Data from Government Portals

In last some months I happened to see the vast amount of data and statistics available in our govt. portals.
I was always surprised at the amount the data available to public in western countries.
Cities like NewYork provide charts on various topics available to people. They used a business intelligence tool (OBIEE) I work on for providing many useful graphs too. (No I did not not work on that project)
Check the NewYork CPR (City Wide Performance Reporting) here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/ops/cpr/html/home/home.shtml
Even UN made its database available to public for along time and has been updating the way people can access it. (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb/ updated to http://data.un.org/)
One can see numerous infographics made out of these by people
e.g:
http://projects.flowingdata.com/state-of-the-world/
http://www.npr.org/news/graphics/2009/apr/electric-grid/
http://www.candychang.com/desk/2008/11/12/vendor-power/


Now the best news of theme all is this: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/adding-search-power-to-public-data.html

And yes you might have already heard of the (coming soon) http://data.gov/ showing the commitment of Obama govt's towards transparency and freedom of information
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/FreedomofInformationAct/

Done with the preface!
Now my problem is I envied all this. Because getting such data or infographics on India was difficult and scarce.
If the source is not from UN or say http://graphs.gapminder.org/ very little inforgraphics we have around our country as I feel.
Mostly we are part of some graph made for the whole world ( or in a comparison report made to show where one of the biggest democracies and big economy stands)
I always thought that we don't have much of the govt. data available to public and RTI is there for the namesake.
BUT in last 3 months my perception has changed. We too have a vast amount of data available to public. Just thatI never cared to search for these at the right place because of my prejudice.
See what all things I found out:
National Budgets, State Budgets and yearly Economic Surveys - http://indiabudget.nic.in/
Monthly Economic Reports from portal of Finance Ministry - http://finmin.nic.in/stats_data/monthly_economic_report/index.html
Check several other reports available from portal of Finance Ministry
Check RBI provided Statistics at http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/statistics.aspx and Database on Indian Economy at http://dbie.rbi.org.in/
Want to search judgments given by Supreme Court: http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/chejudis.asp
A similar search system is there in the site for each high court.
A directory of sites http://goidirectory.nic.in/

Okay... tired huh...
Yes, a lot of data is available, which probably many of us are not aware of. Many of us who get to know about it, do not use it.

What I plan to do with these data?
Create some inforgraphics from the statistics. [I make many promises. I really need to take out good amount of time to do a bit in this regard.]
Compare the presentation of data to that provided by other country governments. Wish data.gov sets a standard in this arena.

Wishes:
Wish the data comes in a more usable format making it easier to use. Having some sort of standard on making online data available will be great. Such a thing might be actually already available and I did not discover it (Need to look for this).
Some portals are pretty cluttered. Wish they improve the usability of these.
Hope, new Indian government going to be formed takes a step similar to data.gov and do not just stop at e-media advertisements for election.
For the state of things in some countries check this:
Check this http://resource.org/ and http://public.resource.org/justice.gov/index.html

A very valid set of Data principles suggested for an Open government. http://resource.org/8_principles.html

Anyways it is for sure that the data made available by a government will decide how Open it is.
I can't comment right now about how Open Indian Government is. Hope, I will be able to evaluate it completely very soon.

NOTE 1: A link I found important and need to note: http://india.gov.in/govt/constitutions_india.php

NOTE 2: Something I found out in this process is this: http://google.com/insights/search/#cat=&q=data%2Cdesign%2Cvisualization%2Cstatistics&geo=&date=&clp=&cmpt=q
India loves data the most. The results are surprising I must say.. don't give that clear a picture too.
[Thanks to Flowing data for this http://flowingdata.com/2008/08/06/google-releases-insights-for-search-india-likes-data/]

Bose - A Forgotten Hero

Finally back to blogging after many days. It's my first time on Dark Room. It's a nice writing tool.

Anyways this blog is not about Dark room. It's something I wanted to write for a long time and finally writing it, winning over my procrastination.

Some days back it was a day to celebrate with patriotic spirit. No! I'm not talking about Republic Day. It was birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. (You must be knowing the date, if you think you should know. Otherwise there is no use if I mention it here.)

Somehow I feel we have apathy towards him. Not much of celebration from government, not even any mention in media. Moreover the general public also seems to have forgotten the hero.

According to me, Netaji's death is one of the longest running political controversies in Indian politics. But not just his death, even his birthday too is being wiped out of people's memory as part of some political agenda I feel. As it is Netaji's ideologies were very different from that of Gandhi's and would he have been alive his existence would have changed the whole political scenario in India. Some believe he was living as a hermit in UP, India. If it is true, then why did he not get into politics here? Was it a threat for him?

In case Netaji died in the plane accident and his ashes are stored in Renkoji temple in Japan, then why didn't the Indian Government try to get it to India? Several commissions were set-up to find out the disappearance of Netaji (which means we believe he did not die in that plane crash). But the Mukherjee Commission report was not approved in 2005 and no more (govt.) commissions are working on this. According to Anuj Dhar, a journalist who is working on this regard has some controversial statements. If we go by that ... Netaji can well change the political scenario in India today (posthumously).

Now India is supposed to be one of the largest democracies in the world and we had only one party to choose for ten years after Independence. We give them the treatment as if they are the kings ruling a kingdom. Not many parties with different ideologies still exist; some alternatives are coming up though. They are not stable enough even after 60 years of Independence.

Let's get back to our topic.

When it comes to support Netaji and celebrate his birthday, you can easily see the clear picture of why it lacks enough political interest. Netaji was a national hero for sure, but his views were very different from the father of the nation. Now one may argue that even Bhagat Singh had different ideologies why didn’t that deter people's spirit to celebrate Bhagat Singh's Birthday. Regionally and many other political parties support him. But in the case of Netaji, CPI the Communist Party of India which is the major political party from the region where Netaji spent much of his personal and work life, doesn't support his ideologies either. They like the idea of Netaji going to Russia but they hate him as he went to Germany for help later. Now what went wrong at Russia doesn't bother them, but the German connection bothers them a lot about Netaji. Now you see that why not much celebration is around. You can see a bit of the celebration by some die-hard fans of him and yes regionally in Orissa his birthplace (that too again by some great lovers of this leader). I personally believe politics in Orissa doesn't affect the national politics much.

Anyways no one can deny what an exceptional leader Netaji was. If not all I believe still in this generation Y, some of us will be here to celebrate and spread knowledge about this great hero of all time and a true son of the soil.

Links I referred are here:

1) http://www.yorozubp.com/netaji/75birthday/yajee.htm

2) http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/Netaji/roadends.shtml

3) http://piyushspace.blogspot.com/2008/01/happy-birthday-netaji.html

4) http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/mar/17spec.htm

Best of them all:

5) http://www.missionnetaji.org/index_new.php

Something you should check out:

6) http://thejeshgn।com/2008/01/22/speeches-by-subash-chandra-bose-in-his-own-voice/

P.S. By the term celebration I meant how much people remember and love their leader who fought for them.

P.P.S. Thought of writing this blog from some tweets with Thej and Veetrag.

Dil Dosti etc.

Yesterday I woke up really late (around 12 o'clock).It was 5pm when I finished my lunch.Now we roomies needed to plan on how to enjoy the day..err evening. Cm'n it's a weekend after all..

Dil Dosti etc. was the first thing that came in my mind. It's a movie produced by Prakash Jha. The person behind movies like Gangajal. The starcast of the movie is impressive - Shreyas Talpade (Dor fame) and Imaad Shah (Son of Nasheeruddin Shah). And the story revolves around college life in Delhi. It's about how the current generation has the view of life. It's about our philosophy towards love, life, sex, friendship etc. With all this info about the movie b4 watching it obviously any person will like to watch the movie.

Aur kya tha.. www.pvrcinemas.com

Booked 4 tickets. Went to MG road and found Taste Of Tibet closed. So straight to forum and had some Mumos and fried Wontons @ Beijing Bites. The first time I had Mumos I fell in love with it. If u like non-veg and din't have it yet, just go taste it ASAP.Two of my friend din't turn up hence had to put two tickets on sale. Advertised on twitter even. And the tickets were sold at the counter itself instantly.Ready for the movie on which I have a lot of expectation and it started.The start is something beyond you can imagine.

BTW I did not warn you of something. this movie is aerated (A - rated).

And after the first scene itself two ladies sitting next to me left the hall. (Now I'm not the culprit. ) The first scene was something like this.

Shreyas asks imaad if he can fuck two girls in the same day and Imaad responds positively. Now Shreyas asks him if he can make it with three in a day. Now Imaad says if Shreyas thought of him having a pond of white water.

Aur kya tha..there started the adventure.

Starts with this famous line: 'When you are young, you think opportunities are endless.'

It reminded me my college days and the lingo is totally uncut. If u can't handle slangs better don't watch this movie. I can't elaborate u scenes from the movie in the blog here. But it brought out every odd imagination or confusion I have towards the topics this movie has touched. There was this Bihari student leader with his middle class values intact and a rich confused Casanova who turned down Yale offer. Movie starts with the ragging scenes that are true to real life. Then this student leader Sanjay and Casanova Apoorv become friends. Sanjay being from Bihar dislikes the view of Apoorv towards realtions. Anyhow one day one weird challenge is set between Sanjay & Apoorv. Apoorv should be able to have sex with three girls in one day before Sanjay wins the college election. This changes the view Apoorv has towards life. In Sanjay's life comes a rich super model Prerna studying in their college. And in Apoorv's life two girls have major impact atleast for the duration the character is in the movie. That's a prostitute and the other is a school girl studying in 11th class. If u think these r some odd terms, think again...do they really sound odd. There are times when Apoorv seeks some answers from the pros. And story goes on as at a point of time Apoorv actually loves the pros. but he never felt like falling in love with the school girl though he wants to make love with her. One day Sanjay & Apoorv go to a party by Prerna and prerna wants to make it out with Sanjay that night, but is out rightly rejected. Apoorv gets a new girl there but bad luck. Now Prerna is confused on how much she loves Sanjay, but she is sure of one thing..that she cares for him a lot. Anyways the deadline of challenge is nearing. and who wins the challenge. Whether Prerna finally stays with Sanjay or dumps him. With whom will Apoorv will settle atlast. What is love? How do u evaluate independent existence of Love & Sex? And etc.

All this comes well packaged in Dil Dosti Etc. Shreyas performed his role at ease adn even Imaad gave a nice performance. say Imaad stole the screen from Shreyas. Nikita Anand performed well as Prerna. I did not expect her to act this well (no super model has ever given a good entry in acting). The other two female leads too performed well. Hmm that girl who played the character of Kintu was simply awesome. प्यार हो गया उससे. She was sexy.

If you like off-beat movies, which deal with some social issues.. which say it straight on your face then you can go and watch this movie. I will encourage everyone person who is eligible to watch the movie to do watch the movie. But it is your perception, whether you can accept such a storyline or not. Whether u can handle such a truth or not. It all depends on u.

Don't come back to me, if you don't like the movie.

P.S: If u want to chk the blog of the movie team chk it here.

Cybercoolies and IT super-power : Myth resolved

Cybercoolies and......
as a preface plz go thru this blog first..
http://bakerstreetirregulars.blogspot.com/
Though it's rude, it's truth.Now things apart.....u can easily think of this.
Why are we given these IT projects, try to understand...how it all works?
It's not that difficult. Now Us and many other development countries have a large pool of talent which is gud .
Still companies ther outsource ther project to countries like India.
Reason is the talent they have is costly...... though they have masters of technology among them, they do and will outsource their projects.
Mostly something laborious and hectic is given, to cut the cost their finance department takes the decision over to outsource.
Now their tech guy ther is guru of technology and can do all their project but he will demand a lot of dollars...now he will just administer and do the key parts and remaining are outsourced..so he is paid less....gud for the company. Then the company outsource to a IT services company in India which counts the money in dollars but a bit less than the guru they have and then it gives the task to it's employess and pays them in INRupees which is much less cheaper. so everyone is happy and makes merry. Now just because of the difference in economy and a huge manpower to exploit we all enjoy it.
Though truth is better we are in a illusion to enjoy. It's just like the movie 'The Matrix'. We are enjoying all this virtually.

But we are making some real profits in mean time, which if we can divert to other sectors for our upliftment we can sustain our profit for longer and can do real gud of this virtual enjoyment.

You can see this profit here.
http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gcr_2006/BCI.pdf
http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gcr_2006/top50.pdf
http://www.weforum.org/en/fp/gcr_2006-07_highlights/index.htm (read bout India in this page)
Now you can see we probably have poorest GDP still we r 27th in business competency and 43 in global competency.
Though we are poor we are fairing well and from previous years our growth rate is greater. Now for us to improve we need to remove these blockades of illiteracy and poverty, which stop technology reaching to them . Once we are able to fight this cause we can improve in each sector and go ahead a real progressive society.
And as for the brain drain we are having internally ...like young ppl gettin into call centers instead of completing their studies. Now we can make positive use of it. Those who are not good in studies or either not interested in it or those who r failures (i mean whom studies dint do any better)they can try these call center line and make a humble leaving instead of roaming on road branded as "Bekaar". Don't u remember the days in 80-90s. don't u think our employment rate has gone up a bit. But the gud talent which is wasted here must focus on their studies in their field of choice and prove themselves useful and profitable to themselves and the society at large.
Even we must look at the jobs in govt. and public sector which is now having deficit in employment to be filled in properly with gud talent.
Don't cry that corruption spoilt it all, but we all can stilll make evrything fine...after all evrything is dependant on us...each one of us.....
Now this is not being diplomatic and giving a slogan....but positively we can work it out. how many think they r goin to be enterprenuer and help in this regard...now I think each of u still reading this article have the interst and capability ...but just either u shut ur eyes to see the opportunity or u stilll dint learn to grab one. Or ur jst being pessimistic.
I know I am being a lil bit overtly over-confident and optimistic...evrything might not and will not go this well..But u can atleast be proud of urself and don't cry over issues and fight like a soldier and leave a life with respect for urself.
The above part is important as most of us are associated to work around this IT or related fields. Even I work as a software engineer.
You can't get out of the matrix as it makes ur way of life but u can just help it to be better and help urself in the way.

Silent

"You see a lot more when people don't see you."

Hmmm before anyone claims this quote is mine......I took this from Kaavya Viswanathan's (de-)famous book "How Opal Mehta got Kissed, got wild and Got life?". Now I dint write the title properly I think. Anyways, you must have already got which book I am talking about. It was there on every news channel for it being plagiarized.

Whatever!! The thing I wanted to reflect upon was not this info about the other or the story. But I believe this line just could clearly depict what I meant, what I do and what I observe happening.

When I am buzzing with energy and in excited state, when i talk a lot ...every-time like this I find a lot of friends. But I hardly notice what's there real intention or what's there real attitude towards me or anyone.

When I am silent, I have less people talking to me, less people watch me, less no. of people take concern of what I am doing. Then I watch and observe others. Then you can really observe true character of your so called friend or just any person. It's not a spy story..but it just happens so in real life and works for just anyone.

People act to act differently when they are noticed. But when they do not know that they are being noticed they are their true-self. And when a person din't see you observing him/her he will just act his original and you can understand what he/she is.

Fanaa

Extraordinary? Well, if there was any other way that was more apt for terming the expectations from this Yash Raj Films' next, then it may as well have been placed here. And why not? After all 'Fanaa' is the biggest film coming from YRF since 'Veer-Zaara'! Though there were 'Bunty Aur Babli', 'Salaam Namaste' and 'Neal N Nikki' in between [with popular music as well], none can really match the scale of the kind of expectations one has from 'Fanaa', both from the music and the movie. Starring Aamir Khan and Kajol in lead along with Tabu, Rishi Kapoor, Shiney Ahuja and Kiron Kher, 'Fanaa' is the third directorial outing for Kunal Kohli [incidentally each being with YRF] after 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge' and 'Hum Tum'. Jatin Lalit, who have composed for the last biggie before their split, team up with Prasoon Joshi who has done some tremendous work recently in films like 'Rang De Basanti', 'Hum Tum', 'Rok So To Rok Lo' and 'Phir Milenge', to name a few. Since 'Fanaa' means completely destroyed, it leads to an eventual curiosity about the film's plot.
"Tere Dil Mein Meri Sanson Ko Panaah Mil Jaaye...Tere Ishq Mein Meri Jaan Fanaa Ho Jaaye"
This very line that makes an appearance in every promotional medium for 'Fanaa' sets the mood for the album and the film to follow.
The first track 'Chand Sifarish' is the one which is known more as 'Subhan Allah' due to these two words been heard in the promos. Shaan's humming that opens up the number, very well establishes the song to be truly belonging to a Yash Chopra film. Melodious to the core, it is followed by Kailash Kher's crooning of 'Subhan Allah' and extremely catchy beats that arouses good hopes from the rest of the song. Poetic to the core, this well written number is also accompanied by the sound of a whistle and turns out to be a good fusion of Arabic and Indian melody. The real surprise comes mid-way through the number where the sound of santoor (one of the favorite music instruments in Yash Chopra films) is heard. A lyrical beauty with the term 'Fanaa' making an appearance at number of places, it has a good melodious appeal and is undoubtedly a popular number to have arrived this season.
'Mere Hath Mein' is the second number in succession with the term 'Fanaa' woven in the song. A song about a couple who are truly in love and just need each other's company, it too is based on sheer poetry and comes quite close to Javed Akhtar saab's style. Both Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan sing the number in a low pitch and one can expect a scenic beauty forming the song's background. A slow moving number with a touch of Kashmiri style of music to it, it is the first track where Kajol and Aamir Khan lend their vocals. But no, they don't sing the song. Instead they narrate a line or two that fits in well with the mood of the song. While Kajol says the line 'Tere Dil Mein..." that is the highlight of the film's promotion, Aamir Khan says:
"Rone De Aaj Humko Tu Aankhen Sujane De, Bahon Mein Le Le Aur Khud Ko Bheeg Jaane DeHai Jo Seene Mein Qaid Dariya Wo Chooth Jaayega, Hai Itna Dard Ke Tera Daaman Bheeg Jaayega"
He further aptly wraps up the song with "Adhoori Saans Thi, Dhadkan Adhoori Thi, Adhoore Hum, Magar Ab Chaand Poora Hai Falak Pe, Aur Ab Poore Hain Hum", hence conveying the sense of being highly satisfied and completeness in love. It may not be the easiest number to sing aloud due to its poetic feel but it still makes a great impression while being heard. This is proved to be true when an instrumental 'Lounge Mix' of the same arrives in the form of 'Destroyed in Love'. Dhrubajyoti Phukan programs the number and does a good job in coming up with a true lounge version. With a haunting appeal to boast, it should be an easy pick for the lovers of lounge music Sound of whistle is heard again at the very beginning of 'Chanda Chamke'. A children's number which is the first ever in the album to be reminding of Jatin Lalit's vintage style, it redefines the tongue twisting 'Chandu Ke Chacha Ne Chandu Ki Chachi Ko' by coming up with a new tongue twister. Mahalaxmi Iyer and Babul Supriyo pair up for this 'feel-good' number while Kajol and Aamir Khan too join in for two more tongue twisters! A difficult number sung with ease by everyone along with child artist Master Akshay Bhagwat, it is going to be a sure shot popular number, at least with the kids. And yes, unlike the previous two songs, it is of the kind that will be sung along by many due to a sheer challenge of getting it's words and tune right!
Poetry and melody make a lethal combination once again for 'Dekho Na', yet another melodious duet by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. At this point of time, one realizes that Udit Narayan, who has been a regular with YRF, is missing from the entire album! But you don’t mind that as Sonu Nigam and everyone else has done a great job so far to create a mesmerizing impact. 'Dekho Na' has an old world charm to it with the music belonging to the 50-60s variety and reminding of the numerous such romantic songs to have been featured on the likes of Dev Anand and others. One of the best songs to have arrived in the album, it has an innocent feel to it due to an overall beautiful treatment. While Sonu Nigam is wonderful as always [especially in numbers like this], special mention for Sunidhi Chauhan as from hereon she should be taken seriously by the composers who have otherwise utilized her potential mainly for item songs or fast paced high-on-beats numbers!
It's time for Mahalaxmi Iyer to arrive with the first (and the only solo) number of the album. 'Des Rangila' is a peppy 'I Love My Nation' number that has a strong North Indian flavor to it and guarantees a colorful picturization. The song mentions everything from Indian tradition, culture to festivals and comes quite close to 'Aisa Desh Hai Mera' [Veer-Zaara]. Ending with the sound of 'Jaya Hey' from 'Jana Gana Mana', expect an eye candy outing when the song arrives on screen.
The first ever track with a strong western influence, the Club Mix of 'Chand Sifarish' comes as 'Fanaa for You' that completely changes the mood and style of the song. DJ Aqeel does a tremendous job to make it fit for the yuppy crowds as he jazzes up the song completely by also incorporating the words 'Fanaa For You' intermittently in the number. A rocking end to the album, it is just hard to believe that how one single number could be treated in two completely opposite ways while keeping the melody and basic context intact?!
It is indeed a pity that this could well be the last album composed by Jatin Lalit because the fact is that while doing so, they have come up with one of their purest musical score ever. A guaranteed musical success for YRF, it completely justifies the hype surrounding it for all these months since the time the film has been in the making. A winner, 'Fanaa' should rise to the top of the charts in just a few days time and help the movie's promotion further.
You read it first on IndiaFM

First one

wat to write, is the question? Leave that bullshit alone..
After many days I'm going to write smthing useful I think
I've created this blog for this purpose only otherwise my old 360 page is there where one can read bout my likings, my angst, my .......................
U know the best thing I love to write is "........................."
people term it as "& so on" and I say it as "dot dot dot dot"
and the first time I let this feeling in me go public ppl started laughing
yupe one may read my personal blog at
360.yahoo.com/shailen1babool
I thought of putting my resume/biodata/CV/watever here, but I update tht evry month so I'm not going to put tht here anyway;for that ask me on my gmail id.
and some of the words I love are
Shailen
shit
nothing
anyways
watever
etc....