All Set to Race in the Dark

Not much time is left for the first practice session of the Singapore Grand Prix. Well, there is still a lot of time left for the actual race, but all F1 fans and alike are equally eager to watch today's practice session. Because, they all expect a new drama on the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The Singapore GP is going to creat a History as the first Night Race in the History of Formula One.

Singapore, the Economic Hub of East is all set to ride on Speed..

Who'll bge the master? Mc-Laren? Ferrari?? or Somebody else???

Who'll win the battle in Darkness of night, under floodlights?

But wait, racing in the darl is not the only attraction of this race. It's for the first time in Asia that a Formula GP is set on a Street Circuit. The challanges are not few. The Marina Bay Street Circuit is known for it's bumpy rides and along with Floodlights, Humidity will test the drivers.

Surelly, this is going to be a new test for Drivers, Teams, organizers as well as fans from around the world.

The race holds a promise for all- a promise that the Game will survive in spite of rising fuel prices, increased cost of organizing races and the fears of a global economic downfall.

Lt. Col. Kapil Dev, We Salute You!

Retired Indian Cricketer Kapil Dev is now Lt. Col. Kapil Dev... Yes, Kapil has joined the Territorial Army of India.

It's more than 14 years since he retired. It's time he'll complete his half century soon. But still stories of his heroics inspire the new generation of cricketrs. This ever enthusiastic Indian is really a symbol of patriotism. His love for the motherland was never hidden even in the times when Cricket had started getting commercialised.

And today Kapil has joined the ranks of Territorial Army, setting up an example for several others. We salute you for that, Lt. Col.Kapil!

Withered reality of neighbourhood

A quiet Saturday Evening of Ramadan… Islamabad’s Hotel Marriot was getting ready for an Iftar party… a truck full of explosives crashed through the gates and once again fear echoed through the streets of Pakistan’s Capital…

Fear that has been a part of their thoughts, fear that has occupied the air, once again came alive. few days back, it was in Delhi, tonight it was in Islamabad..

Seems like violence has become a routine in the subcontinent. And now Pakistan is also facing the brunt of it. In recent times, the Terror attacks on Pakistan have gone up. I just found out a list of some of the major ones since January 2008.

January 10: Twenty people, mostly policemen, killed in suicide bomb attack outside Lahore High Court.

January 14: Bomb kills 10 people at a market in Karachi.

February 9: Suicide bomber kills 25 people at an opposition election rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda.

February 11 : Nine killed in suicide bombing at an election meeting of an independent candidate in North Waziristan.

February 16 : Suicide car bomber strikes a rally of Pakistan People's Party in the northwestern town of Parachinar, killing 37.

February 22: Roadside bomb hits wedding party in Swat, killing at least 14.

February 25: Suicide bomber kills army surgeon Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig and seven others in Rawalpindi.

February 29 : Forty-four killed in a suicide blast in Mingora in northwest Swat valley during the funeral of three policemen killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day.

March 2: Suicide bomber kills 43 at tribal elders convention in the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel.

March 4: Two suicide bombers attack Pakistan Naval War College in Lahore, killing five people.

March 10 : Suicide truck bombings target Federal Investigation Agency building in Lahore; 26 killed.

March 15: Bomb blast at a restaurant in Islamabad kills a woman and wounds 10 others, including four FBI men.

July 2: Suicide car bomb outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad kills eight.

July 6: Fifteen killed in suicide attack on policemen during a rally to mark the anniversary of Lal Masjid raid.

August 12: Roadside bomb attack targets Pakistan Air Force bus in Peshawar, killing 13.

August 19 : Twenty-three killed in suicide attack on a hospital in northwestern Dera Ismail Khan town.

August 21: At least 78 killed in twin suicide attacks outside Pakistan's main ordnance factory in Wah.

August 28: Nine persons, mostly policemen, killed in roadside bombing in North West Frontier Province.

September 6: Thirty people were killed and 70 injured in suicide bombing near a police check post in Peshawar.

This list is enough to show the trouble people are facing in Pakistan. It doesn't matter where terrorism originated. What matters is innocence is being killed, let it be in Delhi or in Islamabad and we need to stop this.

... All this on The International Peace Day...

International Day of Peace

In 1981 the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 36/67 declaring an International Day of Peace. In 2001, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new resolution 55/282 declaring 21 September of each year as the International Day of Peace.

The resolution: "Declares that the International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day...

“Invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, and non-governmental organizations and individuals to commemorate, in an appropriate manner, the International Day of Peace, including through education and public awareness, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the establishment of the global ceasefire.”

May we will not celebrate just a peace Day a year...

May peace prevail forever

and may we never need to celebrate such day

or the worst- We'll have to say "Let the Peace RIP..."

Zardari Asends to Presidency

Zardari was challenged by Justice (Retired) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, (a former judge nominated by Nawaz Sharif's PML-N) and Mushahid Hussain Sayed (nominated by the PML-Q, which backed Musharraf.) .

The margins of his victory give a way to hope. The Chief election commissioner of Pakistan, Qazi Mohammad Farooq announced, "Asif Ali Zardari secured 281 votes out of the 426 valid votes polled in the parliament" which is a 'fair' victory. Overall, Zardari won 481 votes, far more than the 352 votes that would have guaranteed him victory.

( A brief look into Election Process:

According to the Constitution of 1973
presently in vogue (but declared for major amendments by Zardari) the President of Pakistan, who must be a Muslim and a male, is elected by an electoral college composed of members of the two houses of parliament - the 342 seat lower house National Assembly and the 100 member upper house Senate, as well as members of the four provincial assemblies - Sindh, Punjab, North West Frontier Province and Balochistan.

The assemblies have total of 1170 seats, but the number of electoral college votes is 702 since provincial assembly votes are counted on a proportional basis. The new president, who obtains the largest number of votes, would serve for five years as Pakistan's President. )

Let's see how Zardari has won it in the Provinces:

Zardari won a clear majority in three of the four provinces.

In Sindh, the home province of Zardari, he won 62 out of total 65 votes while his opponents could not even make a mark.

In North West Frontier Province , out of total 62 votes, Zardari got 56.

In Balochistan, out of 63 , he got 59

However, in Punjab, the nation's biggest province, Zardar could not get a majority, which is quite obvious.

In Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan has got a new President. But what novelty he can bring to this troubled country is still a question.

NSG Clearance for the N-Deal

Finally, another step taken. After a lot of speculations, and excitement, THE NEWS- Nuclear Security Group has given its clearance to the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. I don't know what my immediate reaction is. But I'm feeling this is all going in a right direction. This deal is a need of time. But one shall not forget that there are a lot of other things are yet to be done, in many aspects of life, if we really wish for a better world.

बॅटल ऑफ विल्यम्समध्ये सेरेनाची सरशी

सेरेना की व्हीनस? कोण गाठणार यंदाच्या यूएस ओपनची सेमीफायनल? याच उत्सुकतेनं टेनिसचाहत्यांनी न्यूयॉर्कच्या आर्थर अॅश स्टेडियमवर गर्दी केली आणि अपेक्षेप्रमाणेच त्यांना पहायला मिळाली एक नाट्यमय लढत.
बॅटल ऑफ विल्यम्समध्ये अखेर धाकटी बहीण सेरेनानं बाजी मारली. आणि विम्बल्डन फायनलमधल्या पराभवाचा वचपा काढला. पण व्हीनसनं सेरेनाला हा सामना जिंकण्यासाठी बराच घाम गाळायला लावला.
खरंतर या सामन्यात दोन्ही सेट्समध्ये सुरूवातीला व्हीनसनंच आघाडी घेतली होती. पण हार मानेल तर ती सेरेना कसली? पहिल्या सेटमध्ये १ - ३ अशा पिछाडीनरून मुसंडी मारताना सेरेनानं आपली जिद्द दाखवून दिली. टायब्रेकरमध्ये गेलेला पहिला सेट सेरेनानं ८-६ असा जिंकला.
एकीकडे शांत व्हीनस आणि दुसरीकडे आक्रमक सेरेना यांच्यातली ही लढाई दुस-या सेटमध्ये आणखीनच चुरशीची ठरली. व्हीनसचा प्रत्येक फटका सेरनानं तितक्याच ताकदीनं परतवून लावला. चाहतेही एकाच वेळी “Come on Williams” म्हणून दोघींनाही चीअर करत होते. टायब्रेकरमध्ये पुन्हा एकदा व्हीनसनं आघाडी मिळवली पण ती कायम राखण्यात मात्र तिला अपयश आलं. सेरेनानं हाही सेट आणि सामना 7-6, 7-6 असा आपल्या नावे केला.
पण व्हीनसला जणू सामन्याची उत्सुकता थोडी आणखी ताणायची होती. म्हणूनच तिनं पंचांच्या निर्णयाला आव्हान दिलं. अखेर कौल सेरेनाच्या बाजूनं लागला आणि दोन्ही बहीणींनी सुटकेचा निश्वास टाकला. कारण क्वार्टर फायनलची ही लढत म्हणजे दोघी बहीणींमध्ये आजवर झालेल्या लढतींमधली सर्वात टफ फाईट होती. (खरंच, असं एकमेकींचा सामना करताना कसं वाटत असेल दोघींना? एक मात्र खरं, मलाही त्यांच्यासारखी बहिण असणं आवडलं असतं.) अवघ्या दोनच महिन्यांपूर्वी विम्बल्डनच्या फायनलमध्ये दोघींची गाठ पडली होती. त्यानंतर अमेरिकन ओपनमध्ये घरच्याच मैदानात एकमेकींचा सामना करणं व्हीनस आणि सेरेनासाठी सर्वात मोठं आव्हान होतं. पण सामना संपला आणि मैदानावरच्या या दोन प्रतिस्पर्धी पुन्हा एकमेकींच्या मैत्रिणी झाल्यायत- अर्थात पुन्हा एकमेकींसमोर उभ्या राहीपर्यंतच..