Best Democracy in the World - INDIA

The election dates for 15th Lok Sabha have been announced. True to it being the best democracy in the World, here are some highlights of the election.

 

• When India elects a new parliament in April-May, one polling station in Gujarat will have just one voter.  Chief Election Commissioner N. Goapalswami told reporters that this will be located in Junagadh district in Gir forests, home to the Asiatic lion.
• There will also be one polling station for two voters in Chhattisgarh, and three stations in Arunachal Pradesh will have three electors each.
• The commision also said that 40 lakh civil staff and 21 lakh paramilitary forces will be requisitioned to conduct the polls.
• Photo electoral rolls have been made compulsary in these polls. Photo electoral rolls will be used for the first time
  in 522 out of the 543 constituencies. The forthcoming polls will have 8,28,408 polling stations which will require 11 lakh electronic voting machines.71.4 crore will be the number of eligible voters, an increase of 4.3 crore over the 2004 figure of 67.1 crore.
• "All candidates will be required to file two affidavits along with their nomination papers. One affidavit will pertain to information on the criminal antecedents of the candidate and the second affidavit will pertain to assets including moveable and immovable assets of the candidate and his family including the assets owned by the candidate's spouse and dependents," Gopalaswamy said in a statement. The returning officers have been asked to display copies of these affidavits on notice boards and make the information available to the public. 

 

Delhi-6 Rocks

Hey Friends,

Its 11:08 PM Eastern Standard Time. Just returned from the premier show of Delhi-6. Its rocking guys. Rakesh Omprakash Mehra follows up superbly from Rang De Basanti.

 

Abhishek as usual is the cool dude. Outfits are great. Nice shades for a fair part of the movie. He is catching up on his late start. After Dostana different kind of role but nicely played. Abhishek and Sonam appear as a nice pair. Takes us back to Salman-Bhagyashri in Maine Pyar Kiya.

 

Sonam Kapoor. Looks like debut film for her. Though I am a great fan of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, no wonder she didn't get a great start with Sawariya as there were hardly any lights in the movie. She looks gorgeous in the movie. She feels very comfortable carrying both Indian and Western clothes.

 

There is quite a long list of supporting cast - Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri, Rishi Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Pawan Malhotra, etc. They all have done a fabulous job.

 

Sr. AB comes up in CAMEO. Supports well in the climax.

 

Above all, A. R. Rehman has once again belted some nice scores.

 

I would recommend the movie, can't miss it in the world. Real story of India.

 

**** - 4 Stars.

--
Mihir

A R Rehman does India proud

Yes, he has done it again. After bagging The Golden Globe for Best Original Score, our very own A. R. Rehman does it again. He has got 3 Oscar nominations for:

 

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Alexandre Desplat
• "Defiance" (Paramount Vantage), James Newton Howard
• "Milk" (Focus Features), Danny Elfman
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
• "WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
• "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
• "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam                  
  

Here's hoping that come 22nd February 2009 (Hirni's birthday by the way) he will make it BIG.

 

Watchout AB, AR is the BEST. 

25 mis-spelled words - Try It

Hi Folks,
Check this out.

I scored 67 %  (Fair ranking with 18 correct) on this one and I thought I was a good speller.  Try your test and let me know your score.

 http://www.businesswriting.com/tests/commonmisspelled.html

 

 

 

Click here: The 25 Most Commonly Misspelled Words

Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.
If you can dream it, you can make it so.

 

Mihir

 

THIS IS AMERICA

Violinist in the Metro
From The Effective Club

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Organized people 'live longer'

Their behaviour might sometimes appear boring but organized people live longer, says a study.

 

An International team has carried out the study and found people who are ambitious, organized and conscientious live longer than those who are impulsive, the latest edition of the 'Health Psychology' journal reported.

 

According to researchers, the study has suggested that psychological traits can be as important in predicting health as medical and social factors, and conscientious people can live up to four years longer.

 

Moreover, highly conscientious people are less likely to smoke or drink alcohol to excess, and live more stable and less stressful lives, it found.

 

"Not only do conscientious individuals have better health habits and less risk-taking, but they also have more stable jobs and marriages and may even have a biological predisposition toward good health," lead researcher Professor Howard Friedman was quoted by 'The Daily Telegraph' as saying.

 

To reach the conclusion, the researchers looked at the three facets of conscientiousness: Self-control, organization and industriousness in the study, involving 8900 participants fro the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

 

They found the second two were most closely linked to longevity. Other traits including thoroughness, reliability, deliberation, competence and dutifulness.

 

There is some evidence that people can become more conscientious, especially as they enter stable jobs or good marriages. We think our findings can challenge people to think about their lives and what may result from actions they do.

 

"Even though conscientiousness cannot be changed in the short term, improvements can emerge over the long run as individuals enter responsible relationships, careers and associations," co-researcher Margaret Kern said.

 

ARTICLE COURTESY - South Asian Observer, Toronto. 

Invitation to view Mihir's Picasa Web Album - New Years Party - 08/12/31

You are invited to view Mihir's photo album: New Years Party - 08/12/31 New Years Party - 08/12/31 57 Silkwood Crescent, Brampton, ON - Dec 31, 2008 by Mihir View Album Play slideshow Message from Mihir: Hello Everyone, Wish you all a Very Happy New Year. May 2009 bring everyone of you more peace, prosperity, health and happiness. Remembering one and all Hirni & Mihir Haiya & Maan If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.ca/lh/sredir?uname=oza.mihir&target=ALBUM&id=5286433404721648833&authkey=zU4z5R-wzQ8&invite=CNnnya4M&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.