2009 Oscar Nominations List

Season for OSCAR fear !!!

Here are the nominees -

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin – Milk
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

DIRECTOR
David Fincher
Ron Howard
Gus Van Sant
Stephen Daldry
Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
Mike Leigh – Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin – In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Andrew Stanton – WALL-E

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord – Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
David Hare – The Reader
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

ANIMATED
Bolt
Kung Fun Panda
WALL-E
I wish AR REHMAN all d best and I hope  he will be the First Indian to get all the THREE OSCARS for his nominations. All the best !!!

More info on Slumdog Millionaire

Mera Bharat Mahan… WE ARE UNITED FOREVER

One of the best Photographs of a life time, especially for Indians…..

Commmandos dropped into Mumbai Jewish centre – TV

Indian commandos were dropped by helicopter on the roof of a Jewish centre in Mumbai, where suspected Islamist militants are holding at least 10 Israelis, live television pictures showed on Friday.

A Reuters witness said security forces fired into the building, apparently to provide cover, as commandos rappeled down a rope from the helicopter.

For more recent images of commandos and f**king terrorists, check here Worth View

Chandrayaan Launch Video

India made history in space science today by joining the elite club of countries that have sent space missions to moon. India’s dream moon mission, Chandrayaan I was lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Oct 22nd 2008 . This is the first time India has sent an unmanned mission to moon.

Here is the video of launch.

Now Sachin Tendulkar becomes leading Test run-scorer

Tendulkar surpassed West Indian gun Brian Lara’s tally of 11,953 runs with an edge to third man off the bowling of Peter Siddle to send the home crowd into rapturous applause after a period of Australian dominance in the second session.

Tendulkar, who now averages over 54 from 152 matches, moved to 16 not out and was warmly congratulated by the Australian team as fireworks were set off in the ground to mark the historic occasion.

By popular vote, the greatest batsman in the world today, Sachin Tendulkar has the cricketing world at his feet. The adulation he commands world over is unsurpassed, perhaps since the days of Don Bradman, to whom of course he has been compared, by no less than the great man himself. While he may not end with a Test career average of 99.94, there is little doubt that based on his vigorous style of batsmanship and his insatiable appetite for runs and big scores, he is the most complete batsman since Vivian Richards. In many ways though he has surpassed even that outstanding West Indian batsman.

Ganguly to retire after Australia Tests

Sourav Ganguly, ex-India captain and one of India’s finest left handed batsmen, has announced his retirement from international cricket. In a press conference in Bangalore, Sourav announced his retirement in front of a room full of shocked journalists. Dada informed that the current four match series against the Australians will be his last.

Ganguly said that, “I have spoken to my teammates and hopefully I will go out on a winning note.”

Ganguly, 36, has scored 6888 runs in 109 Tests, with 15 hundreds. He played 49 Tests as captain, the most by an Indian. The 21 matches won during his tenure is also an Indian record, and his win percentage of over 40 is the highest for players who have captained Indian team in more than one Test. Starting with a hundred on debut, Ganguly’s Test average has never dipped below 40.

In 311 ODIs, he scored 11,363 runs at 41.02. He captained India in 147 ODIs. His last ODI was against Pakistan in Gwalior on November 15, 2007. He is one of only three players to complete the treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODIs, Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar being the others. Along with Tendulkar, he formed a prolific partnership at the top of the order, with 6609 runs at an average of nearly 50 per stand in 136 innings.

WE MISS YOU SO MUCH DADA

India’s first moon mission to take off on Oct. 22

India is going to launch a locally built rocket for the country’s first unmanned mission to the moon on Oct. 22.The launch, earlier scheduled for April but delayed due to technical difficulties, has been given a window between Oct 20 and Oct 28 for takeoff from a southern town.Six countries, including the United States, are directly involved in the project, which will cost an estimated 3.86 billion rupees ($80.8 million).It aims to map a three-dimensional atlas of the moon through high-resolution remote sensing and map the surface’s chemical and mineral composition.Chandrayaan will  carry as many as 11 payloads — five from India, three from the European Space Agency (ESA), one from the Bulgarian Space Agency (BSA) and two from NASA, making it a truly global initiative.

Here is a very good video on India’s Moon Mission Animation.

Rare pics of india – 2

Here are some rare pictures of the time of partition

Nehru and Gandhi at AICC meeting, July 1946

Direct Action Day: Calcutta, Aug.16, 1946.

Mountbatten arrives at Delhi airport; received by Nehru and Liaquat Ali. March 25, 1947

Aug. 15, 1947: Mountbatten swears Nehru in as Prime Minister of India

TRAIN TO PAKISTAN; India 1947. Trains packed with refugees – Hindus and Sikhs headed for India, and Muslims headed for Pakistan – were convenient targets for gangs of killers on both sides of the border. Inadequately protected ‘Refugee Specials’ were typically stopped, and the occupants butchered, several times in the course of the journey.

The dead – Punjab, 1947

Ghandhiji Addressing people

1948: The news of Gandhi’s assassination hits the streets. A stunned crowd gathers in Calcutta.

1948: Crowds in New Delhi wait for a glimpse of Gandhi’s funeral procession.

1971: Indira Gandhi reviews the troops, in the context of militaryand diplomatic preparations for the Bangladesh War.

A Library being divided at the time of partition. My heart trembles to see this sight and it is tough to imagine the state of the nation at the moment when people needed to hold hands.

Some more rare pictures of india  are here.Follow the link  

JAI HINDH

Some Facts about Indian Flag

“It will be necessary for us Indians — Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsis and all others to whom India is their home — to recognise a common flag to live and die for.”
– Mahatma Gandhi’s quote on our Indian flag

Interesting Facts – India’s Flag

THE NATIONAL FLAG OF INDIA  is in tricolour ( TIRANGA) of deep saffron (Kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal propotions.

The Indian flag is a horizontal tricolour in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band, there is a wheel in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. This center symbol or the ‘CHAKRA’,  is a Buddhist symbol dating back to 200th century BC.

Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes, which intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. The saffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation; the white, for purity and truth; the green for faith and fertility.

The design of the National Flag of India was adopted by India’s constituent assembly on 22nd july, 1947. It’s use and display are regulated by a code.

The flag symbolizes freedom. The late Prime Minister Pandit Nehru called it a flag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom for all people.

The Indian national flag was hoisted on Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world, on May 29 1953, along with the Union Jack and the Nepalese National flag.

Bhikhaji Rustom Cama was the first Indian to have raised an Indian flag on foreign soil and announced to the world  our political flight with the British for the country’s Independence. Madame Cama’s flag had green on the top, golden saffron and red at the bottom. Eight lotuses, representing the eight provinces, were lined on the Indian flag. Vande Mataram was written in gold with the Crescent towards the hoist of the flag and the Sun on the other side.

In 1971, the Indian flag, went into space on board Apollo-15. It flew into space as a medallion on the spacesuit worn by Cosmonaut Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, during the Indo-Soviet joint space flight in April 1984.

As of January 15, 2002, Indian citizens were allowed to fly the Indian flag throughout the year. Earlier they were only allowed to do so on special days such as Republic Day and Independence Day. The Delhi High Court ruled that displaying the Indian flag was part of the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

PROUD TO BE INDIAN 

History of Indian Coins

Indian Coins

India won its independence on 15^th August, 1947. During the period of transition India retained the monetary system and the currency and coinage of the earlier period. While Pakistan introduced a new series of coins in 1948 and notes in 1949, India brought out its distinctive coins on 15^th August, 1950.

Chronologically, the main considerations influencing the coinage policy of Republic India over time have been:

• The incorporation of symbols of sovereignty and indigenous motifs on independence;
• Coinage Reforms with the introduction of the metric system;
• The need felt from time to time to obviate the possibility of the metallic value of coins rising beyond the face value;
• The cost-benefit of coinisation of currency notes

Independent India Issues could broadly be categorised as

The Frozen Series 1947-1950

This represented the currency arrangements during the transition period upto the establishment of the Indian Republic. The Monetary System remained unchanged at One Rupee consisting of 192 pies.

1 Rupee = 16 Annas

1 Anna = 4 Pice

1 Pice = 3 Pies

The Anna Series

This series was introduced on 15^th August, 1950 and represented the first coinage of Republic India. The King’s Portrait was replaced by the Lion Capital of the Ashoka Pillar. A corn sheaf replaced the Tiger on the one Rupee coin. In some ways this symbolized a shift in focus to progress and prosperity. Indian motifs were incorporated on other coins. The monetary system was largely retained unchanged with one Rupee consisting of 16 Annas.

Enomination	Metal	Obverse	Reverse
Rupee One	Nickel
Half Rupee	Nickel
Quarter Rupee	Nickel
Two Anna	Cupro-Nickel
One Anna	Cupro-Nickel
Half Anna	Cupro-Nickel
One Pice	Bronze

The Decimal Series

The move towards decimalisation was afoot for over a century. However, it was in September, 1955 that the Indian Coinage Act was amended for the country to adopt a metric system for coinage. The Act came into force with effect from 1^st April, 1957. The rupee remained unchanged in value and nomenclature. It, however, was now divided into 100 ‘Paisa’ instead of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. For public recognition, the new decimal Paisa was termed ‘Naya Paisa’ till 1^st June, 1964 when the term ‘Naya’ was dropped.

Naya Paisa Series 1957-1964

Enomination	Metal Weight Shape Size	Coin
Rupee One	Nickel 10 gms Circular 28 mm
Fifty Naye Paise	Nickel 5 gms Circular 24 mm
Twenty Five Naye Paise	Nickel 2.5 gms Circular 19 mm
Ten Naye Paise	Cupro-Nickel 5 gms Eight Scalloped 23 mm (across scallops)
Five Naye Paise	Cupro-Nickel 4 gms Square 22 mm (across corners)
Two Naye Paise	Cupro-Nickel 3 gms Eight Scalloped 18 mm (across scallops)
One Naya Paisa	Bronze 1.5 gms Circular 16 mm

With commodity prices rising in the sixties, small denomination coins which were made of bronze, nickel-brass, cupro-nickel, and Aluminium-Bronze were gradually minted in Aluminium. This change commenced with the introduction of the new hexagonal 3 paise coin. A twenty paise coin was introduced in 1968 but did not gain much popularity.

Aluminium Series 1964 onwards

Enomination	Metal Weight Shape Size	Coin
One Paisa	Aluminium-Magnesium 0.75 gms Square 17 mm (Daigonal)
Two Paise	Aluminium-Magnesium 1 gm Scalloped 20 mm (across scallops)
Three Paise	Aluminium-Magnesium 1.25 gms Hexagonal 21 mm (Diagonal)
Five Paise	Aluminium-Magnesium 1.5 gms Square 22 mm (Diagonal)
Ten Paise	Aluminium-Magnesium 2.3 gms Scalloped 26 mm (across scallops)
Twenty Paise	Aluminium-Magnesium 2.2 gms Hexagonal 26 mm (diagonal) 24.5 mm (across flats)

Over a period of time, cost benefit considerations led to the gradual discontinuance of 1, 2 and 3 paise coins in the seventies; Stainless steel coinage of 10, 25 and 50 paise, was introduced in 1988 and of one rupee in 1992. The very considerable costs of managing note issues of Re 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 led to the gradual coinisation of these denominations in the 1990s.

Contemporary Coins

Enomination	Metal	Weight	Diameter	Shape
	Cupro-Nickel	9.00 gms	23 mm	Circular
	Cupro-Nickel	6.00 gms	26 mm	Eleven Sided
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	4.85 gms	25 mm	Circular
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	3.79 gms	22 mm	Circular
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	2.83 gms	19 mm	Circular
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	2.00 gms	16 mm	Circular