I was resisting writing on the austerity talk that has sprung up in India. But the media has now taken the discussion in such a nonsensical direction that I feel forced to air my views. Not that my views matter, but just feel better that way. Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Jackson, the ‘king of pop’ was today finally laid to rest, 10 weeks after his death. Michael Jackson was easily the biggest global entertainer ever. Through the 80s and 90s he enjoyed unfathomable levels of popularity across the globe and India was no exception. Thinking of MJ got me thinking of impact of western culture & entertainment on Indians, and it suddenly dawned on me that MJ was perhaps the last English superstar in India. Read the rest of this entry »

The 4th IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology is scheduled for 11 – 12 Dec 2009 and will be held in Pune, India. The call for papers is now open. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently traveled to the US and back to India. On my way to San Francisco I had a connecting flight at Frankfurt, Germany. The following is an experience at Frankfurt that I can’t quite categorize. Is it ignorance / insensitivity / rudeness / racism or maybe even an over reaction on my part? Read the rest of this entry »

The final vote count for the Pune Loksabha election is now available. Sitting MP, Suresh Kalmadi of the Congress has managed to retain the Pune seat by a margin of about 25000 votes.

1. Kalmadi Suresh (Winner)     INC     279897 votes
2. Anil Shirole     BJP     254150 votes
3. Shirole Ranjeet Shrikant     MNS     75885 votes
4. D S K Alias D.s.kulkarni     BSP     62963 votes
5. Arun Bhatia     PG     30329 votes Read the rest of this entry »

Data as on : May 16 2009 3:01PM
As counting for most seats is complete by this time, most the leads / results below should stand. The margins might change. Read the rest of this entry »

2:46 pm Update – Kalmadi leds over Shirole by 24158

2:15 pm Update – Kalmadi leds over Shirole by 21525

1:29 pm Update – Suresh Kalmadi from the Indian National Congress leads by 19410 from BJP’s Anil Shirole as on 1.29 pm on 16th May 09.  Counting is still in progress. Read the rest of this entry »

Data as on : May 16 2009 1:32PM Read the rest of this entry »