Twittereti reaction on Ayodhya verdict

The following are some reactions on Twitter world after the Ayodhya verdict.

@jhunjhunwala Nirmohi Badnam Hui Darling Akhade Ke liye.
@jhunjhunwala The judges have delivered a verdict that confuses everyone into thinking they have all gotten what they wanted.
@jhunjhunwala Well at least our judges don't decide verdict on the basis of SMS Polls unlike the Indian Idol Judges.
@fakingnews How will the Ayodhya verdict impact real estate rates in UP?
@madversity If the Supremene Court cannot decide, we can move Rajini to decide on the Ayodhya dispute.
@madversity It's time hardline Hindu and Muslin leaders shifter from "Khatron Ke Khiladi" mode to "Yeh Rishta Kya Kahlata Hai"
@gswalia81 i think the judges had pizza for lunch, so they were able to divide the land well among the three parts!
@madversity The British divided to rule India. The judges are dividing to unite India.
@fakingnews Indians didn't make any noise about Ayodhya because Australia is here
@fakingnews I guess the Ayodhya verdict is still less voluminous than Lalit Modi's reply to BCCI?
@shkakbarali Allah Ho Akbar ya Jai Shri Ram, Dono ko maanne wala hai insaan, Mandir-Masjid kuch bhi bane, Tut na paaye Hamara Hindustan!
@bhogleharsha yesterday, the world virajmaan entered the engligh language! as in "this is where ram lalla was virajmaan"!
@madversity Vijay Mallya says: Please beer with the Ayodhya judgement, which has been brewed with larger issues in mind.
@madversity And so, it turns out that Ram Lalla is both "Indian Idol" and "Chhote Ustaad"

The train blog

The strange title of this blog is because of the reason that I am writting this blog sitting in a train. I am travelling on 2721 Dakshin Express from Hyderabad to H. Nizamuddin and at this point of time, the train has just arrived at Bina station.

The journey has a lot of interesting things. I'd write about all of them here. First, why I am travelling. My wife's parents live in Haridwar. It is almost five weeks since she has gone to her place. Though initially it was decided that she would come alone in return, but then the plan had to be changed because my in-laws wanted to organize a 'Satyanarayan Katha' and ofcourse they want me to meet 'n' number of relatives on my wife's side (rather it would be a kind of show off event, because my marriage was a very small event and just a handful of relatives attended the same).

So I will be travelling to Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi) by this train, which will reach there at 4 am tomorrow (25th July) and then I will catch Dehradun Shatabdi exp. from New Delhi Station which departs at 0650 hrs and will reach Haridwar at about 1130 hrs.

Next is the story of my ticket booking. Well as I said the trip was not planned well in advance, so I bought tickets of 3A class at WL 16. Now, I was aprehensive that the waiting may not be cleared, therefore I also booked a SL class ticket at RAC 16. Now, because this great Dakshin Exp train takes 30 hrs from Hyderabad to Delhi, I didn't wish to travel in SL class, therefore I booked a tatkal ticket for 3A class. However, due to rush for this tickets also, by the time I could select my travel plan on IRCTC site and make payment, I was given a WL1 status. (the complete process took me less than 8 minutes; the final ticket had a time stamp of 0808 hrs.So finally I had 2 tickets, one of 3A class and another of SL class. When the chart was prepared my both tickets were confirmed, so I ended up having 1 ticket each of 3A and SL. So, I am finally travelling in 3A class.

Now, I am handling a few mandates in office, where in I am the only resource. Therefore my boss asked me to take the laptop along so that in emergency I could send in some response. The laptop and datacard proved to be a lot useful for killing the time, as well as file the online TDR for the unsed SL ticket.

Bhavani-ism # 3

3. The more you learn to appreciate others, the more you'll learn to appreciate yourself.

Bhavani-ism # 1 & 2

1. Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right thing.
2. Blame it on Oxytoxin - triggers love and music simultaneously (on twitter)

[Ms. P Bhavani is my office colleague and is known for her wonderful sense of humor (sometimes for her philosophical gyan also). Bhavani-ism is a collection of her holy teachings]

The great Jadeja

Well! I am talking about Ravinder Jadeja here, who has created much furor (atleast on the twitter world) because of his wonderful alround performance in Cricket. Mr. Jadeja has been on fire since his poor performance in West Indies. After the WI series we heard news that some of the Indian team players were involved in a pub brawl when allegedly some Indian fans saw Mr. Jadeja in the pub and started hurling abuses on him (obviously because of his wonderful performance). Mr. Jadeja's trouble actually started last year when he was suspended from IPL season 3, for negotiating with an IPL franchise, without informing his own franchise the "Rajasthan Royals". Today in the match of India vs Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup again he was out first ball duck. The inteligent twitterati had a lot of praises for Mr. Jadeja on Twitter. Here are a few examples:

• @jhunjhunwala Ravindra Jadeja has got out thinking this way i won't make fun of him. He's wrong. I'll make fun of him anyway. He inspires me to pick him.
• @jhunjhunwala Ravindra Jadeja is like Tata docomo. He is a per second player. he gets out even before playing the second ball.
• @mishrashiv Jadeja got out! A day will come when he will be thrown out.
• @madhuusv jadeja is vodaphone (hutch) puggy he always follows ajit agarkar
• @Scarlet_Nimbus Hope this poor ZzZZdeja dude in not on twitter. might commit suicide after reading ur twets.
• @jhunjhunwala Tendulkar should get a Bharat Ratna for playing Cricket but Jadeja should get a Bharat Ratna for NOT playing Cricket. He is that Great.
• @jhunjhunwala When Ravindra Jadeja bats he makes Fardeen Khan look like the Greatest Actor of all time.
• @jhunjhunwala And to make matters worse Adidas not only sponsors Sachin's bat but also Ravindra Jadeja's bat as well. Truly 'Impossible is Nothing'
• @RahulK18 Ravindra Jadeja makes Paris Hilton look intelligent
• @rameshsrivatsThe feeling of having seen a guy underperform yet again - Jadeja Vu
• @witty_n_vetty Jadeja is a true allrounder. he gets a 0 in his batting scorecard and a bigger 0 in his wicket column. allround figures!
• @jhunjhunwala Ravindra Jadeja takes less time to bat & get out compared to the time Usain Bolt takes to run 100 metres.
• @mishrashiv jadeja should bat in olympics.
• @shiladityam Ravindra Jadeja = weighted mean average of [Uday Chopra + Mimoh + Tusshar Kapoor]? :-)
• @witty_n_vetty One Indian, Aryabhatta invented ZERO. Another Indian, Ravindra Jadeja made full use of it! Proud to be Indian
• @iPrath i used to think justin bieber sucked, but then i saw ravindra jadeja...
• @srikanthgv Jadeja is Greg Chappel in Disguise, this time he sneaked into playing XI and trying to spoil a well built team
• @antidespondent the truth is out. Jadeja actually employed by the govt. as a comedian to keep the janta amused in these tough times
• @chetanbhatia76 How Ind win the WC.: When opp see that Jadeja's on d team, they laugh so hard & get injured. India wil; win uncontested
• @jhunjhunwala People prefer to watch Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati do an item number instead of watching Ravindra Jadeja bat.
• @rj33t I was trying yo recover from Ajay Jadeja debacle, and Ravindra Jadeja happened to me.
• @jhunjhunwala You know why the monsoons are delayed? The monsoons were coming, then they saw Ravindra Jadeja play and turned back.
• @jhunjhunwala Where is @fakebalthakre. Balasaheb, can't you send the sainiks to go and bash Ravindra Jadeja for his crappy cricket?
• @bhartisushant Jadejaseriously keeping INFLATION under control.....Dealing in zeroes only from all side.
• @witty_n_vetty the only reason why our Indian cricket team is not targeted by terrorists is they dont want us to lose Jadeja!
  

Fed Signals Growth Return Insufficient to End Monetary Stimulus

By Scott Lanman

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve signaled that the U.S. economy’s return to growth is insufficient to withdraw stimulus as officials seek to reduce the highest unemployment rate in a quarter century.

While the economy has “picked up,” the central bank’s planned asset purchases will help ensure a “gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization,” the Fed’s Open Market Committee said yesterday. Policy makers committed to complete their $1.25 trillion in purchases of mortgage securities and extended the end-date of the program to March from December.

“They’re going to be in that accommodative phase for a while,” said Vincent Reinhart, a former Fed monetary-affairs director who’s now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. The Fed’s “tactical goal isn’t just to get to the rate of growth of potential,” he said. “It’s to work down the level of slack.”

The FOMC statement, while offering the most favorable economic outlook since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. failed a year ago, means Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may delay raising interest rates and shrinking the Fed’s $2.1 trillion balance sheet until he secures a recovery.

Policy makers, as part of a unanimous decision, kept the main interest rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent and reiterated that rates will stay low for an “extended period.”

The central bank pledged to purchase “a total of” $1.25 trillion of mortgage debt, changing prior language saying it will buy “up to” that amount.

Traders yesterday marked down expectations for Fed interest-rate increases next year, based on futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Stocks, Treasuries

Treasuries rose yesterday, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down three basis points to 3.42 percent in New York, according to BGCantor Market Data. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 10.79, or 1 percent, to 1060.87, paring its gain this year to 17 percent.

The FOMC said the economy showed signs of “substantial resource slack.” The unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent last month, the highest since June 1983, when it reached 10.1 percent. Employers eliminated 216,000 jobs in August, the 20th straight month of losses, and the Fed acknowledged yesterday that businesses are “still cutting back on fixed investment and staffing, though at a slower pace.”

Capacity utilization, the proportion of industrial volume in use, rose in August to 69.6 percent from 68.3 percent in June, its lowest level since record-keeping began in 1967. The figure averaged about 81 percent from 2005 to 2007.

‘Cost Pressures’

“Slack is important to their thinking about inflation and inflation expectations,” said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital LLC in Washington, a hedge fund with about $100 million under management.

“They are sending a clear message that rates will stay low for longer,” said Spindel, a former deputy treasurer at the World Bank’s International Finance Corp.

The weakness in the economy is “likely to continue to dampen cost pressures” and keep inflation “subdued for some time,” policy makers said yesterday. Public expectations for price trends are “stable,” they said.

At the same time, housing market has started to stabilize. Home prices rose 0.3 percent in July from the previous month, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said this week. Housing starts rose in August to the highest level in nine months.

“Activity in the housing sector has increased,” the central bank said.

‘More Optimistic’

“They have gotten progressively more optimistic over the last several statements, and this is the most optimistic since the financial crisis intensified last September,” said Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York.

“The economic data will be improving quite sharply over the next few quarters,” said Maki, a former Fed researcher.

Yesterday’s affirmation that the Fed would buy the full amount of mortgage backed securities eased concerns that any reduction of the program might undermine a recovery in the housing market. The Fed’s purchases of the securities have pushed down mortgage rates, helping spur demand for homes.

“They probably recognize exiting is much more difficult than entering into the program,” said Torsten Slok, senior economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. “They’re very worried about what the reaction will be when it fades, so they’re pushing it into 2010,” he said. “For now, that’s pushed the problem ahead of them.”

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 5.04 percent in the week ending Sept. 17 from 5.07 percent the week before, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

The Fed has announced $861.9 billion of mortgage-backed securities purchases and completed $685.1 billion. It’s bought $125.2 billion of agency debt and $289.2 billion of the planned purchases of $300 billion in Treasuries, which will end next month.

The tapering in housing debt purchases will begin today, the New York Fed said in a separate statement after the meeting.

[Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7PUzPYyvn7M ]

Lord Sun defeats Rahu after being eaten

[This article was composed on July 22, 2009, But could not be published due to internet issues]

Well, had we been living in the age old era, the headlines of the newspapers would have been similar to the one above. But, this is not the truer side of the story. Yes, I am talking about one of the rare celestial phenomena which occurred today. I am talking about the solar eclipse.

Since past few days a lot of things were being discussed and written in news channels and print dailies. The astronomers predicted that this is going to be the longest duration total eclipse of the century, with the totality lasting up to 6 minutes and 44 seconds. The next eclipse which will pass this duration will occur in 2134. Therefore this event was a must watch as it was a once in a life time opportunity.A number of channels had organized a discussion on the causes and effects of eclipse, involving scientists and astrologers. While, astrologers believe that such celestial incidents have positive and negative effects on life of individuals and may even bring severe calamities. However scientists obviously denied the claim as there is no direct scientific evidence for the same. However, there are a number of astrologers (Jyotishi) who advice people of the ill effects of the phenomena. Generally, people are advised not to be asleep and eat anything during the period of eclipse. Pregnent women are advised to stay indoors and not to see the eclipse. They prescribe various pujas and other instruments to ward off evil spirits. A news channel aired a senior Jyotishacharya, who rubbished such claims and prescriptions as being made by (Ponga pundits) and said that these people do not really have knowledge of Jyotish and are misguiding people because they want them to be there customers.

Reasons for occurrences:
Scientific reason: Earth rotates around sun and moon rotates around moon. Sun's light illuminates both earth and moon. However when all three comes in a straight line, with moon being in between sun and earth, the moon blocks rays of sun and prevents them in reaching to earth. This is what we call eclipse.
Mythological reason: This is a bit interesting. According to Hindu mythology, Gods and demons were involved in Sagar Manthan (Sea churning), when a pot filled with nectar came out every body started fighting for drinking it, as one who drinks it would become immortal. Lord Vishnu thought that demons cause trouble to everyone, and if they become immortal, they will cause destruction of the world. So, he took the form of a beautiful woman and said everyone that everyone should sit in a que and then she will distribute it. However, Lord Vishnu served nectar only to Gods. Sensing the cheating a demon named Rahu-Ketu changed into dress of Gods and sat among them, and had the nectar. However soon Lord Sun and Moon identified, because of which Rahu-Ketu started running. Then Lord Vishnu cut his head using his Sudarshana Chakra. Thus the head was called Rahu and the remaining part as Ketu, the same is believed to be eating Sun and Moon every now and then because of his animosity with two deities.

The total eclipse was to be seen at a strip passing covering Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Parts of UP, Bihar, and north east in India. the remaining parts of India were to see the partial eclipse. Excited by a lot of media attention, I had also prepared myself to watch the eclipse in the morning. I took out my camera and charged the battery so that I may be able to take the picture. The timing of eclipse was from 5:21 AM to 7:30 AM.My room mate set an alarm of 5:15 AM. in the morning both of us got up together just to find out that the alarm had not went off as expected, but we had not lost much time as it was only 5:45 AM. Unfortunately, Hyderabad had been witnessing rains for past few days, and the weather was heavily clouded, so we had no chance to see the eclipse. Then we switched on TV, to enjoy at least there. First news. Surat which was supposed to be the first city to witness it was raining. Then news came in that there are clouds in almost all of Gujarat, MP, UP and Bihar. Then news came that Bhopal is also raining. Luckily in Varanasi the eclipse was visible as the cluods were very thin there. A small village in Bihar, Taregna was the center of all news till today morning as NASA had declared it the best spot to view the eclipse, however the clouds spoiled the party here too. A host of VIPs including state chief minister, MLAs, scientists, media person had camped here just to be disappointed.

The TV showed total eclipse at three locations, Varanasi, Tawang and a place in China. At approximately 6:21 AM, the moon covered the sun completely and all of a sudden Varanasi witnessed complete dark for about 4 minutes. In the end there was a beautiful diamond ring. Though the eclipse in Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh) and China were clear, but they were not as spectacular as at Varanasi. Other places in Central and Western India could not see the eclipse, because of cloud cover, but these places also witnessed the complete dark during the period of total eclipse.

I have downloaded a few photographs of today's total solar eclipse at Varanasi from the internet (Source: TimesofIndia.Com), which I am showing here.