What's In Today

The most fabulous piece of news (no, I'm not being sarcastic) I've heard in a long long time calls for no preamble today.

1. It's official. India will host its first Formula 1 Grand Prix on October 30, 2011.
With this new track being built at Greater Noida by the same guy who gave the world the F1 circuits in Malaysia, Bahrain, China, Turkey, UAE and South Korea (I guess I should mention his name-some Mr. Herman Tilke), formula one racing in India has almost come to a full circle -with our own driver (past perfect) and Team (Mwaah Mallaya!!).

Also what warmed the heart was that the 5.14km track is built by the Noida-based Jaypee Sports International. The U.S. of A should be taking notes on how to prevent outsourcing rather than whining about it and then tackling it by asking lame questions about their history which I doubt even a patriot there would know!


2. Commonwealth Games
I can't seem to get enough of taking a dig at India's first international sporting biggie. The latest that is in on this front if that work will continue upto 3rd October. Here's the catch- 3rd October conincidently happens to be the day the CWG actually start! Blame it on the procedural hurdles or the incessant rains that seem to be bugging only Delhi (Come over to the land that goes by the name Durgapur, O Merciful Rain God!), we citizens can still accept that. However, some dud in the Delhi ministry went on to say ' Bhai, this is toh democracy..' (something to that effect).

By the way, I can't help feeling sorry (for everybody and nobody at the same time) when I read this piece of news- "This Friday, Delhi braces for worst flood since 1978". Amen.

3. Crucial Babri title suit verdict on Sept 24.
All Hail the Lord (Ram or Rahim-your pick)!. In what will certainly not be the end of the 60-year old tussle, the Allahabad High Court will give its verdict on the ownership of the Babri site. Next stop: The Supreme Court of course. This verdict though will certainly set a precedent to what has eluded us for more than half a century-an amicable settlement of the masjid-temple divide issue.

Quote of the Day: "The way the country deals with it will have a profound impact on the evolution of the country." -PM

4. U.S Open: Bopanna and Qureshi reach semis.
A good Indo-Pak bonhomie story, this one. The only Indian left in the draw, Bopanna gets all my best wishes for this last slam of the season. Go Boy!

5. HC verdict may force Vodafone to pay $2.6bn tax!!
Well, outsourcing is seriously least of our problems because things like these take the cake! Literally shooing the foreign investors away is the Bombay High Court by slamming a petition filed by the global telecom giant against the Indian income tax department's power to impose a capital gains tax on its $11 billion-plus acquisition in 2007 of a controlling 67% stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd (HEL). 

Why this is news: This is the first time an Indian court has passed verdict on whether Indian tax authorites have jurisdiction over a transaction between two overseas corporate entities (British-born Vodafone and the Hutchison group of Hong Kong-based multibillionaire Li Ka-shing) concerning a business venture in India (operating assests of HEL were in India).


6. Joke of the Day: Shiney never raped me-Maid.
 This is seven witnesses, plenty of forensic evidence and one year later. For a guy whose career was just taking flight with movies like Bhool Bhulaiya, this is one bummer!

Looooong Day..........

What's In Today

Over the last couple of days, I've only been admonishing myself for letting down the ardent readers this series had gathered in a short span of time (er, two days do qualify as a 'span of time'). I sincerely hope that this time around, I manage a decent streak of posts before pretending to get lost in Bermuda again (If that left you scratching your head, stay tuned for a post on 'The Bermuda').
All the pitter-patter aside, the latest happenings that will be creating headlines across dailies tomorrow are going to be something along these lines...(In no particular order today)

1. Kolar - a gold mine again!!
After being shut in 2001, the 121- year old Kolar mines in KA (second deepest in the world after the South African ones) still have an estimated 30L tonnes (1 ton = 1000 kgs, you can do the math) of pristine gold deposits. With gold selling at a record Rs 19,000-plus per 10 grams, it would be a windfall for all those fretting mums and wedding planners!

2. BCCI set to sever Modi's last link with cricket.
For a man who gave us the IPL, this is one sad and cruel story. The suspended cricket Sheikh could well have seen his last days in this field as the BCCI continues to deviously plot ways to keep him from not just the sporting gala but also from all BCCI posts in the future (Don't want another Azhar, I guess). Guilty before tried. That's BCCI. Oh wait-that's India!

3. Another 'It Happens Only In India' event: Haryana MPs get their salaries for the first time in 44 years.
Ever since the inception of the state, the Haryana MPs, who were till today getting only petty (I, um, can not verify that!) allowances, will 'soon' get their salaries. When it's raining molaah for the MPs elsewhere in India, why shoult thee stay behind?!

4. Jharkhand's probable new CM-Mr. Arjun Munda (ya..for the third time)
Defeating another veteran at this job, Mr Soren, The BJP and the JMMform an alliance yet again. All I can say is that after two terms of President's Rule and seven governments in 10 years, for the sake of the pockets of the common man, I sincerely wish the new (really inappropriate adjective) government  works out this time around.


5. And the Bandh ofcourse!
Thanks to eight central trade unions, including the Congress affiliated AITUC,  we at college had the day off. And so did the economy of  the country (thanks to overzealous party workers especially in my favourite states*- KL and WB).  After exhaustive googling about the strike, the reason for the nation wide bandh turned out to be price rise!! This is the one things we Indians are really adept at - Raking up old issues when all is quite and calm. (To add credibility to their cause, the strikers threw in some heavy words like 'alleged violation of labor laws and disinvestment in PSUs' ). Whatever their issues, lets hope it's amicably resolved to their satisfaction in  the PM-Sonia meet scheduled a couple of days from today.

Since I'm tired of being politically correct, I must say that the holiday was indeed welcome :D



*sarcasm written all over it