From Disco to Ooh la la Bappi Da scattered gold

Bappi Lahiri, popular playback singer from Bollywood, has left us all. Bappi Da, who made Disco music popular among the Indian masses in the 80’s and 90’s, used to display his love for gold chains and lockets. He was never seen without gold ornaments in any public appearance. His music was also as pure as gold. After Lata Di left us earlier this month, the demise of Bappi Da is another big jolt to the music lovers. My humble tributes to Bappi Da, who gave us a sweet melody like Ooh La La. The mortal remains of Dada will be merged into the five elements. What is the importance of Panchtatva (five elements) in our lives, 5G technology has the same value for the telecom sector. Recently, there was a big confusion in the US even before 5G was officially launched, when the movement of foreign aircraft suddenly came to a halt at many international airports. Air India had also suspended its flights to and from the US saying that 5G technology could cause serious problems in the functioning of aircraft. India is also planning to adopt the 5G technology and there were doubts about the technology. Question was raised that will this technology cause problems in aviation in India too?
 
In this regard, telecom regulator TRAI put to rest the apprehensions by saying that due to 5G mobile services, aircraft flying over India will not face any safety issue. TRAI said that the distance between the aircraft and the spectrum earmarked for 5G in the US is small, while in India this distance is very high. However, to completely remove this apprehension, TRAI will conduct a thorough investigation at its level. It said the 5G band in India is similar to the spectrum allocated in the markets of Europe, South Korea and Japan. In these markets, 5G has not caused any problems and there has not been a single problem related to aircraft. It will take some time for 5G to arrive in India. In view of the problems with the aircraft, the US had to suspend its plan to launch a 5G network. In the US, the 5G network and the frequency of some large aircraft landing equipment were almost at the same level, threatening the safety of the aircraft.
 
American telcos had paid $81 billion to get the C-band, which is now in jeopardy. The C-band service offers faster speeds and wider coverage and was scheduled to be operational in mid-January. This would have caused the most problems for the Boeing 777 class of long-range and wide-bodied aircraft. Boeing had issued an advisory in this regard and warned of the danger. Meanwhile, another news related to number 5, which is taking rounds, is that salwar suits and kurtis are more in demand than sarees in India. Similarly, western wear is more in demand among women. Between 2015 and 2020, the market for readymade garments grew by 63% to about Rs 5 lakh crore. For the next 5 years, it is estimated that the readymade garment market will grow by 60% to about Rs 8 lakh crore. The biggest growth has been in the women's wear segment. In that too, there is more demand for western style clothes than traditional clothes.

(Author is a senior journalist and columnist)