Egypt turmoil

The Tunisian uprising and subsequent protests in Egypt have sparked discussion about the potential for democracy in the Arab world. Having managed to overthrow their repressive leader, the Tunisian people look poised to embrace Western-style government. Though some find the Arab wave of democracy long overdue, experts warn that achieving real representative government may prove extremely difficult. As unrest begins to boil elsewhere in the region, observers ask–is the Middle East ready for a democratic revolution?
Police have been virtually absent from the streets since Saturday, after a brutal crackdown a day earlier when thousands of riot and plainclothes police clashed violently with protesters.On Sunday, low-flying fighter jets overhead did nothing to deter thousands of Egyptians from continuing their protests into the night.
The arrival of Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei in Tahrir Square fueled their fervor. Throngs cheered as the leading opposition figure entered.ElBaradei, a former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is one of several opposition figures whose name surfaces when protesters talk about possible future leaders of Egypt. Among other names is Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League.
But Mubarak has given no indications of giving up his 30-year rule. On Sunday, he urged the leaders of his new Cabinet to undertake “dialogue with all the (political) parties,” according to a transcript of his remarks read on state-run Nile TV.
Nile TV reported that roughly 1,000 inmates escaped from Prison Demu in Fayoum, southwest of Cairo. Inmates also broke out of Abu Zaabal prison in Cairo and the Ataa prison in Al Badrashin, a town in Giza, Nile TV said.
The protests in Egypt come weeks after similar disturbances sparked a revolution in Tunisia, forcing then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country.
Both Egypt and Tunisia have seen dramatic rises in the cost of living in recent years and accusations of corruption among the ruling elite. Tunisia-inspired demonstrations have also taken place in Algeria, Yemen and Jordan.
The aging Mubarak has ruled Egypt with an iron fist for three decades, and it was widely believed he was grooming his son, Gamal, as his successor — a plan now complicated by demands for democracy.

(Source: The Atlantic Wire)

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Evolution of the blog

I think I have begun to love infographics.  Here is one that traces the evolution of the blogger (source: NYmag.com)

Tribute to a legend – Pt. Bhimsen Joshi

The world of Hindustani Classical Music lost a gem – Pandit Bhimsen Joshi today. He was born into a Kannada Brahmin family in Gadag, Karnataka. His father, Gururaj Joshi, was a school teacher and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was the eldest of 16 siblings. He was mostly raised by his step-mother, as his own mother passed away when he was very young.

A practitioner of the Kirana gharana, Joshi was known for his mellifluous ‘khayals’ as well as for his popular renditions of devotional ‘abhangs’ and ‘bhajans’.

What distinguished him from the ordinary was his powerful voice, amazing breath control, fine musical sensibility and unwavering grasp of the fundamentals that made him the supreme Hindustani vocalist, representing a subtle fusion of intelligence and passion that imparted life and excitement to his music.

He was honoured with the Padma Shri (1972), Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Hindustani vocal music (1975), Padma Bhushan (1985) and Madhya Pradesh government’s “Tansen Samman” in 1992. Bharat Ratna was bestowed on him in 2008.

Twitter

I confess to being hooked online
Since I’ve been on twitter
From when I wake up in the morning
Till I sleep late at night

News, Views , Music and Politics
Quotes, Food, Dreams and Sports
I update my status online and
Send it to the twitterverse

Celebrities and friends
Sportsmen and Salesmen
Bloggers and Artists
You find them all on twitter

Retweets and Mentions
Hashtags and Timelines
These are the lingo of twitter
Tweets and lists
Tweeple and Followers
Bingo – look who is trending on twitter!

So let us know how you feel
Its no big deal
Get rid of the jitters
Post your first tweet on twitter

©copyright 15th Jan 2011, skm

What to Do When You Find Something Cool on the Internet: A Flowchart

Interesting flowchart from the Gizmodo folks:

Facebook – A global fascination

(See this interesting infographic (courtesy: Mashable, Social Hype, OnlineSchools.org)
Here, in a visual nutshell, are some highlights about Facebook usage, 2010 trends, adoption numbers and a great deal more.

IPL4 auction

 

 

 

Today the news and twitter were all following the IPL4 auctions.  Glitz, glamour and big money will be on display at the two-day Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here Saturday-Sunday as 350 cricketers go under the hammer for the fourth season of the money-spinning league.  The IPL-4, beginning in April, just about two weeks after the end of the cricket World Cup jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, is expected to feature 10 teams, with Kochi and Pune being the two new entrants.  As a long day wound to a close at the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel, Gautam Gambhir emerged on top of the pile as he earned the highest price of $2.4 million from Kolkata Knight Riders.

The team-wise list of players auctioned here on Saturday is as follows –

Team-wise on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir , $2.4 million; Yusuf Pathan, $2.1 million; Jacques Kallis, $1.1 million; Brad Haddin, $325,000; Shakib Al Hasan, $425,000; Brett Lee, $400,000; Eoin Morgan, $350,000; Manoj Tiwary, $475,000.

Pune: Robin Uthappa, $2.1 million; Yuvraj Singh, $1.8million; Graeme Smith, $500,000; Tim Paine, $270,000; Angelo Mathews, $950,000; Ashish Nehra, $850,000; Nathan McCullum, $100,000; Callum Fergusson, $300,000.

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, $2 million; Andrew Symonds, $850,000; David Jacobs, $190,000; James Franklin, $100,000.

Delhi Daredevils: Irfan Pathan, $1.9 million; David Warner, $750,000; Naman Ojha, $270,000; James Hopes, $350,000; Morne Morkel, $475,000; Aaron Finch, $300,000.

Kochi: Mahela Jayawardene, $1.5 million; V.V.S. Laxman, $400,000; Brendon McCullum, $475,000; S. Sreesanth, $900,000; R.P. Singh, $500,000; Parthiv Patel, $290,000; Ravindra Jadeja, $950,000; Steven Smith, $200,000; Muttiah Muralitharan, $1.1 million; Ramesh Powar, $180,000; Brad Hodge, $425,000.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: AB de Villiers, $1.1 million; Dilshan Tillakaratne, $650,000; Zaheer Khan, $900,000; Daniel Vettori, $550,000; Saurabh Tiwary, $1.6 million; Dirk Nannes, $650,000; Cheteshwar Pujara, $700,000.

Deccan Chargers: Cameron White, $1.1 million; Kevin Pietersen, $650,000; Kumar Sangakkara, $700,000; J.P. Duminy, $300,000; Shikhar Dhawan, $300,000; Ishant Sharma, $450,000; Dale Steyn, $1.2 million; Pragyan Ojha, $500,000; Amit Mishra, $300,000.

Rajasthan Royals: Ross Taylor, $1 million; Rahul Dravid, $500,000; Johan Botha, $950,000; Paul Collingwood, $250,000.

King’s XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist, $900,000; Shaun Marsh, $400,000; David Hussey, $1.4 million; Dinesh Karthik, $900,000; Stuart Broad, $400,000; Abhishek Nayar, $800,000; Praveen Kumar, $800,000; Ryan Harris, $325,000; Piyush Chawla, $900,000.

Chennai Super Kings: Michael Hussey, $425,000; Wriddhiman Saha, $100,000; Dwayne Bravo, $200,000; Doug Bollinger, $700,000; R. Ashwin, $850,000; S. Badrinath, $800,000.

Unsold players:

Sourav Ganguly, base price $400,000

Brian Lara, base price $400,000

Chris Gayle, base price $400,000

Luke Wright, base price $400,000

James Anderson, base price $400,000

Graeme Swann, base price $400,000

Herschelle Gibbs, base price $200,000

Matt Prior, base price $200,000

Mark Boucher, base price $200,000

Murali Kartik, base price $200,000

Ajantha Mendis, base price, $200,000

Jesse Ryder, base price $100,000

Dilharo Fernando, base price $100,000

Chamara Kapugedera, base price $100,000, unsold

Tamim Iqbal, base price $100,000, unsold

Graham Manou, base price $50,000

 

 

Our new pets

After giving away my cichlids and aquarium, I recently bought my daughter  2 pet hamsters .  One is ‘Shy’ and the other ‘Active’.  They are very cute pets.  She loves to carry them around every day and also takes care of their needs like feeding and cleaning.

Hamsters are nocturnal . They eat sunflower seeds, dried coix, wheat flakes, etc.  They drink water which is generally mixed with some vitamins.  They spend their time grooming and doing exercise in running wheels.

If……my favourite poem

One of my favourite poems is If by Rudyard Kipling.  This poem written to his son is thought-provoking and has practical value even a hundred years after it has been penned.  The message in the poem is to be humble, conquer our likes and dislikes and to enjoy life in even trying moments.

If by Rudyard Kipling  If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream – and not make dreams your master; If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build ’em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run – Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

Things that make me smile :-)

Here are some of  the things that make me smile:
Comics/cartoon strips:
RK Laxman
Dilbert
Tin Tin

Books:
P G Wodehouse

TV cartoons:
Tom & Jerry
Popeye
The Jetsons

English serials & movies:
The Naked Gun
Airplane
The Gods must be crazy
Charlie Chaplin movies
Mrs Doubtfire
The Pink Panther
Whose line is it anyway?
Mind your language
Friends
Frasier
Everybody loves Raymond

Hindi movies:
Hulchul
Golmaal
Padosan
Khatta Mitha
Dhamaal

Stand up comedians:
Russel Peters
Jay Leno
Shekhar Suman