumbai carnage. At this point of time the average Indian thinks that such laws do not prevent terror attacks. What prevents such terror attacks is non-interference of politicians in police and security matters; and following the rule of law.

If a constable fines a wrongly parked car belonging to a minister he should not be suspended!

If an honest officer becomes a problem link in the chain of passing bribes from
bottom to top, he should not be transferred to a remote area to 'teach him a lesson'.

If some men notice and report 'funny movements' on Kargil hill, such reports are investigated properly.

The municipality sweepers should clean the roads daily and improve the chances of detecting bombs kept in public areas.

It is such mundane, routine things that all in public and private life should be doing that will reduce terror incidents.

In other words, in my opinion, we need better governance and discharging of our duties faithfully rather than draconian laws. Laws don't change mindset.

Insult To Indian Constitution Should Not Be Tolerated

People who are threatening lawyers who are bound by Indian constitution to represent the Pakistani terrorist should also be tried in the court of law for insulting Indian constitution because Indian Constitution is above all.

Indian Cricket, Miandad And Dawood Ibrahim

Indian government has again and again claimed that Dawood Ibrahim is a prime suspect in Bombay blasts. He is also known to be living on Pakistan.

Now Javed Miandad has gone ahead and established a relationship with Dawood Ibrahim.

So far, as an Indian's perspective, one can perceive it as a private issue between a proclaimed absconder (I am assuming Indian government has declared Dawood Ibrahim as one) and a cricketer who does not mind having links with a foreigner who is wanted for links to bombing in his own country.

However now that Pakistan has made Javed Miandad part of it's cricketing establishment, should the government of India allow the two countries to play cricket together?

Also, should BCCI not refuse to play with a country which has a board official which is pro-actively creating family relationship with a person who India claims to be responsible for death of hundreds of it's citizens?

Some Jealous Pakistanis?

The terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26th November 2008 is the handiwork of some Pakistanis, as per Zee TV. But why? What did they want? What did they set out to achieve when they left the shores of Karachi, if Zee TV is to be believed? What have they got by doing what they did?

Could it be an extreme case of jelousy and hatred?

While Pakistani president is going about the gulf region with a begging bowl, India is being talked about as next super economic power!

While India's satelite is circling the moon, Pakistan does not even have sufficient wheat to feed it's people!

While India is accepted as a responsible nuclear power by the world, Pakistan's nulclear hero, a crook who stole engineering drawings from his employer, is rotting in his own country!

While cricket playing countries are so eager to come to India to play cricket, they refuse to travel to Pakistan because of security reason!

Could all these and many other humiliations faced by Pakistanis, when they try to compare themselves with India in other matters rile a few of them so much that they would take the extreme step of attacking Mumbai in the manner that they did?

So far I have not been able to understand why did these terrorists do what they did.

The only thing they might have achieved is to scare some people into believing that India is not a safe place to go to. But this would be a temporary phase. India will ride over it. Unless ofcourse, these people are planning to repeat such acts all over India!

And I would not be surprised if they are planning to do exactly that.

But I have a gut feeling that this time these terrorists have bitten more than they can chew. India will not let them go this time. I have a feeling that this time Indian agencies will go after these groups like never before.

It is not a question of loss of life and material alone this time.

This time they have challenged the very being of India. This I feel, will not go unanswered. And the reply would be such, they would never have dreamt in their life.

I am sure next few months will prove my gut feelings right.

26/11 In India - Mumbai

The terrorist attack on Mumbai is not just an attack on Mumbai, it is a slap on our face, on the face of all India. It is not just a question of catching or terminating the individuals who infiltrated Mumbai. We MUST go to ANY length in order to TERMINATE the planners of such attacks, whichever part of the world they may be hiding in.

Our government should allow absolute free hand to agencies, experts and people who have the intellectual capability and physical ability to go out and GET THESE vermin. Diplomacy should not be allowed to come between our agents and these terrorists.

Let the whole world know that India WILL NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE. Period. Either you are a friend or a foe.

I am also a bit perturbed (hopefully unnecessarily) by the news channels showing pictures and asking questions, which are sensitive in nature for a successful operation of flushing out the terrorists and safety of hostages.

Also, one person Deepak was able to speak to NDTV using his mobile (apparently) from inside Taj. My worry is that if he could speak, then so would the terrorists with those who are providing logistic help, so why is mobile services not disconnected?

Another question that comes to mind is, there are around 5 different agencies working together to bring situation under control. They are wearing different uniforms. My worry is: if they storm the premises together, have they gone through any or sufficient exercises together to instinctively recognise each other as friendly force or else their would be a possibility of 'friendly fire'. It would be a matter of life and death to recognise in a split second, whether the person across the corridor aiming a gun at you, is your partner or terrorist. I hope our forces have taken care of such basic things while preparing a joint action.

Finally once again, we HAVE to go after these people who are planning war against India absolutely ruthlessly and with a sense of urgency. And only those who are truly competent to deliver should be taken into such a task force - right from top (cabinet minister) to the peon who moves files.

The other thing that bugs me is titles like "India's 9/11" in Star News, NDTV etc. It smacks of an inferiority complex somewhere.

I also did not like Srinivasan of NDTV talking about Taj Hotel's past with world leaders while trying to fill the air time - when the backdrop is about hostages, guests' lives in danger, cops already killed. It seemed a bit flippant, though he did not mean to be that. Also, in his eagerness to please Roy the DG of police, Srinivasan said that Bombay police is in forefront of counter attack, only for Roy to mention later that NSG is actually leading the combined forces and Bombay police is doing as instructed.

A question for Raj Thackeray: Should NSG be allowed to operate in Mumbai - most of them may not be Maratha!

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag: "I don't believe in astrology but my family members do. Too many people used to call up and pester me and my family to use different numbers. I was so fed up that I decided not to take any of their advices."

And he was the man of the match.

I hope people who marry a banana tree before marrying the girl because the girl is 'manglik' are listening. And also those who wear tons of 'holy jewellery' to bring in luck!

I truly believe that sensible celebreties like Sehwag should be given more air and TV time to help in getting rid of ridiculous customs and superstitions.

More power to Virender Sehwag, I say!

Payback Time For BCCI ?

BCCI is making tons of money. And why should it not? It just struck me that one way for it to payback the people who have filled it's coffers is to support the hundreds of monuments and historical places in the neighbourhood of the stadiums where the matches are played.

For example, Kanpur and Lucknow have very rich past. BCCI would earn lots of respect and goodwill if it contributes towards the upkeep of these places of interest. Chhatar manzil, imambadas, Residency in Lucknow come to mind. There are hundreds like them all over India.

BCCI would be well justified if it decides to let the world know what it is doing for the society at large. In fact it would help in spreading the word about the places to visit and would help tourism business in India too.

We won! We won!! We won!!!

We won the second ODI against England also. That too rather comfortably. So well done again and congratulations to Dhoni & Co. What a magnificent performance by Yuvraj! Back to back century and then 4 wickets! WOW!!

Harbhajan & Zaheer Guilty Of Not Showing Proper Respect To Yusuf Pathan

India made 292/9 against England in the 2nd ODI of the series in Indore, no thanks to Harbhajan and Zaheer. Coming straight from victory against Australia and also scoring some runs against them, Harbhajan and Zaheer got too cocky. They forgot that the senior batsman, Yusuf Pathan, is standing on the other end, twidling his thumbs. It showed lack of respect to Yusuf's batsmanship. Certaintly, they would not have dared playing in this fashion, had Yuvraj or Dhoni been on the other end.

Dhoni would do well by speaking to them. With so many overs in hand, all they had to do was to try taking a run and put Yusuf Pathan in charge. But no, they had to show that they can hit too (and keep missing the ball)!

It is these little things that differentiate a champion team fron a non-champion one. Australian cricketers will not do such a thing. At every stage of the game, win or lose, one gets the feeling that Australians are thinking what is best for the team. They rarely get carried away by some recent high profile win. Perhaps one reason is that they are used to winning. If that is the reason, Indian players too should get used to winning so that they continue to think in balanced manner, win or lose.

When you are world class, you must continue to do the small, little things right; good results will follow.

India Is Over And On The Moon!

Yes, today the proble landed on moon from Chandrayaan with Indian Flag. It has also sent some (at least one) pictures. So yes, we are ON the moon.

We are also OVER the moon because today we beat the heck out of English cricket team in first of seven ODIs in Rajkot.

India 387 for 5 (Yuvraj 138 NO, Sehwag 85 and Gambhir 51).
England 229 All Out.

Deshdrohi Banned in Maharashtra?

It seems the movie Deshdrohi is banned in Maharashtra because it might lead to tension in the region!

I thought the movie is about fight against forces that are trying to bring disharmony in the nation. From short adverts on TV, it seemed to be a movie that very strongly spoke about the importance of India's unity.

So if a movie that speaks for India's unity, advocates anti-regionalism and basically wishes to inspire patriotism would, in opinion of Maharashtra government, lead to tension in the state of Maharashtra, then what kind of governance is this?

Shame, I say, on such a government. If under your governance, a movie about patriotism can't be screened, then you have no business to be in government.

Congratulations To Indian Cricket Team

Yup, well done boys. You made us proud. But it seems Amitabh Bachchan wants the Indian commentators to go overboard when India wins. Strange from a man who seemed quite a balanced sort of chap.

Well, lets not forget that we still need to find a solution to this Ajantha Mendis fella who is making life miserable for us. So boys, forget about Amitabh Bachchan and keep your feet firmly on the ground and keep winning.

The way to win is to "Think". Yes, think a lot. About your game, your opponent's game, your strategies and tactics. But do most of your thinking when you have spare time between matches. On the ground, try to execute those strategies that you thought about.

Think.

Smart Kumble Retires From Intenational Cricket

Kumble showed why he was so successful in his career. He could think on his feet and come out with a solution to the problem posed by the batsman. He showed same skills when he got injured and knew that he would not be able to play in 4th test at Nagpur. He also wanted a bit of nice send off drama. So he announced his retireent, declared the Indian innings, came out to bowl few overs and went off on a high.

Well done Anil Kumble. Well played and thank you so much to make Indian cricket richer by becoming the 3rd highest wicket taker ever in test cricket. I do feel that you did not get your full due during your cricketing career, but then that is life. There can't be too many heroes in one era. So with Tendulkar clearly getting into limelight more often, it was difficult for you and Dravid to be hero worshipped the way you both deserved.

Yahoo! Viswanathan Anand Is Chess Viswanathan!

By drawing 11th game Vishy boy has retained world chess championship. Hoorray!

Well fought Kramnik. Great blog by Susan Polgar - thanks.

Anand Loses 10th Game Against Kramnik In World Chess Championship 2008

Obviously it was disappointing. I thought his position was not that hopeless, but yes the time factor was against him. I think if he had exchanged the bishops on white squares few moves back instead of thinking for half an hour and making a different move would have been better.

Hopefully tomorrow he will finish off the match by either winning or drawing the game.

All the best, Anand.

Will Anand Remain Chess Vishwanathan on 27th Oct 2008

If Anand wins the game on 27th, he will remain Chess Vishwanathan (Lord of Universe).

O' Anand, please give us anand (happiness) after retaining your lordship in the universe of chess!

Anand, Kramnik, Susan Polgar and WCC 2008

I found a fantastic blog where Susan Polgar is giving live expert comments on the ongoing World Chess Championship 2008 games between Anand and Kramnik. During her comments, she gives an advice or two which can help an average player like me a lot.

Her one comment was that when Queens are off chess board, it is well known that Kings should come into play. I'll remember this. It makes sense, kings can move in all directions like a queen (though just one square) and with queens off the chess board, the danger is much reduced.

Another thing she told was that when you can't think of a plan, make logical moves.

It really an 'aha moment' for me! I always have this problem, that in the middle of a chess game, I can't think of a plan to defeat my opponent. I am simply clueless as to how to proceed to capture the enemy king! It seems even GMs have this problem!!

What I understand now is: it's okay if you can't think of a plan as of now. Just make moves for the time being that ensure you do not blunder and that they generally make your position better or at least not worse. After few such moves perhaps you will see the light and a game plan may appear, or hopefully the opponent may blunder!

Here is a link that promises to improve your game tremendously and is worth a look.

Such small but important 'thumb rules' can go a long way in winning more chess games.

Viswanathan Anand Beats Vladimir Kramnik in 6th Game

Well, I won't blame people if they start celebrating already because 4.5-1.5 lead is a huge lead and though "it's not over till it's over" should always be remembered, for once lets get ahead of ourselves and rejoice as if Anand has already won the match!

Cheers.

Now lets hope our chandrayaan voyage is equally successful!

Shame on Raj Thackeray and his think alikes

'Leader' is a positive word. In that sense I would not like to call this politician called Raj Thackeray a 'leader. However as an Indian it pains me to see that a man like this can have such a clout and following.
But I am not really shocked that such a thing can happen. I do realise that this is part of Nature. For many good apples there would be some rotten ones too. But what surprises me is that the custodian of this garden is not making realistic efforts to wean out the bad apples from the good ones. A good gardener knows the importance of getting rid of rotten apples early so that the good ones don't get affected too.
Amitabh Bachchan may have played the role of Bagwan in a movie, but please do not expect a screen hero to stand up real life dadagiri, risking his own and his family's lives. In real life it is the responsibility of real-life gardeners (ruling government - politicians and bureaucrats) to take care of the gulistan-hamara i.e. our garden that is India.
All that Jaya Bhaduri said in a function was that being a UP-ide, she would speak in Hindi. How does this insult the Marathi language? Mind you, Hindi is India's National language not just a regional one. So when Raj Thakeray used his prowess in speech to make it look like an insult to Marathi and prevents release of Bachchan's movie to get some cheap publicity, our government should have taken immediate action against him.
When I entered IIT Kanpur, my best friend was P.L. Vaishampayan whose father was working in UP secretariat. Vaishampayans are Maharashtrians. In IIT, I formed many friends from all over India. If we go by Raj Thakeray's doctrine, IIT Kanpur should not even allow non-UP students in IIT Kanpur!
Beating up young people from other states who came to appear in examination for a job in Indian Railways is despicable to say the least. It is absolutely shameful. And it gives an opportunity to others to laugh at us.
Today we are celebrating Indian victory over Australia in Mohali cricket test match. We are not celebrating Maratha (Tendulkar) victory or Bangal victory (Ganguly) or Delhi victory (Sehwag, Gambhir).
Anand is leading Kramnik 2-0 in world chess championship. So does it mean that it is Tamil Nadu victory? No, it is India that is hoping that Anand would maintain or increase this lead.
In few hours our own Chandrayan will be launched into space, targeting moon. Will we all Indians not rejoice in it's success? Or should that glory be confined to the state from where the rocket is launched?
The very basis of India is that as Indians all Indians have equal rights in any part of India. If someone challenges this very root of India's existence, it is challenging India's very existence. And if such a person happens to be an Indian himself, he should be tried in court for no less a crime than challenging India's existence.

Amazing Cockroaches

While browsing the Net I ecountered a website Ask The Terminator. It really has amazing facts about cockroaches.

One is that there are 5000 species of cockroaches (I wonder if the word species is correctly used here, but in any case there are 5000 types of cockroaces found on earth).

Second is that a female cockroach can mate once and remain pregnant for life! This really is something out of ordinary!!

Inspite of such exotic nature of cockroaches, if you want to get rid of them, click here

Sourav Ganguly Hits Master Stroke

In chess if you sacrifice a pawn which was worthless anyway and gain some advantage, it would be considered a smart move.

Well Mr. Sourav Ganguly has done the same by announcing his retirement today. With Yuvraj and Badrinath scoring centuries against Australian Test Team and Mr. Sourav Ganguly who managed to force an entry into India 'A' team (at expense of some non-celebrity player) to have some practice before the test, scoring hardly anything against New Zealand's 'A' team, the writing was clearly on the wall.

The current Indian cricket team is selected for 1st two tests only. Now suppose Sourav Ganguly fails again in these 2 tests, then with the back drop of recent Sri Lankan disaster, Ganguly may not have found place in 3rd and 4th tests, what to speak of next seriez! And in any case, the FAB 4 (5 if you include Kumble) have their days numbered as far as future seriezes are concerned.

So by announcing his retirement, Sourav Ganguly has hit a master stroke. Now he is likely to play in all 4 tests. The selectors would now be unwilling to drop him from the team, whatever may his contribution be. In addition he will now play without pressure, so there is a good possibility of him clicking.

And if he does click, and scores a century or two, what do you think all the TV channels, fans et al will do? They will force 'Dada' to review his decision "in national interest"! And if he doesn't click, well, he has already retired!

Wow Sourav, I am impressed with your immaculate game plan. You would give good competition to Anand in chess.

Can Eid (Id) and Navaratri start on same day?

Since Navaratri starts on first day of moon cycle (called padva in Hindi), the previous day has to be amavasya (no moon day). So how can Eid (or Id as it is spelt in India) start on same day as Navaratri?

Has this something to do with moon cycle not being of exact 29 days ?

If someone can enlighten me on this or point to a website that explains it in an easy to understand manner, it would be much appreciated.

Dear Superstitious Person

When you bought a new car did I or any member of my family ever tell you NOT to crack a coconut or NOT to put a lemon under each tyre or NOT to tie some green chiles behind the car or NOT to perform any other ridiculous ritual? No, right ?

Well then, when we buy a new car, please do not tell us to do these irritating rituals. We do not want to contribute to such superstitions. Thank you.

NVR Raja and Time & Attendance System

If this is sounding like a "to be continued..." type of story, it's because "Blogger" has some limit on number of characters in each blog. Towards the end of my last post, I couldn't enter additional text.

Anyway, to cut the chase, yes! it turned out to be our very own NVR Raja!

What a feeling!

So besides helping companies in maintaining attendance, TAS2000 helped in re-uniting old friends too.

What a great product :-)

Time and Attendance Solution & and old friend

It may seem strange but it is true that when I started this blog, my only intention was to drive some traffic to my website http://www.softoolsme.com/ for our Time & Attendance software solution (TAS2000). However an year passed and I did not post even the first content that I had created (which I found in draft mode) 2-3 weeks back.

Anyway, coming back to the point, I have developed a Time & Attendance System and it is on our website. When someone comes to our website, they can fill up a form giving their name and email address. Based on this, an email goes out automatically to that person, with a link to the page from where our software (free evaluation version) can be downloaded.

A CC comes to me as well.

Yesterday when I came back from a visit, I saw an email that had gone to one N.V.R. Raja of Hyderabad, who had made a request for the link of our TAS2000 software !

N.V.R. Raja ? How many NVR Rajas can be there in India? NVR Raja and I had worked together in KIOCL (Kudremukh Iron Ore Company, Limited) for 6 years (1978-84), we had gone to USA for training in Process Control programming together. Could it be the same NVR Raja?

Sonu Nigam

I am right now listening to Sonu Nigam's program on Sony. This program was presented live in some 'phirangi' country (is it THE Alber Hall?). He is singing one after another great Mohammed Rafi numbers. Anyway, I am SO disappointed! I am (was, now) Sonu Nigam fan, but his rendering is so below expectations. I am sorry that I switched to this channel because now I can't move away from it and the more I hear Sonu Nigam singing these old songs, the more I am disappointed.

ICL and IPL

Wonderful to see at least one board (Sri Lanka) standing up to BCCI's dadagiri and choosing te path of fairness and truth. Unfortunately the same people who, when it suits them, use Mahatama Gandhi's name, do not hesitate to crush (or try to crush) their perceived opponents with fair or foul means.

Two Stories On Indian National Flag

1. Teachers of closed schools suspended for not hoisting tricolour
http://nationalnewsofindia.blogspot.com/2008/08/teachers-of-closed-schools-suspended.html

2. Indian flag burnt in Srinagar
http://thammayya.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/indian-flag-burnt-in-srinagar/

Tendulkar should go now

I agree that there should be different set of norms for great and not so great players. In that respect I tend to nod my head in agreement when people say that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar should be allowed to select his own time period for retiring.

However my agreement is only up to the point where there is no better player (currently, we are not discussing total greatness of a player in his career) than him in term of total deliverables in a match.

We can see that India is winning ODI series inspite (or BECAUSE?) of his absence. The last Australian and Sri Lankan tours are proofs enough.

Therefore it is time that Tendulkar starts thinking of retirement, if he believes in 'graceful exit'. By 'graceful exit' I mean there should be reasonably large number of people left in the world who genuinely ask "why?"

Thing is, plenty are already asking "why not?"

MS Access 2000 Property Sheet in Form View

If appearance of property sheet in Form View of Microsoft Access is puzzling you, it is because of the "Allow Design Changes" settings. Change it to "Design View Only" (click 'All' tab in the property sheet and go right to the bottom).

India in Olympics 2008 Schedule

I was so wrong in my previous posting...there were quite a number individual events left for Indians. I finally found a link where we can see the schedule for Indians, here it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics

Bad news: Paes & Bhupathy lost to Swiss pair (Roger Federer & partner) in Q/F. Someone should have told Federer that he is supposed to win in singles, not doubles!

How To Get Rid of Cockroaches

I wrote and interesting (at least I think so) piece about killing and gettting rid of cockroaches. You can read it here:

http://www.softoolsme.com/gulf/uae/cockroachfrm.htm

What's a hat trick in football?

I always thought that when three consecutive goals are made by same player in a match, it is a hat trick. But today's (14th Aug 2008) Gulf News report says, "India rode on a hat trick from Sunil Chetri to drub holders Tajikistan 4-1 and lift.....Skipper Bhutia made it 2-0..."

So I am confused now.

By the way, did you know that in cricket, a bowler can carry his previous match's performance to make a hat trick ?

Saina lost!

Well, she did give her all in the contest. The Indonesian girl was making her run around quiet a bit, from what little I could see in Start TV snippets. Being an Indian, all I can say is "I wish the better player had not won" !

Now boxing and tennis is left for us... or am I missing some event? Yes what about long jump? So I think I was wrong in my last post when I said badminton and boxing were the only individual events left. Oops!

Olympic Badminton, Boxing Schedule

In individual events, with only Saina Nehwal left in badminton and the three pugilists Jitender Kumar, Vijtender Kumar and Akhil Kumar left in boxing (I am speaking of India) in 2008 Olympics, I would like to know at what time and date their next matches will be played.

NDTV, ZTV, StartTV - all are showing some news or the other regarding the games 24 hours (mainly Abhinav; Mr. & Mrs Bindra, thank you for having such a wonderful kid), but not about what is going to be of interest to all of us for the events coming up next. Why can't these TV channels understand what we really want ?

Well, I could find out about Saina, though. Her next match is at 10.00 am China time on 13th, i.e. tomorrow morning for me at 6.00 am Dubai time and 7.30 am IST. I googled sania olympics 2008 schedule.

I am sorry I can't help you about boxing matches timings as I could not locate the schedule.

Also, when is Paes+Bhupaty's next doubles match?

Conversions, Expectations & BBC London

I was listening to BBC Urdu service today in the car. It seems some old government quarters are being demolished in Islamabad, Pakistan. People were complaining.
One said that although he got a stay order from highcourt and even showed it to the officials, they still destroyed his home.
The other said that he did not even get a notice!
The third was complaining that even though he was a hindu earlier and converted to islam, his new religion is not protecting him from his house being destroyed in an islamic country, so what's the use of conversion !!
He was adding more to that but I could not hear properly because at that time suddenly the radio noise overtook radio news. Why can't BBC London provide FM broadcast services instead of the old MW (AM) broadcasting ?

Backend Back End or Back-End

I was writing caption for the opening form in our personnel & payroll package. The user is supposed to select the the MDB file in which data is kept so that front-end is linked to the tables of that database. I thought I will get a clue from Internet, whether to say backend, back end or back-end - but found there is no consensus among software guys on this issue.

So I am free to write what I decide for the moment!

By the way, before posting this blog, I did a spell-check; this dictionary did not like backend. It is suggesting me to change it to back end or blackened or something similar...

Media - Look into the mirror first

Indian media called Indian defeat in a cricket match by Sri Lankans, 'sharmnaak' (shameful).

Why does it not comment on it's own coverage of a teen girl's murder, full if innuendos? That was truly 'sharmnaak'.

The least, Media could do was, apologise.

Indian Cricket and Indian Public

Indians who do not perform even their normal duty on daily basis (in fact these cheats feel they are being smart by showing their faces in the office for 3 hours but getting paid for full day), people who can't deliver even average quality in their workmanship, expect Indian cricket team to perform excellently every time!

I ask these people: who gave you this right? First do justice to the work that is entrusted to you. Then have high expectations from your sportsmen and sportswomen. Till then, keep quiet.

Gandhigiri By BCCI ?

First Read the following:
----------------------
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's national security adviser has said Pakistan's ISI intelligence service was behind a suicide car-bomb attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul last week that killed 41 people
(full text at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080713/wl_nm/india_afghan_dc_2)
----------------------

Now read this:
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India backs Pakistan as Champions Trophy venue
Cricinfo staff
July 23, 2008
The ICC board's discussion - via a teleconference on Thursday - on the issue of Pakistan hosting the Champions Trophy is likely to see India resist any move to change the venue, though there is a growing fear of top players from non-Asian countries pulling out. The ICC will take a final decision which, if it cannot be reached via consensus, needs a 7-3 vote.
The Indian board sees "no harm" in Pakistan hosting the tournament in September, Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said on Wednesday. "We are supporting Pakistan as the venue of the Champions Trophy," Shah told Cricinfo. "Our Indian team had taken part in the Asia Cup without any incident. Besides, the report of the ICC's security consultants, which was presented during the briefing in Dubai (on Sunday) was positive. So the BCCI sees no harm in Pakistan hosting the tournament."
(full story at http://content-gulf.cricinfo.com/iccct2008/content/story/362215.html)
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Now I am confused. Indian government says that Pakistan killed around 40 citizens of India and BCCI, whose head is also part of Indian government wants to support Pakistan and says Pakistan is a safe place for Indians.

Either BCCI thinks that India's national security advisor is wrong, in that case the politician head should ask the advisor to be changed. Or it thinks that ISI is not under control by Pakistan government. Then in that case why should one expect ISI not to harm Indian players?

Somehow it is not making sense to me.

The only thing that can perhaps make some sense is that BCCI is following "Munna Bhai Lage Raho" movie's Gandhigiri. I mean perhaps they do trust India's national security adviser and yet want to support Pakistan, hoping ISI will turn into 'good boy'!