Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Who Killed Bhagat Singh?


and Rajguru, Sukhdev, or Azaad, Bose and others for that matter.

23rd March, 1931, a 24 year old Bhagat Singh was hanged for his principles, for an independent nation, for people like you and me. Do we even remember that? Remember him?

Today Bhagat Singh has become a fashionable memory, to be remembered only on the 15th of August and 26th of January and one or two national holiday. 23rd of March is celebrated as Martyr's day with a few articles and davp advertisements in newspapers. Patriotic Indians play songs from movies composed on his life, hang his pictures in school staff rooms and on one or two prominent walls in government offices.

What is the need to remember our freedom struggle anyway? And its consequent martyrs? India is developing rapidly, by 2020 we'll be the superpower that every one will respect and not only in Twenty 20 cricket. Our purchasing power has grown rapidly, today we've the best of the brands in our homes, on our skins and exotic fruits and vegetables on our plates. Its a new, prosperous India we are talking about. Why should we look back on that period of gloom, despair and struggle against the world's mightiest empire? Why should we look back to Bhagat Singh?

Don't we just kill him again and again every year?

Black and White

This took place on a BA (British Airways) flight between Johannesburg and London. A white woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a black man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air Hostess.

"Madam, what is the matter," the hostess asked.

"You obviously do not see it then?" she responded. "You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such a repugnant group. Give me an alternative seat."

"Be calm please," the hostess replied. "Almost all the places on this flight are taken. I will go to see if another place is available."

The Hostess went away and then came back a few minutes later. "Madam, just as I thought, there are no other available seats in the Economy class. I spoke to the captain and he informed me that there is also no seat in the business class. All the same, we still have one place in the first class."

Before the woman could say anything,the hostess continued:

"It is not usual for our company to permit someone from the economy class to sit in the first class. However, given the circumstances, the captain feels that it would be scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting."

She turned to the black man, and said,"Therefore, Sir, if you would like to, please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in first class."

At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had just witnessed stood up and applauded.

IN Economic Times

from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Software/India n-technoholics-give-the-world-a-new-high/articlesh ow/5736905.cms

Quote:
Over two-and-a-half million people worldwide, half of them in the US, are using word processors, creating slide-shows and doing their
sums with the help from an online suite of software products built by Chennai-based technology start-up Zoho.


Quote:
Zoho’s revenues of $50 million come from selling its suite of software that offers 21 applications to customers on the net. “We will have 20 million users over the next few years as online application suites overtake and become more powerful than desktop-based applications,” said Sridhar Vembu, founder & chief executive officer of Zoho, which competes with Microsoft and Google.


Quote:
On the ground, the momentum is gathering pace. Zoho is adding 1 lakh users every month and growing faster by the day.


found the other product companies from India interesting too

InMobi, Bangalore - Mobile advtising
FusionCharts (Infosoft Global), Kolkata - graphic data visualisation tool
Perfint Healthcare, Chennai - image guided tools that help radiologists use minimal invasive procedures for cancer detection and treatment
MiMobiTV, Apalya Technologies - streams live television to mobile phones
3D Solid Compression - three-dimensional visualisation tools that can also be used on mobile phones, esp Nokia
SMSGupShup, Webaroo Technologies - Twitter-like closed group messaging product for cellphone subscribers
Mango Technologies, incubated at the NSRCEL centre in IIM, Bangalore - proprietary telecom solutions (two of which have been sold to Qualcomm)
Zeus Numerix - working with European aerospace company EADS on technology to reduce noise from aircraft wings
Adam, Notion Ink - tablet comp