The Golden 80s

My all time favorite Whitesnake is back in an electrifying style with a their 12th album called Purple. An official announcement from the hard rock band's site says "The Purple Album will be released in North America on May 19th... is a re-imagination of classic songs from David Coverdale’s time as the lead singer for Deep Purple’s Mark 3 and Mark 4 studio albums." And their cover of Deep Purple classic Stormbringer is gaining traction on YouTube. Obvioulsy, the cover song is more scorching and thrashy than Deep Purple's original.

A new UN report titled Water in the World We Want  urges that "...national governments must make sustainable advancements in water, wastewater, and sanitation management, reduce corruption, and hold energy and agricultural sectors responsible for waster use efficiencies. The 94-page report is a comprehensive one for experts working on managing water and water resources. Let me quote a few gems from the repot: The global water crisis is not that there isn’t enough water on Earth to meet all needs; it is a crisis of there not being enough water where we want it, when we want it, of sufficient quality to meet these needs. As long as there are governments, corporations, and individuals out to protect only their own interests, wealth will continue to be ill-distributed, financial resources will remain inadequate, and vulnerable populations will continue to bear inequitable costs and consequences. Lack of basic services actually increases expenditure in other sectors and categ...

While the BJP's debacle at New Delhi cannot linked to lack of reforms, Indian Express feels that reforms should be accelerated in collaboration with the opposition and the states. I can't agree more with "Liberalism can’t be taken as a licence to indulge in vulgarity" as said by the Express  about the ever-increasing fall in the standards of language in popular entertainment. And it is nobody's case that India stands a chance in the cricket world cup down under. The Hindu writes that dealing with black money requires internal and external steps, and in the second edit questions the recent tie-up of Facebook and Reliance. The Telegraph cannot agree with a bit of decency on TV, followed by Hindustan Times  who echoes the same liberal pro-western values. Deccan Herald blasts the Bihar Governor's impropriety in giving time to Manjhi, and in another editorial  supports South Africa to win the cricket world cup. Deccan Chronicle also finds problems with ...

The environment ministry's existence requires an overhaul. It has so far functioned as another project clearance agency, a remnant of the old licence-permit raj dispensation. The principal activity of this department must be to safeguard the environment of India, and not the single-handed purpose of clearing projects. Instead, it has degenerated known for its controversial decisions, yes or no to high-profile projects, and lies created by a section of pro-free-market journalists First of all, the ministry must have an environmental philosophy that outlines what exactly it will achieve in the next few decades. The environment ministry's objectives should never be for the next five years or the period when the existing government is in power. The philosophy must be to safeguard the environment without landing in controversies involving delayed project clearances that subverts its primary mission and functional role. It requires a cadre of officials, professionals, political...

While watching the MEA press conference yesterday, I felt that there were "less details" about the Indo-US talks and less concrete answers when the journalists' pressed for more information. So, the following is what the foreign and Indian press said about the talks. Understandably, the US media was more skeptical, while the Indian media was not sure about the nitty-gritties of the deal and the insurance pool amount that will be created. Overall the reports indicated a new warmth and progress in Indo-US relations, but also noted the atmospherics and the live media coverage. New York Times : "...two countries sought to transform a fraught geopolitical relationship into a fresh partnership for a new era of cooperation." On nuclear liability: "...The details remained vague, and it was unclear whether the understanding would convince American companies.." "...Mr. Modi’s reference to Mr. Obama by his first name drew notice..." (Talking h...

There is only one thing that can make me feel better at any time of the day or in any mood. It is Music. Since all music TV is just video crap and the new music dance/trance/EDM trends are ridiculous. let me sit back and enjoy the great musicians who created great music 20-30 years back. And they are still around and I can listen to them because of the World Wide Web. No time for music porn as I insert White Lion/s Big Game CD into my computer. New albums to listen to: Frank Hannon Band - Born Free Paul Skowron (Former Noisy Mama singer) solo CD 'Resurrection Road' Guitarist Ritchie Kotzzen's new album Europe - War Of Kings AC/DC - Rock or Bust Revolution Saints first album Lynch Mob - Sun Red Sun A second-hand bookstore forced me to buy the following: Mass Communication in India - Keval J Kumar Granta - The magazine of new writing 107 Granta - The Best of Young American Novelists (2007) Thomas Piketty is still there and I have reached page 10 . 

Providing a grim warning to all government across the globe,the IPCC says "..the unrestricted use of fossil fuels should be phased out by 2100, if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change. A BBC report says the IPCC's Synthesis Report says that most of the world's electricity can - and must - be produced from low-carbon sources by 2050. Sea otters are indirectly in mitigating climate change as they feed voraciously feed on sea urchins and increases the carbon storage in kelp forests . Nuclear power is back as nations start construction of new nuclear reactors in a bid to tackle climate change and use less fossil fuels in the future. India to form 25 special teams to check the source of pollution in the River Ganges .

Jobs like journalism and technical writing require employers to assess a candidate's writing skills. While CVs and covering letters can be written by someone else, an on-the-spot test will definitely reveal the real writing skills of a candidate. So, you go to an interview, and you are asked to write a test. The test will mostly consist of a few stupid grammar questions, followed by a question to write an essay, or rewrite a passage. The biggest issue with such an approach is my poor handwriting. I do still keep notes, but the amount of writing done is pretty less. After a few minutes into the test, I really struggle to keep the words getting bigger and bigger on the answer sheet. Towards the end of the test, it gets really bad, with the letters getting bigger and fatter, and more sheets of paper required to completing the test. In IT, innovation is the buzzword (Since I am writing a blog post, I am not expanding the abbreviation as per the guidelines in innumerable style gui...

Most of the newspapers carry one or more editorials on all days except Sundays. Editorials state the newspaper's "editorial view" on matters of local, national, and international importance. They are actually official position of the newspaper about an issue and it varies from paper to paper. The main purpose of an editorial is to analyze, interpret, criticize, persuade, or praise issues of the day.  The structure of an editorial consists of the following parts: Lead or statement : The editorial starts with a statement opposing, criticizing, or supporting (which is very rare) a newsworthy incident. This explains the incident being referred to and provides essential details about the incident. This is important because the editorial may be written a few days after an incident. The explanation will also allow the reader to recollect the story if he or she has forgotten the details. Explanation : After the lead or introduction, the editorial will now explain the o...

There were two lifts in that building. In front of one of the lifts, there was a blue chair, that cheap plastic variety I would have bought if I were a slum dog. The chair was facing the lift as if they were engaged in an infinite conversation. The other lift seemed to be working and a yellow flash of light showed that it was coming down. The lift opened, I said second floor to the lift operator, went to where I wanted to go, and climbed the stairs down as the lift had no buttons. The only sure destinations were the top floor and the ground floor. As I made my exit, I saw a man lying on a tree branch. The tree did not have much leaves and the trunk was dark. I thought of cutting one of the branches, or simply pushing the man down. Then I decided to walk towards the left from where a strong smell of fried fish was wafting in.

Real estate: According to real estate honchos, India should grow at 8% (including environmental clearances), to grow economically and to create jobs. But for whom is this real estate growing? Not for the middle class or the poor. Definitely not. But a big yes for the filthy rich. Just see the apartments, duplexes, and penthouses on offer. They are just five-star luxury suites packaged for the rich in India. These are not the typical Indian homes that we all grew up and would want to live in. These Rs 6-10 cr luxury suites can be bought by the rich and those with black money. Or those who are willing to pawn their entire life to the bank and the real estate company. In the early 90s, it was alleged that the IMF and World Bank would enslave all Indians and herald the second colonization of India after the British. Even the World Bank miscalculated the potential of Indian businessmen. And in the 90s, we said so many things. We don't remember most of them. Youth : As a youth I als...

The human nose can detect at least 1 trillion different odours, much higher than the 10,000 scents earlier estimated, says the Nature magazine . The noted science magazine also says that the human nose has around 400 types of scent receptors.

Have you ever wondered what constitutes a crime committed by an editor or a reviewer? In the days of proofreading, there were standard symbols associated with the changes to be made in a copy or manuscript. When it came to desktop publishing, the editor or reviewer used to turn the Track Changes feature in a word processing software like Microsoft Word on. Technical writing tools such as Adobe FrameMaker and Madcap Flare enable commenting on a document. Adobe Acrobat allows comments in PDF docs. So, despite all these modern facilities, what if someone goes to the extent of editing text on the sly in a document? Edits that the poor writer discovers later and finds them damn wrong. One reason may be overconfidence. The reviewer would have been so overconfident and would have never imagined that the edits would be wrong. The reviewer must not be knowing that industry practice provides the benefit of doubt to the writer. The mantra, "When in doubt, check it out." applies to...

If you believe that human beings are the ultimate species on earth bestowed with all the qualities that can ever be imagined, please think twice. BBC reports that elephants can recognise human voices and also differentiate the voice of a kid from that of an adult. And the reaosn why they can or have learnt to recognise human voices is that they are scared of human beings. For the poor elephants, human beings are the most feared predators. As human beings, we all know what that really means.

1 I love cricket. I like to waste time by watching cricket, even though the results many not be in line with what I want or like. Indian cricket fans know that. Team India will lose when we expect them to win; the team will win when we expect them to lose. Just like the lives of millions in this "developing" country and also the "Next Big Thing" in the world, we are used to frustration. Usually, the teams had the dressing room where the team, next batsmen, coach, and the 12th man used to sit and watch the game. But, somehow T20 heralded the arrival of a new term to cricket: Dugout. On checking at M-W.com, Dugout is "either of two low shelters on either side of and facing a baseball diamond that contain the players' benches." The key thing is "baseball". Yeah, baseball. With T20, cricket is or resembles baseball. Because, here, in T20, what matters is over the top ecstasy. Whether the batsmen can hit the maximum number of balls out o...

Analytics is the buzzword now and technical communicators cannot stay away from that either. There is a really interesting discussion going on at the "Users of MadCap Flare" group at Linkedin. The discussion is centered around how Google Analytics can be implemented in a Flare HTML 5.0 project. It is a good discussion and is pretty useful. Please have a check.

There is something called "principles" in journalism, just like those in other prestigious professions. Besides the cardinal principles of Truth, Verification, and Informed Criticism, there is a thing called uncomfortable "questioning" employed by professional journalists to ferret out information and truth, and to counter canards, lies, and misinformation. Flowing with the tide cannot be journalism in the strictest sense of the Fourth Estate, and it is a characteristic more suited to Public Relations (PR) and spin crafted in corridors of power. Now, cut to another story. A respected court of law found someone guilty in a serial blast case and sentenced him to six years in jail. As per the law, any convict is eligible for 90 days parole in a calendar year. The convict was released on furlough for 14 days on October 1, 2013 and had applied for an extension of another 14 days, after which he returned to Yerawada on October 30, before being granted parole in Decemb...

Ok. Hard rockers Wolfmother is gonna play live in India for the first time. The band will play in Hyderabad on March 8, at the BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus, says the Bookmyshow website. The band rocked to fame with their retro-rock sounding hit, Woman , but my favourite song from the debut album was White Unicorn . And there is no special reason why I like this song.