'Who cares if Sunder Pichai's Father-In-Law Remarries or not'...by K.J.S.Chatrath

'News' in NDTV:  "Google CEO Sunder Pichai's Father-In-Law Remarries at 70"

Is this 'news'?

Who cares weather this unnamed old gentleman remarries at 70 or remains single?

Grow up NDTV. 

***

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***

चलो मार्स चलें, शायद वहां पियाज और दालें सस्ती हों !.....K.J.S.Chatrath

"Signs of Liquid Water Found on Surface of Mars, Study Says"- news

चलो मार्स चलें, शायद वहां पियाज और दालें सस्ती हों !
***

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***

'Proper balance between security and the convenience of the public'- by K.J.S.Chatrath

Remember Hon'ble P.M. Mr. Modi had visited Chandigarh a few days back. He was reportedly unhappy at the inconvenience caused to the general public because of extensive 'bandobast' for his visit. One was told that the top brass of administration had been asked to explain.

Now for the light hearted part. Today's newspaper reports that an advisory has been issued by the Ministry of Home Affairsm Government of India to all states and UTs on this subject. http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/cities/chandigarh/two-weeks-after-pm-s-tweet-centre-issues-advisory/139315.html

This Advisory reportedly  "states that during such visits, no inconvenience should be caused to the public. A proper balance should be maintained between security and the convenience of the public." (Emphasis supplied)

Having been a part of the bureaucracy myself, I can not help smiling.....

*** 

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***

ISRO launches ASTROSAT, first space observatory- Mera Bharat Mahaan

Photo by V. Ganesan, The Hindu

ISRO launches ASTROSAT, first space observatory. 

Mera Bharat Mahaan - मेरा भारत महान !
***

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***
 

'My Priority'...by K.J.S.Chatrath

What should get priority- providing WI-FI service at 500 railway stations in India or taking steps for safe  running of trains?

In my view the later.

Blood Moon

Blood Noon, Siliguri, India 28th September 2015. Photo source: Agence France Presse

'Smita Patil- one of my favourites" by K.J.S.Chatrath

Smita Patil*- one of my favourites. 

Date of birth: October 17, 1955

Date of death: December 13, 1986

 

May her soul rest in peace.

* Photo source: 1443284066-1273_Smi-Chidambaram--Peter-Chapel

"Five sacks of onions were looted at gunpoint from the market at Chandusi Mandi.."- reports The Times of India

I saw it only today. The news is slightly dated but interesting nonetheless.

"Five sacks of onions were looted at gunpoint from the market at Chandusi Mandi here early Thursday."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Masked-men-make-off-with-five-sacks-of-onions/articleshow/48904873.cms

'If I were the Prime Minister of India, my first priority would be to provide safe drinking water to 1.3 billion Indians' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Yes, we have to leapfrog the technology  to catch up and go ahead of the rest of the world. But one cant drink 'virtual water'.

If I were the Prime Minister of India, my first priority would be to provide safe drinking water to 1.3 billion Indians.

What about you?

***

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"IAS is NOT a pensionable service"- by K.J.S.Chatrath

It may come as a surprise to many that those joining the IAS after 2003 are NOT entitled to any pension on retirement.

Those who joined the service earlier than this year will continue getting the pension till they die.

Pre-2003 there was a compulsory Provident Fund Contribution that each IAS officer had to make every month. There was NO matching contribution to this by the government.

Now for Post 2003 entrants, there is NO pension on retirement.

A thoroughly misleading nomenclature "New Pension Scheme" has been introduced for every one, even non-service public.

It is NOT pension but joining a Provident Fund Scheme where you contribute. Government does NOT make any matching contribution.

I told you it would come as a surprise to you!

Kindly do correct me if I am wrong.

'I detest Kapil Sharma's brand of sick sexist humour' by K.J.S.Chatrath

 

I detest Kapil Sharma's brand of sick sexist humour. 

'Pappa, Pappu & Hunger Free India' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Pappu: Pappa, Pappa...

Pappa: Yes Pappu.

Pappu: I am so impressed by  government’s  list of innovative schemes: Swach Bharat, Swastha Bharat, Make in India, Innovate in India, Skill India & Smart Villages.

Pappa: Yes, yes...so?

Pappu: Would the next scheme be ‘Hunger Free India’?

Pappa: Quiet...Go and finish your school home work.

'Eid Mubarak' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Eid Mubarak

Photo source: http://goodtimes.ndtv.com/news/i-eid-mubarak-i-here-are-great8-tips-on-how-to-prepare-lip-smacking-i-biryani-i-1478

'Papa, Pappu & respected Dinanath Batra ji'- by K.J.S.Chatrath

Pappu: Pappa, Pappa.

Pappa: Yes Pappu.

Pappu: Do you know that respected Dinanath Batra ji is going to write text books for Haryana schools?

Pappa: कुछ न कहो, बस कुछ भी न कहो!

"FBs 'Dislike' button" - K.J.S.Chatrath

I am happily waiting for FBs 'Dislike' button to get operationalised.

It is going to be used  liberally by me on all the 'self improvement' posts & quotes by 'C' class, unknown intellectuals playing with words.....

Yes, I am aware that many of my mails too would invite the 'dislike' button, but that is fair.

Yes, yes, I am also aware that this may cost me a few FB friends, but that too is fair... ....

***

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***

'Some colorized photos of the last century'- by K.J.S.Chatrath

A friend sent me an email with a number of old B&W photos of the last century having been colorized. Colorization is a computer-assisted process of adding color to a monochrome image or movie.

Most of these images were relating to American interests. I have picked up just a few that I found captivating.

These were neither photographed nor colorized by me.

                                                            The stunning Marilyn Monroe.

                                             Alfred Hitchcock- the master of suspense movies

                        Sophia Loren (sitting) and Jayne Mansfield (standing). Need I say more?

                          The legendry Louis Armstrong trumpeting for his wife in Cairo, Egypt.

Ah, those were the days, my friend... ...

'I love my India' by K.J.S.Chatrath

I love my India!

'पूर्ण सिंह का मशहूर ढाबा'......by K.J.S.Chatrath

बस कल शाम की ही तो बात है। मै उतराखडढ मॆ लेडसडाउन सॆ हरिदवार होता हुा पचकुला वापस आ रहा था। अमबाला कैट सटेशन पर दो घटे बाद अगली गाडी थी। सधय़ा के 8 बजे थे। भूख भी लग रही थी।

बहुत खोजने पर भी सटेशन पर कोई refreshment room नजर नही अय़ा। भूख अर तेज हो गयी। बिना बात के मै खीजने लगा। तभी मुझे याद आई पुरण सिंह के ढाबे की. बहुत साल पहले मैने वहां खाना खाया था और वह स्टेशन के पास ही था. लेकिन इस दौरान में वहां स्टेशन के पास फ्लाई ओवर बन गया है. मैने सोचा की जीभ के स्वाद के चक्कर में मैं सड़क पार करता ऊपर ही न पहुँच जाऊं. लेकिंग पेट की भूख और जीभ के स्वाद ने मेरी अकल पे पर्दा डाल दिया और मैंने उस ढाबे पे जाने का निश्चय कर लिया. एक कुली से पुछा की पुरण सिघ का ढाबा कहाँ है? उसने मेरी टर्फ देखा, मेरी उम्र को देख और एक बढ़िया सलाह मुफ्त में डे डाली. 'अंकल जी है तो वह सड़क के उसपार लेकिन आप इस अंधेरे मे ट्रैफिक से भरे हुई दो सड़के पiर नहीं कर पाओगे. एक रिक्शा कर लो- उसने कुछ शरारत भरे लहज़े में कहा.


एक रिक्शा वाला जो पास खड़ा बात सुन रहा था बोला, चलो अंकल जी में ले चलता हूँ पुरण सिघ के ढाबे. कितने पैसे, मैने पुछा. बीस रूपए, वह बोला और में छलांग लगा कर रिक्क्षे में जा बैठा.

दो सड़कें पार करने में रिक्क्षा को सिर्फ दो मिनट लगे. वहां का दृश्य देख कर में आश्चर्य चकित रह गया. वहां 'पुरण सिंह के नाम के कोई आधा दर्जन ढाबे थे- कोई 'असली', कोई 'पुराना' तो कोई 'असली पुराना' पूर्ण सिंह का ढाबा और एक 'पूर्ण सिंह का मशहूर ढाबा'. हर ढाबे के एजेंट सड़क पर से मुझे बुलाने लगे- 'अंकल जी इधर आइये' ' आ जाओ जी' और 'बजुर्गो ऐथे आओ जी' वगैरा, वगैरा.

मैने एक ढाबे को चुना और एक टेबल पे जा बैठा. वेटर ने फटाफट यह प्लेट मेरे सामने रख दी.

मैने पीली दाल तड़का और हाफ प्लेट मिक्स्ड वेजिटेबल का आर्डर दिया जो शीघ हे दो तंदूरी रोटियों के साथ आ पधारी.

खाना गरमा गर्म और मिर्चों से भरपूर था. मैने 'सी- सी' करते खाना खाया. जब बिल माँगा तो लड़के ने एक छोटी सी पर्ची पर ११०/- रुपया लिख कर मुझे थमा दिया.



मैने पैसे दिये और बिना कुछ सोचे समझे एक हाथ में सूटकेस और पीठ पर backback डाल के दोनों ट्रैफिक से भरपूर सड़कें पार कर के स्टेशन के अंदर पहुँच गया... ...
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Shame on You, Mr. Culture Minister By Siddharth Varadarajan

Shame on You, Mr. Culture Minister
By Siddharth Varadarajanon 17/09/2015

“Mahesh Sharma’s utterances about Muslims, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and other matters are not casual off-the-cuff remarks; they have to be seen in the context of the guidance provided by the RSS to the government”
http://thewire.in/2015/09/17/shame-on-you-mr-culture-minister-10858/

Shame...Shame...Hon'ble Minister must resign for such poisonous remarks.

Are these remarks not prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and likely to cause disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred and ill will among the citizens of lndia, which is a punishable offence under section 505 of the Indian Penal Code?

In Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh

Thats me...somewhere in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, August 2015.

What a month has passed and I havnt travelled?

Oops...Off I go to the hills again - tomorrow....

'Top Ten movies of all times' by K.J.S.Chatrath

...................................Roger Joseph Ebert..............................

It is a common topic during conversations about cinema, “Which are your 3 or 5 or 10 favourite films of all times, from around the world”? While each one of us has his own list of ten best, here is the list of Ebert.

Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic and historian, journalist, screenwriter and author. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013
Roger Ebert’s top ten movies:

1. Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, Wrath of God;
2. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now;
3. Orsen Well’s Citizen Kane;
4. Fedrico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita;
5. Buster Keaton’s The General;
6. Martin Scorcese’s The Raging Bull;
7. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey;
8. Yasujiro’s Tokyo Story
9. Terence Malick’s The Tree of Life
10. Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

Quite oddly, not even one French film had made it to Ebert's list.I have not seen some films out of this list. And I won’t give out my favourites till I have seen all these ten.

What about your list?

Bravo Hingis+Paes

'Bring prices down now- Speeding up of trains & improving railway stations with foreign assistance can wait' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Have you seen the first page of today's Times of India? It reports, "Five sacks of onion were looted at gunpoint from the market at Chandusi Mandi here early Thursday."http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/Masked-men-make-off-with-five-sacks-of-onions/articleshow/48904873.cms

It also mentions that 'arhar dal' is now selling at Rs.145/- a kg.

My humble view is that government should focus on bringing the prices of essential commodities down at once. Making the trains run at the speed of a bullet or getting foreign assistance for improving the railways stations can very well wait.

'It seems like tomorrow is here!' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Tesla unveils a battery to power your home, completely off grid

It seems like tomorrow is here!

Do take a look:

\
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/485549672757211136/tesla-unveils-a-battery-to-power-your-home-completely-off-grid

Le Corbusiers 'Heritage' furniture...Bah!

Photo source: The Times of India/Chandigarh, September 10, 2015

One is beginning to suspect that some interested parties are bringing up the issue of "heritage" furniture designed by Le Corbusier again and again. Today yet again it was in the Times of India/Chandigarh.

Anyonewho has visited small towns in India would recognise this as thee most common design of chairs in India. And it has been in India long before Le Corbusier first came to India.

And if Le Corbusier did design the furniture in the picture, then he was a very poor furniture designer.

Come on, let us grow up.

India on the move....

Source: The Times of India, September 10, 2015.

'My India - Higher & higher everyday' by K.J.S.Chatrath

US Open: Indians in Two Finals - Leander in Mixed | Sania in Women's Doubles (news)

"Sanad of 'Sardar Sahib' Gurbux Singh Chatrath" by K.J.S.Chatrath

The 'Sanad' which my late father received in 1946 at an early age of 41.

May his soul rest in peace.

'These anaap-shnaap (skewed) priorities...'by K.J.S.Chatrath

“Air India plane catches fire while in the air” is one of the terrifying headlines of today’s news. Two days back the news was that the newly appointed top man of Air India has declared on his first day in the assignment that Air India planes should be the shiniest of them all. One wishes he had said ‘the safest of them all’.

I remember a few years back a newly appointed top chap of the then Air-India ordered all the planes of Air India to be got re-painted with a new logo. It must have cost a packet. One wishes the same amounthad been spent in improving the safety standards.

Yet a few more years back, a newly appointed MD of the state owned ITDC ordered the iconic Ashoka Hotel in Delhi’s exteriors to be white washed from the then existing red stones (yes with white paint).

The same skewed priority can be seen in the Railways. Instead of focusing on safety and cleanliness, the endevour is to run trains faster and faster...

Yeh kya Anaap-Shnaap ho raha hai.........

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"Residential Peon facility for Haryana IAS & other senior officers": by K.J.S.Chatrath

Here is a news to note.

Haryana Government has decided to provide peons at home to certain categories of officers. This facility would be provided to all IAS officers, judicial officers and HoDs . Similarly, all HCS officers exercising the magisterial powerswould also be given this facility.
These officers would be allowed to engage a home peon at their own level at the statutory minimum wages for unskilled labour as fixed by the state government.

It is hoped that other state governments and UT administrations will soon follow suit.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/governance/peon-facility-for-haryana-babus-at-home/130040.html

'What happens if a place has no historical heritage and no historical icons? by K.J.S.Chatrath

What happens if a place has no historical heritage and no historical icons? It quite simply creates those.
This is my take on the desperate attempts of some to cover Chandigarh with the mantle of 'heritage' and make Le Corbusier its icon.

Oh come on. Take a look at the 5000 year old monument from Egypt. THAT is heritage.

And what are these chairs?