A PLACE TO THINK ABOUT

Overview of the 10 Steps to Success

2010-04-06T08:20:00.001-07:00

ATTITUDE: Your attitude is the strongest (or weakest) aspect about you. It will determine your self-image and how well or poorly you do at everything. No more “I can’t”.

GOALS: Succeeding and seeing results should be a lot easier if you know what YOU want. If you enjoy what you’re doing and you’re getting better, you’ll want to do it more. The goals become even bigger and better.

OBJECTIVES: hese are the “little things” that constantly focus your attention on the information that will make a difference. The benefits of attaining your objectives daily create a remarkable determination to reach your goals.

ORGANIZATION: Once you are on the path to accomplishing your objectives and goals, you’ll want to reach your outcome faster. The best in every class, in every sport and every area of life learn that time is very precious. It needs to be used wisely.

INSPIRATION: It is inevitable: we all get knocked down physically and mentally. When you were just a baby, you fell down but got back up; otherwise, you would be crawling everywhere. However, staying focused on your goals and objectives can be challenging at times. Don’t lose sight of “why” you want those goals.

COMMITMENT: You will face challenges from friends, classmates, teachers, even people you don’t know. It is GOING TO HAPPEN. You can plan ahead of time that there will be pitfalls. Top performers and successful people always embrace the pitfalls but stay committed to their goals.

LEADERSHIP: When you set out to accomplish something, friends notice. It creates a level of confidence, courage and determination in you. Little by little people start to see and wonder how they can get the same results. People start to follow!

ACCOUNTABILITY: You have finally learned that there is no more blaming your challenges, failures or circumstances on other people. If there is something to get done, a decision that needs to be made or a challenge to be met, you have proven you can do it. “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me”.

GOOD CHOICES, BAD CHOICES IT’S UP TO YOU: So now your friends depend on you. They watch what you say and, more importantly, what you do. So your choices and decisions will impact many. There is no “pressure” on you because you are confident you can make your own choices, as opposed to the group’s choices.

SUCCESS SYSTEM: If you follow the system, you might reap the rewards!!

The Worlds First Dynamic Architecture Rotating Skyscraper Has Wind Turbine Power

2010-02-28T06:27:00.000-08:00

The Dynamic Architecture building, which will be constantly in motion changing its shape, will be able to generate electric energy for itself as well as for other buildings. Forty-eight wind turbines fitted between each rotating floors as well as the solar panels positioned on the roof of the building will produce energy from wind and the sunlight, with no risk of pollution. The total energy produced by this inbuilt ‘powerhouse’ every year will be worth approximately seven million dollars.

Each turbine can produce 0.3 megawatt of electricity, compared to 1-1.5 megawatt generated by a normal vertical turbine (windmill). Considering that Dubai gets 4,000 wind hours annually, the turbines incorporated into the building can generate 1,200,000 kilowatt-hour of energy.

As average annual power consumption of a family is estimated to be 24,000 kilowatt-hour, each turbine can supply energy for about 50 families. The Dynamic Architecture tower in Dubai will be having 200 apartments and hence four turbines can take care of their energy needs. The surplus clean energy produced by the remaining 44 turbines can light up the neighborhood of the building.

However, taking into consideration that the average wind speed in Dubai is of only 16 km/h the architects may need to double the number of turbines to light up the building to eight. Still there will be 40 free turbines, good enough to supply power for five skyscrapers of the same size.

The horizontal turbines of the Dynamic Architecture building are simply inserted between the floors, practically invisible. They neither need a pole nor a concrete foundation. In addition, they are at zero distance from the consumer, which makes maintenance easier.

The modern design of the building and the carbon fiber special shape of the wings take care of the acoustics issues. Producing that much electric energy without any implication on the aesthetic aspect of the building is a revolutionary step in tapping alternative energy sources. Furthermore, this energy will have a positive impact on the environment and economy.

Dubai to build World's Tallest Arch Bridge

2010-02-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

They do things differently in Dubai. They like their stuff bigger, taller, and more expensive than anywhere else. So it only makes sense that the world's tallest arch bridge would be bult there. This bridge, envisioned by NY architecture firm Fxfowle, will be the largest and tallest arch bridge in the world, at one mile long and 670 feet tall. Construction is due to wrap up in 2012 after running some $817 million dollars.

Dubai tallest Arch Bridge (Click to View!)

If any real city on our planet can claim an active stake in creating the urban landscape of the future, it’s probably Dubai. Artificial islands arranged in the shape of the world? Check. The world’s only seven-star hotel? Check. And in 2012, it will also become home to the largest, tallest arch bridge ever. It really looks beautiful and amazing, Dubai is building very fast.

10 tips for good night's sleep

2010-02-28T06:08:00.000-08:00

Stick to a schedule. Erratic bedtimes do not allow for your body to align to the proper circadian rhythms. Mum was right when she set a time we always had to go to sleep as kids. Also, make sure you try to keep the same schedule on weekends too, otherwise the next morning, you’d wake later and feel overly tired.

Sleep only at night. Avoid daytime sleep if possible. Daytime naps steal hours from nighttime slumber. Limit daytime sleep to 20-minute, power naps.

Exercise. It’s actually known to help you sleep better. Your body uses the sleep period to recover its muscles and joints that have been exercised. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every day can help you sleep, but be sure to exercise in the morning or afternoon. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult.

Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax tense muscles.

Avoid eating just before bed. Avoid eat large meals or spicy foods before bedtime. Give yourself at least 2 hours from when you eat to when you sleep. This allows for digestion to happen (or at least start) well before you go to sleep so your body can rest well during the night, rather than churning away your food.

Avoid caffeine. It keeps you awake and that’s now what you want for a good nights sleep. We all know that.

Read a fiction book. It takes you to a whole new world if you really get into it. And then take some time to ponder over the book as you fall asleep. I find as I read more and more, regardless of the book, I get more tired at night and so find it easier to fall asleep. Different for others?

Have the room slightly cooler. I prefer this to a hot room. I prefer to turn off the heat and allow the coolness to circulate in and out of the windows. If I get cold, I wear warmer clothes. It also saves on the bills as you’re not going to require the heat all night long.

Sleep in silence. I find sleeping with no music or TV on more easy and restful. I guess others are different, but sleep with no distractions is best for a clearer mind.

Avoid alcohol before bedtime. It’s a depressant; although it may make it easier to fall asleep, it causes you to wake up during the night. As alcohol is digested your body goes into withdrawal from the alcohol, causing nighttime awakenings and often nightmares for some people.

Secrets For a Flat Stomach

2010-02-28T06:06:00.000-08:00

Developing a lean, flat stomach takes time and patience, especially when it comes to those last few kilograms in those hard to lose places. There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called ’stubborn areas,’ and that is with the correct combination strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel).

Spot Reduction is a Myth - The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to ’spot reduce’ fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs systemically, meaning that you can’t control where the fat comes from. When you burn fat for energy, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off.

Cardio, cardio, cardio - Doing all the abs exercises in the world will do nothing if you have a layer of fat covering it. Doing strength training, or lifting weights, would help, but not as much as aerobic exercise. If you want to add some ab exercises in after the cardio, that’s great, but be sure to work your whole torso, not just the upper abs — that includes the lower abs, lower back and the muscles that wrap around your sides.

For example, Walking, jogging, bicycling, elliptical exercise and stair climbing are all great fat burners. Most give up early in the workout. During the first 10 minutes of aerobic activity, glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the primary fuel source. Because you don’t burn significant amounts of fat until glycogen stores are depleted, the key to maximum fat loss is to work out aerobically for 30-60 minutes continuously per session.

Diet – Its best to stay away from fried food and too many sugary desserts. Abdominal fat loss is a 50% exercise, 50% nutrition combination. Regardless of how much you workout, if the number of calories you take in is greater than the amount you burn, you’ll still put on abdominal fat.

Eat Small Meals Regularly - You should try and spread your calories out into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones so that you don’t overeat in one feeding.

Give it Time – If you want to have a flat stomach in 3 weeks, forget it. Losing fat takes time, and it’s unhealthy to lose too much weight too fast. Gradual weight loss is healthier, and more likely to be sustained over time. Go for a lifestyle change, something you can live with for the rest of your life, or you will just yo-yo. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Feel free to share your tips and stories in the comments section below!

Telugu Movie review - Ye Maya Chesave

2010-02-28T05:54:00.000-08:00

Srikanth rating: 4/5
Punchline: it's a classic!
Genre: Romance
Type: Straight
Banner: Indira Productions

Cast: Naga Chaitanya, Samantha, Krishnudu, Sanjay Swaroop, Surekha Vani

Music: AR Rahman
Cinematography: Manoj Paramahamsa
Editing: Anthony
Lyrics: Anant Sreeram
Dialogues: Anuradha
Story - screenplay - director: Gowtam Vasudev Menon
Producer: Sanjay Swaroop
Release date: 26 February 2010

Review

Story
Karthik (Naga Chaitanya) is an engineering graduate who wants to pursue his career as a film director. Samantha is his neighbour and he falls in love with her at the very first sight. But there are two catches. One is that she is elder to him and the bigger hitch is that she is a Malayali Christian. He proposes to her and she slowly falls for his guts and his perseverance. Her strict father comes to know about it and settles her marriage. She loves him, but can’t hurt her entire family by marrying him. The rest of the story is all about how Karthik achieves his passion to become a film director and tastes success at the personal front.
Artists Performance
Naga Chaitanya: Naga Chaitanya is extremely natural in the role of Karthik. It is basically a conversational film with too many tight close-ups. It takes real confidence and acting prowess to do such scenes in an authoritative manner. Naga Chaitanya proves that he is a brilliant actor with his performance in this movie. His dialogue delivery and body language is highly authentic. You are not going to believe that this is his second film after watching his performance. It’s a top notch effort from him and he will do wonders in the future.
Samantha: Samantha’s debut is one of the best heroine debuts in Telugu cinema. This dusky beauty is highly charming and she is cool in acting as well. The minute expressions she gave spoke volumes about her. Lots of credit should go to director for etching her beautiful characterization. I absolutely loved the voice of the artist who dubbed her. She is the same one who dubbed the voice of Sameera Reddy in ‘Surya s/o Krishnan’. It’s husky and contemporary.
Others: Krishnudu is very good as hero’s friend. Sanjay Swaroop (producer and husband of Manjula) did the role of hero’s father and he suited it well. Puri Jagan played as himself for a few scenes. Trisha and Simbhu (who acted in the Tamil version of the same) did a cameo. All other actors are cast appropriately. Surekha Vani is very good.
Technical departments
Story: Men are simple and women are complex. When it comes to love, man proposes to a woman with plain heart and with no complications. Women, on the other hand make simple things complicated with their complex behaviour. Gowtam Menon has beautifully explored that point and penned a wonderful story of a simple guy who would do anything for love and a complex girl who keeps vacillating about taking decisions.
screenplay - direction: Screenplay of the movie is very good. The movie could end at any point after interval. It needs tremendous narrative skills and screenplay to make people get interested in the second half because the movie can end at the moment hero/heroine converge upon on marriage. I loved the love episodes between Surya and Sameera Reddy (train scene) in Surya s/o of Krishnan and wondered when he is going to make such a story into a full-leangth feature film and Gowtam Menon answered my wish with his next movie by filling it full of magical moments and sweet nothings. It’s a astonishing work by Gowtam Menon. You can’t separate a moment from the movie to be the best. This movie is like a seamless flow of visual poetry.
Other departments: Music by AR Rehman is awesome. Songs are extremely good and background score, rerecording and mixing is perfectly done. All songs are picturized extremely well. Cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa breath-taking. The choice of locations and camera work blended seamlessly. Dialogues by Anuradha are extremely natural and contemporary. Art direction by Rajeevan is superb. Editing my Anthony is flawless. Production values by Indira Productions are impeccable.
Analysis: I had never seen such a wonderful movie that deals with the straightforward nature of a man and complex nature of a woman so perfectly. Everybody must have gone through these moments in their lives and you are sure to get nostalgic watching some moments in this movie. The entire movie is excellent and extremely engaging except for 10 minutes (in second half from the breakup to the scene where other female proposes him). It takes guts and tremendous conviction makes a movie like Ye Maya Chesave from the director, producer and hero (It was Naga Chaitanya who set this combination up). All three of them should be appreciated for making this movie happen. Ye Maya Chesave movie should do extremely well in multiplexes and A centers. I wish/hope/want this movie to do well in B/C centers as well. This film has all the ingredients for a movie to remain as a timeless classic. Go and watch it!!

Five reasons why Aliens will visit (or attack) Japan first!

2010-02-28T05:29:00.000-08:00

Many of us believe that other life forms do exist on other planets in this universe. And one day, these aliens would drop by our planet, the Earth to give us the their best greets. But you’ll be wondering, which country that the aliens would visit first and which country is the most ready to let the aliens to land?

The answer is Japan. There are five reasons given by MangoBot, why aliens would love to visit Japan first. As the Japanese have prepared themselves for a couple of years, and they have some sort of equipments ready to communicate well with the aliens. The five reasons are as follows:

1. The Japanese people and the government are all ready to greet the aliens.. Part of the of Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s national security strategy includes how to respond and defend once there is an alien attack. Their ministers have firm belief that aliens do exist. And their government have also prepared themselves with national guidelines on how to handle aliens if one day they land on Japan.

2. The Japanese had emailed the aliens. Back in 1983, Japanese astronomers ever sent a radio message to Altair—a solar system 16 light years away—with 13 binary-encoded images 71 by 71 pixels each showing some basic facts about the people and the Earth, and even as detailed as exposing our human body’s DNS structure to the aliens. If the aliens on the Altair had received the message, the reply is expected only in 2015, as those live in Altair system are many thousands of light years away from us. It takes time for the radio message reply to travel back to the Earth!

3. Japan has got the only observatory that continuously fetches signals from outerspace - Most observatories on Earth are searching only for the radio frequencies, but except the only one in Japan, in Nishiharima, which is different from others that it scans the skies for nanosecond-level pulses in the air waves, which helps detect and communicate with external life forms.

4. Japan claim they’ll soon have AI (Artificial Intelligence) that match the alien intelligence - Aliens seem to have been assumed that they’re far more advanced than us. But the Japanese claim that they’ve already figured out how to navigate the virtual worlds with brain power and have many robots to assist them in their daily life. These technologies are claimed to be on par with what the aliens have!

5. Japan’s nearest neighbor North Korea knows better than we do about aliens. - The North Korea is rumored to have invented a nuclear reactor that has dual capabilities of communicating wirelessly with alien species up to 1,000 light years away in real time. And Japan is claimed to be much more advanced than the North Korea. Since Japan’s nearest neighbor also could achieve how to communicate with the aliens and it’s definitely much easier for the Japan, and they would have probably communicated with over many thousands of species of aliens to date.

Whether you like it or not, the above are the five reasons that clearly tell that aliens would have much higher chance to land on Japan than to any other countries. And of course, if the aliens were to attack the Earth, Japan would also be the first one to get attacked!

Earthquake Science: The Haitian Quake Explained

2010-01-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

People walk near the ruins of a building, which was destroyed after a major earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince. The magnitude 7.0 quake toppled buildings and caused deaths and injuries.

What caused the Haiti earthquake, and why was it so devastating? Answers to these and other questions.

The earthquake that devastated Haiti Tuesday was the strongest temblor to hit the island nation in more than 200 years. The magnitude 7.0 quake caused tremendous damage that officials have yet to fully characterize, and the death toll may run into the thousands.

What caused the Haiti earthquake, and why was it so devastating? Here are answers to these and other questions:

What caused the earthquake?

The shaking started on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 4:53 p.m. EST in the Haiti region, just 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince.

The Haiti earthquake occurred at a fault that runs right through Haiti and is situated along the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates, rocky slabs that cover the planet and fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. These two plates constantly creep past one another, about 0.8 inches a year, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North American slab.

"Twenty millimeters a year of slippage is very small, and that's not what people felt," said Carrieann Bedwell, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC).

Rather, they felt the release of energy from the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault system. "The two sides of the fault line moved past each other in an east-west direction and that's what caused the energy release and the Haiti earthquakes," Bedwell said.

The high magnitude of this quake took scientists by surprise, as this system of faults hasn't triggered a major temblor in recent decades. The fault has, however, been linked to some historical big ones in 1860, 1770, 1761, 1751, 1684, 1673 and 1618, though none of these has been confirmed in the field as associated with this fault, according to the USGS.

What does magnitude 7.0 mean?

Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake. Since magnitudes are given on a logarithmic scale, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake would release 10 times as much energy as a 6.0-magnitude temblor. Geoscientists also look at an earthquake's intensity, which measures the strength of shaking produced by the earthquake at a certain location and is determined from the effects that shaking has on people, structures and the environment.

How rare was the Haiti earthquake?

The Caribbean isn't exactly a hot zone for earthquakes, but they're not unheard of in the region.

Yesterday's earthquake was one of the largest ever to hit the area — the last time an earthquake this strong struck Haiti was in the 18th century.

Haiti takes up about half of the island of Hispaniola, while the Dominican Republic lies on the other side. In 1946, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake shook Samana, in the Dominican Republic, causing about 100 fatalities. The recent quake will likely have a much greater casualty toll because it hit a more densely populated region.

Why was the Haiti earthquake so devastating?

While magnitude is important, it's the intensity that matters to those affected by a natural disaster.

"In general, earthquakes have different characteristics whether they are in the ocean or on land and depending on the geologic setting they are in," Bedwell told LiveScience. "A mountainous and rocky setting is more characteristic of not as much ground shaking, opposed to abundant sediments and not as rocky where there's a potential for higher ground shaking. Haiti would be a more sediment type, more severe ground shaking geologic setting."

Depth is also important, as the source of the Haiti quake was 6.2 miles below the Earth's surface.

"The depth of this earthquake in Haiti was very shallow, meaning that the energy that was released is very close to the surface, which can also be another characteristic that causes some violent ground shaking," Bedwell said. "An earthquake that's very deep – that energy has a chance to go through the Earth's crust before reaching the Earth's surface and possibly not causing as much shaking of the ground."

Unofficial USGS reports suggest the shaking lasted anywhere from 35 seconds to up to a minute, Bedwell said. "That's a pretty long amount of time for the ground to be shaking."

All of these effects get magnified when the infrastructure is shoddy and not built to withstand shaking. "Unfortunately, Haiti has a rather poor economy and not a wonderful building style for earthquake resistance, so we would expect that we would see quite severe and widespread damage from this earthquake," Michael Blanpeid, associate coordinator for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, said in a podcast released today.

A potentially similar effect was seen when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck China's Sichuan province, taking tens of thousands of lives. Earthquake engineers speculated the adobe and masonry buildings and homes, many of which were probably not reinforced with steel as building codes dictate, added to the earthquake damage, especially in more rural areas.

What is the potential for future aftershocks in Haiti?

The threat is not over. "So far we have monitored over 40 aftershocks ranging from 4.5 all the way up to 5.9," Bedwell said. About 14 of those aftershocks were magnitude 5.0 or larger.

And they expect more in the coming weeks, she said. There is no way to predict whether one aftershock will be stronger than the next, as they will come in no particular order, according to Bedwell, but typically range between 4.0 and 5.5 magnitude.

The Port-au-Prince earthquake is not believed to pose a tsunami threat because it happened on land as opposed to out in the deep ocean.

"The only positive thing about this earthquake is that because it did occur on land, it did not generate a tsunami, and so that is one hazard that is quite a severe one in the area that was not faced by the people due to this earthquake," Blanpeid said.

The USGS initially sent out a tsunami alert but as more information about the quake came in, the alert was cancelled.

"A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," according to a message posted on the USGS Web site.

The threat of mudslides is also on scientists' radars. "Wherever there are steep slopes or coastal areas there's likely to be landsliding, and that can bury homes, or block streams, rivers, block roads," Blanpeid said.

What was the world's deadliest earthquake?

While the death toll in Haiti is still unknown, the deadliest earthquake in history struck that struck Shaanxi, China, in 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people.

Mobiles to detect fake notes: Courtesy 21 yr old

2009-12-29T09:42:00.000-08:00

Bangalore: A 21-year-old engineering student Neha M, has developed a mechanism by which a cellphone can double up as a counterfeit note detector, and for this project, she won the Rs. 1 lakh prize at the Innovation Challenge, organized by Schneider Electric India, where Neha competed with 150 entries from engineering colleges across the country, reports Gayatri Nair of Bangalore Mirror.

Neha, a student of Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology in Mysore says, "The increasing number of counterfeit notes in the country prompted me to develop this device. A trained eye can detect a fake note, but not the common man."

Her aim was to empower the common man with a easily available device to help him detect fake notes. That's why she decided to use a mobile phone for her project, which she started off seven months ago.

"I read a number of surveys by the Intelligence Bureau on the circulation of fake notes, features of currency notes, security features, including water markings and magnetic ink," said Neha who is an alumni of Jyoti Nivas College at Koramangala.

The most important tips came from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "In October, the bank held an exhibition, where officials discussed various features of currency notes and how they are printed," she said. Neha took the opportunity to ask the officials about fake notes. However, she faced a problem when she wasn't allowed to touch fake currency, as it is against the rules. "But, after much persuasion, I got to at least see the notes," she recalls.

She came to know the differences between genuine and fake currency, and used her knowledge to modify her phone to detect fake notes. "The modifications do not disturb any of the normal functions of the cellphone," she says. The only requirement is that the cellphone should have the camera feature. However, she refuses to reveal the specifics.

Now Neha is hoping that some mobile phone company will pick up her invention. "I have done 60 percent of the work. For the rest, which includes installing and design modification, I want a cellphone firm to endorse the software," she says.

Original Review of 3 IDIOTS (2009) Bollywood Hindi Movie

2009-12-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone (Buy the book online ) may not be called a literary masterpiece, but it sure is entertaining with its guffaws and its Indianized English. I read the book a while back, and I was highly impressed by the author's straightforward and vitriolic views about the sagacious education system. Bhagat had introduced Ryan Oberoi to play the role of the rebel, an anarchist who wanted to do away with the grumpy system of education prevailing in India. Ryan was never his protagonist; he simply played the second fiddle in the book. It was Hari, the mundane narrator of the book who was the hero. But things turned topsy-turvy when Bollywood walked into the scene to dramatize the already dramatic story of Five Point Someone. And then when in the book everything went happily ever after with the three idiots, namely Ryan, Hari, and Alok, Bollywood begot its own idiots Farhaan (R. Madhavan), Raju (Sharmaan Joshi) and Rancho (Aamir Khan)the great for its new cinematic endeavor 3 Idiots .

3 Idiots can be summed up in one word as extremely majestic. It surely will make you laugh your guts out with its slapstick jokes, its funny sequences, its bathetically emotional scenes and make you to shed a tear or two in the emotional sequences. In short, 3 Idiots is a perfect desi dinner for your bulbous eyes which has all the spices in almost perfect proportion. The genetically modified melodrama has all it takes to hit the Indian audiences hard, and I see it topping the charts in no time. The movie definitely followed a major part of the book, only the incidents were either jumbled or heightened for greater effect.

3 Idiot' is a laughter riot right from the first scene where Farhaan fakes a hear attack while onboard an Air India flight to the last scene where Chatur finds out that his role model Mr. Phunsuk Wangdu is none but his college rival Rancho. I especially loved the portrayal of Raju's glum family in black and white. Despite scenes of hilarity, 3 Idiots does suffer from backlogs of vague emotions which seem at some portions of the movie vaguely put on, unorganized and unneeded. Another thing that stuck me was the heroic character of Rancho. I know it doesn’t look good for the perfect image of a movie if its hero fails to live up to the standard and flunks in exams or scores 5 point something, so Bollywood made Ryan Oberoi (of the book) alias Rancho become the class topper thus bringing forth the idea that we cannot still accept a flawed hero in our movies. In the long run, the act actually exemplified the character of Rancho and brought out the real essence of the movie. But the child delivery scene in the movie was definitely overtly exaggerated. I don’t think Chetan Bhagat has ever imagined his Ryan to do a child delivery with the aid of his friends. Since everything is fair in Bollywood and war, such sacrileges add to the vivacity of the movie's plot

3 Idiots is a star studded affair which presents us with the grand acting skills of stars like Boman Irani as Professor.Viru Sahastrabuddhe or Omi Vaidya as Chatur Ramalingam. But Kareena Kapoor seemed a little unwanted as Pia, she didn’t add to the character of the fashion designing student Neha of the book, instead she is here a smart would be doctor who falls for the charm of Rancho out of the blue. One thing that stuck me about the movie is the way the real ages of the stars have been camouflaged fruitlessly. Even though Aamir Khan is a perfectionist as an actor, he seemed a little too old to be an engineering student in his early twenties. Nevertheless, the movie is a first hand example of great filmatography and fabulous humor. Like all Rajkumar Hirani' movie, this one has treats for all its viewers. The peppy song "Aal izz well" reminds us of his Munna Bhai movies.

The dialogues used in the movie will definitely come as eye openers to brainless muggers. 3 Idiots deftly bring out the very quintessence of Five Point Someone bringing to light the fatal flaws of the Indian education system. And though at some pint Aamir Khan does look like a know-it-all holy spirit inculcating others with his words, he does reciprocate Chetan Bhagat's ideas that the Indian education system lacks creativity and spontaneous love for knowledge. I hope Aamir's words reach the generation next and come as a harbinger of a utopian vision of a new educational system in India. Movies with messages such as this one should be taken as ground breaking attempts to change society.

The movie is an absolute delight when it comes to music. It features a galaxy of beautiful songs shot in great locations. I personally loved "Behti hawa" and "Zoobie doobie".

Overall, 3 Idiots is a wonderfully heartwarming movie that teaches us to stop being mentally troglodytes and introduce creativity in our minds. I give the movie a 3.5 rating out of five.

3 Idiots Original Soundtrack: Download 3 Idiots songs OST MP3 >

Movie Avatar reviews and audiences response

2009-12-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

Many critics around the world have claimed that the Hollywood movie
Avatar has fallen way short of expectations. Despite the snobish critics rating it 2/5, the sci-fi thriller continues to rock the audiences throughout the world. The brilliance in the IMAX-3D work can't stop the viewers from exclaiming.

After 15 years, Terminator, Aliens, True Lies and Titanic fame director James Cameron has now come out with eco-minded epic Avatar that cost $500 million. The movie Avatar delivers a good message. It is all about an evil corporation using USA military to exploit the natural resources of a foreign planet.

The graphics work is awesome. Especially, the 10 feet tall creatures and the beauty of Pandora are just stunning. Avatar is an entertaining movie with the essence of love, family, relationship, humanity, action, and adventure. It can be recommended to those who love movies like Bridge to Terabithia, Jurasic Park, War of the worlds and 2012.

Besides graphics, the actors are also phenomenal in this movie Avatar. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang are truly a magnificent actor. They have delivered brilliant performance.

Tags: avatar, james cameron, sam worthington, zoe saldana, shekhar h hooli, bridge to terabithia, jurasic park, war of the worlds, 2012.

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India Vs Sri Lanka 2nd T20-Auro(Amitabh) as commentator

2009-12-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

The stage is all set and India will take on Sri Lanka in the second Twenty20 (T20) match will is scheduled to be played tomorrow Decmber 12 at Mohali. It would be the first ever time that Big B will be doing the television commentary.

The stage is all set and India will take on Sri Lanka in the second Twenty20 (T20) match will is scheduled to be played tomorrow Decmber 12 at Mohali.

In a unique promotion spree for the movie Paa, Amitabh Bachchan aka Auro will be doing a live commentary for the match. It would be a pleasure to hear Auro in his soft childish innocent voice. This would be the first ever time that Super Star Amitabh Bachchan will be doing the live television commentary during the breaks between the match.

Director Balki confirming the news said that this would be the first time in his career that Amitabh Bachachan would be heard as an expert commentator in Auro's voice during the match.

People may miss the match, but hearing Amitabh doing the commentary just cannot be missed. It would be the highlight of the Ind Vs Sl 2nd Twenty20 match.

With India loosing the 1st T2o match by 29 runs, they would be eager and all prepared to bounce back strongly. Dhoni and his boys will have to ensure that they don't repeat the same mistakes and come out best in batting, bowling as well as fielding.

Sri Lanka on the other hand are quite happy with their las performance and would want to carry on the momentum.

The curator of the pitch said that 160 runs would be a challenging total and the fans at Mohali can expect a good contest.

However as per the latest news and report, Sreesanth and Rohit Sharma would not be playing in the 2nd Twenty20 match between India and Sri Lanka as both are down with injuries. Ravinder Jadeja is expected to play in the final eleven tomorrow.

Visa games China plays - with Kashmiris

2009-12-02T21:40:00.001-08:00

New Delhi, Dec. 1 -- The Chinese are playing mind games. And New Delhi isn't amused. After refusing to issue stamped visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir to make the point that the state was still a "disputed" territory, Chinese authorities have issued such a visa to former Jammu University vice chancellor Amitabh Mattoo.

Road project in Ladakh stops as China objects

Antony raises red flag over China-Pak military link

To most Kashmiris, China issues visas on a separate sheet of paper, which is stapled to their passports. India refuses to recognise these as legitimate visas, and has stopped several Kashmiris with such visas at the airport, preventing them from boarding their flights. Professor Shakeel Ahmad Romshoo of Kashmir University was one of them. But Mattoo had no such problems.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University professor said his visa was stamped on his passport issued to him in Kashmir. He did go to Beijing. "I had to attend an international conference on nuclear disarmament," he told Hindustan Times. What kind of visa then will Mirwaiz Omar Farooq get? The separatist leader, who has recently been harping on a role for Beijing in Kashmir, was invited by an NGO there to deliver a lecture. But Foreign minister SM Krishna said the Mirwaiz could go only if he had a valid visa.

The ten big mistakes-26/11

2009-12-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

The nub of a successful anti-terrorist operation lies in the initial hours of an attack when a delay by the first responders could mean the difference between success and catastrophic failure. In Mumbai on 26/11, most of the mistakes, it now transpires, took place in the initial hours. The first responders were the Mumbai city police. Unable to distinguish a fidayeen attack from an underworld shootout, hobbled by a lack of even basic firearms, inadequate anti-terror forces and a clueless senior leadership, the men in khaki lost the plot.

Mumbai police overlooked standard drills

A year after 26/11, has anything really changed?

The National Security Guard (NSG) commandos arrived in the city nearly seven hours after they had been mobilised at their base in Manesar on the outskirts of Delhi. They had to play a deadly game of cat and mouse against 10 hardened, motivated and well-trained terrorists with enough ammunition to last days. During the three-day siege, nearly 900 hotel rooms could not be entirely cleared of guests. When the dust had settled on one of India's longest anti-terrorist operations, the mistakes were glaring.

09.30 p.m.

Inability to distinguish between terror attack and gang war

The confusion surrounding the attack gave enough time for the terrorists to wreak havoc

At 9.38 on Wednesday night, two Lashkar gunmen Abdul Rehman and Abu Umer tossed in grenades and sprayed bullets from their assault rifles at the hapless diners in Leopold Cafe, starting a 60-hour siege of Mumbai. For the next half-hour, the five fidayeen buddy pairs ran through South Mumbai, wreaking havoc with guns and grenades. In the span of half an hour, calls of attacks at multiple locations kept pouring into the police control room. The initial assessment: it was an underworld attack. Two IEDs, which the terrorists planted in taxis after boarding them soon after alighting from the rubber dinghy at Colaba, went off at separate places in Vile Parle and Crawford Market an hour later. This further added to the confusion. It took the police nearly three hours to decide that it was a terror attack. These precious hours allowed the terrorists to achieve complete surprise and gain the dominant ground at the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels, Nariman House, and take hostages.

10.00 p.m.

Mumbai Police outgunned

The Mumbai Police's obsolete weaponry was no match for the terrorists'automatic weapons

The Lashkar gunmen came armed with AK-47s, grenades and IEDs. Ranged against them was the Mumbai Police constabulary who made a feeble attempt to respond with vintage weaponry. The results were heartbreaking, and nowhere was this more evident than the platforms of the CST station where Ajmal Amir Kasab and Abu Ismail strolled about firing at passengers. After the gunfire started, many railway police personnel ran across to the railway police storeroom a few blocks away to fetch their weapons. One of them who did try and fire at the fidayeen duo found that his archaic .303 rifle jammed after firing a single round. In sheer frustration, a policeman even flung a plastic chair at the terrorists. At other places like the Taj and Oberoi, policemen found their 9 mm pistols were no match for the barrage from Kalashnikovs and area denial weapons like Arges hand grenades. ATS chief Hemant Karkare lay dead an hour later, let down by a bulletproof vest of dubious quality which the state Home Department had purchased in circumstances that are yet to be explained. In the first three hours, 16 Mumbai policemen, including eight officers, were killed.

10.30 p.m.

No planned or coordinated response from the Mumbai Police

With no rapid action plan, the police was in disorder and senior officers were out tackling terrorists

When the police finally decided a terror attack was underway, they did not respond effectively. Both Bhagwant D. More, joint commissioner (Administration) and K.L. Prasad, joint commissioner (Law and Order), who should have been in charge of the control room were out tackling the terror situation. Though police commissioner Hasan Gafoor was found parked outside the Oberoi soon after the terror attacks began, he made no attempt to coordinate with other officers, the Quick Reaction Team or even with the NSG who came in later. Gafoor was, quite literally, caught napping. Instead, it was Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria who took command and state Chief Secretary Johny Joseph manned the control room at Mantralaya and called in the local army unit and the Marine Commandos (Marcos). Maria was handling the situation from the control room in the police commissioner's headquarters at Crawford Market and state police chief A.N. Roy at the police headquarters near the Taj.

The initial lack of central coordination turned the operation into individual acts of courage, whether it was rescuing hostages or attending to the injured. The stand-off could have ended earlier had the police evacuated the guests at the Taj and Oberoi once the Marcos had entered.

11.50 p.m.

Killing of the ATS leadership

The death of three senior ATS officials was a serious psychological blow to the Mumbai Police

Soon after Kasab and Ismail fled the CST station and entered the nearby Cama Hospital and took hostages, three senior ATS officials reached the spot from different directions- Karkare, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte and senior inspector Vijay Salaskar. They were responding to a police control alert which warned of terrorists at the hospital. Armed with AK-47s and donning bulletproof jackets, the trio bundled into a police jeep with their bodyguards and headed towards the terrorists who had, by then, fled the hospital. In hindsight, the jeep ride proved to be a critical error of judgement.

When splitting up into small teams to pursue the two terrorists on foot would have been an easier option, sitting in the vehicle made the policemen easy targets and restricted their firing options. The jeep with the three senior police officers packed in the front seat was ambushed by the two terrorists. A hail of bullets killed the leadership of the Maharashtra ATS, which severely demoralised an already shaken police force and resigned it to waiting for anti-terrorist forces.

12 midnight

Mumbai Police failed to engage the terrorists at the Taj Hotel

Apart from lack of arms, there were not enough policemen to keep the pressure up on terrorists

For three crucial hours after the attack, all the four terrorists were holed up in the upper floors of the Taj after killing over 20 persons in the lobby. The policemen who engaged them for the first few hours were too few in number to prove effective to maintain 'contact' with the terrorists. Contact is the military term which refers to the act of keeping the enemy pinned down in a firefight; it puts the enemy on the defensive and prevents them from moving or achieving their objectives. What the police lacked in firepower, they could have made up in sheer numbers but sufficient policemen were not deployed in the hotel. Contact was broken and the terrorists left to have a free run of the hotel as the police waited first for the Marcos and later the NSG to arrive. It was at least three hours before the Marine Commandos arrived and resumed the engagement with the terrorists at around 2.30 a.m. By then, the four terrorists had valuable time to study the layout of the hotel; they were also being constantly briefed by their handlers in Pakistan.

09.00 a.m.

The NSG arrived late

The bureaucratic hurdles that led to further delay of the NSG proved advantageous for the terrorists

The NSG was alerted within two hours of the attacks but it took them nearly seven hours to reach the besieged city. They were summoned by Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta who called NSG chief J.K. Dutt at around 11.30 p.m. The commandos were first transported by road from their base in Manesar, Haryana, nearly 28 km from Delhi airport because they did not have dedicated airlift like helicopters with night-flying capability. At least an hour was spent at the airport loading the aircraft and waiting for home minister Shivraj Patil who then accompanied the Black Cats on their flight to Mumbai. When the NSG eventually arrived at Sahar airport at 5 a.m., they were bundled into BEST buses and taken to the Mantralaya for a briefing. It was nine in the morning by the time they reached the two hotels. The second batch of commandos arrived, but was not briefed. All attention was focused on the Taj and Oberoi hotels; nobody was aware of the hostage situation at Nariman House where Abu Akasha and Abu Umar were holding Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife hostage, along with four others.

09.00 a.m.

No detailed layouts or maps of the buildings under attack

Relying on hotel staff and locals delayed the rescue of hostages and prolonged operations

One of the precepts of a successful building intervention operation conducted by anti-terror forces is a detailed knowledge of the layouts of the buildings to be assaulted. This is why special forces often stock building plans of all vulnerable areas and buildings, and sometimes even practice mock hostage rescue drills in them. In Mumbai, the terrorists had the advantage of a detailed hostile reconnaissance conducted, as it is now suspected, by David Headley and Tahawwur Rana.

Later, the 10 terrorists who had arrived at the three spots at least 12 hours before the NSG, evidently had plenty of time to study the layouts of the buildings and site their defences. These were crucial lapses which played a decisive part in prolonging the siege. At all three locations-the Oberoi, Taj and Nariman House-NSG commandos went in blind without having the building plans of the structures. Most of them were entering the hotels for the first time. They either relied on their instincts or on locals or employees to find their way around the darkened buildings. Not only did they have the challenging task of locating and rescuing guests in over 1,000 hotel rooms at the Taj and Oberoi , but they had to simultaneously fight the terrorists as well.

11.00 a.m.

No unified, consistent communication with the public

With no one-point source of information,everyone was out feeding the media, leading to further chaos

Among the basic rules of media briefing in a crisis is a unified, consistent communication from a single reliable point of contact. During the Kargil War, there were just two spokespersons, one for the Foreign Ministry and another for the armed forces. In Mumbai, not just there was no single spokesperson. The state government did not even set up a media briefing room. Evidently, mirroring the chaos after the breakdown of command and control, a sheer diversity of officials took over to brief the media. Everyone, from the NSG chief, the GOC-in-C Maharashtra and Gujarat Area, the southern army commander and the western naval command chief, were briefing the media or giving interviews during the conduct of operations. Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who returned to the city at 3 a.m. on November 27 maintained a stoic silence.

12.00 midnight

Intercepts of conversations not given to the NSG

Not passing on the information delayed the conclusion of operation and saving of lives

What made the 26/11 strikes chillingly different from others were the sentient voices of Pakistan-based handlers advising the terrorists on strategy, firing tactics, giving regular news updates and pep talks. Many of these mobile phone conversations were quickly intercepted by the ATS but were not passed on to the NSG commandos waiting outside the buildings. In hindsight, these conversations could have helped pinpoint the location of terrorists and save lives. In the case of Nariman House, intercepted conversations revealed that Akasha and Umar were using the hostages as bargaining chips with the Israeli Government. By the evening of November 27, the handler had instructed the terrorists to kill them. This information was not passed on to the Black Cats who are trained to storm a building when the death of the hostages is imminent. Nariman House was overrun only the next morning when the hostages were already killed.

07.30 a.m.

No efforts made to block live telecast of the operation

Live telecast of the rescue operations by the media made it easier for terrorists to plan their response

Technology was a double-edged sword during the operations. If it allowed anxious friends and relatives to keep in touch with their besieged kin through cellphones, it also enabled the terrorists to keep in touch with their handlers in Pakistan. Inadvertently helping these handlers were the news TV cameras at various spots, broadcasting live footage of the operations. One emotional MP, part of a parliamentary committee delegation of four MPs staying at the Taj, went live on TV. After watching it, an LeT handler directed the terrorists to go look for the lawmakers and take them hostage. Crucial information like the arrival of the NSG was also broadcast, allowing terrorists to plan a response.

At the Oberoi, the NSG erected a 500-m cordon around the hotel allowing the Black Cats to enter and carry out the operations in conditions of a near total blackout. At the Taj, however, the media continued to show live footage even 48 hours after the attack began. The media was directed to telecast a 'deferred' live programme after instructions from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on the afternoon of November 28.

NASA SCIENTIST DEBUNKS 2012 DOOMSDAY HYPE

2009-11-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

BY NIALL FIRTH and CLAIRE BATES

The London Mail

Skyscrapers crumble to the ground, fiery meteorites smash into Earth and a Tibetan monk cowers as a massive tidal wave swamps his mountain retreat.

It is a vision of the coming apocalypse thrillingly captured in the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

But fears that the world is due to end in December 2012 is just a myth fuelled by internet rumour, according to a leading Nasa scientist.

Dr David Morrison, who runs the space agency’s ‘Ask an Astrobiologist’ service, says he has received more than a thousand emails from those worried that the world is due to end in 2012.

In an article published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Dr Morrison has answered the top 20 questions in an attempt to assuage these fears.

According to the theories on the internet, the calendar used by the ancient civilisation of the Mayans is due to come to an end in December 2012.

Luckily for conspiracy theorists, this coincides neatly with predictions by an obscure sci-fi author, who wrote about the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer, that a planet named Nibiru will collide with the Earth on that date.

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012, but Dr Morrison said
this did not mean the world would end

Fears have been further inflamed by an apocalyptic film called ‘2012′ starring John Cusack, which is out this November. A quick search on Amazon reveals there are 175 books listed that deal with 2012 doomsday.

First off Dr Morrison dismisses the possibility that the planet Nibiru even exists.

He writes: ‘The bottom line is that Nibiru is a myth, with no basis in fact.

‘To an astronomer, persistent claims about a planet that is “nearby” but “invisible” are just plain silly.’

And Dr Morrison laughs off suggestions that the government has been complicit in hiding its existence from the public.

‘Even if they wanted to, the government could not keep Nibiru a secret,’ he says.

‘If it were real, it would be tracked by thousands of astronomers, amateurs as well a professional. These astronomers are spread all over the world.

‘I know the astronomy community, and these scientists would not keep a secret even if ordered to. You just can’t hide a planet on its way to the inner solar system!’

He also addresses the concerns of those who worry that the Mayan calendar is due to end in 2012.

‘Ancient calendars are interesting to historians, but they cannot match the ability we have today to keep track of time, or the precision of the calendars currently in use.

‘The main point, however, is that calendars, whether contemporary or ancient, cannot predict the future of our planet or warn of things to happen on a specific date such as 2012.

‘I note that my desk calendar ends much sooner, on December 31 2009, but I do not interpret this as a prediction of Armageddon. It is just the beginning of a new year.’

He added although many believe prophecies by the sixteenth century seer Nostradamus predict the end of the world in 2012, there is no evidence he has correctly predicted anything.

He also tackles the belief circulating on some internet forums that an alignment of planets in our galaxy the Milky Way could in some way disrupt the Earth’s gravitational field or reverse the Earth’s rotation.

‘A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. It has never happened and never will,’ he said.

He added that although the magnetic polarity of Earth does take place around every 400,000 years scientists don’t believe it will take place for another few millennia and there is no evidence it would do any harm.

Nasa scientist David Morrison, left, has moved to calm fears
that the world will end in 2012,
as predicted by sixteenth century seer Nostradamus, right.

Publicity for the film ‘2012′ also comes under attack for stirring up fear about the date.

Like many Hollywood blockbusters nowadays, ‘2012′ uses a sophisticated PR campaign which incorporates elements of ‘viral’ marketing.

In the trailer for the film, which plays on conspiracy theorists’ fears that the truth is being somehow hidden, viewers are directed to a ‘faux scientific’ website.

The website purports to be the home for The Institute for Human Continuity, an entirely fictitious organisation which allows visitors to sign up for a lottery which will decide who will be saved when Armageddon comes.

‘The whole 2012 disaster scenario is a hoax, fueled by ads for the Hollywood science-fiction disaster film “2012”,’ he says.

‘I can only hope that most people are able to distinguish Hollywood film plots from reality.’

Dr Morrison noted that a growing interest in outer space has led to a general ‘cosmophobia’, that is a fear of the cosmos.

He said he found people were frequently worried about the sun’s magnetic field, solar storms, black holes and a rift in the Milky Way.

‘Previously these would have merely been interesting astronomical ideas to explore, but now for many young people (who read misinformation about them on the web) they are objects of dread.

‘This cosmophobia could be one of the worst long-term consequences of the 2012 doomsday hoax - to make people fearful of astronomy and the universe.’

How to get away by doing less work

2009-11-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

Bangalore: Never mind the recession. Workers can still find ways to do less and get away with it, says the Author of the book "How to Relax Without Getting the Axe." The secret is learning and adapting the tricks of powerful, successful people, says Stanley Bing, whose book, subtitled "A Survival Guide to the New Workplace," releases on November 17.

The new book is an updated version of Bing's earlier book "Executricks, or How to Retire While You're Still Working," tailored to meet today's hard economic times, he said. "It's a perilous workplace environment but, that said, it should be possible to learn from the way that successful people manage their time and manage their careers," he told to Reuters in an interview.

"It is a handbook for people who haven't yet attained what they would consider powerful status, to be able to use some of the same tricks that their bosses do and make it work." Bing is actually a pseudonym for Gil Schwartz, who is Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications for CBS Corporation. He began using the name Stanley Bing several years ago when he was writing a column for Esquire magazine.

He and his book are loaded with strategic tips such as how to delegate, which he says is "At the heart of all power," how to identify a remote problem to justify an expense-paid business trip and how to create the illusion of an office door for privacy, even in an open workplace of cubicles. For a "virtual" door, he suggests, turn the computer screen away from other people, personalize the work space to make it uncongenial to visitors and cultivate "Patterns of unfriendliness."

"It also marks you as somewhat antisocial and difficult to deal with, i.e. executive," he writes in the book, published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins. Of utmost importance is the art of being absent to build status, a trick made all the easier with the abundance of e-mail, cellphones and other technology, he said. While once presence was necessary, it has become almost suspect, he said. People can be in their offices too much, prompting others to wonder, "Why are they here all the time?" he said.

Being absent helps create the sense of being too important to be around and available, he said. "A lot of people don't respect people they can reach too easily," Bing said. "You're immediately aggrandized by the fact that you are essentially a virtual person." Also critical is having an assistant or failing that, appropriating someone else's assistant. "You use other people. This is what successful people do in all business, in all walks of life," Bing said.

In essence, the tricks are timeless ways for anyone to gain control over their job, their time and their life, he said. "The lack of control is what makes people unhappy, and supreme control is what signifies powerful, successful people," he said. "In between is the regular day that we all have.

Syntel's third quarter results beats Wall Street expectations

2009-11-13T05:38:00.000-08:00

Mumbai: Syntel's revenue for the third quarter increased one percent to $104.7 million (Rs.506 crore), compared to $103.8 million (Rs.502 crore) in the prior-year period, and increased five percent sequentially from $100.1 million (Rs.484 crore) in the second quarter of 2009.

Sequential revenue improvement was driven by its Applications Outsourcing service offering, and growth was broad-based across all verticals. During the third quarter, Applications Outsourcing accounted for 74 percent of total revenue, with Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) at 18 percent, e-Business contributing six percent and Team Sourcing at two percent. The Company's gross margin improved to 49.3 percent in the third quarter, compared to 44.3 percent in the prior-year period (500 bps increase) and 48.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009 (110 bps increase) .

Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses were 18.1 percent in the third quarter, compared to 19.1 percent in the prior-year period and 20.8 percent in the previous quarter.

The Company's gross margin improved to 49.3 percent in the third quarter, compared to 44.3 percent in the prior-year period (500 bps increase) and 48.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009 (110 bps increase) .
Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses were 18.1 percent in the third quarter, compared to 19.1 percent in the prior-year period and 20.8 percent in the previous quarter.

Syntel's income from operations expanded to 31.2 percent in the third quarter as compared to 25.2 percent in the prior-year period (600 bps increase) and 27.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009 (380bps increase).

"Increasing stability in the business environment and a gradual improvement in customer confidence had a positive effect on our top line during the third quarter," said CEO and President Keshav Murugesh. "While our clients remain comfortable in moving forward with cost reduction initiatives, they are now increasingly willing to discuss longer-term business plans and strategic technology investments."

"The strong financial and operating discipline at Syntel has been evident in our financial performance during a very difficult nine month period. We expect that as demand for offshore services improves, costs of doing business in India will increase resulting in margin pressure. Syntel continues to invest in the people, infrastructure and new services necessary to drive long-term sustainable value for all of our key stakeholders."

Based on current visibility levels and an exchange rate assumption of 47.0 rupees to the dollar, the Company is updating 2009 guidance from Revenue of $395Mn (Rs.1,910 crore) to $415Mn (Rs.2,007 crore) and EPS of $2.40 to $2.50 to Revenue of $405Mn (Rs. 1,959 crore) to $408Mn (Rs.1,973 crore) and EPS of $2.60 to $2.65.

BSNL JTO 2009 Results - Selected Candidates List

2009-11-06T08:01:00.000-08:00

Like last year, the list of selected candidates along with section wise & total marks & circle alloted has been released according to merit.

Download selection list

Download circle wise selection data

A short analysis on cut-off:

For OC candidates:
Total cut-off : 69.75
Sectional cut-offs:
Section I : 28
Section II : 27
Section III : 07

For OBC Candidates:
Total cut-off : 60.75
Sectional cut-offs:
Section I : 25
Section II : 25.25
Section III : 06.25

Disclaimer: This is a BSNL Unofficial release & is just for the reference of the candidates / aspirants.The author shouldn't be held responsible in any way for any inadvertent error that might have crept in.

DISCOVER THE DIAMOND IN YOU!

2009-11-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

As I look back, over the years, I realise that I’ve ventured far away from what I started my career with... I was supposed to be this management teacher whose passion lay in the areas of leadership and motivation. However, with time, especially after I wrote ‘The Great Indian Dream’ with my father, I have given very less time to writing on management! So much so that when I look back today, ever since the start of The Sunday Indian, I have only – and only – written on economics and politics, and at times on sports and cinema, but never on management! So this time, I thought I’ll write on my first love! More so, I have a reason for it. I really have been thinking – with the way our system is functioning, the best way to feel good and change things around is by changing ourselves, and by ourselves being the change we want to see! There is hardly anything that we can’t do if we want to, because we are all diamonds in waiting – in various stages. Some of us yet to be discovered, some of us yet to be cut, some of us yet to be polished, some of us yet to dazzle... And some of us – who have lost their sheen and sparkle a bit with time – in need of a re-polish! But we are all diamonds, that’s what I’ve always believed about human beings!

And if a diamond were to be the metaphor for us, then there are four things which make up a diamond... The first being the diamond’s carats. You would’ve always heard questions like, “How many carat diamond is that?” That’s the most important quality of a diamond. In human beings, carats are about the depth that we have; and it is represented by two Ps: Passion and Positive Energy! These are the two most important aspects that differentiate us from being a diamond with a high carat value! All successful achievers always have these two most important characteristics within themselves. They are extremely passionate about what they do... Passion for the poor is what made Mother Teresa go on and on despite being from a foreign country and being stuck in a dirty city with unseen poverty all around. Such people are also always full of positive energy. They never see negativity in anything! You talk to them about anything and they have a positive attitude. Friends of Sabeer Bhatia say that even when he was nothing, he would always dream big. That’s the attitude which led him to create Hotmail! Thus, a human being’s carat value is determined by his outlook in life, which is in turn dependent on his passion and positive energy!

The second great quality of a good diamond is its colour. And in successful human beings, colours are synonymous with two more Ps: Personality and People Skills! That’s what makes for the next most important quality of a diamond! If you want to bring out the diamond within you, you must inculcate a super personality and have high quality people skills. Successful people have great personalities; they nurture it, they groom it and they practice it! Personalities aren’t developed overnight! Personalities are developed with a lot of clearly directed efforts. And here, the ‘LAW’ of personality is about looks, actions and words... The way you look – not physically, but the way you carry yourself – the way you act or behave in front of others and the words you choose, make a personality. Prannoy Roy is an ideal example of a personality! The moment you look at him, there is respect; the way he behaves and uses his hand movements to explain things make him interesting; and of course, finally, when he speaks, the words leave you awestruck. And that’s why even after years he is still such a favourite of the masses despite so much competition on television today.

The other aspect that determines the colour of a human diamond is people skills. People who believe that they can go it alone or those who don’t respect the need to work with people for a common goal, can never be successful! It’s because Narayana Murthy believed in having good people around him and nurtured them, that today not just has he been able to retire peacefully, but even his deputy Nandan Nilekani has been able to hang up his boots leaving the organisation on Kris Gopalakrishnan. Infosys is the most beautiful example of how great people make great organisations and how no one needs to be indispensable in a great organisation.

The third quality of a good diamond is how well has it been cut! In human beings, the cut is about the hard work which is represented by another two Ps: Performance and Perseverance! Every successful human being has to lead by example. He has to perform. And his performance should always be an example to others. SRK is not SRK for nothing. Every star who acts with him praises him and becomes his fan. Why? Because when they see him and know him, they see his hard work; they see his track record of delivery; they see his performance. And they know he is a well cut diamond. The other aspect of performance is perseverance. As they say, talent is table salt. It is available aplenty. What differentiates the talented from the ordinary is a lot of hard work... and the ability to persist in the face of adversity. That’s what makes a Shah Rukh Khan what he is!

The final characteristic of a great diamond is its clarity. And in the human diamond, clarity stands for three different Ps: Principles, Perspective and Patriotism! These three Ps define a human being. Do you have principles that you can live by? Do you have a perspective and a plan of where you are headed towards? In other words, do you have a vision? And finally, what defines the human diamond is whether the individual has patriotism inside or not. If you don’t have any of these three, you will only remain a diamond that is perhaps well polished but will never dazzle and make its presence felt. Nurture these 9 Ps of a human diamond, and you will discover the diamond in you! All the best!!!

'Discover The Diamond In You' is the name of Professor Arindam Chaudhuri's forthcoming book. The above article is a synopsis of the book. If you would want to know more about the book, send an sms DTDIY along with your comments on the article to 0-9818101234

Mamta's life is not safe… Because in these elections, nothing else can prevent the inevitable from happening!

2009-11-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

There is mayhem in Bengal. In fact, that’s been the other name of Bengal since years of CPM rule. Open a Bangla news channel and all one sees are murders after murders. All political murders. Complete unrest. And it is so unfortunate to see the interviews of the helpless relatives – they can but do absolutely nothing. Really, opening the TV channels is so disheartening. Not that the rest of India is far better. But what’s happening in Bengal is unbelievable and never seen before in any part of the country, including Bihar. The CPM government – seeing their end coming nearer – has gone berserk and increased their complete total gunda raj by many folds. In between all this mayhem, there are some other interesting developments. The old man who was the man behind the whole mess, Jyoti Basu, has suddenly decided to get more active issuing two requests! One, to the Congress Party to stop supporting the Trinamool Congress and start supporting them to preserve peace! He has also appealed to Congress party supporters to vote for CPM because Trinamool and Mamta were hands in gloves with the Maoists! Although at his age, the latter part of the gibberish can otherwise be excused; yet, behind his appeal, there could be a much well thought out scheme! And Mamta should be careful to not fall into the trap. What I suspect is that the cunning, old hat that Basu is, this attempted truce could snowball into something bigger. CPM and Congress have always been quite close. And if by chance, Basu succeeds to win the Congress over, then the CPM – despite all odds – again stands a remote chance to win the forthcoming elections!

A tie up – more than splitting Trinamool votes – would mean that from the Centre, the Congress won’t supply enough reserve force during elections to man the various booths. That will leave CPM with the golden opportunity to create the worst kind of mayhem and rigging. After all, Jyoti Basu is the man behind years of scientific rigging practiced by the CPM over years! During his time, rigging used to be more specialised and scientific, with detailed grassroots calculations of the non CPM households. Rigging was done only in places where such households were more in number; and that too only as much as was required, by simply not allowing some people to come to vote from their homes. With years, however, CPM has grown in violence as the anti-CPM households have grown in numbers. And if this year by chance the Central Reserve Police Force is absent during elections, it will be the worst elections in Bengal’s history because this is a do or die situation for CPM. There are already whispers in political corridors that CPM, with its years of black money, is all set to buy the Congress support through some agents in Congress. However, the truth is that only two things can make CPM win this time.

One, if didi decides to dig her own grave by showing some immature tantrum and walk out of the Centre (She is very capable of it and has done it in the past). That’s the only way the Congress will find it easy to leave her and back CPM. However, that is less likely this time as Mamta – quite unlike her character – is being quite restrained as she also understands that this is her golden chance to realise her dreams. The second way she can lose is again by digging her own grave, but this time literally. She has no second line and failed to capitalize on the chance to make one when, instead of the 4 cabinet rank ministries she could have taken, she chose to take only one in the government, only to keep her second line out of limelight. That means that God forbid, if something happens to her, Trinamool Congress will not be able to win due to the lack of another saleable second in command. And that is why I fear that the worst resort of getting rid of her must be there in the minds of her rivals. And if by chance something happens, only she will be to blame. Because she hardly takes care about her security properly. I don’t think that’s bravery. I think that’s being foolhardy. After all, if they do manage to harm her, what will happen? Yes, a lot of bloodshed from her party workers side too. But how does it matter? In a state where there is so much anarchy already, a little more will hardly be a big deal. However, this can ensure Trinamool is wiped out almost forever. And the blame can easily by then shifted on to the Maoists!! That is why I fear it as a possibility as this is total do or die for CPM. And they are killing to avoid death. The only question is, how far will they try to stoop down. Mamta must understand that there is real risk to her life. And be extremely careful about it. Because after all, nothing else can prevent the inevitable from happening these elections! She is sure to win this time. All she has to do is to stay alive.

THE DANGEROUS DESIGNS OF THE CHINESE WILL COME TRUE IF INDIA DOESN’T START ACTING IN A COMMITTED MANNER IMMEDIATELY

2009-11-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

I’ve always been an admirer of China. I have also been an admirer of Mao Tse Tung – despite the scandalous (true or untrue) details of his private life – and believe that today’s China, good or bad, is an absolute direct result of his vision. What I have admired the most about China is the way they have been able to pull out millions of people from below poverty, in a matter of a few decades. This feat of China is unmatched in recorded history. What has made them achieve this unbelievable feat is their macroeconomic bottom-up model, wherein they focused on creating purchasing power directly within the poor. This has enabled them to become one of the formidable forces in the world today. They also know that if there is one nation which could pose challenges in the path of Chinese glory, it is India. So some time back, I came across an intriguing article, which generally got overlooked by most. It was reported by almost all mainstream newspapers that a Chinese strategist has contended that China should break India into 20-30 independent states! And this piece got featured in the new edition of the website of the China International Institute for Strategic Studies (CIISS), an influential think tank that advises Beijing on global and strategic issues. What made this article intriguing was the very fact that China, unlike India, is not a democracy where one can write anything howsoever frivolous and still get away with it. China is extremely strict about dissemination of information and when something as serious as this gets featured in a strategic think tank website, it could almost be said for sure that the statement carries an official approval.

What is more worrisome is the fact that the article also states that China should go about doing this with the help of friendly countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. And all of a sudden, this looks like a plausible option going by the kind of relations that India has with four of its immediate neighbours. Furthermore, the article ostensibly suggests that Bangladesh should woo Bengalis in India to form a separate Bengali nation independent of India, with the support of China! All this in just one article, which as I mentioned got featured some couple of months back. What is most shocking is the fact that China, in various ways, has already started taking its recourse towards disintegrating India in its own way. To begin with, it has started issuing separate visas to Indian passport holders from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, projecting that J&K as a state is separate from India. They went on to propagate the same by distributing handouts to visitors of Tibet, especially journalists who were invited by the Chinese government recently.

That’s not all. The perennial dispute with respect to Arunachal Pradesh’s ownership has pushed China to such an extent that in August this year, they stalled a loan from Asian Development Bank to India, which was to be deployed for the development of Arunachal Pradesh. What’s more, in this dispute, Google has been playing its own role: Google Maps in China feature Arunachal Pradesh as a part of China; Google Maps for India feature the state as a part of India; and show it as a disputed territory in the rest of the world. Over and above all this, China now has plans to build a dam across the Brahmaputra to divert some 200 billion cubic meters of water to feed the Yellow river on account of severe water shortage. This in itself has raised significant concerns for the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

All in all, China has been moving extremely strategically with a definite objective in mind. In fact, for this audacious thought and various moves of China, no one is to be blamed other than us. With national politics being highly fragmented, India seems to be becoming increasingly vulnerable, at least politically. National politics is so disoriented that it caters not just to regional needs but has also further moved down to cater to caste and class based agendas. Myopic viewpoints and self-centered objectives have created such a disillusion that no one seems to have any vision for the nation. No doubt, the Chinese are extremely astute to realize this and are dreaming of capitalizing on the same.

As it is, while Shivraj Patil was sleeping and changing his dresses, the Maoist Naxalite forces in India spread their wings in a manner that Chidambaram is finding almost impossible to handle despite his apparent strong words. Nothing perhaps is of bigger concern for India’s internal security than the Naxalites who are creating havoc in the areas they rule, not only by the night but increasingly by the day now. And now, the proposed governmental plan of spending Rs. 7,200 crores over the next three years on the poor people of the Naxalite infested region is utterly laughable and shameful. In the first place, Rs. 2,400 crores spent per year means approximately Rs. 1,200 per year, per family, which is as good as nothing. Add to it the fact that 95% of this money will be eaten away by government officials and the realization hits hard that India is doing nothing to tackle this huge problem which the Chinese would love to capitalize upon – and are indeed already capitalizing upon – given the first opportunity, to make their dream come true.

Dividing India into 30 different states is indeed a laughable idea. However, if India doesn’t act fast to tackle its internal threats like Naxalism, things might look drastically different in the near future. India needs to immediately increase its budget for removing poverty amongst the Naxalite infested areas by about 25 times as a first step towards thwarting these dangerous dreams of the Chinese. Simultaneously, it needs to take China absolutely head on in terms of various other Chinese talks, threats and desires. Only that will help India consolidate its position of an equal partner in this region that will dominate world politics in times to come.

Surya’s 5 hour Bollywood film, Rakta Charitra

2009-11-01T02:04:00.000-08:00

Suriya the shining star of Kollywood is set to enter the film capital of country, Bollywood with the guiding hand Ram Gopal Varma.

The actor is currently the most successful young star in South Indian films as he has won the appreciation of the masses with his performances. Surya’s latest film Ayan was successful at the box office. It was dubbed in Telugu and has received a good response from there too.

After hearing the storyline Suriya revealed that he agreed to star in Ram Gopal Varma’s Bollywood film Raktha Charithra. The actor had been discussing with RGV for several months and zeroed in on this venture. Suriya is playing a character with negative shades for this venture.

Ram Gopal Varma is known for films like Sarkar and Company which went on to be huge blockbusters. Ram Gopal Varma has introduced many south Indian heroes including Chakravarthy, Nagarjuna and Mohanlal to Hindi cinema.
Earlier Surya was to act in a Tamil production for RGV but it didn’t work out. Raktha Charith is based on Naxalite gang war. The movie is about late politician Paritala Ravi and his murder.

Vivek Oberoi will play the role of Paritala Ravi in this five hour lengthy film and will be released in two parts like the Hollywood hit Kill Bill. Surya is to appear in the climax of the first part and will be the protagonist in second part. The entire film will be shot at a stretch. The first part will be released in January 2010 and the second will hit the screen three months later.

Ratha Charithra is based on lives of two bigwigs of Andhra Pradesh; Parithala Ravi and Maatal Seruvu Suri. Vivek Oberai does the role of Paritala Ravi on whose life the movie is based on, Surya portrays the character of Maddalcheruvu Suri, and Paritala Ravi’s opponent. Ram Gopal Varma had revealed the first look of Vivek before few months.

Surya is currently in the sets of K.S.Ravikumar’s project Aadhavan and will be doing Hari’s Singam. After finishing these projects Suriya will take up Ratha Charithra.

The actor’s earlier movie Ghajini, which was remade in Hindi had Bollywood actor Aamir Khan in the lead. This movie did well at the box office.

Let’s wait for Surya in his new avatar

India beats Australia by 6 wickets in 3rd ODI

2009-10-31T12:17:00.001-07:00

Ap, 31 October 2009

Yuvraj Singh and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni posted half-centuries in a 148-run stand Saturday to lead India to a six-wicket win over Australia, giving the hosts a 2-1 lead in the seven-match series.

Replying to Australia's challenging total of 229 for five wickets on a low bouncing pitch at Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium, Yuvraj scored 78 and Dhoni an unbeaten 71 to guide India to victory with 10 balls remaining.

The Yuvraj-Dhoni partnership took the spotlight away from fine batting performances by Michael Hussey and captain Ricky Ponting for Australia. Hussey's unbeaten 81 was his third successive half-century, while Ponting made a composed 59.

Australia won the first ODI by four runs, while India took the second by 99 runs.

Yuvraj and Dhoni resurrected India from a shaky position at 53-3, grafting runs before Yuvraj lashed out.

The usually aggressive Yuvraj came out of his shell by swinging debutant seamer Moises Henriques for a six over mid-wicket, and then through the covers for four. He later reproduced the strokes against left-arm spinner Adam Voges.

Yuvraj hit two sixes and eight boundaries in 96 balls in his second match back since breaking a finger at the Champions Trophy.

"I was a bit rusty at the start and it wasn't a good batting wicket. As the wicket was slow, I took some time before playing my strokes," Yuvraj said. "I had a point to prove as I've often faced criticism that I can't play on slow wickets or against spinners."

Dhoni complimented Yuvraj, saying "he made the target look easy to attain."

Dhoni followed up his century in Wednesday's second ODI with a 95-ball innings that featured six hits to the boundary.

Earlier, India lost opener Virender Sehwag for 11 to a yorker from paceman Mitchell Johnson, who then ran out Sachin Tendulkar for 32 with a direct hit from mid-off.

Offspinner Nathan Hauritz then bowled Gautam Gambhir for 6, but Australia had to wait until Henriques trapped Yuvraj lbw in the 44th over for its next wicket.

"India outplayed us today," Ponting said. "We were in a good position when India was 53 for three. We needed to take a couple of wickets in the middle, but Yuvraj and Dhoni played superbly."

Hussey continued his good form in the series, thwarting all four spinners India used against him. His 82-ball knock featured a six and three boundaries.

Hussey featured in a partnership of 56 for the second wicket with Ponting, who opened the innings for the second time in his ODI career.

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Ponting worked the ball around in a patient 92-ball innings that had four boundaries.

Ponting put on an opening stand of 72 with Shane Watson, who contributed 41 before being stumped by Dhoni off Yuvraj's left-arm spinners. Yuvraj finished with figures of 1-30.

Ponting fell when he failed to connect with a full toss from left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and was trapped lbw. Jadeja had 2-41 for the best Indian figures after also bowling Henriques for 12.

Cameron White was unlucky to be given caught behind from spinner Suresh Raina as TV replays indicated the ball hit his pads.

Hussey put on 43 for the fourth wicket with Voges, who made 17 before falling to offspinner Harbhajan Singh. In his previous two matches, Hussey made scores of 73 and 53.

Australia went into the game with three changes. Wicketkeeper-opener Tim Paine has returned home after breaking a finger in the second ODI in Nagpur, while Shaun Marsh was dropped.

The Australian touring squad has been further depleted with fast bowler Brett Lee returning home with an elbow injury.

Inside the Golden Temple, life moves on (25 years after Indira Gandhi's assasination)

2009-10-31T01:12:00.000-07:00

Tue, Oct 27 02:31 PM

It has been 25 years since prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated Oct 31, 1984 perhaps, as a consequence of Operation Bluestar at Amritsar's Golden Temple four months earlier. Events of those days are still fresh in memory.

After Operation Bluestar ended and the complex was still in a state of chaos and disorder, then president Zail Singh visited the place June 8, 1984. Given the impact the incident had on the psyche of people in Punjab and elsewhere, the authorities were in a hurry to clean up the place, withdraw the army and hand over the Golden Temple complex to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).

Consequently, over 1,200 workers from the municipal corporation were engaged in sprucing up the place. It was amidst this exercise that prime minister Indira Gandhi visited the Golden Temple on the morning of June 23. Local media persons were not allowed access to the complex. In fact the media was not permitted to cover the visit of even Zail Singh.

The walled city was under tight security cover and even the movement of pedestrians was restricted. Deciding not to let the occasion be given a miss, my colleague, Gurdip Singh and I walked towards the walled city and reached near the footbridge when we saw a cavalcade of vehicles heading towards the army cantonment.

Indira Gandhi was returning from the complex and was seated in the front seat of a white Ambassador car, wearing a white-bordered sari and goggles. We waved to her and she reciprocated.

Minutes later, we were with Giani Sahib Singh, head priest of the Golden Temple, who had briefed Gandhi exhaustively. After paying obeisance inside the sanctum sanctorum, she had sat down to listen to 'kirtan' (religious hymns). The Giani showed her the extensive damage to certain buildings, particularly the Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion). The priest told us that he had made some demands, including allowing devotees to pay obeisance daily even if it was only for a fixed time period.

That was the last I saw of Indira Gandhi.

She was assassinated on the morning of Oct 31, 1984. As the day advanced, the news cast shock, anguish, confusion and fear in the city. The confusion was all the more prevalent in the Shiromani Akali Dal, among the head priests and the SGPC who took vacillating stands on the killing.

Nevertheless, in the intervening period between her visit to the Golden Temple in June and her assassination, Gandhi launched what came to be known as 'healing touch' aimed at assuaging the hurt religious sensibilities of the devotees and the devout especially the Sikhs.

The direct broadcast of gurbani from 'Harmandar Sahib' (popularly known as Golden Temple) at dawn and dusk was one such step. The other 'healing touch' was to repair and restore the buildings, particularly the Akal Takht, damaged because of army operations in as short a period of time as possible.

In this decision fault-lines were visible sooner than later as neither the Sikh political nor religious leadership accepted the entrusting of this task to Nihang chief, Baba Santa Singh, who was drafted into this kar sewa by the then union home minister Buta Singh, with the centre providing the finances and the army engineers tactical support.

With the passage of time, the government-repaired Akal Takht was demolished. The rest is history.

The morning after Gandhi's assassination, some local journalists went to Agwan, a non-descript village, barely 20 km from the border with Pakistan. It is about eight km from Dera Baba Nanak. This was the village of Satwant Singh, one of the assassins of Indira Gandhi.

When we reached the village, we found that some people had not heard about her assassination. The sarpanch (village headman) and others heard the news in disbelief and could not believe that their own 'munda' (boy) could do such a thing.

The house of Satwant Singh was deserted. The police had taken away Tarlok Singh, his father, in the wee hours of November 1. Other family members had fled.

Looking back, one observes that Amritsar and its people have shown resilience and are back in business-as-usual mode. This is evident from a revisit to the place this month after a prolonged gap.

The chaotic traffic inside the walled city has become more pronounced. The disorder is on account of the construction of flyovers, particularly on roads leading to the Golden Temple from the bus terminus. Vehicle entry is restricted beyond Jallianwala Bagh.

Devotees now walk to the complex from beyond Jallianwala Bagh. Inside the complex, it takes over half-an-hour from the main 'Darshni Deori' to the sanctum sanctorum to pay obeisance. Some repair and construction work is still underway in the 'Parikrama' (symbol of prayer). The physical marks of Operation Bluestar may, over a period of time blur. But will the scars embossed and embedded in the psyche ever get erased?

(The writer is a senior journalist who covered Operation Bluestar and terrorism in Amritsar for The Tribune in the 1980s. He is presently State Information Commissioner in the Punjab Information Commission and can be reached at ppsgill@hotmail.com)

Introducing the latest New ORKUT for you

2009-10-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

yes friends the latest version of orkut has been released,with whole new features making it more simpler and friendly n easier to use.Many new features are also introduced.i found it much more interesting and refreshing.
but the sad side is its invitation based only as of now.but we have few invitation with us,if u want to try new orkut yourself just visit our comm. and be active there
you might be lucky to get one
the comm. are.....

lets have a review of new orkut.....

The first thing what i noticed is whole new look,it can be personalized with your choice of colour,and browsing google sites is much easier also u can search web right from orkut homepage.
New shortcuts have been made,like clicking On ORKUT logo opens shortcuts,shortcuts for profile,scraps is also available seperately on homepage
The tag and Profile display pic can be updated right from the Homepage,just by clicking on them
It is easier to manage and search among friends and communities,there is seperate search box and scroll button to search them,Also there is manage on homepage itself

5. the Most delightful thing is for the MODERATORS & CO-OWNERS,they can accept all members easily n conveniently right from HOMEPAGE
6.we can comment on status and tagline of friends right from new updates section.Also new updates have been defaultly activated for all.

7. scrapping has been done much more simpler with no more HTML codes needed to write text or insert emoticons just a simple click does all this.even uploading video is much easier.

8. editing all the pics of ur album is more convenient, a single popup window comes with all the needed tools

The whole look of new ORKUT seems like des...