Famous Football

27 Crore people active in Football

The success of FIFA's extensive investment in the development of football worldwide seems to be leaving its mark not only with regard to increasing match attendances and TV audiences but also with regard to the number of people around the globe who actually play the game according to the latest figures.

With 265 million male and female players and a further five million referees, coaches and other officials, a grand total of 270 million people, or four per cent of the world's population, are involved in football. These are the impressive findings of the Big Count 2006, a FIFA survey of its member associations (207 at the time), which, having first been conducted in 2000, was repeated last year with the same criteria to provide an interesting insight into the growth of football worldwide.

"Football's popularity remains undiminished and is actually increasing," reflected FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter with satisfaction on the results of the survey. "If you count the relatives and close friends of active participants in football, who share in their passion for the game as fans and support them in other ways, the total number is even more impressive: well over a billion people worldwide are involved in football - at all levels of society and across all borders."

Here are some of the most important findings of the Big Count 2006:

* The overall total of 265 million male and female players is almost ten per cent higher than the number recorded six years ago (242 million). Of the 265 million, 26 million or around ten per cent are women.

* Since 2000, the number of registered male and female footballers has increased by around 23 per cent to over 38 million.

* The growth in women's football is particularly striking, with the number of registered players up 54 per cent to 4.1 million, while the number of registered players in the men's game has likewise seen an increase of 21 per cent to 34.2 million.

* The number of unregistered occasional players, which was first recorded in the previous Big Count study, is up seven per cent to 226 million.

* There is now a combined total of over one million futsal and beach soccer players (both male and female)

* In terms of regional differences, the AFC (85 million footballers) has a clear lead over the other five confederations (UEFA: 62 million; CAF: 46 million; CONCACAF: 43 million; CONMEBOL: 27 million; OFC: 0.5 million). However, if the proportion of footballers to the total population is taken into account, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and UEFA are ahead of the other confederations with seven per cent each.

* The number of clubs (301,000) is similar to the figure recorded in 2000. That said, the total number of teams (1.7 million) has increased by approximately 200,000. The data for Big Count 2006 was collated in the first half of 2006 using a traditional questionnaire and an online survey and achieved a response rate of over 75 per cent. FIFA used Big Count 2000, a UEFA survey from 2005 and other internal surveys to supplement missing data from associations and as a plausibility check. The study was scientifically observed by Lamprecht & Stamm SFB AG, a social research company based in Zurich.

Everything for Political Mileage?

Hardworking Biharis : Why to Beat them?

Every state is against them. Wherever they go they are beaten hardly with sticks. Not only in Maharashtra but in Bengal, Assam and Delhi also natives are against them. Yes I am talking about Bihari people who work hard, go anywhere in India for work and their financial expectations are very low.

Localites are against this Biharis. Not only Shivsena but Communist, Assam Gana Parishad and Congress also against Bihari people in some states. Recently Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs. Sheela Dixit gave controversial comment against Biharis in Delhi. Bihari came to Delhi and because of them conditions are worst. Every Bihari politician was upset with this statement and there was so much pressure on Congress that they ordered Mrs. Dixit to pull back her statement.
In West Bengal and Assam also Biharis were not only beaten but they were killed in some areas as very much anger was aginst them. In Assam condition was so worst that it was Hindi-speaking state were thinking of boycotting the recently held National Games there. But government gave assurance to particular associations and they participated in games.

In Maharashtra one cannot tell another story about Biharis. Few years back when Raj Thackrey was in Shivsena, at that time he had beaten the Bihari candidates who were present for Railway Exam at Kalyan-Dombivali. Shivsena had beaten them so badly that issue was raised in Parliament. Sena was firm on stand they continue their beating programmes all over Maharashtra.

Now Raj Thackrey has left Shivsena but he is still working on his agenda. They again beat Bihari candidates who were present in Pune for Railway Examination Center. This is because advertisement of this Railway exam was not given in any Marathi newspaper. It was published in other parts of country and that’s why only two Marathi candidates were present for exam and this is not done, as per Maharashtra Navamnirman Sena’s viewpoint.

One point of MNS is correct that such advertisements should be given in Marathi newspapers or we can say Indian language newspaper. Because of this everybody will get opportunity to appear for examination. This point is valid. But is it right to go at exam center and beat Biharis or outsider students? I think he should again think over this.

Another thing is that government is publishing Employment News, which is a weekly and you will get n number of advertisements from various departments of Government of India. Those who are really interested and eager for employment are regular readers of such newspapers and they will get such opportunities. Why don’t Raj Thackrey tell their supporters or workers of MNS to read `Employment News`? Do they have any problem with English reading? Or they just want to get political mileage through such events?

Everybody will be agreeing that localities should get first priority. Shivsena has also done lot of work in this issue with `Sthanik Lokadhikar Samiti`. They have also protested in the favor of local peoples. Fighted against Multinationals and out of Maharashtra companies, but they had prepared the candidates properly. Given appropriate training to them. Why don’t Raj work on this line.

One more point is that Raj has opened `Shiv Udyog Sena` when he was with Balasaheb Thackrey. That time he collected lot of money in the name of Shiv Udyog Sena. To provide employment for youth was motive behind this. Motive was good. But did that motive really came in reality? What happened of that money and how much employment was generated? Mr. Raj you should give answer to this questions and then you go ahead with agenda of beating peoples. You used public money for that Shiv Udyog Sena and you should be answerable to people.

Keep aside all this things and let us discuss the mentality of Bihari peoples. Firstly as there are not many opportunities in Bihar they are ready to travel in any part of country for employment, for work, for money. Marathi youth is ready for this travel? You can observe any bihari worker or labour, he is working for 10 to 12 hours sincerely withouth doing any time pass. And most important is that they are cheap compaired to Marathi or any other labor. Their charges are 50 percent less to any other worker. This is the reason that why Bihairs are more popular than local workers and labor.

Why should go too far. Lets take example of Biharis in Mumbai. They come all along from Patana or remote parts of Bihar. They drive taxis or work as labor with some contractors. They sleep on streets, on the roof of shops, on footpaths, in Taxis. Take bath in Public bathrooms. This kind of compromising mentality is not of any Marathi youth of worker. That’s why Mumbai is flooded with Biharis and Bhayyas.

When I was in Assam the cycle rickshaw Puller were all Biharis. They will get hardly two to three rupees after one to two kilometer paddling. But they are working hard in those conditions also because they have no alternative to hard work. In West Bengal also most of the port workers and Collies are Biharis. Reason is same as above.

Though they are creating problems for native youths or workers, there is no alternative to Biharis. Economics is with Biharis and that’s why no one can throw Biharis out of their state. That’s why instead of beating Bihairs Raj Thackrey should think over this and reframe the agenda. Beating them should not solve any problems.

When I was in Hyderabad

Remembering Mecca Masjid…

When I saw flash on television about Blast in Hyderabad, my mind goes two years back and I remember each and every minute that we spent in Mecca Masjid and Charminar.

Hyderabad is no doubt Muslim dominated city, which is divided in two, viz. Muslim dominated and Hindu dominated areas. Central part of Hyderabad, which is famous as old Hyderabad is, has Muslim domination. Outskirts area of city and Secundarabad is Hindu dominated. There is one Muslim Member of Parliament and about five Muslim member of legislative assembly from old Hyderabad. This is enough for explanation of dominancy of Muslim population in the city.

Coming back to topic of Mecca Masjid, it was built by Aurangjeb around 400 years back and it is India’s second big Masjid after Jama Masjid of Delhi. Capacity wise around 10 to 12 thousand Muslims can pray Namaz at a time in this Masjid. This Masjid is fully crowded and some people pray on roads also when it is Jumme ki Namaz and Namaz during month of Ramzan. That is the reason why terrorists selected Jumma for blasts.

One of the largest mosques in India, Mecca Masjid has a capacity to accommodate about 10,000 worshippers. The biggest mosque in Hyderabad, Sultan Muhammad Qutub Shah started the construction of this mosque. The works continued during the reigns of Abdullah Qutub Shah and Abul Hassan Tana Shah and was finally completed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1694. It has special hall for Muslim women to pray. When you enter in Masjid there is specially built water tank for devotees. It is expected when you go inside you should wash your legs and hands. Even Hindus can go inside and get informed about things there.

This Masjid is just near to world famous Charminar and Laad Bazar, which is famous for Bangles and specialty of Hyderabad that is Motis. One more specialty of this area is that as Muslim population is more there are so many hotels where you will get best Biryani during full year and Haleem in the month of Ramzan. In this area only lot of workers are engaged full day in preparing silver foil, which is, used in decorating Sweets and other delicious food. So whenever you go in that area you can hear voice of hammering and see lot of shops beside Mecca Masjid.

We used to go in Charminar area once in two months. All (Myself and My roommates) of us are fan of Biryani. Shadab, Pista and Madina are some prominent Biryani Houses there. We use to go there and enjoy biryani. After biryani one special item we liked to eat. That is `Krubani Ka Meetha`. So whenever we go there we used to visit Charminar, Mecca Masjid and Laad Bazar. We used to go here and there enjoy the feel there and then eat Chicken Biryani. This is the reason why we went near about seven to eight times there in Mecca Masjid.


There were some police persons and security guards around Mecca Masjid area. But you cannot imagine that, not a single security person is there to check the persons who are going inside for Namaz or whatever be the reason. This is the flaw and terrorists take advantage of that. After Malegaon blasts also security was not tighten there. This might be the reason for blasts, which took, place today afternoon.

I think this is happened just because negligence of state government and State Police Force.

Kahi Khushi Kahi Gam...

Hockey lose, Archery gains!!!

Sports Ministry's decision to drop hockey from the priority list might have caught everyone by surprise, but the government's grant to the federation has been steadily cut over last three years. Indian Hockey Federation received Rs. 194.21 lakh in 2004-05 but there was a drastic cut the following year and the federation got only Rs. 96.46 lakh from the government purse for promotion of the game in the country. The amount went down further to Rs. 92.09 lakh in the last financial year (2006-07).

The information was revealed by Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who gave details of the financial assistance provided to sports federations while answering a question in Rajya Sabha today. The government supplements the efforts of the national sports federations by providing assistance for training and participation or coaching of teams abroad, and procurement of equipments.

Hockey is not alone as some important sports federations have heavily lost on government funding in the last three years. The weightlifting federation, which faced two international bans in two years for doping offences, has been the worst hit. From Rs. 79.88 lakh in 2004-05, and Rs. 51.41 in 2005-06, the grant has come down to a meagre Rs. 3.28 lakh in the last financial year (2006-07).

Athletics, the mother of all sports, was also not spared. In fact, the Athletics Federation of India took the biggest hit with the grants coming down from Rs. 227.95 lakh in 2005-06 to Rs. 86.83 lakh last season, a fall of Rs. 141.12 lakh. The case with All India Football Federation, which has also been dropped from the priority category, is not different. The AIFF got Rs. 119.36 lakh in 2004-05 but could manage only 70.37 the next season. It further went down to 30.55 lakh in the last year. All India Tennis Association got 136.87 lakh in 2004-05 while the grant came down to 90.07 lakh in 2006-07.

The assistance to shooting which got India bulk of the medals in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games was increased from Rs. 218.37 lakh 2004-05 to Rs. 433 lakh next year but fell to Rs. 373.19 lakh in 2006-07. But the picture is rosy for some other federations like Table Tennis Federation of India and Archery Association of India. On the back of some commendable international performance, TTFI's grants have been rising steadily. Form 116.78 lakh in 2004-05, the grants have gone up to 178.75 lakh in 2006-07. Archery's purse was got a hike to 96.48 lakh last year, from 58.95 lakh in 2004-05.

(From PTI)

Mayawati is Back in Action...

Dalit + Brahmin = Crown for Maya

It was neither shock nor surprise for anybody. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will emerge, as single largest party was general perception. It happened also like that. But Mayawati got more than expectation. BSP will get maximum up to 165; this was assumption of Most of the exit polls and media persons. But Mayawati gone beyond that and crossed the magic figure of 202.

This is the first time when any single party has crossed the mark of 190 seats. In 1993 when Kalyansingh was in full swing after debacle of Babri Masjid, Bhartiya Janata Party got around 193 seats. After that no party has crossed that mark. BJP’s graph was declining and Samajwadi Party and BSP’s highest figure was not more than 160. But this is the first time BSP not only crossed that 190 figure but set new record by winning more than 202 seats, which is required for majority.

Till last assembly election Mayawati’s BSP was limited to Dalits and backward class only. But after that she knew that if she adhered to only Dalit politics she wont won the elections on her own. So she started to appease the upper caste voters, mainly Brahmins. In 2004 Lok Sabha election and now in Vidhan Sabha election also she gave many upper caste candidates including Brahmins. In this assembly election she gave about 155 upper caste candidates, in which number of Brahmins candidates was around 87. This drastic change in BSP’s policy was shocking but accepted by people of Uttar Pradesh.

Once upon a time BSP’s famous Slogan was

``Tilak, Taraju aur Talwar
Inko Maro Jute Char….’’

But now the situation is changed and Maya has now hugged the Brahmins and Baniyas. In UP percentage of Brahmins are around 12 to 13. Upper caste vote percentage touches to 20. This is the figure you cannot ignore in politics if you want to become Chief Minister. Maya knew that whatever decision she takes there will be no impact on her Dalit vote bank. So she gave tickets to Brahmins and Baniyas where this caste has majority votes. With this move of Maya BJP and Congress got major jolt as these parties are supposed to be parties of upper caste. Maintaining own vote bank Maya created vote bank of another caste. Neither BJP nor SP was able to do this. That’s the reason why Maya got majority and other two parties unable to cross hundred.

Another thing is that people were tired to Mulayam Singh’s government. This govt. gave some scholarships and aids to students, women and people of backward class but cadre of Samajwadi Party was indulged in extortion, crime and many illegal things. Voters were not happy with this. They wanted change.

On the other hand BJP has no powerful leader, which would be alternative to Mayawati. Kalyan Singh was popular after Babri debacle. He was not only popular in BJP cadre but he was also popular in general public. But when he became Chief Minister again in 1996 his popularity was on declining track. He was expelled from BJP. He was unhappy with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. So alleged Vajpayee and other senior leaders including Lalkrishna Advani. He also took U turn in Babri Masjid Debacle. That’s why Kalyansingh was not popular in BJP cadre and general public also.

Other leaders like Kalraj Mishra, Lalji Tondon and Kesarinath Tripathi were limited to one caste only. That is Brahmins. Vinay Katiyar was also side tracked after Kalyan Singh’s return to BJP.
Considering all this aspects only alternative before UP people was Mayawati and her BSP. That’s why BSP not only become no. 1 Party in Uttar Pradesh but she got simple majority. This was the indication that people of UP are tired with `JOD-TOD KI RAJNITI` and they want stable government. So they give opportunity to Mayawati to run govt for five years without any hurdle.

Uddhav: Slow But Steady Progress

Though he has so many critics and everyone is saying he is not capable to lead Shivsena, but he has proved that Uddhav Thackrey is the only person who can lead Sena, as Balasahaeb is not in condition to lead.

After exit of Narayan Rane and Raj Thackery, Shivsena got major jolt. Shivsena leaders Chagan Bhujbal and Ganesh Naik were also quit Sena few years back. But that time not Sena but those leaders found in trouble. But here condition was exactly opposite and Sena was on back foot as Raj and Rane are mass based leaders. So many Sena leaders and MLAs also quit Sena with their workers. Those workers were not only from Konkan and Mumbai but also from all over Maharashtra.

After this drama Rane supporter MLAs quit Sena and joined Congress. Therefore voters and leaders faced by election. In Malvan, Sangmeshwar, Rajapur and Vengurla Rane supporters won. Malvan and Vengurla was cakewalk for Rane but Sangmeshwar and Rajapur was quite tough for Congress. After that Sena maintain their Shrivardhan seat with support of Peasents and Workers Party. This was like earthquake for Rane’s camp.

Chimur and Daryapur was close battle as Rane supporters won with close margin. Here dispute between Sena and Bhartiya Janata Party was reason for their defeat. But after this Sena camp was in Cheers mood.

Mumbai Municipal Corporation election was litmus test for Sena, Rane and Raj also. Everyone was thinking that Sena would get major jolt as Rane and Raj quitted Sena. But giving shock to everyone Sena got majority in MMC. Thought number of Sena corporaters decreased and BJP corporaters increased saffron alliance got majority with support of independent candidates. This was 1st great victory for Uddhav and for Sena also. After that everyone gets idea of Uddhav’s leadership techniques and the way he is leading Sena.

Like last municipal election also he didn’t give tickets to around 55 sitting corporaters. In last election also about 35 corporaters wont get another opportunity. Because of this though many people were upset with performance of their corporater voted for Sena as they got new face from party. Another reason was Marathi factor was also helpful for Sena’s victory.

As this was not enough for Rane, Ramtek Loksabha election results brought Rane to the earth. Ranjit Deshmukh contested the election against favourism to Rane in congress party. He got around 40 thousand votes and Sena candidate victory was confirmed. Sena move their all MLAs, corporaters and workers to Ramtek and made this election of prestige issue. Ramtek win confirms that, here after it won’t be that much easy for Rane.

Uddhav’s style of working is different from Raj or Rane. He is not aggressive as Balasaheb. He is not good orator as Raj. He has not bunch of workers as Rane has. But he is changing work style of Sena and which is appropriate for new era. Though many workers of Sena not happy with his working style, many people are with him. He is taking issues like Sugercane or Cotton prices, Electricity shortage in rural parts of Maharashtra and other people related problems. That’s why roots of Sena are going more and more deep.

Unforgettable Gudhipadwa

We all just celebrated Gudhipadwa. But I remember the celebration of Gudhipadwa when I was in Hyderabad. I was working with E TV Marathi. For more than 18 months I was there. During this period we got opportunity to celebrate Gudhipadwa of Maharashtra and Ugadi of Andhra Prudish at a time.

When you are in Maharashtra you never get feel of Marathi culture or festivals of Maharashtra. But when you are outside Maharashtra you must remember these things. As we were missing all the Marathi festivals, we decided to celebrate Gudhipadwa in Marathi style. Myself, Rajendra Hunje, Shriranga Khare and Sachin Fulpagare were living in one house on rent.

We all had night shift during that week. Night shift of E TV was from 12 in midnight to 8 am. When we finished our shift and came back to home then time was around 9.15. After that we started to wash our home. Our home had two rooms, one hall and one kitchen. We washed all the rooms using detergent and phenyl. After that we all took bath and gone to Sai Baba Mandir just near to our home.

We decided to set up a Gudhi on our home. But problem was this tradition was not famous in AP and Marathi peoples were very less in our area. So we did not get required material to set up Gudhi. Then we tried for things in Sai baba mandir. There we got Saffron colour silk cloth and Neem leaves. Then we found out one long stick. From that saffron silk cloth we prepared Gudhi and put that on our home. Everyone including owner of our home was curious about all this things. They were inquiring about all this traditions and why we are doing this. We feel very satisfied and proud when the entire things gone properly.

But it was not the end of our celebration. After that we started to prepare food for lunch. We prepared puris; mix vegetable, masala rice, chatni and Koshimbir also. We bought Jilebi from one Marathi vendor and then enjoyed all Maharashtrian food in lunch. Our neighbors Ketaki Joshi (Lonkar at that time), Nima Patil and Megha also joined us for the lunch. Food was delicious that we took that for our friends in office also. They also liked the food and the way we celebrated Gudhipadwa.

Telugu people celebrate Ugadi on Gudhipadwa. Our house Owner was also co-operating. On Ugadi he gave us some juice which all tastes like sweet, bitter, and soar also. So you may not get idea what it is? Thinking behind this is that in life we have to face all type of experiences. Some are good and some may be bad for us. But you have to face all those challenges without any exception. The juice is just like life, which had some sweet and some bitter. He also gave us sweet roti, which was made by his wife.

Before that we all (me, shrirang, rajendra and Sachin) contributed around 2000 Rs and bought a Colour television of LG. That time India was on tour of Pakistan after around 14 to 15 years. So we all were eager to see matches and we had not TV. So we all contributed and bought TV on auspicious occasion of Gudhipadwa or Ugadi.

That Gudhipadwa was lifetime experience for all of us and I never forget that day.

About Marathi and Maharashtra…

This is View from Cruise while Enjoying home made Rice Beer.

Just enjoy the food from Assam Rice, Fish and Rosso Gulla.

In Assam I also experienced that those peoples have lot of respect and love towards Maharashtra. Specially Pune and Mumbai. They are also much crazy to know more Mumbai and life style there.

Bakarwadi and Samosas…

I met Mr. Punjab Sharma there. He was working with Brahmaputra Water Works as Engineer now. About 10-12 years back he was in pune in CWPRS. That time he used to stay near Swargate. He told some memories of that time to us and we were amazed. He told us some specialties of pune like Naaz (Samosa Special), Poona Café House, and Bakarwadi of Chitale Sweets. I was not expecting such experience in Assam.

Pune and Mumbai are much familiar in Assam as so many students from Assam (From Northeast also) came to Maharashtra for education in the past. Now also figure of such students is high. That’s why they know much more about Mahrashtra and they told us that Marathi peoples are good and have helping nature.

Bambai se aaya mera dost...

When we go to one village in Nalbari district we gone for Tea on one Tapari. There the owner made special tea for us and serve the with song

``Bambai se aaya mera dost, dost ko salam karo,
Raat ko kho piyo, din ko aaram karo…”

We told that, salam bilam mat karo yar. Then he told that you came to our village form such a long distance that we have to salute you. When we speak with other peoples then they told us that nobody from outside Assam was gone to that village. That’s why they were much more happy. We were amazed with their hospitality and love.

We enjoyed the village food there in the night. Chicken with special Assami taste, Chenar and Rohu fish, rice with kali daal was the menu for dinner. Food was so delicious that I ate much more than my capacity and still no problem on next day. Wah! Kya Baat hein!!

Lachit Badfukan…

Northeast has some special features and one of them is that people from NE want to keep their special identity. This thing comes into picture at opening and closing ceremony of National Games. Other incidents also show this fact. In Guwahati there is one statue of Lachit Badfukan. He is the Freedom Fighter of Assam and fought against Mughals. He stopped the Mughals from entering in Assam. One volunteer Botipon Malakar was with me in jeep and he showed me that statue.

He asked me you know Lachit Badfukan? Fortunately I knew the name and work of Badfukan. When I told information about Badfukan to him. He was so delighted after hearing me that one cannot imagine. He took my hands in his hands and hugged me just because I knew about Badfukan. He told me that nobody from outside NE knows about Lachit. But you are from Pune and still know Lachit this is great for us.

Shivsena there also…

Pullok Mohanta was transport committee president during national games. One day he asked me about Balasaheb Thackrey. I was surprised after hearing word Balasaheb. I was thinking that he wants some information about BMC elections. But he was not interested in that. He told me that ``He was lost in Dadar when he had gone to Mumbai in his early childhood. He lost from his parents and was started crying. Then some shivsena workers took him to home. Gave him food and water. Inquired about his parents and then searched his parents in nearby areas. In few hours they found my parents and we came together again.”In that sense I have some different remembrance about shivsena.

Memories from Assam...

With Journalists from all over the country on CRUISE on Brahmaputra.

All the Participant States from all over the country and their flags

A National Sojourn in Assam

(This picture of Sepak Takraw in National Games.)

First time it was happening in the Assam and second time in the North-East India. In the shadow of threats by United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), government of Assam dared to organize the National Games in Guwahati and you could only see to believe how excellent these games were. No obstruction from Ulfa, huge response from local peoples and excellent organization were the key reasons that everyone including Press reporters was happy with the games.

National Games taking place in Guwahati was big news for us. So many reporters from all over the country were there to cover the games. Kerala reporters were largest in numbers. They were about 32 and Maharashtra had only two reporters. They were from Marathi daily Sakal. I was one of them, the other being Mr. Sanjay Gharpure from Mumbai. After a long travel of around 54 hours, we reached Guwahati and immediately started our work.

Opening and Closing ceremony was the showcase event for the strength of Northeast. Traditional dances from all the seven northeastern states and Sikkim were the attraction of the program. Though the security was tight throughout the games, it did not prove to be a burden for spectators and journalists. Many times you have to just go through metal detector and nothing else. In all the tour neither a single security person checked ourselves nor any other journalist neither we were asked to open our bags and laptops.

National games was lackluster for many as there was no super star like Leander Peas, Mahesh Bhupati, Sania Mirza, Anju Bobby George and many other international athletes. But people from Assam were not unhappy with that. They just wanted to enjoy the games and people from all over the city and nearer villages thronged to stadiums to watch the games. Can you imagine people were standing in queue to just watch the swimming tank and competitions there? Crowd was expected at soccer, hockey, athletics, basketball, volleyball, kabaddi and other popular games. But people in large number were present to watch games like fencing, cycling, sepak takraw, lawn bowl and rugby also.

When we talked to people they told us that, for last so many years such games or tournaments were happening only in National Capital New Delhi or state capitals like Mumbai, Kolkatta or Hyderabad. It was the first time that games were organized in Assam and so people were enthusiastic to watch the stadiums, games and players also. So people turned to all stadiums and give overwhelming response to all the games and cheered all the players crossing state differences.

As National game was first time in Assam, organizers and volunteers were very much helping and they loved to care a lot. Many of them were college students and they worked as volunteers while maintaining their regular schedule. They were not expecting money for their work. As one Rajendra Kumar said, “This is our game. Assam is holding games for the first time. How can I ask for money for personal duty? If government gives us then its ok, but we will never ask for money for our work.” People were working with this spirit and because of that everyone who was there were happy with arrangements.

We enjoyed the lunch on Cruise courtesy of Assam Tourism Department. Brahmaputra was the river, which is about 2 kilometers broad in guwahati. Because of this there is only one bridge on river and it is outside the city. People travel through boats to go from south guwahati to north guwahati because there is only one bridge. There are so many big boats called cruise on river. People can enjoy their lunch or dinner there. Food on that cruise was just like food in village which adivasis eat. Steamed rice, which is cooked in leaves, mutton of duck, pickle of Bamboo, Rohu fish, Chicken Curry was the menu for lunch. When you finish your lunch then they serve you Roso Gulla with Sweet Curd. It was an unforgotten experience for me to travel on Brahmaputra in Cruise.

Another experience we got in Nalbari district. While going to my friend’s village in Nalbari, we had to pass through one village where all the houses were of Bangladeshi infiltrators. There were total 120 Bangladeshi families in one village and there are a number of such villages by the bank of river Brahmaputra.

Few years back Assam Gana Parishad and AASU people fought with those infiltrators and send them back to Bangladesh. But unfortunately the came back again in 90’s and that time congress government gave ration card to them. Then those infiltrators were successful to get land for farming and now they are settled down there and working in the cities of Assam and Kolkatta. We feel very sorry about that thing. But not only us but also everyone is helpless and none can do anything against it. As it’s matter of votes now.

Survey about Blogs and Bloggers

Daily devotion to blogs waning

Dan Knutson, the man behind the blog "And I am somebody," still is somebody, even though he’s been missing from his Minnesota blog since August.

"Ghost Noise and Psychic Dream Butter" hasn’t rattled its chains since the summer. Even the confidently named "I Blog Therefore I Am" Web site posted only once between Dec. 4 and 17, an entry consisting simply of the word yadda repeated over and over.

"Yes, life has intervened," Knutson said recently. "I’d love to keep the blog going, but I’m fearful it may have gasped its last breath. It was great for a while, but it became a chore."
Knutson isn’t alone in feeling all blogged out.
The technology firm Gartner Inc. has announced that 2007 could be the year when the blog world loses steam.

Said Gartner:

• There were more than 56 million active weblogs, typically called blogs, in October, according to Technorati, but the average life span is three months and declining.

• Given the trend in the average life span of blogs and their current growth rate, there already are more than 200 million ex-bloggers. So, the peak number of bloggers worldwide will be about 100 million at some point in the first half of 2007.

• MySpace and Facebook lost visitors in September, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a Web-tracking service. The number of unique U.S. visitors at MySpace fell 4 percent to 47.2 million from 49.2 million in August, and the number of visitors to Facebook fell 12 percent to 7.8 million from 8.9 million.

• Today’s overexuberance will level off to at least 30 million active bloggers and 30 million frequent community contributors worldwide.

That’s still a lot of yapping, but consider that Google recently estimated that the average blog is read by one person.

The reason, according to Gartner, is that people have gotten bored with their blogs, or just found the responsibility of saying something interesting every day just isn’t worth it.
"Everyone thinks they have something to say, until they’re put onstage and asked to say it," said Daryl Plummer, chief Gartner fellow.

Rex Sorgatz, who founded the site MNSpeak and now is Innovations Director for msnbc.com in Seattle, doesn’t think Gartner’s data portends the end for blogs.
"I’m honestly no blog triumphalist, but when did 100 million people involved in contributory media become a disappointment?" he said.

Sorgatz thinks that the definition of the term is changing: "There’s something happening on MySpace that is bloglike, but not exactly blogging. The same goes with Twitter, where people are sort of insta-blogging."
For now, many blogs clearly have a shelf life.

One blogger who decided to give it a rest is Kevin-M, at the Insomnia Report, who wrote this in October:
"Over the past couple of weeks I’ve grown less and less enthusiastic about keeping up this site. So I’ve decided to stop doing it for a little while. ... So, this is goodbye for now."

(Thanks to Coloumbus Dispatch)

Come on boys keep it up

Two boys selected from PIFA to represent Maharasthra for India Trials U-16.

Harshad Meher (GK) & Ajit Bhoir (Defender) players from PIFA Colaba Youngstar FC that was just promoted in their 1st year to Super Division have been called for the AIFF Indian team Under-16 trials to be held in February.

Only 3 boys were selected from Maharastra.

Harshad Meher (GK) played for PIFA Colaba Youngstar, was elected the best goal keeper at the recently concluded MDFA MFL Senior division tournament.

Ajit Bhoir (defender) was elected the best player of the tournament at the MDFA Mumbai Zonals for team PIFA-Colaba Zone.
Both these young players have been regular starters in the PIFA- CYFC team and have contributed to the teams success.

Coach & Director of PIFA Mr Nirvan Shah quotes "We are proud of these boys. The boys have worked hard and have quickly adapted to the PIFA training methods. Their success is due to their ability to understand the game and what their responsibility is on the field."

The final Indian team should be going to Germany for further training.

Cogrates all and keep it up!!!

Disturbing Fact of India

Stray dogs feed on with a charred human bodies of people killed in a political clash at Sonachuri area of Nandigram, 150 kilometers (95 miles) north of Calcutta, India, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007. Six people were killed and scores more injured in clashes between villagers and ruling Communist Party members in India's West Bengal state in a dispute over the acquisition of farmland for industrial purposes, according to agency reports.

Gadar: The Revolution among us

Some Leftist are more Right

Gummadi Vitthal Rao alias Gadar, the poet who sings revolution was in the Pune city for last two days. He is the person who supports the Naxalite movement and still the government wont touches him. Gadar is so popular in naxalite areas of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh that whenever he goes for programme there are mob of around one-lack peoples to hear him. He is the person who seems dangerous for the government. Because of his popularity and his fiery thoughts government takes all precaution too avoid the worst situation.

But when one meets Gadar he is the simple person like us. He is so impressive that when you hear his songs and poems for a while you think that whatever he is saying is correct. Just giving simples examples he explains the serious topic like Special Economic Zone, Naxalite Movement, Economic policies and changing future of India etc.

As he is leftist he don’t bother to criticize the Marxist government in West Bengal on the SEZ issue. How can a government forcibly take lands of farmers for the industry for the name of SEZ? If any other government has done this then it is ok. One can understand the situation but how can Marxist government behave like this? WB government is not Marxist in the sense that they are going away from the thought of Carl Marx. One cannot be Marxist just by wearing Red clothes and taking Red flags in hand but there should be red color in your heart also.

SEZ issue will become more explosive in the future as per Gadar. According to him SEZ is the example of Imperialism of America. That’s why the American President George W. Bush was visited small village of Mehaboobnagar. America wants to conquer lands and water resources of India. (Other developing countries also) America is entering in India through SEZ and it will increase day by day. In future not only land but water and electricity will be the things because of which peoples will stand against each other and fight with neighbors.

We are passing through the phase of New Democratic Revolution. Some people may call this as Naxalite Movement. If New Democratic Revolution is Naxalism then I Support that movement. This is the movement against imperialism of America and World Bank. This is the movement against the Cultural and Economic invasion of America. This is the movement of farmers and adivasis against the government policies, Gadar adds.

Gadar says that Khairlanji may have occurred because of land. Upper caste people many not digest the thing that lower caste people owning land and fight starts. In villages land is key factor. In villages there is an unwritten rule that the person who has more land will rule the village. So everyone is eager to acquire more and more land.

To avoid such situation again land reformation is necessary. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was of the thought that every backward person should get reservation and Land Reformation is necessary. But political persons neglect the later thing and only gave reservations to the backward class. But now its perfect time to reform the lands and give some lands to backward class people for farming.

To avoid another Khairlanji Gadar is going to Marathi writers, poets and artists to discuss thing with them. Then discussing things with them he will decide next step. But Gadar wants to go slow but steady.

For More Details :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaddar
http://www.naxalrevolution.blogspot.com

Could you belive this?

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1) He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2) He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3) He still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4) He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5) He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

6) His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.

7) He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

8) He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.

9) Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

10) Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

11) His advice to young people: Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself.

Soccer lover from Pune

Goal unreached, Hopes still Kicking

It’s unofficial but true. Cricket is the religion of India. That’s why Hockey is the national sports of India but most popular game in the country is one and only cricket. Cricket gets publicity, media coverage, funds and facilities from government and important is the support of the peoples. This thing creates the positive atmosphere for any sports and then that sports become more and more popular. But unfortunately in India only cricket gats all this and therefore we lack in other sports including hockey.

But there are some peoples who are not only sports loving but also they want to change the situation and for that they fight against the system. Elic turner from pune is one of them. He has completed the training course of ‘FA’ from England, which is beneficiary for any soccer coach. He completed that course successfully in 2005 and then work with well-known Bolton soccer club from UK. He might be the only Punite who completes this course.

After that turner comes to India and now he is giving training to students in Kalyaninagar, which is at the outskirts of Pune. There he runs academy for two days in week. In his academy there are around 65 to 70 students. Students get training as per European criteria and there is special attention towards each student. For that there are at least three coaches for each practice session. For each two students there is one football. This is important for the personal practice of dribbling, passing and kicks.

After running academy for more than one and half year now he has plans to open academies in other parts of pune i.e. Aundh and Deccan. He plans to go beyond pune and wants to reach little towns and village places through Mobile Academy. This is new concept he wants to develop. If any school wants training from Turner, then turner will go to that school with his colleagues and sporting material. There he will stay for two or three weeks and during this period he will give training for soccer players in that particular school. All this is only for soccer and upcoming player from small towns and villages. He will charge only few bucks and moneymaking is not the idea of this academy as per turner.

Turner is very upset with the currant situation of football. No one wants to do career in sports. If any one takes this thing seriously then cricket is the first choice. Football comes after so many games. Other thing is that soccer is limited to some states in India. Bengal, Goa, Kerala and some Northeastern state are soccer crazy. Therefore we lack in qualified coaches and such coaches are not available in many parts of the country. If we can give good coaching and training facility at school level then we can definitely improve our condition in soccer, he adds.

He knows that only one person cannot change the condition of game but still he fights against all odds and wants to reach the goal.

Money talks louder than ever...

If it was not Roman Abramovich spending 30 million pounds on a 30-year-old (Andriy Shevchenko), it was Ashley Cole flouncing out of Arsenal in a hissy fit over their 'disrespectful' offer of a new contract worth 55,000 pounds a week. No sooner had the ink dried on a forecast-busting new television deal than Dubai's accountants were poring over Liverpool's books with the aim of wrapping up a 450-million-pound takeover of the five-times European champions. Money has never talked louder in English football than it did in 2006. And with the enhanced television cash that will kick in from next season acting like a dose of financial Viagra, never have the country's top clubs appeared so attractive to suitors from around the world.

By this time next year it is conceivable -- likely even -- that half the Premiership's 20 clubs will be in foreign hands. If the Dubai bid goes through, Liverpool will follow in the footsteps of Chelsea, Manchester United, Fulham, Portsmouth, Aston Villa and West Ham. Everton, Manchester City and Newcastle look good bets to take a similar route in 2007 as global investors scramble for control of businesses which have seen their outlook transformed by the prospect of sharing broadcasting revenues that will exceed two billion pounds over the course of the 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned that the influx of foreign capital threatens "the soul of football." But the buyouts of Aston Villa (by American tycoon Randy Lerner) and West Ham (by an Icelandic consortium) this year have generated few complaints from those clubs' fans, while the hostility of most Manchester United supporters to Malcolm Glazer's 2005 takeover at Old Trafford melted away as results improved. United's revival -- which began at the tail end of last season -- has served as a reminder that the correlation between money spent and success in football is not always a direct one. Given how easily they cantered to the 2005-06 title in May, it was wildly assumed that the costly summer acquisition of Shevchenko, Cole and Michael Ballack would make Chelsea irresistible for a third successive season. That could yet prove to be the case.

Jose Mourinho's boast that United cannot match the depth of quality in his squad is not an idle one. Yet it is also true that, apart from giving Abramovich someone he can speak Russian to, Shevchenko has been only a sporadic contributor to the Chelsea cause while Ballack too has yet to reproduce the kind of marauding form on which he constructed his reputation. United in contrast have prospered largely on the strength of existing resources, the increasing maturity of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney being complemented by the Indian summers being enjoyed by the homegrown duo Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

Even allowing for the scheduled short-term arrival of Henrik Larsson in January, United do look vulnerable to injuries during the title run-in. But for the first time since Mourinho's arrival at Chelsea in 2004, the year is ending with genuine uncertainty about the destination of the title. Most neutrals will be pleased about that, but the switch from one-horse to two-horse race will not be enough to assuage concern about the gulf between the top clubs and the rest, for whom a run of three defeats can mean a lurch from challenging for a place in Europe to the relegation battle.

The over-riding imperative of avoiding the financially calamitous consequences of a drop to the Championship was behind the pre-Christmas sackings of Iain Dowie and Alan Pardew at Charlton and West Ham. Both men could justifiably argue that they should have been given more time, Dowie on the grounds that he had only been in the job for four months, Pardew on the strength of a record that included winning promotion and taking the Hammers to the FA Cup final.

There is also a worry that the financial fear factor is making teams more cautious, resulting in the Premiership currently producing the lowest number of goals per game of any top flight in Europe. It could equally be argued that the quality of defenders is improving in a league in which half the registered players come from overseas. But Arjan de Zeeuw, Wigan's veteran Dutch centreback, thinks otherwise. "When I first came here everyone played 4-4-2 and you knew what you were going to get," de Zeeuw said recently.

"Now you see teams with one up front and five in the middle most weeks. And one of the five will usually be in the Claude Makelele position, providing an extra level of defence. "Everyone is more cautious now because there is such a big gap between the top three or four and the rest. Once you go behind against Chelsea they won't let you back into the game, so teams are thinking first and foremost about how not to concede." That might mean problems lie ahead but for now the Premiership can bask in its status as the world's favourite league.

(Thanks to Reuters)

MARATHI NATAK GOES TO BLOG

Who says Marathi Theatre is towards dying? Those who think that there is no future to Marathi theatre then they are unaware the happenings in Marathi theatre. ‘Makadachya Hati Champagne’ is the play, which popular among all age groups from last few months.

Some new subjects from society are coming to theatre and some innovative peoples are also taking advantage of new technology. Recently Girish Joshi, the director of ‘Final Draft’ and ‘Makadachya Hati Champagne’ has created blogs for the reactions of audience. Before starting play they announce about their blogs and ask audience to react there and comments on various aspects of play.

Both the blogs are created in recent months but response to the blogs is not very poor. Around 60 to 70 peoples have commented on blog of each play. Viewers of the play have reacted there about script, dialogues, acting and theme of the play. There are some good comments about play and some have reacted against the theme of play. But the thing is that viewers have commented.

Many time only renowned actors, some directors or producers and peoples related to theatre industry react about the play. But general viewer or audience couldn’t express about play. He wants to comment about the play but there is no proper platform to express. That’s why reaction of general audience doesn’t reaches to producer or director. That’s blog was introduced for reaction, Mr. Joshi added.

This type of system was recently started but it will become popular in coming days.

Links to these blogs are below :
http://makadachyahati.blogspot.com
http://finaldraftcomments.blogspot.com

Makadachya Hati Champagne

Dr. Vivek Bele writes this play and it makes humorous comment made on the manipulative overtures of the political mind. Political mind, because the manipulations may be designed and applied as much in mainstream politics as much in the personal relationships.The characters in the play are three roommates, of which one imagines he has found his love. The friends address each other by names they have invented on the basis of their individual personalities.

So, here we have the uncouth and aggressive ‘Chaku (Knife)’, who brings home the woman he would like to marry to meet his friends ‘Pustak (Book)’ who like his name goes by the book and ‘Makad’ a T.V channel journalist who could move heaven and earth to find news.The lady herself is unabashed about changing her mind when it suits her, and moving on with life. With no answerability to an erasable past she aptly renames herself ‘Pencil’.

The story becomes a chain of witty battles between the four characters as Pustak and Chaku both woo Pencil while Makad eggs on both individually. The duel goes on parallel to the Elections news that is being shown on TV.The two men vie for the lady’s favors just as the opposing candidates vie for public support. The media and Makad meanwhile enjoy the show as long as the bottle of champagne is not opened. Because champagne means celebration and celebration means everybody is happy which clearly does not agree with their psyche.

Then Pencil marries Pustak and things seem to come to a dead end. But Makad would not let that happen. He now convinces Chaku that he is not out of the race and that he can still have his love back.Strategies are built, manipulations galore and wit abounds. Every time there is a possibility of stability, Makad the media man becomes restless and succeeds in unsettling the situation once again.

Who gets the lady, who gets the chair? Whom does the lady favor, whom does the public uphold?In a thoroughly enjoyable laughter ridden two hours of moves and countermoves, Director Girish Joshi brings out the stark insensitivity and selfishness of the human mind in no uncertain terms.

Mr. Prime Minister you are WRONG!!!

First Preference to Minorities?

Thank you, Prime Minister for clarifying the thing that minorities have first claim on all Natural Resources.

Till date we thought that according to our constitution everyone is one same par. But this thing is correct in constitution only and some people have more advantages as they are from minorities or from lower caste. But when there is lot of criticism from all corners of the country then Manmohan Singh took U turn and claim that I didn’t said this thing and Media has twisted my statement.

This thing came in to picture when he spoke just like congress leader on last Saturday. Controversy began when he said that MINORITIES MUST HAVE FIRST CLAIM ON RESOURCES. He was speaking at Chief Minister’s conference in New Delhi.

Everyone has heard his statement on Television, at least I have heard and seen it on Times now and other news channels. There was no twisting or no editing in the story. That’s why one can easily understand the feelings of Prime Minister. As he is from congress party everyone know what will be his ideology but this statement was not expected from a man like Manmohan Singh. As he changed the face of India’s Economy and who lead India in globalization process, this was shocking statement.

As we are becoming as global village how can anyone claim on education, Service and other resources just because of he is from minority or he is from lower caste. There should be two criteria’s only. One is talent and another is economic backwardness. If you are talented then no one can stop you from progress. If you are economic backward and still you are talented then you should get some financial help or reservation things. But other wise every thing should be decided on talent only.

But due to vote bank politics every party wants to keep minorities happy and that is the only reason why we have reservation based on caste. Now some parties are of the view that there should be reservation for minority religions. Appeasement is the only reason why minorities get special treatment in our country.

This is the only reason why not a single ‘so-called secularist party’ dares to protest against the minorities when they denied singing of Vandemataram. Congress Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad (Jammu Kashmir) demands that Mohammad Afzal should not be hanged. But congress claims that this is his personal statement and party doesn’t want to comment on it. How can a Chief Minister comment on such issues so casually? Or you just want to attract minority community from Jammu and Kashmir toward congress?

Bhartiya Janata Party has its own image about minorities. Image of BJP is pro Hindu and anti Muslim or anti Minority. They wanted to change their image. That’s why Atal Bihari announced in his political speech that Two Lacks Urdu teachers would be recruited after Polls. Advani goes to Pakistan and claims that Jinnah was Patriot. Bangaru Laxman announced after becoming BJP’s president that Party workers should give up their animosity towards minorities. This message is good but party president declaring this is serious. You are doing this just to attract minorities and nothing else is clear from this. So BJP is not a party with difference in this case.

I don’t want to comment on Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party of Mayawati. These parties are limited to certain part of India and certain community.

So, Mr. Prime Minister you are wrong and you are not there to divide the people on caste and religion. If you do that you will lose the your place in many hearts.

Medha Patkar, Voice of Voiceless

Narmada, Mumbai and now in Singur

Medha Patkar, the name that is familiar with protest, strike and indefinite fast. From last two decades Medha Patkar is associated with Narmada Dam issue. She is fighting against the Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh government for the benefit of farmers and poor peoples, who were displaced from their own village.

There are always many aspects and angles to any issue. And when the issue is political, social or economical then difference of opinion is must. Narmada Dam issue has also many angles, but the important thing is that Medha Patkar gave the voice to villagers and farmers. When there is no one to hear complaints of farmers and everyone is busy with own business at that time, Medha came forward and gave helping hand to dam affected peoples.

She raised the voice of affected peoples to the international level also and brought some funds to continue the protest. Actor actresses like Rahul Bose, Aamir Khan and Nandita Das, Booker Award winner Arundhati Roy and socialist politicians are active supporters Medha Patkar.

After handling the issue of Narmada Dam for more than 15 to 20 years, she came in picture again when Maharashtra government demolished the illegal huts in Mumbai. When poor people living roadside or in slums become homeless then she started fast at Mahatma Gandhi Statue near Mantralaya. Many social organizations came forward in the support of Medha and then government softens his stand on the illegal hut issue and decided to legalize the slums till 2000 instead of 1996. There may be debate whether stand of Medha was right or wrong? Or illegal slums should be legalized or not? But the thing is that every time she comes forward to help the helpless.

Then Medha protested against the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) issue. Maan is the village near Pune. Government had plans to declare SEZ on the green land of Maan. But villagers raised the voice against the government decision and demonstrated on the streets. When there is no leader to protest then again Medha Patkar is the only name that came to forefront. She visited Maan and supported the protest. When issue was highlighted at state and central level, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has to comment on the issue and he assured the villagers that no SEZ on green land unless and until farmer wants it. Of course this is the victory of people and not of Medha. But she once again proved that, she is voice of voiceless peoples.

Now her battlefield is Singur in West Bengal. Marxist government has given the green land of farmers to Tata Motors under Special Economic Zone. This is sure that in the communist regime helpless farmers cannot fight against the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government. Mamata Banerjee has started the protest against government’s decision. Medha Patkar has also joined the protest and now singur has came in the limelight. Mamata is more violent in protesting, as Medha is not protesting with peace.

There are so many opinions about Medha patkar’s protest in various issues but the common thing is that she always gives helping hand to poor as well as down trodden people and works devotedly for them. More than that according to me one thing is most admirable is that she devoted her whole life to society and always become voice of voiceless peoples.