Roger Federer conquers the Red Soil.....finally !!!!

Roger Federer, has finally conquered the red soil of the French Open. The Swiss, touted to be the best tennis player of all times, has now won all the four Grand Slams, a feat achieved by only two men before him.....Rod Laver & Andre Agassi. In fact, Federer, along with Agassi has the rarest achievement, having won the Olympics gold medal as well. Federer has some unprecedented records besides his name, thus far. He has equalled Pete Sampras's 14 Grand Slam titles now, & has reached 20 consecutive Grand Slam semis. he has also played in all Grand Slam finals for two years in succession. Fedex(as he is popularly known, seems to be moving as smoothly as a Swiss timepiece.

At the French Open this year, Rafa Nadal finally lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round, after 31 consecutive wins on the red soil over the last four years. Rafa, a nemesis for Federer over the last few years, had been the winner for the last three years, giving life to speculations, that Federer would never win here, as long as Rafa rules. Well, with Rafa finally bowing down to Soderling, Federer had his task cut out & easy. He whipped up superb tennis in the finals & won the title in straight sets, demolishing Soderling, who could only watch in awe.

Federer could not contain his tears on holding the trophy, which he richly deserved, as his beautiful wife smiled from the VIP box. The couple are expecting their first child soon.

All this achieved at just 27 years of age, Fedex promises many more titles & records & captivating tennis ahead. May his rivalry with Rafa Nadal reach dizzying heights, which allows us tennis lovers to savour each of these contests.

Salute the King of Tennis........Roger Federer.

Racial attacks on Indian Students......a serious concern

Over the years, Australia has always been a safe haven for travel & migration, especially for the Indians. It has been a country with low crime rates, vibrant economy, great escape destinations & high standards of living. The Australian Govt has been encouraging students from the subcontinent & also work permits, which made the land down under a favourite destination for many Indians.
However, things seem to be taking an ugly turn & the recent racial attacks on students have left a huge Indian contingent completely miffed. The last few weeks have brought to light, multiple cases of attacks on unsuspecting Indians, who have become easy targets of probably the jobless aborigines. Infact, some Indians mention that such incidents have been on the rise since the last few years, & the Australian Govt has failed to control such attacks.
The Federation of Indian Students in Australia(FISA), who feel that the authorities are not taking this seriously, have already staged peace march in Melbourne, which had thousands joining them on the streets, demanding justice for the victims & action against the culprits.
Our PM, Dr Manmohan Singh has already approached his conterpart in Australia, Kevin Rudd, for quick action, demanding protection for the Indians in Australia & a high level enquiry. Trying to face this rather rude shock, the Aussie Premier has said in a press release that, a task force has been set up with high level officials to deal with the problem.

The worry, however, is the nature & the number of the attacks. Young miscreants seem to be bullying & mugging the Indians & getting hostile as well. Shravan Kumar, one of the victims, was attacked with screwdrivers & had to admitted to the hospital, where he had slipped into coma. While he has recovered & has been taken off life support, doctors are unsure whether Kumar would fully recover. Another student received serious burn injuries from a petrol bomb thrown at him, while he was studying at home in Sydney. There seem to be a rise in such brutal attacks & Indians are feeling very insecure in Australia.
There are more than 100,000 Indian students in Australia currently & possibly a double of that as Australian citizens, who are from Indian origin. The recent attacks pose a real threat to all of them, & the Govt of India needs to set up diplomatic pressures to ensure safety for these people. A mass exodus by the Indians could mean a serious blow to the earnings of the Aussie Govt as tution fees are a healthy source of income for the Australian Universities. This could also seriously dent the safe image of the country.

Kevin Rudd has a job at hand, where he needs to come up with quick solutions.

UPA.....all the best

Well the 2009 general elections has finally given the verdict of India. The common man has again decided to go with the Central Govt of UPA under the leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh. With opposition not being able to establish a possibility of holding the Centre for a full term, Congress lead UPA gained the confidence of the voters for a stable Govt.

The good thing that emerges out of the polls is that UPA has got a clear mandate & does not have to worry about post poll alliances, which would have been a stumbling block. Infact the allies are more than willing to listen to the Central leadership, which augurs well for the Congress. Now the Centre can focus on growth & ensure that promises are kept. Its time to perform now.

Dr Singh looks more resourceful & firm on his decisions this time & his Mr Clean image is working wonders for his party. The newly formed Govt has a wonderful mix of new & old veterans, which promises to deliver. People like Agatha Sangma, the youngest ever MP, at 28 years of age exudes refreshing warmth & confidence & looks like going the distance. Perhaps, out country needs such young turks to take on the challenges & usher our country into the growth track.

The BJP in the opposition have their task cut out. With the elections results out, they need to assess the reasons of the debacle & work at correcting them. They need to realise that the Country today is asking for very specific growth related agenda, & for this they need to evaluate, identify & them work at the grass root levels. They need to establish themselves as a strong National party. This demands that the party workers have a clear direction & work in the interiors towards visible development. They also need to support the Centre in all growth oriented activities, but maintain the pressure of performance.

Lets look forward & wish the new UPA Govt all the very best. Jai Ho......