Going by the great response that we saw last year, it has got to be obvious that it is just a matter of when the TAJA pool championship will be held again. Well, the time has come for the second coming of this very popular sporting extravaganza (if we may call it that)!

TAJA will be conducting the 2007 edition of the TAJA Pool championship on Sunday July 29th and Saturday August 4th. We are now accepting registrations for this event. Our sports coordinator Mahendra Govada will be the main point of contact for all details. Registrations, however, will have to be emailed to TAJA.

And now, onto the when, where and how of this championship.

• When? Saturday July 29th 10 am to 2 pm and Sunday August 4th 11 am to 2 pm
• Where? Seven Bridges Grille and Brewery at Tinseltown (close to the intersection of Gate Parkway and Southside)
• How? Open only to TAJA members aged 18 or more, the championships will be held in the singles as well as doubles categories. Draws will be drawn for doubles partners as well as league line up by the TAJA committee.
• Fee and Registrations: $5 per player per category (singles and doubles). Payment to be made by check in favor of TAJA. You can register by emailing us your name and categor(ies) interested in (singles/doubles/both). If you are a current member and any of your contact information (address, email and phone number) has changed in the last four months, please email the new information too. This will keep us from charging you for membership once again. For more details, please contact Mahendra at 904 610 4254.
• If you are not a TAJA member but you wish to participate, you may do so by taking up membership first. Follow the membership link at the top of this newsletter, download the membership form in Word, fill it up and email it to TAJA along with your registration details (as outlined in the previous bullet). You will need to add the membership fee of $10 per person to the registration fee and submit a check in the full amount to either Mahendra or a TAJA representative on game day.

We do hope that this edition of the Pool championship will be as entertaining as the previous edition and will promote bonhomie and the spirit of freindship amongst all participants. And yes, if you so desire, you can plan on doing lunch (on your own dime) while you are there. Check out the menu of Seven Bridges in case you would like to make such plans.

| TAJA Pool championship 2007 | 29 July & 4 August | Seven Bridges Grille and Brewery, Tinseltown |

Conceived and conducted by Bharath Muthyala, who is himself an M. Sc. in Astro Physics, this workshop opened to an overwhelming response from the community. During the workshop, participants built simple models to help observe the night sky. Some of the activities/observations carried out were:

• Celestial navigation: Identified the directions with the help of compass, sun set and also with the help of Pole Star during night
• Each student made an astrolabe to measure the altitude of the pole star
• Plotted the moon phases during a lunar cycle
• Made their galactic address (their address in the universe)
• Drew their own constellations

On June 16, 2007 the participants stayed over-night at the temple to watch the progressively changing night sky. They have also been able to watch some planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) with the naked eye, all during the course of this single night.

On June 22nd 2007, Night Sky Observations with parents was conducted in collaboration with North East Florida Astronomical Society (NEFAS www.nefas.org). Over 200 people turned up to watch the night sky.

• There were more than 10 members from NEFAS including their President Art Russell, past president Roger Curry, Ted Treiber and others.
• They brought around 10 telescopes for observing which includes a 18 inch Reflector telescope and a video camera attached to a telescope for scanning artificial satellites
• Watched Craters on Moon, Saturn rings, Jupiter’s moons, Venus phases, M13 star cluster, Ring nebula
• Children who had, during the workshop, learnt how to identify spacecrafts and objects like Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station (ISS) were excited when they saw the ISS passing by the North Star in the night sky. They have also had the opportunity to observe through video camera fitted to telescope (thanks to Roger).

During the final session on June 28, a valedictory function was organized at the Hindu Temple. HSNEF President Ravi Sanka, TAJA Secretary Aditya Varma, Workshop Director Bharath Muthyala and Temple Priest Pundit Srinathji spoke to participants and parents and thanked them for their interest and participation. Some of the participants spoke about their learning experience and thanked Workshop Director Bharath. Pundit Srinathji handed over certificates recognizing the participants and volunteers.

| Astronomy Wrokshop | June 2007 | Jacksonville Hindu Temple | Photo Gallery |

As many of you are aware, IndiaFest 2007 was conducted at the Temple premises on May 19. The Andhra Pradesh booth received the "Rolling Trophy" upon being named as the best represented booth for it's lively depiction of Telugu culture and heritage. Though the booth was setup under the TAJA moniker, it was the members of the community who made this possible through their active and selfless participation. Hence, this trophy, though given to TAJA, is a symbol of the dedication of all participants and volunteers who made this possible.

The morning started off with volunteers and committee members getting busy with the decorations. Sashi Varanasi, Vaishali and Pallavi Palwai were among those who contributed towards the decoration effort along with many others. The four pillars of the booth were made up of standing plam leaves (kobbari aakulu) interspersed with sugarcane sticks (cheruku gaddalu). Mamidi toranalu (strings of mango leaves tied together) were tied all around the tent's edges. Kobbari kayalu (coconuts) were also thrown in the mix to bring forth a booth that wore a green, natural look. Some more color was added to the overall look of the booth as some members applied rangula muggulu (Rangoli) on the path in front of the booth. Radhika Kandlakunta, Vasundhara Srikakulapu, Bhagya Sanka and others chipped in for the Rangoli. The booth also had information regarding the history of the state displayed prominently.

As if this was not enough, a festive spirit was fired up in the form of a Gangireddu (decorated by Shanta Rayaprolu), and a few Haridasulu (Sreeramana, Vytharana and Preetham). Needless to say, IndiaFest visitors were treated to a visual extravaganza. The eye-catching AP booth soon became a people magnet, as many who came for the visual experience were caught off guard with the volley of home made food that was served at the booth.

Dr. Uma Eyyunni fired up the stove to signal the cooking of Mirapakayi Bajji. Dozens of volunteers joined in the race of cooking hot bajji as they tried to keep up with the hot demand. Such that, the bajji soon became one of the most sought after items at IndiaFest! Other items that were served at AP booth were Pulihora, Curd Rice, Sweet Pongali, Pakoda, Laddoo, Boondhi, Water Melon, Lemon soda and Masala buttermilk. AP culture was brought to the fore in such a way that even the uninitiated might have had something to take away from the whole experience.

All this couldn't have been possible without the active participation and voluntary contribution of many members and we would like to thank each one of them even if we cannot name them all. We would like to thank the following donors whose food contributions had people clamoring for more: Kala Davuluri, Shanta Rayaprolu, Aruna Kakarla, Saritha Chekkilla, Padma Katepalle, Sailaja Yadlapalli, Sashi Arun, Jyostna Jerripothula, Saraswathi Venkatasubban, Shiva Vellanki and Padma Patcha. We would also like to thank all those on-site volunteers who helped getting the stall ready and decorated, helped in the Bajji preparation (Rani C, Srilatha P, Vasundhara K, Roja N, Kiran Vinjam, Sailaja Y, Padma Chakravarthy, Hema K, Jyostna J, Aruna K among others) and also in selling the food(Srinivas S, Sai V, Venkat P, Sunny K, Dayakar Reddy, Seshu, Srinivas N among others), all demanding jobs considering the situation.

We hope that all of you feel that your efforts have paid off as the recognition that the AP booth has earned during IndiaFest is only due to the efforts of each one of you, the members of this great community that hails from a state called Andhra Pradesh!

| India Fest 2007 | May 19 2007 | Jacksonville Hindu Temple | Photo Gallery |

Vizag airport's new runway is now operational. The new 10,000 foot runway is aligned east-west making it easier for flights to land / takeoff. It can also accomodate larger aircraft and is equipped with the ILS that will give the airport the capability to operate in the night as well as under low visibility conditions.

Due to Vizag's unique topography where a series of hills straddle the city and its beaches, and the fact that the present airport is bang in the middle of one such hill range, the winter fog (aided by industrial smog) doesn't lift until later in the day. This, coupled with the alignment of the old, smaller runway (which runs straight towards a hill) used to make landings very difficult even as late as 10 am. The new runway, however, is aligned more eastwards towards the coast, thus giving a clear line of sight for landing aircraft.

Air Deccan will be the first airline to take full advantage of this new runway, by putting its brand new Airbus A-320 into service on the Kolkata - Vizag - Hyderabad sector. Both Indian and Kingfisher have plans to put the bigger Airbus into service on the Mumbai - Vizag and Hyderabad - Vizag sectors. Other airlines (Spicejet, Go Air, Air Lanka, Silk Air and Malaysian) are waiting for the ILS to become operational so that they can start services to the city. Meanwhile, work is progressing on the new terminal building which is slated to open by early 2008.

On the other hand, three sites have been shortlisted (one to the north, one to the west and one to the south of the city) by an expert team for the proposed Vizag International Airport on the lines of the upcoming Hyderabad International Airport. Speculation is rife about the likelihood of the final selection of the site to the north (availability of land, proximity to NH5 and the coast are being cited as some reasons) of the city.

As many of you maybe aware, the government run airlines Air India and Indian are in the process of going through a merger. This merger is supposed to be completed in July 2007. The merged airline will be known as Air India. A similar, almost simultaneous merger will take place when Air India Express and Alliance Air merge to form Air India Express.

The new management claims that this merger would bring better connectivity between Indian cities currently serviced by Indian and international destinations served by Air India. For example if you were to fly to Bombay from JFK by Air India and then connecting to an Indian flight to Mangalore/Goa, your baggage would be checked all the way through to Mangalore/Goa where you would do your immigration check and customs clearance. The only difference is that all flights currently operating under Indian will now operate as Air India.

Considering that these new entities will stay under government control, we will have to wait and see if this new avatar of Air India will live upto expectations.

On what could be seen as an ominous date by many, (07/07/07), a Swiss non profit firm unvieled what they called the new seven wonders of the world (for architectural elegance/excellence). The event took place in the Portugese capital of Lisbon.

Votes for this poll were accepted from across the world both online as well as over phones and via SMS. The TAJ made it to the list bouyed by fervent voting by a large number of Indians in the weeks and days leading upto the deadline.

Though the announcement will bring some funds and recognition to the TAJ as well as the city of Agra, concerns are being raised about the legitamacy of holding a poll which may have been out of bounds for atleast sixty percent of possible voters.

Looks like this edition is turning out to be an Airline industry special! Well bear with me as I go over what may turn out to be the airline moment of the decade, atleast for Boeing.

For the first time in thirteen years, Boeing has unvieled a brand new entrant to its seven series of aircraft, the Dreamliner 787. Touted as the greenest aircraft in its stable to date, parts of the 787 are made up of high strength composite plastic thus making the 787 lighter than it would have otherwise been. The 787 is expected to be more fuel efficient (for the same class of aircraft) too. The 787 is expected to compete with the recently introduced Airbus A380.

Motorists driving their vehicles at high speeds in the State will now be under the scanner of Speed Laser Guns. The Regional Transport Authority has procured 38 Speed Laser Guns to record photos and data of the vehicles that violate the stipulated speed limits and to penalize them. The German made laser gun is a speed enforcement system emitting laser beams to measure the speed of a vehicle, take picture and give an on the spot printout describing the details of the offence in just 0.3 seconds. Each gun costs Rs. 10 lakhs.

Information pertaining to the place where speeding is recorded, speed of the vehicle and distance from where the picture was taken will be available in the printout. The gun emits laser beams up to a distance of 1.5 km and can measure a maximum speed of 500kmph. During nighs, it takes pictures with the help of 'Red Plus' infrared rays without causing inconvenience to the drivers.

All this is fine and dandy, but maybe they should think of ticketing high-beam drivers first! Nothing is as inconvenient to drivers as a high beam staring right into their eyes from the other direction (atleast a laser beam would not be as inconvenient).

Frontier Airlines starts direct, non-stop service between Jacksonville and Denver.

Discount airliner skybus is starting non-stop flights between Columbus OH and St. Augustine FL. One way tickets can be bought for as low as $30!

Air India plans to start daily Mumbai (Bombay) - JFK non-stop service from August 1. It will use the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft on this sector.

Singapore's Tiger Airways to start services to Chennai (Madras) and Cochin later this year. Tickets to be priced at Rupees 1600 on the Singapore-Chennai sector (one-way).

Hyderabad International Airport to be operational by April 2008.

The fourth Military World games will be held in Hyderabad in October 2007.

Foundation stone for Telangana University laid in Nizamabad.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam to launch Sri Venkateshwara TV channel.

AP government plans to build a coastal corridor/expressway (on the lines of the exisitng Vizag-Bhimili beach road) along the entire coast of the state.

Airports Authority of India to build seven non-metro airports in Andhra Pradesh at Ramagundam, Kothagudem, Nellore, Ongole, Tadepalligudem, Nizamabad and Kurnool.

India's Jet Airways to start air service between Mumbai and Newark (via Brusssels) starting from August 5. Jet will be using its newly acquired Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on this sector.