1) Are Gujarat and Maharashtra rival companies cause of which they can’t invite Brand Ambassadors of each other? Where is national integrity then? Why is it that two states ruled by opposite parties are considered to be opposition or rival states? Is the ruling party only identity of the state?

2) In many countries, especially European countries, Amitabh Bacchan is seen as face of India. Unofficially he is one of the Brand Ambassadors of India. Or for that matter, every Indian is a brand ambassador for India cause every Indian represents India. So can Congress decline this fact?

3) Mr Bacchan was earlier Brand Ambassador of UP. Later he became Brand Ambassador of Gujarat and there are news that he will soon accept to be the Brand Ambassador of Kerala. So where does Mr Bacchan exactly belong? Or is it just the money where he belongs? Pay me and I can be brand Ambassador for your state.. Wondering if he would have accepted offer to be brand Ambassador of Taliban ruled Afghanistan..

4) Mr Bacchan has lived in Mumbai for 41 years, can speak Marathi and is an international icon. So what prevents him from being part of a ceremony taking place in Mumbai?

5) Isn’t congress indirectly agreeing to “Gujarat = Narendra Modi” and also accepting that their presence is wiped out in Gujarat by Mr Modi when it says Amitabh is Brand Ambassador for Mr Modi and not Gujarat Sate?

6) Talking of Brand Ambassadors, Why does Gujarat have a brand ambassador who does not live in Gujrat and is not even a Gujrati? Isn’t a brand ambassador supposed to represent Gujarat in some way? Gujarat can have a better Brand Ambassador in the face of Ambanis.. What does Amitabh do anyways being a Brand Ambassador other than reading out lines scripted by the rulers? Remember the “UP me dum hai kyunki jurm yaha kam hai” campaign?

7) Is the fuss about Amitabh being Brand Ambassador of Gujarat or is it about the differences between Gandhi family and Bacchan family? Mr Bacchan was a close friend of Rajiv Gandhi and was also Member of Parliament once upon a time. Later he parted away from the friendship and got attached to Amar Singh. Is this the reason Congress has issues with Amitabh?

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We Indians are the products of one of the oldest civilisations. We need to be really proud of our ancient history and cultural heritage. However, during the British Rule, we developed an inferiority complex, which adversely affected our quest to unearth facts relating to our glorious past. But our young and educated men and women, born and brought up in independent India, are capable of unearthing the true facts and are confident enough to evaluate these objectively.

Shri Ram being most basic to Indian “ethos”, it is necessary to know who is Shri Ram? Was he really born? If yes, when and where? As is believed by crores of people did he really put his feet on the Indian territory from North to South, reducing the sufferings of mankind and ensuring victory of good over evil? Let us take a look at historical facts:

The story of Shri Ram’s life was first narrated by Maharishi Valmiki in the Ramayana, which was written after Shri Ram was crowned as the king of Ayodhya. Maharishi Valmiki was a great astronomer as he has made sequential astronomical references on important dates related to the life of Shri Ram indicating the location of planets vis-a-vis zodiac constellations and the other stars (nakshatras) . Needless to add that similar position of planets and nakshatras is not repeated in thousands of years. By entering the precise details of the planetary configuration of the important events in the life of Shri Ram as given in the Valmiki Ramayan in the software named “Planetarium” corresponding exact dates of these events according to the English calendar can be known.

Mr Pushkar Bhatnagar of the Indian Revenue Service had acquired this software from the US. It is used to predict the solar/lunar eclipses and distance and location of other planets from earth. He entered the relevant details about the planetary positions narrated by Maharishi Valmiki and obtained very interesting and convincing results, which almost determine the important dates starting from the birth of Shri Ram to the date of his coming back to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.

Maharishi Valmiki has recorded in Bal Kaand sarga 19 and shloka eight and nine (1/18/8,9) that Shri Ram was born on ninth tithi of Chaitra month when the position of different planets vis-a-vis zodiac constellations and nakshatras (visible stars) were: i) Sun in Aries; ii) Saturn in Libra; iii) Jupiter in Cancer; iv) Venus in Pisces; v) Mars in Capricorn; vi) Lunar month of Chaitra; vii) Ninth day after no moon; viii) Lagna as Cancer (cancer was rising in the east); ix) Moon on the Punarvasu (Gemini constellation & Pllux star); x) Day time (around noon).

This data was fed into the software. The results indicated that this was exactly the location of planets/stars in the noon of January 10, 5114 BC. Thus Shri Ram was born on January 10, 5114 BC (7121 years back). As per the Indian calendar it was the ninth day of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month and the time was around 12 to 1 noontime. This is exactly the time and date when Ram Navmi is celebrated all over India.

Shri Ram was born in Ayodhya. This fact can be ascertained from several books written by Indian and foreign authors before and after the birth of Christ – Valmiki Ramayan, Tulsi Ramayan, Kalidasa’s Raghuvansam, Baudh and Jain literature, etc. These books have narrated in great detail the location, rich architecture and beauty of Ayodhya which had many palaces and temples built all over the kingdom. Ayodhya was located on the banks of the Saryu river with Ganga and Panchal Pradesh on one side and Mithila on the other side. Normally 7,000 years is a very long period during which earthquakes, storms, floods and foreign invasions change the course of rivers, destroy the towns/buildings and alter the territories. Therefore, the task of unearthing the facts is monumental. The present Ayodhya has shrunk in size and the rivers have changed their course about 40 km north/south.

Shri Ram went out of Ayodhya in his childhood (13th year as per Valmiki Ramayan) with Rishi Vishwamitra who lived in Tapovan (Sidhhashram) . From there he went to Mithila, King Janaka’s kingdom. Here he married Sita after breaking Shiv Dhanusha. Researchers have gone along the route adopted by Shri Ram as narrated in the Valmiki Ramayan and found 23 places which have memorials that commemorate the events related to the life of Shri Ram. These include Shringi Ashram, Ramghat, Tadka Van, Sidhhashram, Gautamashram, Janakpur (now in Nepal), Sita Kund, etc. Memorials are built for great men and not for fictitious characters.

Date of exile of Shri Ram: It is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayan’s Ayodhya Kand (2/4/18) that Dashratha wanted to make Shri Ram the king because Sun, Mars and Rahu had surrounded his nakshatra and normally under such planetary configuration the king dies or becomes a victim of conspiracies. Dashratha’s zodiac sign was Pisces and his nakshatra was Rewati. This planetary configuration was prevailing on the January 5, 5089 BC, and it was on this day that Shri Ram left Ayodhya for 14 years of exile. Thus, he was 25 years old at that time (5114-5089). There are several shlokas in Valmiki Ramayan which indicate that Shri Ram was 25-years-old when he left Ayodhya for exile.

Valmiki Ramayan refers to the solar eclipse at the time of war with Khardushan in later half of 13th year of Shri Ram’s exile. It is also mentioned it was amavasya day and Mars was in the middle. When this data was entered, the software indicated that there was a solar eclipse on October 7, 5077 BC, (amavasya day) which could be seen from Panchvati. The planetary configuration was also the same – Mars was in the middle, on one side were Venus and Mercury and on the other side were Sun and Saturn. On the basis of planetary configurations described in various other chapters, the date on which Ravana was killed works out to be December 4, 5076 BC, and Shri Ram completed 14 years of exile on January 2, 5075 BC, and that day was also Navami of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Thus Shri Ram had come back to Ayodhya at the age of 39 (5114-5075).

A colleague, Dr Ram Avtar, researched on places visited by Shri Ram during his exile, and sequentially moved to the places stated as visited by Shri Ram in the Valmiki Ramayan, starting from Ayodhya he went right upto Rameshwaram. He found 195 places which still have the memorials connected to the events narrated in the Ramayana relating to the life of Shri Ram and Sita. These include Tamsa Tal (Mandah), Shringverpur (Singraur), Bhardwaj Ashram (situated near Allahabad), Atri Ashram, Markandaya Ashram (Markundi), Chitrakoot, Pamakuti (on banks of Godavari), Panchvati, Sita Sarovar, Ram Kund in Triambakeshwar near Nasik, Shabari Ashram, Kishkindha (village Annagorai), Dhanushkoti and Rameshwar temple.

In Valmiki Ramayan it is mentioned that Shri Ram’s army constructed a bridge over the sea between Rameshwaram and Lanka. After crossing this bridge, Shri Ram’s army had defeated Ravana. Recently, NASA put pictures on the Internet of a man-made bridge, the ruins of which are lying submerged in Palk Strait between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka. Recently the Sri Lankan Government had expressed the desire to develop Sita Vatika as a tourist spot. Sri Lankans believe this was Ashok Vatika where Ravana had kept Sita as a prisoner (in 5076 BC).

Indian history has recorded that Shri Ram belonged to the Suryavansh and he was the 64th ruler of this dynasty. The names and other relevant particulars of previous 63 kings are listed in Ayodhya Ka Itihas written about 80 years ago by Rai Bahadur Sita Ram. Professor Subhash Kak of Lousiana University, in his book, The Astronomical Code of the Rig Veda, has also listed 63 ancestors of Shri Ram who ruled over Ayodhya. Sri Ram’s ancestors have been traced out as: Shri Ram, King Dashratha, King Aja, King Raghu, King Dilip and so on. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Bengal to Gujarat, everywhere people believe in the reality of Shri Ram’s existence, particularly in the tribal areas of Himachal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and the North-East. Most of the festivals celebrated in these areas revolve around the events in the life of Shri Ram and Shri Krishna.

The events and places related to the life of Shri Ram and Sita are true cultural and social heritage of every Indian irrespective of caste and creed. Therefore, it is common heritage. After all, Shri Ram belonged to the period when Prophet Mohammed or Jesus Christ were not born and Muslim or Christian faiths were unknown to the world. The words Hindu (resident of Hindustan) and Indian (resident of India) were synonymous. India was also known as Bharat (land of knowledge) and Aryavarta (where Aryans live) and Hindustan (land of “Hindus” – derived from word Indus).

During Ram Rajya, the evils of caste system based on birth were non-existent. In fact, Maharishi Valmiki is stated to be of shudra class (scheduled caste), still Sita lived with him as his adopted daughter after she was banished from Ayodhya. Luv and Kush grew in his ashram as his disciples. We need to be proud of the fact that Valmiki was perhaps the first great astronomer and that his study of planetary configurations has stood the test of times. Even the latest computer softwares have corroborated his astronomical calculations, which proves that he did not commit any error.

Shabari is stated to be belonging to the Bheel tribe. Shri Ram’s army, which succeeded in defeating Ravana, was formed by various tribals from Central and South India. The facts, events and all other details relating to the life of Shri Ram are the common heritage of all the Indians including scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Muslims, Christians, etc.

Prophet Mohammad was born 1,400 years ago. Jesus Christ was born 2,000 years back. Gautam Buddha was born 2,600 years back, whereas Ram was born 7,000 years back. Hence, discovering the details relating to Shri Ram’s life would be lot more difficult as destruction caused by floods, earthquakes and invasions etc., would be far greater. But, should that stop our quest for learning more about our cultural heritage?

As Indians, let us all take pride in the fact that the Indian civilisation is the most ancient civilisation today. It is certainly more than 10,000 years old. Therefore, let us reject the story of Aryan invasion in India in 1,500 BC as motivated implantation. In fact Max Mueller, who was the creator of this theory had himself rejected it. Let us admit that during the British Rule, we were educated in the schools based on Macaulay school of thinking which believed that everything Indian was inferior and that entire “Indian literature was not worth even one book rack in England”. If there were similarities in certain features of Indian people and people from Central Europe, then automatic inference drawn was that the Aryans coming from Europe invaded India and settled here. No one dared of thinking in any other way. Therefore, there is urgency for the historians and all other intellectuals to stop reducing Indian history to myth. There is need to gather, dig out, search, unearth and analyse all the evidences, which would throw more light on ancient Indian civilisation and culture.

There is need for the print and the electronic media to take note of these facts and create atmosphere which would motivate our young and educated youth to carry out research and unearth true facts about the ancient Indian civilisation and wisdom and would also encourage them to put across the results of their research before the people fearlessly and with a sense of pride!

1) When everything was planned and smooth, and when government had accepted security to the championship earlier, how come all of sudden Home Minister realised that the championship is not secure in India; exactly the same day when Sharad Pawar indirectly suggested he won’t mind being Prime Minister?

2) How come Cancellation of a series or relocating it become a national shame? And if it is, what about the Riots? Aren’t they supposed to be national shame?

3) When Gujrat government says it is capable of providing security to all the matches in IPL, why were they not capable of providing security to handful of muslims in the state?

4) Are politicians like Arun Jaitley and P Chdambaram out of any topics on notional interest that they are debating on IPL?

5) If we can’t host IPL on security norms, are we really ready to host CommonWealth games coming next year?

1. Both were direct attacks. No planting of bombs, no hidden blasts. Just face to face. As if the terrorists are giving a message. We will hit you right on your face. What will you do?

2. Both India and Pakistan had faced many bomb blasts in the past. But hardly any was discussed at the Global level. The terrorists had to make it Global and they did it. In India by attacking the world famous hotel, and in Pakistan by attacking a foreign sports team.

3. Both attempts were aimed at making the places feel unsecure. Notice the kind of Sandbags and police behind it in Mumbai at every corner of city. Same will be situation in Lahore after the attack. The local people fear of another attack and so they don’t want to take chances. Terrorists are successful in spreading their terror.

4. Not just local. Even foreign tourists will think twice before visiting these places now. And I’m sure thats one aim th terrorists must be having in their minds.

5. Mumbai is India’s financial capital and Lahore second biggest city of Pakistan. An attempt to attack on financial importance places to disturb the economy?

6. Attacks in Mumbai took place when England team was playing in India and in Pakistan, attacks were directly on the team itself. Are they trying to prove that playing in Indian subcontinent is not safe? A way to disturb the micro-economy built around the sport?

7. India had been major destination for foreign investments. Pakistan was also slowly taking a lead in achieving foreign investments. Both the attacks have disturbed the foreign investment movement. Was it one of the purposes behind the attacks?

8. Mumbai attack received lot of blog posts, tweets, media hype dedicated to them. And people forgot about it within weaks and life got back to normal. Except for the sandbags and policemen with guns. Will Lahore people also forget within weaks?

Whatever might be the reason, We are proud of you.

Mumbai is made up of Slums, Dogs and Millionaires. The mixture of the three is always an award winning combination. Just like Mumbai..

Just a random thought..

Raj Thakare arrested

The day started with the big news. Even before I woke up from sleep, there was SMS on my mobile saying “Institute will remain closed. Don’t even think to come near college”. Having no clue of what happened, we switched on TV to find out that Mr. Raj Thakare has been arrested. Very brave move by Govt I must say..!! Arresting Raj Thakare within 2 days of the event has to be considered as a big move.

The right and wrong part of his actions is a all together different story. I won’t even gonna pass judgement on his actions. But one thing is very clear by now. The way Balasaheb used to be called as “Hindu-Hriday-Samrat”, Raj will now be called as “Marathi-Hriday-Samrat”. He has made a complete picture in the minds of Marathi people that Raj is the only leader in Maharashtra who has the care for the “Son of the Soil”.

Last time when a FIR as fired against Raj, it took almost a week to Mumbai Police to arrest him. So why are they arresting him on second day this time? Maybe the Home dept is trying to create a picture tat Police is not afraid of Raj and they won’t think twice before arresting him. Well, Aba, you have taken a risky step here. I hope you have enough backup to handle the circumstances. And if you don’t have, God Bless Maharashtra.

I’ve been looking at Mr Raj ever since he formed MNS. His ways of protesting used to be very novice and innovative in the start. I remember in Nilanga {Dist: Latur}, there was a government officer who used to come 2 hours late to work everyday. Te local MNS activists one day went to his office 1 hour after the standard time, they took the officer’s chair and put it on auction outside his office. The officer in full shame anticipated his mistake and asked for opology to the public.

Then suddenly MNS understood that these Gandhigiri ways do not work all the time. So they had no other option but end up using the violent ways. And then MNS went the same way ShivSena used to have earlier. The differenciating line between MNS and Shivsena got thinner and thinner. Today we look at Raj as Balsaheb Thakare of 60′s. Same aggression, same dedication and same love for the soil.

Its not that I’m an activist of MNS or I’ve been given something to write in favor of MNS. But I really adore their principles {though I don’t adore the ways used to express those principles}. And there is one more thing which I’ve observed *uniquely* in Raj. He is always ready to take responsibility of anything that MNS activists will do. He says “If my men did it, I did it. If they have done right, credit is to them. If they did wrong, blame is to me. I will go to jail for their wrong deeds if any”. These words of support and involvement is something that makes him a great leader.

As of today, he has an appearing in Bandra court in another 45 minutes. Let’s keep fingers crossed and hope that their won’t be any violences. God Bless Maharashtra.. God Bless Mumbai..!!!

1. Increase your visibility.
2. Improve your connectability.
3. Improve your Google PageRank.
4. Enhance your search engine results.
5. Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks.
6. Increase the relevancy of your job search.
7. Make your interview go smoother.
8. Gauge the health of a company.
9. Gauge the health of an industry.
10. Track startups.

Here I’ve put only the bullet points. Complete post can be read here

Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.

1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the land. B and C each owned 1 dollar.

2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and C own 1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1 dollar.

* The net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.

3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the country, and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely go up. So, he borrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1 dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollars.

*A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar debt to A, his net residual asset is 1 dollar.
* Thus, the net asset of the country = 4 dollars.

4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regretted having sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then borrowed 2 dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3 dollars. The payment is by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and cancellation of the 1 dollar loan to C.
As a result, A now owned a piece of land that is worth 3 dollars. But since he owed B 2 dollars, his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up.

(5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own the land. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is by borrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan to A.

* As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His net asset is 2 dollars.
* B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a debt of 2 dollars with C, his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 6 dollars; even though, the country has only one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation.

(6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.

(7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C’s mind. “Hey, what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay my loan. There is only 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after all the land that B owns is worth at most only 1 dollar, and no more.”

(8) A also thought the same way.

(9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.

* So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.
* B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4 dollars is now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar.
* C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his net asset is still 2 dollars, his Heart is palpitating.
* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.

(10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country ? Of course, before the bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars. Actually, right before the collapse, the net asset of the country was 6 dollars on paper.

B’s net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is palpitating.

(11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish his 2 dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which is worth 1 dollar now.

* A owns the 2 coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.
* B is bankrupt, his net asset is 0 dollar. ( he lost everything )
* C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar
* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars.

************ **End of the story; BUT ************ ********* ******

There is however a redistribution of wealth.
A is the winner, B is the loser, C is lucky that he is spared.

A few points worth noting -
(1) When a bubble is building up, the debt of individuals to one another in a country is also building up.
(2) This story of the island is a closed system whereby there is no other country and hence no foreign debt. The worth of the asset can only be calculated using the island’s own currency. Hence, there is no net loss.
(3) An over-damped system is assumed when the bubble burst, meaning the land’s value did not go down to below 1 dollar.
(4) When the bubble burst, the fellow with cash is the winner. The fellows having the land or extending loan to others are the losers. The asset could shrink or in worst case, they go bankrupt.
(5) If there is another citizen D either holding a dollar or another piece of land but refrains from taking part in the game, he will neither win nor lose. But he will see the value of his money or land go up and down like a see saw.
(6) When the bubble was in the growing phase, everybody made money.
(7) If you are smart and know that you are living in a growing bubble, it is worthwhile to borrow money (like A ) and take part in the game. But you must know when you should change everything back to cash.
(8) As in the case of land, the above phenomenon applies to stocks as well.
(9) The actual worth of land or stocks depend largely on psychology..

The offer will give Airtel broadband customers wireless access to broadband of upto 2 mbps speed, Airtel said in a statement.

Shamik Dass, COO – South, Airtel B&TS, said, “With the year 2007 being declared as the Year of Broadband and the increasing broadband penetration in the country, on-line life styles have become more prevalent and wireless access more pervasive.”

“Our Wi-Fi service at Rs 99 per month will promote affordable wireless access to a true broadband experience for a new generation that is seamlessly using Wi-Fi networks to exchange files and upload personalized content,” he added.

A few magic clicks of the mouse and the transformations are complete. From celebs to just your average image conscious teen, picture perfect is the way to go these days.

Call it digital enhancing, retouching, airbrushing or doctoring, the photos have to be seen to be believed. Pleasantly plump to svelte siren can take a few brush strokes in the hands of the expert retouching artist.

Who says the camera doesn’t lie? Check out the photographs posted on any social networking site, the warts and wrinkles have just been airbrushed away.

No wonder photo studios everywhere are in makeover mode, with retouching artists taking courses abroad to hone their skills.

“Photographs don’t just mirror reality, they can improve it,” says Umesh Sabharwal of Kamala Nagar’s Prem Studio who learnt the art of retouching in the UK.

Sabharwal, who has been clicking photographs of candidates in DUSU elections for close to 14 years, says almost all his clients place a premium on how they look. “Earlier, when students came to get their pictures taken for the elections, they opted for simplicity. The glamour period really came in with a candidate called Shalu Mallik. Her’s was the first colour picture,” he recalls.

Then, beauty got a new angle. “One student looked so good in her poster that it went on sale for Rs 2 as boys wanted to hang it in their hostel rooms.”

The makeover doesn’t stop at clothes and make-up these days. “A lot of work goes into that image that smiles at you from the poster. More than issues, candidates are concerned with the face they present to the world.”

It’s a lead they’ve taken from celebrities whose airbrushed bodies grace everything — from billboards to magazine covers. Marlene Dietrich always insisted on a huge mirror being behind a photographer so that she could correct his lighting. Today she wouldn’t bother; it can all be done later through a computer.

“Digital enhancement has made the photographer’s job minimal,” says leading fashion photographer Sumiko Murgai Nanda. Lighting can be enhanced, the colour of the garment can be changed to suit the background and a reed-thin model can turn voluptuous.

“There are no limits to what the software can do, the only constraint is the budget since retouching can be quite expensive,” says Nanda who, though she shoots digital, swears by film. “What you see is so not what you get,” says Nanda, that’s the reason she’s wary of model portfolios. “The model in person usually looks very different.”

Like all trends, this one started with celebrities but it’s the virtual world that has given it momentum. “Who looks at photos in albums? I’d rather post them on my profile so that my friends can check them out,” says Shilpa Vasudev, a 16-year-old who admits she chooses only the most flattering ones.

Self-obsession or just vanity?
The idea of makeovers has become part of popular culture, points out Dr Samir Parikh, consultant psychiatrist with Max hospital. “Looks do matter, both in real life and in virtual.”

And studios merely ensure that you put your best face forward. Sabharwal Lab in Gole Market offers various levels of retouching, from light to extreme.

“Customer choose what they want depending on whether they need it for a family photo, website, modelling portfolio and so on,” says Mohit, who runs the studio.

So whether you want your grandparents in colour instead of black and white or make your baby look that wee bit cuter, the studio can do it all.

As for the ethical question, that rarely troubles anyone. “Most pictures are about memories. They will be looked at years later so why not ensure that they look nice,” says Vishal Kapadia, who had his marriage photos retouched recently.

Harsh reality is not always what people want. And when one can airbrush irritating relatives out of a family photo, fake doesn’t seem all that bad.

“We have decided to rope in the services of IT majors for their expertise for the technological advancement of our sleuths and the cyber cell. They have been asked to hold regular interactions with sleuths investigating cyber crime cases,” Dadwal said on the second anniversary of the women protection programme ‘Parivartan’.

“The step was taken to keep pace with rapid technological advancement,” he said.

“Cyber related crimes are on the rise, but we are fully equipped to meet the challenge. We have a number of experts and engineers working in the cyber cell to catch these new age criminals,” Dadwal added.

The cell is a wing under Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

According to Delhi Police statistics, a total of 17 cases related to hacking, obscenity, e-commerce fraud (online share trading, credit card fraud) and Internet-related crimes, including copyright violation and misrepresentation on the web, were registered last year.

This was against 12 cases registered in 2005, indicating a 42 percent rise.

Earlier this month, the new police chief, in a meeting with senior officials, had directed that all cyber related cases be investigated under the EOW.

“We are planning to introduce a single window mechanism under the EOW, where all cyber crime cases will be investigated by the experts,” Dadwal had told EOW officials.

“The step is being taken as the experts will scrutinize the cases and it will also help in speedy disposal of the pending cases. People will find it convenient to register their complaints,” he added.

Currently, assistant commissioners of police (ACPs) at the district level are responsible for investigating cyber crime cases, besides the EOW.

We’ve listened to it and also sung it numerous times. But still, we don’t know the exact meaning of the great composition by Rabindranath Tagore. Here is English translation of the same.

Through the words of the song, it is not clear if it is composed in praise of India. When it was first sung on 27 Dec, 1911; it was considered as loyal welcome of George V on his visit to India. Tagore himself has said the song to be addressed to the All Mighty (addressed as “Bhagya Vadhata” in the song). It was accepted as National Anthem on January 24, 1950. And a petition was filed in 2005 pleading to delete the word “Sindh” and instead put up the word “Kashmir”. The argument was that Sindh was no longer a part of India, having become part of Pakistan as a result of the Partition of 1947. Opponents of this proposal hold that the word “Sindh” refers to the Indus and to Sindhi culture and people which are an integral part of India’s cultural fabric. The Supreme Court of India refused to tamper with the national anthem and the wording remains unchanged.

The initiative will help promote tourism by showcasing India’s cultural and heritage wonders to a worldwide audience on the Internet at www.youtube.com/India.

“The Incredible India campaign is well recognized all over the world and efforts are being made to maximize our reach. We have to show the world the progress India has made since its independence 60 years ago. Using YouTube website for promotion of Incredible India campaign is an effort in that direction,” said Shilabhadra Banerjee, secretary, tourism ministry.

This website on YouTube will enable people across the world to experience and engage with the marvels of India through the power of video. Currently there are 18 films/videos uploaded on the site.

YouTube is a leading site where people watch and share videos through the web. It has about 48 million users in the US alone and is the eighth most visited website in the world.

The competition will run through the month of August.Check out the rules for nominating your blog for the award. And if you think your blog fits in the criteria, then do grab the opportunity. You won’t afford to miss it..

Keep updated with the contents of Blog of the competition for further announcements.

On the occasion, kindly allow me to let you know basics about the monuments listed in the new list of 7 wonders.

1. The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá (before 800 A.D.) Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

symbolizes- Worship & Knowledge!
Chichén Itzá, the most famous Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic center of the Mayan civilization. Its various structures – the pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Chac Mool, the Hall of the Thousand Pillars, and the Playing Field of the Prisoners – can still be seen today and are demonstrative of an extraordinary commitment to architectural space and composition. The pyramid itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.
The Mayan name “Chich’en Itza” means “at the mouth of the well of the Itza (people).” This famous temple city was the political and economic center of Mayan civilization. The pyramid of Kukulcan itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.
Since the Yucatán Peninsula has no rivers, the three natural sinkholes (cenotes) at Chichén Itzá made it a good place for a city, providing plenty of water all year. Two of these cenotes still exist—the most famous is the “Cenote of Sacrifice,” sacred to the Maya rain god Chaac. Offerings of jade, pottery and incense were thrown into the well, and occasionally, during times of bad drought, a human sacrifice.
However, there is no proof to the legend that many beautiful, young women were sacrificed.
About 987, a Toltec king named Quetzalcóatl (there is a wonderful legend about him, who became the Maya plumed serpent god Kukulcan) arrived with an army from central Mexico, and, with local Mayan allies, made Chichén Itzá his capital. The art and architecture from this period are a mix of Maya and Toltec styles, such as the “Temple of the Warriors,” which features an altar statue known as a chac mool.
In the center of Chichén Itzá is the Temple of Kukulcan, often called “El Castillo” (the castle). It is a step pyramid, with square terraces and staircases up each of the four sides to the temple on top. Great sculptures of plumed serpents run down the northern staircase and, because of how the shadows fall, seem to move on the spring and fall equinoxes. Inside, visitors can enter an older pyramid and climb up to the high room with King Kukulcan’s stone Jaguar Throne, painted red with jade-green spots.
There is also a large court at Chichén Itzá for playing a game called “pok ta pok,” which we think involved throwing a ball through a ring on the wall seven meters (around 23 ft) above the ground. The captain of the team that first scored was beheaded as a sacrifice to the gods and thought to rise directly to heaven. In 1221, a revolt and civil war broke out and the wooden roofs of the great market and the Temple of the Warriors were burnt at that time. Chichén Itzá lost power, as rulership over Yucatán shifted to Mayapan.

2. Christ Redeemer (1931) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

stands for- Welcoming & Openness!
This statue of Jesus stands some 38 meters tall, atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, it is one of the world’s best-known monuments. The statue took five years to construct and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. It has become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people, who receive visitors with open arms.
This Art Deco-style statue of Jesus, which was inaugurated in 1931, stands some 38 meters (125 ft) tall, atop the Corcovado (“hunchback”) mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. As well as being a potent symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of the city and a symbol of the great warmth of the Brazilian people.
The idea for erecting a large statue on Corcovado started in the mid-1850s, when a Catholic priest, Dom Pedro Maria Boss, asked for financing for a large religious monument from Princess Isabel of Portugal. She was not interested and the idea died completely in 1889, when Brazil became a republic with laws about separating church and state.
The second proposal for a large landmark statue on the mountain came in 1921 from the Archdiocese of Rio de Janiero, which organized an event called Semana do Monumento (“Monument Week”) to collect donations from people all over Brazil.
Designed by the local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, Christ Redeemer is one of the world’s best-known monuments. The statue, which took five years to build, is made out of reinforced concrete, with the outer layers made from soapstone because of this stone being easy to work with and resistant to extreme weather. The Corcovado Rack Railway played an important part in the building effort, as the only way to get the large pieces of the statue to the top of the mountain was by train.
One of the highlights of the inauguration ceremony on October 12, 1931 was supposed to be the activation of the lighting system by the Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi from his yacht far away in Naples, Italy. Bad weather, however, affected the strength of the signal and the lights had to be switched on manually by workers at Corcovado. On January 20, 2003, technology brought another change to the monument—panoramic elevators and escalators were inaugurated, so it is no longer necessary to climb up 220 steps to see the statue up close.

3. The Great Wall of China (220 B.C and 1368 – 1644 A.D.) China

it is incredible proof of- Perseverance & Persistence!
The Great Wall of China was built to link existing fortifications into a united defense system and better keep invading Mongol tribes out of China. It is the largest man-made monument ever to have been built and it is disputed that it is the only one visible from space. Many thousands of people must have given their lives to build this colossal construction.
The Great Wall was built to link existing fortifications into a united defense system and keep invading nomadic Mongol tribes out of China. It is the largest man-made monument ever built and is the only one often said (and sometimes disputed!) to be visible from space.
Like a huge dragon, the Great Wall winds across plateaus, deserts, grasslands and mountains, stretching some 6,700 km (4,163 miles) from East to West. Over the more than 2,000 years that the wall has been standing, some areas have fallen apart or even disappeared. Yet, the remarkable architectural grandeur and historical significance still attract hundreds of thousands of tourists to the Great Wall every year.
The Great Wall was built as a defensive fortification by three states: Yan, Zhao and Qin. The Great Wall went through constant extensions and repairs in later dynasties. Construction on the first section began between the 7th and 6th century BC, and the last work on the wall was done between the 14th and 17th centuries. In fact, it began as independent walls for different states when it was first built, and did not become the “Great” wall until the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Qin Shihuang succeeded in his effort to have the walls joined together to fend off invasions from in the north after China’s unification. However, the advantages of the enormous barrier faded with the arrival of gunpowder and other weaponry. In any case, the Great Wall has served as a monument of the Chinese nation throughout history.
The wall was originally built of stone, wood, grass and earth. Later, in the Ming Dynasty, bricks were produced in kilns set up along the wall. The bricks were transported by men carrying them on their backs, donkeys, mules and even by goats with a brick tied to their head being driven up a mountain.
Many legends exist about the Great Wall, such as the famous story of Meng Jiangnu, set during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Meng Jiangnu’s husband, Fan Qiliang, was sent by federal officials to work on the Great Wall. Having heard nothing from him for months, she went to look for him. By the time she reached the wall, her husband had already died. She began to cry desperately and her howls caused part of the Great Wall to collapse. This story is said in China to show how the Great Wall was built by tens of thousands of Chinese commoners, many of whom died—and were buried in the wall.

4. Machu Picchu (1460-1470), Peru

is a symbol of- Community & Dedication!
In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu (“old mountain”). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained ‘lost’ for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.
Around 1440, it is believed that the Pachacútec Yupanqui, the founder of the Inca Empire, built the city in the clouds known as Machu Picchu (“old mountain”) in what is now Peru. This extraordinary settlement lies 2,350 m (7,710 ft) above sea level, deep in the Amazon jungle above the Urubamba River.
Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, Machu Picchu attracted international attention when it was rediscovered by the American archeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911. There are several different theories as to what Machu Picchu was: some believe it was the luxurious mausoleum (burial site) of Pachacútec, since there are remains of buildings that were covered with gold; others think that it was an Incan “llacta,” a settlement built to both control the economy of the conquered regions and to protect the the top Incan aristocracy in the case of an attack. Another theory expands on this idea, seeing Machu Picchu as a country retreat for Inca nobility. It may also have been used as an observatory and for astrological ceremonies. A maximum of 750 people probably lived in the “Lost City of the Incas” at once. It is said that the silhouette of the mountain range behind Machu Picchu represents the face of the Inca looking upward towards the sky, with the largest peak, Huayna Picchu (“young mountain”) representing his nose.
Machu Picchu had a large agricultural area—with practical crops, such as corn and coca, and orchids and other decorative plants, as well as what were probably living and religious sections. In the upper urban area, there is the famous intihuatana (“the hitching post of the sun”), a stone column rising from a stone block the size of a grand piano. This solar clock exactly show the dates of the two equinoxes and other important celestial events. It is thought that, as the winter solstice neared, when the sun seemed to disappear more each day, priests would hold a ceremony to tie the sun to the stone to prevent the sun from disappearing completely.
Everything shows that Machu Picchu was quickly abandoned when the Spanish, fighting the rebellious Incas of Vilcabamba, went into Cuzco lands. But deadly smallpox was faster than the conquistadors, and 50 percent of the population had probably been killed by the disease by 1527. The Inca government began to fail, part of the empire seceded and it fell into civil war. So, by the time Pizarro, the Inca’s conqueror, arrived in Cuzco in 1532, Machu Picchu was probably already a ghost town.

5. Petra (9 B.C. – 40 A.D.), Jordan

it is a great symbol of- Engineering & Protection!
On the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataeans provided their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers. A theater, modelled on Greek-Roman prototypes, had space for an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs of Petra, with the 42-meter-high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture.
On the edge of the Arabian Desert, nestled away in the mountains south of the Dead Sea, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataeans built their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers that carried drinking water into the city and reduced the chance of flash floods. A theater held an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs, with the 42-meter-high (137-ft-high) Hellenistic temple facade on the El-
Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture. Petra, which means “stone” in Greek, has survived through the ages because almost all of its “buildings” were carved out of solid rock walls. It is perhaps the most spectacular ancient city remaining in the modern world.
To the north, the remains of a 9,000-year-old city make Petra, like Jericho, one of the earliest known Middle Eastern settlements. First a fortress city, Petra became a rich commercial center. Control of key trade routes brought Petra its fortune and produced monumental temples, tombs and administrative buildings. After the Romans annexed Petra in 106, its position as a commercial hub slowly weakened.
The city may have housed 20,000-30,000 people during its heyday under the Romans, but, by the end of the Byzantine Empire (ca. 700), the hydraulic system and once-gracious buildings were almost ruins. For the following centuries, Petra disappeared from most maps and became a legend. In 1812, Swiss traveler Johann Burckhardt snuck into the city disguised as a Muslim and shared his story with the world.
Much of Petra’s fascination comes from its setting on the edge of Wadi Araba, part of the Great Rift Valley. The rugged sandstone hills form a deep canyon easily protected from all directions. The best access to Petra is through the Siq, a winding, often narrow valley which suddenly opens upon the most impressive of Petra’s monuments, al-Khazneh (“the Treasury”). Carved out of the mountain and over 40 meters (131 ft) high, it was a royal tomb—but legend says that pirates hid their treasure there, hence “the Treasury.” The main god of ancient Petra was Dushara, who was worshipped in the form of a black, rectangular stone, along with Allat, the chief goddess of the ancient Arabs. Worshipping sites can be seen at various points in Petra, and there are many open places of sacrifice marked by altars.

6. The Roman Colosseum (70 – 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy

it is now a symbol of- Joy & Suffering!
This great amphitheater in the centre of Rome was built to give favors to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept still stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later still bears the irresistible imprint of the Colosseum’s original design. Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.
The design concept of this great amphitheater in the center of Rome is still relevant, having influenced almost every modern sports stadium. Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.
The Colosseum’s name is believed to come from a colossus (a 40-meter or 130-ft statue) of Nero nearby, which was changed by Nero’s successors into a statue of Sol or Apollo, the sun god. At some time during the Middle Ages, the statue disappeared.
The Colosseum is 48 meters (157.5 ft) high, 188 meters (617 ft.) long, and 156 meters (512 ft) wide. There are 80 arches on each of the first three levels, and the wooden arena floor was covered with sand. Its elliptical shape kept the players from retreating to a corner, and let the spectators be closer to the action than in a circle. More than 100,000 cubic meters (3,531,466.62 cubic ft) of travertine stone was used in its construction. The Colosseum was cleverly designed, and most modern stadiums have important features first seen here. Seating was divided into sections: the podium, or first level, was for the Roman senators, and the emperor’s cushioned box was also here. Above the podium was the area for other Roman aristocrats. The third level was divided into three sections: a lower part for wealthy citizens and an upper part for poor ones. A wooden area at the very top of the building was standing room only, for lower-class women. Today, the arena floor no longer exists, though the walls and corridors are visible in the ruins. There are also tunnels, still in existence, made to flood and evacuate water from the Colosseum floor so naval battles could be staged. Another innovative feature of was the cooling system, known as the velarium: a canvas-covered, net-like structure made of ropes, with a hole in the center. This roof covered two-thirds of the arena and sloped down toward the center to catch the wind and provide a breeze for the audience. Sailors on special platforms moved the ropes on command.
The Colosseum was in use until 217, when it was damaged by fire from lightning. Four earthquakes between 442 and 1349 severely hurt the building, which was then converted into a fortress with a Christian church built into one small area.

7. The Taj Mahal (1630 A.D.) Agra, India

the greatest symbol of- Love & Passion!
This immense mausoleum was built on the orders of Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mogul emperor, to honor the memory of his beloved late wife. Built out of white marble and standing in formally laid-out walled gardens, the Taj Mahal is regarded as the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India. The emperor was consequently jailed and, it is said, could then only see the Taj Mahal out of his small cell window.
The Taj Mahal is regarded as the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India. This huge mausoleum mosque was built by Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mogul emperor, in memory of his beloved wife, a Persian princess born as Arjuman Bano Begum but known as Mumtaz Mahal. She was a significant influence in his life and in his policies, but died at age thirty-nine while giving birth to their fourteenth child in 1631.
The ruler went into deep mourning. Her last wish to her husband was “to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen before.” So Shah Jahan set about building this fairytale-like marvel of white marble, surrounded by formally laid-out walled gardens, The emperor, later buried in the Taj, was overthrown by his son and imprisoned in the nearby Great Red Fort for eight years, from which, it is said, he could see the Taj Mahal out of his small cell window.
The origin of the name “Taj Mahal” is not clear. Court histories from Shah Jehan’s reign only call it the rauza (tomb) of Mumtaz Mahal. It is generally believed that “Taj Mahal” (usually translated as either “Crown Palace” or “Crown of the Palace”) is an abbreviated version of her name.
The Taj Mahal was built between 1631 and 1648, with some 20,000 workmen employed on it daily, who lived in a specially built small town next to it called “Mumtazabad” for the dead empress, now known as Taj Ganj. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia with the help of 1,000 elephants. The central dome is 57 meters, or 187 feet, high in the middle. A total of 28 beautiful stones were used: red sandstone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri, jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China, turquoise from Tibet, lapis lazuli and sapphire from Sri Lanka, coal and cornelian from Arabia and diamonds from Panna. The luminescent white marble was brought from far-off Makrana, Rajasthan.
Nearly every surface of the entire complex has been decorated, and the exterior decorations are among the finest to be found in Mughal architecture of any period.
Unlike other Mughal tombs, the Taj Mahal gardens are all in front of the tomb and do not play any part in the background. Instead, the background is the sky. Since the tomb is set against a plain across a river, this background of eternal sky works its magic of colors that, through their reflection, subtly reflect on the white marble surface of the Taj Mahal, always changing its color and complexion. The composition of the forms and lines of the Taj Mahal is perfectly symmetrical. The colossal height of the tomb, along with its pyramidal appearance, fill it with grace and make it seem to float or soar.

There are a few payment-related issues specific to India. What tips do you have for Indian publishers?

I have a 5-point Mantra for payments for Indian publishers:

1. Enter an accurate, complete address – I’d recommend updating your address in this way:

2. Choose INR checks over USD checks – This will reduce the bank charges levied (if any) to convert the dollar checks to Indian rupees. Also, the INR checks will be easy to process.

3. Set a self-hold – If you’ve reached $100 in unpaid earnings and would like to get paid once in 2 months or once every 6 months, we have an option to set a self-hold. Accumulate your earnings and receive a bigger check in the future. Don’t forget that you’ll need to remove the hold before the 15th of the month to be paid in that month.

4. Use Secured Express Delivery – For tension-free delivery of your hard-earned money, try our Secured Express Delivery option, which will cost you US$25 for the DHL charges — the check will be delivered at your doorstep within 10 days.

5. Understand your payment cycle – Please go through the Payments Demo to understand when payments are processed. It’s an 11-minute demo that is well worth your time!

Why do checks and PINs take longer to reach Indian publishers? What are the other options?

This can happen because of incorrect mailing addresses and the postal service. While nothing much can be done about the postal service at this time, I’d again recommend that you update your physical address — an accurate house number and/or house name can make a big difference to how a postman will locate your house. If you’re relocating, feel free to place a self-hold on your account until you’ve completed the relocation process. Please ensure that your address is updated before the 15th, and the address doesn’t exceed the 35-character limit in each line. Finally, the only alternative for receiving checks right now is to choose Secured Express Delivery checks over Standard Delivery checks.

Do you know about the toll free numbers provided by BSNL? Most of us know only about the numbers for Telephone Enquiry or Complaint. Or the maximum we know is Police at 100 and Fire at 101. But there are more tole free services provided by BSNL. Like

Women crisis response — 1091
Earth-quake Help line service — 1092
Natural disaster control room — 1096
AIDS help line service — 1097
Children in difficulty/ Child Distress Service — 1098
Catastrophe & Trauma service — 1099
Blood bank information Service — 1910
Dial a doctor — 1911
Eye bank information service — 1919
And best of all, the one which very few of us know. A special Kisan Call Center (for any queries related to agriculture) at 1551

I bet many of you didn’t know about these numbers. Now when a natural disaster happens, you know you have to call 1096 or for a doctor, dial 1911. Amazing, isn’t it!!
If you come to know about my death, don’t forget to dial 1910 and inform the Eye Bank about my death and My will of Eye-Donation.

This temple is one of the most awesome structures anyone can visit. It is very large, the enclosing rectangular wall measures 800 by 1025 metres. Around the wall is a moat some 200 metres wide. The terrain is so vast (some 208 hectares, 500 acres) that all the known wonders of the world including the St Peter cathedral of Rome and the Indonesian Borobudur could find a place on the grounds in front of the main temple, which central tower tops over 200 metres. The complex was built over a 30 to 40-year period at the start of the 12th century and is dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu.
Angkor Wat was built using sandstone which isn’t found in the immediate area. Most of it was probably taken from the the small mount of Phnom Kulen, some 30 km. to the north. The wall surrounding the temple is carved from laterite, a reddish type of stone found everywhere in the country. Laterite is soft when left in the wet ground, it hardens when dried in the sun. It is volcanic and contains large amounts of air pockets. For this reason it was rarely used for whole structures because it cannot be finely carved.
The Angkor Wat temple is a classical example of the temple mountain of Mt. Meru, central in Hindu cosmology. The five towers symbolize the five mountain peaks, the grounds the world, the wall stands for the mountains at the edge of the world, the surrounding moat stand for the shore and the oceans.
You can spend days to wander all the halls and rooms of Angkor Wat. Take at least half a day to see the main parts and climb the central sanctuary and admire the view. On ground level of the main complex you will find galleries of bas-reliefs some 800 metres in length, 3 tiers high. The epic battles and events depicted here tell in great detail about the history of the various Khmer empires and their rulers. Large sections show scenes from the complex Hindu religion. Near the temples and in Siem Reap you can buy paper rubbings taken from these bas-reliefs.
Around the temple you will find many beautiful carvings of apsaras or celestial dancers. They are depicted a bit more frivolous then the ones found on most of the other temples. They are also sculpted in twos and threes. The apsara above on the left is from the Bayon temple, the pair on the right can be found on the eastern side of the sanctuary at Angkor Wat. The carvings here are of great quality and have withstood the ages very well, some appear to have been finished only yesterday.

The Angkor Wat temple is the symbol of present day Cambodia. It is depicted on the national flag and on the current 500 Riel banknote, whose value is about US$ 0.20

Please visit http://www.new7wonders.com & vote for Angkor Wat Temple.
Only Few More Days to VOte Do It Now …

Btw, can’t disclose the details of the event until official announcement is made. The official announcement will be done very soon.

Though history may be about to be written, with India getting its first woman president, it seems as if Pratibha Patil was a backup choice, a second thought for the UPA.
Girija Vyas disagreed with this saying that though India has had to wait for a long time to get a woman President, the women of the country are happy that they are finally getting their place in the sun.
Neerja Choudhary says “It is like Dr Kalam’s candidature which came at the last minute. Pratibha Patil is certainly a second choice, but something that all the allies of the Congress, including the Left, found difficult to go against.”
CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief, Rajdeep Sardesai said that there were three reasons why Pratibha Patil was being made the President of India: first that she is a woman, second being that she was from Maharashtra – which has never had a President, a Vice President or a Prime Minister, and thirdly because she is married to a Shekhawati, and would be now able to take on NDA’s choice for the President’s post, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
He added that the entire argument being made by the Left parties who were opposed to Shivraj Patil and to Sushil Kumar Shinde was the fact that they did not have stature. “Does Pratibha Patil really have that stature? Is it enough to have just a woman candidate? Questions are now started to be raised on that count. She was certainly a politically correct choice, but is Pratibha Patil the kind of person who should be the President of India?” Rajdeep Sardesai wanted to know.
He wondered if she was simply being given the throne because she is a Congress loyalist.

Does Patil Have Political Stature?

Pratibha Patil was a member of the Lok Sabha till 1996, then she disappeared from the scene completely and reappeared after eight years, when she became the Governor of Rajasthan in 2004. She does have a strong background in social work, but that was all that she had to back her up.
The question was whether a strong background in social work was good enough to get her the post of the country’s President?
To this Nikhil Wagle said, “I am happy that after 40 years, a woman is heading for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, but Pratibha Patil definitely does not have the stature that a President of a nation like India is required to have. Pratibha Patil does not represent the fight of women in India. She represents the traditional women of India. It’s unfortunate that she does not inculcate the values of the modern, present-day woman.”
Aswini K Ray agreed saying that there was a certain symbolic pride in the fact that a woman is becoming the President of India. “The President’s post is intended to be less political. In this case one is not unhappy because it could have been much worse, one is also happy that she is a woman.”
He, however, added that Patil did not have political stature because if she did, she would have had as many political opponents as a hig profile politician encounters. “It’s almost been a qualification for her not to have a political stature for she comes to the fore by the process of elimination,” he said.

Can Patil Live Upto Expectations?

Aswini K Ray said that he did not really think Pratibha Patil’s being a woman had anything to do with her being made the President of India.
Rajdeep Sardesai added his two bits saying, “I think it’s important to recognise who Pratibha Patil is succeeding. President APJ Abdul Kalam redefined the Indian presidency and reinvented it for the 21st Century Indian. He was a people’s president and the question that should be asked here is, ‘can Pratibha Patil step into his shoes’?”
He said that 65 per cent of India was under the age of 35 and their yearings are very different now. He wanted to know whether Pratibha Patil could really represent that part of India?
“Unfortunately, our politicians will not be able to answer these questions for they take politically correct and politically expedient choices,” he added.
He said that there was an element of tokenism and symbolism, but the question was whether Pratibha Patil could be anything more than that or not.
“Unfortunately, Indian politics has always looked for a shortcut. Instead of genuinely empowering Indian women, we look for tokens and symbols. Perhaps Pratibha Patil will only end up as that. However, she has got a historic opportunity and she can use it over the next six years, much in the manner of how President Kalam did and she can actually work for women’s empowerment. That’s what she should do and then I will say that, ‘yes, India is truly ready for a woman President’.”
Nikhil Wagle said that Pratibha Patil had to mould herself to the Rashtrapati Bhawan. “She has to forget her past and work towards leading the nation,” he said.
He also felt that Pratibha Patil could take on the male-dominated society of India. “I think that she can take the mantle from President Kalam and work towards inspiring all the women in the country.”

SMS Poll by CNN
Is India ready for a woman President?

Yes: 49 per cent
No: 51 per cent

How can you help.

* PFA urgently needs an animal ambulance and land for rescue center.
* You can join PFA as volunteer and save animals from torture and pain
* Can get PFA an opportunity for presentation in vyakhyans / lectures / club meetings / society meetings / vegetarianism for non jains and ahimsa for Jains.
* Provide information about animal cruelty or illegal confinement.

You can contact PFA at

People for Animals, Pune
1st Floor, Kesariya Apartment,
149, bhawani Peth,
Pune – 411042

Phone – 02066017797
Email – web@pfapune.com
ahinsa.w@dhirajjain.com
ahinsa.w@manojoswal.com

Animal Helpline Pune – 9890044455

BlogCamp is a free unconference focusing exclusively on blogging, organized by bloggers for bloggers. It‘s built upon the principles of the famous BarCamp (ad-hoc unconference) focussed on sharing, learning and new ideas.

There is no audience to start with and you cant give a speech. There are only participants and they don’t give speeches they share their knowledge. The environment is very informal and leads a lot of discussions.

Firstly, the BarCamp concept is totally new to me. And I liked that. I liked that very much. Secondly, a (un)conference exclusively for blogging. Great idea. Thanks Tarun for coming up with this.

Date: 16th June 2007
Venue: Symbiosis Center for Information Technology (SCIT), Hinjewadi IT Park, Pune
For updates, check out the official blog of the event here.

Do make a point to attend this event.

Krait venoms are among the most toxic venoms in the world. The venom can in very short time, cause respiratory failure. Hence they have the reputation of sucking away a person’s breath.

Common krait is found throughout the subcontinent. It is less common in parts of the northeast which is home of the beautiful Banded Krait, which has bright yellow and black bands on its body.

These snakes are active at night and relatively passive during day. They hunt after dark for their pray. Both snakes are snake-eaters. Banded krait kill and eat common kraits. This is perhaps one reason why the common kratis are rare in northeast. The native people often step on kraits while walking through their habitats. The krait has a tendency to seek shelter in sleeping bags, boots, and tents. They hide in rat and mouse holes during day. They prefer to live on dry lands.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India

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An incendiary law to expand caste-based college admissions quotas, which had set off months of protest last year, was temporarily suspended today by the country’s highest court.

The Supreme Court order applies to a law, passed last December by the Indian Parliament, to set aside an additional 27 percent of seats in publicly funded universities for a group that sits somewhere along the middle of the caste ladder, known in the odd language of the Indian bureaucracy as “other backward classes” or O.B.C.’s.

Should this be called as victory of student power? Or is it victory of truth? Whatever you call it as, its a great news for lakhs of students studying across the country.

In the past when the topic was hot, I could not participate much in the campaigns. But I had posted few entries about the topic. Here are links to the same.

Aaj Ka Arjun
Are we sleeping?
Cartoons about reservation
What Pandit Nehru thought about Reservation
Future with reservation..
To moon we go…

Purnateja’s views about the event are very much similar to thoughts in anyone’s mind.

The Supreme Court has stayed the OBC quota! The government wanted quotas for OBCs based on the 1931 census data!! Finally some rational and sense seems to have prevailed over illogical nonsense. And now the government wants to collect data backing its decision for quotas! It is like sentencing somebody to death and then trying to manufacture the reasons for which he was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court in its judgment has clearly stated that the government’s intention to implement OBC quota was for divisive vote bank politics and not the welfare of the people. It is indeed unfortunate that the government has successfully misled several millions of people that this move was for the ‘upliftment’ of ‘poor and backward’ people. Thankfully their bluff was called by the judiciary.
In fact it is not just the government but all political parties as a whole that this judgment indicts. They are the people whose minds need to be ‘uplifted’ and these are the minds that are truly ‘backward’.
I think the Supreme Court needs no proof that the people who are mentally backward and in dear need of reservations are the politicians. So, now the Supreme Courts should transfer this quota from OBCs to politicians. This should solve a lot of problems. Let us hope and pray that at least an education at the IITs and IIMs changes these people and India moves ‘Ahead’ instead of falling over ‘Backwards’. Only then it will be time to celebrate..

Did you notice some change in orkut? Try saving the profile image of anyone. You won’t be able to do that. The file name will appear as “b.gif”. And on downloading, all you will get is a black dot.
Now this is something which will please all the girls who were worried about guys downloading their images and misusing these images.
There are always ways to download those images. But this change will atleast restrict the 75% crowd who are not much friendly to internet. Remaining 25% can still manage to continue.

1. Try to safely and quickly identify the species of snake if practical. Move victim to safety. Have one person take firm command of the situation very early to improve the coordination and decision making processes. The victim’s condition is assisted with an observation that calm and competent assistance is being firmly applied. There will be no time for shy or timid behavior! Action will be crucial! Proceed with no delay to use judgment calls on all of the below suggested techniques.

2. Remove any jewelry or tight fitting clothing. Quickly tie a light restricting band both above and below the bite area a few inches away from the puncture/bite marks.

3. Without cutting, apply strong suction, preferably within seconds of the bite directly on the main or deepest puncture/bite marks. This can be accomplished with the mouth or a commercial bite kit suction device. Time is critical here as any venom present will become destructive very quickly!

4. Rapidly apply antiseptic cleanser to the entire area and place cold compress as closely as possible without interfering with suction process.

5. Continue strong suction and alternate the location of compress to avoid injury from severe cold.

6. Check constriction bands periodically as swelling may occur and loosen as appropriate.

7. Monitor for symptoms of shock and be prepared to administer appropriate treatment. At any signs of major stress or unusual/unexplained discomfort, check for need to apply other first aid techniques – elevate bitten extremity, elevate legs from lying down position, keep warm, immobilize, etc. Do not administer alcohol or cause additional stress to victim. Avoid food or liquid intake.

8. Keep victim warm and immobilize as practical. Movement to proper treatment facility is more crucial than maintaining immobile status. Maintain above treatment functions throughout.

9. Transport safely at the earliest possible time to competent medical service. Ideally, all of the above steps can be administered concurrently with transport phase. Keep victim as comfortable as possible and reassure that survival is not in question. Rapid response reduces damage levels.

10. If possible and voluntarily chosen, administer electroshock to bite area in several one second bursts in a small circle around bite. Repeat this at 10-15 minute intervals getting slightly farther from bite area seeking to follow course of venom flow. Take care to utilize DC current at proper levels and prepare in advance to administer this technique.

11. If practical, dispatch snake (don’t kill) and take along for any identification or testing needs. The primary purpose of this first aid is to slow down or reduce the invasion of the venom, to protect the victim from further side effect trauma, to prepare the victim for later medical procedures such that complications may be minimized, and generally to get the victim to such treatment as quickly and safely as practical.

12. Stand by for back up assistance or side task assignments like contacting relatives, protecting scene materials, providing useful information of incident facts, describe first aid administered, etc.

13. Be confident that all which could have been done was applied to assure as successful an outcome as possible given that a venomous bite is difficult to control or establish a completely accurate prognosis. Remember, early treatment is better treatment when such a bite occurs!

Features of poisonous & non-poisonous snakes

Non Poisonous Snakes
Head – Rounded
Fangs – Not present
Pupils – Rounded
Anal Plate – Double row of plates
Bite Mark – Row of small teeth.

Poisonous Snakes
Head – Triangle – except Cobra
Fangs – Present
Pupils – Elliptical pupil
Anal Plate – Single row of plates
Bite Mark – Fang Mark

Symptoms due to Snake bite

Cobra or Krait
Snakes found in Sahyadris: Common Krait (Manyar), Slender Coral Snake (Powala), Striped Coral Snake (Patteri Powala), Spectacled Kobra (Naag), King Kobra (Naagraj)
Mild Local symptoms — burning, redness, swelling, superficial necrosis.
Marked Neurotoxic effects.
Earliest symptom – Ptosis – inability to keep Eyes open.
Giddiness, Lethargy, Muscle weakness.
Spreading Paralysis – causing difficulty in speaking and breathing, Salivation, Vomiting. Frothing around mouth.

Viper –
Snakes found in Sahyadris: Russel’s Viper (Ghonas), Saw Scaled Viper (Phurse), Bamboo Pit Viper (Chapda), Malbari Pit Viper (Malbari Chapda)
Haemotoxic venom is very painful
Severe Local symptoms — Intense Pain, Inflammation, Ozing of haemolytic blood.
Marked Vasculotoxic effects.
Bleeding from mucous membrane of the Mouth, Anus, Nose and haemorrhages under the skin.
Because of local damage to circulatory cells, hemotoxic venom spreads more slowly and has a slower action than the neurotoxins.
Vascular Collapse – Cold Skin, Rapid feeble Pulse, Dilated Pupils insensitive to light, Gradual loss of consciousness.

Marks of A Snake Bite:

You can notice the visible difference in snake marks of poisonous and non-poisonous snake. Many times, the marks are not clearly visible through normal eyes. So it’s always preferable to use a magnifying glass to see the marks.
Many times, the marks are wrongly interpreted through naked eyes. So use a magnifying class even when the marks are visible through eyes, so as to avoid misinterpretation.

Well here’s a list of all the codes for posting them.

				;;)	>:D<	:-/		:”>	:p
:*	=((		x-(	:>	B-)	:-s	#:-S	>:)	(
)		/:)	=))	O:-)	:-B	=;	|-)	8-|	L-)
:-&	:-$	[-(	)	8-}	<:-P	(:|	=P~		#-o
=D>	:-SS	@-)	:^o	:-w	:-<	>:P	<):)	:@)	3:-o
|)	~:>	@};-	%%-	**==	(~~)	~o)	*-:)	8-x	=:)
>-)	:-L	[-o<	$-)	:-"	B-(	>-	[-x	\:D/	>:/
)	o->	o=>	o-+	(%)	:-@	^:)^	:-j	(*)

These smileys were added in messenger 7

:-c	~X(	:-h
:-t	8->	?	%-(

And this little puppy is in the beta of messenger 8

3

Make sure your passwords have both letters and numbers, and are at least eight characters long. Avoid common words: some hackers use programs that can try every word in the dictionary. Don’t use your personal information, your login name or adjacent keys on the keyboard as passwords-and don’t share your passwords online or over the phone.

Protect yourself from viruses by installing anti-virus software and updating it regularly. You can download anti-virus software from the Web sites of software companies, or buy it in retail stores; the best recognize old and new viruses and update automatically.

Prevent unauthorized access to your computer through firewall software or hardware, especially if you are a high-speed user. A properly configured firewall makes it tougher for hackers to locate your computer. Firewalls are also designed to prevent hackers from getting into your programs and files. Some recently released operating system software and some hardware devices come with a built-in firewall. Some firewalls block outgoing information as well as incoming files. That stops hackers from planting programs called spyware-that cause your computer to send out your personal information without your approval.

Don’t open a file attached to an e-mail unless you are expecting it or know what it contains. If you send an attachment, type a message explaining what it is. Never forward any e-mail warning about a new virus. It may be a hoax and could be used to spread a virus.

When something bad happens-you think you’ve been hacked or infected by a virus-
e-mail a report of the incident to your Internet provider and the hacker’s Internet provider, if you can tell what it is, as well as your software vendor.

————
Links
What is lunar eclipse?
Eclipses in 2006
Nasa’s Eclipse page

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) has become the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century. It is widely held in retrospect that the Indian national leader should have been the very man to be selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was nominated several times, but was never awarded the prize. Why?

These questions have been asked frequently: Was the horizon of the Norwegian Nobel Committee too narrow? Were the committee members unable to appreciate the struggle for freedom among non-European peoples?” Or were the Norwegian committee members perhaps afraid to make a prize award which might be detrimental to the relationship between their own country and Great Britain?

Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948. The omission has been publicly regretted by later members of the Nobel Committee; when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was “in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi”. However, the committee has never commented on the speculations as to why Gandhi was not awarded the prize, and until recently the sources which might shed some light on the matter were unavailable.

Why Was Gandhi Never Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Up to 1960, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded almost exclusively to Europeans and Americans. In retrospect, the horizon of the Norwegian Nobel Committee may seem too narrow. Gandhi was very different from earlier Laureates. He was no real politician or proponent of international law, not primarily a humanitarian relief worker and not an organiser of international peace congresses. He would have belonged to a new breed of Laureates.

There is no hint in the archives that the Norwegian Nobel Committee ever took into consideration the possibility of an adverse British reaction to an award to Gandhi. Thus it seems that the hypothesis that the Committee’s omission of Gandhi was due to its members’ not wanting to provoke British authorities, may be rejected.

In 1947 the conflict between India and Pakistan and Gandhi’s prayer-meeting statement, which made people wonder whether he was about to abandon his consistent pacifism, seem to have been the primary reasons why he was not selected by the committee’s majority. Unlike the situation today, there was no tradition for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to try to use the Peace Prize as a stimulus for peaceful settlement of regional conflicts.

During the last months of his life, Gandhi worked hard to end the violence between Hindus and Muslims which followed the partition of India. We know little about the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s discussions on Gandhi’s candidature in 1948 other than the above quoted entry of November 18 in Gunnar Jahn’s diary but it seems clear that they seriously considered a posthumous award. When the committee, for formal reasons, ended up not making such an award, they decided to reserve the prize, and then, one year later, not to spend the prize money for 1948 at all. What many thought should have been Mahatma Gandhi’s place on the list of Laureates was silently but respectfully left open.

——————————-
Reference:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/articles/gandhi/index.html

Properties submitted on the Tentative List

* Temples at Bishnupur, West Bengal (1998)
* Buddhist Monastery Complex, Alchi, Leh, known as Alchi Chos-kor (1998)
* Golconda Fort, Hyderbad, Andhra Pradesh (1998)
* Dholavira: a Harappan City, Gujarat, Disstt, Kachchh (1998)
* Rani-ki-Vav (The Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat (1998)
* Mattanchery Palace, Ernakulam, Kerala (1998)
* Tomb of Sher Shah Suri, Sasaram, Bihar (1998)
* Group of Monuments at Mandu, Madhya Pradesh (1998)
* Ancient Buddhist Site, Sarnath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (1998)
* Hemis Gompa (1998)
* Sri Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar, Punjab (2004)
* River island of Majuli in midstream of Brahmaputra River in Assam (2004)
* Kalka Shimla Railway (2004)
* Kalka Shimla Railway (2004)
* Red Fort, Delhi (2005)
* The Matheran Light Railway (extension to the Mountain Railways of India) (2005)
* Western Ghats (sub cluster nomination) (2006)
* Namdapha National Park (2006)
* Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch (2006)
* Kangchendzonga National Park (2006)

Hello friends.
Our independence day is just two days ahead. This is the day when we salute our National Flag with utlost pride. So just wanted to share the story of birth and evolution of Indian National Flag.

The first national flag was hoisted by Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park), Calcutta on 1st August, 1906. It had three colours- Red, yellow and green stripes. The stripe on top had eight Lotus flowers. Bande Matram was written in Devnagri script on the yellow strip in bright blue.

The second national flag was hoisted in 107 in Paris by Madame Cama and her group of revolutionaries in exile. It had only one lotus on top strip, and seven stars representing Saptarishis.

The third national flag was hoisted during the Homerule movement in 1917. Lokmanya Tilak and Annie Besant hoisted it. It was a very simpler version and had a white crescent and a star at one end.

The fourth version, “Tricolour” came after the arrival of Gandhiji on the political scene in 1920. An AICC Session was held in Bezawada (Now Vijaywada) in 1921, from 31st March to 1st April. The session under Gandhiji’s leadership had witnessed the emergence of the Tricolour flag. Shri Pingali Venkayya presented Gandhiji a flag which had only two colours, red and green. Gandhiji approved it and was hoisted at the session. Later Gandhiji suggested addition of white strip. At the sugeestion of Sri Hansraj of Jalandhar, Charkha was added.

The final design of national flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July 1947. This final design was hoisted on 15th August, 1947.

Get free stickers at petadishoom.com

“The monsoon will hit the Kerala coast on May 30, two days ahead of schedule.” says Sathi Devi, Director, Weather Bureau.

So, this year my treks will start earlier. That’s great.

Last year’s torrential downpour is still fresh in people’s minds. So is there a chance of its repeat this year? “Last year was an exception. Such rainfall does not happen every year. Last year, it rained more than expected. But we cannot really predict so soon if there will be a repeat this year” she added.

Guys, better let’s be ready to face circumstances if they arrive.

Btw, I put up a poem about first rain on my Marathi blog. Check out the poem here.

kindness in your eyes
I guess you heard me cry
you smiled at me
like Jesus to a child
I’m blessed I know
heaven sent and heaven stole
you smiled at me like
Jesus to a child
and what have I learned
from all this pain
I thought I’d never feel the same
about anyone or anything again
but now I know

when you find a love
when you know that it exists
then the lover that you miss
will come to you on those cold, cold nights
when you’ve been loved
when you know it holds such bliss
then the lover that you kissed
will comfort you when there’s no hope in sight

sadness in my eyes
no one guessed, well no one tried
you smiled at me
like Jesus to a child
loveless and cold
with your last breath you saved my soul
you smiled at me
like Jesus to a child
and what have I learned
from all these tears
I’ve waited for you all those years
then just when it began
he took your love away
but I still say

But I still say
When you find love
When you know that it exists
Then the lover that you miss
Will come to you on those cold, cold nights

When you’ve been loved
When you know it holds such bliss
Then the lover that you kissed
Will comfort you when there’s no hope in sight

so the words you could not say
I’ll sing them for you
and the love we would have made
I’ll make it for two
for every single memory
has become a part of me

you will always be…my love

well I’ve been loved
so I know just what love is
and the lover that I kissed is always by my side
oh the lover I still miss…was Jesus to a child.

there is an anti reservation rally being organised on 21st may.. starting points.. BJ medical college and SNDT.. at 4pm… pls try to make it… we need to make a change n stand up for what is right. the future of our country and the ability to stand up as independent and proud citizens rests on the shoulders of the youth.. its time to take a stand!!!

Just have a look at the attached images to know how badly the future of India is being handeled by this bloddy fovernment and police. This is just a trailor. Real movie is much more worse…

राज्यातले ऐतिहासिक किल्ले तसेच स्मारकांच्या देखभालीसाठी कॉपोर्रेट कोऑपरेशन घेण्याचा मानस सांस्कृतिक खात्याचे मंत्री अशोक चव्हाण यांनी नुकताच विधिमंडळात बोलून दाखवला. इतिहासाचे अभ्यासक निनाद बेडेकर यांनी या कल्पनेचे स्वागत केलं. ते म्हणाले , ‘ कशी का होईना , किल्ल्यांची अवस्था सुधारत असेल तर चांगलंच आहे. आज हालचाली केल्या नाहीत , तर 60-70 वर्षांनी या किल्ल्यांच्या जागी फक्त डोंगरच राहतील. मात्र कॉपोर्रेट मदत घेताना किल्ल्यांवर डोळ्यांना खुपणारी जाहिरातबाजी होऊ देता कामा नये.

गिर्यारोहक हृषिकेश यादव यांनी देखील ही घोषणा स्वागतार्ह असल्याचा अभिप्राय दिला. किल्ले राखण्यासाठी अशी काही पावले उचलायलाच हवीत. मात्र , त्याचवेळी गडांचे पावित्र्य सांभाळले गेले पाहिजे. गडाच्या मूळ वास्तूची हानी होता कामा नये , असं यादव म्हणाले.

आज पुरातत्त्व विभागाकडे पुरेसा पैसा नाही. मग किल्ल्यांची वास्तपुस्त होणार कशी ? आता कॉपोर्रेट क्षेत्राच्या साह्याने ती होत असेल , तर काही हरकत नाही , असं गडभ्रमंतीचा मोठा अनुभव असलेले ‘ चक्रम हायकर्स ‘ चे माधव फडके म्हणाले. कॉपोर्रेट क्षेत्राचा मदतीचा हात प्रसिद्ध किल्ल्यांच्या मदतीसाठी पुढे येऊ शकतो पण त्याचबरोबर दुर्गम किल्ल्यांनाही त्याचा फायदा होईल , असे नियम करावेत , असं फडके यांनी सुचवलं.

गड-किल्ल्यांच्या वाटा धुंडाळणाऱ्या ‘ क्षितिज ग्रुप ‘ चे श्रीरंग वैद्य यांनी देखील किल्ल्यांचे पावित्र्य राखले जाणार असेल तर कॉपोर्रेट क्षेत्राची मदत घेण्यात काहीच हरकत नाही , असं मत नोंदवलं. रायगड जिल्ह्यात पालीजवळ सुधागड किल्ल्यासाठी सीमेन्स कंपनीनं असं काम केलं आहे , अशी माहिती त्यांनी दिली.

On 3rd Feb we (Me and Dhiraj) visited Omkareshwar temple.
Omkareshwar Temple was constructed during the tenure of Sadashivrao Bhau on the banks of the Mutha river. It is well known for its massive stone structure which survived the floods of Panshet (1962). This temple also hosts the Samadhi of “Chimaji Appa Peshwa” (Elder brother of First Bajirao Peshwa) and his wife who sacrificed her life after Chimaji Appa’s death in 1737. This tradition is calles as “Sati” in India.

For more information regarding this virus, check out this

NAME: Win32.Blackmal.F
Alias:CME-24,
Email-Worm.Win32.Nyxem.e,
W32/MyWife.d@MM,
W32/Small.KI@mm,
W32/Nyxem-D,
WORM_GREW.A

A new worm is spreading at an alarming rate. The worm is already reported to infect many computers through out the continents. The most prominent countries affected by this worm are India, Peru, Italy, US.

The worm has a dangerous payload which triggers on 3rd day of each month. This worm will delete all the documents, worksheets, presentations, compressed backup files from the infected system.

Solution for Win32.Blackmal.F is provided in the update released on 17th Jan and in updates released since then. All users of Quick Heal having virus latest virus database date are protected from this worm.

We request all Quick Heal users to ensure that all their copies are updated to latest virus database date and scan their system thoroughly.

Kindly take care of your unprotected PCs and PCs where the subscription has expired. For more details please visit http://www.quickheal.co.in

If you have any queries please write to support@quickheal.com

Thanking you,
Quick Heal Team.

The removal tool for this virus is available here

Check out the web-site of the party here
Update an interview with Chandrashekhar, the national treasurer of the party

2)Now upload this image to any server. And note the exact address of this .ico file.

3) Now just put up the following code in your blog template between <head> and </head> tags.
<LINK REL=”SHORTCUT ICON” HREF=”http://www.yoursite.com/image_name.ico”>

4) Now save the template and open your blog. You’ll spot the icon associated with your page.

The fevicon should be at the most 16*16 so as to have better visibility.

One last word, if you are using internet explorer, then I’ll just say “May GOD Bless You”. You are using the most sucking web browser. I’ll recommend you to switch to Mozilla Firefox.

This code demonstrates how we can access Private Data Members in C++. This is a major flaw in OOP in C++..

/* CODE BY DINESH SONI
dinesh.soni@gmail.com
9890897198
*/

#include <iostream.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <conio.h>

class person
{
private:

char name[40];
char grade;
int age;

public:

person(char* nam="Default",char gr=’A',int saal=25)
{
strcpy(name,nam);
grade=gr;
age=saal;
}

friend ostream& operator <<(ostream& s,person b);
};

ostream& operator <<(ostream& s,person b)
{
s<<"Name :"<<b.name<<endl
<<"Rating :"<<b.grade<<endl
<<"Age :"<<b.age<<"\n\n\n";
return s;
}

struct hack
{
char name[40];
char grade;
char age;
};

void main()
{
clrscr();
person bc;
cout<<bc;
void* ptr=&bc;
struct hack* person_1=(hack*)ptr;
person_1->grade=’F';
person_1->age=56;
cout<<bc;
strcpy(person_1->name,"Dinesh Soni");
person_1->age=21;
person_1->grade=’A';
cout<<bc;
getch();
}

You could be using your network connection at work, or at home using a dial-up modem, ISDN connection, a cable modem, or a digital subscriber line (DSL). Whatever the device or technology you’re using to surf the Web, it will tell you the speed of your Internet connection.

Try it

Here is my connection speed with Airtel GPRS..

—-
Dinesh Soni
9890897198

The hills have been saved for, after relentless pressure from Pune’s citizens, the Pune Municipal Corporation General Body scrapped moves to allow 4 per cent construction and instead ensured that the land earmarked for a Bio-Diversity Park (BDP) stays unsullied.

The news further says

As for protecting river and water bodies, there’s good news too. A 36 metre river protection green belt is to be designed on both banks and 7.5 metres along the banks of all streams and nallahs will be declared as green belts.

This was in response to the Green Pune Movement’s Peaceful Rally on November 27th, 2005. Once again Punekars have proved that “Citizen Power” is the highest power in Indian Democracy.

Congratulations all you Punekars..

These are the words of organisers of this protest march

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) took a monumental step towards ensuring a sustainable future for Pune for the next quarter century and beyond on 21 March 2005 when it approved a Pune city Biodiversity Park on designated hillsides throughout the city, green areas along the banks of the rivers, etc. The Planning Committee newly set up to review the DP has now recommended a floor space index (FSI) of 4 per cent on hill slopes/ hill tops and complete scrapping of the bio-diversity park. The Planning Committee further recommends that farmhouses and educational institutions should be permitted to avail of the 4 % FSI. The FSI would then rise to 25 to 30 % if areas required for roads and other facilities is taken into account.
The public representatives cry hoarse to convince us that they would do anything in the interest of Punekars. However, their stand on indirectly granting huge FSI and scrapping of the Biodiversity Park exposes the depths to which they would go to please the ‘builders lobby’.

Around 500 Punekars and 50 organisations actively participated in this Protest March. Also these citizens filled up the protest form..
You can also help by filling up this protest form. The protest form can be filled at here . You can also download and distribute the flier of the movement from here . Come forward..
Save our Hills !
Save our city !
Save yourselves !!

Green Pune Movement : Crowd in action

Human chain formed by the Activists

—-
Dinesh Soni
9890897198

Check out the post here.. One advice: You’ll get heavy stomachache due to excess laughing, so be prepared

First method for folder hiding on windows platform is redirecting the path of your folder to control panel. All you have to do is add the hex address of control panel in the end of your folder name. Once you add this string to the folder name, the folder will show control panel icon. And if you try to open it, all that opens up is control panel window. The system won’t show up the string attached to the folder name, so none will know that you have applied any such security. If you want to see the contents of original folder, just rename folder to previous name through DOS.

Here is how the folder will show up in folder view. I’ve applied the technique to the folder “Video_files”. And if you rename the folder to control panel, none will even know what you are hiding under the icon.

This is how the folder will look if you open up it. Check out the path is I:/video_songs, same folder which have been hidden using this technique.

Another way can be applied if you want to hide whole drive. All you have to do is go to drive management utility, select the drive you want to hide, rename the drive letter and remove the letter. Now try opening up the drive through My computer, Run prompt or command prompt. You can’t open it from any of these..

You will notice that drives I and J are missing as I’ve hidden them using this technique.

If anyone interested in knowing more about these techniques, you can just contact me or Dhiraj who taught me these techniques.

–
Dinesh Soni
dinesh.soni@gmail.com
9890897198

Here are few Snaps of the exhibition..

The guy in yellow Shirt is Abhijit whereas the guy in White dress is Shishir..

Those who missed the chance, can contact Abhijit or Shishir to know when and where will be their next exhibition.. And if you want to have a look on Abhijit’s photography, view these images..

Image1

Image2

Image3

Or just visit Abhijit’s Website..

Presenting you the JAM Forum

Try it and I am sure you are gonna like it..

Here is the whole story..

It all started June 15, when JAM ran an in-depth report debunking the advertised claims of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), a private business school that had spent more than $1 million in ads for its MBA program in May 2005. JAM found that IIPM had inflated claims about placing all of its students in jobs; having teachers from Harvard, Columbia and Yale; and luxurious extras such as swimming pools, mini golf and Wi-Fi towers.

Then blogger Gaurav Sabnis, an IBM salesman based in Mumbai, linked to the JAM article on Aug. 5 with a post titled, “The fraud that is IIPM.” Perhaps the story would have died right there, but then IIPM made a tactical error by sending Sabnis a legal notice by e-mail on Oct. 4.

“The articles have caused unfathomable damage to the reputation of IIPM and to its various operational areas,” the e-mail read. “The articles further have affected innumerable future operations of IIPM. We have legally notarized and logged all the releases and are sending you this e-mail to you as the first notice of proposed legal, judicial and criminal action against you that has already been approved & cleared by the Post Graduate Fellow Programme committee at IIPM.”

While Sabnis at first found the whole legal threat funny, he wasn’t laughing when his boss at IBM told him that IIPM was putting pressure on IBM (which sells laptops to IIPM) to get Sabnis to delete the blog posts. Plus, IIPM told IBM that its students were planning to burn their IBM laptops in protest. Sabnis quickly decided to quit his job at IBM to spare the company the PR nightmare.

Meanwhile, IIPM served similar legal notices to JAM magazine and another blogger who had written about the school, Varna Sriraman. The furor in the Indian blogosphere — where bloggers refused to delete any posts — finally caught the attention of the mainstream Indian media, which then covered IIPM’s inflated claims.

But the legal threats from IIPM did nothing to cow bloggers or JAM Magazine. Rashmi Bansal, the editor and publisher of JAM and a blogger as well, told that IIPM’s Chaudhuri and the school’s dean A. Sandeep showed up at JAM’s offices to accuse them of yellow journalism. After the visit, JAM received a 17-page legal notice threatening to sue JAM for defamation unless IIPM received a retraction and apology.

Amit Saxena, head of corporate communications for IIPM, sent a statement that tried to deflect the criticism of JAM and bloggers, and accused the latter of a slant toward the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), a more respected and established system of business schools.

“We are stunned as to how the most pampered students of India (i.e. from the IIM) suffer from so much inferiority complex from us that given the first opportunity to pen something (be it [former] IIM students like Rashmi Bansal or Gaurav Sabnis, and all other IIM students on the Net and other media), they stoop down so low as to write relentless lies and spread baseless rumors about IIPM,” the statement read, in part. “But beyond a point IIPM can’t allow these kinds of shallow rumors mongering to go on and had to take an action.”

But Saxena would not discuss the details of the JAM expose, and IIPM has never explained discrepancies with its ads and the information unearthed by journalists and bloggers. Instead, IIPM has served legal notices, and a plethora of nameless blogs, allegedly by IIPM alumni, have sprouted up overnight defending IIPM and smearing the bloggers.

Well, on this all story, i can only say that I am with Rashmi and Gaurav.. I will never tolerate any defending of freedom of speech.. That was a typing mistake.. I wanted to say “I will never tolerate any attacking of freedom of speech..”

Have you ever thought what happens to your body after you die? Its either burned or burried according to the religion you are part of.. But at last, your body is of no use to you or anyone else.. Well, you can change it.

EYE BANKING IN INDIA

In India , thee are approximately 120 lakh blind in both eyes and 80 lakh blind in one eye , which is about one fourth of the total blind population of the world . This means 14.9 out of every 1000 people in India are blind compared to just 3 per 1000 in the developed countries. Blindness in most cases is avoidable that is, either preventable or curable. Of the 120 lakh blind, approximately 103 lakh are curable by relatively simple operations, unfortunately yet they remain uncured.

About 96 lakh persons suffer from cataract which can be cured by a simple operation. Seven lakh of Indias population suffering from corneal blindness, mostly children in their early childhood, can be cured by corneal transplantation.

STATUS OF EYE DONATION IN INDIA

There is a severe lack of donor eyes in India and only 4.500 operations are being performed every year, while 30,000 new victims are added each year to the long list of 7 lakh patients already waiting to be cured. Although there are enough qualified surgeons and plenty of potential patients, corneal transplantation cannot be carried out due to lack of donor corneas. Eye donation means people pledging to donate their eyes after death to be used for corneal grafting for restoring sight to corneal blind people. In India there are more than 80 lakh deaths every year but sadly the corneal donations do not exceed a few thousand.

The reason for very low number of eye donations are manifold

1) Lack of awareness in general public
2) Improper development of infrastructure
3) Absence of motivation even among the trained personnel or
4) Social and religious taboos

WHO CAN DONATE EYES

Almost any one of any age can pledge to donate his / her eyes after death.
It does not matter even if you

Wear glasses
Are hypertensive
Are diabetic, or
Have undergone any eye surgery

The ultimate decision about usage for transplantation is made after evaluation by a specialist. The recipient of cornea will always remain anonymous. However, the family of the donor should be satisfied that the eyes have been used for noble cause of giving vision to the blind. What could be a greater donation than donating the eyesight, enabling two blinds to see the vividity of the world !

EYE DONATION: HOW DOES IT WORK?

The eyes have to be removed within six to eight hours to death; therefore the nearest eye bank or eye collection centre must be informed of the death immediately.

The donor needs not to be taken to the eye bank the eye bank team will come to take the eyes wherever the donor is, at no cost.

Removed of eyes is a simple procedure and it does not take a long time. It causes no scar or disfigurement of the face.

On reaching the eye bank eyes are evaluated processed and used for a corneal transplant surgery.

The donated eyes who are on transplantation on the patients eyes who are on the waiting list in accordance with the priority based on the guidelines.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is cornea?
Cornea is the glass like covering over the pupil of the eye.

Why does the cornea get damaged?
The cornea usually gets damaged because of infections or injuries of the eye or poor nutrition especially in childhood.

How can the eyesight in these patients be restored?
Persons who have lost their sight because of damage to the cornea can hope to regain it with corneal grafting.

Who can be an eye donor?
Any ones age sex is not important, and it does not matter if you wear glasses or have undergone a cataract operation or any other eye surgery. All that is needed is a clear and healthy cornea.

Are any costs involved in eye donation?
No fees are charged from the family. The Eye Collection Center will rush a doctor to the donors home. This is a free service in the public interest.

Can I choose who will receive the corneas from my eyes?
You may make a request to that effect to the eye bank. But the corneas are usually transplanted into the next two patients on the waiting list to avoid any unfair practice.

Can my family meet the person who receives the corneas from my eyes?
No. the recipient will always remian anonymous. But the family should take pride in knowing the fact that the donors eyes have been used to restore vision to two blind person.

Can the eyes be removed at home?
The eyes can be removed at home or any other place where the body is kept after death.

Does the recipient have to pay for the eye that is used for grafting?
Services by the government and voluntary sector are provided free of charge. Donated eyes are never bought or sold.

What are the normal and religious views on eye donation?
Religious leaders throughout the world have voiced their support for eye donation as an expression for the highest humanitarian ideals.

Indian Governemt honoured the service by forming this stamp marked the 100 years of service to the blind in 1987.
The stamp shows a blind boy, a Braille book and a computer. The cover
features Eye Donation Campaign.

So, please come on.. Join your hands for the great service to mankind.. Donate your eyes..

For more information and eye donation pledge forms, contact Dinesh @ 9890897198 or Dhiraj @ 9890793853 or mail us at punehelpers@gmail.com .

As first reported in June, the new Yahoo Mail beta features e-mail caching, message preview, drag-and-drop filing, the ability to quickly search e-mail headers, body text and attachments and the ability to view multiple e-mails at the same time in separate windows and scroll through all message headers in a folder rather than one page at a time.

In addition, the new version adds address auto-complete, right-click menus and standard keyboard shortcuts.

The beta will be available to a limited group of Yahoo Mail users in the United States and will be expanded to include users worldwide in coming months, Yahoo said. Users can choose to use the new version, stick with the older version, or switch between the two.

The amount of storage remains at 1 gigabyte for the free service.

Do you need it?
Keep in mind that ICF is for use only with a direct connection to the Internet, such as a dial-up or cable modem connection. This means that computers connected to the Internet through a LAN, or Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), or a hardware router doesn’t need an ICF. Moreover, you may tend to have some trouble with networking other computers on a LAN, as File and Printer Sharing services are blocked. It would make sense to disable the ICF, if you intend to use File and Printer Sharing services that would be essential in a LAN environment. To disable the ICF, go to the Control Panel, and select the Network Connections. Open this and right-click on the desired connection, click on Properties and under the Advanced tab, disable ICF.

The Calendar carries 12 stunning shots on the theme “Earth Alive” clicked by members of Tekdi Eco Portal which were selected from over 105 entries received for the online Photography Competition held between 22nd April & 22nd May. The calendar marks all important eco days & events from June 2005 to May 2006.

The calendar will be available as a free download at www.tekdi.com in the downloads section.

You can preview the Calendar at this link:

http://www.tekdi.com/Calendar/1024/june_1024x768.jpg

http://www.tekdi.com/Calendar/1024/july_1024x768.jpg

Dave Massy, a senior program manager for IE, warned users in a blog posting that after installing Netscape 8, IE will render XML files as a blank page, including XML files that have an XSLT transformation.

Check out here.

Check out full story here and here.

search for “search engines” on google, and google’s rank comes after the lycos, altavista, yahoo search and hotbot search engines.
Should we call it Google’s modesty ??

Check out here

Read complete story here.

Onscreen Keyboard
Originally uploaded by dinesh soni.

An onscreen keyboard is in-built in Windows XP. It can be useful if you are using a tablet PC or if your keyboard goes on the blink. To access the keyboard, go to Start > Run, type OSK and press [Enter]. The keyboard opens up on your computer screen, featuring three typing modes that you can use to type data:
Clicking mode: you click the on-screen keys.
Scanning mode: you press a hot key, or use a switch-input device, to type highlighted characters.
Hovering mode: you use a mouse or joystick to point to a key, which is then typed.

DHCP
Every computer system on a TCP/IP network is assigned a unique address known as IP address to identify a computer on the network. As the network grows, the network administrator has to keep track of the addresses given to the systems. This becomes even more complex when systems are added or removed from the network. Hence, DHCP is used to dynamically assign IP addresses to computers on a network. Instead of the network administrator, a DHCP server keeps track of the IP addresses assigned. Hence, a system joining a network is assigned an IP address from an IP pool. That IP address is retrieved back to the pool when the system is removed. The IP address assigned to a system changes every time it boots up and gets connected to the network.

http://www.dhcp.org

TCP/IP

TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. It is the basic set of rules that is used in almost all networks present today. It has a two layer structure in which TCP forms the higher layer and IP forms the lower layer of the protocol. TCP handles the transmission of packets over the network and it makes sure that the original packet is reassembled properly at the destination node. The lower layer, Internet protocol, is closer to the actual network it handles the address part of the packet. This layer checks whether the packet reaches the right destination. TCP/IP communication is primarily point to point, which means that each communication is from one point or node in the network to another point or node. It uses a client/server model of communication. The address given to each node on a TCP/IP network is called an IP address. This address can be given manually to a system, or a network can be configured to give an IP address to a machine when it logs on to the network. When an IP is given manually it is called static IP allocation, and the second method is called dynamic IP allocation. For this a technique known as DHCP or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is used. This method of IP allocation is normally used when your system gets connected to the internet using a dial up modem. A DHCP server used by your ISP assigns an IP to your system dynamically. The address scheme that is presently used is called IPv4. In this method each system is given a unique number separated by four dots. An example is 162.122.111.67. Here each number separated by dots can take a value between 0 and 255. These numbers specify the node address, network address, IP class, etc. of a node on a network. In the future, a new addressing scheme known as IPv6 would be used to overcome some of the limitations of IPv4.

If you have only 128 MB RAM, your machine might be a bit sluggish after installing Windows XP. So to achieve optimal performance without buying additional RAM, disable certain visual settings and free up some precious memory. Go to the Control Panel > system > Advanced, and click on the Settings button under Performance. Change various graphical effects, and ensure that the animation and shadow options are unchecked, as they tend to consume a lot of memory. You should get a better response from your operating system, without spending any money on RAM.

Adapter address

This is a hexadecimal address, also called the MAC address, unique to every network adapter. It is hard coded into the card by the manufacturer, and consists of six 8-bit numbers. However remember that modems do not have this address-this is restricted to network adapters-the number for a modem or dial up adapter is set to a meaningless default number.

IP address

This is the current IP networking address. Depending on whether the DHCP is used, this may be static or dynamically allotted. The static value is entered in the TCP/IP network configuration menu.

Subnet Mask

This is used to mask a portion of the IP address, to determine the subnet where the computer is located-within the internal network. All computers running TCP/IP must have the subnet mask defined.

Default Gateway

This is the IP address of the computer that provides the connection to a remote network. The gateway computer is the computer that TCP/IP will use to communicate and route data destined for computers on remote networks.

DHCP Server

This entry indicates the IP address of the DHCP server. The DHCP server, when present, will dynamically assign an IP address to the machine upon connecting to the network. Clicking on the Release button will release the IP address, and the Renew button requests a new IP address from the DHCP server.

Primary and Secondary WINS Server

These settings specify the IP address of the Primary and Secondary WINS Server, if present. The WINS servers translate the NetBIOS names into the corresponding IP addresses.

Lease Obtained and Leased Expired

These values show when the current IP address was obtained and when it is due to expire. You can use the Release and Renew buttons to release and renew your current IP address. In any case, the DHCP client automatically attempts to renew the lease, when 50 per cent of the lease time has expired.

PUNE: In a bid to restore sanctity and serenity of Sinhagad fort, the city’s favourite picnic spot, the forest department has decided to enforce a strict ban on smoking, drinking and meat-consumption there from March 27.

Friends, We are very happy to inform you all that a book titled ‘A Rendezvous with Sahyadri’ has been published recently by Snehal Prakashan,Pune.

This book was published on 1st December 2004, during the event “Shivotsav 2004″ by Shivshahir Babasaheb Purandare in presence of Prof.P.K.Ghanekar. Shivshahir Babasaheb Purandare, Ninadji Bedekar,Anandrao Deshpande,Sureshji Wadkar highly praised this book during the event of Shivotsav 2004.

This book deals with :-

Trekking information of about 28 forts in Sahyadri,
Some informative articles such as
1) Sahyadri – The DNA of Maharashtra
2) Shivaji – King of Sahyadri
3) Caves & Temples in Sahyadri
4) Butterfies in Sahyadri
5) Birds and Flowers in Sahyadri

Excellent Photographs & Maps.
Preface to this book is given by Prof P.K.Ghanekar.
The hallmark of this book is ‘Saviours of Sahyadri’. Through this section author has highlighted some of the organisations working actively in the Sahyadris The names of the organisations are as follows:
1) Chakram
2) Hariyali
3) KshitiZ
4) Nisargmitra
5) Shivteerth
And much more like Informational bytes, Checklist, format for field study, local words etc.
Intrested people can Contact :

1) Any book stall nearby

2) Harshal Ravindra Mahajan.
A/25, Nav Mauli, Ramchandra Nagar,
Manpada Rd, Dombivli(E). 421201
Tel : 0251-2440335

3) Snehal Prakashan
36 B,Gurudatta Sahvas
470/498 Shanivar Peth,
Pune 411030.
Tel : 020-24452911

The dialogue “Mogambo Khush Hua” is one of the most famous quote in Bollywood history.

This acting Legend Amrish Puri sadly left the world, leaving whole world in tears.

Puri was born on June 22, 1932 and made his Bollywood debut in 1971 with Reshma Aur Shera.

The younger brother of character actor Madan Puri, he initially screen-tested for a hero’s role in 1954, but the producer rejected him.

He then turned to theatre and also lent his voice to several advertisement jingles.

After Reshma Aur Shera, he had to wait a long time before filmmaker Shyam Benegal offered him roles in films like Nishaant, Manthan and Bhumika.

His career-defining role came with Mr India in 1987, as Mogambo. The line, Mogambo khush hua, became one of the most famous in the history of Hindi cinema.

He also acted in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Hulchul was his latest release.

May his soul reside in Peace.

*Freaking out and enjoying life doesn’t need drugs or cigarettes.

*There are relationships apart from dating partners, marriage, sex partners, siblings, and friendship that can be very emotional and true and beyond the understanding of many people. ( … )

*(Akash, Sid) Even though you may be the best of friends there is always a limit which should never be crossed. Then it starts hurting … …

*Improving your imperfections after you realize it, always takes some time.

*(Guess Who??) You always don’t need to show how much u love or care about her, in fact it can be quite boring (Sameer, ofcourse )

*Believe in Love, true love will never let you down… Hmmmm…!

*Never be ashamed to go back to your old friends, friends are there to understand your mistakes.

*Do not be afraid of others, for sometimes those very others are afraid of you (The Australian Beggar)

*You don’t need a snazzy cell phone to be cool.

*Whenever you need your friend, remember that she/he is just a phone call away… distances don’t separate friends

*3d photographs?? True friends can understand

*What a person wants in life is some one who can make him/her smile. Be true in all your relationships, be it a friend, a spouse, or a stranger.

*In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

*It’s the friends you can call up at 4 A. M. that matter … (Oh Yesss!)

*The only unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable. (One cannot always be the same person either)

*Happiness is an attitude. If you are used to being unhappy, even in the best of situations you’ll still grumble and be unhappy. Nothing can make you happy in the world.

*The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with – never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve ever had.

SAN FRANCISCO: Pictures of Earth-like clouds were captured by Nasa’s Mars rover on Wednesday. Reports also indicate that there’s a rock that doesn’t look like anything scientists have ever seen.

The Spirit rover, ambling through the Columbia Hills at the fringe of the Gusev crater, has uncovered a riot of rock forms and geochemical novelties, including a mineral called goethite, which had not been found on Mars before.

Goethite is common on Earth and forms only in the presence of water, though the water can be liquid, frozen or vaporous, said Goestar Klingelhoefer of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany. Rover scientists presented their latest findings here Monday at meeting of the American Geophysical Union. A chunk of terrestrial goethite about the size of a can of tomato soup, passed around during a press conference, was black and shiny.

Other findings suggest the rocks of Columbia Hills have a history that included either a meteorite impact or volcanic activity, and that water was involved at some point.

Cornell astronomer Steven Squyres, principle investigator for the rover science instruments, said that just this weekend the team spotted a type of rock never seen before.

Scientists haven’t yet analysed it and Squyres wouldn’t speculate on what it was. But he noted that the exposed rocks of the Columbia Hills, thought to be billions of years old, reveal an extremely complex structure and range of mineral types. “We’re stunned by the diversity of rocks,” Squyres said.

What is a Fuel Cell?

Technically, a fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity.

The other electrochemical device that we are all familiar with is the battery. A battery has all of its chemicals stored inside, and it converts those chemicals into electricity too. This means that a battery eventually “goes dead” and you either throw it away or recharge it.

With a fuel cell, chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead — as long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.

The fuel cell will compete with many other types of energy conversion devices, including the gas turbine in your city’s power plant, the gasoline engine in your car and the battery in your laptop. Combustion engines like the turbine and the gasoline engine burn fuels and use the pressure created by the expansion of the gases to do mechanical work. Batteries converted chemical energy back into electrical energy when needed. Fuel cells should do both tasks more efficiently.

A fuel cell provides a DC (direct current) voltage that can be used to power motors, lights or any number of electrical appliances.

There are several different types of fuel cells, each using a different chemistry. Fuel cells are usually classified by the type of electrolyte they use. Some types of fuel cells work well for use in stationary power generation plants. Others may be useful for small portable applications or for powering cars.

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the most promising technologies. This is the type of fuel cell that will end up powering cars, buses and maybe even your house.

Proton Exchange Membrane

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) uses one of the simplest reactions of any fuel cell. First, let’s take a look at what’s in a PEM fuel cell:

Figure 1. The parts of a PEM fuel cell

In Figure 1 you can see there are four basic elements of a PEMFC:

–> The anode, the negative post of the fuel cell, has several jobs. It conducts the electrons that are freed from the hydrogen molecules so that they can be used in an external circuit. It has channels etched into it that disperse the hydrogen gas equally over the surface of the catalyst.

–>The cathode, the positive post of the fuel cell, has channels etched into it that distribute the oxygen to the surface of the catalyst. It also conducts the electrons back from the external circuit to the catalyst, where they can recombine with the hydrogen ions and oxygen to form water.

–>The electrolyte is the proton exchange membrane. This specially treated material, which looks something like ordinary kitchen plastic wrap, only conducts positively charged ions. The membrane blocks electrons.

–>The catalyst is a special material that facilitates the reaction of oxygen and hydrogen. It is usually made of platinum powder very thinly coated onto carbon paper or cloth. The catalyst is rough and porous so that the maximum surface area of the platinum can be exposed to the hydrogen or oxygen. The platinum-coated side of the catalyst faces the PEM

http://static.howstuffworks.com/flash/fuel-cell-animation.swf

(Above URL gives Animation of a fuel cell working

above animation shows the pressurized hydrogen gas (H2) entering the fuel cell on the anode side. This gas is forced through the catalyst by the pressure. When an H2 molecule comes in contact with the platinum on the catalyst, it splits into two H+ ions and two electrons (e-). The electrons are conducted through the anode, where they make their way through the external circuit (doing useful work such as turning a motor) and return to the cathode side of the fuel cell.

Chemistry

of a Fuel Cell

Anode side:

2H2 => 4H+ + 4e-

Cathode side:

O2 + 4H+ + 4e- => 2H2O

Net reaction:

2H2 + O2 => 2H2O

Meanwhile, on the cathode side of the fuel cell, oxygen gas (O2) is being forced through the catalyst, where it forms two oxygen atoms. Each of these atoms has a strong negative charge. This negative charge attracts the two H+ ions through the membrane, where they combine with an oxygen atom and two of the electrons from the external circuit to form a water molecule (H2O).

This reaction in a single fuel cell produces only about 0.7 volts. To get this voltage up to a reasonable level, many separate fuel cells must be combined to form a fuel-cell stack.

PEMFCs operate at a fairly low temperature (about 176 degrees Fahrenheit, 80 degrees Celsius), which means they warm up quickly and don’t require expensive containment structures. Constant improvements in the engineering and materials used in these cells have increased the power density to a level where a device about the size of a small piece of luggage can power a car.

Problems with Fuel Cells

We learned that a fuel cell uses oxygen and hydrogen to produce electricity. The oxygen required for a fuel cell comes from the air. In fact, in the PEM fuel cell, ordinary air is pumped into the cathode. The hydrogen is not so readily available, however. Hydrogen has some limitations that make it impractical for use in most applications. For instance, you don’t have a hydrogen pipeline coming to your house, and you can’t pull up to a hydrogen pump at your local gas station.

Hydrogen is difficult to store and distribute, so it would be much more convenient if fuel cells could use fuels that are more readily available. This problem is addressed by a device called a reformer. A reformer turns hydrocarbon or alcohol fuels into hydrogen, which is then fed to the fuel cell. Unfortunately, reformers are not perfect. They generate heat and produce other gases besides hydrogen. They use various devices to try to clean up the hydrogen, but even so, the hydrogen that comes out of them is not pure, and this lowers the efficiency of the fuel cell.

Efficiency of Fuel Cells

Pollution reduction is one of the primary goals of the fuel cell. By comparing a fuel-cell-powered car to a gasoline-engine-powered car and a battery-powered car, you can see how fuel cells might improve the efficiency of cars today.

Since all three types of cars have many of the same components (tires, transmissions, etc.), we’ll ignore that part of the car and compare efficiencies up to the point where mechanical power is generated. Let’s start with the fuel-cell car. (All of these efficiencies are approximations, but they should be close enough to make a rough comparison.)

Fuel-Cell-Powered Electric Car

If the fuel cell is powered with pure hydrogen, it has the potential to be up to 80-percent efficient. That is, it converts 80 percent of the energy content of the hydrogen into electrical energy. But, as we learned in the previous section, hydrogen is difficult to store in a car. When we add a reformer to convert methanol to hydrogen, the overall efficiency drops to about 30 to 40 percent.

We still need to convert the electrical energy into mechanical work. This is accomplished by the electric motor and inverter. A reasonable number for the efficiency of the motor/inverter is about 80 percent. So we have 30- to 40-percent efficiency at converting methanol to electricity, and 80-percent efficiency converting electricity to mechanical power. That gives an overall efficiency of about 24 to 32 percent.

Other Types of Fuel Cells

There are several other types of fuel-cell technologies being developed for possible commercial uses:

Alkaline fuel cell (AFC): This is one of the oldest designs. It has been used in the U.S. space program since the 1960s. The AFC is very susceptible to contamination, so it requires pure hydrogen and oxygen. It is also very expensive, so this type of fuel cell is unlikely to be commercialized.

Phosphoric-acid fuel cell (PAFC): The phosphoric-acid fuel cell has potential for use in small stationary power-generation systems. It operates at a higher temperature than PEM fuel cells, so it has a longer warm-up time. This makes it unsuitable for use in cars.

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC): These fuel cells are best suited for large-scale stationary power generators that could provide electricity for factories or towns. This type of fuel cell operates at very high temperatures (around 1,832 F, 1,000 C). This high temperature makes reliability a problem, but it also has an advantage: The steam produced by the fuel cell can be channeled into turbines to generate more electricity. This improves the overall efficiency of the system.

Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC): These fuel cells are also best suited for large stationary power generators. They operate at 1,112 F (600 C), so they also generate steam that can be used to generate more power. They have a lower operating temperature than the SOFC, which means they don’t need such exotic materials. This makes the design a little less expensive.

As we’ve discussed, fuel cells could be used in a number of applications. Each proposed use raises its own issues and challenges. Let’s take a look at the various applications, starting with automobiles.

Automobiles

Fuel-cell-powered cars will start to replace gas- and diesel-engine cars in about 2005. A fuel-cell car will be very similar to an electric car but with a fuel cell and reformer instead of batteries. Most likely, you will fill your fuel-cell car up with methanol, but some companies are working on gasoline reformers. Other companies hope to do away with the reformer completely by designing advanced storage devices for hydrogen.

Portable Power

Fuel cells also make sense for portable electronics like laptop computers, cellular phones or even hearing aids. In these applications, the fuel cell will provide much longer life than a battery would, and you should be able to”recharge” it quickly with a liquid or gaseous fuel.

Buses

Fuel-cell-powered buses are already running in several cities. The bus was one of the first applications of the fuel cell because initially, fuel cells needed to be quite large to produce enough power to drive a vehicle. In the first fuel-cell bus, about one-third of the vehicle was filled with fuel cells and fuel-cell equipment. Now the power density has increased to the point that a bus can run on a much smaller fuel cell.

Home Power Generation

This is a promising application that you may be able to order as soon as 2002. General Electric is going to offer a fuel-cell generator system made by Plug Power. This system will use a natural gas or propane reformer and produce up to seven kilowatts of power (which is enough for most houses). A system like this produces electricity and significant amounts of heat, so it is possible that the system could heat your water and help to heat your house without using any additional energy.

Large Power Generation

Some fuel-cell technologies have the potential to replace conventional combustion power plants. Large fuel cells will be able to generate electricity more efficiently than today’s power plants. The fuel-cell technologies being developed for these power plants will generate electricity directly from hydrogen in the fuel cell, but will also use the heat and water produced in the cell to power steam turbines and generate even more electricity. There are already large portable fuel-cell systems available for providing backup power to hospitals and factories.

Geography of Pune Urban Area

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/pageog.htm

Fungs

Fungal Genera of the Pune City

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/pafungi.htm

Herbal species

Herb Species Richness of Pune City Habitats

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/paherbs.htm

Trees

Tree Diversity of Pune Urban Area: Cosmetic Increase?

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/patrees.htm

Insects and Molluscs

Survey of aquatic insects and molluscs of Pune

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/paaqimsc.htm

Ants

ANT GENERA DISTRIBUTION ACROSS PUNE CITY

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/paants.htm

Butterflies

Butterfly Diversity Of Pune City Along Human Impact Gradient

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/pabfly.htm

Fishes

FRESH-WATER FISH DECLINE OF PUNE URBAN AREA

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/pafish.htm

Frogs

AMPHIBIAN DECLINE IN PUNE CITY

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/pafrogs.htm

Reptiles

Reptiles of Pune Urban Area: Increase or Decline?

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/parept.htm

Birds

Avifauna Around Pune

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/pabirds.htm

Mammals

Retreating wild mammals of Pune Urban Area

http://www.ranwa.org/punealive/pamam.htm

However, i don’t know how trustworthy those reports are…

But surely a knowledge incresing feast to read..

1) A rare occasion of watching all the planets on one side of sun and in their respective order will appear in this month. Once the mercury passes over Sun towards west on 10th, we will be able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto on west side of Sun. However, Mercury and Pluto won’t be totally visible due to vicinity to Sun. This occasion won’t appear for next 400 years as said by Rogger Cinot of “Sky and Telescope” magazine.

2) On 7th Dec, Americans will be able to see Jupiter hide behind Moon. However, this hide and seek game (called as “Vidhan” in Marathi) won’t be visible in India.

3) The asteroid shower from Gemini will be visible on 13th and 14th. Those glowing yellow asteroids will be seen at a rate of 40 to 50 per hour near the east side of sky. The rate will be maximum during 10 pm to 3 am.

You will want your site to be highly interactive so that users find it easier to navigate. You might want to add menu systems, mouse scroll effects, etc. What you would definitely want is dynamic content. You can download any number of these scripts for free from www.dynamicdrive.com.

Menu and navigation systems

Windows users might prefer having a Windows interface on the Web too. You can satisfy this need by using the menu and navigation scripts available at www.dynamicdrive.com. You can test each script before trying it on your site. Select the one that you like and following the instructions, copy and paste the code into your Web page and hey presto! You have the required menu and navigation effect on your site. You can choose from a range of scrolling, static, and dropdown menu and navigation items from this section.

Document effects

Your HTML pages need not be static. You can add cool effects to it. For instance, you can have a snowfall or flowers moving across the page randomly. Mind you, this looks good but can be irritating too. So add these effects to pages where you have lighter content, for example, a photo gallery or a personal links section.

Free applications

If you want to track the number of visitors to your site, you can add a page counter for this purpose. The other small applications that you could possibly add to your Web site are forums, guest books, log systems, polls, and e-mail forms, etc. Your hosting service might provide most of these. Since all the information is stored on the application provider’s server, you don’t have to worry about the hosting space for using any of these applications.

Count the visitors

Make use of the counters if you want to track the number of users who visit your site. Some sophisticated counters allow you to track down statistics on user visits month-wise or even day-wise. Microsoft bCentral offers you a counter that tells you exactly how many people visited your site on a particular day in a month.

Visit www.fastcounter.com and you will be redirected to www.bcentral.com. Register and get your passport. A couple of clicks and the site designs the counter and gives you the HTML code. You can copy and paste the code onto your page. All the stats will be stored on the bCentral server and you can log on to your account anytime to view the statistics.

Tracking the stats

You might be curious about which pages on your site are visited the most, what browser the visitor uses, or probably what OS most visitors use. Visit www.extreme-dm.com and register yourself for free tracking code. You will be sent a mail with the code details. Follow the instructions provided and paste the code onto your site. As users visit your Web page, tracking starts automatically and your account is updated with details of the user and his PC. You can login to your account at the site at any time to view your site statistics that are quite exhaustive. You can also restart your tracking at any point in time, but this is at the cost of losing your earlier data.

Soapbox

You can include message boards for free on your site. Visit www.boards2go.com and register yourself for a neat message board service. You can provide a link to the message board from your site or copy the code provided by boards2go.com while you register.

RSVP

You have worked hard to put together your online monument. Wouldn’t you like to hear from the visitors whether they liked your site? A guest book is your solution. Some free subdomain name registrars such as Freeservers and Yahoo! Geocities provide a free guest book within the site manager.

Visit www.guestbookgiant.com and signup for a free service. Create as many guest books as you want and customise them from the respective menus. After customising the guest book, click on the ‘Get code’ link. This provides you two links-one to enter the guest book and the other to view it. Paste these links on to your Web site. Now visitors to your site can use the guest book to send their feedback to you.

DHTML games

Want to spice up your Web page? Then host some Shockwave, Flash and DHTML games. Some DHTML games are available at www.dynamicdrive.com. Download the games and unzip them. Before you upload them on your site, read the instructions provided by the author. Copy all the necessary files on a specific directory on your hosting space and provide a link from your main page to the games section of your Web site. Believe it or not, most visitors get enthusiastic when they see age-old games that they can play online!

Create the blocks

There are sites where you can create logos, buttons and GIFs of your choice. Customise the available buttons and GIFs to suit your preference

Create Logos

If you want a logo for your site, log on to www.flamingtext.com. Here you choose ‘Start Here’ from the sitemap in the ‘New Users’ section. You’ll reach a page that carries a list of all available designs. Select the one you want and you’re taken to a page where you can edit the design-change the text, size, colour, or font. Enter your preferences in the appropriate boxes and click on Create logo. A few seconds of rendering and your logo’s ready. Right-click on the image to save it to your hard disk, you can use the image on your site as your registered logo.

Sew that button

There are sites that help you render buttons. Visit www.flamingtext.com and click on the buttons section listed at the top of the page. Choose the style and appearance of the button. The final section of the page lets you add text and change features such as colour gradients, the shape, etc of the button. Make your modifications and click on the Add text button to create your button. A few seconds and your button’s rendered and displayed on the Web site. Save it by right-clicking on it.

Deleting cookies

Many Web sites drop little files onto your system that let them keep track of your passwords, and the date and time of your visits. To get rid of these files, delete the contents of the Cookies folder and the Temporary Internet Files folder in your Windows directory (but not the folders themselves). This will remove all traces of your surfing pattern. You could also use a third-party cookie cleaning software such as Cookie Crusher.

If you want to perform this task in Internet Explorer 6, open a new window of Internet Explorer; go to Tools- Internet Options. In the new window that appears, click on Delete Cookies. Once that is done, click on Delete files. You can delete all offline content if you want. That should take care of the temporary files and cookies in Internet Explorer.

Working around cookies

Adjust IE’s security settings to keep random Web sites from sending cookies to your hard drive or uploading ActiveX Controls. To do this, select Internet Options from the Tools menu, and click on the Security tab. Slide the bar under ‘Security level for this zone’ up or down to increase or decrease the security level. Each level-High, Medium, Medium-Low, and Low-lists exactly which actions and applications it allows or blocks. It is better to click Custom Levels, and then select to prompt for cookies that are stored on your computer. This allows you to control which sites’ cookies you want to allow. Remember though, that some sites may not work properly if cookies are disabled. In addition to this, you should also disable ActiveX, since this can pose a serious security hazard.

Disabling Windows Scripting Host for Windows 9x

Internet Explorer installs Windows Scripting Host by default, and this is used to run VB scripts that may contain viruses or Trojans. To remove Windows Scripting Host, go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup. Select Accessories and from there uncheck Windows Scripting Host. You can also go to the Folder Options in Windows Explorer, and select the .vbs file type and remove it

Disabling AutoComplete

The AutoComplete feature may be useful while filling out forms and usernames, but it also allows other users to know your usernames and then guess your passwords. When the AutoComplete function is active, some sites, search engines and entry fields retain the words you’ve entered, so anyone who uses the browser after you and visits that site can see the entries you made. To turn off this feature, go to Tools > Internet Options, and click the Content tab. Next, click the AutoComplete button in the Personal Information section to display the AutoComplete Settings window. Uncheck the ‘Forms’ and ‘Usernames and Passwords on Forms’ boxes.

Deleting History items

The History folder stores a record of all the Web sites you’ve visited. This can be used to spy on your online activities. To get rid of unwanted URL histories, go to Tools > Internet Options, and click on the General tab. You will find the History section, and click the Clear History button. Always repeat this before you close the browser. Set the ‘Days to keep pages in History’ to 1. This will not only keep IE neat and tidy, but will also act as a cushion if you forget to delete the history. If you don’t want to clear your entire History folder, but want to remove single pages, click the History button on your IE toolbar to open the History window frame. This shows up sites, with all the pages you visited there, as files. Right-click on the file you want to get rid of, and select Delete.

Filtering content

Certain sites on the Internet are not appropriate for children. You can use a separate software program for filtering content, but IE also has some built-in filtering tools. To configure these, go to Tools > Internet Options > Content. Under Content Advisor, click the Enable button, and adjust the slider in each of the four categories-Language, Nudity, Sex, and Violence. The Description box at the bottom details what each level allows. Click OK to activate the Advisor.

Disabling Java

Java and JavaScript applets can take control of your browser, and you should exercise caution when surfing unknown and potentially questionable sites. Both Java and JavaScript can be disabled from within the browser, but you will miss out on a lot of cyber experiences. The best course, then, would be to toggle between these settings according to the perceived security threat.Note: Some harmless Web sites using Java may not load properly if you disable Java and JavaScript in Internet Explorer.

Changing setting of restricted zone

The default settings of Internet Explorer enable Active scripts for Restricted Sites. To modify these settings in Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Options > Security and select Restricted Zones. Click on Custom Level and then go to the Active Scripting option and disable it.

Picture it

Here’s where you actually start designing the site. Don’t rush into making the pages or graphics yet. Use a paper and pencil, or even an imaging tool (MS Paint is good enough for this) and scribble your site layout first. Check out some existing Web sites for ideas. It’s a good practice to keep all navigation links together. If there are too many of them, club them into logical groups. Keep important items, such as navigational links in the top 400 pixels of the page. Visitors to the site see this area first, so that’s where the most important information should appear. Also, ensure that the main body of the page starts within this area, so visitors can start reading the text right away.

The first cut

When you start designing your Web site, do not develop smaller components of the page as individual components but instead start work on the whole page as a single image. Once the main image is ready, you can separate out each element by cropping individual items. This will ensure that all the items are of the appropriate size and the final page will be easier to make.

The sacred scrolls

Keep vertical scrolling to a minimum and avoid any horizontal scrolling. Restrict the vertical scroll to a maximum of two-and-a-half scrolls of an 800 x 600 screen. If you do have a lot of information that must be given on the same page, don’t fill up the entire page with text. One column in the centre, irrespective of the amount of scrolling involved, interspersed with attractive graphics works well. This is one reason why it’s a good idea to dedicate a column on the left to navigational links. Since the links already takes up some space, you have to worry less about the information flow. Avoid gimmicks such as tickers and scrolling text. It slows down the page and is usually quite irritating. It also distracts visitor’s eye from the rest of the page.

Optimization Tips

It’s easier to retain visitors to your site if the pages load fast. A fast-loading site holds attention, so they won’t go clicking around other windows.

Table smart

In browsers, tables do not show up on a page until the content within the tables have been downloaded, making a page seem slow. Avoid nested tables and long vertical tables. Instead, stack tables on top of each other-pages then appear to load faster as each table shows up faster. In this context, it’s better to place your navigational links horizontally, towards the top, as it will show up before most of the rest of the page. Keep the most important links at the top and the rest on the left, or keep top-level sections on the top and subsections on the left.

To make a table stand out on a page, use a border around it rather than an image that is fixed in size. Nest the table within a single-cell table with a cell padding of 1 pixel (or more for a thicker border) and a background of the colour you want for the border.

Re-use images

If an image is repeated throughout the site, use the same file across all pages so that it needs to be downloaded only once-the browser’s cache takes care of this. If you use similar images, break them into static and changing parts so you can reuse the static part of the image.

Smaller images

The size of an image will be smaller if you use a 256-colour palette. GIFs are generally smaller than JPEGs, but JPEGs offer better quality when using lots of colours as on photographs. With smaller images, use distinct edges and crisp colours.

Almost all imaging tools optimise images by saving them with a palette of only those colours used in the image. Some applications let you choose how many colours to use in the image. It then replaces colours not found in the palette with the nearest match, thus reducing the image size.

Avoid too many animated graphics. A lot of them together are unpleasant to the eye and also take longer to download as compared to simple images.

Stylise your site

Use a style sheet for your site to add consistency and to reduce page size. You won’t have to explicitly define many font and paragraph tags. Avoid using inline styles-this is as good as using HTML tags-except for special cases. Use a single CSS file that has all the style definitions. Once a person visits a page, the browser will use the file from the cache for the rest of the pages.

Less jazz, more speed

The lesser jazz on a page, the faster it loads. Animations and rollovers affect the size and number of files the browser has to download. Another aspect usually overlooked is DHTML items such as menus that show and hide themselves. Though hidden away, they add a lot of code to the page, increasing the size considerably. Use these wisely and limit the number of such hidden blocks to a minimum.

Ajanta Caves, Cultural site, criteria (i), (ii), (iii) and (vi), inclusion 9/12/83

Ellora Caves, Cultural site, criteria (i), (iii) and (vi), inclusion 9/12/83

Agra Fort, Cultural site, criteria (iii), inclusion 9/12/83

Taj Mahal, Cultural site, criteria (i), inclusion 9/12/83

The Sun Temple, Konarak, Cultural site, criteria (i), (iii) and (vi), inclusion 2/11/84

Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Cultural site, criteria (i), (ii), (iii) and (vi), inclusion 2/11/84

Kaziranga National Park, Natural site, criteria (ii) and (iv), inclusion 6/12/85

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Natural site, criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv), inclusion 6/12/85

Keoladeo National Park, Natural site, criteria (iv), inclusion 6/12/85

Churches and Convents of Goa, Cultural site, criteria (ii), (iv) and (vi), inclusion 28/11/86

Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Cultural site, criteria (i) and (iii), inclusion 28/11/86

Group of Monuments at Hampi, Cultural site, criteria (i), (iii) and (iv), inclusion 28/11/86

Fatehpur Sikri, Cultural site, criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv), inclusion 28/11/86

Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Cultural site, criteria (iii) and (iv), inclusion 11/12/87

Elephanta Caves, Cultural site, criteria (i) and (iii), inclusion 11/12/87

Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur, Cultural site, criteria (ii) and (iii), inclusion 11/12/87

Sundarbans National Park, Natural site, criteria (ii) and (iv), inclusion 11/12/87

Nanda Devi National Park, Natural site, criteria (iii) and (iv), inclusion 9/12/88

Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, Cultural site, criteria (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (vi), inclusion 15/12/89

Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi, Cultural site, criteria (ii) and (iv), inclusion 11/12/93

Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi, Cultural site, criteria (iv), inclusion 11/12/93

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Cultural site, criteria (ii) and (iv), inclusion 1999

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Criteria for the inclusion of cultural properties in the World Heritage List

(i) Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; or

(ii) exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design; or

(iii) Bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared; or

(iv) Be an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates significant stage(s) in human history; or

(v) be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement or land-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change; or (vi) be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance (the Committee considers that this criterion should justify inclusion in the List only in exceptional circumstances or in conjunction with other criteria cultural or natural).

Born Today

Eugene O’Neill 1888

Oscar Wilde 1854

Noah Webster 1758

Died Today

Moshe Dayan 1981

Pope Gregory XIV 1591

Grigory Potemkin 1791

Events

1978 – Karol Wojtyla elected Pope; changes name to John Paul II; 1st non-Italian since 1522 & first Pole.

1964 – China explodes its first nuclear device becoming 5th nuclear power.

1956 – 11,000 carat emerald found in northern Transvaal, South Africa by Charles Kempt and J. Botes.