Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in Dec. 2019
Last updated on 11th March 2021
When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
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Good to see this in India. It is the right of such elders to choose whether to live solitary lives or whether they want to be married. In this case, the couple seem to be Hindus but I think this should apply to Indians of all religions.
All the best to the newly married couple!
[Shared article: Elderly couple in Kerala old age home falls in love, gets married in their 60s, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/love-sex/elderly-couple-in-kerala-old-age-home-falls-in-love-gets-married-in-their-60s/articleshow/73028126.cms]
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Good to see this. I have enjoyed a lot of Amitabh's films and I think he richly deserves this honour.
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/PresidentOfIndia/photos/a.270066923506307/794605351052459/
"President Kovind presented Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Shri Amitabh Bachchan for his outstanding and invaluable contribution to cinema spanning over five decades. An actor par excellence, his work has entertained and inspired generations in India and across the world."]
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"This all comes at a time when the whole network of arms control agreements inherited from the Cold War is collapsing.
One crucial treaty - the New START agreement - is due to expire in February 2021. Russia seems willing to extend the agreement but the Trump administration has so far appeared sceptical.
With a whole new generation of nuclear weapons at the threshold of entering service, many believe not just that existing agreements should be bolstered, but that new treaties are needed to manage what could turn into a new nuclear arms race."
Russia deploys Avangard hypersonic missile system, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50927648
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Good to see Gujarat govt. combat the locust attacks on some farms in North Gujarat (through mainly spraying pesticides, it seems) and also promise compensation to affected farmers.
Gujarat govt. in locust control mode; 11 central teams join the effort, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/gujarat-govt-in-locust-control-mode-11-central-teams-join-the-effort/article30401308.ece, 26/27th Dec. 2019.
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Yesterday's The Hindu print newspaper carried this article on the front page: (net version) Massive locust invasion threatens Gujarat farmers, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/massive-locust-invasion-threatens-gujarat-farmers/article30397949.ece
These locusts have ravaged farms in North Gujarat (state in India).
I had recently posted a news item about feral pigs being a threat to USA farms, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2692249790991581, 17th Dec. 2019.
Farming as a livelihood, has so many risks! What does a farmer do when confronted with invasions like feral pigs or locusts? I think locusts seem to be far worse as they fly in - a fence cannot hold them back.
And where have these locusts that are a big problem now for farms in North Gujarat, come from? The article states, "Originally, the locusts emerged in February this year from Sudan and Eritrea on Africa’s Red Sea Coast and travelled through Saudi Arabia and Iran to enter Pakistan, where they invaded the Sindh province and from there they moved into Rajasthan and Gujarat."
The pic in the article of locusts invading a farm on Wednesday, 25th Dec. 2019, shows us how many locusts can invade a farm! If I were a farmer and saw such a pic, I would freak out!
Chemicals and pesticides sprayed aerially by the government may help. But that may be too late for some farmers in North Gujarat.
A few years ago, in Puttaparthi in the late evenings near a big (very tall) and bright lamppost at the cross roads just before Karnatakanagapalli bridge starts, I had encountered a swarm of insects which were as many as in the above mentioned article pic, if not more, on a few days. I don't know what the insects were - a type of moth perhaps. But there were so many of them that walking through that part of the road involved a lot of hand waving to keep them out of the way. I asked the locals nearby whether they knew why this was happening. The ones I asked were not able to provide me relevant info. Some days later it stopped - I mean, I was not encountering it as I walked through that area in late evenings.
For an urban guy like me who was born, bred, educated and made a living mostly, if not wholly, in urban areas of India (and short stints in the West), such realities of rural life have been great eye-openers. In most of India - a tropical country, especially in monsoon season and whose effect continues right up to the dry heat of summer (which is then immediately followed by the next monsoon), rural areas are full of life of all kinds (of creatures and plants). And these varied creatures feed on some plants and sometimes other creatures. It is a constant battle for survival. Rural India has really taught me very well this constant battle for survival reality of animal and plant life. Man is special in that he (she) dominates over the rest of these creatures typically. But sometimes like in a locust swarm invasion or a poisonous snake contest with one unarmed person - man's vulnerabilities and reality as just another form of animal life which can be easily beaten in a contest when he/she is alone and unarmed, comes to the fore.
If urban folks in India want to get some core life lessons, they should spend some months in rural India going out on walks among the fields cultivated by farmers, and interact with farmers and/or other locals who are involved in or exposed to farm life. The jungles may be too risky to go to. But settled rural farmland should be safe when one has locals for advice.
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Onions make debt-ridden Karnataka farmer crorepati (rupee millionaire * 10), http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/72648440.cms, 15th Dec. 2019
What are financial issues for some people (final buyers of onions which are highly priced in India now) are financial windfall for others (onion farmers)! Such is life.
Good to know that this Karnataka farmer was able to repay his debt and make profits many times more than what he had expected.
The farmer family taking turns to guard the onion farm from "onion thieves" made me laugh out loud! But, of course, it is logical given high price of onions now.
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Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (Official Video), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg, 3 min. 34 secs.
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Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEFKfuI00sk, 3 min. 44 secs.
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John Denver - Thank God I'm A Country Boy (From "Around The World Live" DVD), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOjQwyVbJl4, 3 min. 23 secs.
The lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johndenver/thankgodimacountryboy.html
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In response to a comment, I wrote:
I don't know too much about John Denver. Came to know of his country songs after I moved to Puttaparthi in late 2002. I love his country songs.
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In response to a comment, I wrote:
Oh! I did not know about how he died. You are right. Just looked up his wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver. "An avid pilot, Denver died at the age of 53 in a single-fatality crash while piloting his recently purchased light plane." He died in 1997. Sad.
I loved his song 'Country Roads Take me home' right from the first time I heard it. I used to love to drive on country roads in MA, NH and VT during my US stints, and so his song brought back those happy memories to me.
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1971 BBC Top of the Pops, Lynn Anderson - I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eclUz-RYI, 2 min. 49 secs.
TOTP 1971
I don't know the details of this case. But, in general, I ***know from experience*** that there is a terrible lack of accountability in Indian academia, with academic-administrators engaging in gross cover-ups of bad actions done by fellow academics. This lack of accountability creates a culture of arrogance and bad ethical practices (Asathya & Adharma) where some Indian academics and academic administrators feel that they can get away with anything. That culture ***must*** change not only for the good of students in Indian academia and their parents, but also for the good of the Indian academics and academic-administrators themselves. Indian academics and academic-administrators will grow in moral stature (Sathya & Dharma) if they allow themselves to be held accountable for their actions and have more transparency in what they do.
So I fully support the CBI (premier federal investigative agency of India) conducting this investigation into the death of a young Muslim lady in IIT Madras, one of the premier educational institutions of the country.
[Shared article: Fathima Latheef Death at IIT-Madras: Case Shifted to CBI, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/fathima-latheef-iit-madras-student-suicide-death-case-probe-shifted-to-cbi]
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Firstly, I should say that my putting up this post should in no way be seen as me being biased towards the Conservatives in UK. I am publicly neutral in UK politics (and also in Indian politics).
But that neutrality in UK politics does not come in the way of me being appreciative of Boris Johnson's warm words towards British Hindus in general and the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in London in the video shared below. As an Indian Hindu, I am deeply touched by these words of his and what seems to me to be genuine affection for British Hindus. It was good to see his partner also being present for this visit and being given due honour by the temple management. And it was good to see British Home secretary (minister) Priti Patel accompanying the British PM to the temple, and being given due honour.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Visits Neasden Temple in London, UK, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fLK6tSrCfU, 7 min. 2 secs, published on 13th Dec. 2019 by BAPSChannel.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson Visits Bhaktivedanta Manor December 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueKvxrfVuKI, around 3 mins.
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UK election: Videos about North of England Labour strongholds that went to Conservatives in this election
[This video has some unparliamentary language. Folks who don't want to hear that should not see this video] How Labour lost, and the hope that endures | Anywhere but Westminster, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7eG1kbdr0M, around 18 mins by The Guardian
Boris Johnson takes victory lap of newly won north of England seats, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkKP8URaILU, around 12 mins by Channel 4 News.
Boris Johnson says in the above video around 1 min. 10 secs.: "I understand how big a step that is for some people, for some families (Labour voters voting Conservative in this election). And we are going to repay their trust. We are going to deliver on the things that matter to them and yes, of course, it's about getting Brexit done. But it's also about the NHS. It's about public services and it's about a basic view of the the country that it is going to be better off if you have one nation conservativism."
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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UK election: View of some is that many labour voters wanted Brexit but Jeremy Corbyn did not take a clear stand on it, and so they voted Conservative as Boris Johnson's key election slogan was 'Get Brexit Done' and they believe he will do it. And that, as per their view, is what led to this devastating loss for Labour and comfortable majority for the Conservatives.
Hmm. The UK general election seems to have been the Brexit election but Boris Johnson and team now have five years to push all the rest of their policies and agenda comfortably through Parliament with their brute-force majority! That's life in democracies.
Where did it all go wrong for Jeremy Corbyn and Labour?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6rj8-_9aZI, around 13 mins.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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Jo Swinson holds press conference after stepping down as Lib Dem leader – watch live (Swinson comes onto the stage around 45 seconds into the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quYDNPm1KsQ, 11 min. 41 secs.
She uses strong words at times. But like the earlier speech I shared of hers where she lost as MP, she is gallant in this speech.
While I do not want to comment on her politics, I am amazed at this lady (she is 39) with two young kids, and not seeming to be born into wealth, having led a noted political party in UK in a general election (she seems to have stepped down now after the poor show in this election).
The fact that UK democracy could enable such a thing to happen shows how mature UK democracy is. Democracy in Western Europe and also New Zealand (which has a young lady as PM who is also 39, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacinda_Ardern) is awesome in how young ladies get elected to positions of power in their national/federal legislatures. Hats off to these young ladies for these great achievements.
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(UK) Jo Swinson Liberal Democrats leader loses her seat by a wafer thin margin of around 150 votes (less than 1% of total votes she or her main opponent and winner got). Swinson makes a gallant speech, congratulating the winner, thanking the constituents for having allowed her to represent them for 12 and a half years, but speaks of dread and dismay that some in UK will have, with Boris Johnson led Conservatives getting a strong majority. She ends by saying, "Liberal Democrats will continue to stand up for these values that guide our liberal movement: openness, fairness, inclusivity. We will stand up for hope".
The initial part of the video has the returning officer announcing the vote counts. It is a little confusing when some people cheer after Jo Swinson's vote count is announced as the winner Amy Callaghan from the Scottish Nationalist Party's vote count is still to be announced. The commentators make it worse by drowning out the announcement of Amy Callaghan's votes. However, the vote count gets shown in a window later on in the video.
Watch the moment Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson lost her seat, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpbnBvlbPkA, around 4 mins.
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(UK) Nigel Farage Reacts to the Brexit Party Unable to Win a Seat | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302OrfgtTkk, 4 mins.
Fascinating to see Nigel Farage take a zero seat for his party result in his stride! He argues that his party helped Boris Johnson get a majority (by not fighting in strong Conservative seats and eating into the Labour and LibDem votes in other seats which perhaps led to Conservatives winning those seats).
Farage says that while they may not get the Clean Break (No Deal) Brexit they want, they will get (some) Brexit under Johnson and so they (will) have half a loaf (of bread) (instead of no loaf). He says that there was pressure for a second Brexit referendum which he and his party contributed to defeat.
The hosts directly ask him what he and his party will now do, to which Farage says he is not sure.
They also ask him whether he is going to become Lord Farage or ambassador to USA, which Farage says will not happen as he does not have that many friends in high places (in the Conservative party).
Very interesting interview of the man who played one of the biggest roles in Brexit.
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(UK) Election results 2019: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on SNP performance - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgH-jLlmyOE, 3 min. 20 secs.
Nicola Sturgeon says she has the mandate to hold a second referendum for Scottish independence (different from Brexit referendum). And she says Scotland wants to stay in the EU (as in the Brexit referendum, majority of Scotland voted to Remain, if I recall correctly)!
But Boris Johnson has the majority in UK Parliament, even if the SNP has dominated UK Parliament seats in Scotland, and he does not want to have a second referendum for Scottish independence (to be held in Scotland).
Will the courts come into play?
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(UK) Election results 2019: Jeremy Corbyn holds his Islington seat - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYm9Uf6oOhI, 9 min. 21 secs. From around 5 mins into the video Corbyn talks about the disappointing performance of Labour in this UK general election.
He says he will not lead Labour in a future General election. So that means he will stand down eventually as Labour party leader.
But he says he will proudly continue to represent his constituency (he won by a huge margin) in Parliament. He won for the 10th time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Corbyn says he is the MP of Islington North from 1983! That's 17 + 19 = 36 years already with five more years possibly in this parliament which would take it to 41 years! That is an awesome record! He was born in 1949 and so is 70 years old now.
Jeremy Corbyn says (from auto generated transcript, slightly edited), "...However Brexit has so polarized and divided debate in this country, it has overridden so much of a normal political debate and I recognize that has contributed to the results that the Labour Party has received this evening. All across this country, the issues of social justice and the issues of needs of people will not go away just because Brexit is dealt with in the way in which Boris Johnson presumably plans to deal with it at the moment. All those issues will come back center stage in the debate and the fundamental labour message about justice and equality within our society is going to be one that is there for all time because it's the very core of what my party believes in and what I will always advocate on behalf of my constituency and on behalf of my party..."
He also talks about fighting "for social justice and for society based on the needs of all rather than the greed of a few", and that the Labour party will forever continue (to fight) for that cause.
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Boris Johnson hails ‘stonking’ election win ‘to get Brexit done’ in jubilant victory speech, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S1MGvnOHME, 7 min. 54 secs.
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Interesting analysis of UK election results: Robert Peston Analyses General Election Results | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w6O09Vnxdg, 6 min. 9 secs.
A key takeaway for me:
Boris Johnson led Conservatives (who want to Brexit) swept England part of UK.
Nicola Sturgeon led SNP (who want to Remain in the EU) swept Scotland part of UK.
That's created a difficult situation vis-a-vis Scotland remaining in UK, as Nicola Sturgeon campaigned on a platform which seems to have included holding a second referendum on Scottish independence.
Another point is that Brexit party seems to be nowhere. I mean Nigel Farage seems to be ***voiceless*** in new UK parliament whereas he is the main UK voice in the European Parliament for which elections were held just a few months ago. That seems to be a very strange situation at least for an outsider like me.
Labour is in big trouble. The Lib. Dems are in big trouble, and their leader Jo Swinson lost her MP seat!
This has been an earthquake of a result in UK general elections.
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In response to a comment, I wrote: We have to see whether the fears that Jeremy Corbyn raised about UK NHS being targeted by the Tories, will come to pass. Boris Johnson has gone out of the way in the few campaign videos I saw, to say that nothing of that sort will happen. But that was campaign stuff. Now we will have to see the reality. The extraordinary situation in UK now, it seems to me, is that the Tories have a ***brute-force*** majority to push almost anything through Parliament in the next five years! This would be like in USA for the first two years of Trump presidency when both houses of Congress were having Republican majority.
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(UK) Election results 2019: Boris Johnson returns to power with big majority, https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50765773
"With just a handful of seats left to declare in the general election, the BBC forecasts a Tory majority of 78."
Ravi: That's it - the UK public have settled the matter. Now Boris Johnson led Conservatives have the mandate to push Brexit and whatever else they want through UK Parliament. This is a resounding victory for Boris Johnson and his supporters!
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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Unbelievable! One can hear the terrified screams of the police officer (Maryland, USA) on the hood of a hit-and-run speeding car. Wonderful that it ended safely for the police officer and the driver of the hit-and-run car. The incident happened in early December 2018.
"I Have Kids", US Police Officer Pleads For Life While Clinging To Car, https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/i-have-kids-i-have-kids-us-police-officer-pleads-for-life-while-clinging-to-car-2147925, 12th Dec. 2019
One of the realities of life in many parts of the USA is that you have to drive a vehicle to do your everyday stuff: Work, buying groceries and other daily needs stuff, visiting friends ...
That's a lot of stress. Yes, car driving can be fun. But when you have to always be driving for one thing or another and handle traffic, it can be quite a pain. In contrast, commuting via public transport has the great benefit that one has to just sit/stand in the public transport vehicle/train. There's a well trained driver who handles the vehicle/train.
The hit-and-run car driver had finished her night shift and was heading home to her children aged 1, 2 and 8! She should have stopped when she hit another car. That's the law. Or else you become a hit-and-run driver and the law can come down hard on you. I learned this fact early in my first stay in the USA in mid 1980s and fortunately never hit another car or anybody while I was driving (except one case when my car - or rather, company rented car that I and a colleague were given and which I was driving then - was hit by another vehicle behind me which ended up in my car hitting the car in front of me but that was a different situation). [I also had a tyre blowout at high speed once ... but that did not involve hitting another car.]
I can empathize with this lady if she was overworked and so did not stop her car after it hit another car. But when she was confronted by the police officer, she lost it and did something really stupid. Fortunately, nobody died or got seriously injured.
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In response to a question on the FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2686241798259047, I wrote: Karma is a great mystery for me, sir. While I have done some readings on it and so know the general theory about it, how it actually works in real life and what events can be attributed to past karma, is, for me, one of the biggest mysteries of existence/life.
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In response to a question, I wrote: :-). Hmm. Sir, you are trying to corner me with questions! Just joking! As you are the elder perhaps it should be the other way around :-). ... Anyway, I will provide my humble view on this a little later.
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On Karma, I go by revelations of scripture and words of spiritual masters who I believe in. I do NOT think that as spiritual seekers/aspirants it is necessary for us to hypothesize a karmic background for a particular incident. Some may do so - that's fine. But, IMHO, it is not necessary to do so.
It is almost impossible to know for sure whether hypotheses in such matters are true or not. That needs mystical power which reveals the karmic connections in the case.
As spiritual seekers/aspirants I think it is enough for us to know the negative karmic consequences of some acts (by belief in teachings & revelations related to Karma) and so stay away from indulging in such acts. And also to know that even positive karmic consequences of some acts may bind us and that it is best to do such acts too in a Nishkama Karma way (without desire for the karmic fruits, and as an offering to God).
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Fascinating! Around 2 mins.
[Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/srinivasgst/videos/3073428689337410/?t=0
Text: "A whale shark sought human assistance to get rid of the rope entangled on his fins. It happened in the waters off Sarawak! Unbelievable."]
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Should I use Times New Roman 12 or Times New Roman 11 font for main text in my next book - "Indian Computer Science (CS) & Information Technology (IT) Academic Reform (Past) Activism Blog Book"?
I have started working on my next book which essentially will include important posts from my https://eklavyasai.blogspot.com/ blog and which (book) I have tentatively titled as "Indian Computer Science (CS) & Information Technology (IT) Academic Reform (Past) Activism Blog Book". I will have both ebook and paperback print versions. But I expect to print only a very, very few (2 or 3) print copies. The ebook will be the important one which I will put up on self.gutenberg.org and archive.org and which hopefully will get incorporated into global ebook libraries like worldebooklibrary.org. That should ensure some longevity for the ebook even if very few read it.
It is a very niche interest book and so very few people will want to read it. But it may be very useful to some of that very few who are into activism of the kind the book/blog covers.
The question is what font size should I use for the main text in the book (font will be Times New Roman).
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Basic_Book_Design/Font#Font_Size says, "Times Roman, look best in 11 or 12 points". Note that there are subtle differences between Times Roman and Times New Roman fonts but I think for the discussion on this post, they do not matter.
BTW https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_New_Roman says, "Although no longer used by The Times, Times New Roman is still very common in book and general printing.[3] It has become one of the most popular and influential typefaces in history and a standard typeface on desktop computers.[4][5]"
[Wiki Refs:
3: Dreyfus, John (1973). "The Evolution of Times New Roman". The Penrose Annual. 66: 165–174.
4: Farey, Dave (2014). "A Life and Times, Part 1". Ultrabold (16): 16–25.
5: Farey, Dave (2014). "A Life and Times, Part 2". Ultrabold (15): 3–13.]
For most of my documents work in software industry, right from around 1985, I have used Times New Roman as my standard font, and I think I typically used 12 as the font size.
For my previous books, I wanted to err on the side of large font for the main text and so used Times New Roman 12.
One of the issues with Times New Roman 12 is that the print version becomes more expensive as it runs into more pages. The ebook version will also run into more pages but no additional expense comes into play as it will be free download. But the higher number of pages may make it more intimidating for readers.
This book is a technical one. So I think Times New Roman 11 will be acceptable. That will reduce the number of pages in the book (both ebook and paperback).
So I am seriously considering using Times New Roman 11 instead of Times New Roman 12 for the main text in this book. I wanted to check with readers whether they have any suggestions on this, and so this post. Thanks.
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A correspondent wrote over email (and was OK with sharing):
Dear Ravi - Good to know you are working on your next book!
Regarding the font size, there is hardly any size difference between Times New Roman 11 and 12. However, the 12 appears little bolder (not fully bold) than 11. So, book purpose I think 11 would be better, especially for the print book. For the ebook, it shouldn't make much difference because these days pretty much all reading tools have zoom feature built into it. So a reader can zoom in, if he/she finds the font size 11 to be harder to read.
This is my 2 cents!
Good luck with your new book project!
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I responded (slightly edited):
Thanks a ton --name-snipped-- for your valuable view on the font size and your encouragement for the book.
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Sahir Ludhianvi (1921 - 1980), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahir_Ludhianvi, was one of the great Hindi film song writers whose songs have given me great joy and satisfaction. This is one of his songs which was very popular in the 70s & 80s, from the 1968 movie Ankhen, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, with on screen stars being Mala Sinha and Dharmendra. The video is 4 min. 10 secs. long.
The share below has two lines from the song in Hindi. I have given below my quick attempt at translating them (Ludhianvi's Hindi is high quality stuff and so I don't easily get some of his words though I can guess the meaning; Here muhlat is one such word).
In English (Latin actually) script:
Phir kho na jayen ham kahin duniya ke bheed mein
Milti hain paas aane ki muhlat kabhi kabhi
English: Again we may get lost (separated) in the crowd of the world
(We) get the time/opportunity to come close, only some times
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The title line of the song is:
Milti hain zindagi mein mohabbat kabhi kabhi
which translates to: (We) get romantic love in our life only at times
[Shared video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YZmK9zj3TQ&feature=youtu.be]
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Hindi film oldie goldie song: Bhali Bhali Si Ek Surat - (on-screen stars) Navin Nischal - Archana - film: Buddha Mil Gaya (1971) - (singers) Kishore - Asha, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1hWkp6umX8, around 4 mins.
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Very sad to see that parts of Australia are going through this water scarcity crisis. Maybe I had read about this in the past but had not really noted it. I do recall reading/viewing about farm crisis in the past in some parts of Australia, but not water scarcity crisis. So I am very unpleasantly surprised by this. ... And water is such a fundamental necessity for life that villages and towns that suffer serious water crisis, year after year, may simply disappear!
[Shared article: As Water Runs Low, Can Life in the Outback Go On?, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/world/australia/water-drought-climate.html]
Comments of mine (slightly edited) on associated FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2682763641940196 :
I wrote: --Name-snipped-- If and when you can spare the time, I have a couple of questions. What do you think about this article (in the above post)? Do you think it is a reflection of the reality or is it an exaggeration?
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In response to comment, I wrote: Thanks a ton --snip-- for your detailed comments here. I will go through all of them in detail a little later on, and respond with my thoughts on them.
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I wrote: Very sad to know about the severe drought problem faced by farmers (and residents) in parts of Australia.
Good to see a youngster doing his bit to help and other schoolkids joining in with him.
I may see some clips of Mad Max: Fury Road but am concerned about apocalyptic movies being rather depressing. And this movie seems to have horrendous violence (I mean it seems to be not just gun fights or fist fights like in Wild West movies but serious and terrifying violence).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought_in_Australia#Drought_in_the_21st_century does paint a stark picture. It states:
By July 2019, a climatologist at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology stated that present the drought was now officially the worst on record in the Murray–Darling Basin, and "had now exceeded the Federation Drought, the WWII drought and the Millennium drought in terms of its severity through the MDB".
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Let us pray and hope that coming months & years will give good rain.
Is climate change the cause? The wiki page says:
Australia's national science research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), states that on account of projected future climate change, hot days will become more frequent and hotter (very high confidence), extreme rainfall events will become more intense (high confidence), and the time in drought is projected to increase over southern Australia (high confidence). Seasonal-average rainfall changes will vary across Australia: in southern mainland Australia, winter and spring rainfall is projected to decrease (high confidence), but increases are projected for Tasmania in winter (medium confidence), while in eastern and northern Australia in the near future (to 2030), natural variability is anticipated to predominate over trends due to greenhouse gas emissions.
--- end wiki extract ---
Tasmania is mentioned in the context of more rainfall in future (predictions). So that fits in with what your father predicted. Good that you followed his advice and bought property in Tasmania.
The problem with drought/floods predictions in context of climate change is that it does not seem to be solid science as of now. I think what is almost but not conclusively established is that greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to global warming. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming - 'The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report concluded, "It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century."[8] The largest human influence has been the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.']
But can current Australian drought be attributed to climate change/global warming, and is that going to get worse in future, as per science? I don't think that is the case, as of now at least.
What seems to be almost universally agreed upon by scientists is that sea level is rising due to global warming (polar ice caps are melting etc.) And rising sea level is a big threat to coastal cities. But there also, one is not sure. The American city of Miami, I think, is a sort-of political battleground for rising sea level caused by climate change and threat to coastal cities issue. While many are saying that Miami is already facing climate change caused problem, some are not willing to say that Miami's water inundation issues are due to climate change.
The city that I was born and bred in, Mumbai, is a coastal city. I have not yet seen in Indian media any big scare about rising sea levels impacting Mumbai in the near future. Maybe that's because they are ignoring the problem or maybe because they have not really felt it in a big way so far.
What I think most scientists and most people who read up such stuff, will agree on is that greenhouse gas emissions are bad and that the world must sharply cut down on fossil fuel usage.
Confusing state of affairs! Let me end this long comment by praying to God and hoping for good rains in those parts of Australia that are suffering from drought.
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I think Neil deGrasse Tyson's comments about existence of God do not cover vital ground, and harp on disasters that kill people indicating that God is not good (no thoughts about Karma there), and statistics and probability (rather than power of prayer or good karma making some persons more likely to experience supernatural/divine acts that help them). But overall, I think this video is interesting. Tyson has emerged as one of the leading scientist-thinkers of today who communicates to ordinary folks via television and Internet (and books). Here's his wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson.
He is a straight talker - that's one thing I really like about him. He does not try to faze or overwhelm viewers with big scientific jargon - that's what makes him a good communicator to ordinary folks, I think.
Was the Moon Landing faked? | Big Questions with Neil deGrasse Tyson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTChrirK-hw, 11 min. 28 secs, published by Penguin Books UK on 22nd Nov. 2019.
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Good to see Andhra Pradesh police coming to help of women who were alone at night on the streets and dialled '100'
Here are two recent reports about it:
Ongole: Abhaya cops extend help to distressed woman, https://www.thehansindia.com/andhra-pradesh/ongole-abhaya-cops-extend-help-to-distressed-woman-588183, 8th Dec. 2019
‘Dial 100’ comes to rescue of woman stuck at bus stand at odd hours, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/dial-100-comes-to-rescue-of-woman-stuck-at-bus-stand-at-odd-hours/article30269261.ece, 10th Dec. 2019
In both cases, the police dropped the women to their destination. In one case, it involved taking the woman and child to a doctor, getting medicines for the emergency and then dropping them back home, besides bringing some fuel for a scooter which the woman was using which had run out of fuel.
I think the clear learning from this is that in Andhra Pradesh, and perhaps in rest of India too, women (as well as men) who get scared while being out alone on the street at night, should straight away dial 100 for help.
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Sometimes reality is way, way stranger than fiction including even Hollywood or Bollywood fantasy movies!
The child of an anonymous Chinese wealthy unmarried (and single) woman mentioned in this article, is now nine months old and called Oscar, in recognition of the sperm donor's (should I say father's?) ancestry. The sperm donor/father is donor# 14471 on the website of a Californian sperm bank!
The powerful force of life, including human life but not limited to human life, is expressing itself in varied ways in our early 21st century times, using the awesome advances made in science & technology, and either facilitated or experimented with (in case of non-human life i.e. animal and plant life), by scientists (& perhaps technologists too) in medical, genetics and allied fields.
Shared article: The wealthy single Chinese women choosing white sperm donors to have a baby - they want a family but not a Chinese husband, https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3041258/wealthy-single-chinese-women-choosing-white-sperm-donors
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Education loans with Indian banks in September 2019 is Rs 75,450.68 crore Rupees.
Rs 75,450.68 crore Rupees is 754,506.8 million Rupees (1 crore is 10 million) which at current US Dollar to Rupee exchange rate of 70.91 comes to 10,640.3 million dollars or 10.64 billion dollars! I don't know whether student loans from other sources adds significantly to this number.
As per https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/us-student-debt-crisis-explained-america-education/ dated Sept. 2019, USA student debt is $1.5 trillion or $1500 billion.
So USA student debt from a pure money value point of view (which may not be a good measure) is 1500/10.64 = 140.98 rounded to 141 times India's student debt.
Based on IMF April 2019 figures as per https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/, USA GDP (nominal) is $20.49 trillion and India GDP (nominal) is $2.72 trillion. So USA GDP is 20.49/2.72 = 7.53 times India GDP.
USA student debt is just way, way too high and very worrying from a viewpoint of well being of current generation of students. I first started reading up and blogging on USA student debt in December 2013 (see http://eklavyasai.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-student-loan-debt-disaster.html) when US President Barrack Obama's administration announced plans to tackle it, which seemed promising then. Today, six years later, in December 2019, I doubt if the serious US student debt problem has reduced significantly. I wouldn't be surprised if it has gotten worse from what it was in December 2013.
India's student debt, in comparison to USA, is not that big, even after we factor in India's smaller GDP. But I still think the very high higher education costs in India for professional courses like engineering, medicine, management etc. are a major issue for poor and lower middle class Indian families with some of them getting into serious debt to fund such higher education. When I was doing my higher education in late 70s and early 80s, this kind of problem was minimal, even if lack of funding did come in the way of some poor and lower middle class Indian youth from pursuing expensive higher education like engineering or medicine, and further higher education (like Masters) after graduation.
[Shared article: No plan for education loan waiver: Government, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/no-plan-for-education-loan-waiver-government/articleshow/72447286.cms ]
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This was around two weeks back. Lifelong Tory Lord Heseltine on Why He Won't Back the Conservatives | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjbiSUrGFV8, close to 12 mins, published on 26th Nov. 2019.
Subscribe now for more!http://bit.ly/1NbomQa Lord Heseltine joins us to explain why he's asking conservative voters to back the Lib Dems instead and why he ...
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
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Good to see this in India. It is the right of such elders to choose whether to live solitary lives or whether they want to be married. In this case, the couple seem to be Hindus but I think this should apply to Indians of all religions.
All the best to the newly married couple!
[Shared article: Elderly couple in Kerala old age home falls in love, gets married in their 60s, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/love-sex/elderly-couple-in-kerala-old-age-home-falls-in-love-gets-married-in-their-60s/articleshow/73028126.cms]
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Good to see this. I have enjoyed a lot of Amitabh's films and I think he richly deserves this honour.
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/PresidentOfIndia/photos/a.270066923506307/794605351052459/
"President Kovind presented Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Shri Amitabh Bachchan for his outstanding and invaluable contribution to cinema spanning over five decades. An actor par excellence, his work has entertained and inspired generations in India and across the world."]
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"This all comes at a time when the whole network of arms control agreements inherited from the Cold War is collapsing.
One crucial treaty - the New START agreement - is due to expire in February 2021. Russia seems willing to extend the agreement but the Trump administration has so far appeared sceptical.
With a whole new generation of nuclear weapons at the threshold of entering service, many believe not just that existing agreements should be bolstered, but that new treaties are needed to manage what could turn into a new nuclear arms race."
Russia deploys Avangard hypersonic missile system, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50927648
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Good to see Gujarat govt. combat the locust attacks on some farms in North Gujarat (through mainly spraying pesticides, it seems) and also promise compensation to affected farmers.
Gujarat govt. in locust control mode; 11 central teams join the effort, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/gujarat-govt-in-locust-control-mode-11-central-teams-join-the-effort/article30401308.ece, 26/27th Dec. 2019.
...
Yesterday's The Hindu print newspaper carried this article on the front page: (net version) Massive locust invasion threatens Gujarat farmers, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/massive-locust-invasion-threatens-gujarat-farmers/article30397949.ece
These locusts have ravaged farms in North Gujarat (state in India).
I had recently posted a news item about feral pigs being a threat to USA farms, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2692249790991581, 17th Dec. 2019.
Farming as a livelihood, has so many risks! What does a farmer do when confronted with invasions like feral pigs or locusts? I think locusts seem to be far worse as they fly in - a fence cannot hold them back.
And where have these locusts that are a big problem now for farms in North Gujarat, come from? The article states, "Originally, the locusts emerged in February this year from Sudan and Eritrea on Africa’s Red Sea Coast and travelled through Saudi Arabia and Iran to enter Pakistan, where they invaded the Sindh province and from there they moved into Rajasthan and Gujarat."
The pic in the article of locusts invading a farm on Wednesday, 25th Dec. 2019, shows us how many locusts can invade a farm! If I were a farmer and saw such a pic, I would freak out!
Chemicals and pesticides sprayed aerially by the government may help. But that may be too late for some farmers in North Gujarat.
A few years ago, in Puttaparthi in the late evenings near a big (very tall) and bright lamppost at the cross roads just before Karnatakanagapalli bridge starts, I had encountered a swarm of insects which were as many as in the above mentioned article pic, if not more, on a few days. I don't know what the insects were - a type of moth perhaps. But there were so many of them that walking through that part of the road involved a lot of hand waving to keep them out of the way. I asked the locals nearby whether they knew why this was happening. The ones I asked were not able to provide me relevant info. Some days later it stopped - I mean, I was not encountering it as I walked through that area in late evenings.
For an urban guy like me who was born, bred, educated and made a living mostly, if not wholly, in urban areas of India (and short stints in the West), such realities of rural life have been great eye-openers. In most of India - a tropical country, especially in monsoon season and whose effect continues right up to the dry heat of summer (which is then immediately followed by the next monsoon), rural areas are full of life of all kinds (of creatures and plants). And these varied creatures feed on some plants and sometimes other creatures. It is a constant battle for survival. Rural India has really taught me very well this constant battle for survival reality of animal and plant life. Man is special in that he (she) dominates over the rest of these creatures typically. But sometimes like in a locust swarm invasion or a poisonous snake contest with one unarmed person - man's vulnerabilities and reality as just another form of animal life which can be easily beaten in a contest when he/she is alone and unarmed, comes to the fore.
If urban folks in India want to get some core life lessons, they should spend some months in rural India going out on walks among the fields cultivated by farmers, and interact with farmers and/or other locals who are involved in or exposed to farm life. The jungles may be too risky to go to. But settled rural farmland should be safe when one has locals for advice.
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Onions make debt-ridden Karnataka farmer crorepati (rupee millionaire * 10), http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/72648440.cms, 15th Dec. 2019
What are financial issues for some people (final buyers of onions which are highly priced in India now) are financial windfall for others (onion farmers)! Such is life.
Good to know that this Karnataka farmer was able to repay his debt and make profits many times more than what he had expected.
The farmer family taking turns to guard the onion farm from "onion thieves" made me laugh out loud! But, of course, it is logical given high price of onions now.
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Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (Official Video), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg, 3 min. 34 secs.
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Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEFKfuI00sk, 3 min. 44 secs.
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John Denver - Thank God I'm A Country Boy (From "Around The World Live" DVD), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOjQwyVbJl4, 3 min. 23 secs.
The lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johndenver/thankgodimacountryboy.html
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In response to a comment, I wrote:
I don't know too much about John Denver. Came to know of his country songs after I moved to Puttaparthi in late 2002. I love his country songs.
...
In response to a comment, I wrote:
Oh! I did not know about how he died. You are right. Just looked up his wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver. "An avid pilot, Denver died at the age of 53 in a single-fatality crash while piloting his recently purchased light plane." He died in 1997. Sad.
I loved his song 'Country Roads Take me home' right from the first time I heard it. I used to love to drive on country roads in MA, NH and VT during my US stints, and so his song brought back those happy memories to me.
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1971 BBC Top of the Pops, Lynn Anderson - I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eclUz-RYI, 2 min. 49 secs.
TOTP 1971
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Martina McBride singing the same song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TGZD5FBLcU, 3 min. 20 secs.
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Martina McBride & Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NL6qhVMh6s, 3 min. 13 secs.
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https://genius.com/Lynn-anderson-rose-garden-lyrics
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(UK) Tony Blair on the Labour Party crisis - UNCUT INTERVIEW - BBC Newsnight, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77650D7uRaw, 21 min. 13 secs, 19th Dec. 2019.
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Very interesting July 2019 video about a rural USA school finding it difficult to recruit an American Math teacher and so recruiting a young lady teacher from Philippines. The Filipina teacher talks about her experience of teaching there for around 2 years and about living in rural America with a host family. The Principal talks about how she teaches well and that the students are benefiting with her teaching. Interestingly, the Filipina teacher talks about her being small and short and her students being big (physically)! All in all, this is a nice video.
Foreign Teacher Lands in Rural America: ‘I Was Surprised’ | VOA Connect, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSmtbSYE8pg, 7 min. 41 secs, published on 24th July 2019 by VOA News.
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In response to a comment I wrote (slightly edited): Thought you might want to know that I recall quite well a Filipina lady and her American partner (white guy) that I would meet off and on, in the smoking room of Wang Labs. HQ in Lowell, MA, during my stints there in the second half of the 1980s. The husband was a big chap (like the Americans shown in this video) and was into electrical related work there. The Filipina lady was thin but I don't recall her height. I also don't recall what exactly the Filipina lady did work-wise. The American chap was very friendly - I can recall his face quite vividly even now as I write this comment!
I found it very interesting then to know about them being together (married, I guess). At that time, I did not know much of the history of USA's association with Philippines -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines_(1898%E2%80%931946).
BTW Wang Labs. HQ (later sold to Cross Point), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cross_Point_Towers;_northeast_side;_Lowell,_MA;_2011-09-11.JPG, was a big place - three towers of 7 stories if I recall correctly. My work was in a different group to both of them. And there were few smoking rooms, which is how I happened to meet them off and on.
I think I should also mention that its founder was a Chinese-American - An Wang, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Wang (if I recall correctly, from Shanghai originally, with him coming to USA for higher education in mid 1940s and settling down in USA). Wang Labs. had a mix of people even then (second half of 1980s) - European-origin-Americans, African-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Indian-Americans, and also at least one Filipina-American (mentioned above). It was a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic place, and I have very fond memories of my two stints there for a total of around 19 months in the second half of the 1980s.
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Evil exists; One must be aware of that reality and lead life accordingly
(USA) Jayme Closs kidnapper: 'If it wasn't Jayme, it would probably be someone else', http://www.startribune.com/jayme-closs-kidnapper-if-it-wasn-t-jayme-it-would-probably-be-someone-else/566394012/, 20th Dec. 2019.
'Case files released Friday show Jake Patterson thought about "taking a girl" for two years.'
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Interesting! Her name indicates she is a Muslim. She was born in Gujarat, India, and later married a Pakistani and migrated to Pakistan, becoming a Pakistani citizen (which I think would have involved giving up Indian citizenship as India does not have dual citizenship as far as I know). After her husband died, she came back to India and applied for Indian citizenship which she has been granted now.
So it is clear that Indian law as of today ****does**** allow Muslims to become Indian citizens. The CAA only fast-tracks Indian citizenship of non-Muslim refugees (Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Jain ...) who fled to India due to religious persecution in Islamic countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and were in India on or before some date (Dec. 31st 2014, if I recall correctly). The main arguments against the CAA by people opposing it, as I have understood it so far, is the discriminatory aspect where Muslims are kept out, and where other neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka (India has Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka who are Hindu and perhaps also Muslim and Christian but in smaller numbers; don't know if they claim to have been religious persecution victims in Sri Lanka) and Myanmar/Burma (not sure if there are Muslim religious persecution refugees from Myanmar in India who settled in India on or before Dec. 2014) are excluded.
[Shared article: Pak woman receives Indian citizenship in Gujarat, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/ahmedabad/pak-woman-receives-indian-citizenship-in-gujarat/videoshow/72895151.cms]
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Firstly, I would like to mention my neutrality.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
I have been following this young lady former MP (Labour) of UK on Facebook for some weeks now. She lost in this election. Her letter linked to in her post below was very interesting to me. I am amazed at this young lady who is just 32 years old and does not seem to come from a family of wealth, getting into politics to fight for, in her view, a better life for the people of her constituency and beyond. Her parents were in politics as per her wiki page (yes, she has a wiki page at this young age), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Pidcock. Perhaps that gave her the courage and mindset to jump into politics leading to her becoming an MP in 2017 at 29/30 years of age!
Now it would have been very different if she was born into wealth and did not have to worry about money at all. But I don't think that is the case with her. She has a one year old child.
Her letter is excellent and I admire the maturity of her views in this letter.
She ends her letter with these words: "And lastly, I want to say thank you for giving me the privilege of a lifetime in being your MP for two and a half years — to represent you in Parliament. Even if these were the only moments I get to stand up for our communities and our class in that building, it was utterly worth it. I’ve lost this election, not with anger or resentment, but with love in my heart and a determination to build a better future".
Now I don't know whether her politics (the wiki page says she identifies as a socialist) is realistic and practical. But I think it is wonderful to see such youngsters in the UK actively participate in the democratic process. She says in the letter that we (she & others) will hold the new MP from her constituency to account! As a lover of democracy, I am very heartened to see that UK is producing such political representatives and activists in our times.
Western Europe is just awesome in the maturity of its democracies!
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/LauraPidcockNWD/posts/2592634537524468]
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The law in Indian courts moves very, very, very sloooooooowly. The context is death warrants for Delhi gang rape convicts with the heinous crime happening in Dec. 2012.
[Shared article: Nirbhaya's mother breaks down as Delhi court adjourns hearing on issuing death warrants, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nirbhayas-mother-breaks-down-as-delhi-court-adjourns-hearing-on-issuing-death-warrants/articleshow/72869653.cms]
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Corbyn says Johnson 'must live up to his promises' - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMiKvR7gT0s, 6 min. 4 secs.
Corbyn is quite polished, as usual, in this speech. Good to see him not being cowed down by the defeat Labour suffered in the recent UK general election. A strong opposition that holds the ruling party, which in this case has a comfortable majority, to account is vital for democracy.
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Boris Johnson makes first speech in Commons after landslide victory: We're going to get Brexit done, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9opaRxk4SE, 3 min. 47 secs.
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I presume (and I think it is a reasonable presumption) that significant number of these homeless in Oakland, California, USA, are NOT drug addicts. Some may be drug addicts but not all. And so I think this problem in a rich state like California in USA shows without any doubt that unbridled capitalism has serious flaws.
One of the lady residents (a mother with a school going child) says:
"Homeless people are treated worse than stray animals.".."When someone finds a stray animal they take it home and feed it. When someone sees a homeless person they call the police." "Where is the compassion?"
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Ravi: Where is the compassion? Capitalism has its great advantages and benefits but it needs to be infused with compassion or else it can be quite monstrous.
[Shared article: Among the World’s Most Dire Places: This California Homeless Camp,
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/17/us/oakland-california-homeless-camp.html]
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I have seen a lot of pigs (not feral pigs I guess but ordinary pigs) during my walks just outside Puttaparthi town (and sometimes, in the past at least, they used to come into Puttaparthi town). Groups of pigs moving around together looked quite formidable. I mean, one unarmed human like me coming across them made me understand that I needed to just respect that group's brute power! Fortunately, these pigs were not aggressive. One just had to keep out of their way.
I have seen pig litters too, during my walks. That too can be quite a sight - a big mother pig and many new born piglets bunched around her.
Most of the times, the pigs would be on their own but I think they did have human owners. The human owners would turn up at times. Perhaps they would take these pigs to near Puttaparthi town to feed on whatever they could get, and come back later in the day to drive/take them back to whereever they were living, perhaps on the outskirts of some village(s) near Puttaparthi town.
Given that background, I have better appreciation of this feral pigs article. Naturally farmers and other residents of rural areas would be very worried with groups of wild feral pigs roaming around. The article states, "Big hogs can chew up acres of crops in a single night, destroying pastures, tearing out fences, digging up irrigation systems, polluting water supplies."
[Shared article: Feral Pigs Roam the South. Now Even Northern States Aren’t Safe., https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/science/feral-pigs-canada-texas.html]
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In response to a comment, I wrote: Yes, passerbys have not been attacked by these pigs in and around Puttaparthi that I would see in the past. BTW nowadays I don't see pigs in Puttaparthi town.
But they surely would have been a cause for concern for farmers in farm areas outside Puttaparthi town who would have wanted to prevent these pigs from getting on to their land and damaging their crops.
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So I fully support the CBI (premier federal investigative agency of India) conducting this investigation into the death of a young Muslim lady in IIT Madras, one of the premier educational institutions of the country.
[Shared article: Fathima Latheef Death at IIT-Madras: Case Shifted to CBI, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/fathima-latheef-iit-madras-student-suicide-death-case-probe-shifted-to-cbi]
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Firstly, I should say that my putting up this post should in no way be seen as me being biased towards the Conservatives in UK. I am publicly neutral in UK politics (and also in Indian politics).
But that neutrality in UK politics does not come in the way of me being appreciative of Boris Johnson's warm words towards British Hindus in general and the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in London in the video shared below. As an Indian Hindu, I am deeply touched by these words of his and what seems to me to be genuine affection for British Hindus. It was good to see his partner also being present for this visit and being given due honour by the temple management. And it was good to see British Home secretary (minister) Priti Patel accompanying the British PM to the temple, and being given due honour.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Visits Neasden Temple in London, UK, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fLK6tSrCfU, 7 min. 2 secs, published on 13th Dec. 2019 by BAPSChannel.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson Visits Bhaktivedanta Manor December 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueKvxrfVuKI, around 3 mins.
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UK election: Videos about North of England Labour strongholds that went to Conservatives in this election
[This video has some unparliamentary language. Folks who don't want to hear that should not see this video] How Labour lost, and the hope that endures | Anywhere but Westminster, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7eG1kbdr0M, around 18 mins by The Guardian
Boris Johnson takes victory lap of newly won north of England seats, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkKP8URaILU, around 12 mins by Channel 4 News.
Boris Johnson says in the above video around 1 min. 10 secs.: "I understand how big a step that is for some people, for some families (Labour voters voting Conservative in this election). And we are going to repay their trust. We are going to deliver on the things that matter to them and yes, of course, it's about getting Brexit done. But it's also about the NHS. It's about public services and it's about a basic view of the the country that it is going to be better off if you have one nation conservativism."
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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UK election: View of some is that many labour voters wanted Brexit but Jeremy Corbyn did not take a clear stand on it, and so they voted Conservative as Boris Johnson's key election slogan was 'Get Brexit Done' and they believe he will do it. And that, as per their view, is what led to this devastating loss for Labour and comfortable majority for the Conservatives.
Hmm. The UK general election seems to have been the Brexit election but Boris Johnson and team now have five years to push all the rest of their policies and agenda comfortably through Parliament with their brute-force majority! That's life in democracies.
Where did it all go wrong for Jeremy Corbyn and Labour?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6rj8-_9aZI, around 13 mins.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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Jo Swinson holds press conference after stepping down as Lib Dem leader – watch live (Swinson comes onto the stage around 45 seconds into the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quYDNPm1KsQ, 11 min. 41 secs.
She uses strong words at times. But like the earlier speech I shared of hers where she lost as MP, she is gallant in this speech.
While I do not want to comment on her politics, I am amazed at this lady (she is 39) with two young kids, and not seeming to be born into wealth, having led a noted political party in UK in a general election (she seems to have stepped down now after the poor show in this election).
The fact that UK democracy could enable such a thing to happen shows how mature UK democracy is. Democracy in Western Europe and also New Zealand (which has a young lady as PM who is also 39, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacinda_Ardern) is awesome in how young ladies get elected to positions of power in their national/federal legislatures. Hats off to these young ladies for these great achievements.
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(UK) Jo Swinson Liberal Democrats leader loses her seat by a wafer thin margin of around 150 votes (less than 1% of total votes she or her main opponent and winner got). Swinson makes a gallant speech, congratulating the winner, thanking the constituents for having allowed her to represent them for 12 and a half years, but speaks of dread and dismay that some in UK will have, with Boris Johnson led Conservatives getting a strong majority. She ends by saying, "Liberal Democrats will continue to stand up for these values that guide our liberal movement: openness, fairness, inclusivity. We will stand up for hope".
The initial part of the video has the returning officer announcing the vote counts. It is a little confusing when some people cheer after Jo Swinson's vote count is announced as the winner Amy Callaghan from the Scottish Nationalist Party's vote count is still to be announced. The commentators make it worse by drowning out the announcement of Amy Callaghan's votes. However, the vote count gets shown in a window later on in the video.
Watch the moment Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson lost her seat, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpbnBvlbPkA, around 4 mins.
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(UK) Nigel Farage Reacts to the Brexit Party Unable to Win a Seat | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302OrfgtTkk, 4 mins.
Fascinating to see Nigel Farage take a zero seat for his party result in his stride! He argues that his party helped Boris Johnson get a majority (by not fighting in strong Conservative seats and eating into the Labour and LibDem votes in other seats which perhaps led to Conservatives winning those seats).
Farage says that while they may not get the Clean Break (No Deal) Brexit they want, they will get (some) Brexit under Johnson and so they (will) have half a loaf (of bread) (instead of no loaf). He says that there was pressure for a second Brexit referendum which he and his party contributed to defeat.
The hosts directly ask him what he and his party will now do, to which Farage says he is not sure.
They also ask him whether he is going to become Lord Farage or ambassador to USA, which Farage says will not happen as he does not have that many friends in high places (in the Conservative party).
Very interesting interview of the man who played one of the biggest roles in Brexit.
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(UK) Election results 2019: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on SNP performance - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgH-jLlmyOE, 3 min. 20 secs.
Nicola Sturgeon says she has the mandate to hold a second referendum for Scottish independence (different from Brexit referendum). And she says Scotland wants to stay in the EU (as in the Brexit referendum, majority of Scotland voted to Remain, if I recall correctly)!
But Boris Johnson has the majority in UK Parliament, even if the SNP has dominated UK Parliament seats in Scotland, and he does not want to have a second referendum for Scottish independence (to be held in Scotland).
Will the courts come into play?
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(UK) Election results 2019: Jeremy Corbyn holds his Islington seat - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYm9Uf6oOhI, 9 min. 21 secs. From around 5 mins into the video Corbyn talks about the disappointing performance of Labour in this UK general election.
He says he will not lead Labour in a future General election. So that means he will stand down eventually as Labour party leader.
But he says he will proudly continue to represent his constituency (he won by a huge margin) in Parliament. He won for the 10th time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Corbyn says he is the MP of Islington North from 1983! That's 17 + 19 = 36 years already with five more years possibly in this parliament which would take it to 41 years! That is an awesome record! He was born in 1949 and so is 70 years old now.
Jeremy Corbyn says (from auto generated transcript, slightly edited), "...However Brexit has so polarized and divided debate in this country, it has overridden so much of a normal political debate and I recognize that has contributed to the results that the Labour Party has received this evening. All across this country, the issues of social justice and the issues of needs of people will not go away just because Brexit is dealt with in the way in which Boris Johnson presumably plans to deal with it at the moment. All those issues will come back center stage in the debate and the fundamental labour message about justice and equality within our society is going to be one that is there for all time because it's the very core of what my party believes in and what I will always advocate on behalf of my constituency and on behalf of my party..."
He also talks about fighting "for social justice and for society based on the needs of all rather than the greed of a few", and that the Labour party will forever continue (to fight) for that cause.
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Boris Johnson hails ‘stonking’ election win ‘to get Brexit done’ in jubilant victory speech, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S1MGvnOHME, 7 min. 54 secs.
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Interesting analysis of UK election results: Robert Peston Analyses General Election Results | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w6O09Vnxdg, 6 min. 9 secs.
A key takeaway for me:
Boris Johnson led Conservatives (who want to Brexit) swept England part of UK.
Nicola Sturgeon led SNP (who want to Remain in the EU) swept Scotland part of UK.
That's created a difficult situation vis-a-vis Scotland remaining in UK, as Nicola Sturgeon campaigned on a platform which seems to have included holding a second referendum on Scottish independence.
Another point is that Brexit party seems to be nowhere. I mean Nigel Farage seems to be ***voiceless*** in new UK parliament whereas he is the main UK voice in the European Parliament for which elections were held just a few months ago. That seems to be a very strange situation at least for an outsider like me.
Labour is in big trouble. The Lib. Dems are in big trouble, and their leader Jo Swinson lost her MP seat!
This has been an earthquake of a result in UK general elections.
...
In response to a comment, I wrote: We have to see whether the fears that Jeremy Corbyn raised about UK NHS being targeted by the Tories, will come to pass. Boris Johnson has gone out of the way in the few campaign videos I saw, to say that nothing of that sort will happen. But that was campaign stuff. Now we will have to see the reality. The extraordinary situation in UK now, it seems to me, is that the Tories have a ***brute-force*** majority to push almost anything through Parliament in the next five years! This would be like in USA for the first two years of Trump presidency when both houses of Congress were having Republican majority.
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(UK) Election results 2019: Boris Johnson returns to power with big majority, https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50765773
"With just a handful of seats left to declare in the general election, the BBC forecasts a Tory majority of 78."
Ravi: That's it - the UK public have settled the matter. Now Boris Johnson led Conservatives have the mandate to push Brexit and whatever else they want through UK Parliament. This is a resounding victory for Boris Johnson and his supporters!
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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Unbelievable! One can hear the terrified screams of the police officer (Maryland, USA) on the hood of a hit-and-run speeding car. Wonderful that it ended safely for the police officer and the driver of the hit-and-run car. The incident happened in early December 2018.
"I Have Kids", US Police Officer Pleads For Life While Clinging To Car, https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/i-have-kids-i-have-kids-us-police-officer-pleads-for-life-while-clinging-to-car-2147925, 12th Dec. 2019
One of the realities of life in many parts of the USA is that you have to drive a vehicle to do your everyday stuff: Work, buying groceries and other daily needs stuff, visiting friends ...
That's a lot of stress. Yes, car driving can be fun. But when you have to always be driving for one thing or another and handle traffic, it can be quite a pain. In contrast, commuting via public transport has the great benefit that one has to just sit/stand in the public transport vehicle/train. There's a well trained driver who handles the vehicle/train.
The hit-and-run car driver had finished her night shift and was heading home to her children aged 1, 2 and 8! She should have stopped when she hit another car. That's the law. Or else you become a hit-and-run driver and the law can come down hard on you. I learned this fact early in my first stay in the USA in mid 1980s and fortunately never hit another car or anybody while I was driving (except one case when my car - or rather, company rented car that I and a colleague were given and which I was driving then - was hit by another vehicle behind me which ended up in my car hitting the car in front of me but that was a different situation). [I also had a tyre blowout at high speed once ... but that did not involve hitting another car.]
I can empathize with this lady if she was overworked and so did not stop her car after it hit another car. But when she was confronted by the police officer, she lost it and did something really stupid. Fortunately, nobody died or got seriously injured.
...
In response to a question on the FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2686241798259047, I wrote: Karma is a great mystery for me, sir. While I have done some readings on it and so know the general theory about it, how it actually works in real life and what events can be attributed to past karma, is, for me, one of the biggest mysteries of existence/life.
...
In response to a question, I wrote: :-). Hmm. Sir, you are trying to corner me with questions! Just joking! As you are the elder perhaps it should be the other way around :-). ... Anyway, I will provide my humble view on this a little later.
...
On Karma, I go by revelations of scripture and words of spiritual masters who I believe in. I do NOT think that as spiritual seekers/aspirants it is necessary for us to hypothesize a karmic background for a particular incident. Some may do so - that's fine. But, IMHO, it is not necessary to do so.
It is almost impossible to know for sure whether hypotheses in such matters are true or not. That needs mystical power which reveals the karmic connections in the case.
As spiritual seekers/aspirants I think it is enough for us to know the negative karmic consequences of some acts (by belief in teachings & revelations related to Karma) and so stay away from indulging in such acts. And also to know that even positive karmic consequences of some acts may bind us and that it is best to do such acts too in a Nishkama Karma way (without desire for the karmic fruits, and as an offering to God).
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Fascinating! Around 2 mins.
[Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/srinivasgst/videos/3073428689337410/?t=0
Text: "A whale shark sought human assistance to get rid of the rope entangled on his fins. It happened in the waters off Sarawak! Unbelievable."]
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Should I use Times New Roman 12 or Times New Roman 11 font for main text in my next book - "Indian Computer Science (CS) & Information Technology (IT) Academic Reform (Past) Activism Blog Book"?
I have started working on my next book which essentially will include important posts from my https://eklavyasai.blogspot.com/ blog and which (book) I have tentatively titled as "Indian Computer Science (CS) & Information Technology (IT) Academic Reform (Past) Activism Blog Book". I will have both ebook and paperback print versions. But I expect to print only a very, very few (2 or 3) print copies. The ebook will be the important one which I will put up on self.gutenberg.org and archive.org and which hopefully will get incorporated into global ebook libraries like worldebooklibrary.org. That should ensure some longevity for the ebook even if very few read it.
It is a very niche interest book and so very few people will want to read it. But it may be very useful to some of that very few who are into activism of the kind the book/blog covers.
The question is what font size should I use for the main text in the book (font will be Times New Roman).
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Basic_Book_Design/Font#Font_Size says, "Times Roman, look best in 11 or 12 points". Note that there are subtle differences between Times Roman and Times New Roman fonts but I think for the discussion on this post, they do not matter.
BTW https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_New_Roman says, "Although no longer used by The Times, Times New Roman is still very common in book and general printing.[3] It has become one of the most popular and influential typefaces in history and a standard typeface on desktop computers.[4][5]"
[Wiki Refs:
3: Dreyfus, John (1973). "The Evolution of Times New Roman". The Penrose Annual. 66: 165–174.
4: Farey, Dave (2014). "A Life and Times, Part 1". Ultrabold (16): 16–25.
5: Farey, Dave (2014). "A Life and Times, Part 2". Ultrabold (15): 3–13.]
For most of my documents work in software industry, right from around 1985, I have used Times New Roman as my standard font, and I think I typically used 12 as the font size.
For my previous books, I wanted to err on the side of large font for the main text and so used Times New Roman 12.
One of the issues with Times New Roman 12 is that the print version becomes more expensive as it runs into more pages. The ebook version will also run into more pages but no additional expense comes into play as it will be free download. But the higher number of pages may make it more intimidating for readers.
This book is a technical one. So I think Times New Roman 11 will be acceptable. That will reduce the number of pages in the book (both ebook and paperback).
So I am seriously considering using Times New Roman 11 instead of Times New Roman 12 for the main text in this book. I wanted to check with readers whether they have any suggestions on this, and so this post. Thanks.
...
A correspondent wrote over email (and was OK with sharing):
Dear Ravi - Good to know you are working on your next book!
Regarding the font size, there is hardly any size difference between Times New Roman 11 and 12. However, the 12 appears little bolder (not fully bold) than 11. So, book purpose I think 11 would be better, especially for the print book. For the ebook, it shouldn't make much difference because these days pretty much all reading tools have zoom feature built into it. So a reader can zoom in, if he/she finds the font size 11 to be harder to read.
This is my 2 cents!
Good luck with your new book project!
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I responded (slightly edited):
Thanks a ton --name-snipped-- for your valuable view on the font size and your encouragement for the book.
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Sahir Ludhianvi (1921 - 1980), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahir_Ludhianvi, was one of the great Hindi film song writers whose songs have given me great joy and satisfaction. This is one of his songs which was very popular in the 70s & 80s, from the 1968 movie Ankhen, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, with on screen stars being Mala Sinha and Dharmendra. The video is 4 min. 10 secs. long.
The share below has two lines from the song in Hindi. I have given below my quick attempt at translating them (Ludhianvi's Hindi is high quality stuff and so I don't easily get some of his words though I can guess the meaning; Here muhlat is one such word).
In English (Latin actually) script:
Phir kho na jayen ham kahin duniya ke bheed mein
Milti hain paas aane ki muhlat kabhi kabhi
English: Again we may get lost (separated) in the crowd of the world
(We) get the time/opportunity to come close, only some times
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The title line of the song is:
Milti hain zindagi mein mohabbat kabhi kabhi
which translates to: (We) get romantic love in our life only at times
[Shared video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YZmK9zj3TQ&feature=youtu.be]
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Hindi film oldie goldie song: Bhali Bhali Si Ek Surat - (on-screen stars) Navin Nischal - Archana - film: Buddha Mil Gaya (1971) - (singers) Kishore - Asha, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1hWkp6umX8, around 4 mins.
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Very sad to see that parts of Australia are going through this water scarcity crisis. Maybe I had read about this in the past but had not really noted it. I do recall reading/viewing about farm crisis in the past in some parts of Australia, but not water scarcity crisis. So I am very unpleasantly surprised by this. ... And water is such a fundamental necessity for life that villages and towns that suffer serious water crisis, year after year, may simply disappear!
[Shared article: As Water Runs Low, Can Life in the Outback Go On?, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/world/australia/water-drought-climate.html]
Comments of mine (slightly edited) on associated FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2682763641940196 :
I wrote: --Name-snipped-- If and when you can spare the time, I have a couple of questions. What do you think about this article (in the above post)? Do you think it is a reflection of the reality or is it an exaggeration?
...
In response to comment, I wrote: Thanks a ton --snip-- for your detailed comments here. I will go through all of them in detail a little later on, and respond with my thoughts on them.
...
I wrote: Very sad to know about the severe drought problem faced by farmers (and residents) in parts of Australia.
Good to see a youngster doing his bit to help and other schoolkids joining in with him.
I may see some clips of Mad Max: Fury Road but am concerned about apocalyptic movies being rather depressing. And this movie seems to have horrendous violence (I mean it seems to be not just gun fights or fist fights like in Wild West movies but serious and terrifying violence).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought_in_Australia#Drought_in_the_21st_century does paint a stark picture. It states:
By July 2019, a climatologist at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology stated that present the drought was now officially the worst on record in the Murray–Darling Basin, and "had now exceeded the Federation Drought, the WWII drought and the Millennium drought in terms of its severity through the MDB".
--- end wiki extract ---
Let us pray and hope that coming months & years will give good rain.
Is climate change the cause? The wiki page says:
Australia's national science research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), states that on account of projected future climate change, hot days will become more frequent and hotter (very high confidence), extreme rainfall events will become more intense (high confidence), and the time in drought is projected to increase over southern Australia (high confidence). Seasonal-average rainfall changes will vary across Australia: in southern mainland Australia, winter and spring rainfall is projected to decrease (high confidence), but increases are projected for Tasmania in winter (medium confidence), while in eastern and northern Australia in the near future (to 2030), natural variability is anticipated to predominate over trends due to greenhouse gas emissions.
--- end wiki extract ---
Tasmania is mentioned in the context of more rainfall in future (predictions). So that fits in with what your father predicted. Good that you followed his advice and bought property in Tasmania.
The problem with drought/floods predictions in context of climate change is that it does not seem to be solid science as of now. I think what is almost but not conclusively established is that greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to global warming. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming - 'The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report concluded, "It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century."[8] The largest human influence has been the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.']
But can current Australian drought be attributed to climate change/global warming, and is that going to get worse in future, as per science? I don't think that is the case, as of now at least.
What seems to be almost universally agreed upon by scientists is that sea level is rising due to global warming (polar ice caps are melting etc.) And rising sea level is a big threat to coastal cities. But there also, one is not sure. The American city of Miami, I think, is a sort-of political battleground for rising sea level caused by climate change and threat to coastal cities issue. While many are saying that Miami is already facing climate change caused problem, some are not willing to say that Miami's water inundation issues are due to climate change.
The city that I was born and bred in, Mumbai, is a coastal city. I have not yet seen in Indian media any big scare about rising sea levels impacting Mumbai in the near future. Maybe that's because they are ignoring the problem or maybe because they have not really felt it in a big way so far.
What I think most scientists and most people who read up such stuff, will agree on is that greenhouse gas emissions are bad and that the world must sharply cut down on fossil fuel usage.
Confusing state of affairs! Let me end this long comment by praying to God and hoping for good rains in those parts of Australia that are suffering from drought.
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I think Neil deGrasse Tyson's comments about existence of God do not cover vital ground, and harp on disasters that kill people indicating that God is not good (no thoughts about Karma there), and statistics and probability (rather than power of prayer or good karma making some persons more likely to experience supernatural/divine acts that help them). But overall, I think this video is interesting. Tyson has emerged as one of the leading scientist-thinkers of today who communicates to ordinary folks via television and Internet (and books). Here's his wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson.
He is a straight talker - that's one thing I really like about him. He does not try to faze or overwhelm viewers with big scientific jargon - that's what makes him a good communicator to ordinary folks, I think.
Was the Moon Landing faked? | Big Questions with Neil deGrasse Tyson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTChrirK-hw, 11 min. 28 secs, published by Penguin Books UK on 22nd Nov. 2019.
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Good to see Andhra Pradesh police coming to help of women who were alone at night on the streets and dialled '100'
Here are two recent reports about it:
Ongole: Abhaya cops extend help to distressed woman, https://www.thehansindia.com/andhra-pradesh/ongole-abhaya-cops-extend-help-to-distressed-woman-588183, 8th Dec. 2019
‘Dial 100’ comes to rescue of woman stuck at bus stand at odd hours, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/dial-100-comes-to-rescue-of-woman-stuck-at-bus-stand-at-odd-hours/article30269261.ece, 10th Dec. 2019
In both cases, the police dropped the women to their destination. In one case, it involved taking the woman and child to a doctor, getting medicines for the emergency and then dropping them back home, besides bringing some fuel for a scooter which the woman was using which had run out of fuel.
I think the clear learning from this is that in Andhra Pradesh, and perhaps in rest of India too, women (as well as men) who get scared while being out alone on the street at night, should straight away dial 100 for help.
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Sometimes reality is way, way stranger than fiction including even Hollywood or Bollywood fantasy movies!
The child of an anonymous Chinese wealthy unmarried (and single) woman mentioned in this article, is now nine months old and called Oscar, in recognition of the sperm donor's (should I say father's?) ancestry. The sperm donor/father is donor# 14471 on the website of a Californian sperm bank!
The powerful force of life, including human life but not limited to human life, is expressing itself in varied ways in our early 21st century times, using the awesome advances made in science & technology, and either facilitated or experimented with (in case of non-human life i.e. animal and plant life), by scientists (& perhaps technologists too) in medical, genetics and allied fields.
Shared article: The wealthy single Chinese women choosing white sperm donors to have a baby - they want a family but not a Chinese husband, https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3041258/wealthy-single-chinese-women-choosing-white-sperm-donors
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Education loans with Indian banks in September 2019 is Rs 75,450.68 crore Rupees.
Rs 75,450.68 crore Rupees is 754,506.8 million Rupees (1 crore is 10 million) which at current US Dollar to Rupee exchange rate of 70.91 comes to 10,640.3 million dollars or 10.64 billion dollars! I don't know whether student loans from other sources adds significantly to this number.
As per https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/us-student-debt-crisis-explained-america-education/ dated Sept. 2019, USA student debt is $1.5 trillion or $1500 billion.
So USA student debt from a pure money value point of view (which may not be a good measure) is 1500/10.64 = 140.98 rounded to 141 times India's student debt.
Based on IMF April 2019 figures as per https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/, USA GDP (nominal) is $20.49 trillion and India GDP (nominal) is $2.72 trillion. So USA GDP is 20.49/2.72 = 7.53 times India GDP.
USA student debt is just way, way too high and very worrying from a viewpoint of well being of current generation of students. I first started reading up and blogging on USA student debt in December 2013 (see http://eklavyasai.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-student-loan-debt-disaster.html) when US President Barrack Obama's administration announced plans to tackle it, which seemed promising then. Today, six years later, in December 2019, I doubt if the serious US student debt problem has reduced significantly. I wouldn't be surprised if it has gotten worse from what it was in December 2013.
India's student debt, in comparison to USA, is not that big, even after we factor in India's smaller GDP. But I still think the very high higher education costs in India for professional courses like engineering, medicine, management etc. are a major issue for poor and lower middle class Indian families with some of them getting into serious debt to fund such higher education. When I was doing my higher education in late 70s and early 80s, this kind of problem was minimal, even if lack of funding did come in the way of some poor and lower middle class Indian youth from pursuing expensive higher education like engineering or medicine, and further higher education (like Masters) after graduation.
[Shared article: No plan for education loan waiver: Government, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/no-plan-for-education-loan-waiver-government/articleshow/72447286.cms ]
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This was around two weeks back. Lifelong Tory Lord Heseltine on Why He Won't Back the Conservatives | Good Morning Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjbiSUrGFV8, close to 12 mins, published on 26th Nov. 2019.
Subscribe now for more!http://bit.ly/1NbomQa Lord Heseltine joins us to explain why he's asking conservative voters to back the Lib Dems instead and why he ...
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Election Row over child on hospital floor - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rggc5NtyEdY, close to 10 mins.
I think in our early 21st century times, the big challenges for government whether in democracies or in monarchies or in communist countries or whatever, is making health care and education affordable for the poor and lower middle class.
While both health care and education have seen wonderful progress in ability and quality, since say the 1970s, the ***big downside*** is that they have become ***very expensive***. In countries where citizens have to largely depend on private health care (like India and USA), health care and/or education costs can drive individuals and families into horrific debt which then dominates most, if not all, of the rest of their lives and makes them miserable. This, I think, is the brutal truth.
I should say one more unpleasant thing but which I think is worth saying as sometimes forcing ourselves to look at such unpleasant reality rather than being in denial, can help us to tackle such unpleasant things. Health care costs for elderly parents can be a major concern for their children. I know of an old unmarried friend in a major city in India who had to take substantial loans (multiple times, if I recall correctly) from his employer to fund health care costs of his elderly parent(s). I got the impression that that left him with limited personal savings. He is around my age; I am 57 now. But I think he does have significant cover of retirement benefits/voluntary retirement benefits from his employer. In any case, I consider what he did to care for his elderly parent(s) to be a great and noble sacrifice.
High health care costs and high education costs are the major challenges of our times for the poor and lower middle class in India and perhaps in many other countries in the world.
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Wonderful to know about these two American lady medical professionals who served in rural India in the 1970s to contribute to making India smallpox free.
Here's Mary Guinan's wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Guinan
and here's Cornelia E Davis's website: https://www.corneliaedavismd.com/.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/thebetterindia/posts/10157801918579594
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12 foot long, 20 kg Indian rock python found trapped in fishing net in Bukkapatnam village tank near Puttaparthi: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/indian-rock-python-rescued-near-puttparthi/article30237146.ece. [I read about if first in this article in print edition of The Hindu today.] The article has a pic of it. The python was rescued and then released in a forest area.
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Happy with new pair of Bifocal eyeglasses from Ultra Vision Eye Care Hospital (Dr. Suresh) of Puttaparthi
Thought this may be useful to some Puttaparthi based readers and so am sharing it. This is different from my earlier post on computer eyeglasses which I got from an optician in Puttaparthi which also I am happy with.
Please note that there is no commercial benefit for me from this post. Further, I am only reporting my positive experience. Others' experience could be similar to mine or be different.
I do a lot of reading of books and newspapers to be well informed on matters that interest me which is important in my role as a social media writer. I was struggling to read fine print in books/paper for some time (I used to use a magnifying glass for that).
Over two weeks back, I visited the new Ultra Vision Eye Care Hospital which has recently come up in the first floor of a building close to Hanuman temple & Sathyamma temple in Puttaparthi town. The entrance staircase is opposite the Old Mandir (Old ashram), and telephone number of the hospital is 9347628686. I have attached a pic having the location and contact info. I was informed that this hospital organization is an old one with a hospital in Hyderabad they have been running for some time. The pic shows the Hyderabad hospital address info along with (new) Puttaparthi hospital address info.
Dr. Boggu Suresh seems to be the main doctor in their Puttaparthi hospital as of now, though two other doctor names are also listed in a board near a corner of the building close to the entrance.
Initially my eyesight was checked by a lady who I think is an optometrist. She was very friendly and efficient with the work. The facilities are very good with a computerized testing machine and comfortable and well equipped manual testing setup.
I asked for low cost branded lenses (not expensive Crizal level stuff) and was suggested Prime lenses with anti-glare. [Note that unbranded lenses are cheaper]. The bifocals chosen are D-Seg bifocals (which is what I had earlier).
Later I was called to have the testing done by Dr. Boggu Suresh. Dr. Suresh was very friendly and very professionally checked my eyesight and wrote out the final prescription.
We finalized on the Prime Bifocal lenses. This seems to be the specification webpage for these Prime lenses: http://primelenses.com/products/bifocal_d.html.
We also finalized on a low-cost frame that I had chosen.
Like in the previous post on computer eyeglasses, I am choosing not to mention the price to avoid any issues.
After the eyeglasses were made, they confirmed that I could read well with the glasses using the manual checking system for distant vision and reading card for near vision. I was very happy with the professional quality of their services. Dr. Suresh was also very friendly.
Now I have used these bifocal eyeglasses from Ultra Vision Eye Care Hospital (Dr. Suresh) for over a week. I am very happy with my book and newspaper as well as sundry paper/sticker reading experience (Near Vision) with it. In particular, reading Telugu script (which I read very slowly) has become much easier now. Distant Vision part is also good. The frame is comfortable.
As I was very satisfied with the service rendered, I gave Dr. Suresh a copy each of my two self-published books (with no obligation to read :-)).
I was very happy to receive such good service in Puttaparthi for these vital needs of mine. I decided to publicly put up this post as I thought it may benefit some readers in Puttaparthi. I repeat I have no commercial interest at all in putting up this post.
FB post has pic(s): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2682569931959567&set=a.1616532491896655
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(UK) Jeremy Corbyn is calm, unflappable and articulates his views very well in this interview: Daytime exclusive: Jeremy Corbyn | This Morning, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbt_cnAg1Go, around 13 mins.
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The ever effusive, ever enthusiastic and quite unflappable (he is asked some pretty tough questions about some past quotes of his) Boris Johnson who is aiming to stay on as PM of UK after the election: Daytime exclusive: Boris Johnson | This Morning, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGKbfXqyTzg, 14 min. 43 secs.
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(UK) Daytime exclusive: Nicola Sturgeon | This Morning, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucuGGHk_zcE, 13 min. 44 secs.
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UK Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson gets a barrage of aggressive questions from the TV show hosts but she handles it quite well, I think. Swinson is a superb communicator. The few times I have seen her speak in UK parliament in videos that I saw, she was quite effective in her speeches/remarks.
She was born in 1980, is a mother of two young kids and is fighting in politics to ensure a good life for the current and next generation (including her kids). Her wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Swinson, gives the impression that she was not born into great wealth.
Hats off to her for this balancing act between being a wife and mother, and being in this political fight as her party's leader!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YsZSJbhfDg, around 14 mins
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(UK) Farage: I've registered a new Party name already, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5IyvmX_BJg, around 11 mins.
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(UK) Corbyn v Johnson: BBC election debate round-up - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzhmLSH59HQ, 4 min. 30 secs.
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Wartime perhaps brings out the worst in human nature, even if it creates some heroes too. Overall, war is a terrible, terrible thing.
Documents Show Japan Army Demanded 1 "Comfort Woman" Per 70 Soldiers In Wartime: Report, https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/documents-reveal-japans-involvement-in-wartime-sexual-slavery-report-2144884
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I don't agree with all of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's views in this video but I admire him for frankly sharing his views on the Hyderabad rape & murder followed by killing of the accused by the police in an encounter. [I give the benefit of doubt to the police who say that the accused attacked the police officers and tried to escape, at which time police fired on them. I am NOT going to presume that it was a fake encounter. Let the investigation be made by appropriate authorities to know whether the encounter was fake or not. Till those authorities share their conclusions with the public, I will go by the police version of the events.]
In the talk he shares his experience with a similar horrible case in California, USA and discussions that he had with people against capital punishment in the USA.
Good to see such spiritual leaders in India today who frankly share their views on controversial topics.
Hyderabad Rape & Murder Case - Sadhguru Speaks, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3kvDoLU4Cs, around 10 mins.
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The brutal reality of India, especially North India, when it comes to securing justice from the justice system.
The case is about a rape that happened in December last year in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, a state in North India (as per https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/day-after-being-set-afire-unnao-rape-victim-dies-at-safdarjung-hospital/articleshow/72409604.cms). The victim was going to court to attend a hearing of the case where she probably would have testified against the accused, when the accused rapists (not judged guilty yet as the trial has not been concluded) who had been set free on bail (key accused person was given bail on Nov. 30th), attacked her, stabbed her and doused her body with kerosene and set her on fire, in broad daylight.
She died in hospital despite efforts made by doctors & other hospital staff to save her.
In the shared article below, it is reported that among the last words the rape victim said before she died in the hospital was that the accused should NOT be allowed to get away.
Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/Scoopwhoop/posts/1305062863036137
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The report states:
'The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief, who is on an indefinite strike to press her demand that rapists be hanged within six months of their conviction, told reporters that she is "ashamed" of her country's government.'
Ravi: I am in general support of the demand of the Delhi Commission for Women chief though there are some slight differences in my humble view. As a citizen and resident of India, my view is that once an Indian court convicts and sentences a person for this horrific and heinous crime of rape & murder to be hanged to death, there should be just one possibility of appeal of verdict, and within six months of the appeal upholding the verdict, the convict must be hanged. I think mercy petition to President of India for such heinous crimes of rape & murder either should not be allowed, or if it is allowed, the process should be completed within one month or so.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
============
The issue is faith in Indian justice system to deliver justice in reasonable time. The Delhi gang rape accused who were arrested in or around December 2012 have not yet been hanged though they have been sentenced to be hanged. The parents of the Delhi gang rape victim have not got the closure they seek for close to 7 long years!
Talking about judicial process is all fine but justice delayed for this long is justice denied. Especially those members of Indian Parliament who have been critical of what happened in Telangana perhaps as they are not sure of the police account of the accused attacking them and being killed in retaliatory fire, should answer to the Indian public at large why they have not ensured that the Delhi gang rape perpetrators did not get hanged within a year of them being convicted of it. The trial court found them guilty and sentenced them to hang to death on 13th Sept. 2013. That trial period is reasonable. For the victim's kin and the public at large to feel that justice has been done, the hanging should have happened by end 2014.
Now we are at the fag end of 2019 and the convicts have still not been hanged to death. The members of Indian parliament should not pass the ball to the judiciary on this. They need to work with top level Indian judiciary and ensure quick carrying out of such sentences for heinous crimes like rape & murder.
Given that the members of Indian Parliament have ***failed*** to ensure justice being delivered to Nirbhaya (2012 Delhi gang rape victim) and her kin and the Indian public at large, within reasonable time (e.g. by end 2014), I think no member of Indian Parliament has the right to criticize those people (vast majority I think) of Telangana and rest of India including the victim's kin, who are happy about the rape & murder accused being killed by the police in Telangana as the accused reportedly attacked the police.
Shared article: Low conviction rate, tardy probes behind public jubilation over Hyderabad encounter: Experts, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/low-conviction-rate-tardy-probes-behind-public-jubilation-over-hyd-encounter-experts/articleshow/72404359.cms
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France paralysed by biggest strike in years - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mm1M-cdKqU, 7 min. 12 secs.
I think unions in France are very powerful and demonstrate their power with strikes along with rallies on the streets.
In that aspect, I think there is some similarity between India and France. Unions are powerful in India and show their power with strikes and street rallies.
==================
Public Hail Police & Celebrate After Rape Accused Encounter In Hyd, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/hyderabad-vet-rape-and-murder-public-celebrates-encounter-killing-of-accused-hails-police
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Initial part of the press conference is in Telugu with some Q & A in Telugu. From around 11 mins, the lead police officer speaks in English. His English account goes on to slightly less than 15 mins. And that is followed by some Q & A in English. From close to 20 mins, the officer speaks in Hindi. From around 24 mins, the same officer speaks in Kannada! Four languages spoken by the same officer!
Full video is around 29 mins.
Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/videos/436582950623785/
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1 min video (few seconds of Advertisement video appears first) having Hyderabad vet victim's father's reaction in Hindi, followed by sister's reaction in English to the accused being killed by the police in an encounter as the accused tried to escape: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/hyderabad/hyderabad-rape-victims-family-speaks-on-encounter-killing/videoshow/72394481.cms.
Here's a text report on it: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/daugthers-soul-at-peace-now-hyderabad-vets-family-on-accused-killed-in-police-encounter-6153321/
It states that the victim's father said, "We have been spending sleepless nights. Not only the family but people of Hyderabad and the entire country are angry. Those criminals tried to escape and the police did well (then) by shooting them." He added that his daughter's soul must be at peace now, as per the report. [In the above video, he says in Hindi that his daughter's soul would be getting peace now.]
As per the article, the victim's sister said, "We are happy. We did not expect this (killing in ‘encounter’). We thought they would be hanged through courts." ... "We thank everyone who stood by us. With this incident people should be scared to indulge in such crimes (against women)".
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All 4 accused in rape-murder of Telangana vet killed while trying to flee: Cops, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/all-4-accused-in-rape-murder-of-telangana-vet-killed-in-encounter-while-trying-to-flee-police/story-IqeIVpoCCKtcOGr772WvvO.html.
According to the report, the police said, “Cyberabad Police had brought the accused persons to the crime spot for re-construction of the sequence of events. The accused snatched weapon and fired on Police. In self defence the police fired back, in which the accused were killed”.
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Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara: Oldie goldie Hindi film song from Jewel Thief (1967); Sung by Kishore Kumar, on-screen stars are Dev Anand and Tanuja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXp0mPoU2rQ, 4 min. 20 secs.
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(UK) Main parties clash over London Bridge attack and Brexit at ITV Election Debate | ITV News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omm1DH3iJR0, around 5 mins.
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Happy with new pair of computer eyeglasses from Rizwan Baba Opticals of Puttaparthi
Thought this may be useful to some Puttaparthi based readers and so am sharing it.
Please note that there is no commercial benefit for me from this post. Further, I am only reporting my positive experience. Others' experience could be similar to mine or be different.
As I do a lot of reading/viewing on the computer as a social media writer, and also perhaps due to aging, I was struggling to read fine print on the computer monitor for some time now. I also had some watering of eye problem. I had last checked and got correction lenses (bifocals for near and distant vision, and computer eye glasses) in Puttaparthi in or around April-May 2011.
A few days back, I had a chat with Baba Opticals run by Rizwan and which is located next to Police Station in Puttaparthi, and felt confident about him. So I decided to get my eyesight checked by him and get the new prescription for computer monitor reading.
He did a good job of checking my eyesight and arriving at the right correction lenses power for computer monitor reading. He also did the near and distant vision correction lenses prescription. He did not hurry me during the testing and I was able to be confident that I had given him the right feedback during the process. I also would interrupt the procedure at times to wipe my eyes to ensure there is no water in them while doing the measurement/checking. He was friendly and co-operative throughout the process.
For the lenses, I was willing to invest in branded lenses due to my heavy work on computer monitor but I did not want to go for high-end brands/types like Crizal as they are too expensive. We settled on Satin lenses (of Nova Fino brand) with features like UV protection, anti-glare and scratch-resistant of some kind (NOT scratch-proof). Here's the website page for Nova Fino (and a higher quality Thinmax): https://www.novalens.com/index.php/fsv. My lenses do not have some advanced features mentioned here like Blumax. I have also attached a screenshot of one slide/screen showing the key features.
I have used these eyeglasses lenses from Rizwan's Baba Opticals for a week or two now and am very happy with my reading/viewing on computer experience with it. As it is a single vision lens only for computer reading I can comfortably read stuff on my 22 inch TFT monitor by only moving my eyes across and up-and-down the monitor without any need for head movement.
I provided him the frame and so his charges were for the lenses and fitting (the checking and prescription are free service). I was told that the company (lens brand) has a policy of retail shops not publicly disclosing price at which it was sold to customer. So I am not in a position to mention what I paid. I should say though that Rizwan was kind enough to offer it to me at a discount, and that as I was very satisfied with the service rendered, I gave him a copy each of my two self-published books (with no obligation to read :-)).
Attached is a pic of these computer eyeglasses (frame was procured by me from elsewhere; lenses are from Rizwan), and a pic of visiting card of Rizwan Baba Opticals giving contact info. and location.
I was very happy to receive such good service in Puttaparthi for these vital needs of mine. I decided to publicly put up this post as I thought it may benefit some readers in Puttaparthi. I repeat I have no commercial interest at all in putting up this post.
FB post with pics: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2675247912691769
============
Dr. Amitabh Ghosh of NASA explains the NASA findings about Vikram lander crash site in the latter part of this video:
Found Chandrayaan 2's Lander Vikram On Moon, Says NASA; Tweets Images, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lWUmGKfoXs, 9 min. 6 secs, published by NDTV on 2nd Dec. 2019.
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Good to see NASA give the Chennai based techie, credit for his work in spotting Vikram lander (debris) on moon.
https://twitter.com/Ramanean/status/1201637543394983936
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The tweet of Chennai based techie that identified Vikram lander (debris) on moon, with before & after NASA pics of that area of the moon: https://twitter.com/Ramanean/status/1179792967692734465/photo/1
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Good to be able to confirm, thanks to NASA and a Chennai-based techie, that Vikram lander crashed on the moon, even though that was earlier viewed as the most probable outcome.
"These pictures are the result of weeks of work involving Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team and Shanmuga Subramanian, a Chennai-based techie who first located the debris in the US space agency's images."
Nasa finds Chandrayaan 2 Vikram lander on Moon, credits Chennai techie. See pics, https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/nasa-vikram-lander-chandrayaan-2-releases-images-impact-site-moon-surface-1624592-2019-12-03
...
Shanmuga Subramanian: Chennai Engineer Who Found Vikram Lander, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/who-is-shanmuga-subramanian-vikram-lander-found-nasa
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Quite funny and quite interesting from a serious way too.
The tweet with the 2 min video clip is this one: https://twitter.com/mattwridley/status/1197155887326076931
[Shared article: 1995 video of Bill Gates explaining The Internet to David Letterman, https://www.scoopwhoop.com/tech/1995-interview-bill-gates-david-letterman-talking-about-internet/]
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Interesting Recent Assembly Speeches (in Marathi) of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis
Mumbai | CM Uddhav Thackeray speech in vidhansabha overview | ABP Majha, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnNUbxqbLxQ, 13 min. 53 secs., 1st Dec. 2019
Shri Devendra Fadnavis on being elected as the Leader of Opposition of Legislative Assembly, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMx6nn-m0U, 18 min. 56 secs, 1st Dec. 2019
From around 1974 to 1980, I lived in Govt. Colony, Bandra (East). Kalanagar is close to it (and also in Bandra (East), where the Thackeray family has been living since those days. The bus route from Govt. Colony to Bandra railway station or central parts of Mumbai city which I had to take often, would cross Kalanagar and so Kalanagar is a very familiar place to me. I have also visited Kalanagar many times but I don't recall me ever going to even the entrance of Matoshree where the Thackeray family live.
I find it quite interesting to see a person from Kalanagar, Bandra (East) - Shri Uddhav Thackeray - becoming chief minister of Maharashtra!
Of course, Shiv Sena has always been a powerful political force from at least the 1970s in Mumbai and surrounding areas (including Dombivli that I moved to in 1980 or so from Bandra East) and Shri Balasaheb Thackeray (its founder and leader) was a very powerful figure in Mumbai. But he did not choose to be CM when Shiv Sena had the opportunity and instead made one of his party men, Shri Manohar Joshi (from Dadar area of Mumbai, if I recall correctly) CM.
I think, from the 70s at least, there have been only two Chief Ministers of Maharashtra from Mumbai - Manohar Joshi and now Uddhav Thackeray. Usually, it is people from other parts of Maharashtra that became CM. Former CM Devendra Fadnavis is from Nagpur.
I have to also say that Uddhav Thackeray's speech was quite polished! He is 59 years old, just two years older to me. It is great to see a guy of around my age from Bandra East, a very familiar place to me, become CM of Maharashtra. I wonder whether he went to one of the schools in Bandra East for his school studies! If so, I may have even seen him then but not known him. The more famous schools close to Kalanagar were in Bandra (West) and Santacruz (West). Perhaps he studied in one of those schools. His wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uddhav_Thackeray, does not mention his school.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL role in these social media posts that I put up related to Indian political leaders which may include leaders in government currently and those not in government. I am an Indian citizen and resident of India. I do vote in Indian elections but I keep who I vote for as a private matter. I should also say that I am a beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy in India.
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I agree with Hon'ble Vice-President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, on this.
Shared article: Venkaiah Naidu suggests rethink on mercy appeals in heinous crimes,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/72329827.cms
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How horrible it must be now for the families of the four accused rapist-murderers! Of course, it must be much more horrible for the family of the poor lady. May God give the family of the lady strength to bear this horrendous sorrow and pain.
There should be NO MERCY and NO SYMPATHY for the rapist-murderers, if found guilty in court of law, and they should be hanged to death.
But their parents should not be psychologically tortured by society. The parents cannot be held to blame for the horrendous actions of their sons. Note that all or most of these parents are reported to have said that their sons should be punished (if found guilty), even with them being killed, for this horrendous crime. No parent has been reported to have defended this horrific alleged crime by their son.
[Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/posts/1589359401231242]
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Good move by Telangana CM.
Shared article: Telangana veterinarian's rape and murder: CM orders setting up of fast-track court for expeditious trial, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/72319608.cms
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The parents of the prime accused are very poor and have poor health! The article states that prime accused was their only source of income. He used to earn Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000 a month as a truck/lorry driver with his route being Karnataka - Hyderabad.
But him being only source of income for his ailing and poor parents should not be any grounds for mercy for this horrific crime.
May God help us!
Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/posts/1588538731313309
...
In response to a comment on related post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2672871109596116, I wrote:
It is good to know the ground reality. But no sympathy should be accorded to the rapist & murderer. If proved guilty in a court of law, I hope he is sentenced to be hanged to death, and that the sentence is carried out quickly.
Deterrence is very important in such cases to prevent or at least reduce such horrific crimes in future.
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In response to a comment on this post, I wrote:
India is a large country with a huge population. Areas of mostly law abiding and peaceful citizenry are also plentiful. Lots of places for calm spiritual sadhana. ... But places of commerce and big money do have fair level of crime, including horrendous crimes like rape & murder.
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This 6 minute video from 2006 has former Chief Minister (CM) of Maharashtra, and bigshot political leader of Maharashtra today, Sharad Pawar saheb (sir in Marathi), talking about how he reacted to 1993 Bombay chain bomb blasts (he was CM then), understood the intent of the terrorists to create Hindu-Muslim riots in Bombay and defeated that intent of the terrorists with some judicious counter-propaganda! I don't think I had known of this counter-propaganda aspect.
Walk The Talk with Sharad Pawar (Aired: August 2006), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nezc_p8d63c, around 6 mins.
I should add that the area where this part of the video interview was conducted - Marine Drive walkway next to Oberoi Hotel at Nariman Point, is very familiar to me as I have worked in Nariman Point area for some months, and have also visited that area often even when I was not working there. I loved to walk in this stretch of Marine Drive at Nariman Point.
Note that like Sharad Pawar saheb heard one of the bomb blasts, I too was in one of the areas where a bomb went off then, and heard the sound though I did not immediately understand it to be a bomb blast.
Readers may want to read my blog post about my recollections of the horror of that day in Bombay in 1993: My memories of the 1993 Bombay/Mumbai serial bomb blasts, http://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2015/07/my-memories-of-1993-bombaymumbai-serial.html, 16th July 2015.
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I empathize with this fury of the people of Hyderabad on the accused rapists & murderers but, of course, as per law of the land, they must be accorded a trial where they are judged fairly, before they are punished if judged guilty. I think the government and the judiciary together should ensure that speedy justice is delivered on this case with the sentencing, even if it is hanging to death, being carried out within a year or two (including all appeals and reviews). That will give faith to the public about the justice system being effective. On the other hand, if it gets delayed to many years, people will lose faith in the justice system for such monstrous crimes.
Hyderabad erupts, thousands lay siege to police station, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/hyderabad-erupts-thousands-lay-siege-to-police-station/articleshow/72313875.cms, 1st Dec. 2019.
The article states that the protesters (in thousands) demanded that police hand over the accused to them so that they can deliver instant justice. Many of these protesters said that the accused should "be publicly lynched and given the same treatment they meted out to the veterinary doctor."
A police officer is quoted as saying, "We understand that people are angry…but they are demanding immediate justice, which is not possible. We have deployed over 200 policemen, including special force constables, to control the crowd".
A protester held a placard, "hang the rapists", and is reported to have said, "We all are her (the woman's) brothers and now we will get justice for her".
The article mentions that a faculty member (name indicates lady) of Hindu College for Women, who was also participating in a public protest, told the newspaper, "The rapists need to be punished now so that others with criminal tendencies think twice before doing something terrifying to another woman".
I entirely agree with the faculty of Hindu College for Women. Such punishment should be given to the accused after the trial proves their guilt, and which should be speedy punishment, that other wannabe rapists & murderers of girls & women should be terrified of the consequences they will face if they carry out such monstrous acts.
Let us not fool ourselves. There are quite a few dangerous persons in India today (and also in many other countries of the world) who are potential rapists & murderers of vulnerable girls & women. This is the brutal reality in India today. It is only horrifying consequences for acts of rape & murder that will deter them from committing such acts.
[I thank indiatimes.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. Note that this post deals with a matter of well being in society.]
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Initial part of the press conference is in Telugu with some Q & A in Telugu. From around 11 mins, the lead police officer speaks in English. His English account goes on to slightly less than 15 mins. And that is followed by some Q & A in English. From close to 20 mins, the officer speaks in Hindi. From around 24 mins, the same officer speaks in Kannada! Four languages spoken by the same officer!
Full video is around 29 mins.
Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/videos/436582950623785/
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1 min video (few seconds of Advertisement video appears first) having Hyderabad vet victim's father's reaction in Hindi, followed by sister's reaction in English to the accused being killed by the police in an encounter as the accused tried to escape: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/hyderabad/hyderabad-rape-victims-family-speaks-on-encounter-killing/videoshow/72394481.cms.
Here's a text report on it: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/daugthers-soul-at-peace-now-hyderabad-vets-family-on-accused-killed-in-police-encounter-6153321/
It states that the victim's father said, "We have been spending sleepless nights. Not only the family but people of Hyderabad and the entire country are angry. Those criminals tried to escape and the police did well (then) by shooting them." He added that his daughter's soul must be at peace now, as per the report. [In the above video, he says in Hindi that his daughter's soul would be getting peace now.]
As per the article, the victim's sister said, "We are happy. We did not expect this (killing in ‘encounter’). We thought they would be hanged through courts." ... "We thank everyone who stood by us. With this incident people should be scared to indulge in such crimes (against women)".
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All 4 accused in rape-murder of Telangana vet killed while trying to flee: Cops, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/all-4-accused-in-rape-murder-of-telangana-vet-killed-in-encounter-while-trying-to-flee-police/story-IqeIVpoCCKtcOGr772WvvO.html.
According to the report, the police said, “Cyberabad Police had brought the accused persons to the crime spot for re-construction of the sequence of events. The accused snatched weapon and fired on Police. In self defence the police fired back, in which the accused were killed”.
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Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara: Oldie goldie Hindi film song from Jewel Thief (1967); Sung by Kishore Kumar, on-screen stars are Dev Anand and Tanuja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXp0mPoU2rQ, 4 min. 20 secs.
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(UK) Main parties clash over London Bridge attack and Brexit at ITV Election Debate | ITV News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omm1DH3iJR0, around 5 mins.
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Happy with new pair of computer eyeglasses from Rizwan Baba Opticals of Puttaparthi
Thought this may be useful to some Puttaparthi based readers and so am sharing it.
Please note that there is no commercial benefit for me from this post. Further, I am only reporting my positive experience. Others' experience could be similar to mine or be different.
As I do a lot of reading/viewing on the computer as a social media writer, and also perhaps due to aging, I was struggling to read fine print on the computer monitor for some time now. I also had some watering of eye problem. I had last checked and got correction lenses (bifocals for near and distant vision, and computer eye glasses) in Puttaparthi in or around April-May 2011.
A few days back, I had a chat with Baba Opticals run by Rizwan and which is located next to Police Station in Puttaparthi, and felt confident about him. So I decided to get my eyesight checked by him and get the new prescription for computer monitor reading.
He did a good job of checking my eyesight and arriving at the right correction lenses power for computer monitor reading. He also did the near and distant vision correction lenses prescription. He did not hurry me during the testing and I was able to be confident that I had given him the right feedback during the process. I also would interrupt the procedure at times to wipe my eyes to ensure there is no water in them while doing the measurement/checking. He was friendly and co-operative throughout the process.
For the lenses, I was willing to invest in branded lenses due to my heavy work on computer monitor but I did not want to go for high-end brands/types like Crizal as they are too expensive. We settled on Satin lenses (of Nova Fino brand) with features like UV protection, anti-glare and scratch-resistant of some kind (NOT scratch-proof). Here's the website page for Nova Fino (and a higher quality Thinmax): https://www.novalens.com/index.php/fsv. My lenses do not have some advanced features mentioned here like Blumax. I have also attached a screenshot of one slide/screen showing the key features.
I have used these eyeglasses lenses from Rizwan's Baba Opticals for a week or two now and am very happy with my reading/viewing on computer experience with it. As it is a single vision lens only for computer reading I can comfortably read stuff on my 22 inch TFT monitor by only moving my eyes across and up-and-down the monitor without any need for head movement.
I provided him the frame and so his charges were for the lenses and fitting (the checking and prescription are free service). I was told that the company (lens brand) has a policy of retail shops not publicly disclosing price at which it was sold to customer. So I am not in a position to mention what I paid. I should say though that Rizwan was kind enough to offer it to me at a discount, and that as I was very satisfied with the service rendered, I gave him a copy each of my two self-published books (with no obligation to read :-)).
Attached is a pic of these computer eyeglasses (frame was procured by me from elsewhere; lenses are from Rizwan), and a pic of visiting card of Rizwan Baba Opticals giving contact info. and location.
I was very happy to receive such good service in Puttaparthi for these vital needs of mine. I decided to publicly put up this post as I thought it may benefit some readers in Puttaparthi. I repeat I have no commercial interest at all in putting up this post.
FB post with pics: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2675247912691769
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Dr. Amitabh Ghosh of NASA explains the NASA findings about Vikram lander crash site in the latter part of this video:
Found Chandrayaan 2's Lander Vikram On Moon, Says NASA; Tweets Images, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lWUmGKfoXs, 9 min. 6 secs, published by NDTV on 2nd Dec. 2019.
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Good to see NASA give the Chennai based techie, credit for his work in spotting Vikram lander (debris) on moon.
https://twitter.com/Ramanean/status/1201637543394983936
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The tweet of Chennai based techie that identified Vikram lander (debris) on moon, with before & after NASA pics of that area of the moon: https://twitter.com/Ramanean/status/1179792967692734465/photo/1
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Good to be able to confirm, thanks to NASA and a Chennai-based techie, that Vikram lander crashed on the moon, even though that was earlier viewed as the most probable outcome.
"These pictures are the result of weeks of work involving Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team and Shanmuga Subramanian, a Chennai-based techie who first located the debris in the US space agency's images."
Nasa finds Chandrayaan 2 Vikram lander on Moon, credits Chennai techie. See pics, https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/nasa-vikram-lander-chandrayaan-2-releases-images-impact-site-moon-surface-1624592-2019-12-03
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Shanmuga Subramanian: Chennai Engineer Who Found Vikram Lander, https://www.thequint.com/news/india/who-is-shanmuga-subramanian-vikram-lander-found-nasa
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Quite funny and quite interesting from a serious way too.
The tweet with the 2 min video clip is this one: https://twitter.com/mattwridley/status/1197155887326076931
[Shared article: 1995 video of Bill Gates explaining The Internet to David Letterman, https://www.scoopwhoop.com/tech/1995-interview-bill-gates-david-letterman-talking-about-internet/]
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Interesting Recent Assembly Speeches (in Marathi) of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis
Mumbai | CM Uddhav Thackeray speech in vidhansabha overview | ABP Majha, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnNUbxqbLxQ, 13 min. 53 secs., 1st Dec. 2019
Shri Devendra Fadnavis on being elected as the Leader of Opposition of Legislative Assembly, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMx6nn-m0U, 18 min. 56 secs, 1st Dec. 2019
From around 1974 to 1980, I lived in Govt. Colony, Bandra (East). Kalanagar is close to it (and also in Bandra (East), where the Thackeray family has been living since those days. The bus route from Govt. Colony to Bandra railway station or central parts of Mumbai city which I had to take often, would cross Kalanagar and so Kalanagar is a very familiar place to me. I have also visited Kalanagar many times but I don't recall me ever going to even the entrance of Matoshree where the Thackeray family live.
I find it quite interesting to see a person from Kalanagar, Bandra (East) - Shri Uddhav Thackeray - becoming chief minister of Maharashtra!
Of course, Shiv Sena has always been a powerful political force from at least the 1970s in Mumbai and surrounding areas (including Dombivli that I moved to in 1980 or so from Bandra East) and Shri Balasaheb Thackeray (its founder and leader) was a very powerful figure in Mumbai. But he did not choose to be CM when Shiv Sena had the opportunity and instead made one of his party men, Shri Manohar Joshi (from Dadar area of Mumbai, if I recall correctly) CM.
I think, from the 70s at least, there have been only two Chief Ministers of Maharashtra from Mumbai - Manohar Joshi and now Uddhav Thackeray. Usually, it is people from other parts of Maharashtra that became CM. Former CM Devendra Fadnavis is from Nagpur.
I have to also say that Uddhav Thackeray's speech was quite polished! He is 59 years old, just two years older to me. It is great to see a guy of around my age from Bandra East, a very familiar place to me, become CM of Maharashtra. I wonder whether he went to one of the schools in Bandra East for his school studies! If so, I may have even seen him then but not known him. The more famous schools close to Kalanagar were in Bandra (West) and Santacruz (West). Perhaps he studied in one of those schools. His wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uddhav_Thackeray, does not mention his school.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL role in these social media posts that I put up related to Indian political leaders which may include leaders in government currently and those not in government. I am an Indian citizen and resident of India. I do vote in Indian elections but I keep who I vote for as a private matter. I should also say that I am a beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy in India.
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I agree with Hon'ble Vice-President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, on this.
Shared article: Venkaiah Naidu suggests rethink on mercy appeals in heinous crimes,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/72329827.cms
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How horrible it must be now for the families of the four accused rapist-murderers! Of course, it must be much more horrible for the family of the poor lady. May God give the family of the lady strength to bear this horrendous sorrow and pain.
There should be NO MERCY and NO SYMPATHY for the rapist-murderers, if found guilty in court of law, and they should be hanged to death.
But their parents should not be psychologically tortured by society. The parents cannot be held to blame for the horrendous actions of their sons. Note that all or most of these parents are reported to have said that their sons should be punished (if found guilty), even with them being killed, for this horrendous crime. No parent has been reported to have defended this horrific alleged crime by their son.
[Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/posts/1589359401231242]
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Good move by Telangana CM.
Shared article: Telangana veterinarian's rape and murder: CM orders setting up of fast-track court for expeditious trial, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/72319608.cms
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The parents of the prime accused are very poor and have poor health! The article states that prime accused was their only source of income. He used to earn Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000 a month as a truck/lorry driver with his route being Karnataka - Hyderabad.
But him being only source of income for his ailing and poor parents should not be any grounds for mercy for this horrific crime.
May God help us!
Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/posts/1588538731313309
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In response to a comment on related post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2672871109596116, I wrote:
It is good to know the ground reality. But no sympathy should be accorded to the rapist & murderer. If proved guilty in a court of law, I hope he is sentenced to be hanged to death, and that the sentence is carried out quickly.
Deterrence is very important in such cases to prevent or at least reduce such horrific crimes in future.
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In response to a comment on this post, I wrote:
India is a large country with a huge population. Areas of mostly law abiding and peaceful citizenry are also plentiful. Lots of places for calm spiritual sadhana. ... But places of commerce and big money do have fair level of crime, including horrendous crimes like rape & murder.
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This 6 minute video from 2006 has former Chief Minister (CM) of Maharashtra, and bigshot political leader of Maharashtra today, Sharad Pawar saheb (sir in Marathi), talking about how he reacted to 1993 Bombay chain bomb blasts (he was CM then), understood the intent of the terrorists to create Hindu-Muslim riots in Bombay and defeated that intent of the terrorists with some judicious counter-propaganda! I don't think I had known of this counter-propaganda aspect.
Walk The Talk with Sharad Pawar (Aired: August 2006), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nezc_p8d63c, around 6 mins.
I should add that the area where this part of the video interview was conducted - Marine Drive walkway next to Oberoi Hotel at Nariman Point, is very familiar to me as I have worked in Nariman Point area for some months, and have also visited that area often even when I was not working there. I loved to walk in this stretch of Marine Drive at Nariman Point.
Note that like Sharad Pawar saheb heard one of the bomb blasts, I too was in one of the areas where a bomb went off then, and heard the sound though I did not immediately understand it to be a bomb blast.
Readers may want to read my blog post about my recollections of the horror of that day in Bombay in 1993: My memories of the 1993 Bombay/Mumbai serial bomb blasts, http://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2015/07/my-memories-of-1993-bombaymumbai-serial.html, 16th July 2015.
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I empathize with this fury of the people of Hyderabad on the accused rapists & murderers but, of course, as per law of the land, they must be accorded a trial where they are judged fairly, before they are punished if judged guilty. I think the government and the judiciary together should ensure that speedy justice is delivered on this case with the sentencing, even if it is hanging to death, being carried out within a year or two (including all appeals and reviews). That will give faith to the public about the justice system being effective. On the other hand, if it gets delayed to many years, people will lose faith in the justice system for such monstrous crimes.
Hyderabad erupts, thousands lay siege to police station, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/hyderabad-erupts-thousands-lay-siege-to-police-station/articleshow/72313875.cms, 1st Dec. 2019.
The article states that the protesters (in thousands) demanded that police hand over the accused to them so that they can deliver instant justice. Many of these protesters said that the accused should "be publicly lynched and given the same treatment they meted out to the veterinary doctor."
A police officer is quoted as saying, "We understand that people are angry…but they are demanding immediate justice, which is not possible. We have deployed over 200 policemen, including special force constables, to control the crowd".
A protester held a placard, "hang the rapists", and is reported to have said, "We all are her (the woman's) brothers and now we will get justice for her".
The article mentions that a faculty member (name indicates lady) of Hindu College for Women, who was also participating in a public protest, told the newspaper, "The rapists need to be punished now so that others with criminal tendencies think twice before doing something terrifying to another woman".
I entirely agree with the faculty of Hindu College for Women. Such punishment should be given to the accused after the trial proves their guilt, and which should be speedy punishment, that other wannabe rapists & murderers of girls & women should be terrified of the consequences they will face if they carry out such monstrous acts.
Let us not fool ourselves. There are quite a few dangerous persons in India today (and also in many other countries of the world) who are potential rapists & murderers of vulnerable girls & women. This is the brutal reality in India today. It is only horrifying consequences for acts of rape & murder that will deter them from committing such acts.
[I thank indiatimes.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. Note that this post deals with a matter of well being in society.]
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