Captain Fantastic ! - can you identify !?!?

For sure you know ‘Captain Cool’ -  know who ‘Captain Fantastic’ is – fortunately could take a couple of snaps of him at Chennai airport recently !

 

Vasudevan Bhaskaran, Dhanraj Pillai, PT Usha, MD Valsamma  Prakash Padukone, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Kapil Dev, Krish Srikkanth, MS Dhoni, Vishwanathan Anand, Geet Sethi, Baichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan,  Maria Irudhayam, Anup Kumar, Manjit Chillar, Pardeep Narwal  ~ certainly not an exhaustive list but to those of us following Indian Sports since mid 1970s  – some great names that whipped National sentiments in Sports ! -  for sure “Sunil Chhetri” is right there in the middle. 

Just in case you wonder, - Sunil – who ? – he has been the face of Indian football for quite sometime now with a reputation as one the most illustrious footballers of India.  In fact, Chhetri’s amazing story has been recognized by Federation Internationale de Football Association or FIFA’s new documentary called ‘Captain Fantastic’, which is available for streaming on FIFA+.

 

Indian Super League (ISL) is the men's highest level of the Indian football league system, akin to Cricket cousin Indian Premier League. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the league currently comprises 12 clubs. The season runs from September to March and at the end of the regular season, the team with the most points is declared the premiers and presented with the League Winners' Shield. 

One of its competitor is - Bengaluru Football Club   established in  2013. Since its inception, the club has won two I-League titles including one in its debut season, two Federation Cup titles, one Indian Super League title, and a Super Cup championship making it fourth-most successful club in Indian football. The club is owned and operated by the Mumbai-based company JSW Group and its managing director Sajjan Jindal.

 

It is presently captained by the National Captain Sunil Chhetri.  Chhetri's first international tournament was the 2007 Nehru Cup. In the opening game, India defeated Cambodia 6–0 with Chhetri scoring two goals.  

Sunil Chhetri (1984) plays as a forward and captains both Indian Super League club Bengaluru FC and the India national team. He is known for his link-up play, goal scoring abilities, and leadership. He is the third-highest international goalscorer among active players, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi,  fourth overall, and is also the most-capped player and the all-time top goal-scorer of the India national team.   

Chhetri began his professional career at Mohun Bagan in 2002,  moving to JCT where he scored 21 goals in 48 games. Chhetri helped India win the 2007, 2009, and 2012 Nehru Cup, as well as the 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023 SAFF Championship. He also led India to victory in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which qualified them to their first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years, scoring twice in the final tournament in 2011.  In 2016 Chethri led Bengaluru FC to a silver medal finish in the AFC Cup. Chhetri has also been named AIFF Player of the Year a record seven times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018–19 and 2021–22. 

Chhetri received the Arjuna Award in 2011 for his outstanding sporting achievement, the Padma Shri award in 2019, India's fourth highest civilian award. In 2021, he received the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honor and became the first footballer to receive the award. 

Way back in Mar 2004, Chhetri played his first game for the India U-20 football team in the 1–0 victory over Pakistan U-23 team in the 2004 South Asian Games in Pakistan and an year later  Sunil scored his first goal on his debut for the senior India national football team against Pakistan. 

Sunil Chhetri’s father KB Chhetri, was an officer in the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers of the Indian Army,  played football for the Indian Army football team while his mother and her twin sister played for the Nepal women's national team. Chhetri speaks five languages fluently: English, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi and Bengali.  

On that day I travelled in the same flight with  Bengaluru FC Team and here is a close up photo of Josh Snowden, their Strength and conditioning coach as well.   

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
16.12.2023 

Cows say - Right to disagreement !!

Whether you feel  threatened or excited by AI may not be material, the fact remains that AI is occupying increasing space.  

For those unaware, Microsoft calls its AI products copilots, this is aimed to convey that they work with employees rather than replacing them. Still, Microsoft executives acknowledge the wider deployment of these and other kinds of AI tools will change people’s jobs and may have broader workforce impacts.   

In every issue – you have the option of ‘Agreeing or disagreeing’ – yet there are many who may not have a clearer view or express their views at all – that gives the minority to win  ! 

Agreement (noun):    the state of agreeing with somebody/something.

ஒத்திசைவு; உடன்பாடு; கருத்தொற்றுமை.

2. a contract or decision that two or more people have made together.

இருவர் அல்லது இரண்டுக்கு மேற்பட்டவர்கள் செய்துகொள்ளும் ஒப்பந்தம்; உடன்படிக்கை.

 

All contracts are agreements, not all agreements are contracts. An agreement is a promise or arrangement between two or more parties to do, or not do, something. It’s usually informal and sometimes unwritten (but not always). When inked and signed, it perhaps gets more acceptance and authority to enforce at a later stage. 

Insurance is a contract between Insurers and Insured and the principles of law of contract does apply. A contract is an agreement between two or more parties that creates an obligation to do or not to do something. The parties to the contract are under an obligation to perform the terms and conditions as laid down in the contract. Thus a contract can confer rights or impose obligations arising under the contract on the parties to the contract. Third parties cannot be under such an obligation to perform or demand performance under a contract. This is referred to as Privity of contract. 

Century ago, Marx propagated that the central problem was the existence of  a class of people who have no property and are thus forced to labor for a living.  Then there was  another class of people who owned the productive capital. These people don’t have to engage in productive labor; they can command the labor of others.  They essentially compel other people to labor for them and then appropriate much of the wealth that is produced as their own property.  That was Marxian theory !! 

In  1917, revolution exploded in Russia. Workers, soldiers and peasants established soviets (councils), the monarchy fell and a provisional government convoked pending the election of a constituent assembly. In April of that year, Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik faction of socialists in Russia and known for his profound and controversial expansions of Marxism, was allowed to cross Germany to return to his country from exile in Switzerland. Lenin  proposed that the social revolution would require the leadership of a vanguard party of class-conscious revolutionaries from the educated and politically active part of the population. 

That Lenin and Leninism failed miserably is something else to write – quite faster, the cause for concern was the growing bureaucratization of both party and state. Under the terms of the strict discipline that Lenin imposed, the ruling party became increasingly centralized, with its directorate—headed by the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee—making decisions on its own authority without consulting the party cadres. Dissent from lower organs was ignored and punished if pressed. The local branches of the party lost the right to elect their officers; these were routinely appointed by the Secretariat. They snatched power stating proletariatism but sooner the politburo started behaving in much similar manner. 

The recent news is - Microsoft has agreed to include an AI article in a collective bargaining agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), allowing workers to challenge the company's use of AI. The agreement incorporates Microsoft's AI principles and commits to applying them across all AI technologies. It also obliges Microsoft to inform the union of any potential impact of AI or automation on union members' work and to negotiate over the impact on employees. The CWA president emphasized the importance of preserving unions' rights in the face of technological advancements. 

Microsoft has reportedly agreed to union contract language governing its use of artificial intelligence (AI), creating an avenue for workers to challenge how it deploys the technology. According to a report in Bloomberg, as part of negotiations with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Microsoft has reached a tentative agreement on an AIarticle to include in a contract covering a few hundred staff at Microsoft’s video game studio ZeniMax. 

Incidentally, what makes it important is that this is the first US collective bargaining in the company’s history. Collective bargaining agreements generally include grievance procedures that can be invoked when either side believes the other has violated the terms, which can include escalating issues to mediation or arbitration.  The language incorporates Microsoft’s six previously announced AI principles, which commit the company to ensuring the systems “treat all people fairly” and “empower everyone and engage people.”

 
Interesting !!
 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
15.12.2023 

Motacilla maderaspatensis !! ?? - வெண்புருவ வாலாட்டி

There are so many unknown treasures closeby – this bird was pictured in Triplicane Sri Parthasarathi Swami temple tank (Kairavini kulam).  It is called -Motacilla maderaspatensis   -  sounds and spells strange but likely  you did not miss Madras in that !.!  

Google image search puts it as ‘Wagtail’ with a closely resembling image.  The white-browed wagtail or large pied wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis ) is a medium-sized bird and is the largest member of the wagtail family. Wagtails are a group of passerine birds that form the genus Motacilla in the family Motacillidae. The common name and genus names are derived from their characteristic tail pumping behaviour. Together with the pipits and longclaws they form the family Motacillidae. They are conspicuously patterned with black above and white below, a prominent white brow, shoulder stripe and outer tail feathers. White-browed wagtails are native to South Asia, common near small water bodies and have adapted to urban environments where they often nest on roof tops. The specific name is derived from the Indian city of Madras.  

The white-browed wagtail was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the wagtails in the genus Motacilla and coined the binomial name Motacilla maderaspatensis.  The specific epithet is Modern Latin for the locality, Madras (or Madraspattanam and now Chennai).    

Usually seen in pairs or small groups near open water. They call often especially in the mornings  and are active like most other wagtails. They will perch on the ground as well as on wires or on buildings. The song is long and loud with many different notes. The usual call is a wheezy "wheech".  They can fly fairly rapidly for long distances and they fly with a bounding (dipping and rising) flight pattern and have been recorded to travel at the speed of about 40 km/h.  

In olden times in India, the species was sometimes kept as a cage-bird and was acclaimed for its singing ability. The native name of khanjan is used in the phrase "khanjan-eyed" to describe someone with beautiful eyes.  The Khanjan is held sacred and considered a good omen in India as it supposedly bore an impression of Vishnu's shalagram on its breast.    Another local name for wagtails in India is dhobin (or washerwoman).  

வரி வாலாட்டிக் குருவி (white-browed wagtail) அல்லது வெண்புருவ வாலாட்டி  என்பது இந்தியாவில் காணப்படும் ஒரே ஒரு இடம் பெயரா வாலாட்டிக் குருவி ஆகும்.  

திருவருட்பிரகாச வள்ளலார் சிதம்பரம் இராமலிங்க அடிகள்  இயற்றிய திருவருட்பா - இரண்டாம் திருமுறை  -  நெஞ்சறை கூவலில் இருந்து இங்கே ஒரு பாசுரம்.   

கஞ்சன் அங்கொரு விஞ்சனம் ஆகிக்

காலில் போந்துமுன் காணரு முடியார்

அஞ்சனம் கொளும் நெடுங்கணாள் எங்கள்

அம்மை காண நின்றாடிய பதத்தார்  

 அந்நாளில் பிரமதேவன் உயர்ந்ததோர் அன்னப் பறவையாகிக் காற்றைப் போல உயரச் சென்றும் காண்டற்கு அரிதாகிய திருமுடியையுடையவரும், மைதீட்டிய நீண்ட கண்ணையுடையளாகிய எங்கள் தாயாகிய உமையம்மை காண அம்பலத்தே நின்று ஆடிய திருவடியையுடையவரும், அறங்கூறும் பெரிய தவமுடையோர் புகழும் திருவொற்றியூர்த் தேவருமான பெருமானுடைய திருமுடிக்கு ஆட்டிமகிழத் திருமஞ்சனம் கொண்டு வரவேண்டும்; என் சொல்லை மறுக்காமல் மனமே, நீ என்னுடன் வருக.  

கஞ்சன் - தாமரைப் பூவில் இருக்கும் பிரமதேவன். விஞ்சும் அனம் - தன்மையால் உயர்ந்த அன்னப் பறவை

 
Interesting !
 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
10.12.2023 

Mahua Moitree expelled !! by Ethics Committee

Expulsion of high decibel MP ! and what else can happen !?

 

Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 42 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in West Bengal state.  Its representative Mahua Moitra stands disqualified and expelled from the Lok Sabha today.   Moitra worked as an investment banker for JPMorgan Chase in New York City and London.

 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee strongly condemned her party colleague Mahua Moitra's expulsion from the Lok Sabha and accused the BJP of doing "vendetta politics". Banerjee alleged the Centre did "bypass surgery of democracy". Terming the development a "sad day" for Parliament, Banerjee said the Lok Sabha's decision to expel Moitra was a "betrayal" of constitutional rights. "We also have a two-thirds majority (in West Bengal) and can expel anyone right now. But can we do that? Only two to three months are left for (Lok Sabha) election. This is unfortunate and cannot be accepted," she added.  "Our party support Mahua's case. She is a woman and belongs to the young generation. Mahua will win the next battle and people will give justice to her with a befitting reply. 

In case you had an iota of doubt of such vendetta, one needs to read further.  On 14 October 2023, Supreme Court advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai sent a complaint to CBI with an FIR alleging Moitra of corruption and money laundering. A copy was submitted to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha as well who forwarded the matter to the Ethics Committee of the parliament. Dehadrai accused that Moitra received money and favours from Darshan Hiranandani, head of a rival conglomerate of Adani Group, to ask parliamentary questions targeting Adani.  On 19 October 2023, Hiranandani turned approver, and in an affidavit claimed that Moitra indeed received favours, and also gave him access to her account on parliament of India's website to directly post questions on her behalf. 

The allegations against Moitra were raised by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who accused the TMC of asking questions in Parliament "in exchange for cash and gifts" from businessman Darshan Hiranandani. The BJP MP had cited advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai's letter which mentioned "irrefutable evidence" of the alleged exchange between Moitra and Hiranandani. 

The Ethics Committee had pronounced its findings and recommended expulsion.  Finding her guilty of “unethical conduct” and “contempt of the House” for sharing her user ID and password with “unauthorised persons” — and saying this affected national security — the committee recommended her expulsion as a member of the House. 

The report added :  Given her “objectionable”, “unethical”, “heinous”, and “criminal” conduct, the ethics panel recommended an “intense, legal and institutional” inquiry by the government in a time-bound manner. Given that it senses a rise in unruly behaviour by MPs, which was seen on November 2 on TV when Moitra, Ali, and others stormed out of a meeting of the committee, the panel requested the Lok Sabha Speaker to frame a new “set of rules” to contain unruly behaviour of MPs. 

According to the 104-page report, between January 1, 2019, and September 30, 2023, Moitra visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on four occasions allegedly for her meetings with Hiranandani — she said her visits were not aimed at meeting him, though some meetings did happen — but there were no logins on these dates. This, said the committee, showed that someone else had been logging in on her behalf from Dubai. It said the IP address for all 47 logins from Dubai was the same

 

The committee has argued that the sharing of material with Hiranandani, who holds an Indian passport but resides in the UAE and also has relatives who are foreign nationals, created a “serious risk of leakage of sensitive material to foreign agencies”. The report said if the login credentials of MPs were given to an “unauthorised person”, it “enables the person to access “important” documents that may “interfere in the affairs of the parliament by manipulating parliamentary information to serve his/her commercial interests and/for other ulterior motives”. 

The committee has concluded that of the 61 questions posed by Moitra on the portal, 50 were with the intent of “protecting or perpetuating business interests” of Hiranandani. The committee cited Section 66 read with Section 43 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which prescribes punishment for sharing user ID and password in a “fraudulent and dishonest manner” with imprisonment for a term up to three years, a fine up to Rs. 5-lakh, or both. 

It is a prestigious People representative position and a privilege to be a Member of the Sabha that governs the Nation.  One dilutes and compromises its integrity by sharing the Login ID & Password with a Company asking Qs that they posed and now argues that there was nothing wrong in that !!  

Nishikant Dubey  recalled that in 2005, 10 MPs were expelled from the House in nine days for a mere Rs 10,000 after a sting operation where no question was asked and no real company existed on behalf of which questions were meant to be asked. He said in this case, questions were asked on behalf of a real company in return for favours. He recalled that MP H G Mudgal got thrown out of the Lok Sabha in 1951 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister because he had links with the Mumbai bullion. Mudgal had to resign to preempt an expulsion motion moved against him by Nehru himself. Mudgal had been accused of taking Rs 1000 each on two occasions to ask questions on behalf of the Bullion Merchants Association. 

Nation understands how serious was the offence and now the Qs in the Parliament stand diluted as people would try and ascribe motives !! 

Sad day because of the exposure of the unruly ungainly act of a responsible Member of Parliament

 

With regards – S Sampathkumar
8.12.2023