Views on News 31 May 2009

World may never know Sri Lanka death toll: UN

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/world-may-never-know-sri-lanka-death-toll-un/93739-2.html

Sad.. More important than getting the numbers out in the open should be to ensure that the process of reconciliation starts and starts in all earnestness. The Sri Lankan government may have some hesitation and also some vetting to be done, but they should err on the side of some wrong calls (given that the LTTE infrastructure has been wiped out). Families should be united. Wouldn’t it be great if they published a change management plan to the entire world which has time based milestones on when the return to normalcy (if there is such a thing) can be expected.

Bangaloreans put on running shoes for various causes

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/000200905311501.htm
http://sunfeastworld10k.indiatimes.com/
http://www.greaterbangalore.co.in/sunfeast-world-10k-marathon-2009-winners-list.html

People have started publishing results. Check it out here. The top 3 in both the elite men and women were just separated by 9 seconds and 3 seconds respectively. Makes me wonder whether we were driving a F1 car or just running.

Great event. Lot of fun. I participated as well in the Open 10K and ran the distance in around 68 minutes. From a participant perspective excitement had been building up all the this while. Twitter / blogosphere buzzed with activity and so did the media. Here are a few quotes I heard / read during the run

“Pain is temporary. Pride is forever” – Runners High

”These guys are here for the belly run” – Anonymous, when a group of bouncers (with protruding bellies) stepped onto the field to control the start of open 10k

”This must be the largest number of people who have woken up in Bangalore at 7:00 AM on a Sunday morning” – Anonymous

”Remember for every downhill run, you have an uphill climb lined up somewhere” – Self

I am not sure if the same can be said about the city. There was a thin audience on the streets cheering people up. Also some of them had to endure some grid locks on the road because of road restrictions. The atmosphere in the stadium was pretty charged up.

Finally coming back to my realizations.

For starters I realized that this was different from all the runs and exercises I have been doing for the last few months. I had no mind map of where I was and how much more I had to endure. I guess knowing the route inside out helps since you set up milestones in your mind and are able to endure the pain a lot better.

Even a small crowd or a sporadic outburst can take your energy to next level. There was small group of children near the Dickenson’s road (near the 5 KM mark) who were the best cheerers I met in the race. I may never know you but that you guys

Thanks to the trainers at the Nike Run Club and the runners at the Runners For Life. You guys thought me that running a slow and consistent race is the best way to cover a longer distance. You guys helped me overcome the wall at around the 6 km mark or in some cases the 3 km mark itself.

The start was a little rough. Not only we (and I mean the entire crowd of around more than 8000 people) had to squeeze through a small gate onto the track, the initial 2 – 3 kms involved a small incline . Clearly not the easiest start. Things started to clear up after I crossed the 4 KM mark (U turn  near Ulsoor).

Finally just wished that I had started running a while ago. In my mid 30’s and have a few more years under my belt but the realization is also dawning that you can never be like the younger guys. As IronMan usually say pleasure is in the finishing. Time, position and retaining yor mental balance are added bonuses

Screen grab the counter on the official website has gone horribly wrong. The clock still seems to be showing 8 hours to go. While I guess it is now almost 8 hours after. Someone forgot to put a small “if block” to stop the clock from going past the ddday.

Inquiry ordered into Mumbai airport incident

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/000200905311502.htm

There was a report in the TOI (Times Of India) about the number of close calls on the India skies has been increasing steadily. With the growth of air traffic and the addition of new airports such incidents need to be brought down pretty significantly and quickly. God we dont want another one of those horrible air incidents.

Teams submit F1 entries for 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8072295.stm
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75680

Image courtesy: http://www.teamsassociation.org/

One wonders, if all the noise which the formula 1 teams made over the past few days is just a farce. Everyone knows that they draw a significant amount of revenues because of their participant in this one particular event and they wouldnt be the same if they werent running in the grids.

However the last minute conditional submission makes me think that they might have lost a lot of leverage against the FIA. The FIA may now start believing that the F1 teams can now be muzzled into doing more than. One more thing

Far more well thought about entries can be found here and here

Views On News 30 May 2009

BBMP celebrates record Tax collection

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1260257

“Further, to celebrate this tax collection and the work done by BBMP officials during election duty, a grand feast was organised for the officials in Palace Grounds on Friday afternoon by central employees association. Over 800 employees, including BBMP commissioner and BBMP officers were present to celebrate the feast.”

Image Courtesy: http://www.deccanherald.com/photo.php?id=312

Speaking personally I see no harm in this. These guys have done a good job by their own standards. The SAS collection was a decently run campaign. There was enough publicity and awareness amongst the public and as a result of which they collected a record sum. Won’t you want these guys to enjoy a bit after all the hard work they have put into this. I fear very soon a RTI is going to be filed and the BBMP is going to be forced to make the amount public. This will fuel a public out roar

Look at your own professional lives. Haven’t you gone out on a team event? Haven’t you stared at outrageous bills? Hasn’t your company or the client in turn footed the bill? So why complain about BBMP.

Alright the food budget has been a little over the roof and the after thought of inventing stories and covering up the celebration are definitely irritants. Nothing to be ashamed about. Acknowledge the fault and move on. I would suggest that BBMP should factor in such celebrations in their annual budgeting exercise.

I would recommend that this practice spreads to other parts of the governmental agencies as well. Why doesn’t the policeman who sweats it out in the hot summer sun and constant pollution get a stake in the fine amount collected? Of course you need some checks and balances in place. But if he gets a certain incentive percentage wouldn’t he be more motivated in ensuring that traffic rules are followed and more importantly miscreants are punished.

Surely everyone needs a reason to celebrate. TV9 stop complaining.

Tamil Nadu: Karuna appoints Stalin as Deputy CM

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tamil-nadu-karuna-appoints-stalin-as-deputy-cm/467979/

“Karunanidhi appointed M K Stalin, his second son and Local Administration Minister in his government, as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in the clearest signal yet paving the way for his taking over the reins from him.”

True dynastical politics at play. As I remarked on one of my tweets there is a new family trying to out wit the wily old fox of the south’s family. After some additional thought I think the choice may have been made wisely. Atleast the rich daughter didn’t strike a claim and neither has she sulked it out. In Stalin you have a man who has atleast been active in local politics taking over the reigns

With Rs 500 each, they took on Mayawati

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/with-rs-500-each-they-took-on-mayawati/466336/

“Asked to surrender their identity cards, badges, belts and arms in the police lines on September 18, 2007, Pawan Kumar Singh and Sonu Rathi were among the 18,700 constables who were sacked by the Mayawati Government. Not daunted, they soldiered on, and they had every reason to celebrate the Supreme Court’s Monday order which asked the Mayawati Government to provide provisional appointments to the constables dismissed in 2007.”

I wish more of such stories hit the media headlines. Victory of the common man over the farce policies of the government. Atleast this generates a glimmer of hope amongst us that there is a legal recourse. It may take time (especially in India) but justice gets served in some cases. I also wish all the very best to Mr. Moily to make the much needed judicial changes. These changes like the police reforms have been pending to an extent that they have almost hurt the democratic foundations of the society

Down the borewell hole ! Unique video footage

http://www.indiawaterportal.org/blog/2009/05/26/down-the-borewell-hole-unique-video-footage/

“In this spectacular video we can see something that we normally would never see — what goes on inside a borewell and how does it acquire the water that we pump up as an everyday occurrence.”

You need to know where your water comes from. Especially true for apartments and places of residence which haven’t yet been connected by a more permanent water source and who solely rely on ground water. I never knew that the fissures also contributed to the borewell ground water levels. Eye opener I should say.

Moreover if you are concerned about if your apartment uses water appropriately and it is there for the long run you may be in for a bit of a surprise. Do check the article “Water Security For The Residents Of Apartments & Gated Communities” out without any hesitation and call for help if there is a need. Surely it makes sense to take stock of the situation and act when there is still some time. All the things which the author has pointed out is true and I have seen each one of the cover up acts he mentions on one or more instances.