Change the Dimensions......

छाती मैं छाले, अग्नि से!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 09:40:00 -0700

मेरे जो यह आँसू छलके,

तेरे छल की छलनी से!

मन मैं गहरे भाव है अटके ,

छाती मैं छाले, अग्नि से!

आंसू

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 01:56:00 -0700

तेरे आंसू,मेरे आंसू

कुछ तो इनमे एका होगा!

जो यह बहते थे दिल से, तो

आखों ने उनको रोका होगा!

क्या ज़माने थे

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 01:28:00 -0700

क्या ज़माने थे,

जो गुज़र गए,

पता नहीं पहले बिगड़े थे,

जो अब सुधर गए?

नवोदय!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 07:21:00 -0700

अब जीवन मैं नवोदय हो,

उमंग का परिचय हो

जो निराकार हो चुके थे स्वप्ना,

अब उनसे परिणय हो!

प्रश्नावली के आखिरी प्रश्न,

का मुझ पर अब उत्तर हो!

संवादों की भूल भुलैयाँ मैं,

स्पश्टता का स्वर हो !

सोते हुए समय मैं,

कुछ बेचैनी पैदा हो,

ख्वावों मैं हो हलचल

अब जल्दी सुबह हो !

खो गए थे जो परिंदे,

मंज़िल उन्हें पता हो,

हवा के रुख मैं, हो दिशा

बस आशा ही आशा हो !

Interesting AI Tool- Voicify

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 1 Jan 2024 01:05:00 -0800

In this era of AI, it's a job for us to remain updated, or else we are outdated.

In fact, this is a good job, something that keeps me passionate. Heard of chatgpt which is text oriented. I found a new tool that is voice-oriented. We can convert any voice and make them sign as well. OMG.. Try it out yourself!

ttps://voicify.ai/?ref=ankur

Bharat...!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 5 Aug 2023 00:50:00 -0700

भारत सिर्फ एक देश नहीं,

गणतंत्र मैं बंधा परिवेश नहीं।

यह मानवता की मातृभूमि,

यहाँ रंग अनेक, पर द्वेष नहीं!

विज्ञान यहाँ, संज्ञान लिया,

गणित को शुन्य यहीं मिला,

सौर को हमने जाना तब,

जब विश्व था पलकें खोल रहा!

यहाँ संस्कृत थी, और संस्कृति भी,

वेद भी थे , और विवेक भी!

स्वस्थ समाज की रचना करती,

रचिंत यहीं, चरक संहिता थी !

गौरव पूर्ण इतिहास से सज्जित,

यह भारत की माटी है,

गाँधी सुभाष के बलिदानों से,

सवरी इसकी काँठी है!

पर भूल गए कुछ लोग यहाँ,

भारत की परिमल, इस गाथा को,

जले मणिपुर, लड़े हरियाणा,

बस लांघ रहे मर्यादा को!

यह भारत है जिसने, विश्व को,

सदा मानव प्रेम सिखाया है,

गंगा जमुनी तहजीब से हमने,

एक राष्ट्र प्रबल बनाया है!

आओ फिर गुंथे उन यादों को,

संवेदना की उन स्वाशों को ,

फिर, अब्दुल और अमर, मिलकर

सुलझाए विश्व की गांठों को!

मंज़िल, बस आती ही होगी!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 06:37:00 -0800

सड़क शुरू है,

तो ख़तम भी होगी!

कुछ कदम और,

मंज़िल, बस आती ही होगी!!

नया सूर्योदय होने को है

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 7 Oct 2021 09:13:00 -0700

जब चारो और लगे अन्धकार,

जीवन लाचार,

जैसे हर पल होता प्रहार!

कठिन पथ,

उस पर समय का बढ़ता भार

समझ लेना ,मंजिल है पास,

नया सूर्योदय होने को है,

इस पराकाष्ठा के पार!!

Covid-19: An Opportunity to Reinvent!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 07:46:00 -0700

Please refer my article @ Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/covid-19-opportunity-reinvent-profit-ankur-agrawal

मित्रता के रंग!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 23:52:00 -0700

मित्रता के अनेको रंग,

कोई अतरंग, कुछ बदरंग!

एक मित्र ऐसा,

सुदामा हो जैसा!

हो मैला कुचैला ,

पर प्रेम मैं पहला!!

एक मित्र ऐसा,

शकुनि के जैसा!

बोल मीठे मीठे,

तो काट पीठ पीछे!!

एक मित्र ऐसा,

कर्ण हो जैसा!

तुमको रखे पूरा,

खुद रहके अधूरा!!

एक मित्र ऐसा,

बुद्धा सा जैसा!

प्रेम का मंथन,

आत्मा की गुंजन!!

रंग जैसा भी हो,

हाल कैसा भी हो!

ढूंढ लेना तुम मुझे,

मित्र ऐसा ही हो!!

बचपन की बोली!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 01:11:00 -0700

बचपन की बोली,

वह हसीं ठिठोली!

मित्रों के संग,

कुछ आँख मिचोली!!

कागज़ की नाव,

सपनो की डोली!

मटकाते रंग,

मासूम सी होली!!

चेहरे की दमक,

आँखों की चमक!

तोतली बातें,

वह दिल की सड़क!!

अल्हड़ खेल,

चहकते बोल!

तो फिर तभी,

सहमते ढोल!!

माथे पे मेरे,

बचपन की रोली!

रोली पोली,

बचपन की बोली!!

Entrepreneurship: Opportunities Around!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 01:22:00 -0800

21^st Century is an era of innovation and entrepreneurship with many start-ups bubbling in and out. Creativity and urge to be different, is at its peak and keeping the organizations at toes with just one motto to stay afloat in this competitive arena. Expect competition from anywhere and from anyone. The best thing is that it is bringing just more smiles to customer with more value for money products.

As a hobby, I am hooked to anything wherever I see an opportunity to improve upon for providing better value and innovative products/services to customers. This time I saw some light coming from a window again, which I thought why not we together peep into, hence this blog.

Recently, I was planning to buy a Term Insurance Plan for myself. While browsing through various plans, I came across new payment options as Single Pay and Limited Pay, in addition to Regular Pay.

Prospects generally opt for Limited Pay or Single Pay options to reduce risk of inability of nonpayment in later years. Solution provided by Insurance Companies is good but I think it is too heavily charged and paves way to a New Business Opportunity. How?

If a 25 Year old guy opts for a Term insurance for 1 Cr up to 75 years of age, premium amount on yearly basis is Rs. 9086 ( Source Policy Bazaar). However, for the same coverage premium amount in Single Pay mode is Rs. 272282. Means he somehow arranges Rs. 2.72 lacs and can cover himself for almost rest of his life for a whopping cover of Rs. 1 Cr. Should he go for this plan?

Absolutely Not Recommended! Why?

If he keeps the same amount of money in FD or invests in mutual funds, he can expect a return of around 7-8% PA. Annual Interest earned @7% PA is Rs. 18989. It means he can not only pay his yearly insurance premium from the interest earned but also can keep 50% of the interest earned. Top of it, his principal is intact whatever he has invested at first place.

Many Insurance or Finance enthusiasts may already know this fact but my objective here is how we can turn this situation, into a new Business Model.

So, I really don’t want to comment on the business model adopted by Insurance companies as they are the subject matter experts, but here lies an opportunity for a budding entrepreneur to offer a plan to this youngster to pay Rs. 1.2 lacs upfront ie less than 50% what Insurance company has asked for and get insured for 1 Cr till 75 years with return of investment amount. Sounds cool!

How? It is simple! Amount collected, entrepreneur can invest in market and can expect return at the rate of 10-12% on a conservative side in the long run. Policy premium to be paid on behalf of the insured until lifetime on a yearly basis. Potential for earnings are in form of Commission from Insurance Company and returns on corpus invested.

Let us make it even better, as many youngsters can’t even afford Rs. 1.2 Lacs also. So, let’s convert this amount in a personal loan. New offering will be as follows, Pay Rs. 2670 per month for 5 years and get a term cover insurance for 1 Cr till 75 years.

We can earn even more. Apart from earnings in Insurance, there is a possibility to earn on the personal loan. Apply for a Capex funding for this business model, which we can get @ 8-10% PA. Now, lend the same amount as PL towards purchase of Policy @12%. Here again we earn 2% PA additionally. Here the risk is limited to the annual premium paid as an investor.

What more! If we can group 1000 prospects willing to buy policy, we can negotiate with Insurer for a negotiated rate like Rs. 8k/year from Rs. 9k/year, benefitting the customer. We can also demand Insurer to treat us as a Key Account for better services and claim experience.

Now once we have a pool of such customers (policyholders), we can pitch other financial products. One caution, ensure trust of customer is ensured whatever may come.

If IRDA permits existence of such Business Model, then we can expect a major premium optimization in Insurance sector only to benefit customers.

As a customer, lets keep thinking and innovating every day for a brighter and healthier ecosystem.

10 reasons why gold prices may hit Rs. 21000

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:39:00 -0700

Gold prices (in dollars) are down 20 per cent in 2013. Spot gold is currently trading at $1,391.30 an ounce. In India, gold futures for May delivery dipped below Rs. 26,000 per 10 gram mark earlier this week. Global investment bank Credit Suisse says "the sell-off could have further to run." If we were to pick an "ideal" ultimate target for the sell-off though, it would be $1085 (or Rs. 21,000 per 10 gram), Credit Suisse says.

Here are 10 reasons why gold prices may fall further:

Gold expensive over the long term: In real terms (dollars adjusted for inflation), the average price of gold over the very long run (150 years) is around $520 an ounce against $1,391 an ounce currently, Credit Suisse says. Clearly, gold continues to be expensive over the long term average despite the sharp correction this year.
Gold expensive against other commodities: Gold remains expensive when valued against hard assets, such as base metals and U.S. real estate, as well as against other investment classes such as US equities, Credit Suisse says.
Global stock markets are at record highs. Besides, equities offer some dividend yield as well, which means the opportunity cost of holding gold has become too much to bear for many investors, Credit Suisse argues.
Inflation no more a risk: Investors buy gold to hedge against inflation. However, policymakers in the developed world have failed to generate even moderate 2-2.5 per cent inflation, Credit Suisse says. So, gold as an inflation hedge is losing its charm as the prospects of a sharp move in prices remains remote. (Also read: Why 2013 may not be the year of gold)
No imminent collapse of financial markets: The European Central Bank's commitment to preserve the euro and the determination of other leading central banks to underwrite risk and the recapitalization of financial institutions means reduced risk and thus reduced demand for insurance in the form of gold, Credit Suisse says.
No threat to dollar: There have been numerous stories about the potential outbreak of "currency wars" amongst the major industrialized economies leading to forex instability. However, if everyone eases together, it will in theory not impact cross rates, Credit Suisse argues.
QE coming to an end: The U.S. Federal Reserve has been printing money to shore up the U.S. economy. This liquidity has been driving up asset prices including gold. Credit Suisse says at least 435 tonnes of gold could be liquidated once the Fed withdraws quantitative easing, thereby putting further pressure on gold prices.
Central banks are not buying gold despite falling prices and any intervention by them to support prices looks unlikely, Credit Suisse says.
No support to gold prices from high production costs: While cost inflation across the gold mining sector has been high, the marginal cost (the change in total cost that comes from producing one additional item) is unlikely to provide support to gold price in the short to medium term, Credit Suisse says.
Gold in bear territory: Going by the past trends, a 60 per cent retracement of the 2005 to September 2011 rally over the two and a half years would take gold back to around $1,000 an ounce (nominal) by the end of March 2014, Credit Suisse says.

Source:-
http://profit.ndtv.com/news/cheat-sheet/article-10-reasons-why-gold-prices-may-hit-rs-21000-322600

Capital Gains:- On sale of Property

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:23:00 -0800

Rajan, I have sold a residential plot recently. I acquired it in 2001 for 6.5 lacs and sold it at 44 lacs in 2008 Oct. I already own a flat from last 3 years. I believe I am not eligible to reduce capital gains under sec 54 or 54F. Not very keen on 54EC. If I want to pay tax on capital gains, how much it will be. Is there a different slab of tax with and without considering the index? Can you please elaborate.

GIRISH

Recently I have received this comment on blog post BUY HOUSE SAVE CAPITAL GAIN ON SALE OF HOUSE ,I have replied Girish as required but while replying I have noticed that he is not very keen on taking relief given under Section 54EC.So I made a comparison between Investment in Capital gain Bond and payment of Capital gain and invest balance money elsewhere.After reading this Analysis it will be helpful to choose between both the product.Before this just look at main features/condition of section 54EC

Long Term Capital Asset:Long term assets means any capital asset held by assessee for more than 3 Years.
If assesee has sold the Long term capital asset during the previous year and made a long term capital gain then he can invest money of capital gain in Capital gain bonds and can save tax on long term capital gain.
Assessee here means all type of assessees,like individual,firm company etc.
Amount to be invested in bonds is only capital gain not net consideration received on sale of long term capital asset
Amount exempted under this section will be amount of capital gain or amount invested in capital gain bond which ever is lower maximum upto 50Lakh
These Bonds Maturity Period is Three years
Capital gain bonds eligible under this section are now can be issued only by REC or NABARD
Bonds can not be pledged ,sold transfer before completion of three years from purchase of bonds ,and in case its transferred then amount capital gain exempted on investment in these bonds will be made taxable in that previous year as Long term capital gain .
Amount of capital gain should be invested in Capital gain bond within 6 Month from date of transfer/sale of capital asset .

so now evaluate two option and take first option.

Example : On sale of long term asset suppose capital gain amount is 1000000 Rs .

Option-1: Amount of Long term Capital gain Bonds Invested in Capital Gain tax Bond ,Rate of Interest is 5.75 REC bonds

On investment of 1000000 rs in Bonds ,tax payout will be Nil and we will get interest 57500@ 5.75p a at the year end ,suppose we will invest 57500 interest received at the First year end and second year end @ 9% per annum annually compound rate, we will get at the following amounts at maturity .

Now Take second Option :Pay Capital gain Tax and Invest balance amount elsewhere .I have calculated the maturity amount at different interest rates compounded annually.The details are given Below on the basic of balance amount invested and amount at maturity at different Interest Rates.

So from the above we can say that if one can invest balance amount after payment of tax in such a way so that annual rate of return is more than 14.39%@ CAGR then it is beneficial to pay tax at one go as compare to investment in capital gain Bond otherwise he should invest in Capital gain bond and take benefit u/s 54EC .Though the rate of interest offered on capital gain Bond is just 5.75% but Internal rate of return (IRR) will come as 14.39(CAGR) due to out go of log term capital gain tax in first year @20 % plus surcharge on log term capital gain.

Now specific answer to his query

Non eligible for section 54:section 54 is available only if log term asset sold is a residentila house property ,so Gisrish has correctly said that sec 54 is not vailable to him,as he has sold land not a residential house property.
Non eligible for section 54F:undersection 54F ,person can avail relief from paying long term capital gain tax arises on sale of long term capital asset,if he invest net sale consideration in a house in specefied time ,but he should not own more than one house at the time of transfer of long term asset other than purchased under this section(new house).In this Case Girish owned a house on the date of transfer of the property (land) so he is not correct and eligible for section 54 F
Capital gain with or without indexation:For sale of land there is no option for calculation of tax without indexation and pay tax at lower rate.
Tax calculation:As you have not given month of plot purchase so I have assumed it as after march 2001 so on the basic of your tax calculation is given as under

sale price=44
indexed cost of purchase =6.5 X 582/426=8.88
capital gain=44-8.88=35.12

tax on capital gain 35.12 @ 20%=7.02 Lakh
Regarding availing relief u/s 54EF or not it depends on person to person,however necessary calculation which will be helpful in selecting right option at right time is given above.

If you have different views then please record in comment section.

Read more: http://www.simpletaxindia.org/2008/10/capital-gain-bond-us-54ec-vs-capital.html#ixzz0gLjSyl2k
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Source:-http://www.simpletaxindia.org/2008/10/capital-gain-bond-us-54ec-vs-capital.html

Why save 1411 Tigers?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:50:00 -0800

Aircel has recently realized a social responsibility of saving the tigers. Around a century back there were some 100000 tigers in India but now as per their data only 1411 have left. Around 60+ tigers died in the year 2009. I had visited many national parks in the past, but I had never come across any tiger just except the talks of spotting the tigers.

It is right we should definitely work towards saving our national animal. I dont understand that why GoI has not initiated this mission,rather some another party Aircel is manging the show. Do they want to become the icon of saving dying tigers in India? I doubt as if the Brand Aircel is not selling why not sell the tigers?

Tigers are on the verge of dying buy why do we require them? A simple question. What have changed ecologically when they were exceeding 1 lacs nos to down 1411? Who is exactly at the end of food cycle? There are speculations that food cycle will be affected if there would be no tigers. DO you accept this scientifically? Do just 1411 tigers are behind the sustainence of lives of 120 crore Indians? Infact today Human beings are at the end of food cycle and we should save the human beings rather. The Human Beings should be healthy and well nourished. Its an advanced stage of civilization and I dont think it is justified to place the tigers at the end of the food cycle. Let them enjoy in the Zoos an attraction for the tourists and for locals to earn money out of them.

The time and effort that we invest on saving the tigers must be put on saving the human beings from getting affected from deadly diseases like HIV, Cancer etc.

Why dont we promote the fact 100 people got affected today from HIV?

I think rather than saving the dying tigers we should save the human beings first. Make it a strong breed that it must be able to sustain the attach of local and foreign bodies. It may be extraterrestrial also!

It seems the cause of saving tigers sells more than saving a human being's life? The corporate mantra of Aircel is really effective.

........Ankur

1 in every 5 divorces is caused by Facebook!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:13:00 -0800

Bangalore: Social networking site Facebook, which connects old friends and allows users to make new ones online, is being blamed for an increasing number of marital breakdowns, reports the Telegraph.

Divorce lawyers claim that the explosion in the popularity of websites such as Facebook and Bebo is tempting to people to cheat on their partners. One law firm, which specializes in divorce, claimed almost one in five petitions they processed cited Facebook.

Suspicious spouses have also used the websites to find evidence of flirting and even affairs which have led to divorce. Mark Keenan, Managing Director of Divorce-Online said, "I had heard from my staff that there were a lot of people saying they had found out things about their partners on Facebook and I decided to see how prevalent it was I was really surprised to see 20 percent of all the petitions containing references to Facebook. The most common reason seemed to be people having inappropriate sexual chats with people they were not supposed to."

Flirty emails and messages found on Facebook pages are increasingly being cited as evidence of unreasonable behaviour. In fact, computer firms have even cashed in by developing software allowing suspicious spouses to electronically spy on someone's online activities.

One 35-year-old woman even discovered her husband was divorcing her via Facebook. Conference organiser Emma Brady was distraught to read that her marriage was over when he updated his status on the site to read: "Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady."

Around 14 million Britons are believed to regularly use social networking sites to communicate with old friends or make new ones. The popularity of the Friends Reunited website several years ago was also blamed for a surge in divorces as bored husbands and wives used it to contact old flames and first loves.

Source:-http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/1_in_every_5_divorces_is_caused_by_Facebook-nid-64638.html

the 4-D human Life!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:06:00 -0800

Human life is like watching a movie in a 4-D cinema hall where the events do happen on their own and thus affecting our all the six senses which can be avoided as it has nothing to do physically!

....Ankur

All when I went for a sleep-Actions of Whispers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:28:00 -0800

I wanted to map the actions of whispers through the waves entering into my ears and thus alerting my nerves to understand. The coding has to be decoded naturally which were encrypted neither in Japanese, Chinese or Sanskrit nor in any other language spoken in the civil fraternity.
The actions were so fierce that it staged a panoramic drama of life beyond life in a very sueful manner. It posed a question to me let to the throbbing of my heart that am I on the right path of the things? Am I tying to become a judge of my serene love towards simplicity? Am I playing a lie game with the static vibration of the truth? What I am doing?
Decoding the whispers is not an easy thing though not too tough if you are lashed with the hunters of blames and sorrows.
Awaken in the morning I checked my entire body for the pain which I suffered the whole night. Nothing on the flesh was found but the my soul was still not full conscious!

Whispers continued to act consciously!

..........Ankur

target.....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:22:00 -0800

The real target can never be seen or imagined but can be sensed only otherwise it is not a target!
..............Ankur

How to protect the virginity of spirituality post marriage?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 8 Dec 2009 01:37:00 -0800

The day I had started hunting for a life partner, I started developing a relationship between marriage and spiritualism. Prior to this I have been well married to the life's basic essence of spiritualism. I never wanted to give divorce to my earlier life for the sake of lust and love. Swami Paramhans the guru of great swami vivekananda had given her wife the stature of Devi and used to worship her. He said I see the Goddess in her. I dont know how many spiritualistic married people do see a goddess in their wives:-) Is this the right way to keep a balance between the two paths.
People who enjoy their married life feel that adopting a saint's lifestyle is like rusting our bodies. On the contrary a spiritual soul will think that after marrying lust will rust the soul; Body has no significance for them!
Indeed developing a relationship between the two is very tough.
Ramdev baba says that the only purpose of sex is to have babies to fuel the generations.Gita says that just do the things without enjoying their tastes. Eat the sweet for the sake of eating not just to test its sweetness. Now let me ask is the sex just a mechanical activity? Are there no emotions involved during the act? On these grounds I object Ramdevji's statement.
Instead Ramdevji should have developed a method in ayurved or yoga to fertilise an egg with a sperm without the bodies coming in contact with each other like test tube babies. Let there be a sperm bank and an egg bank; probabaly this would have been the best way we could have preserved the virginity of the spirituality.
Still I am looking for an answer...................................

Use Pennisense-Travel Internationa for Less

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 7 Dec 2009 01:46:00 -0800

Recently I visited an International Destination the land of white elephant, a four hour direct fly from Mumbai to the east named as Thailand. It was my first international moonwalk ( A trip to International destination is no less than a moon walk for a middle class Indian like me). Before the trip many people prompted me to book the tour through some travel agent on a package as it is much safer and convenient; after all you are not travelling in India.
I checked with the Travel Agents and trust me over a period of time; thanks to immense information available on Internet I myself can become a travel agent for Thailand and can honorarily advise my friends in a professional way.
Packages with Travel Agents available were all out of my pocket for the type of journey I was looking at. Later I decided to be a smart traveller and I developed the art of pennisense in myself inspired by the famous hindi goldie "Around the world in 8 Dollars".
Certain tips I would like to share with you.
While Booking the Air tickets check website at www.zoomtra.com It gives you the fares displayed on various travel agent websites as makemytrip.com, cleartrip.com etc.
Also you get to know the offers. Need not to say book in advance. Also I have found that bypassing the travel agent and booking directly through the airline's website will cost you dear.
For hotels booking best website is www.booking.com.
Before booking read the reviews given by the travellers and you also don't forget to write your review after you come back. It is of immense help.
Register yourself at www.tripadvisor.com for the various updates for the destination. May be you come across some very good deal pooping up in your mail box some day.
Never forget to take a travel insurance. Check out at www.insurancepandit.com and compare the various options available. Also if possible I would recommend you to read the Policy document printed in small fonts before taking the policy to avoid any inconvenience.
Connectivity is a major issue while you are out of India and for you to be remain connected explore the possibility of getting a prepaid card of the country you are visiting.
Like In thailand you can get a prepaid card for 100 Baht with calling 35 calling minutes.
If you don't want to waste your energy into this simple take a matrix card from India. Incoming is free on Matrix Card. Search website for more details.
Food is a big problem for the travellers. Never forget to carry some dry fruits and snacks depending on the number of people travelling and number of days. This will save a lot of money outside.
Have a map of the city at the station and try using public transport system and use visual language like hands, maps etc. where you don't find English speaking people. Generally you will find people more cooperative in tourism rich countries.
Carry just as much required USD to the destination country and use your International credit card(for shopping) and International debit card(For withdrawal of Money) more as effective currency conversion rate is cheaper.
These are some of the tips for someone going for a international travel.
Indeed you can save a lot of hard earned money if you have done some prework.

Use Pennisense!

Catch u later with more information!

Honeymoon under the Sea!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:38:00 -0800

huh! Returning after a long time. Got engaged in some very personal but most important stuff of the life. With your blessings I got married on 10th of Nov. Now honeymooning in the grandeur city of Bangkok, the city of night lights and enshrined with; easy to find temples of Gautam Buddha all across the city. Malls here are very big unlike India with full of activities with lots of food junctions but getting anything Veg here is not just tough but the most impossible task here.

Even the guy at Mc D gave us a bad look at us when we (Myself and Iti) asked about something Veg:-) To satiate our hunger we always carry some biscuits to keep our energy level up till we come across some Indian Joint.

Last whole week we covered pattaya, the city famous for night life and beaches. Though I didn't find the beaches good to my expectations except the coral island which is around 7.5 kms from the Jomtien beach via Sea.

One interesting thing we did there was walking over the bottom of sea in reality. It was something very adventurous. We touched the corals by our own hands and got the idea of the life the species live deep under the sea. Best way is that you dive into the sea yourself and explore. We did the same. We even fed fishes the bread down under the sea.

It was the best part of our honeymoon and a memorial of our love.

Got to go! Have planned to visit temples today at Bangkok!

Good Day!

...Ankur & Iti

Mahatma Gandhi is Obama's real hero!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 9 Sep 2009 02:38:00 -0700

US President Barack Obama has said given a chance he would like to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi, whom he considered a real hero.

Obama expressed his desire in response to a question from a student Lilly during his discussion with 9th graders at Wakefield High School in Arlington Virginia where he accompanied with the Education Secretary gave a national speech welcoming students back to school.

Obama called for students to take responsibility and to learn from their failures so that they succeed in the end.

"Hi. I'm Lilly. And if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?," Obama was asked by one of the students.

"Dinner with anyone dead or alive? Well, you know, dead or alive, that's a pretty big list," Obama responded amidst laughter. The next moment he was serious.

"You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine," Obama said. "Now, it would probably be a really small meal because he didn't eat a lot," he said amidst laughter. But Mahatma Gandhi is someone who has inspire people across the world for the past several generations, he said.

Terming the iconic figure as the source of inspiration for many, Obama said "he (Mahatma Gandhi) is somebody whom I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr King (Martin Luther), so if it hadn't been for the non-violent movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United States." said.

"What was interesting was that he ended up doing so much and changing the world just by the power of his ethics, by his ability to change how people saw each other and saw themselves -- and help people who thought they had no power realise that they had power, and then help people who had a lot of power
realise that if all they're doing is oppressing people, then that's not a really good exercise of power," Obama said.

Expressing his belief in the way of change proposed by Gandhi, the President said, "I am always interested in people who are able to bring about change, not through violence, not through money, but through the force of their personality and their ethical and moral stances. That is somebody that I would love to sit down and talk to," said Obama.

Mahatma Gandhi has always been a source of inspiration for this first African-American President of the United States of America.

"In my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things," he wrote in the ethnic India Abroad newspaper last year.

"That is why his portrait hangs in my Senate office; to remind me that real results will not just come from Washington, they will come from the people," Obama said.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/mahatma_gandhi_is_obamas_real_hero.php

Freebies! (IGI Airport-Delhi)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:43:00 -0700

You are paid nothing for freebies offered to you and none damn cares about your precious time too. A freebie is a freebie that is a provided as a part of additional value added service probably sometimes comes at the cost of your inconvenience. The funny part is that you cant even raise objections if you are not satisfied with the services because you have not spent even a penny for to buy it tangibly. Tangibly?Yes, Nothing in the world comes for free, there is no thing as mecry, even the beggar has to plead hard for you to lose some of your weight of your wallet. Today sitting at the IGI-Delhi termial 1D I have come across one such bitter experience.The newly constructed Airport extensively displays that the Airport is Wi-Fi enabled. Wow thats great! Still I have some 1 Hr for my flight to depart. Who else can be your best companion at the airport other than the internet while you are alone but still connected to the pandemic world.I immediately booted my laptop and connected with the Wire Less Network of the IGI- Delhi Airport.I was just one step far to read some good stuff at the internet just at the expense of my laptop battery.First things first, rightly said, I opened the Internet explorer. A page opened as http://122.160.224.66/userportal/login.do. For verification it asked for my mobile number.Without loosing a moment I entered my no for them to send a username and password on my cell.5 Min passed10 Min Passed....20 Min Passed.....1 Hour Passed...........But the message never flashed in my cell's mini screen, the probabalt gateway to the world of free internet. I am still waiting.I dont know what they meant for the ausum and pseudo word of "Few Minutes".
Truthfully wether it is Lalu's railway station or prafull's airport anything offered as free is actually not free cos either it never reaches u or if it somehow reaches then it reaches at the cost of your inconvenience.SO beware of the freebies next Time.
Meet you soon with another story!

Now Boarding the Aircraft....................
.....ankur

Health insurers want you to keep smoking, Harvard doctors say!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:34:00 -0700

Health and life insurance companies in the U.S. and abroad have nearly $4.5 billion invested in tobacco stocks, according to Harvard doctors.“It’s the combined taxidermist and veterinarian approach: either way you get your dog back,” says David Himmelstein, an internist at the Harvard Medical School and co-author of a letter published in this week’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.The largest tobacco investor on the list, the 160-year old Prudential company with branches in the U.S. and the U.K., has more than $1.5 billion invested in tobacco stocks. The runner-up was Toronto-based Sun Life Financial, which apparently holds over $1 billion in Philip Morris (Altria) and other tobacco stocks. In total, seven companies that sell life, health, disability, or long-term care insurance, have major holdings in tobacco stock.Why is it a big deal? “If you own a billion dollars [of tobacco stock], then you don’t want to see it go down,” says Himmelstein, “You are less likely to join anti-tobacco coalitions, endorse anti-tobacco legislation, basically, anything most health companies would want to participate in.”The letter is the third report that the doctors—who all support a national health care program—have published in the last 14 years.
We decided to check in with some of the insurance companies mentioned in the letter to learn more about their policies with respect to tobacco stock. Prudential was unable to respond by press time. Sun Life, however, flatly denied the charges.“Sun Life does not carry significant holdings in tobacco stocks,” says representative Steve Kee, “We do not disclose specific holdings and, for good measure, we conducted a review further to your inquiry and our exposure to ‘tobacco’ stocks is less than 0.005 percent [about $5 million] of the investment portfolio. Importantly, tobacco-related businesses can be part of a broader conglomerate involving other aspects such as food production.”Himmelstein rechecked his numbers in the Osiris database, and said, “I fear that if Sun Life has a dispute, it is with Osiris not with us.”In any event, the doctors’ persistence over the years seems to be working to some extent. They targeted MetLife and Cigna in their 1995 and 2000 letters to medical journals, but neither is listed in the latest reckoning, indicating that the insurers no longer hold enough to stock to be noted on filings for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, a representative for Cigna says they currently have no direct holdings in tobacco stock unless it is part of an index fund.
But with $4.5 billion still invested in Big Tobacco, many insurers are reaping profits from a cancer-causing industry. As Himmelstein puts it, "Is this who we want running our health care system?"

Source:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=health-insurers-want-you-to-keep-sm-2009-06-03