Crescendo Coming! Watch Out!: Guitars, Instrumental

Crescendo Coming! Watch Out!: Guitars, Instrumental: Guitars, Stalwarts Nice Feel, Nice Listening! :-) Guitars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGgl1dWoLLA . .. Find the Video here.

Architecture News India: One Hundred Smart Cities

Architecture News India: One Hundred Smart Cities: Solve urban problems and facilitate city management It is the Government's Plan to build 100 Smart Cities, some from the ground u...

Solve urban problems and facilitate city management - Indian Government thinks that creating smart cities will revolutionise city life and improve quality of life of the urban populace. Plan is to build 100 smart cities, some from the ground up and some will be retrofitted.

Brief Takes: Right Of Ways - Comment on an external article

India's Right Of Ways - the area encapsulated between one boundary wall and the next across the road

A comment was posted on an external blog article. The comment itself is provided and so is the article link. Briefs: ".. It is the job of the municipal bodies and the police to make sure that the Right Of Way is maintained or 'sustained' as the Right Of Way only. Unfortunately, these two setups are themselves corrupt, callous, laid back, and in fact hands in glove. .. Indians are hugely disorganised, very immoral, quite shameless, are educated idiots, or idiots anyway, and so on. .. the answer is to have marshalls appointed by the public themselves which can pull up these authorities and the police at every level, 'at every level'. .."
Follow this link: http://www.brieftakes.blogspot.com/2017/03/right-of-ways-india-state-of-affairs.html - this takes you to the article.

Fighter Aircraft Rafale procurement - IGA, MoU

Rafale Fighter - India, France sign agreement

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".. The procurement of Rafale fighters from France has a long, chequered history of over a decade.
As expected, India and France have signed a MoU towards an Inter-governmental agreement (IGA) to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft from Dassault Aviation during the visit of French President Francois Hollande. Hollande is in Delhi as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations.
The procurement of Rafale fighters from France has a long, chequered history of over a decade. India had issued a tender for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) fighters in 2007, and at the end of the selection process in 2012, Rafale fighters were selected. Things got in a logjam when the price negotiations were taking place, and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar later disclosed that his predecessor, AK Antony’s noting on the negotiations had ensured that the process gets stalled.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris in April last year, India announced a plan to buy 36 Rafale fighters in a government-to-government deal. A few days later, Parrikar announced that the old 126 fighter deal was dead and the 36 fighter deal will be a fresh acquisition.
Since Modi’s announcement in Paris, India and France have been negotiating the terms of the sale. The two sticking points have been the price of the aircraft – a fact confirmed by the French President and Indian Prime Minister during their joint press briefing – and the quantum of offsets which will be discharged by Dassault’s Indian partner. .."

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Find this at http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/rafales-to-form-two-squadrons-of-indian-air-force .

Kollam Temple Tragedy - Fireworks in Kerala Festivals

Kollam temple tragedy - history of fireworks in India

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"Use of fireworks originated in China and later spread to India through trade and military contact. Fireworks constitute an integral part of Indian festivals and are particularly important in Kerala temples.
When and how did the usage of fireworks originate?
The use of fireworks originated in China. The prime constituent of fireworks is gunpowder, which in turn is formed of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. It is saltpeter which gives the colours to fireworks, while the other two ingredients are required for prolonging its effects. In his work, “Book of the kinship of the three”, Wei Boyang of the Han dynasty in second century CE, had first mentioned the use of a substance which historians believe was the first reference to gunpowder.
There are other historians who ascribe the origins of gunpowder to Indian Sanskrit texts such as the Nitiprakasika of Vaisampayana which was compiled in the 8th century BCE. However, the potential of gunpowder to be used in fireworks was not realised during this period.
Saltpeter and Sulphur appeared in Chinese texts before the first century CE. Historian Kaushik Roy is of the opinion that ancient India was aware of the existence of saltpeter which was known as ‘agnichurna’ (powder that creates fire). Reference to the substance is available in Kautilya’s Arthashastra, an ancient Sanskrit treatise on statecraft and military strategy. It was composed between 300 BCE and 300 CE. .."

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Find this at http://indianexpress.com/article/research/kollam-temple-fire-kerala-fireworks-history .

Demonetisation not the first time

India pulling bank notes from circulation

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".. Narendra Modi may have shocked the nation with his Nov. 8 announcement, but the prime minister’s move was hardly unprecedented. India has pulled select denominations of its currency twice before.
The first was when Rs1,000, Rs5,000, and Rs10,000 notes were taken out of circulation in January 1946, a year and a half before the country won independence from the British. The Rs10,000 notes were the largest currency denomination ever printed by the Reserve Bank of India, introduced for the first time in 1938. All three notes were reintroduced in 1954.
In the early ’70s, the Wanchoo committee, a direct tax inquiry committee set up by the government, suggested demonetization as a measure to unearth and counter the spread of black money. However, the public nature of the recommendation sparked black money hoarders to act fast and rid themselves of high denominations before the government was able to clamp down on them, Mint reported. .."
".. For the most part, Modi’s measure mirrors Desai’s—except this time, he has the backing of his RBI governor, Urjit Patel, who applauded Modi’s “very bold step” addressing concerns about the “growing menace of fake Indian currency notes.” But that doesn’t mean all the skeptics are off his back. Economists doubt the impact of his decision. .."

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Find this at http://qz.com/831674/rupee-currency-demonetization-a-brief-history-of-india-pulling-bank-notes-from-circulation .

India Pakistan Conflict, Disputes - A History

Consistent feature of relationship

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"Here is a history of India-Pakistan conflict
Since August 1947 when Partition led to the creation of these two independent countries, disputes, in particular with regard to the claim over Kashmir, have been a consistent feature of the relationship between India and Pakistan.
Following the Uri attack on September 18 and the unsuccessful diplomatic conversations between India and Pakistan, the Defence Ministry on Thursday confirmed to have carried out surgical strikes along the LoC. Reportedly, the military activity has led to significant casualties being caused to terrorists who had established themselves at launchpads along the LoC with an aim to infiltrate and cause terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir. .."
"1947
The first instance of an armed conflict between the two countries was immediately after Independence and Partition in October 1947. The fear of Kashmir acceding to India was what had triggered the struggle. The Pakistani Army infiltrated Kashmir through tribal forces in an attempt to occupy Kashmir. This was followed by the Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh signing the agreement of accession to the dominion of India resulting in a full fledged war between India and Pakistan and the solidification of the Line of Control. Even though the war did not have a conclusive victor, India managed to claim two-thirds of Kashmir, while Pakistan got about a third of the territory. .."

 

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Find this at http://indianexpress.com/article/research/here-is-a-history-of-india-pakistan-conflict .

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