Sunday 1 January 2012

Jayaprakash Narayan

About Dr Jayaprakash Narayan

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan is a physician by training who went into the Indian Administrative Service in the aftermath of the Emergency and failure of the Janata Experiment. He was a topper in the IAS exam. During the 16 years of distinguished public service in various capacities, he acquired a formidable reputation in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

Some of his major accomplishments while in government

* As Joint Collector, he worked for the speedy rehabilitation of 8000 youth from displaced families of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
* As Collector of Prakasm of District, he was instrumental in the creation of a record 2,00,000 acres of irrigation , the largest such program with direct participation of people
* As Collector of East Godavari District, he spearheaded the reconstruction of drainage and irrigation network in Krishna and Godavari deltas.
* He served as Secretary to both Governor and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
* He worked on strengthening of the credit cooperatives and making them independent of government control.

His other accomplishments include several major policy initiatives, including

* empowerment of parents in schools
* speedy justice through rural courts
* economic reform and restructuring of AP
* development of the Infocity in Hyderabad
* the much-acclaimed law for self reliant cooperatives (1995)
* empowerment of local governments and stakeholders

In spite of an impressive personal achievement, Dr Narayan's experience in government convinced him that faulty governance process was the biggest hurdle to India and Indians achieving greater success. And what India needs today is a fundamental change in the rules of the game and not a periodic change of players.

In order to translate his vision into practical reality, he resigned from Service (IAS) in 1996, and worked with like-minded colleagues for the formation of Lok Satta and is currently its National Coordinator. Lok Satta has now emerged as India is leading civil society initiative for governance reforms. It has wide reach, name recognition, credibility and passive support of about 20% of the population of Andhra Pradesh. Lok Satta is now building alliances across India. State-level initiatives are encouraged based on Lok Satta's experience. These initiatives in a few major states will then build a common platform for national effort for governance reform. Lok Satta is primarily focusing on Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa and Gujarat in this quest for building a national platform. - SAK

Konijeti Rosaiah కొణిజేటి రోశయ్య

Konijeti Rosaiah (Telugu: కొణిజేటి రోశయ్య; Tamil: கொனிஜெட்டி ரோசையா) (born 4 July 1933) is the current Governor of Tamil Nadu[2] and a former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.[3][4][5] He was previously an MLC, MLA & MP of the Indian National Congress numerous times and has handled many ministerial posts over his long political career spanning over half a century. He is one of the most experienced political leaders in the state and his role as the Finance Minister is most recognized

Early Life


Rosaiah was born in Vysya community and a middle class agricultural family in Vemuru, near Tenali in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh.[7] He graduated from Guntur Hindu College, Andhra University in Commerce. While he was studying in Guntur, he was elected as the student leader and thus entered into politics.

 Political Career


Rosaiah is a political disciple of Swatantra Party leader and independence activist N.G. Ranga.[8] He was elected as MLC in 1968, 1974, 1980 and 2009 and as an MLA in 1989 and 2004 from Chirala assembly constituency. In 1998, he was elected as MP from Narasaraopet. During his long political career is had interacted and worked closely with most of the Prime Ministers of India including Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

Ministerial Portfolios held


  • Cabinet Minister for Transportation and Roads and Buildings under M.Chenna Reddy from 1979.
  • Cabinet Minister for Transportation and Housing under T.Anjaiah from 1980.
  • Cabinet Minister for Home under K. Vijaya Bhasker Reddy from 1982.
  • Cabinet Minister for Finance, Transportation and Electricity under M.Chenna Reddy from 1989.
  • Cabinet Minister for Finance, Medical & Health, Education and Electricity under Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy from 1990.
  • Cabinet Minister for Finance, Medical & Health, Education and Electricity under Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy from 1992.
  • Cabinet Minister for Finance, Planning & Legislative Affairs under Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy from 2004.
  • Now, in 2011, Working as Governor For Tamil Nadu state

As PCC President


Rosaiah was the President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) from 1995 to 1997.

As Finance Minister


Rosaiah presented the state budget 16 times, including 7 times in a row, a record in the country.[8] He served as a finance minister under Marri Chenna Reddy, Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy and Y. S. Rajashekhara Reddy. In his tenure as Finance Minister in Chenna Reddy's cabinet, he ensured that teachers received retirement benefits. Rosaiah is well known for adhering to strict fiscal management principles and effective mobilization & utilization of government funds. His contribution to the state as its longest serving finance minister are well recognised.

As Chief Minister


Rosaiah took over as the Chief Minister after the untimely demise of Y. S. Rajashekhara Reddy. In his tenure, Rosaiah strived to bring political stability to the state and continue all the welfare programs planned and initiated by his predecessor. He is often credited for the effective management of the flood situation during October 2009, the law and order situation with respect to the Telangana agitation which started in December 2010, effective budgetary management, streamlining of the delivery systems of welfare programs etc. He submitted his resignation as Chief Minister to the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, ESL Narasimhan on 24th Nov 2010 citing health reasons.[9] Mr. Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy was sworn in as the Chief Minister after Mr. Rosaiah by the governor ESL Narasimhan.

As Governor of Tamil Nadu


On 26 August 2011, President Pratibha Patil, appointed Rosaiah as the new Governor of Tamil Nadu succeeding Surjit Singh Barnala. Rosaiah was sworn in as Governor on 31 August 2011 by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Tamil Nadu.

Personal Life


Rosaiah is married to Sivalaxmi and has three children. He is a devout family man and likes spending time with his family and old friends.


Thursday 29 December 2011

new planets

A rocky planet the same size as the Earth has been discovered orbiting a star like our sun.
It is the first time a planet of this size has been detected in another solar system. Scientists have hailed the technical achievement of detecting Earth sized ‘exoplanets’ - the technical term for planets outside the solar system - as it increases the chances of finding life-bearing worlds.
Although the planet, Kepler-20f could have a thick water-vapour atmosphere, its surface is believed to be too hot for life.
A planetary line-up depicting the Earth-sized extrasolar planets Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f - alongside Earth and Venus. Kepler-20f may have a watery atmosphere while Kepler-20e is entirely rocky and probably has no atmosphere at all
Kepler 20f has been hailed as a major discovery - it's the first earth-sized planet found orbiting a star like our own Sun

‘This could be an important milestone. I think 10 years or maybe even 100 years from now people will look back and ask when the first Earth-sized planet was found. It is very exciting,' says Dr Fessin

A second planet in the same system, Kepler-20e, is only slightly smaller than Earth and even hotter.
Both worlds circle their parent star closely with 'years' that last just nine and sixteen days respectively.
Dr Francois Fressin, one of the astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US, said: ‘It is the first time humanity has been able to discover an object similar to the Earth around a star, so maybe we will be able to find others.
‘This could be an important milestone. I think 10 years or maybe even 100 years from now people will look back and ask when was the first Earth-sized planet found. It is very exciting.’
Nasa's Kepler space telescope is built specifically to look for worlds outside our solar system. It scans distant stars for 'distortions' that indicate a planet has passed in front of it, using an array of digital camera sensors
Nasa's Kepler space telescope is built specifically to look for worlds outside our solar system. It scans distant stars for 'distortions' that indicate a planet has passed in front of it, using an array of digital camera sensors
The parent star, Kepler-20, is not exactly a close neighbour, being 945 light years away.
Neither lie within the ‘habitable zone’ where temperatures are just warm enough to allow liquid surface water, increasing the prospects for life.

 
A number of extrasolar planets have already been identified with radiuses of 1.5 to twice that of the Earth.
But Dr Fressin pointed out that even these have far more volume than the Earth and it would be wrong to consider them truly ‘Earth-like’.
Kepler-f
Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f compared with Venus and the Earth. Scientists have found the two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star, an encouraging sign for prospects of finding life elsewhere

Nasa's Kepler telescope has found 28 confirmed extrasolar planets so far - but thousands of likely 'candidate' planets. The discovery of a planet so close to our earth in size is highly significant, says Nasa
Nasa's Kepler telescope has found 28 confirmed extrasolar planets so far - but thousands of likely 'candidate' planets. The discovery of a planet so close to our earth in size is highly significant, says Nasa
Earlier this month the telescope discovered Kepler-22b, a planet 2.4 times the size of the Earth situated in the middle of its habitable zone. But scientists say that Kepler 22-b may not be suitable for life.
‘You could fit 13 Earths inside Kepler-22b,’ said Dr Fressin. ‘The most likely thing is that it's simply a mini-Neptune, not suitable for life. Just because a planet lies within the habitable zone that doesn't mean it is habitable.’
Like Kepler-22b, the two new planets were found by the American space agency Nasa's Kepler space telescope - which scans distant stars for the signs of 'transits', planets passing in front of them.
The findings are reported today in an early online edition of the journal Nature.
Both planets are part of a solar system family already known to contain three larger worlds.
Kepler-20f has a radius just 1.03 times larger than Earth's, while Kepler-20e is 0.87 the size of the Earth.


Discovery: An artist's impression of the planet Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star
Discovery: An artist's impression of the planet Kepler-22b, the earlier 'find' by the Kepler telescope
The astronomers spent years making sure the signals they detected really were from planets.
‘We simulated all possible alternative configurations and tried to quantify the probability that a false signal could occur,’ said Dr Fressin. ‘We confirmed that the signals were coming from an Earth-size planet. It couldn't be due to anything else.’
Both planets are believed to be rocky, with a composition of iron and silicate, and very hot.
Kepler-20f is a baking 426C and Kepler-20e a scorching 726c.
The solar system is not hugely like our own, though. In our solar system small, rocky worlds orbit close to the Sun and large, gas giant worlds orbit farther out. In contrast, the planets of Kepler-20 are organized in alternating size: big, little, big, little, big.

'We were surprised to find this system of flip-flopping planets,' said co-author David Charbonneau of the CfA.

The planets of Kepler-20 could not have formed in their current locations. Instead, they must have formed farther from their star and then migrated inward, probably through interactions with the disk of material from which all the planets orbiting the star formed from.

Kepler identifies 'objects of interest' by looking for stars that dim slightly, which can occur when a planet crosses the star's face.

To confirm a transiting planet, astronomers look for the star to wobble as it is gravitationally tugged by its orbiting companion.
Kepler has found 28 confirmed planets so far.

SACHIN TENDULKAR

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar About this sound pronunciation (Marathi: सचिन रमेश तेंडुलकर; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket.[2][3][4] He is the first male player to score a double century in ODI cricket.[5][6] In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards.[7] Tendulkar was an integral part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning Indian team at the later part of his career, his first such win in six World Cup appearances for India.[8]
Tendulkar is the first and the only player in Test Cricket history to score fifty centuries, and the first to score fifty centuries in all international cricket combined; he now has 99 centuries (48 ODI & 51 Test cricket) in international cricket.[9] On 17 October 2008, when he surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000, 13,000, 14,000 and 15,000 runs in that form of the game,[10] having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket.[11] He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history. In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed Australia's Allan Border to become the player to cross the 50-run mark the most number of times in Test cricket history, and also the second ever player to score 11 Test centuries against Australia, tying with Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years previously.[12] Tendulkar passed 30,000 runs in international cricket on 20 November 2009. On 24 Februrary 2010, Tendulkar became the first man to score a double century (200*) in an ODI against South Africa. On 8 November 2011, Tendulkar became the first batsman to score 15,000 runs in Test Cricket. He also holds the world record for playing highest number of Test and ODI matches.
Tendulkar has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour. Tendulkar became the first sportsperson and the first person without an aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force. He has received honorary doctorates from University of Mysore[13] and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences[14] He won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards.[15]


Wednesday 28 December 2011

New Delhi: Anna Hazare is on stage with children wearing 'I am Anna' caps. Anna's stubble is gone; he is freshly shaved, and dressed in spotless white kurta-pyjama. More than 15,000 people are at Ramlila Maidan to cheer Anna The tension is gone; Team Anna looks relaxed and smiling on stage Kejriwal: Thank the PM, MPs; historic moment for India Anna Hazare takes tender coconut water mixed with honey offered by two little girls Simran and Ikra Anna Hazare: I thank all the supporters, this is your victory Anna Hazare: You have all struggled for last 13 days and this is the fruit of it Anna Hazare: I thank Dr Trehan and his team who attended to me well; I also thank the civil society members Anna Hazare: All my supporters carried out the non-violent movement for 13 days, this is a lesson for the world. Anna Hazare: We must change the election system in the country. People must have the right reject. Anna Hazare:People power is bigger than Parliament. Anna Hazare: This is a victory for all the people. Anna Hazare: Fight has now begun for electoral reforms and changes in education and other sectors Anna Hazare: I have just defererd my agitation, the fight is on for Lokpal Anna Hazare: Don't remain silent even after passage of a strong Lokpal, continue your fight for change in system Anna Hazare: I have only suspended my agitation. I will not rest until all the changes that I look to are achieved. Anna Hazare: This movement has created a faith that the country can be rid of corruption and we can go ahead with implementing laws and the Constitution made by Dr B R Ambedkar Anna Hazare: We have to reform electoral system. (We need) Right to Reject. You should be able to reject your candidate in the ballot paper. We have to do that. If majority say they do not like any of the candidates in the fray, the election should be cancelled. How much money they (candidates) will distribute? Once the candidate spends Rs. 10 crore for one election and if the election is cancelled, then right sense will dawn upon them,"

New Delhi: 
  • Anna Hazare is on stage with children wearing 'I am Anna' caps.
  • Anna's stubble is gone; he is freshly shaved, and dressed in spotless white kurta-pyjama.
  • More than 15,000 people are at Ramlila Maidan to cheer Anna
  • The tension is gone; Team Anna looks relaxed and smiling on stage
  • Kejriwal: Thank the PM, MPs; historic moment for India
  • Anna Hazare takes tender coconut water mixed with honey offered by two little girls Simran and Ikra
  • Anna Hazare: I thank all the supporters, this is your victory
  • Anna Hazare: You have all struggled for last 13 days and this is the fruit of it
  • Anna Hazare: I thank Dr Trehan and his team who attended to me well; I also thank the civil society members
  • Anna Hazare: All my supporters carried out the non-violent movement for 13 days, this is a lesson for the world.
  • Anna Hazare: We must change the election system in the country. People must have the right reject.
  • Anna Hazare:People power is bigger than Parliament.
  • Anna Hazare: This is a victory for all the people.
  • Anna Hazare: Fight has now begun for electoral reforms and changes in education and other sectors
  • Anna Hazare: I have just defererd my agitation, the fight is on for Lokpal
  • Anna Hazare: Don't remain silent even after passage of a strong Lokpal, continue your fight for change in system
  • Anna Hazare: I have only suspended my agitation. I will not rest until all the changes that I look to are achieved.
  • Anna Hazare: This movement has created a faith that the country can be rid of corruption and we can go ahead with implementing laws and the Constitution made by Dr B R Ambedkar
  • Anna Hazare: We have to reform electoral system. (We need) Right to Reject. You should be able to reject your candidate in the ballot paper. We have to do that. If majority say they do not like any of the candidates in the fray, the election should be cancelled. How much money they (candidates) will distribute? Once the candidate spends Rs. 10 crore for one election and if the election is cancelled, then right sense will dawn upon them,"

LEZEND

Having to prepare a best man speech can be very nerve wracking. Therefore, planning ahead would be an ideal thing to do. If you’re not used to speaking in front of large groups of people, then that’s alright. No one is going to expect you to deliver it perfectly, as long as you show that you have put a lot of thought and effort into it that will be enough to impress the bride and groom, as well as the rest of the guests.
Rehearse your best man speech several times before the wedding. Practice it in front of mutual friends, that will also be attending the wedding, and get their opinion of it. Best man speeches are always as good as the best man has prepared for it.