12/20/12

Thursday, December 20, 2012

నిత్య శృంగారి.. ఈ తాత!

96 ఏళ్ల వయసులో రెండో బిడ్డకు తండ్రితాతా పెళ్లి చేసుకుంటావా? అనడిగితే.. బోసినోటితో చిరునవ్వులొలికిస్తూ.. ఈ వయసులో నాకెవరు పిల్లనిస్తార్రా? అంటూ సిగ్గుపడిపోయే తాతల గురించి తెలిసిందే! కానీ.. ఈయన మాత్రం అలాంటి తాతకాదు.. 96 ఏళ్ల వయసులోనూ ఓ బిడ్డకు జన్మనివ్వగలిగిన ముదుసలి! పెద్ద వయసులో తండ్రి అయి.. ప్రపంచ రికార్డు నెలకొల్పిన ఈయన పేరు రాంజీత్ రాఘవ్! హర్యానాలోని సోనిపేటలో ఖర్‌ఖోడా అనే గ్రామానికి చెందిన ఈయన సాధించిన ఘనత గురించి అందరికీ తెలిసిందే. కాకపోతే.. తన ఘనత వెనుక అసలు రహస్యాలను ఇటీవల ఒక పత్రికతో రాంజీత్ పంచుకున్నాడు. తాను ప్రతి రోజూ రాత్రి తన భార్య శకుంతలతో మూడుసార్లు శృంగారంలో పాల్గొనడం, బాగా పాలు తాగడం, నెయ్యి వాడటమే తాను మరోసారి తండ్రి కావటానికి కారణమని వెల్లడించాడు. ‘‘తన భార్యను సుఖపెట్టాలని ప్రతి పురుషుడూ కోరుకుంటాడు. ఇందులో తప్పేమీ లేదు.

నేనిచ్చే సలహా ఏమిటంటే.. పాలు తాగండి. ఆల్మండ్‌లు, పండ్లు తినండి. రోజూ వ్యాయామం చేయండి. మల్లయుద్ధం అయితే మరీ మంచిది. నేను కుర్రాడిగా ఉన్నప్పుడు మల్లయోధుడినే’’ అని రాంజీత్ చెప్పాడు. 2010లో ఈ జంట తమ తొలి సంతానం కరంజీత్‌కు జన్మనిచ్చారు. అప్పటికి అదే రికార్డు. కాగా.. తాజాగా ఆ రికార్డును ఆయనే అధిగమించారు. తాను పూర్తి శాకాహారినని రాంజీత్ తెలిపారు. ఈయన ఘనతను జంతు సంరక్షణ కోసం పాటుపడే పెటా కూడా గుర్తించింది. 96 ఏళ్ల వయసులోనూ శృంగారాన్ని అనుభవిస్తున్నది శాకాహారం వల్లేనని పేర్కొంటూ ఒక ఫొటో కూడా తయారు చేసింది. ఈ పోస్టరును అన్ని సంతాన సాఫల్య కేంద్రాల వద్ద ఏర్పాటు చేయాలని భావిస్తోంది!

Three in the race

The smartphone handsets that you touch and feel are just the front-end to the software operating systems that run them. This is the first article of a two-part series on how the latest compare with one another — iOS 6, Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and Windows mobile OS 8 — as experienced by Karthik Subramanian

The latest mobile operating systems from the leading tech companies dominating global sales, released alongside devices over the past few months, have begun to run their course. It is likely that the three-way race as it appears now — iOS 6 vs Android 4.2 vs Windows mobile 8 — will dominate the mobile devices space for another year at least.

(Blackberry has not yet launched its modern OS upgrade BB10 and hence does not figure in this article.)

Here is how the top three modern mobile OSs stack up against one another. The article is based on the author's experiences with the iOS6 on Apple's iPhone 5 and the iPad (third generation), the Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) on the Nexus 7 tablet and Windows mobile 8 on HTC WP8X phone.

iOS 6: The latest mobile OS from Apple is the most settled of all mobile operating systems considering that it kick-started the modern smartphone race with the launch of the first generation iPhone in 2007.

The latest iteration runs pretty fluidly on all devices — iPhone 5 through iPhone 3GS. It is also the most widely deployed mobile OS there is. So its biggest advantage is its well-developed Apps (Applications) eco-system. If there is any path-breaking App being developed out there, you can rest assured it is going to be available on the iOS platform.

Android Jelly Bean: Android (4.1 and 4.2) Jelly Bean might seem like an incremental upgrade to Ice-Cream Sandwich (ICS) but Google's ‘Project Butter’ upgrade to the user interface seems to make the device work like, well, butter. It has improved the responsiveness of the OS, and has put it on a par with the likes of iOS 6. Android is an OS for people who love to customise their phones.

Android's App ecosystem has begun catching up with iOS in terms of numbers. But since the manufacturers come with various iterations of Android phones, some handset users wait a long duration to get the latest OS ported on their devices.

Windows 8: The Windows 8 phone packs a lot of finesse that quite frankly people don't normally associate with a Microsoft product. Over the past two decades, its functionality notwithstanding, people have not considered Windows platforms aesthetically appealing. But Windows 8 with a brand new user interface looks like it could change it all. There is a little bit of a steep learning curve when it comes to understanding the phone. But Windows 8 phone scores on several counts, most notably the manner in which it integrates the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin right across.

Here is how the phones stack up against one another.

Customisation: Apple's iOS works on Steve Jobs basic principle: “the users don't know what they want”. In a way, iOS 6 enables even lay users to pick up a device and start using it without worrying too much about customisation. Not much of a learning curve here. The downside to this is that it is going to be hard to tell the difference between one iPhone and another.

Android Jelly Bean is easily the most customisable mobile OS there. Users can fill their home screen picking from several options of Apps and widgets.

The Windows 8 phone is the most appealing in terms of UI and is highly customisable too. Users can pick colour schemes and even get the screens to reflect their favourite content. The photos App, for example, allows the use of photos dynamically changing from one's Facebook account.

Widgets: iOS 6 supports only native widgets that are displayed in the drag down box alongside the Facebook and Twitter options. So users can check only limited information, including stock prices, the weather, the calendar and the like. It has been a long-standing wish of users and developers alike that Apple opens its widgets space to third-party applications.

Android Jelly Bean scores over the others here. It also comes with its own native widgets that provide several options to users. A case in point is the customised YouTube widget that allows users to view the recommended videos at a glance, without having the need to start the App.

Windows 8 substitutes the widgets with its “Live Tiles” concept that brings a bit of immediacy to the phone, in the way it displays information on weather, news, stocks, etc.

Digital Assistant: iOS stunned audiences when it introduced Siri as a digital voice assistant and has since extended it to the iPad. Siri has been upgraded with the iPhone 5 but still does not entirely recognise Indian accents. It can be a bit of trial and error to get Siri to work here. Also its Search does not include localised results in India, which reduces its impact quite a bit.

Android's Google Now (available on Jelly Bean upwards) is a fascinating digital assistant that collates personal data and offers various things, including Points of Interest, without even prompting. Though this has raised some queries on the nature of personal data and its use, Google Now is easily the best digital assistant on smartphones today, especially for an Indian audience.

Windows 8’s “Tell Me” is new on the block but seems to have already caught up with more established services. Also, it seems to be more responsive to Indian voices than other digital assistants.

VERDICT: Purely based on experiences of these three factors, Android Jelly Bean is marginally ahead of the iOS 6 and Windows 8 operating systems in the Indian scenario.

In the second part of the article which will appear next week in E-Lounge, more issues concerning the three mobile operating systems will be addressed.

Hat-trick for Modi in Gujarat; Congress ousts BJP in HP

Narendra Modi on Thursday performed a hat-trick retaining power for the third time in Gujarat and propelled himself as a strong contender in the Prime Ministerial race in 2014 while Congress ousted BJP from office in Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP registered its fifth consecutive victory in Gujarat, third under Mr. Modi, when it bagged 115 seats, two less than in the 2007 elections while Congress bagged two more to finish at 61.

The Nationalist Congress Party won two seats while Janata Dal-U one seat. The Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) led by Keshubhai Patel, which was widely predicted to damage the BJP’s fortunes, ended with a whimper winning only three seats.

Widely speculated as a strong contender in the BJP riven by squabbles as PM candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections, 62-year-old Mr. Modi dedicated his victory to the six crore Gujaratis and those all over the country pining for good governance and development.

The Chief Minister, who had consciously refused to apologise or express regret over the post-Godhra violence in the state in 2002 that claimed over 1,000 Muslim lives, on Thursday said he apologised to the six crore Gujaratis for “any mistake that may have occurred“.

Even by mistake, there should be no mistake in the future, he told his supporters in his victory speech but gave no indications of his future political plans.

When they shouted, “PM, PM”, he said he would be making a visit to Delhi for a day on Dec 27 and whatever he was doing in Gujarat was the service to Mother India. .

“Neither will I stop, nor will I get tired as I have to fulfill your dreams”, he said.

However, Congress extracted a sweet revenge defeating BJP in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh. The party secured a wafer-thin majority of 36 in a House of 68, one more than the half-way mark of 35.

The BJP managed to get only 26 while independents got 5 and Himachal Loktantrik Party one. In the last elections, the BJP got 41 and Congress 23

The BJP campaign of corruption against Congress veteran Virbhadra Singh failed to have any impact while anti—incumbency appeared to have cost the ruling party dear in Himachal Pradesh.

The 78-year-old Virbhadra Singh, a five-time chief minister who was given the reins of the party on the eve of elections and who ran a spirited campaign, won from Shimla (Rural).

Mr. Singh is again a strong contender for the Chief Minister’s post, political observers say.

He also appears to have emerged unscathed from the CD case filed by the Dhumal government in which charges were framed against him leading to his resignation from the Union Government.

While Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal won from Hamirpur constituency, his four cabinet colleagues Narinder Bragata, Khimi Ram, Krishan Kumar and Romesh Dhawala lost the elections.

However, cabinet ministers Gulab Singh, Mohinder Singh, Jai Ram Thakur, Ravinder Singh Ravi, Sarveen Chowdhary and Ishwar Dass Dhiman retained their seats.

Leader of the opposition Vidya Stokes won from Theog while Vijay Singh Mankotia, a bete noir of V B Singh, who buried the hatchet and rejoined Congress on the eve of assembly polls,was defeated from Shahpur.

In Gujarat, Congress suffered a major blow when its state unit chief Arjun Modhwadia lost the Porbandar seat to Babu Bokhiria of BJP by 17,146 votes, while Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil was defeated by Minister of State for fisheries Purushottam Solanki of the saffron party by 18,554 votes in Bhavnagar rural constituency.

Both were strong contenders for chief ministership in the event of Congress coming to power.

However, Shankar Singh Vaghela, Congress spearhead in the poll campaign and former state Chief Minister, managed to win Kapadvanj seat defeating Kanubhai Dabhi of BJP by a margin of 6597 votes.

Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel scored a facile victory in Visavadar in Saurashtra defeating BJP’s Kanubhai Bhalala by over 42,000 votes.

Though BJP registered an emphatic victory, five of its ministers fell by the wayside.

Those who lost included Agriculture Minister Dileep Sanghani (Amreli), Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas (Siddhpur), Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela (Vadgam), Minister of State for Forest and Environment Kiritsinh Rana (Limbdi) and Minister of State for Agriculture Kanubhai Bhalala (Visavadar).

It appears to be a near repeat performance by both BJP and Congress who had won 117 and 59 seats respectively in the last polls.

Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel scored a facile victory in Visavadar in Saurashtra defeating BJP’s Kanubhai Bhalala by over 42,000 votes.

Though BJP registered an emphatic victory, five of its ministers fell by the wayside.

Keshubhai wins

Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel scored a facile victory in Visavadar in Saurashtra defeating BJP’s Kanubhai Bhalala by over 42,000 votes.

Though BJP registered an emphatic victory, five of its ministers fell by the wayside.

It appears to be a near repeat performance by both BJP and Congress who had won 117 and 59 seats respectively in the last polls

Modi seeks Keshubhai Patel’s blessings

Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called on Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) President Keshubhai Patel and sought his blessings after BJP’s victory in the assembly elections.

Mr. Modi drove to the residence of Mr. Patel, who fell out with the BJP stalwart and floated his own party ahead of the election, in Gandhinagar to meet him.

“Modiji had come to seek blessings after his win in the elections. I congratulated him for the win,” Mr. Patel said after Mr. Modi’s visit.

The former chief minister and BJP rebel floated GPP four months ahead of the elections and led a vitriolic campaign against Modi, who had succeeded him in 2001.

The GPP had fielded candidates in more than 170 Assembly seats but the fledgling party came a cropper and barely managed to open its account.

During the campaigning, Keshubhai, who won from Visavadar Assembly seat in Saurashtra region, had vowed to unseat Modi from power and compared the BJP leader to Hitler and called him a “demon“.

Mr. Modi also visited his mother Hiraba and sought her blessings after leading the BJP to third straight Assembly election victory.

Defeat in Himachal Pradesh

Riding an anti-incumbency wave and staving off corruption charges against its veteran leader Virbhadra Singh, Congress on Thursday wrested power from BJP in Himachal Pradesh with a wafer-thin majority of 36 in the 68-member Assembly.

Disproving predictions of a close contest, the state lived to its reputation of voting out the party in power, giving the ruling BJP, which suffered from severe infighting and rebel candidates, only 26 seats.

The Independents, mostly BJP and Congress rebels, won five seats while Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) floated by BJP dissidents won one seat.

In the last elections in 2007, the BJP had bagged 41 seats and Congress 23.

The 78-year-old Virbhadra Singh, a five-time chief minister who was given the reins of the party on the eve of elections and who ran a spirited campaign, won from Shimla (Rural).

Mr. Singh, against whom BJP had levelled allegations of corruption during his tenure as Steel Minister in Delhi in the campaign, is again a strong contender for the Chief Minister’s post, political observers say.

He also appears to have emerged unscathed from the CD case filed by the Dhumal government in which charges were framed against him leading to his resignation from the Union Government.

While Chief Minister P K Dhumal won from Hamirpur constituency, his four cabinet colleagues Narinder Bragata, Khimi Ram, Krishan Kumar and Romesh Dhawala lost the elections.