Holi, Dulhandi or Phagwan is one of the most jubilant and exciting festivals of Indian culture!

Can one imagine Holi as a festival of single color? How boring it would have been without the presence of different colors! Similarly we can’t imagine our lives without the existence of variant emotions like care of our dear ones, concerns from our friends, and love of our well wishers. Sometimes the arrival of sadness makes us understand the importance of happy moments in our lives! All the colors are equally important to complete our life!

Abhinav too regards its employees as one single family and celebrated the festival with full enthusiasm! On the occasion of Holi a Holiday on Monday 1st of March 2010, has been announced for Abhinav’s staff members.

After winding off the work in a quick hustle, the staff members hurriedly gathered in the hall and started throwing gulal at each other. Soon, the climax took over, and we started spilling water on everyone in a spur of the moment. Nobody realized the presence of their computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices in the room! Perhaps that’s what we call the madness of Holi, without which the festival is surely incomplete!!

We ended the day with cozy hugs and a promise to celebrate the festival with the same love, adventure and excitement next year!

HAPPPYYYYYY HOLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

In an interesting incident, a plane had to terminate its landing, courtesy a nude man who went on to rupture the security and rushed in the midst of the runway at the IGI airport!

Drunkenness formed the main culprit behind him performing this act! The accused, recognized as 33-year-old Arun Rai, belongs to Bihar was seen in a nude manner on the place 50 yards inside the Airport premises.

The man came into picture when air traffic controller saw some movement on the ground radar. As a result, some officials were ordered to inspect what all was happening on the ground. They later confirmed the presence of a drunk man lying on the roadway, which later resulted into the delayed landing of two aircrafts.

The man came in to notice just two minutes before a Kingfisher flight IT 803 was about to land the same runway. It was just 7.4 km away from touching the runway when the pilot had to bar the landing! As a result, the plane landed at 8.21pm rather than 8 pm. Had the air traffic controller not recognized the disturbances in the radar, this man would have been crushed into pieces! He was later handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force.

You may call it hilarious, but I call it stupidity – stupidity from the side of security officials who failed to stop him from entering the premises and stupidity from the side of this man too, who went on jump in open, presenting himself as a naked mannequin in front of others. Of course you cannot blame him because he was all DRUNK, but what about the security officials? Were they drunk too or were involved in Pre-Holi celebrations?

Hats off to the air traffic controller who made all the difference! The speed of an aircraft at the time of landing is usually so high that even a small object in its way can make a huge difference! The air traffic controller not only saved the life of that man but also hundreds sitting inside the aircraft!

This incident is a mock at the security system of the IGI Airport and make us all understand as to why terrorists find it pretty easy to enter Indian premises and go on to take lives of innocent masses with all the ease!

Women are marking their presence in every field! Why should politics be left behind?

Congress, BJP and the Left have shown support for the Women Reservation Bill, though it might face difficulty to clear the introductory stage in the Parliament. It is likely to face opposition from certain political parties and OBC Leaders, specifically Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad, who have continuously opposed this proposal since ages. Their opposition depicts their perspective towards having a gender biased society which should be only dominated by men of their caliber! On one hand, these people demand reservations for minorities and OBCs to fulfill their vote banks and on the other hand, these representatives of our society fail to recognize the equal participation of women in our society! JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav stands in the line of opponents too!

Earlier, the bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee, which suggested that it should proceed in its current form without any further changes.

The bill which seeks to provide 33% reservation to women in Lok Sabha was awaiting its fate since 14 years, courtesy inapt support from political accord. Now, Congress, BJP and the Left, the three supporting parties have all raised their thumbs up in support of providing 33% seats for all MLA and MP seats for women. If approved, Indian politics will see an altogether new phase in the upcoming years.

The support of “Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam,” Trinamool and “AIADMK” forms another important facet in approving the bill in its introductory stage! T K Elangovan, spokesperson from DMK confirmed that they would be considering “quota within the quota” at the later stages. The statement might work in favor of the approval of “Women Reservation Bill” and hence, may form a source of support for the tri-parties too!

Last year, BJP politician Sushma Swaraj confirmed her party’s backing for reserving the quota for women in Parliament and said that they will not contend with anything less than 33%. She however spoke against the “quota within quota” policy stating that quota based on caste and religion is strictly prohibited.

For the final approval, it becomes mandatory to get votes from two thirds of the members present in the Rajya Sabha. The three approving parties are falling just short of the requisite number and it is here where they need to plan up some clever strategy to balance out the figures in their favor! As far as the set-up at Lok Sabha is concerned; the requisite number seems to be in the trio’s favor!

Different political leaders have different views on the proposed bill. On one hand, BJP showed its assurance for the bill, stating that the party would provide all the back required in the Parliament, while on the other hand, CPM leader Brinda Karat expressed her gladness on the approval shown by the Union Cabinet!

Earlier, opposition forced the bill from getting introduced in the Parliament. They accused the ruling party for deviating the mass’s attention from critical topics like price hike and introducing an irrelevant issue in the Parliament.

With the recent approval by the Union Cabinet, India is surely heading towards a future that offers an equal participation from both men and women. When we talk about equality and giving unbiased importance to both the genders, approval of this bill would surely call for a bow for the Congress government.

But what if the bill fails to pass in the Parliament session? What if the bill goes on to meet a similar fate as it has been facing since the past 14 years? The recent debacle has aroused so many questions in the mind of general masses. These corrupt politicians blindly run after votes and give importance to the common man once in five years! What happens to their concern for the masses during their remaining tenure? They fight like cats and dogs in the Parliament, accuse the opposition for their misdeeds but never show the similar concern to solve the day-to-day problems of the common man. Their greed and hunger for getting reservations on the basis of caste and religion has made them beasts in this human race! It is this greed which is making many of these political leaders oppose the Women Reservation Bill in the Parliament! Will this massacre ever end? Will these politicians ever give preference to the interest of public over their selfish mottos?

Only future holds the answer as to what all is in store for “the much debated Women Reservation Bill!” Till then, general masses have no option but to wait for the ultimate decision and gather strength to come out of the dilemma created by the recent Budget 2010 – WHICH HAS LEFT THE COMMON MAN NOWHERE! That’s Politics for You!!!

Well, when you think of New Zealand, what are the things that strike you mind at the first place? The country’s natural, spectacular and breathtaking scenery must be the first thing that comes to your mind! Since the country has always been popularized by the global media as one of the most beautiful places on the earth, we all very easily tend to think it as a place to visit to enjoy its beauty. But, New Zealand has much more to offer, apart from its natural beauty!

With its hospitable and welcoming inhabitants, New Zealand makes a suitable place to be in for seasonal visitors, as well as migrants. A large number of overseas immigrant flocks to this beautiful country for study and work purposes. It has been increasingly appreciated as an amazing study destination, with endless opportunities. International students find the country a favorable destination for a number of reasons. Apart from the quality of education, it’s the country’s people that play an important role in attracting overseas visitors. New Zealanders show a great deal of interest in people and that is why visitors feel more than welcome, no matter for what purpose they travel the country!

New Zealand offers a great environment for students, which is evident from the number of overseas studying in its universities. Every year, these institutions welcome large number of overseas students, especially from the UK, Australia, the US, and South Africa.

New Zealand is a well-known education provider as far as the quality is concerned. It has an excellent education system that offers the most advanced facilities. The country’s universities and other institutions provide endless numbers of courses on different fields of education.

If you are one of the aspiring students who is intending to pursue some course in New Zealand, contact an Immigration and Visa consultant to help you through the whole process of immigration!

Consider this example - Nasser Hussain, an Indian by origin went on to represent England Cricket Team and become one of the most applauded cricketers of the world! Today, he is a proficient commentator. Hard Hitter Kevin Peterson was born in South Africa, but now it is hard to imagine England team without his presence!

Consider players of Indian origin like GM Emmett, ERT Holmes, Nawab of Pataudi senior, MM Patel and RA Young who went on to play for England whereas BB Cooper and RHD Sellers chose Australia as their playing destination. Also, G Cripps and TA Ward played from the South African cricket team! You would be shocked to know that almost 30 players have symbolized Pakistan Cricket Team too! Talking about the Anglo-Indian connection, ace players like Stuart Clark and Mark Ramprakash have served an integral part of Australian and England team respectively. The list is endless.

Now let us talk something about hockey. Keegan Pereira, Gabbar Singh and Ranjeev Deol are hockey players, but of Indian origin and guess what, they all are marking their brilliance felt in the Canadian hockey team that is participating in the world cup hockey being held in India!

Sometimes, players or their families migrate from one country to another and went on to achieve – either the immigrant or family member- a place in the sports team of that particular nation! The selection in national sports teams confirm that these countries accept immigrants with open arms and do not discriminate between the immigrants and current citizens. There is equal opportunity for all!

Immigrants of Indian origin making good in sports in their new homeland! Now that is perk and side of immigration that is not looked into while taking decision to migrate. It sure is a great fringe benefit!

True, that sportsmen give top priority to their games, but some of them have dabbled into business too! Consider Shane Warne for instance! The famous leg spinner may have retired from One Day and Test Cricket, but Warnie always finds ample reasons to stay in media and controversies!

The Aussie cricketer and his boxers has become one of the hottest topics in media today! Though he has given his name to a ‘knickers brand,’ it is not clear how many are really buying these “knickers”!

Sachin Tendular, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly, the trio went on to open restaurants in their respective cities. Though, none of them managed to get many visitors after a particular span of time, but their motives clearly showed their business-minded persona and preferences towards money matters! So why their business ventures did not succeed?

Again, take Venus Williams and Serena Williams. They have a whole range of attire range in their name! Now that’s what you call living with style! The list goes on and on… But the question which pops in my mind is that these sports stars already get plenty of sponsorships, match fee, recognition and all other luxuries, what is the need of dabbing in business! Are they not satisfied with – fame, money, respect, adulation of people at large- what they have? Is this the greed that drives them to sign contracts after contracts? And most importantly, why do most of the sportsperson fail when they wear the “businessmen” hat?

Service for Seniors is one of the ways in Canada through which one can file his/her income tax return. However, this service is exclusive to a certain group of people, namely the low-income seniors. The service lets these individuals file their income tax returns over the phone. And the best thing is that, this service is free for the seniors.

The Canada Revenue Agency sends personalized letters to about 275,000 Canadians seniors and invites them to make use of the Service for Seniors. The invitations are being sent towards the end of January each year. The personalized letters contain the information, along with an access code to use the service. In order to be eligible to use Service for Seniors, a Canadian must be over sixty-five-year old.

When using Service for Seniors, a Canadian need to enter their Social Insurance Numbers and the access code, followed by answering a couple of questions with “Yes” and “No”. Using this service is very simple. If you are going to file returns for the 2009 income tax year, you must meet the below mentioned criteria:

• You should have sole income for the year 2008 from federal pension programs like OAS; or Net Federal Supplements.
• Your taxable income should not exceed $11,000 for the year 2008.

The Service for Seniors is open for 2010 from 15th of February to 30th of September.

New Zealand appeals to a wide range of visitors- be it tourists, entrepreneurs or students. A lot has been told and written about the beauty of this country, so now let us focus one of the most important aspects of our lives, that is Education. New Zealand is one of those countries, which is known for offering world-class education in a number of fields. So, if you are contemplating to immigrate for your studies, you have all the reasons to consider the Kiwi land as your destination! Here is why you should study in New Zealand:

• There are a lot of things in New Zealand to explore, including its academic options and educational opportunities. Courses are available for college-level students to vocational students to professionals. Apart from academic courses, these universities focus on recreational activities and personal development. Moreover, studying in New Zealand makes a great way to explore the country!
• The country is known to have a favorable environment for local as well as international students. In fact, New Zealand is increasingly becoming more popular as compared to other famous study destinations like the US, the UK and Australia. New Zealand welcomes thousands of foreign aspirants each year from all over the world with open arms. The country has overseas students mostly from the UK, the US, Australia, India, South-East Asia, Japan, and North Asia.
• That New Zealand has advanced and world-class facilities pertaining to education, students are catered with the kind of education that helps them cope with the global environment.

New Zealand has increasingly been preferred as a study destination by international students over the recent years. Since, it is technically advanced and offers topnotch educational facilities; it makes sense for you to consider the country as one of your study destinations, alongside the US, Australia and the UK.

none

‘E-Verify’ is a system which identifies the Social Security Number of an applicant and describes his or her eligibility towards working in the US. It cross checks information provided by fresh workers against the database of Social Security Administration and Homeland Security. But according to a recent report, the system failed to identify more than 50% of the undocumented workers. It cleared out almost 54% of illegal workers, courtesy its inability to ascertain frauds, reported Westat. On the contrary, the system clearly identified 93% legal employees, the report confirmed.

Contrary to this report, the earlier ones didn’t elaborate on the number of undocumented workers who fooled E-Verify. Sen. Chuck Schumer commented that the failure of the E-Verify clearly depicts that it is not an adequate tool. It is a wake up call for all those people who think that “E-Verify” is a critical system to stop the recruitment of illegal workers who are alleged to use stolen identities.

The original post depicts that the system is CORRECT, but only HALF of the times! This in itself shows that mock has been played on the accuracy of E-Verify system! The summary also elaborated that though not perfect, it is effective than I-9 paper, which is used to identify illegal workers.

As a result, an “anti-immigrant identity fraud system” has been created to identify facets related to undocumented workers, confirmed Bill Wright, from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The report calls for a need for a highly advanced security system that would scrutinize immigrants to their core and help in stopping Illegal Immigration!

The news of M.F. Husain accepting the citizenship of Qatar is highly debatable. M.F. Husain is one of India’s iconic artists who have brought recognition to the country through art. He demonstrated indomitable human spirit and at 95 years of age, he continues to paint as passionately as ever. In a career spanning over 70 years, he has grown from being a hoarding painter to be one of the most popular artists.

Who after all is responsible for this sad situation and why should he be forced to leave Indian citizenship and accept Qatar’s’?

For those following the story over the last couple of decades, some of Husain’s works became controversial because of paintings depicting sex and nudity. And organisations from various background objected to it which led to law suits being filed against him.

Being a democratic society, M.F. Husain and the opposing parties are taking cover of this aspect which offers support to their stands.

India is a democracy and each one of us has the right to express our views in a manner that we find correct. Those objecting to his paintings have a right to protest but they should do it lawfully. M.F. Husain has been hounded out of the country and that is not right. India’s strength is the spirit of tolerance that we have and had for different views and the co-existence of various religions and communities in harmony.

The question here is why should these paintings be displayed on a public platform, especially when there are sections of the society who object to it? Although, Husain is to be respected for his other works of art over last many decades and the fame that he brought to India, still his actions on this count leave a lot to be desired.

An alternative could have been that he should have kept these paintings in his private collection. This is because displaying such controversial items in a public arena can also be considered as a misuse of democracy by him as well.

The obvious question that one would like to ask him, now that he is Qatar; is that would he paint a prophet as well which would be even more controversial? But we all know the answer to that. He will not do so because Qatar is not a democracy. So, by putting paintings of nude Indian goddesses in public scrutiny and view, he did not favour the Indian democracy and feelings of a certain community. India is a country with many religions and communities. Sentiments of each should be respected by other communities. And M.F. Husain failed in that context.

The incident offers a lesson for the future. The artists have full freedom to express views in the way they wish. But if against religious sentiments and masses in general, they should either be restricted to a private collection or for a niche audience with a taste for art. For people who have objections to such artistic expressions, this incident is a lesson that art should be respected for individual expression that it stands for and show more tolerance.