September 2, 2009 is a date that the people of Andhra Pradesh will always remember. Every year on this date, people of Andhra, rather the whole country will recall the memory of the biggest tragedies in the Indian politics, the sad demise of Yediguri Sandinti Rajshekhar Reddy, who is better recognised as YSR.

With the death of YSR in a copter crash on the hillock of Rudrakonda Hill on September 2, India has perhaps lost one of its most credible politicians. By designation, he was just the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, but his contribution to the Congress Party, the current ruler of the country is huge. It was because of his true dedication towards the welfare of the lower class people and rural development that YSR succeeded in toppling the chair of TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu in the 2004 Assembly election in Andhra. It was quite a surprise for Naidu, his party TDP and the NDA as they all were too confident about their victory for their ‘positive approach’ towards industrialization in the state. It was a time when Naidu preferred calling himself the CEO of Hyderabad instead of CM of Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad as ‘Cyberabad’. But still YSR managed to sweep votes by stressing on the state government’s reluctance towards the development of the rural society in his campaigns. It was due to his promises to the poor farmers of the state, that YSR surprisingly defeated Naidu and descended the throne, which was a huge achievement, not only for him, but for the Congress Party too.

The reason why the whole country considers him as one of the greatest leaders of India of all times is his true dedication. Ministers always make promises but never keep them, but YSR was an exception. He had proved his capabilities and will to work for the development of his state through his commendable performance. During his first five-year tenure as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, YSR has implemented the maximum number of NREGA and other schemes that brought smiles back to the faces of the poor farmers. He was a man who never rested on the shoulders of his deputies and departmental staff and used to pay surprise visits to the rural areas to check how things are going on. After his tragic death, a statistics was found which showed that in the last four months, the Andhra CM has made more than 100 of such surprise visits to monitor the progress of work in the projects that he undertook for the state and the implementation of various schemes.

Surprisingly, his last journey too was aimed towards a surprise visit to some villages to check the drought situation, availability of rations and reliefs and the project works. His sad demise has raised speculation that whether the copter crash was just a mishap or was their any evil intentions involved in it? There are several questions like’ why the copter was allowed to fly, was it airworthy, why the satellite telephone was not with the pilot? But there are no answers as yet. Yesterday the Andhra Pradesh government has announced that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the case and hopefully people will come to know whether YSR’s death was a mishap or the outcome of a well-planned sabotage. But the hard truth is that it was a surprise for the whole nation, a really really sad surprise. It was a surprise that people of Andhra surely didn’t pray for. Probably with his untimely death, YSR has made a surprise entry through the gateway of heaven too. Perhaps, the Almighty too was surprised to see him at his place so early. Yes it is shocking, painful and surprising for the people of the country, but his demise has been perfect. His arrival as the chief minister of Andhra was a surprise and he had stayed by his tendency even while departing too. YSR is always surprising.

Barrack Hussain Obama, the first Black President of US is going to take some days off from his work. He will be spending his vacation with his family at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. But will it be an enjoying and peaceful holiday? I doubt because history says vacations of US Presidents have always been marred by controversies.

People of the country have already started discussing about Mr Obama’s vacation. May be because he is taking days off when the country is going through its worst ever financial crisis. Recently a poll suggested that Mr Obama’s popularity has gone significantly over the first 100 days of his tenure as the President. The poll also suggests that people are loosing faith in him and do not think he is going to take the right decisions for the country. Another reason why people are not taking his vacation plan in good spirit is because of the spot that he has chosen for his vacation. Martha’s Vineyard is among the costliest resorts in entire US.

But I don’t agree with the US citizens in this point because the vacation is going to be sponsored by the Obama family itself. The President is not utilizing the government fund for his enjoyment. Besides, he is not going for a long vacation that could effect the country’s administration. Mr Obama isn’t the first US President to go on holidays. Most of his predecessors did the same thing. George Bush holds the worst vacation record among all US Presidents. He spent 166 days at his Crawford, Texas ranch during his tenure as the President. Later he went for the Presidential retreat at Camp David and at Bush Family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine where his vacation was 250-day long. He faced heavy criticism from his countrymen for being on holiday at the time when Hurricane Catrina created havoc on the country in 2005.

Getting surprised? Then hold on, because the story is quite long. Senior Bush is the record holder for spending 543 days of his Presidency at Camp David and Kennebunport. Ronald Regan is not too far away either. He spent 335 days of his Presidency at Santa Barbara, California during his eight years in White House.

Bill Clinton, who is often termed as ‘workaholic’ had spent 152 days on vacation in his two terms as the President, which is quite an impressive figure, as far as office attendance is concerned. Perhaps he is the only US President who even cut his holiday short for his office works. Among the recent US Presidents, Jimmy Carter is the record holder for taking the least number of days off. He just spent 79 days of his Presidency away from the White House.

So Mr Obama is not doing anything unprecedented. As the head of the nation he too deserves some relief from his hectic work schedule. But still his vacation planning has lead to anger among his countrymen. May be it is not because he is going off to a vacation but because of the situation when he is going off. His decision has hurt the US citizens because they had a tremendous faith on him. They had the confidence that ‘yes, this man is different and he can make a difference’ but now with his decision to go off when the country is struggling to turn around, Mr Obama has simply joined his predecessors.

Well, Shilpa Shetty is the star of the most sensational story of Bollywood this week. By announcing her 33% stake in London-based food company V8 Gourmet Group, she has set a new trend that many Bollywood stars will surely try to follow in the future. Shilpa has send a message to her fans and entire Bollywood that she is not in a mood to settle down easily. The owner of former IPL Champions Rajasthan Royals now has her eyes set on the food business, which surely is a bold move, specially as the decision has been taken in a situation when the global economy is not in a great shape.

V8 Gourmet Group, which includes the Bombay Bicycle Club Kitchens and TiffinBites is among the most reputed names as far as international Indian food companies are concerned. The company is already having its operation in various parts of the world, and the ‘queen’ of Rajasthan Royals, now plans to help it spread its wings even more. Shilpa and her fiancée has invested 6 million pounds in V8 Gourmet Group and the money will be used for the expansion of Bombay Bicycle’s daily service. Besides, her financial aide is going to help the company expand the number of Tiffinbites restaurants and franchisees in London and abroad. And that’s not all. The filmstar-turned foodstar has plans to launch casual dining and shopping mall dining formats in Dubai.

Rise in the profit earning level for V8 is guaranteed as the name ‘Shilpa Shetty’ will add a lot to the brand. NRIs settled in US, European and Middle-Eastern countries will now show more interest towards V8 which already has a reputation for its long range of authentic gourmet meals. In near future, variety of dishes from traditional South and North India, chutneys and pickles are also likely to be available in Tiffinbites restaurants as Shilpa has decided to add more variety to V8’s food service.

Shilpa feels proud to be associated with V8 Gourmet Group and she should be. And so should we. With her sensational decision she has set a new trend for the businessmen and women in India. Ratan Tata, Lakshmi Mittal and Ambanis are just a few names that people utter while discussing about businessmen in India. We Indian should feel proud that now we have got a woman who has shown the guts to step in this arena. For Indian women, Shilpa should be an icon, symbol of self-confidence and courage.

The start was not very impressing but at this moment, the Indian football team looks to be in a very good shape. Though they went down to Lebanon in the very first match, the star players like Bhaichung, Sunil Chhetri and Surkumar have proved themselves in the other matches. Bhaichung appears to be in a great form and Sunil is supporting him perfectly to help the team achieve its ‘goal’. The two has formed a magical combination and are doing the right things at right moments. The scorelines of the matches except against Lebanon have been quite impressive.

The consecutive victories of Indian team have not only shown it is now playing improved football but has also proved its consistency, which is more important. With Syria beating Lebanon, India’s playing in the final is now certain and I am sure that the team will prove itself in the grandest stage too.

India’s football has come up a long way in the recent years and I think Dave Houghton deserves full credit for that. Indian football team has seen several international coaches in the past but nobody succeeded in doing things the way Houghton is doing. Apart from coaching and guiding the footballers in the proper way Houghton has also succeeded in creating a team spirit, a unity in the team which was missing in the past. Instead of a dictator, Houghton has established an ‘advisor’ like image which has earned him respect from the players.

Improvement in the standard of club football has also been a major factor behind the rise of Indian team. Though majority of the Indian football clubs are dependent largely on feorign players, one cannot deny that their presence and skills are inspiring the local boys to upgrade themselves. They are actually learning a lot from their ‘foreigner’ team mates who are mostly from famous football playing nations like Brazil and Nigeria.

We Indians have a bad habit of loosing faith on people very quickly. Football is a game where both success and failure can come at any time. Today everyone is praising the Indian team because it’s success rate is high. But will we stay by our national team in its bad phase. Will we have our faith on Dave Houghton at times when our team will end up as the looser in matches? It’s difficult but I think it is needed. Houghton, Bhaichung, Sunil, Subrata make a great winning combination which should not be broken at any cos

History was made on August 23, 2009 at the Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahmas, when Stefania Fernendez of Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe 2009. it was historic not because Fernandez bagged the title defeating finalists from Kosovo, Australia, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, but because it was for the first time in the history of the event that a country won the title two years in a row. Last year it was Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela who won the title and when she walked over the dais to crown the new ‘beauty queen’ from her own country it became a significant moment for the pageant itself and Venezuela.

For Stefania Fernendaz, it is certainly a huge achievement and a reward for her discipline and sincerity to the profession. Her crowning as the beauty queen was not too surprising as she had already bagged titles like ‘Miss Elegance’, ‘Best Face’ and ‘Best Body’. She succeeded in every step due to her figure, appeal, intelligence and of course personality. These are things without which one cannot get out of this event with the crown on her head specially when the competition is in between beautiful ladies from 83 countries and territories. Stephania’s appeal was clearly when she appeared in bathing suit with 14 other finalists before the final 10 were chosen. Probably, that was the turning point for the young Venezuelean lady as Pageant co-owner Donal Trump mentioned: "I think this is the most beautiful group of women I've ever seen." Miss China Wang Jingyao’s bagging of ‘Miss Photogenic’ and Miss Thailand Chutima Durongdej’s winning the ‘Miss Congeniality’ award totally justified Mr Trump’s reaction. Though the end was little disappointing for the second and third runner ups, Miss Kosovo Gona Dragusha and Miss Australia Rachael Finch, their achievements were not too little.

It was grand night not only for the participants but also for the people present in the auditorium. Things like musical performances by Flo Rida, David Guetta, Kelly Rowland and Heidi Montag, background musics like I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas, "Fire Burning" by Sean Kingston, "Body Language" by Heidi Montag "Right Round" and "Jump" by Flo Rida, "When Love Takes Over" by David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland (Live performance) made the event even more colorful.

Miss Universe 2009 will also be remembered for the grand presence of personalities like Keisha Whitaker, fashion maven and founder of Kissable Couture Lip Gloss, Tamara Tunie, actress, George Maloof, professional sports mogul and hotelier, Farouk, founder and chairman of CHI Hair Care and Richard LeFrak, chairman, president and CEO of LeFrak as they occupied the prestigious chairs of the ‘judges’ at the show.

Once again the date for Michael Jackson’s burial has been postponed. Now, the king of pop is scheduled to go for his final rest on September 3, rather on August 31. a family decision entirely but may be something spiritual is working here. It seems that the ‘restless’ is not too eager to go for the final sleep.

Its more than a couple of months that MJ passed away but for his innumerable fans, it is still hard to accept that his super flexible body will not rock ever again. A man who rocked the entire world with his unending energy and extraordinary physical abilities is now lying inside a narrow coffin. May be like all of his fans, MJ’s soul too is struggling to accept the fact. Otherwise, there can’t be any explanation for this delay in his burial. Even after his death, MJ is staying alive He is no more but still his family members are struggling to put him to rest, which simply is a ‘Mystery’ and like a ‘Thriller’ story.

I know folks, the stuffs that I am writing here are just expressions of emotion but I know there are billions that are thinking the same way that I am. To me, this delay in MJ’s burial is proving how strong his attachment was with this world and its people. The world will never forget MJ, for his presence and his contribution to the music and entertainment world and perhaps by making a delay in the burial the King of Pop is trying to send a message that he is not willing to leave the planet forever. No matter when he is laid to rest, MJ will always rock in the minds of his fans who cried like babies when the news of his demise was flashed on television. Michael never rested on stage and he will never rest.

Everyone in India now knows about BJP’s Chintan Baithak, not because of the things that the party has discussed there but for the strange decision that it has taken on the first day of the meeting. One of the oldest and most respected partymen, who has been a wholetimer for over 30 years was expelled and the decision was conveyed to him just over the telephone. He was asked not to attend the meeting though he was present in the city where it was arranged.

Jaswant Singh, one of the most well known leaders of BJP and an Union minister of the Atal Behari Vajpayee’s regime as Prime Minister has been expelled from the party for writing a book on India’s pre-independence and Independence, which according to the BJP leadership has ‘highlighted’ Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and has criticized the role of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel.

It is quite natural that good words about a Pakistani, that even the founder of that country from an Indian minister will not be accepted well by a lot of people as a feeling of hatred prevails in their mind about their neighboring country but what BJP has done is the perfect example of extremism. The press conference that he attended just minutes after his expulsion from the party, Mr Singh has expressed his grief not because of his party’s decision but the way he was conveyed. Expressing his disappointment, he has said none of his party members has read his book.

Perhaps that’s a fact because till now none from the BJP has been able to point out a particular sentence or paragraph from that book which supports their point. They are criticising the book as a whole. But some of the renowned journalists, columnists and news analyst, who have gone through its pages have appreciated Mr Singh’s research work. At that press conference when he was asked whether he regret his decision to write a book on such a sensitive issue, the former Union minister replied boldly: “Why should I regret my five years of labour?”

It is very easy to point out mistakes and make issues on something that somebody speaks or writes but the point is do the BJP members, who are busy in slamming their ex-colleague, have got anything with them that can prove Mr Singh’s point of view on Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a lie? Newspapers have quoted some sentences from his book that say Jinnah didn’t earn as much as Nehru and Patel gifted him. If that’s the point of controversy then its quite foolish, because by saying that Mr Singh hasn’t appreciated Jinnah.

Independence and splitting of India into two parts is a very sensitive issue for all Indians. Many people are still alive in both India and Pakistan who still feel pain by remembering the day when they simply had to pack up their belongings and shift from one place to another but the question is how many of them know what the truth was? Most of them are common people for whom it is impossible to know what the politicians of that time did, what they decided and how they decided. By saying this I am not supporting Mr Singh for his work but as an Indian citizen it’s my question to people like Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, L K Advani and Rajnath Singh who are saying things in such a way as if they were present on the day when the decision of partition was taken? Where were they at that time? it’s a 62 year-old incident when perhaps Mr Jaitley was not even born or was a crawling baby and Mr Advani was surely not in active politics. Then how do they claim that Mr Singh, a person who has served the country as an external affairs minister has written rubbish things in his book that focuses on the most sensitive issue for the country and its people?

Perhaps the BJP should have thought twice before pulling the trigger. At a time when the party is in a very poor condition, this bullet can prove to be very untimely for them.