Part II


Sports - The Golden Eye of year 2010...

Individual brilliance shone through in record-breaking medal hauls at Commonwealth and Asian Games while the iconic Sachin Tendulkar raised the bar further on the cricket field in what turned out to be a golden year for Indian sports. 

There were moments of pure ecstasy when the country's athletes notched up 101 medals (including 38 gold) in the Commonwealth Games here and 64 (14 gold) in the Asian Games in Guangzhou. 

It was the best ever medal haul in both events for a nation which hardly looks beyond cricket on its sporting calendar. 

Speaking of India's unofficial national sport, cricket, there were cherishable moments all through 2010 and Tendulkar provided two of the biggest ones by fittingly becoming the first batsman to pull off a double century in one-dayers at the beginning of the year before signing off with another first of recording 50 Test hundreds. 

But for a change, cricket and Tendulkar did not matter for at least 14 days in October as India hosted its biggest sporting event after the 1982 Asian Games. 

The 19th Commonwealth Games were supposed to showcase India as the next big sporting destination but left fans with mixed feelings after a botched build-up but a historic medal haul. 

The athletes were undoubtedly on an unprecedented high at the event in front of home fans but the administrators touched a nadir when they made the country a subject of international mockery with preparations so shoddy that it seemed that top participating nations would give the Games a miss. 

In fact, administrators were the only source of embarrassment for Indian sports this year because going by on-field performance, 2010 can easily be counted among the most successful in Indian sporting history. At the centre of it all was Suresh Kalmadi!!  

The wrangling between the Sports Ministry and National Sports Federations over tenure limitation guidelines was also a messy chapter in Indian sports this year with administrators insisting on unlimited hold on their positions while the government calling for more accountability through time-bound tenures. 

The ugly developments, however, could not take the sheen off the massive achievements on the field. 

Starting with cricket, 2010 will definitely be a year which will be etched in the memories of cricket crazy Indians for two of the most astonishing feats in world cricket. 

A new chapter in Indian cricket unfolded in Gwalior when Tendulkar became the first man to score a double hundred in one-dayers -- South Africa being the team at the receiving end. 

But the maestro never stops from creating a higher benchmark for himself which elevates him to a different pedestal --- many notches above his peers. 

That's what happened when he scored the historic 50th Test century at the Supersport Park -- once again South Africa being the opponents -- earlier this month. 

In an eventful year, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his band of brave hearts did well to sustain their top position among the Test playing nations. 

The blot that will still remain despite a good year will certainly be the failure to reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 Championship in West Indies having failed to achieve the goal in England, the previous year too. 

It was also the year that saw the epic downfall of Lalit Modi who was ousted from the BCCI and his brainchild IPL for alleged misappropriation of funds and trying to 'fix' the auction of teams. 

If that wasn't enough, two teams that enjoyed Modi's backing -- the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab -- were barred from competing by the Indian cricket board, a decision that was challenged by both franchises in court and after getting favorable verdict are now likely to compete in the fourth edition of the cash-rich league. 

On to the badminton court and Saina Nehwal continued her giant strides, breaking through the 'Great Wall of China' with five international titles to become the world number two in a highly successful 2010. 

After a highly promising last year during which she won the Indonesian title, Saina proved once again why she is the brightest star in Indian badminton as she went several steps ahead this year. 

The Hyderabadi became the first female Indian shuttler to win three back-to-back titles when she clinched the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold, Singapore Super Series and defended the Indonesian Open in June. 

But the icing on the cake came in October when the 20-year-old won the Commonwealth Games gold medal at the Sri Fort Complex. 

She didn't stop there and her insatiable hunger for success guided her to a third Super Series title when she won the Hong Kong Open last month to wipe out the disappointment of losing in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games. 

Twin honours at the national level added to her aura as she was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Padma Shri awards. 

History was also scripted in the swimming pool when a 19-year-old Virdhawal Khade produced a performance to remember by ending Indian swimming's 24-year-old medal drought in the Asian Games, holding out promise for a better future. 

The strapping six-footer from Kolhapur clinched a bronze in the 50m butterfly event of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, the India's second swimming medal at the event after Khazan Singh's 200m butterfly. 

But even there, Para-swimmer Prasanta Karmakar became the first Indian swimmer to fetch a medal by winning a bronze in the 50m freestyle event. 

In the boxing ring, the year started with an unprecedented gold rush and ended pretty much the same way as new heights were scaled with Olympic hero Vijender Singh once again leading the charge by clinching two gold medals and a bronze. 

The season began with three gold medals in the South Asian Games in Dhaka in February. 

Just a month later, the boxers landed half a dozen gold medals with a cracker of a performance in front of adoring home fans in the Commonwealth Championships. 

Trading punches in front of crowds that generally don't turn up for non-cricket sporting events in India, Vijender (75kg), South Asian Games gold medallist Amandeep (49kg), Suranjoy (52kg), Asian silver medallist Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Olympian Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg) fetched gold to further enhance the sport's rising profile in the country. 

The championship, in fact, was just a prelude to a fantastic performance in the Commonwealth Games that were to follow six months later, again in the capital. 

It turned out to be a bitter-sweet campaign in the end with Vijender settling for bronze after a controversial loss in the semifinals and defending champion Akhil Kumar (56kg) signing off without a medal following a quarterfinal defeat. 

But Suranjoy, Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Paramjit Samota (+91kg) ensured that Indian boxing pulled off its best-ever performance in the Games history by notching up gold medals. 

A month later at the Asian Games, the Indian boxers managed a brilliant haul of two gold, three silver and four bronze medals without showing any sign of fatigue. The twin golds -- bagged by Vijender and 18-year-old Vikas Krishan (60kg) -- were the first after Dingko Singh clinched the yellow metal in 1998. 

The men had a consistently good run but in the women's arena it was only 'The Magnificent' M C Mary Kom who made an impression. 

The Manipuri mother of two added an unprecedented fifth world championship title to her kitty but the rest of the women boxers flopped at the September event, fetching just a bronze to go with Mary Kom's gold. 

At the shooting range, fortunes ebbed and flowed but Indian shooters, led by the mercurial Gagan Narang, experienced more highs than lows in a year that saw them clinch a record 30 medals in the Commonwealth Games. 

A measly haul of eight medals in the Asian Games in Guangzhou following the high at home was the only blip in an otherwise satisfactory year. 

Apart from Narang, there were quite a few others such as Hariom Singh, Ronjan Sodhi, Asher Noria and Tejaswani Sawant who also caught the attention with their exploits over the last 12 months. 

Narang and Hariom won quota places for the London Olympics in 2012, Sodhi won gold in the ISSF World Cup in Turkey before repeating his feat in Guangzhou, while Sawant and junior world champion Noria were the two world record holders of the year. 

Courtesy her gold in the World Championship in Munich, Sawant became the first woman shooter from India to win the yellow metal. 

In tennis, emergence of a new men's singles hope in Somdev Devvarman and resurgence of an injury-ravaged Sania Mirza were the highlights of a memorable 2010. 

The country can now look upon Somdev to be the sport's torchbearer in men's singles while the doubles scene also brightens up with the estranged pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi reuniting next year -- ending a nine-year separation on the ATP circuit. 

Being in and out of the top-100 ranking, Somdev reached a career high of 94 this October and justified his growing stature at the international arena. 

He ended the year on a perfect note, by becoming the first Indian to win a tennis singles gold medal at the Asian Games. 

The victory also made the 25-year-old one of the most celebrated Indian athletes in the Asian Games as he bagged another gold in the men's doubles along with Sanam Singh, besides the team bronze. 

Things were not so rosy for the Indian hockey though. Inspite of the medals in CWG and Asian Games, 2010 was rather disappointing finish for Indian hockey as the men's team managed only a third-place finish in the Guangzhou Asian Games -- a tournament which they were banking on heavily to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. 

Star defender Sardara Singh and teenage sensation Rani Rampal's inclusion in the International Hockey Federation's (FIH) All-Star men's and women's teams at the end of 2010 was the only significant high for Indian hockey in the year, which can be termed as a mixed bag. 

Controversies also ruled the roost in the year 2010 -- be it the ongoing power struggle within the game's administrators, players dispute on salaries or the sexual harassment charges against erstwhile women's team coach M K Kaushik. 

In track and field, new stars emerged on the horizon as athletes brought unprecedented success to the country with impressive performances in the Commonwealth and Asian Games in a record-breaking 2010. 

The year saw Indian athletes bagging a record 12 medals, including two gold, in the Commonwealth Games here while five of the 14 yellow medals at the Asian Games were bagged by country's athletes in Guangzhou. 

Krishna Poonia in discus throw, entered her name into India's athletics folklore by becoming the first woman to win an individual gold in the Commonwealth Games which was further made memorable when the country swept the shot-put event by bagging all the medals. 

India's 12 medals in CWG's athletics competition were two more than the number it won in all the earlier editions. 

One month later in Guangzhou, the athletes bagged five gold, two silver and five bronze with new track sensation Ashwini Akkunji and Joseph Abraham clinching a rare gold double by winning men's and women's 400m hurdles in the Asian Games. 

On the golf course, Arjun Atwal's historic title triumph on the PGA Tour was the high point of an otherwise moderate year. 

Atwal, a former Asian Tour number one, scripted history by emerging as the first Indian to win on the US PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship in August. 

He was also the first Monday qualifier in 24 years to win a tournament on the PGA Tour. 

Some less talked about sports also made a mark. Indian archers had some hits as well as misses as they became a force to reckon with, ahead of the London Olympics in two years time. 

The emergence of 16-year-old Deepika Kumari and the stunning comeback by 2004 Olympian Tarundeep Rai after being in the sidelines for about two years were some high points of 2010. 

Daughter of an autorickshaw driver in Ranchi, Deepika was the best performer in the Commonwealth Games when she clinched the gold in individual section and helped the team win another yellow metal. 

Asian Games was though a heart-breaking experience for Deepika who faltered to finish fourth in individual section, but the Army archer Tarundeep scripted history by bagging the first ever silver in individual recurve as India also won a bronze medal each in men's and women's team events. 

However, the archers bagged just eight medals -- three gold, one silver and four bronze -- of the 24 up for grabs in the CWG. 

In cue sports, Pankaj Advani was yet again cynosure of all eyes with his gold medal win at the Guangzhou Asian Games. 

But there were disappointments as well. Dope menace ebbed a bit in weightlifting but the country's lifters produced below-par performances in the two multi-sporting events of the year -- Commonwealth Games and Asian Games -- in which they were allowed to take part only after paying a hefty fine to the international parent body. 

The lifters could win just eight medals, including two gold, in the CWG, a far cry from the 27 -- 11 gold, nine silver and seven bronze -- in 2002 Manchester Games and less than the three gold, five silver and a bronze the country won in Melbourne in 2006. 

On the football field, It was not smooth sailing on the field but off it there have been many positives for Indian football, especially the AIFF's Rs 700 crore commercial deal with IMG-Reliance that is expected to pave the way for a better future for the sport in the country. 

The national team continued with its exposure trips to prepare for the Asian Cup next year, touring Portugal where the players got opportunities to train in world class facilities and play against the second and third division clubs in the Iberian country. 

In final analysis, year 2010 was a rollercoaster ride for Indian sports in which highs clearly outnumbered the lows.

PS: Courtesy TOI and Google Images... 

India Emerges as the hub for clinical Research


India is emerging as the most potential destination for the international drug makers. It has been believed from all over the world that India is booming with the clinical trails and researches.

Clinical trial is the research study by pharmaceutical firms and organizations, conducting drug discovery process to find out more efficient treatment for patients regarding different types of specific disease. Though a beginner in the field it forms the promising place for conducting the researches with it’s clinically expertise attitude.

Low cost and better access to research related material is considered to be the main advantage of India. In addition, it is flourishing to the great heights due to its innovations as it not only empathizes on the traditional medicines but also formulating new small and large molecule therapies. India is preferred by the international drug manufacturers for carrying out the clinical traits at the global level as it can methodically carry out in the reasonable cost and time analyzing the various phases in the trails.

Initiatives are being taken by the Indian government to support the clinical trials market in the country. It keeps a watch on the moves and provisions made by the Indian government to rationally analyze the future course of direction of the market. The key factors that boost the country's clinical trials are the patient pool, patient recruitment, cost, time, government regulations, rational property, human resources, infrastructure and ethical issues. Moreover a language is not a problem in India as most of the studies are carried out in the English language. India has the availability of a large patient pool that can be recruited at much shorter time. This is one of biggest advantage of conducting clinical trials in India.

All major pharmaceutical companies and Clinical Research Organizations have already started conducting their clinical trials in India, and with improving infrastructure, industry friendly regulations and trained workforce, the growth is only likely to increase in future. In 2006, Indian clinical trails market grew around 65% in 2006 and it is expected to grow nearly 36% between 2006 and 2011 to register revenues worth $546 million in future. India is growing as a preferred destination for global clinical trials and research, with the market being estimated to reach $1.5 billion by 2010, which may trigger a shortage of around 30,000 to 50,000 clinical research professionals by then. Today, India had just 5000 available trained manpower but with very little or no experience.

There are a lot of trials occurring in fields like diabetes, oncology and lifestyle diseases happening in India but to achieve the goal of becoming a global hub of clinical trials, India will have to overcome challenges like unethical trials, delay in trial approval, inappropriate protection of clinical data, and lack of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) certified sites and investigators.

Thus, by improving on the weekness and empathizing on GCP India can surley acchive its goal of becoming a global hub for clinical research.

~~THE 60th INDEPENDENCE DAY~~

India is celebrating the 60 years of independence. We are assured and secured that for past 60 years we are having a colorful and a glorious celebrations. But what really was the scene 60 yrs ago??

August 15, 1947 the 1st Independence Day. Great joy and celebration was seen all across the country. New Delhi in particular was the hub of nationalistic fever… hub for nationalism with the gathering of crowds in public places…people from all walks of life gathering and celebrating the free festive of independence…men, boys, gals, ladies all oozing with glory of freedom …glory of independence…glory to see India free. Spirit and enthusiasm was noteworthy. The tricolor hosted and what the world witnessed was only cheerful faces…broad smiles and watered eyes.

Really the spirit was noteworthy. We have been hearing and listening to the stories and reading bout Indian independence fight right from the time we have been understand or the time we can read. But all this is past and of course we are proud of it. But are we really doing anything to sustain the precious gift we got after a 150 yrs of hard struggle? After 1000s of precious life scarifies? Do u think India is really independent after all this??

Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister gave a speech to the Constituent Assembly at midnight on August 14, 1947. "At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest. She has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals, which gave her strength. We end today, a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again." His speech inspired us with ideals about a new beginning for India.Has India lived up to these ideals? Although the British no longer occupy India, is she really independent of their influence? While they were in India, we began to follow their traditions, their philosophies, and their lifestyle. We silently allowed them desecrate our heritage, culture and religion. Yet now, it is we, the Indians that continue to honor those who tried to destroy our culture.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy has been in the area of religion. Yes I am taking bout the recent CASTE RESERVATION SYSTEM! If we are going for reservations on communal and caste bases, we swamp the bright and talented people and remain second rated or even third rated. I want my country to be first class country. This reservation is nothing but a big blot on Indian system. SO discrimination should be stopped

The other biggest issue is poverty…unless people are provided with the basic amenities we can expect them having a discreet and proper approach toward life. Unless poverty is been minimized in fact abolished we can’t think of prosperous growth in the sector of technology and industries. Leave bout the growth in those departments but the basic necessities of knowledge and education cannot be provided unless poverty is abolished. Bold plans should be aimed so that rich, youth could help to the cause. So the elementary but massive problem is POVERTY.

When we stop discriminating between our self and help eradicate poverty issue then only we can be armed with technology, industrialism and the most important power of education and knowledge. Plans like EACH ONE TEACH ONE should be empowered in every literate civilian. Thus slowly we can achieve great heights and fight boldly against the challenges like terrorism, poverty and population and power!

Though India is facing so many problems but we have always seem the growth graph of India rising day by day. We have archived great success in the field of nuclear power, IT, green revolution, milk revolution, in infrastructure and communication. The country pre independent was know as exotic land associated with snake charmers and fakirs lying in beds of nail now is know as a land of immense wisdom and intelligence which have produced many pioneers.

Thought their dedication and hard work and optimism these achievers fueled India’s growth but also gave it international recognition. If CV Raman and Mother Teresa got us noble prize then Satyajit Ray got the 1st Oscar. If Sachin Tendulkar and PT Usha show amazing performance in there game then Birla, Tata, Narayan Muthy and Ambanis in industries and private sector. Together they are the father and mother of newly born nation. Not only these people were successful in there respective fields they were visionary who dare to thing …dare to dream beyond the present and create a beautiful future not just for the children...the youth...but also for the country and all of us.

Every nation relies on youth for the development and progress. So been the generation Z and the responsible citizen of India lets come together and help to prosper India and make India truly independent.

I would like to end my words with few words said by our X- president APJ ABDUL KALAM in his book IGNITED MINDS~



Song of youth

ME and my Nation- India

As a young citizen of India,
Armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation,
I realize that small aim is crime.

I will work and sweat for great vision,
The vision to transforming India into a developed nation
Powered by economic strength with value system.

I am one of the citizens of a billion,
Only will the vision ignite the billion souls.
It has entered into me,
The ignited soul compared to any resource,
Is the most powerful resource,
On the earth, above the earth and under the earth.

I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning
To achieve the vision- Developed India.


JAI Hind.