POLITICS EXPLAINED

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

Rajiv Gandhi ( Bandra - Worli ) Sealink

The Bandra Worli Sea Link (Marathi: वांद्रे-वरळी सागरी महामार्ग) is an 8-lane, cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete viaduct approaches, which links Bandra and the western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli and central Mumbai, and is the first phase of the proposedWest Island Freeway system. The Rs. 1600 crore ($ 400 Million approx.) project ofMaharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is being executed by Hindustan Construction Company. Designs and Project management is by M/s DAR Consultants. The bridge was inaugurated on 30 June 2009 (Postponed and actually inaugurated on 1 July 2009) by Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The Sea Link is likely to reduce travel time between Bandra and Worli from 45–60 minutes to 7 minutes

It is India's first eight-lane freeway over the open sea and is hailed as a modern Indian engineering marvel. Some statistics on the bridge, its weight is equivalent to 50000 African elephants, the length of the bridge is 63 times the height of the Qutub Minar in Delhi, the height of the cable-stayed tower is 126m(equal to a 43-storey tower) and the length of steel wires used in the project is equivalent to the circumference of the Earth(each cable can take a weight of 900 tons). It was built by a skilled team comprising of the best engineers from India, as well as, other countries including Britain, Canada,China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Serbia, Singapore and Switzerland, Monitored by an Intelligent Bridge System with a 16-lane, state-of-the-art toll plaza.

I hope that the new sealink is as strong as the Eiffel Tower. We can't afford to go it down as the Delhi metro. Cause this time the damage will be more devastating and also there is no ground beneath !!!

I am proud of the engineers and workers who toiled hard for it. It is one of the big wonders in India and I feel proud today to be an Engineer.

Ethics in Engineering

Just look at the image and the miss-calculations. You will definately get a laugh after looking at it. But the recent events coerced me to think, "Is this bad engineering. Are our educational institutes not capable in producing quality engineers?"

"Is the collapse of the metro in Delhi really due to bad engineering? Or is it due to something else?" Sources said the report of the four-member committee inquiring into the July 12 bridge collapse, near Lajpat Nagar, would point out whether a design fault, on-site construction or substandard material were responsible. The cracks were reported to the higher authorities of DMRC. But a deaf ear was shown to the reports (cited from news reports).

It appears that it was not a design fault, but rather a substandard material used by the contractors. How can a design made to sustain for 30 years go down so soon. This is mainly due to the corruption that is prevalent in our system. Hence I feel that ethics should be incorporated in the curriculum of all the professional courses.

Chikhaldara

Chikaldara was discovered by Captain Robinson of the Hyderabad Regiment in 1823. The Englishmen found it particularly attractive because the lush green hue of the place reminded them of England.

When the leaves fell in September/October, they were reminded of the fall season in England. There was even a proposal to make it the seat of the Government of India.

Chikhaldara is a city and a municipal council in Amravati district in the state of Maharashtra,India.Chikhaldara is a plateau and is one of the cool air locations of Maharashtra.It is located in cotton growing area also a Historical valued place where, Lord Krishna carried away Rukminee. It is the only coffee growing area of Maharashtra. Chikhaldara is named after the king Kichak , who was killed by Bheema, one of the Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata. He is said to have been killed by Bheema and thrown in the deep valleys called dari in Marathi language ( language of the State of Maharashtra ) hence the name Kichakdara which was later on spelled as Chikhaldara.

Local features of importance
1. Melghat Tiger Reserve, which includes the Gugamal National Park
2. Gawilgad fort
3. Bhim-kund:This is the place where Bhima washed his hands off the blood of Keechaka.
4. Forest garden
5. Wildlife museum

Pics clicked by me

The Forrest of Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh.

This place in in Shegaon, Maharashtra. The entire garden is totally excavated and man-made !!