Mithun Chakravarthy Gets Dadasaheb Phalke Award

 The "Disco Dancer" fame Mithun Chakraborty is awarded the Highest Indian Cinema Award of Dadasaheb Phalke Award. It is announced today by the Government of India as per news reports.

"I am a Disco Dancer" used to be my favorite song when I was in my late twenties and thirties. I used to hear it daily. I loved his dance steps and his roles in most movies. Now, I am happy that he got his due honor by getting this prestigious award.

Here is the link to the news of his award announcement. The award will be presented on October 8, 2024.

Tesla Car Bursts into Flames in Pinellas County, Florida Garage

 A Tesla car parked in the garage of a Pinellas County home caught fire due to Hurricane Helene's flooded water entering it. A terrifying video shared by the County's Government shows this deadly incident.

The County Government has issued advisories to its citizens and the general public after this deadly incident. They advised people not to store Electric Vehicles in their homes or garages. They should be parked outside, 50 feet away from your house.

You can view the news and their guidelines in this article in Hindustan Times.

Hurricane Helen caused unrepairable losses and damages to the people in Florida, USA with its repeated attacks. Many people were killed and millions of properties were damaged.

Mohammed Siraj's Amazing Catch at Kanpur Stadium - India vs Bangladesh Test Match

Kudos, Mohammed Siraj! 

What a stunning catch by Mohammed Siraj! See this mind-blowing feat of his on the 4th Day of the 2nd Test against Bangladesh today (30th September 2024). The victim batsman is Shakib Al Hasan, playing his last but one match before he retires from Test Cricket.

Nobody ever expected that he would succeed in holding the catch as the ball was flying high away from him while he was backstepping to hold the catch. He had to perform aerobic/athletic movements of his entire body and limbs while trying to hold the ball. He stretched his entire body and hands backward and finally succeeded in holding the catch. His back must have been aching in doing so. But he was happy in performing this miraculous feat. 

Here is the link to the news on this stunning feat.

The Valley of Stagnation and Tips to Come Out

I was reading a post from Sahilbloom's Curiosity Chronicle discussing the factors undermining your growth. He uses a term known as "the Valley of Stagnation" which is a great discouraging factor that tries to cripple you mentally and physically.

You land in a situation where you feel that your life has reached a standstill point. How much effort you may put in you find no growth. You become worried that you can't achieve your goals. It is this stage which is being referred to as the "Valley of Stagnation".

At this point, the author tells you to remember three important facts of life to get yourself motivated.

1. Nothing bad will happen if you are diligent and focused. So be diligent, focused, and determined. You will keep learning something and ultimately succeed.
2. Your Belief matters. If you begin to feel that you are worthless or incompetent, then you turn out to be thus. So always tell yourself that you are capable and worthy of your goal.
3. There is a cycle of events. Just like birth, growth, and death in human life, believe that there are cycles of plain path, valley, climb, and summit. 

Hate Speech and Opinions of Hatred

 I can't understand why people are filled with so much hatred against Congress and other opposition parties. 

I regularly come across statements like this one.

"... It is stupid Hindus who are still in deep sleep. Hindus shamelessly go and Vote for Congress and all opposition Jokers. Most Hindus are unaware of the grave dangers ahead.  God save India and the Hindus."

The above is only one sample of the many things I find from my circles and social media platforms.

We can find fault with a particular person or a group of persons, but not with the whole lot.

If one votes for Congress, he is not a fool. He can have his own reasons. We should inculcate the habit of respecting all opinions, faiths, religions, cultures, etc. 

Don't hate other religions or cultures. Discard the hate speeches and work together for the good of all. 

The Seven Taxes of Life for Your Growth

 I was reading an article from a newsletter from Sahilbloom that deals with Life Events.

In the article, the author enumerates the 7 Taxes of Life that everybody needs to pay to achieve growth and success. By tax, he refers to the discomfort, tension, and pain that should be undergone to succeed.

The Seven Taxes are as follows:

1. Loneliness Times in  Life
2. Stress and Anxiety
3. Boredom of Routine life
4. Harsh and Rough Conversations in Relationships
5. Periods of Imposter Syndrome that tend to discourage you
6. Misunderstandings
7. Pain of Loss

The author says that we need to face all the above-mentioned pains (taxes) of life to emerge successful. You shouldn't try to avoid them. If you avoid these pains, you will not gain the strength to be a successful person. You will remain afraid of facing the life-challenges and may never succeed. So, be brave and go through those moments with determination and self-confidence.

Here is the link to the entire article on Medium: The Taxes of Life

Atishi Marlena Took Charge as 8th Chief Minister of Delhi

Aam Admi Party leader  Atishi was sworn in as the 8th Chief Minister of Delhi on 21/09/2024 after Arvind Kejriwal submitted his resignation early last week.

Kejriwal stepped down as a matter of honor amidst allegations of corruption and consequential jail terms. Later, the party leaders elected Atishi as their leader and CM candidate. The Central Government accepted her proposal, and she was sworn in as the Chief Minister by Lt. Governor Saxena on 21st September.

Here is a link to the news announcing her swearing-in ceremony.

How to Deal With Your Day-To-Day Jobs

 I was just now reading an article on Medium.com that can be related to this topic. In it, the author classifies all tasks into four categories. They are as follows:

1. Urgent and Important. Do it immediately.
2. Important but not Urgent. Schedule it.
3. Urgent but not important. Delegate it.
4. Neither Important nor Urgent. Discard/eliminate it.
This is a wonderful approach to executing our tasks.
This approach was perhaps inspired by former President Eisenhower's method of dealing with meetings and work.

Some simple rules to follow are like this:

Break large and complex tasks into small parts, so that you can execute one-by-one through delegation and self-accomplishment.

Keep the work environment neat and clean so that it boosts your mood.

Take a 2-minute break to refresh your energy and concentration.

You can visit this link for detailed information and tips on this topic. But bear in mind that it is a lengthy article with diagrams and tables.

Cristiano Ronaldo's New World Record

Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese football player and one of the best players in the world, has recently set a new world record. 

This one is not on the field but on social media platforms. He made history by becoming the first person to be followed by One Billion Followers.

The Numbers are here:

Instagram - 638 million followers

Facebook - 170 million followers 

X / Twitter - 113 million followers

Youtube - 60 million followers

He wrote on Instagram, thanking his fans, as follows:

“We’ve made history — 1 BILLION followers!” 

“This is more than just a number — it's a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond. From the streets of Madeira to the biggest stages in the world, I've always played for my family and for you, and now 1 billion of us stand together.” 

Here is a link to the article published in Hindustan Times.

The Parody of A Caged Parrot vs Caesar's Wife

In the Supreme Court's judgment on the bail plea of Arvind Kejriwal, we came across a reference to the CBI being termed as "A Caged Parrot" and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan's remark asking the CBI to take steps to remove the perception of being a caged parrot. He said that "like Caesar's wife it should be above suspicion while conducting an investigation.

I wanted to know what was Caesar's wife's suspicious act. Why the term "Caesar's Wife" became a parable? I googled and found this article on Wikipedia which clarified my doubts.

When Caesar was elected to be the Chief Priest of the Roman State Religion, one of his wives, Pompeia hosted a festival of Good Goddess " Bona Dea in 62 BC. It was a festival for ladies and no men were allowed. But a male managed to enter there disguised as a woman and got caught. It was a disgrace and Caesar divorced Pompeia saying that his wife should be above suspicion.

This incident gave rise to the proverb "Caesar's wife should be above suspicion".

Here is the link to the story.

Arvind Kejriwal Gets Bail

After spending seven months in Jail, Arvind Kejriwal was granted bail by the Supreme Court on 13th September 2024 (Friday). He was sentenced in a Liquor Scam case and served jail terms from the Enforcement Directorate and CBI. The case is still pending.

Arvind Kejriwal has served as Asstt. Income Tax officer for more than 10 years from 1995- 2006 before resigning from the post. He is a political activist who campaigned against corruption and got the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2006 for his Parivartan movement.

As a Chief Minister, he implemented many good schemes and gained much popularity throughout the world for his abilities. He is the 7th CM of Delhi serving from February 2015 till date.  

Now, on bail, he is prohibited from attending his office or the Secretariat and signing files.

Here is the link to an article on NDTV giving full details of his release from jail, published on 13/09/2024.

Sitaram Yechuri, a Great Politician of India

 Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechuri passed away on 12/09/2024 at the age of 72 years and one month. He was one of the notable politicians of our country. He was always humble and polite with his opponents, respecting their feelings.

Here is a wonderful tribute to him from the Times Top 10 Newsletter that I received today. I admired the content and wanted to share it with you all. So, copy-pasting the text.

"Homage

• Sitaram Yechury, who died on September 12, was politically a committed communist but in political praxis — to use a term much favoured by Marxist pundits — he preferred pragmatism over dogma.
• Like many pragmatic politicians of his generation, he was courteous and amiable, qualities that didn’t depend on which side of the aisle his interlocutor belonged to.

Stands out

• He was among the few CPM leaders who didn’t ideologically over-analyse whether the party should ally with Congress to take on BJP when the latter became a governing party under Vajpayee’s leadership.
• During the 2024 campaign, he insisted Modi-led BJP should be taken on in state-by-state contests, via alliances. An analysis partly borne out by results.

Man of all times

• That Yechury, as a student politician, had forced Indira Gandhi to step down as JNU chancellor made his later pragmatism all the more noticeable.
• That he stayed away from Naxalites in the 1970s, because that offshoot of Marxist politics declared loyalty to China’s communists, was another indication of his practical political sense.
• As he said in 2014, when Modi took office for the first time: “Conditions have changed, so our analysis and alignment accordingly will change”.
• Engaging in debates was his style, and witty one-liners were his rhetorical signature.

Who he was

• Telugu was his mother tongue. In the party forum and in meetings, he preferred English because he felt that political formulation came more easily to him in that language. But he gave public speeches in Hindi.
• During his two-term stint in the Rajya Sabha from Bengal, he tried to speak in Bengali during his conversations with Bengali journalists..."

I am providing one more link to an article in the Times of India dated 12/09/2024 here

Politics and Lies

 I was browsing through the internet and read some discussions going on regarding the Trump-Harris debates and the resultant consequences of persistent lies by politicians.

Doing so, I came across a quote by Hannah Arendt, an influential political philosopher. I checked that quote from the Hannah Arendt Center website and found this quote which matches it. It is from an interview by political philosopher & writer, Roger Errera in 1974, who made the documentary "Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt".

This quote appealed to my mind. It portrays the present scary atmosphere of politics throughout the governments of the entire world. So, I am sharing this quote.

"The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed? If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end, you get not only one lie—a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days—but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows. And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please."

You can visit this link to look into the fact-checks of the quote.

TBA vs TBC vs TBD

 I was looking at the Agenda for SEMICON India 2024 which is being held from today, 11th September to 13th September 2024. While going through the details, I came across the abbreviations TBA, TBC, and TBD in the columns of Time and Venue, etc.

So, I had to google it out to find their meanings.

TBA stands for To be Announced (I was aware of this abbreviation already).

TBC stands for To be Confirmed and TBD stands for To be Decided or Determined.

Here is the link for the Semicon India Exhibition agenda

Regarding more information for TBA, TBC, and TBD, and other related details, here is the post from Wikipedia.

Paris Paralympics 2024 Medal Winners for India

Our Paralympic sports participants in Paris have grabbed as many as 29 medals this year. It is a great fete and a proud moment to celebrate.

Congratulations to the Winners and all Participants from India and abroad.

We bettered our 2019 Tokyo record of 19 medals by capturing 10 more medals.

In all, during this 2024 Paralympic Tournament, India got 29 medals with 7 Gold, 9 Silver, and 13 Bronze Medals.

The Gold Medal winners are as follows:

Avani Lekhara (Shooting)

Nitish Kumar (Badminton)

Sumit Antil (Javelin Throw F-64)

Harvinder Singh (Archery)

Dharambir (Club Throw)

Praveen Kumar (High Jump)

Navdeep Singh (Javelin F-41)

 

Here is the link to the full details of medal winners from Times Of India

Center-State Conflicts and Role of Governors

 This article from the Times of India discusses the importance of rethinking the process of the Appointment of Governors and settlement of disputes between Center-State governing agents.

In recent years, we have witnessed many conflicts between the Governors and the CMs of states like Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, etc. The state governments complain that their Governors are partial and non-cooperative. Many Bills get struck at the Rajbhavans as per their allegations.

So, it is time that the system gets changed by allowing the political parties (both ruling and opposition) of the state governments a say in appointing the Governors and other activities.

You can view the TOI's article at this link.

English is Strange and Confusing

 I was reading this article on the Medium platform and it kept me smiling throughout my read.

This author calls English a Cat's Pyjama". Though his mother tongue is English.

As per his article, it is illogically ridiculous, nonsensical, confusing, etc.. He provides too many examples to support and authenticate his arguments.

He illustrates the spelling and pronunciation maladies, and the confusing meanings of words and phrases. 

Here is the link to the article. Read and enjoy his perceptions.

Reliance Jio's Free Cloud Storage Offer

 I think this is a good news for Jio Subscribers.

Reliance Jio is going to offer 100 GB of Free Cloud Storage to its customers from Deepavali, this year.

If this happens, you can store all your media and files on the Cloud Storage. It is a welcome news for all of us who don't have enough storage facilities on our mobile phones.

People like me may be able to buy premium storage Microsoft Office Family packages. Now, this Jio offer will be a Messiah for the Common Man.

Here is an article from the Times of India which published this good news.