snaps of Kerala trip ...

Very good one......

at Netaji Bose park, ekm, Dada and mom cemetery, at babuchayan's house and kids on Aleppey beach..

driiving was great..

ge..

Why is 2008 considered to be an eventful year compared to earlier years ??

Can we forget Bjindra's gold, Chandraayan or 123 agreement ?? Here is a compilation of some of the major events in the political, economic and sports arena in India and the world which I felt have motivated or have had lasting impact on the world as of now or on future events to come .

Political

1. Al-QaedaLashkar-e-Taiba - gets more violent, the Mumbai blasts and terrorists killing and holding hostages at major points in Mumbai like CST, Hotel Taj, Hotel Trident, Chabad House, Cama Hospital etc.. has been shocking.
2. The 123 Nuclear agreement with US was a land mark deal.
3. Obama becomes the first non-white man to be elected as the President of US

Science and Technology :

1. ISRO's Chandraayan reaches moon ..

Economic -

1. The sub-prime crisis in US rattles economies and share markets all over the world.
2. Madoff dupes investors of $ 50 billions
3. The rise and fall of oil prices - from $157 to $ 45


Sports :

1. China holds one of the most extravagant and exciting Olympics of all time in Beijing....
2. Phelps breaks Mark Spitzs' record of seve golds by getting 8 golds in an Olympics.
3. Husain Bolt of Jamaica becomes the fastest man on earth running 100 m in 9.69 sec.
4. Vish Anand becomes the World Champion in Chess for the third time, getting i the league of Garry Kasporov, Bobby Fisher ...
5. Abhinav Bhindra gets the first gold in Rifle shooting for India at the Olympics.

Why is Israeli onslaught not being contained ??

An elected representative of the Palestinians in Gaza strip, the Hamas, even though everybody agrees is a terrorist group, should not be pounded as heavily by the Israelis armed forces as is happening now...  With 40 air strikes aimed at Hamas installations, 360 dead (50 civilians) and over a thousand injured, the call for revenge of these killngs is getting sharper day by day. 

Maybe for the Israelis, the patience is running out suffering Hamas' missile attacks into Israeli territory.

With Israeli PM saying this is just the beginning, it is not known whether these attacks are for the electoral benefits for Israeli ruling party ..

The cycle of violence and revenge is just continuing with no end..

Australian arrogance on and off field over !!

With South Africa beating Australia by 9 wickets in the second test match in Australia and having clinched the series the Aussies have learnt the hard leson. Arrogance and sledging does not always pay off on and off the field.

There are others who are better thn them and someday, they will have to bite the dust..

After a pathetic bashing from India to receive the same harsh and cruel treatment from South Africa was to much the Aussies could digest..

Maybe it is a lesson or two for Ponting the Aussie captain ..

Sister Abhaya case - shocking revelations ..

http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/30/stories/2008123050250100.htm

The shocking revelations of the famed Sister Abhaya case unfolding day by day makes one think whether marriage of priests is a panacea for such evils ?? If we were to believe the CBI, these reports are very disturbing ..

Sexual gratification is a natural instinct across homosapiens. The only issue is when it overlaps established customs and beliefs .. 

In the Orthodox church and some protestant churches, priests can marry, but they do not become high priests/ bishops etc.. Over the years that has been found to be the perfect solution to such abuses. 

Let marriage be an option and let us not force celibacy among spiritual practitioners.

The nuns having to decide on celibacy very early in life is also a troubling question.

In any case, it has to be left to the individual at a mature age to decide whether to take celibacy or not than to face such humiliating instances..

ge..

Bernie Madoff, the con of the century ..

The Con of the century - that is how the Economist, 2 Jan 09, has called Bernard Madoff, the former Chairman of NasDaq, who was running the biggest pyramid scheme (new customers paying off old..) in the history of mankind, the biggest ponzi ( chitti) scheme .

The old depositors were given a min of 10 % returns during times, thick and thin by using the money of the new depositors to pay them off. He was  a very respectful person and many of the fund managers never bothered to check his credentials and investigate the allegations and silent way in which he run the biggest fraud in the history of mankind on the people of the United States. He has not only slapped them on their faces, he has given the present Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (like our SEBI) sleepless nights and Mr Cox will be losing his job soon.

Occasionally Madoff used to eject some customers who asked inconvenient questions regarding where and how the funds were being invested and occasionally he also rejected new applicants and their money to give a sense of respectability to this fraud on the poor, rich, dumb, ignorant depositors .. 

Respectable Madoff is 50 Harshad Mehtas in one, having duped customers of $ 50 billion, app Rs.2,50,000 crore of rupees. ( just to give the magnitude of fraud by this high society, sophisticated fraudster)

The list of the duped include Steven Spelberg, HSBC Bank and scores of others....

The low levels to which corporate financial governance can slip to !!!!

ge..

Reji at MGOCSM centenary..

Reji Mathew, 81-86, CET, civil was at Parumala..

Some memories they never end ....

ge..