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Wednesday , November 12, 2008 World Of Women Victoria Silvstedt           Marie Plosjo             Natacha Peyre             National animal: The Elk. (Or Moose, if you’d rather). Impressive pub trivia: In Sweden the only place you can buy beer, wine or spirits over 3.5% is in special Government-owned shops called “Monopoly shops”. It’s like the cash and carry, but far, far weirder. Sports they would beat England at: Anything to do with ice: ice skating, ice hockey, jumping into baths of ice – if it’s cold, they’ll do it ten times better than us. Fact. Would you want to live there? If you ignore the cold… yes. The women are ludicrously hot and the wages are high. It’s win-win. Carolina Gynning           Hannah Graaf             Linda Djurberg             What's their food like? A veritable smorgasbord of Scandavian chow – there’s meatballs, black pudding, potato pancakes and Reindeer available. And if a slice of Rudolph doesn’t appeal, there’s always cabbage soup. Yum! Local tipple: Liquor. Hard liquor. Absolut Vodka and Aqua Vitae are the order of the day – preferably not mixed, mind. Biggest cultural oddity: Ikea: the yellow and blue monstrosities that gobble up your Sundays. It’s not just that you’re trapped in a furniture maze – it’s the ludicrous names you have to wrestle with at the checkout: “Can I have two Ribbleyboobs and a Snootunbargen, please?” Most likely to kill you: The cold, probably. Phrase to memorise: "Min svävare är full med ålar!” which means “My hovercraft is full of eels!” – Hell, it could happen. Best place to visit: Lapland, to see Santa Claus! Or, if you’re not eight, Stockholm. It’s cool and full of hot blond models. You’ll like it. Source: FHM      Posted at 10:23 PM  0 Comments

Thursday , November 6, 2008 Sonal Shah Is The India Abroad Person Of The Year 2003 Sonal Shah, 35, founder of Indicorps, was voted India Abroad Person of the Year 2003 by a distinguished nine-member jury, headed by Iowa Congresswoman Swati Dandekar, from 186 nominations sent in by readers of India Abroad and rediff.com. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh presented Shah with the award at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York in a glittering ceremony attended by US Senator Hillary Clinton, Ambassador Lalit Mansingh, Republican politician Bobby Jindal and leading members of the Indian American community. The jury for the India Abroad Person of the Year 2003 award -- Swati Dandekar, member of the Iowa House of Representatives; Swadesh Chatterjee, former national president, Indian American Forum for  Political Education; Mallika Dutt, partner, Breakthrough; Anil Kakani, legislative assistant to Senator Hillary Clinton; Dr Madhulika S.Khandelwal, president, Asian American Center, Queens College, New York; Varun Nikore, president, Indian American Leadership Initiative; Dr.Krishna Reddy, president, Indian American Friendship Council; Kapil Sharma, vice-president, Madison Government Affairs; Tunku Varadarajan, editorial features editor, The Wall Street Journal, New York -- met in New York on November 8 and after over four hours of deliberations selected Shah as the winner. Indicorps, founded in 2001 by Shah and her siblings, Roopal and Anand, is a non-profit organisation that helps young Indian-Americans reconnect with their heritage by providing them with an opportunity to spend time in India doing community work at grass roots level. "Most people look to give back to the community something they had taken out of it; this candidate is giving to the community, without having got anything for herself," a member of the jury pointed out. The jury honoured Shah for creating an organisation that had the capability of 'strengthening the Indian community and help build young leaders within it'. "I am both honored and humbled to have been selected as the recipient of this award in a year that had such tremendous contributions from Indian Americans in politics, literature, music and health," Shah said in her acceptance speech. Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/dec/12sonal.htm?zcc=rl    Posted at 1:28 PM  0 Comments

Thursday , November 6, 2008 Indian American Sonal Shah On Obama's Transition Team Sonal Shah, currently director for Global Development at google.org in promoting the firm's philanthropy will serve on President-elect Barack Obama's official 15-member transition board to be announced on Wednesday. The board will be chaired by John Podesta, former President Clinton's chief of staff, who founded the progressive think tank, Centre for American Progress, where Shah worked after her stint with the Clinton Administration 1995-2000. Meanwhile, Preeta Bansal, partner at the international law firm of Skadden Arps and a senior adviser on the Obama campaign, and former Solicitor General of New York, is also expected to play a significant role in terms of staffing of the new Obama administration on the personnel side and will be one of five key advisers "who will be doing the personnel operations for the new administration in terms of getting people placed," one insider told rediff.com. An ad-hoc transition team had been in operation since August after Obama clinched the Democratic primary and his party's presidential nomination beating out Senator Hillary Clinton [Images], but now it will be formalised in the wake of Obama's blow-out of the GOP nominee Senator John McCain [Images] in the presidential election. Shah, although not as visible an Obama activist as Bansal, had been brought into the transition team in the summer by her old boss Podesta, and told rediff.com that she will be taking a leave of absence from google.org for the next two-and-a-half months at least till Obama is sworn in January 20 as the 44th president of the United States. While Bansal will be working on personnel operations beyond January 20, her name is also been thrown up for a senior level position in the Department of Justice, and speculation is rife that she could be the new Solicitor General. However, Bansal has been keeping a low profile and told rediff.com that she didn't want to comment on the speculation or her duties as part of the personnel selection team, but insiders said, "She will be very heavily involved on the personnel side." There was also speculation that Neera Tanden, who served as senior domestic policy adviser on the Obama campaign, after the Clinton campaign -- for which she worked in the same capacity -- wound up, was also likely to be offered a senior position in an Obama administration. Another name that could figure, although  not in Washington, but in Ohio was that of another long-time supporter of Obama and contributor  to his campaign, Subodh Chandra, former Cleveland Law Director, who could be tapped as US Attorney for Ohio. If Chandra gets this position, it could set him up for a subsequent political run if he wishes to remain in Ohio, one insider said, recalling Chandra's unsuccessful bid for Attorney General of Ohio. There could be also junior positions for the likes of the founders of South Asians for Obama -- Hrishi Karthikeyan, Nick Rathod, and Dave Kumar -- these insiders acknowledged, although these appointments would likely be made only once the Obama administration is up and running and into March or April. "There have been hundreds and hundreds of resumes that have been pouring in," one source said, and said another name being thrown around is New Jersey's Secretary of Transportation, Kris Kolluri for a senior position in the US Department of Transportation in an Obama administration. But the source asserted that while "ultimately, we want the most qualified people in positions, but all of the other things being equal, we are going to give precedence to people who believes in Barack's vision of transformation from the beginning." Shah said as a member of the transition board, her responsibilities and that of the others would involve "planning through the transition," till January 20," and "getting the things ready for the team that will take over in the government and giving them the option and handing them what they can go do, so that they can do it." "Our job is to get everything ready in the next 76 days for them to do their job better," she added. Shah said that she would be on the policy side while there were teams looking at personnel, and another team looking at the various government agencies and reviewing them. "Mine will involve the technology innovation side of this -- what are the policies that people are going to look at, what's been done in the states, what are the things that we might take from there," she said, and added, "We talk about a 21st century government but how do we create it?" Podesta would continue to chair the board but once Obama's chief of staff comes in, "he will be getting ready for the White House," she said. Rahm Emmanuel, chairman of the Democratic Caucus and long-time Obama friend and confidant from Chicago, who was elected to the US Congress in 2004, has been tapped by Obama for the Chief of Staff position, but is said to be agonizing over it since he could also rise fast in the hierarchy of the Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with the Speaker's slot a possibility in a few years. Shah acknowledged that once the chief of staff comes in, he would be directing the personnel operations and deciding on what happens after January 20 while Podesta "will be managing the transition." After her stint in the Clinton Administration from 1995 to 2000, first in the Department of Treasury and then in the National Security Council, doing international economics, Shah left to join the newly formed Center for American Progress under Podesta. After nine months, she joined Goldman Sachs in New York, before moving out to California for her present job with google.org. Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/06uspoll.htm    Posted at 1:19 PM  0 Comments

Thursday , November 6, 2008 ‘i Am Very Happy I’ve Been Chosen For Bharat Ratna’: Says Bhimsen Joshi Kirana gharana maestro and Pune’s icon Pandit Bhimsen Joshi honoured with Bharat Ratna Kirana gharana maestro and Pune’s icon Pandit Bhimsen Joshi on Wednesday expressed happiness at being honoured with Bharat Ratna and said that he remembered his late wife Vatsala when he got the news. It was Diwali once again at Joshi’s Navi peth residence with ‘rangolis’ and floral decorations adorning the road leading to his house ‘Kalashree’. The rangolis were drawn around 5.30 am by non-governmental organisation Vidhayak and activists of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and had inscriptions like ‘We are proud of you’, ‘Today is a golden letter day’, ‘Mile sur hamara tumhara...’ and ‘Congratulations’. Fans, disciples and artistes thronged his residence since early morning to wish the maestro. A special bouquet was sent by master blaster Sachin Tendulkar through his friend Sunandan Lele. “I am very happy that I’ve been chosen for the Bharat Ratna and feel that it has come to me because of my gharana. It is for the first time that a vocalist from kirana gharana is getting this honour,” Joshi he said. The joy was evident as he kept humming a ‘sargam’ throughout the intraction with media representatives. When asked what was the one moment or a stage in his career that he remembers today, Joshi said: “I cannot say, because, all the moments in life are a gift from God.” He, however, said that the one person he remembered when he received the news of Bharat Ratna was his wife Vatsala. “She played an important role in all my activities, including the Sawai Gandharva music festival. She loved music and took a lot of efforts to ensure that the festival reached the stature that it enjoys today.” Joshi added that he also remembered many of his associates like harmonium player Thakurdas. “However, I cannot tell the names of all. There are so many music lovers in Pune and how can I tell you their names and addresses?” he asked. Recalling his student days, Joshi said: “It was a totally different era. We used to walk 10 miles just to listen to a three-minute record.” When asked who is the most promising vocalist in the young generation, Joshi remarked: “It is a difficult question and the answer also is equally difficult.” He said that he used to make it a point to listen to his contemporaries. “But I can no longer do that because they are no longer alive.” Uddhav Thackeray called Joshi to congratulate him, he remembered the time when the Sena had given a donation for the Sawai Gandharva music festival. “We forgot to mention Balasaheb Thackeray’s name in the invitation card for the festival and I wrote a letter to him, when I realised the omission,” Joshi reminded Uddhav. Others who called the maestro included Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, saroad maestro Amjad Ali, vocalists Satyasheel Deshpande and Prabha Atre, mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale and MP Suresh Kalmadi. Source: TOI    Posted at 1:12 PM  0 Comments

Wednesday , November 5, 2008 John Mccain Concession Speech The full text of John McCain's concession speech, delivered to supporters in Phoenix, Arizona Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening. My friends, we have we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honour of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him. (Crowd boos) Please. To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight. I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognise that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound. A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now ... Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth. Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise. Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face. I urge all Americans ... I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited. Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that. It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours. (Crowd: "No!") I am so... (Crowd begins chanting) I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honour of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you. I'm especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother ... my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me. You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead. I am also, I am also, of course, very thankful to governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen ... one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength ... her husband Todd and their five beautiful children ... for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican party and our country. To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenging campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship. I don't know, I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been. This campaign was and will remain the great honour of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honour of leading us for the next four years. (Crowd boos) Please. Please. I would not, I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it. Tonight, tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, whether they supported me or Senator Obama. I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history. Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.    Posted at 2:45 PM  0 Comments

Wednesday , November 5, 2008 The World Celebrates Obama's Win From Seoul to Kogelo, Kenya, Obama supporters around the globe watched and reveled in the historic election of the next president of the United States of America Obama's Victory Speech in Chicago Big Night Obama supporters began to line up outside Grant Park early in the evening. Media Lights and television cameras train their lenses on the stage that had been set up in the park. Just in Case A worker cleans a panel of bulletproof glass on the stage. The Eyes Have It The energy level in the park gathered steam as supporters waited to get inside. Cut Out for the Job An Obama supporter carries a cardboard version of the candidate into the park. Open the Gates When the gates were opened to the rally, many supporters raced to get as close as possible to the stage. Hooray Cheers went up as results from states around the nation were announced in favor of Obama. Proud A supporter flashes an Obama pin and American flag. Dancing in the Green The crowd cheers as Pennsylvania is called for the Democratic nominee. Teeming By 8 PM the crowds had filled the green in front of the stage. Entrance The candidate and his family emerge from the backstage area. Forward The Obamas reach center stage. The President Elect Obama and his family salute the crowd. Barack Obama woke up this morning a candidate and emerged on the stage in Grant Park tonight the U.S. President. Taking the stage to no music, Obama was sober and focused, underlining the problems he will face in the Oval Office and thanking his supporters, 125,000 of whom stood before him, for helping to elect him. "Above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to — it belongs to you," Obama said. "I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington — it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston." Though the word race was on the tips of the tongues of everyone present, Obama did not dwell on the historic nature of the election, saying of the subject only, "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." On one level, Obama's victory party was anything but intimate. When the gates opened, people poured in, many sprinting ahead to try to get as close as possible to the stage. Some plopped down on the field, staking their claim as their comrades foraged through long lines for deep-dish pizza, hot cocoa and water. Every time a state was called for Obama — or whenever Suzanne Malveaux, who was broadcasting live from Grant Park, came up on the screens — the crowd went nuts. The atmosphere felt like an upscale Lollapalooza, except the throbbing music came in staccato bursts between CNN's Wolf Blitzer calling states as the election returns came in. The weather was unseasonably warm, so Obama's followers could believe that even God is smiling down benevolently on the Illinois Senator. On another level, those present were united in their belief that they were witnessing history. Standing in the crowd of 70,000, Sharon Glass, 48, was afraid to believe it was true — that an African American had really been elected President. "I keep waiting for something to happen that they say it's not right," said the Chicago hairstylist, who is African American. Standing next to her was Theresa Hipp, 50. "This means that anybody can be President now — women, Latinos, blacks," said the registered nurse from Oak Park, Ill., who is white. Though the two women didn't know each other, when CNN announced on the jumbo screens that they were calling the race for Obama, they danced and hugged each other, tears in their eyes. All around them, the crowd went wild, chants of "Obama" turning to "Yes, we can." To Jesse Jackson Sr., who broke barriers with his 1984 and '88 presidential bids, Obama's strength in the South showed how much the country has changed. "This is a huge deal and a big paradigm shift in the South," said Jackson, who arrived at Grant Park soon after the gates opened. During the primaries, former President Bill Clinton had belittled Obama's primary win in South Carolina by comparing it with Jackson's. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said Obama's victory in his state put his mind at ease about racism in America, noting that Obama did much better with older and white voters in his state than anyone had thought possible a month ago. "I always thought there was a possible prejudice factor in the state," he said. "I hope what this means is that we've washed that away, not only in our state, but across the country." For Oprah Winfrey, the television personality and Obama supporter, this is a "big moment for all of us." "I think he's going to do something for the world," she told a group of reporters standing before the VIP tent before doing a little jig. "This happened because we did this. We did this." The stage in Grant Park was set to highlight the themes of the campaign: by holding the event outdoors and throwing the gates open to tens of thousands of supporters, the campaign emphasized the grass-roots nature of Obama's nearly two-year effort. The crowd was incredibly diverse, in terms of not only race but also age. There was a heavy emphasis on Chicago, from the stands hawking deep-dish pizza (a local specialty) to the setting on the banks of Lake Michigan in the heart of the city. Skyscrapers lining Grant Park featured U.S.A. and Vote 2008 written in office lights on them, and six spotlights spun dizzying patterns in the sky, adding to the movie-premiere feel of the night. Obama spoke from a podium before a semicircular row of 26 American flags, which lined a blue backdrop. On either side he was flanked by 10-by-15-ft. clear bulletproof walls, protecting him from potential snipers in the high-rise buildings that line the park. The scene at John McCain's election-night gathering could not have been more different. For weeks, McCain's crowds had included what Sarah Palin might call "real Americans"— flag-waving red staters with hunting hats, facial hair and well-worn jeans. Classic rock and contemporary country music played at the events. By contrast, McCain's election-night celebration had a country-club feel. The palm trees were lit with color-changing pastel lights, and the women in the crowd sipped wine in black cocktail dresses. The setting was the tony Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa. McCain gave his address on the resort's lawn. The desert mountains were not lit, but colored spotlights astride a giant American flag provided a dynamic backdrop. More than 1,000 people cheered him on while an overflow ballroom broadcast the remarks a few hundred feet away. "Though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours," he told the crowd, flanked by his wife Cindy, his running mate Sarah Palin and her husband Todd. "I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for half a century." Obama praised McCain for the race he ran and for his service to America. "I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead," Obama said of McCain and Palin. "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America—I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you — we as a people will get there." Obama left the stage not to one of his bouncy campaign songs that got people clapping but to the serious theme of the movie Remember the Titans — sober music meant to underline the momentousness of the historic moment, when America elected its first black President. Source: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1856561,00.html    Posted at 2:03 PM  0 Comments