2009 Calendars - Holidays, Liturgical and Movie

I spent the afternoon working on my Google Calendars for 2009.
Here are a few of my public-calendars:  (Free to use)

• My "Karnataka Hols 09 " calendar:
• Can be found HERE (in HTML - as a stand-alone web page), in XML (for feed-readers) and ICAL (for Calendar-software)

• My choice of "Movies India Eng" calendar:
• Can be found HERE (in HTML), in XML and ICAL

• My Indian "Liturgical'09" calendar (catholic):
• Can be found HERE (in HTML), in XML and ICAL

Alternatively, all these calendars are "Public" in GCal so anyone can search for them and merge it to their existing calendars.

Notes:

The English Movies India calendar: This is a arbitrary calendar since it contains only release-dates for english movies in India - that i am anticipating. The movies have been cross-referenced between RottenTomatoes, FirstShowing and IMDB and the release-dates have been adjusted for India (usual dates listed are for U.S premieres). These are amongst the most awaited movies of 09 and are movies i'll definitely see. For a full list for 2009 head to the links above. Also, i will be continuously tinkering with this list as more interesting movies come to my notice. (refs: see links above)

The 2009 Karnataka Holidays calendar: Includes only Gazetted Holidays (18 closed holidays), not Restricted-holidays (35 days). Also, this is a Karnataka-specific list - but the Calendar demarcates both Central-only and Karnataka-only holidays, and is hence suitable for everyone. (Central and Karnataka holidays differ in a few instances...Rajotsava, Janmashtami etc.) (refs: Central 2009, Karnataka 2009)

The 2009 Indian Liturgical Calendar: For Catholics in India. The General Roman Calendar consists of Fixed Feasts which repeat yearly, without variation - eg: 25 Dec, and Movable Feasts which change yearly - eg: Easter. This calendar demarcates Fixed-feasts ad infinitum, and has Movable-feasts marked up till Easter2010, by which time the calendar will be updated for 2010. I created this after i found there is no online liturgical calendar specifically for India.
(refs: Movable Feasts, Fixed Feasts, Days of Obligation)
(To know more: "Why Lent moves around but X'Mas stays put?" - article)

GCal is nifty since it can send SMS's to your cell prior to the event.
I usually set most of my Calendars to SMS me 12hrs before any event, so that the night before - i get a heads-up whereever i am, irrespective of whether i am near a PC. I highly recommend GCal. It can even be integrated within GMail.

Image from tanakawho
Technorati Tags: calendar, 2009, holiday, karnataka, india, liturgical, hollywood, release

Definitely "alt.humour"

(i came across this humourous haiku quasi-haiku today...funny stuff! of course, it's the weird kind of funny that only i enjoy!)

"     'Shut Up' ....My father explained.     "

I suspect Wodehouse fans might find it a little ticklish.

...it took me a while to stop smiling after i'd read it.
it's hard to stop when you imagine an actual situation where a father would use this.

(EDIT: I went searching for more, and found pure gold at The Daily LifeKu. Samples below!)

"Hot shot smarty pants
Think you know everything?
Your face is stupid"

"Drunk man on the plane
I don’t need to hear you sing
Vomit quietly"

HAHAHA!!!!! PURE GOLD!

Image: chelmsfordblue
Technorati Tags: alt.humour, funny, humour

Debate will always be the stronger weapon

There has been a lot of crazy-talk recently about a possible "military intervention" by India.

AUFKM?!!!

Sure we need to do something extra-ordinary- Yes, we have earned international license for it.

And this time we won't be bound my the usual 'calls for restraint' by the International-community.
But seriously?
Military Intervention??.....known to some as "War"??
LOL!

Just like the Mumbai-attacks have unified India to some extent, Pakistan would be gifted with a reason to unify behind a common cause against India, if we gave them a reason to do so. Already, in Pakistan, in the matter of the US-bombings of their border areas, there is equal outrage amongst the Mainstream as well as the Radicals.

Today's wars are fought equally on the economic-warfield, and through covert means - and India has the means to do it. The overt use of the Military nowadays is only as a deterrent - and here India although it has the means, lacks the Political or Financial clout (recessions affect war too!) that the P-5 superpowers do.

And exactly who's means are we furthering when people say "jaake maar do" or "sabak sikhao"... Not ours, not the Pakistani mainstream's - it would be playing into the hands of the anti-India lot - The radicals and their sympathizers. I cannot imagine that the average-Joe in Pakistan (average-Javed?) would like to hop across the border to kill Indians, nor have his country torn apart through military force or disintegrate into anarchy at the hands of extremists.

And the Indian voice we hear now - baying for blood - That's a gut-reaction, and it should be recognized as one. India, mind you- not just J&K, would doom itself to Jihad for the next 100years, for the sake of acting on a public gut reaction.

While action is necessary, Peace is the ultimate goal....If you had asked me a month back if i expected Indo-Pak peace within my lifetime- my answer was 'Perhaps'. But if we ever make the mistake of putting such a rash step forward, we'd be likely to slip 10 steps back in our own arc of progress.

We need to normalize things in the public sphere. Amp things up in the diplomatic sphere. And lay groundwork now for a political consensus that lasts beyond successive governments- sufficiently long enough to make our foreign-policy credible and to see results with our neighbors.
Seriously- anything military should not be an option.

Technorati Tags: peace, terror, indo pak

Lessons from the Mumbai Terror tragedy - Too Little Practice (Part 4/4)

What went Wrong - Too little Practice:
Even though everyone who participated in the encounter got the job done...it barely got done, and now noone can ever say that a particular way would/could have resulted in a different outcome. But the familiarity of each player with the next was very apparent.

Ideally: There should be dedicated Liason-units which develop intimate familiarity with any other agencies their own agency might be expected to work with, depending on the situation. For instance, in case of a Terror-situation A,B,C agencies do G,H,I functions while in a Natural-Disaster-situation X,Y,Z and A,B agencies do P,Q,R functions.

Unless the situations are hypothetically imagined, and planned for, and then rehearsed - in mock, anything else would be "winging it" when the real thing happens, with familiar dissapointing results. Also, the Liason-units must be tested to actually work, and not to just cover their respective organizations asses.
 

'Ind'eally: Liason-units are expected to be non-functioning and for half-hearted rehearsals to be the norm - unless, these itself are included into the compulsary machinery of the Govt by making them auditable. Use the red tape! Make inter-operability check-able and involve private consultants to keep things fresh and relevant, and accounted.


This is post 4 of a 4part article. Read Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Too Many Heroes Part 3: Too Many Voices
Technorati Tags: terror, terrorism, terrorist, mumbai, bombay, india, taj, trident, taj mahal hotel, oberoi, indo pak

Lessons from the Mumbai Terror tragedy - Too Many Voices (Part 3/4)

What went wrong - Too many Voices:
Perhaps there is a hesitation to setup a unified command in any situation, because any lapse in judgement would be 'pinned' on the authority-figure in command. So, we saw people come, go in, rush out - and claim their credit immediately, and precautionarily, before anything untoward could happen following their involvement. Meanwhile, noone from the public got the impression of any one person being in charge, and even the people who gave the interview were frequently misinformed.

Ideally: There should be just one voice - or maybe two; Centre & State - giving responses, to the press and issuing statements and updates. A strict Gag-order must be enforced and any leaks/unofficial statements must be promptly and categorically addressed as 'Unofficial' before they become the sensational sub-story that whips up passion and creates pressure on the agencies to meet the public's expectation of justice.


'Ind'eally: Indian journalism doesn't score very high on ethics as it is. And it has been ages since a newpaper or a media-house was regarded for it's honest unbiased reporting, without any 'leanings'.

Given that, and the shamelessly headline-hungry hacks who are the present face of the Indian Press - especially those of New Media - it is difficult to expect that the press will attain enlightenment overnight, and begin responsible journalism instead of sensational gossip-mongering or stop claiming to be the 'voice of the masses'/'keeping a check on the polity' instead of realizing it's true calling as a builder of society, acting in the joint interest of the people and the powers, not the people versus the powers.

What we need are media-savvy departments, who realize realize the impact of their words, and who talk in clear factual terms - not giving information until it is appropriate and verified, also also, importantly, who have the cojones to say "No" "Until it becomes clear" or even "I cannot divulge that information", instead of giving opinions and hazarding guesses and increasing the confusion. If there is a strong voice booming out the Official line, the press will have to faithfully report it and the people will also know where
to turn to and whom to ask of.

This is post 3 of a 4part article. Read Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Too Many Heroes Part 4: Too Little Practice
Technorati Tags: terror, terrorism, terrorist, mumbai, bombay, india, taj, trident, taj mahal hotel, oberoi, indo pak