RIP Michael Jackson still with us

It is hard to believe but it's a true fact that Michael Jackson has died at just the age of 50. Though, he is not anymore with us but still he will be remembered for his great work and performance. I believe that he was the most entertainer person in the world and no can ever take his place.

Michael Joseph Jackson was suffering a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his home & paramedics were unable to revive Michael Jackson. It is being said that when paramedics arrived Jackson pulse had stopped responding and after that they never got a pulse back.

MJ says bye bye

Michael Joseph Jackson (1958 - 2009)

Michael Joseph Jackson

Michael Jackson renowned You tube video

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Cyclone Aila hit Kolkata India

Till now, 11 persons were killed in the Cyclone called Aila. The cyclone hit the coastal areas of West Bengal including the international city Kolkata (Calcutta). Already, some iof the Kolkata schools have declared holiday. The cyclone has hit the North 24 Paraganas (Barrackpore-Kankinara area), South 24 Paraganas, Hooghly, Midapore and the Kolkata city. It is reported that South 24 Paragnas was most affected and it is also the place where 6 people have died. Hundred of trees in the street of Kolkata uprooted and those have blocked the important roads, tram lines, railway lines. It has also affected Calcutta Domestic and International Airport (known as Dum Dum Airtport / Netaji Subhash Chandrea Bose International Airport). Waters entered into the Metro rail too and Metro Rail line also stopped. In many private organizations, they have declared holiday in the lunch time and the IT hub of Kolkata city (Salt Lake) also declared holiday.





Aila was formed in the Bay of Bengal and it reached to the Kolkata city by the speed of more than 80 kmph. Thousand of people have already left coastal areas like Digha, Sagar Islands and Sunderban. Army have been called by the West Bengal chief Minister after the urgent meeting to rescue.

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Memorial Day May 25 2009

Memorial Day celebrated as federal holiday in United States of America (USA). When is Memorial Day in 2009? And the answer is that it is May 25th 2009. It is generally observer on the last day of the May month every year and this year last Monday is on 25th May. Earlier, Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day (still some people call this important Day as Decoration Day). In this particular Day (Memorial Day), citizen of United States commemorates to those U.S. men and women who died while in the military service like in World War I.

Here are the Memorial Day Dates till 2015 year:
2008 - May 26th
2009 - May 25th
2010 - May 31st
2011 - May 30th
2012 - May 28th
2013 - May 27th
2014 - May 26th
2015 - May 25th


History of Memorial Day

After the end of the World War (Civil War), so many communities came together and set aside a special day to mark the end of the killing war. Or it is a day to tribute to those who had died in the war. According to the official reports, the birthplace of Memorial Day is a place called Waterloo situated in New York. Late General John Logan officially announced the Memorial Day on 5th of May 1868., national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, Nowadays, most of the Americans citizen have forgotten the actual meaning, value and traditions of Memorial Day. We can easily find that at many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are being ignored and neglected in large numbers. The problem is that most US people (specially younger generation people) seems to be no longer remember the actual flag etiquette. But still there are many towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades.

Traditional observance

Many US citizen (most of them are senior and middle aged) observe this day by visiting their nearby memorials & cemeteries. Another important tradition is to fly the flag of the United States of America at Government offices and headquarters from dawn until noon local time. They also put the flag in the cemeteries. Some of the Americans also use Memorial Day to honor other own family members or their closed one who have died. Memorial Day is day of holiday in all parts of the country so it is also used as a time for picnics, family parties, family gatherings, and other sporting events.

Here is the list of public holidays for the employees of US people. When the holiday falls in weekend like on Saturday or Sunday then they celebrated it on Monday.

Thursday, January 1 ==> New Year’s Day
Monday, January 19 ==> Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, February 16* ==> Washington’s Birthday
Monday, May 25 ==> Memorial Day
Friday, July 3** ==> Independence Day
Monday, September 7 ==> Labor Day
Monday, October 12 ==> Columbus Day
Wednesday, November 11 ==> Veterans Day
Thursday, November 26 ==> Thanksgiving Day
Friday, December 25 ==> Christmas Day

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IPL 2009 news from South Africa

More than half of the Indian Premier League has been played and still it is not clear that which four team will enter in the semis of IPL 2009. All the matches are really exciting to watch. Two most costly palyers in the Indian Premier League 2009 Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Piterson (playing for Royal Bangalore Challenge RCB) has not played as per the expectation. In the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team is almost out of the tournament after six consecutive loses. The main problem with Kolkata Knight Rider is that they don't have good finisher. They need someone who can hold his breathe till the end of the game. It is reported in some of the Cricket Articles that Kolkata Knight Riders captain Mc Cullum (New Zealand wicket keeper) will resign as captain after the poor performance of Kolkata Knight Riders. England and West Indies players in the IPL 2009 are returning back to their country for playing for their country.

In the other Cricket News, Australia beaten Pakistan by 3-2 and won the series in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan won the first match of the series but they couldn't continue it for long. In the ICC Cricket Ranking, top three countries are South Africa, India and Australia in the 3rd position. Back to Indian Premiere League 2009, every team is putting their best effort to enter in the semis. I am also very excited about it who will win the IPL 2009 series and I am also playing online Fantasy Cricket. It's really a fun to play.

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2009 Election in India

The largest democratic election in the world is India. India is presently holding 15th general elections after Independence (15th Lok Sabha election). This 15th general elections (Lok Sabha) will be completing in five phases and already 3 phases have election has been done on April 16th, April 22nd and April 30th. The two more phases are remaining on May 7th and May 13th, 2009. The final results of the Indian general elections will be announced after 2 days on May 16, 2009. The counting of votes will be started from the morning and it result will be announced by afternoon. This year it is also expecting that no single part will get the magic figure to set up their own government. They need to take support from other small parties to set up government. The contest is going among the three parties i.e. Congress, BJP (Bhartiya Janata party) and CPIM (Communist Party of India Marxist).

Electronic voting machines
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From 2004 election, the election in India is being conducted using Electronic Voting Machines (known as EVM).It's hard to believe but there are 1,368,430 voting machines are available across the country.

Polling schedule in Indian Election 2009:
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April 16th 2009 – Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep

April 22nd 2009 – Manipur

April 23rd 2009 – Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Orissa, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand

April 30th 2009 – Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu

May 07th 2009 – West Bengal, Delhi, Bihar, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh

May 13th 2009 – Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal (including maor seat of Kolkata and Barrackpore) ,Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Puducherry

General Election (Lok Sabha Chunav) held once in a five year as per Indian Constitution. The previous general election in India (Lok Sabha Chunav) was held in June 2004. The whole process of the general election (Lok Sabha chunav) is conducted by the members Election Commission of India. In this year, it is shown in the Indian budget that nearly Rs.1,100 (Indian Rupee) crores was budgeted for whole election expenses in all parts of the India.

Polling stations
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There are more than 820,000 polling stations in the largest democratic country. The polling station has been increased by 20% over compared to 2004 election.

Barrackpore Election (Barrackpore Lok Sabha Chunav)
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Barrackpore Lok Sabha chunav election will be on 13th May 2009. The contest is going on between CPM party candidate Mr. Tarit Baran Topdar and Trinamool Congress leader Mr. Trivedi. CPM is winning in Barrackpore belt for more than 25 years though Barrackpore belt is not getting any development. Barrackpore election belt also concludes major places like Shyamnagar, Kankinara, Bhatpara, Naihati and Kachrapara. The only support Trinamool Congress will be getting from places like Barrackpore and Kankinara. All the Jule mill are closing but yet people are still votiong CPIM. It seems that they have decided that they will also vote for CPIM till death whether they get any development or not. The time has come to rise for the Barrackpore people and do some change. Because until or unless, the changes will not be done.. the won't get any development in their local area.

Logo of major Indian political parties:

Samajwadi Party Logo

CPIM Logo

Congress I Logo

BJP logo

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Ram Navami Puja 2009

Ram Navami (some also call it as Ramnavmi) is celebrated by the Hindus as the birthday of Lord Rama in all parts of the India. According to Hindu calendar, Ramnavami falls on the ninth day of "Shukla Paksha" in the month March – April (Chaitra mahina by Hindi). In North India, Ram Navami is a nine-day festival and is the final day of Chaitra or Vasant Navaratri. The period is also treated as Ramayana week in many parts of India.


When is Ram Navami (Ramnavmi) Puja in 2009?
Ram Navami is on 3rd of April, 2009.

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Saint Patrick's Day 2009

St. Patrick's Day is also known as St. Paddy's Day or some also call it as Paddy's Day. It is mostly celebrated by Irish people in Ireland in the memory of a patron saints whose name was Saint Patrick and St. Patrick's Day. If you want to know when is St. Patrick's Day generally celebrated then the answer is 17th March of every year.

Happy St. Valentine's Day

St. Patrick's Day (17th March) is the national holiday at all parts of the Ireland. On March 17th, Northern Ireland enjoys Bank holiday and Republic of Ireland and Montserrat celebrates the public holiday. Not only in Ireland but now also St. Patrick's Day is also getting popularity in Great Britain (all over England), Australia, Canada, USA (United States of America) and New Zealand though in these countries it is not an official holiday by their Government but yet they celebrate it with their friends and loved ones.

Roman Catholic Church in Ireland

St. Patrick's Day Postcard

You can also wish your friends, family members or your closed ones through Online Greetings Cards. Here is a St. Patrick's ecard (Online Greetings Cards) for all of you. Hope you liked this e card.

Send this eCard through Varun Blog!

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Maha Shivratri 2009

When is Shivratri?
This year Maha Shivratri will be on 23rd February (Monday) 2009.

Shivratri is one of the most religious festival of Hindus. Shivratri is basically known as Maha Shivaratri, which generally comes on the 14th day of the dark fortnight of Phalguna (lies betwwen Februat and March accoring to universal calendar). maha Shivratri is fully dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is believed to be one of the principal Hindu deities.

Shivratri is celebrated and observed only one day and one night only. Maha Shivratri is observed all parts of the world by all religious Hindus. Hindus observe Shivratri with fasting, bhajans, flowers, offering of prayers, sweets, fruits and food. All these collected together and managed in honor of the Lord Shiva and his divine consort, Goddess Paravati. Jai Shiv Shambhu!

How to perform Shivratri Puja?
Hindus Devotees specially girls and women observe fast whole day of Shivaratri in honor of Lord Shiva and then they visit their nearby Shiva temples to perform Puja. Some of the devotees even do not consume even a drop of water.
First of all, Hindu devotees wake up early in the morning and take a ritual bath in the river (Ganga) to perform the worship of Lord Shiva on the day of Shivratri. Devotees also worship to Sun God (Surya), Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Then, they wear clean ane new clothes and pay a visit to the nearby Shiv temple.
To know more contact: vgvarunwins@gmail.com

Some of the good pictures / photos/ images of Lord Shiva (Shivratri)

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