I pray you to let the drama halt while Chorus stalks to the footlights and drops an epicedian tear upon the fatness of Mr. Hoover. Tune the pipes to the tragedy of tallow, the bane of bulk, the calamity of corpulence. Tried out, Falstaff might have rendered more romance to the ton than would have Romeo's rickety ribs to the ounce. A lover may sigh, but he must not puff. To the train of Momus are the fat men remanded. In vain beats the faithfullest heart above a 52-inch belt. Avaunt, Hoover!
Hoover, forty-five, flush and foolish, might carry off Helen herself; Hoover, forty-five, flush, foolish and fat is meat for perdition. There was never a chance for you, Hoover.

i woke up
a song hummed in my head, trying to rock me to sleep again
the sun slipped in beneath the cracks of the door
vegetable vendor shouted his unique accent
i tried recalling which day it was
and jumbled up to a day, some seven-eight years ago
some idyllic perfect morning which i have tucked within the recess of my mind
or was it the perfect deja vu which i have never experienced before

(I might as well give it a title to this if i find a good new song)

Anton: How Much Land Does a Man Need?

It is a common saying that a man needs only six feet of land. But surely a corpse wants that, not a man. And I hear that our intellectuals have a longing for the land and want to acquire farms. But it all comes down to the six feet of land. To leave town, and the struggle and the swim of life, and go and hide yourself in a farmhouse is not life -- it is egoism, laziness; it is a kind of monasticism, but monasticism without action. A man needs, not six feet of land, not a farm, but the whole earth, all Nature, where in full liberty he can display all the properties and qualities of the free spirit

3G auction likely to delay again

3G auction likely to delay again

January 30, 2010

The 3G technology seems to be getting farther away as the auction of spectrum for 3G telephony is likely to get delayed again. The law ministry has suggested the auction be done only after availability of spectrum, which would otherwise create legal complications.

The auction was earlier scheduled to begin on January 14, but got delayed due to uncertainity over the number of slots and unavailability of spectrum.

The suggestion by the ministry might have been prompted by the advice of the legal advisor of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), who said the 3G auction should be conducted for only those slots where spectrum can be allotted by September this year, as the government might lose huge amounts of revenue if the deadline of assigning spectrum is not kept, a senior ministry official said.

DoT had sent the draft notice inviting applications for 3G to the law ministry for approval.

The government plans to take the upfront payment for auction of 3G spectrum within 15 days of the completion of the process, which may create legal hurdles as spectrum would be available by the September 1 this year, according to the law ministry. The winners in the auction may ask for compensation or can go to court if the government is unable to allot the spectrum on time.

DoT has enough spectrum to auction two slots of 3G spectrum, while spectrum for the third slot would be available by September. The defence ministry would vacate the fourth slot by 2013.

A Raja: 3G auctions to complete within this fiscal

3G auctions to complete within fiscal: CommMin

20 Jan 2010

Union Communications Minister A Raja said the 3G auctions and subsequent process will be completed within this fiscal.

"The government is keen to complete the 3G auction process well within the financial year," he said. According to the Minister, the notice inviting applications (NIA) will be issued this week.

It can be emphasized here that the 3G spectrum auction has been delayed for many times.

Even before the auction starts, the delay has resulted in a loss of Rs 10,000 crore to the government exchequer. The government was expecting to cough up Rs 35,000 crore since last year from 3G and BWA auctions but this figure slid to Rs 25,000 crore now.

DoT asks BSNL to expedite work

DoT to BSNL: Speed up work on alternate network for Defence

Jan 6, 2010

The DoT has asked BSNL to expedite the work for introducing a network for the Defence forces. The agreement is a part of the MoU signed between the DoT and the Ministry of Defence and also asked BSNL to set up a monitoring mechanism for the project immediately.

The setting up of network on time is important as it is directly linked to the vacation of spectrum by the Defence forces. Any delay in setting up the network will subsequently delay the vacation of spectrum which in turn will prolong the wait for 3G spectrum.

According to an internal note by DoT joint secretary JS Deepak, "I understand that the team has not been constituted and this matter was adversely viewed during the review meeting taken by the high-level monitoring committee under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary at a meeting last week,” says a DoT internal note.

As per the MoU, a team comprising BSNL CMD as mission director was to be constituted which was also supposed to have representatives from the Defence and the DoT.

DoT invites applications for 3G on Jan 10

DoT to issue notice inviting applications for 3G on Jan 10

Jan 5

The DoT is introducing a schedule related to 3G and BWA spectrum auctioning in the country. The procedure will begin from January 10 with DoT inviting applications from interested players.

The auction is scheduled around February 12 and continue till March 10 with the successful bidders paying the bid amount by that time.

The new schedule would almost delay a month when compared to the earlier released itinerary. As per the earlier schedule, auction was supposed to start by January 14.

The DoT will send the 3G spectrum auction policy to the Law Ministry for a final review.