Pronunciation advice - Balwant Singh Rajoana

The death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana is in the news. His name is pronounced as

bull (rhymes with cull)-one-th (together they sound like tenth) sing - rah-Joe-ah-nuh
बलवंत सिंग राजोआणा 

Pronunciation advice - Chile, Sebastian Pinera

There has been an earthquake in Chile. This is one country which is mispronounced quite commonly. Although the 'chilly' is an accepted anglicisation, the correct Spanish name is not that difficult, especially for Indians, and hence the correct name should be used.

chee-lay चीले

The capital is Santiago and the correct pronunciation is

sun-ti (soft t)-yeah-go संतियागो

The Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter is the acting president

rod-ree-ho xin's (x like the final sound in Loch or Munich)-pay-tur (soft t) रोदरीग़ो ख़िंसपेतर

The president is Sebastian Pinera and he is pronounced as

say-ba's-ti (soft t)-yahn pin-yay-rah सेबास्तियान पिन्येरा 

Commonly mispronounced words 30 - Happy New Year Ugadi CheTii chanD etc

Happy new year to everyone. Most of these names are mispronounced by the broad media.

ugadi (Andhra) is pronounced as oo-gah-thee उगादि
ugadi (Karnataka) is pronounced as you-gah-thee युगादि
cheTii chanD (Sindh) is pronounced as chay-tea chund (rhymes with fund) चेटी चंड
gudi padwa (Maharashtra) is pronounced as good-he pah-duh-vah गुढी पाडवा
sajibu cheiraoba (Manipur) is pronounced as sudge (rhymes with fudge)-E-boo che-row-bah सजिबु चेराओबा
navreh (Kashmir) is pronounced as now-ray नवरेह

Pronunciation advice - Bypolls results

Results of the bypolls to 2 Lok Sabha seats and 9 Assembly seats are out. 


Lok Sabha Seats


Udupi - Chikmagalur seat won by K Jayaprakash Hegde
उडुपि चिक्कअमग़ळूरु के जयप्रकाश हेगडे
Pirivom seat won by Anoop Jacob
पिरअवम अनूप जेकब 


Assembly seats


Mansa माणसा seat  बाबूजी ठाकुर Babuji Thakur 
Kamareddy कामअरेड्डी  G Goverdhan गम्पअ गोवर्धन 
Station Ghanapur स्टेशन घनापुर  (SC) Dr Thatikonda Rajaya ताटिकोंड राजय्या 
Adilabad आदिलाबाद  J Ramna 
Kollapur कोल्लापुर  J Krishna Rao जे कृष्णअ राओ 
Mahabubnagar महबूब नगर Yannam Srinivas Reddy  यन्नम स्रीनिवासअ रेड्डी
Kovur  कोवूरseat N Prasanna Kumar Reddy एन प्रसन्नअ कुमार रेड्डी 
Nagarkurnool seat Nagam Janardan Reddy नागरअ कर्नूल नागम्  जनार्दनअ रेड्डी 
Sankarankoil शंकरनकोइल won by S Muthuselvi एस मुत्तुसेल्वी 
Ranendra Pratap Swain from Athagarh seat  आठअगढअ रॉणेन्द्र प्रताप स्वाईं 

Pronunciation advice - Okram Ibobi Singh, Manohar Parrikar

Of the five states, two have finalised their chief ministers. Both their names are being mispronounced.

Okram Ibobi Singh is oh-crum (rhymes with rum) e-bow-bee sing ओक्रम इबोबी सिंग

Manohar Parrikar is mun (like bun) -oh-her purr(r needs to be trilled)-e-car मनोहर पर्रीकार 

Pronunciation advice - 59th National Film Award winners

The 59th National Film Awards have been announced. Here is a pronunciation guide for the winners' names

Best Feature Filmshared) - Deool (Marathi) pronounced as they-wool. In Hindi that would be देउळ
Byari (Byari) pronounced as B R E (be aar ee). In Hindi that would be ब्यारी

Indira Gandhi award for best debut film of a director to Kumararaja Thiagarajan for Aaranya Kaandam
coup-mah-ruh-rah-juh the-ah-guh-rah-jun (like bun) and R N yuh condom (pronounced the American way). In Hindi that would be कुमारअ राजअ तियागराजन and आरण्य कांडम

Award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment to Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai.
higher-guh-sah-me-in coup-the-rye. In Hindi that would be अय़गर्सामीयिन कुदिरइ

Best Children Film Chillar Party - chiller party चिल्लर पार्टी

Best direction Anhe Ghorey da daan goes to Gurvinder Singh

un-neigh go-day the darn (soft d in darn) अन्ने कोडे दा दान (The 'k' is between 'k' and 'g')

gour (as in gourmet) win - the sing गुरविन्दर सिंग

Best Actor to Girish Kulkarni

gearish cool-cunny गिरीश कुलअकर्णी

Best Actress to Vidya Balan

with-ya bah-lun (like bun) विद्या बालन

Best Male Singer Anand Bhate ah-nun-the bah-tay (soft t) आनन्द भाते

Best Female Singer Roopa Ganguly रूपा गांगुली