Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers

This stadium was built in 1952 and has hosted many major football and rugby union matches. Bloemfontein natives are one of the most passionate fans of football and rugby. Earlier rugby used to be more popular but recently football seems to have overshadowed rugby. The stadium was refurbished for the FIFA World Cup 2010. During refurbishment the capacity was upgraded from 38,000 to 41,000 spectators. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com ]

The newly built Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban is the most spectacular of all 10 stadiums. It is characterized by two archways that span a whopping 350 meters and rise a staggering 106 meters above the pitch. The 63,000 seater is a multi-purpose venue and an amphitheatre complete with a cable car which ascends to a viewing platform at the top of the arch affording visitors spectacular panoramic views. The roof is attached to the arch by 95mm-diameter steel cables. The stadium design is inspired by the South African flag. The soaring archway symbolizes the unity of the nation in that it has two legs on the southern side of the stadium which merge together to form a single foundation on the northern side representing the unification of a once divided population. Photo credit (both photos): Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup

This stadium has a unique roof structure. Set in a picturesque surrounding overlooking the North-end Lake, it has 42,500 spectator capacity and will host the match for the third place, one quarter final match and six other matches. Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup

Green Point Stadium is located in Cape Town. Of the ten World Cup stadiums in South Africa this is at the southernmost location. It is one of the two venues for the semi-finals. The image shows the picturesque location. It has 64,000 spectator capacity and has noise reducing exterior cladding -- this is because the stadium will be used also to stage major events like concerts. Cape Town has another world class stadium, Newlands, which is used primarily as a rugby venue. Acknowledgement: Pictures sourced from the official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/destination/stadiums/index.html

Delhi's new airport terminal T3 is all about space and size. Almost one kilometer in length, when inaugurated on 3rd July the terminal will become the third largest in the world. [First image: AP]. The new terminal has as many as 92 traveloters or automatic walkways. It has a whopping 78 aerobridges, the highest number in the world at any given airport terminal building - these aerobridges are designed to support Airbus A-380 and have the capacity to handle 600 passengers per hour. [Second image: Amith Rahul]. The terminal will cater to both domestic (excluding the budget airlines) and international passengers. It has the capacity to handle 34 million passengers per annum. See photo gallery at MSN News: http://news.in.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=4060989

Kolkata TRAI Chariman, Dr. J S Sarma, IAS addressed an interactive session at the Bharat Chamber of Commerce on 8th June 2010. Among others, he said that Indian mobile telephony customer base which is currently 600 million will go up to 1 billion in 2014. His main presentation is reported in today's media and is not reiterated here. At the end of his presentation, during an interactive session, along with others, I too had the opportunity of raising a few issues. My questions and Dr. Sarma's responses are given below because these are all matters of great public interest. Q-1: What is the future of the conditional access system (CAS)? Trai Chairman's response: The conditional access system will be phased out in about 5 years by which time CAS will be replaced by a new digital transmission technology. Q-2: Aside from hurting the cityscape, are roof-top transmission towers also health hazards for the neighborhood? Trai Chairman's response: In the normal course of their fu