Saturday, January 14, 2006

CAS plays spoil sport again

Yet again, people of Chennai are being denied the live telecast of the ongoing cricket test series between India and Pakistan. Die hard fans of cricket regret for the CAS (Conditional Access System) and complain about the fact that while the rest of the country will cheer the Indians, Chennaiites are denied a pleasure which is close to their heart – watching live cricket.

This system of CAS plays its role only in the city of Chennai, though it was supposed to be put into effect in all the 4 metros only the Tamil Nadu government has implemented the same, while the other governments have simply refused to do so.

Previously, for other cricket matches played by India outside India, the state owned Prasar Bharathi (Doordarshan) gets the signal from other operators so that live telecast can be broadcasted. But however this time around they have failed to enter into an agreement with Ten Sports, a Dubai based channel which has got exclusive rights for the Indo – Pak series. Doordarshan was willing to pay Rs.20 crore for the signal and use their own advertisement but Ten Sports didn’t agree to this. Ultimately, what has been agreed upon is that Doordarshan will be permitted to broadcast 90 minute video clip age of the day’s action. This for a city like Chennai is by any means less, which is supposed to have the best cricketing crowds in the world.

It’s been more than 3 years since CAS was implemented and the takers to it are very less. Most of the people are satisfied with FTH (Free to AIR) channels for which they have to pay Rs.75 per month compared to Rs.200 – Rs.400 p.m in the pre CAS era. To this date there are innumerable numbers of PIL’s (Public Interest Litigation) in the Madras High Court but judgments are still pending.

DTH (Direct to Home) service has also come to the city but the takers are even less compared. To put in simple terms, what the people of Chennai really want is some regulatory body fixed by the government who will regulate the prices for the channels. There should be one common rate for the whole of city plus all the channels.

Rest apart, people of Chennai are denied to watch their favorite sport. They have to look on for glimpses of scores on news channels or look onto the internet or the best way is to travel to the outskirts of the city where CAS is all rubbish.

One thing is clear, seeing the number of takers for set top box, people of Chennai are not for it.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Tigers to have photo identity cards

Well, while accidentally glancing through the paper the other day; I came across this piece of information about tigers to have identity cards. At first glance I was curious to know what this is all about, actually I thought it to be the LTTE’s also known as the Tamil Tigers. But that isn’t something radical because the population of LTTE’s in Sri Lanka is very much compared to the actual population of the country. So, then they definitely need identity cards.

But when I ran through the first few lines I understood that it isn’t something to do with any extremist group rather it’s about wildlife. India is the place where one can find the Royal Bengal Tigers which are very famous all over the world. Tiger being the national animal of the country the Government would have thought that it’s high time they maintained a count of the number of Tigers that live in the country.

Earlier, forest and wildlife officials have been using physical count and pugmark verification to find out the number of Tigers in the wild. However, this technique was not considered reliable.

So, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) thought that it is better to rely on scientific survey, to determine the number of Tigers in the country. And hence, they would soon be issuing identity cards to all the Tigers and Tigresses of the country. So, what is this scientific method, the WII has proposed three new scientific techniques to have a more accurate count of the Tigers living in the wild. The three techniques are: computerized pugmarks, camera traps and finally DNA tests. The WII has planned to implement this methodology starting Jan 15th this year. Camera traps to shoot the Tigers would be set up at national parks and Tigers would be photographed throughout the year using laser technology. Scientists believe that such efforts would help in more accurate survey and would be an indicator for dead or missing Tigers. I am however skeptical about the whole issue, is it technically viable…? Is a question which time alone can answer...

Friday, January 06, 2006

2006 is the year of the DOG

Every person is born under an animal symbol, as per Chinese Zodiac. Legend has it, and 2006 is the year of the dog, that the Chinese Astrology has it and the order of twelve animals that determine it. It was however determined by Lord Buddha himself, thousands of years ago. The age old tale goes this way, Lord Buddha once called upon the entire animal kingdom for a meeting on the occasion of Chinese New Year. Only twelve species showed up for this meeting. As a reward, the divine wise man offered to name a year after each of the animals.

The Rat was the first to arrive, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and finally the pig. From then on any person born in a year associated with the animal would share that animal’s qualities and traits.

So, this is how it goes,

RAT (1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008)
Persons born in the year of the rat are usually charming, hard working, detail – oriented, ambitious, honest, generous and are able to maintain self control, but often find it difficult to maintain lasting friendships. They also tend to be thrifty and like to save money. They often make good advisors, but on the downside, they can be manipulative and petty.

OX (1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009)
Persons born in the year of the OX are usually tenacious, bright, patient and good listeners. They are also highly sensitive, stubborn, honest, outspoken, expressive, disciplined and clean – hearted. They are enthusiastic but dominating, hence although they have leadership qualities they do not always think rationally. On the downside, they are rigid in thought, stubborn in behaviour and disdainful of failure.

TIGER (1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010)
Persons born in the year of TIGER are usually magnetic, romantic, independent, courageous, strong, quick, bold and smart. But they are also aggressive, short – tempered and can often intimidate others by entering into conflicts. Being strong – willed and stubborn, they do not like to take orders and are sometimes reserved. They make for powerful leaders and powerful enemies too!

RABBIT (1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011)
Persons born in the year of RABBIT are talented and very affectionate. They are family oriented, sensitive, ambitious, intuitive, creative and smart. They work well with others and avoid conflicts. However, on the down side they are insecure; and have secret ambitions. They tend to be melancholy and sometimes lazy.

DRAGON (1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012)
Persons born in the year of dragon are usually passionate, energetic, soft hearted, colorful, ambitious and optimistic in nature. They are very goal – oriented and being under the all powerful dragon symbol, they are blessed with the luck to get things easily in life. On the downside they are highly stubborn, sometimes immature and thoughtless in action and often short tempered too.

SNAKE (1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013)
Persons born in the year of the SNAKE are very wise, they think a lot, are strong – willed and often fast learners. They are action oriented, highly intelligent, generous, calm and often philosophical. They are understanding by nature. On the downside, they have a tendency to have a split personality and can be revengeful if rubbed the wrong way, and can split venom and be selfish too. Snake people are born charming and popular. They are spotlight magnets and will never get ignored. They usually have excellent manners.

HORSE (1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014)
Persons born in the year of the HORSE are usually reliable, attractive, industrious, friendly, cheerful, dynamic, workaholic, quick learners, honest, playful and talkative. However, on the down side they are very short tempered, strong willed, tactless and impatient. They have a tendency to be obstinate too. They are popular, cheerful and love to compliment others.

SHEEP (1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015)
Persons born in the year of the SHEEP are usually very elegant, wise, gentle, compassionate and often very religious. They are passionate about their beliefs. They know how to make money and are multi – talented with very impressive personalities. However, they are also greedy for material gains, highly secretive, sometimes revengeful and tend to be pessimistic. They are endowed with artistic talents and fare well in business. Their charm wins them many friends.

MONKEY (1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016)
Persons born in the year of the MONKEY are clever, practical, cheerful, energetic, very positive, ingenious, man of many experiments, tactful and change activities as per opportunities. They have a wide range of experiences, are good listeners and good counselors. However, their down side is that they have a low opinion of others, are freedom oriented and hence not committed to anything and are not serious in life. Monkey people are skillful, talented and flexible. They are witty and skillfully solve problems. Wherever you are, whoever you are, if you have a problem, dial-a-monkey! Often, however they are too clever for their own good.

ROOSTER (1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017)
Persons born in the year of ROOSTER are always seeking knowledge, love to travel, are candid, good with finances, are jovial, clever, harmless, quiet, business minded, very friendly and great planners. They can create a business from scratch. They are bold and capable of making loyal friends. On the downside, they are selfish, loners, pretentious, highly boastful, opinionated and take risks to undertake tasks beyond their capabilities.

PIG (1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019)
Persons born in the year of PIG are usually polite, brave, good listeners, make few but lasting friends and are patient and innocent. They are very organized, honest, intelligent and sensitive. They work hard and in business they are lucky and are very good organizers. They have tremendous inner strength and are usually very kind and affectionate. They never retreat once the goal is set. On the downside, they are stubborn, moody and believe in perfection. A pig person is born to give and will constantly make sacrifices to make others comfortable. Pigs are models of sincerity, purity and tolerance.


DOG (1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018)
Persons born in the year of DOG are usually very loyal, honest, generous, work well with others, dutiful, trustworthy, faithful and warm hearted. They have high moral principles, are hard working, well dressed, motivated to reach high levels in all fields, hyper sensitive souls and are very helpful in nature. They are very righteous and will speak out against injustice. You can count on them, they will never let you down. On the downside, they are moody, impatient, restless and barkers. They can be judgmental, picky and defensive if you rub them on the wrong way. Dogs are born old and get younger as they age! They take everything very seriously and tend to be in the habit of complaining about trivial matters.

Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle.
Disclaimer: All people born under the animal symbol are not necessarily similar and do differ.