Chandrayaan touched the MOON

India marked its presence on moon on Friday night, to become only the fourth nation to scale this historic milestone after a moon Impact Probe, with the national tri-colour painted, successfully landed on the lunar surface after being detached from the unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan-1.

Joining the US, the erstwhile Soviet Union and the European Union, the 35-kg Moon Impact Probe (MIP) hit the moon exactly at 8.31 PM, about 25 minutes after the probe descended from the satellite in what ISRO described as a "perfect operation".
Miniature Indian flags painted on four sides of the MIP signalled the country's symbolic entry into moon to coincide with the birth anniversary of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, observed as Children's Day.

The spacecraft on Thursday(Nov 13th) reached its final orbital home, about 100 km over the moon surface after ISRO scientists successfully carried out the last critical orbit lowering operation

NOTE : The above picture is an imaginary view of my dream - To see my/our flag on MOON.

Happy Birthday To Jawaharlal Nehru(14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964)

He had been alive, Jawaharlal Nehru would have been 110 years and one month old at the turn of the century. It is 45 years since his moving away from the centrestage of Indian and world politics. With death and with the passage of time, great leaders undergo a process of demystification . Distances in terms of time and the elimination of the physical presence of these larger-than-life figures enable succeeding generations to a assess their lives more objectively, without being afflicted by their charisma and power, whatever the ingredients of that power might have been.

Serving as Congress President, Nehru raised the flag of independent India in New Delhi on 15 August 1947, and served as First Prime Minister. His daughter Indira and grandson Rajiv would both also serve as Prime Minister and President of the Indian National Congress, as would Rajiv's wife Sonia. His long tenure was instrumental in shaping the traditions and structures of independent India.

Numerous public institutions and memorials across India are dedicated to Nehru's memory. The Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi is among the most prestigious universities in India. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port near the city of Mumbai is a modern port and dock designed to handle a huge cargo and traffic load. Nehru's residence in Delhi is preserved as the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The Nehru family homes at Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan are also preserved to commemorate Nehru and his family's legacy. In 1951, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee

Chandhrayaan-1 A grand success

It's a proud moment for the Indians and the scientific community after the Chandrayan 1 was successfully launched on October 22. India's first scientific mission to the moon that is unmanned, the Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft, took off from Sriharikota towards the moon.

ISRO technologists gathered at the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC), the nerve-centre of Chandrayaan-1’s operations now, said “it was a feast to the eyes” to see Chandrayaan-1 go into a perfect lunar orbit of 7502 km by 504 km and that they could see on the plot-boards the deceleration of the spacecraft before it entered the lunar orbit.

India has one of the largest communication systems in the world with a satellite programme of 21 orbiters of which 11 are currently in service. Although Russia has helped in the space programmmes by providing manufacturing and design technology, the credit for the success of Chandrayaan-1 solely belongs to the scientists of India at the Indian Space Research Organization.

What could be Obama's effect on India

The Indian software industry is looking forward to work with US president-elect Barack Obama and his administration to spur innovation, foster economic growth and develop skilled workforce to create jobs in both countries for mutual benefit.

Hailing Obama's historic victory in Tuesday's elections, the Indian software industry body NASSCOM said it was important for India and the US to find ways to partner and boost economies of the two nations in the wake of the global economic meltdown.

"Specifically, we support expanding the H1B visa programme so that skilled workers can help companies lead the way on innovation and contribute additional jobs and economic growth in the US," Nasscom said in a statement in Bangalore Wednesday(6th Nov 2008).

And apart from IT,

Obama has picked Indian-American Sonal Shah, an eminent economist who heads Google's philanthropic arm, as one of the advisers to help him assemble his White House team.

Shah, 40, is part of an advisory board comprising individuals with significant private and public sector experience who will offer their expertise in their respective fields to Obama's transition team, according to US media reports.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that India-born Preeta Bansal, a Harvard-educated lawyer who was part of Obama's team of advisers during his election campaign, may be a potential candidate for the office of the Solicitor General, a post yet to be filled by a woman in US

Languages in India

India is a vast country with 1,131,598,939 people on her ground.The languages of India primarily belong to two major linguistic families, Indo-European, whose branch Indo-Aryan is spoken by about 70% of the population of India and that includes the Dardic languages; secondly, the Dravidian family (spoken by about 22%). Other languages spoken in India come mainly from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families; in addition there are a few language isolates.

The Constitution of India recognises 22 languages, spoken in different parts the country, namely:

1. Assamese
2. Bengali
3. Bodo
4. Dogri
5. Gujarati
6. Hindi
7. Kannada
8. Kashmiri
9. Konkani
10. Maithili
11. Malayalam
12. Manipuri
13. Marathi
14. Nepali
15. Oriya
16. Punjabi
17. Sanskrit
18. Santhali
19. Sindhi
20. Tamil
21. Telugu
22. Urdu

Source - Wikipedia

Obama - 44th President of US

Barack Obama was elected the nation's first black president Tuesday night in a historic triumph that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself.

The 47-year-old Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his victory by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states — Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa.

A huge crowd thronged Grant Park in Chicago to cheer Obama's improbable triumph and await his first public speech as president-elect.

Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009.

As the 44th president, Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession, and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.

Bond will come early to India

James Bond is making an unprecedented side trip before his next adventure reaches the U.S.

Sony Pictures Releasing India said Tuesday that "Quantum of Solace" will open in India on Nov. 7, marking the first time a major Hollywood title has opened here before its U.S. premiere. The film will debut in U.K. theaters on Oct. 31 and be released in North America on Nov. 14.

"James Bond has a huge equity in this country, and Bond films have always been a hit here," said Mumbai-based Kercy Daruwalla, managing director of Sony Pictures Releasing India'

By all accounts, it should end up as the biggest Hollywood release in India for 2008. Directed by Marc Forster, Solace picks up where things left off in the critically acclaimed Casino Royale, the smash hit that reinvigorated the Bond series after a late 1990s and early 2000s slump.