Edition 7: Orange Flavor

Dear Readers
Wish all of you had a wonderful new years eve. All of us must have made new resolutions. It is important though to live by them. But there are few who manage to do that. That's what makes them different. Winners don't do different things but they do same things differently.
That's what we tried to do at Cityblog. It has been wonderful interacting with you since our launch on children's day. We have got very encouraging responses from readers highlighting us as a complete family paper. We have tried to make it as informative as we can. We also plan to be more entertaining in the coming year. We have got very good response from schools, parents, teachers about value addition we do to the readers.
2009 started on a somber note of recession. Jobs were lost and business also suffered. India comparatively was shielded. But still major industries faced problem. Things are looking better now. But it is not over yet. There is a hope and promise for 2010. 2009 gave us stable government at center which was a comforting factor amidst threat of coalition instability. That also helped mitigate the business outlook. Innovations were the order of the day and yes there were good innovations. Satyam fiasco ended with some pragmatic decision making. Law and order situation in Pune deteriorated. Pune is no more a safe city. There was no improvement in traffic, roads and public transport. Swine Flu created havoc and panic around July Aug and still it remains a challenge with winter setting in. we could have done much better as citizens (by not flocking during Ganesh Festival and following simple precautions) & administration
( by taking firm steps early and then having single face of control). Erratic monsoon also was a threat with water cuts. But have we learnt lessons from that. Should we predict same steps in 2010 june-july? There were encouraging initiatives like Societies for clean cities, sajag manch, RTI and consumer forums to hold the system accountable. But there is no clear solution for fighting corruption and sycophancy. Pune pattern ended predictably prior to elections amidst consensus and convenience. Elections also had no surprises. Government has confusing priorities and opposition is weakened. It is now the time for citizens to be proactive. Let's resolve that for 2010.
On social front, we have seen no change. In fact ostentatious marriages, unruly party scenes, suicides, crime, dysfunctional family system have ruled the headlines. To highlight some positives; clean and green is now fashionable. Marathi Drama has some takers for non comedy content. Marathi movies continued the creative trend. Hindi movies had a bad year but some good performances were seen. Non cricket sports suffer owing to politics and corruption. Are we really ready for Commonwealth in 2010?
2010 also has world cup soccer the biggest human gathering far much followed than elitist Olympics. This will be first time in Africa. We have ICCT20 cricket world cup. IPL will be back in India. We also have Kasab trial to be completed. War against Terror is to be won. Naxalism still control sizable area in India. Nuclear deal has to go through.
We need better use of RTI to reduce corruption. Many Challenges.
Cityblog aims to be a pique of things in 2010, bringing our readers few insights, information & entertainment. We need a lot of participation from you. We have always maintained positive outlook. When every one was reading fall of Tiger woods from grace, we focused on a detailed two series article highlighting his achievements which still exist. That's the way we should look at things. We never published any masala news or items. We had experts guiding for JEE or on other matter.
Cityblog achieved its start and we are now gaining acceptability as we reach 10000 mark of circulation.
Good bye, Have a great new year 2010…