Whacked Out Brain

10 Sports Persons You Should Know Before You Troll Sharapova!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 05 Jul 2014 12:52:00 +0000

Ever since Maria Sharapova admitted not knowing Sachin Tendulkar, a lot of fuss has been made about it in the social media by the so called "Sachin lovers".

What I fail to understand is why should a tennis player from a non cricket playing nation like Russia know about Sachin? And why is it such a big deal if she doesn't know about Sachin!

If you have been trolling Sharapova over the last few days, you are only embarrassing yourself and your country.

Here's a challenge for you. How well do you know your nation's greatest sports persons? Not well enough, right?

So, here's a list of 10 Indian Sports Persons that you should know before you question Maria Sharapova :

10. Geet Sethi

Six-time winner of the professional-level and a three-time winner of the amateur World Championships, and holder of two world records, in English billiards.

9. A. Maria Irudayam

Two-time World Carrom Champion and nine-time national champion of India

8. Prakash Padukone

Former Indian badminton player from Karnataka. First Indian to win the All England Championship.

7. Balbir Singh Sr

Member of three Olympic gold medal winning teams, in London (1948), Helsinki (1952) (Vice Captain) and Melbourne (1956) (Captain). His Olympic record for most goals scored by an individual in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

6. Abhinav Bindra

An Indian shooter and a World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games.

5. Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav

Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav or KD Jadhav, widely known as 'Pocket Dynamo', was independent India's first individual Olympic medalist when he won the freestyle wrestling bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

4. Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom

Five-time World Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. She is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51 kg) category and winning the bronze medal.

3. Vishwanathan Anand

The greatest Indian chess Grandmaster and one of the world's greatest chess players. Anand has won the World Chess Championship five times (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012), and was the undisputed World Champion from 2007 to 2013.

2. Dhyan Chand

Considered as the greatest field hockey player of All Time. Chand is most remembered for his extraordinary goal-scoring feats, in addition to earning three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, and 1936) in field hockey, during an era where India was the most dominant team in Hockey. Known as “The Wizard” for his superb ball control, Chand played his final international match in 1948, having scored more than 400 goals during his international career.

1. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Yes, you may know him as the greatest Indian cricketer. But what you should also know is that he is one of the most humble sportsperson ever. Let's face it. If you were a true Sachin fan, you would never have done what has been done to Sharapova over the last few days.
One can always write about Sachin's achievements, milestones and records, but let's admire and appreciate the person who hasn't changed one bit with all the adulation and fame. So, if you are a true Sachin fan, please do not resort to any activity that would be detrimental to Sachin's image!

C̶r̶i̶c̶k̶e̶t̶ ̶A̶u̶s̶t̶r̶a̶l̶i̶a Crazy Aussies set a stupid precedent

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:34:00 +0000

What’s wrong with the Aussies?

Seriously, what’s Mickey Arthur and Michael Clarke up to?
4 players suspended for not doing their assignment. To be honest, my jaws were left wide open when I first read about it. It seemed more like a Faking News or The Unreal Times article! But guess what, this is 100% true. Would you believe that?

“Four time world champion Australia have dropped Watson, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and youngster Usman Khwaja for failing to make presentations in a team meeting as instructed by the team management.”

I should thank my stars 'cause my engineering college professors weren't as strict as Mickey Arthur. In my 4 years of B. Tech life, hardly did I submit any assignment! (Most engineer’s would consider that as a feather in one’s cap ;) ). And in spite of that, I managed to get through it! Goodness gracious me. I was way better off than those poor Aussie cricketers. They have become the laughing stock of the whole cricketing fraternity. Well, my sympathies are with them…. just can’t comprehend what they must be going through. There must be something more than that meets the eye, to trigger such a reaction from the team management. I mean writing reports isn't a player's virtue, they need to focus more on their on field performances. By the way, Johnson and Khwaja weren't even in the playing XI. Expecting them to do a performance analysis is a bit too much. It's a little over the top reaction. In fact, I believe, it's more of a coach's job to find the grey areas and work on them.

On a lighter note, I absolutely agree with Andrew Flintoff when he says, "Amazing 4 Aussie players banned for not doing homework. I thought letting them play in the next Test would be punishment enough"

Mickey Arthur is setting a pretty dangerous precedent for the world of cricket. Imagine what would be the consequences if other people followed suit as well. Newspapers and tabloids could present similar headlines in the future as mentioned below :

Australia crashes out of the World Cup'15 in the league stage. Michael Clarke submits a detailed report; gets nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Infosys stock prices double after reports of negotiations between the Indian software giant and the Aussie players for outsourcing the task of creating PowerPoint presentations.

Just a few days left before India tour South Africa. Team India practice hard on the "Net". BCCI ropes in major software firm to help players create PowerPoint presentations on the Cloud platform.

BCCI modifies the selection criteria. Players need to pass 10+2 with a minimum percentage of 50. SC/ST/OBC need to secure at least 35%. Sachin goes back to school, says he would open the innings alongside his son after completing his class 12^th exams

ECB impressed with the opening lines of the new Jeffrey Archer book. Archer is set to replace Cook as the new English opener.

Pakistani players protest against Dav Whatmore's instruction to submit PowerPoint presentations in English. Request the board to consider Urdu presentations.

Kevin Pietersen allegedly sends his PowerPoint presentation to the South African coach instead of the English coach ; gets suspended from the English cricket team;

Hope the Aussies manage to sort their problem out pretty soon... Until then, you can continue to have a good laugh.

Do share your views in the comments box below

Kaunain : The Barbarian

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:43:00 +0000

Yes, it's Kaunain. If you think I should have spell-checked the title of this post before publishing, you've got it wrong. I'm talking about Kaunain Abbas, the lanky, 6 ft. 3 in. tall captain of the Southern Champs, Jain University, Bangalore. Instead of carrying a sword and a shield, he has a bat in his hands and still, he manages to evoke the same kind of terror from the opposition.

The inaugural Toyota University Cricket Championship has finally come to an end, the final of which saw the Southern Champs, Jain University, Bangalore snatch the trophy from the clutches of Jamia Milia Islamia, under the inspirational leadership of their captain, Kaunain Abbas.

The tournament has brought to the forefront many talented cricketers. But Kaunain stands out from the rest. And of course, no prizes for guessing, he's bagged the Player of the Tournament award for his consistent performance throughout the tournament. Averaging over 104 and scoring runs at a strike rate of 134.91, he has managed to score 313 from the 5 matches that he has played. No wonder then, the second highest run scorer in the tournament, Mumbai's Kevin D'Almeida, is more than 100 runs behind him.

What's most impressive about this young lad is that he is a thinking cricketer. He uses his brawn as well his brain quite maturely. A die hard fan of Mr. Dependable Rahul Dravid, Kaunain, himself, has picked up a thing or two from the cricketing icon he idolizes. In this all important final against Jamia, when they had lost the top 3 wickets even before opening their account, he shunned his normal attacking style of cricket and played a mature innings along with his partner, Shreyas Gopal, putting together 98 runs for the 4th wicket. He eventually got out at 33 of 45 deliveries, after having played at a pace unlike him. Defending a low total of just 122 runs and playing at Jamia's home ground where a capacity crowd of over 20K+ were all rooting for Jamia, Kaunain maintained his cool and his spirit rubbed on to his team mates as well. The Bangalore team had some pretty good bowlers and Kaunain used them to perfection. He rotated the bowlers and made the changes in the field pretty well which did pay its dividends. He kept the pressure on the batsmen and didn't let the match slip away. Ultimately, the boys from Jamia crumbled under the pressure and the match ended with a thrilling win by 2 runs in favour of the Bangalorians.

His most impressive performance has been against the Eastern Eagles, when he scored a brilliant 128* of just 65 balls, hitting the bowlers ruthlessly all over the park. This was also the tournament's first century by any player.

TUCC has had a great opening and players like Kaunain have shown what young University cricketers are capable of. Don't be surprised if you find Abbas being roped in by any IPL team one month from now. Wishing this young lad success in all his endeavours. Hoping to see him donning the Indian colours soon!

To know more about Kaunain and TUCC, follow this link

Poles not so polished against the Greeks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 12:34:00 +0000

What a dramatic way to begin the Euro 2012! The opening match between Poland and Greece lived up to all the hype surrounding Euro 2012. Though the game ended in a 1-1 draw, it was, nevertheless, an aggressive and lively game that saw both the teams reduced to 10 men each after the Greek defender Sokratis and Polish goalkeeper Szczesny were shown red cards.

The Poles, playing on their home ground, amidst the cries of “Polska, Polska” coming from their supporters and fans, had an impressive start to the game. It was expected of the Poles to play well since the team was loaded with some of the best players of the game in the form of Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski. The Poles made several attempts in the opening minutes of the game, capitalizing on the weak Greek defence, but they failed to materialize their efforts into goal. It was in the 17^th minute when Lewandowski delivered a splendid downward header to Jakub Blaszczykowski's cross, giving the Poles a well-deserved lead in the game.

Lewandowski celebrates after scoring the goal

Greece tried to regroup, focusing on the game and increased the attack on the Poles but failed to create any goal scoring opportunities for themselves till the end of the first half. To add to their misery, first Avraam Papadopoulos had to leave the field with an injury and then Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s misadventure resulted in him being shown the door with a red card (The decision was a bit harsh in my opinion). The first half ended with the Poles leading 1-0.

Sotiris Ninis was replaced by Salpingidis after the game resumed in the second half. And what a gem of a decision it was! Salpingidis made full use of the opportunity when there was a mix up between the Polish goalkeeper Szczesny and defender Wasilewski, striking the ball to the back of the net. 17 minutes later, Szczesny almost handed the match to the Greeks when he tripped Salpingidis that resulted in him getting a red card and the Greeks a penalty. Amidst the jeering and resentment of the Polish fans at the referee’s decision, the new goalie PSV Eindhoven’s Tyton entered the grand stage. The fate of the Poles now literally lay on his hands. The penalty spot kick was to be taken by the experienced Greek captain, Giorgos Karagounis. The referee blew the whistle. Karagounis took the spot-kick. But his attempts were foiled by the hero of the day, Tyton, who diving to his left, parried the ball to safety. What a moment it was. The Greeks had the finest opportunity of creating an upset in the opening game of the match itself. But they were turned down by Tyton’s brilliance.

Salpingidis scores

Brilliant save by Tyton

This highly entertaining match finally ended all-square. However, the Poles would be kicking themselves considering the formidable team they were and ruining their chances especially when the Greeks were reduced to 10 men in the first half.

Computer Gender!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:29:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered whether your Computer is male or female?

Now here's a simple trick to find out just that!
Don't believe me?
-
-
....Still skeptical?

Come on... Now here's the trick to check whether your computer is "male" or "female" :

Open your computer's NOTEPAD.
Type the following line in the NOTEPAD

CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice").Speak"I love you"

Save file as computer_gender.vbs
Run the file

If you hear a male voice, your computer is a "Boy"
If you hear a female voice, your computer is a "Girl"

NOTE : Don't forget to turn ON your SPEAKERS before running the file.

Well, Good Luck!!! Comment below and share your results :)

Rक्षण : India vs India

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:31:00 +0000

With the movie, "Aarakshan" (Hindi: आरक्षण, translation: Reservation), finally releasing this Friday (12th August, 2011), the controversy regarding Reservations has got fresh air. Whether or not Reservations are necessary, it is very sad to note that this controversy has divided the country the same way the Britishers did on religious lines few decades ago. Ironically, this has come at a time when we are celebrating our Nation's 65th Independence Day. Well, if this continues as such, it would take away the happiness out of our "Happy" Independence Day!

To set the record straight, I WAS among those who were against Reservations until a few days ago but I am NOT among the Pro-Reservations as well. Here's why the change in point of view :

Well, earlier I was of the opinion that Reservations don't actually benefit those who get it, rather it degrades the quality/standard of the institutions reserving seats by bringing about mediocrity in education. I believed Merit should be the only criteria and no reservations should be provided. I wasn't against backward classes but I felt that only the creamy layer benefited from the Reservations. So, there was no point having reservations. The major problem with Reservations is that it reduces the chances of the non-reserved students of pursuing education in a good institute even if they are "deserving" or "meritorious".

I won't say that I've flipped 180 degrees from my earlier stand and have become a Pro-Reservation activist. But over the past few days, I tried to have a look at the other side of the picture. And guess what? It wasn't good either. The fact is caste system is a social reality and we, all, are casteists in a way or the other and we can't deny this fact. The "backward" classes are backward only because they have never been given any opportunity to stand up. Sadly, even the "uplifted" or "well-to-do" sections of the society haven't done anything for them. Have YOU done anything for their upliftment? Forget about doing, have you ever, even cared about their upliftment? The answer is a obvious "HELLL NOOO" (and sadly, this includes me as well). The problem is a lack of sensitivity towards the problems of the backward classes. We talk about "equality" during admissions in schools and colleges but what about equality in society? At a personal level, I haven't actually seen anyone being discriminated against (and many of you even might not have seen any such thing) but that doesn't mean discrimination doesn't happen. Go through the newspapers and every now and then, you'll see stories of atrocities against the backward classes committed by the upper classes. Not just in rural areas (where it is as clearly visible as the sun on a sunny day) but also in cities.... even in the Capital of our country [ See the NDTV story on Caste-War in AIIMS and the Tehelka report as well. Recently even The Times Of India covered a story on how dalits are being discriminated against in IITs and IIMs, and how this is leading to suicides ]. Even the people from the creamy layer of backward classes are subjected to such discrimination. Under these circumstances, getting an 80% for a student of the backward community is as difficult as a 90% for the general category. We, only have to focus on our studies but the students from backward classes need to take care of other issues as well.

But is Reservation the solution to all the problems?

Well, I'm not so sure about it. In fact, Reservations have kind of widened the gap between the different sections of society and the news links I've mentioned earlier are a proof of that. I am not sure how far Reservation is going to help them, but the truth is the people from backward classes do deserve additional opportunities to keep up with the rest. Not only the people from backward classes, but also people from economically backward classes should be given extra opportunities.

I have been unable to think of a solution that allows the upliftment of the backward sections of the society as well as allows the academically strong students to pursue education in an institute of their choice. You may say that needs setting up of lots of new IITs, IIMs and increasing seats in colleges.... but that won't happen overnight!
We need a solution now and it should actually work. If you can think of any such solution, please share.....

A billion people... just one dream!!! Ye Cup Humara Hai!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:42:00 +0000

What a match! What a match!!! Still can't believe it..... Yes, we did it... We've finally achieved what we had set out for. Yes, the cup is ours now!!!

It's been 28 years since India lifted the World Cup Trophy in 1983 at Lord's. 28 long years of waiting finally comes to an end tonight. In the euphoric atmosphere of the Wankhede Stadium India won the 10th World Cup final by four wickets with 10 balls to spare. And the winning runs came off the bat of Captain Cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit a blistering six to take India home.

Although Team India started off as favourites leading to the world cup, they had their share of hiccups before getting into the finals. First the tie against England and then the loss to South Africa gave a strong blow to India's world cup winning hopes. But India recovered quickly and they defeated Australia and Pakistan convincingly in the quarter and semi final respectively.

Today's game was huge. It's a proud moment for each of us. It's been an emotional moment for all of us especially since it was the last World Cup for Sachin and Murali ... two of the greatest players the game has ever produced.

The win was scripted in the first powerplay of the match itself. Zaheer bowled on a superb line and length in the opening spell making it almost impossible for the Lankans to score against him. At the end of the first powerplay his figures were 5 overs 3 maidens 6 runs with 1 wicket (of Tharanga). No surprise then him being the highest wicket tacker in the tournament. Yuvi and Bhajji followed suit taking wickets at regular intervals. Only Mahela put up a brave show. Had he not played that wonderful knock, Indians would have won the match rather easily. Mahela along with Kulasekara and later Perera hit some lusty blows in the batting powerplay to help Lanka post a decent total of 274.

When the Indians came out to bat, I was really nervous and I guess even Sachin and Sehwag were a little anxious. After all, the responsibility of getting those runs now rests on their shoulders. Sadly, India got off to the worst start imaginable. Sehwag got out in just the second ball of the innings. the 40 odd thousand people in the stadium went completely silent. Few minutes later, the man himself Sachin Tendulkar departed. Everyone was in a state of shock. I was so disappointed that I just turned off the TV. I just can't see India lose yet another World Cup final. I tried to calm myself down. After a while, I switched on the TV. My first reaction was ...Thank God, the match isn't over yet. Then my eyes shifted to the scorecard and it read 178-3 and I was literally over the moon then 'cause I knew now it would be impossible for the Lankans to stop India. The Lankans had lost the plot. After getting to a perfect start, they failed to capitalize on the situation and now India would make them pay for it. There was a minor hiccup when Gambhir got out but we still had our Captain Cool at the crease and he was joined by the Man of the Tournament Yuvi. And the path was set for the inevitable to happen. What a way to finish the game! Dhoni hit a powerful six right into the stands and with it India sealed the match. It was Sangakarra who won the toss but Dhoni had the last laugh.

The scenes in the stadium were just incredible. I had held my emotions for a long time but when I saw Yuvi, Bhajji, Dhoni, Sachin and Zak with moist eyes, tears of joy rolled down from my eyes as well. Sounds of crackers and fireworks could be heard in my neighborhood. Soon, the streets were flocked with thousands of people. People came in cars and bikes... singing songs and waving the tricolour... What a proud moment it was! Really blessed to be an Indian.

Yuvi can barely hide his emotions!!!

I wasn't born when India achieved its independence... neither were my parents but when India lifted the cup... when people flocked the streets with the Indian flag in their hands ...when people from different communites, from different walks of life gathered together... distributing sweets and celebrating together... I could feel what it would have been like when we got our independence... I know you might think the camparison is just too exaggerated but just look at the way cricket has united all of us... and you'll know why I said so.

Lastly I would like to say Thank You Team India. Thank you Gary ....Thanks to all the support staff and selectors and thanks to everyone associated with Team India who have helped India achieve this feat. A special thanks to the little master Sachin Tendulkar and Muralidharan ...what wonderful ambassadors of cricket they are!!!

Bollywood films releasing in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 05:53:00 +0000

So here's the List of Bollywood Films releasing in 2011. Take your pick!

Jan 7:

1. No One Killed Jessica

2. Impatient Vivek

3. Yeh Faasley

Jan 14:

4. Yamla Pagla Deewana

5. Turning 30!!!

6. Hostel

Jan 21:

7. Dhobi Ghat

Jan 28:

8. Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji

Feb 4:

9. Yeh Saali Zindagi

10. Run Bhola Run

Feb 11:

11. Patiala House

Feb 18 :

12. 7 Khoon Maaf

Feb 25:

13. Tanu Weds Manu

March 18:

14. Game

April 8:

15. Thank You

April 15:

16. Haunted

April 22:

17. Dum Maro Dum

May 27:

18. Ready

19. Rockstar

June:

20. Ra. One

July:

21. Mausam

August 31:

22. My Love Story

Dec 23:

23. Don 2 – The Chase Continues

IWT : WTF!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:42:00 +0000

Imagine a maths exam paper where you don't get maths problems; instead, you get theory questions like "what is maths?"
How would you feel when you've studied all night long... solving the most difficult, trickiest, weirdest problems so that you score the maximum in your exam??? Feel cheated??

....Well I've got a similar kind of feeling for today's IWT paper. For those who are not aware of what it is, IWT (Internet and Web Technologies) is a 3 credit subject for Computer Science and IT students studying under BPUT (Biju Patnaik University of Technology).
So how were the questions?
Irrelevant, illogical and some of them even out of syllabus. I can understand when some one sets questions that are irrelevant or illogical... that happens when you get a hangover. But what really irritates me is that when BPUT has got such an exhaustive syllabus (In terms of no. of pages of course material, it can be any where between 500-3000 pages depending on the books you choose to study), why is there a need to set questions outside the syllabus? What was the question on Java for? What.. is BPUT trying to test our patience? Or trying to mock at the students? Well then people at BPUT should be happy, 'cause at least I've certainly run out of patience and I can't take it any more!!!

And on top of that, as I've said earlier, the question paper had some really irrelevant questions to harass the students. What is the need of setting a question like "On what factors does the overall cost of setting a website depend on?" Before the exams, I thought we were supposed to be having a technical paper. After seeing such questions, I am having second thoughts about it now.

You can't really say that there was any question on programming as such. Just 2 questions, which were in fact part of a long question. So, both the questions won't even add up to 10 marks. Compare it to previous years papers, last year there were programming questions of about 40 marks which is justified. Even the 2 programming questions were like asking you to tell the answer of 2+2 when you've studied complex algebra all night long. Are they kidding?

People always have problems with difficult question papers. Personally, I never really had any problem with difficult questions as long as they were relevant and within the syllabus (even if I am not able to answer them but at least they should be within the course). Preparing such questions spoils the fun of exams. This will certainly demoralize everyone. I mean why should anyone care about studying and prepare for exams when they know that ultimately they'll get questions about topics they had never heard of. I really loved this subject and enjoyed studying it. And that is why it hurts so much when you get such a question paper. I'm feeling completely cheated, dejected, totally let down by BPUT. In fact, BPUT, itself, is putting its credibility as a ~~good~~ University (just University, it was never good) at stake by setting such question papers. God save BPUT!!!

BPUT SUCKS!!!!

The Social Network [Khatti]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:43:00 +0000

The Social Network [Khatti]

The latest social networking site on the block is www.khatti.co.tv

Well,”Khatti ”, in Oriya, means gossip but, actually, this site provides room for more than just gossiping.

Share, Show and Socialize is the mantra for this social networking website. The features provided on this site dwell on these three keywords.

Let’s have a look at some of its features:

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” This website has a simple and user-friendly interface. Basically, user interface describes the way people interact with a site and the way users can access its functions. In fact, usability is a byproduct of a good user interface and it determines how easily a user can perform all of the functions provided by the site. Usability is a crucial part of every design, especially on websites with a large amount of functions and users. And this website provides it all.

Signing up on Khatti is easy and it takes less than 60 seconds to sign up.

You can create and customize a profile with certain content such as name, location, interests, website links, and more.

Share your views, opinions, story, and success with the Khatti community.

You can upload you own personal image or any other “avatar” to represent you on Khatti .

Socializing is easy on Khatti . You can communicate with text-based comments. Khatti allows you to communicate with friends either by private message correspondence as well as public message board-like posts.

You can stay in touch with contacts, reach out to new people, and show theKhatti community what you really are!

You can browse and search for people with similar interests and add them as friends.

Khatti provides you with a secure social networking experience. You can restrict the access of your personal content through the privacy setting options. Moreover, there is no problem of infringement of security due to third part apps like that on Facebook. Recently, there have been reports of extraction of user information by third party apps on Facebook for their commercial interests.

Real-Time Updates delivers updates as soon as they are submitted within the application.

Inviting friends on Khatti is easy. Just enter your friends’ email ids and submit the invitation along with a personal note (which is, of course, optional).

Khatti has a good and functional search feature as well.

Khatti has a subtle visual separation of elements that makes the layout more scannable thereby making it more user- friendly.

TinyMCE™ editor allows you to edit your blog posts with ease.

You can also upload your own music on Khatti .

Facebook type chat feature is also available.

Khatti is designed to allow members to connect and communicate with one another and therefore, its features foster interaction, activity, and of course, community.

Back Again... finally

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:53:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I made my last post.
...My blog's been totally neglected ...yet I've managed to get a decent number of visitors visiting my blog everyday. Thanks to all my blog readers. A lot of things have changed since my last post ...my Indirank has slipped from 79 to 42 ...although my Facebook fans have gone upto 117.

Well, I'm currently into my final year of engineering and I had never expected that final year would get so hectic .....some of the extra load of work though, is just because of me... Attending classes, doing my project work and simultaneously preparing for CAT had taken a toll on me and the result was that I could not devote any time to my blog.

Being the mentor of the students' council of my college also bogged me down with an extra dose of responsibilities. During this period, we had the orientation and welcome programme for our freshers. We have also successfully organised our Techfest "NOESIS 2010" that was held from Oct 1-3.

Although my CAT exam's on 7th Nov. (Please wish me luck!!) ...I hope I'll get some time to post on my blog ...a li'l more frequently.

That's it from me now...

----Watch this space for more----

Paul is absolutely right... Germany win

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:49:00 +0000

My last post was about a psychic Octopus whose predictions have turned out to be absolutely correct so far in this world cup ( check the last post here ). And now guess what? Paul, the octopus, is right, once again. Three time world champs Germany have shown the great Diego Maradona's men the door. They beat Argentina comprehensively.

What a match!! What a scoreline!!

4-0

Yes, 4-0

And Argentina were supposed to win the World Cup

This was supposed to be a highly competitive quarter-final match ........Now I think, maybe, Argentina were a bit highly rated, especially if you look at the struggles they had to go through before they qualified for the World Cup finals.

World player of the year, Messi, looked only a shade of himself as he failed to break through Germany's defenses. It's a shame he couldn't even score a single goal in this tournament. Despite his sincere efforts, Messi failed to produce the desired results.

And then every team is supposed to have some defenders ....Maybe, the Argentinians forgot about that. When Klose, Podolski and Schweinsteiger were moving in the Argentinian half, it looked like an open field. It literally seemed like they were strolling in the park.

Whatever Argentina lacked, Germany had plenty of it. They German defense was rock solid and their strikers sharp. They were off to a dream start when Muller headed the ball curled in by Schweinsteiger's free kick just after 3 minutes into the game. Miroslav Klose, Germany's best striker, celebrated his 100th international appearance with 2 goals. He's now just one short of Ronaldo's record of most goals in the World Cup. Friedrich joined in the party as well, scoring his first goal in 76 international appearances. And the best part of today's game was Germany's clinical counter-attacking display. It was simply awesome. Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was also there in the stadium to cheer for her team and that certainly inspired the players as well.

"We just had a bad game. If you make mistakes like that, you go home" Carlos Tevez said at the end of the game. Maybe, they made the mistakes a bit too many. Maybe, it was because Maradona was so mesmerized with his star player, Messi, that he forgot about the rest. What was the most irritating thing about Maradona over the past couple of weeks was that in all the interviews and press conferences he only spoke of Messi. Messi, alone, can do only a little. Other players had to chip in as well. Now, they have 4 more years to ponder over their mistakes but I, certainly, do feel that this was a great opportunity wasted as far as Argentina are concerned.

Well as far as Germany is concerned, now, they have only one way to go ----- forward. Paul, the octopus, got his predictions right this time as well. Let's see what's his prediction for the semi-finals. Watch this space ....I'm just waiting for Paul's prediction and then I'll blog about it. So, stay tuned...

Wanna know the winner? ....just ask the Octopus!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:12:00 +0000

You don't have to wait till Saturday to know who's gonna win in the clash between the Germans and Argentinians. Yes, the verdict is out, thanks to Paul, an Engilsh-born German octopus. So far, Paul has correctly predicting all four of Germany's games in this year's tournament. And now, Paul has predicted that Germany will beat Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals, in what could be the country's toughest match yet.

It's not the first time that Paul is making such claims. In fact, during the 2008 European Championship, Paul had predicted 80% of the match results accurately. Now, all of Argentina will be wishing that Paul gets it wrong this time.

So how does Paul pick the winner???

Simple. Paul is given the choice of picking food (a mussel) from two different water glasses lowered into his tank, one marked with the German flag and the other with the opponent's flag.

Well, to predict the winner in the Germany vs. Argentina clash, Paul took a long time. Initially Paul, approached the water glass marked with the German flag but waited a long time to grab the mussel from it. In fact, he had completely ignored the Argentinian water glass and took about an hour to predict the winner.

Well we have to wait till Saturday to find out if Paul gets it correct this time as well.

In the meantime, you just enjoy this pic and video of Paul's!!

Picture courtsey : Reuters

And here is Paul predicting Germany's victory over England ...enjoy!! :)

Football : The Beautiful Game

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:18:00 +0000

Soccer, or football as it is known throughout the world, is undoubtedly the most popular sport in the world. Though not as popular as cricket, football still has a huge fan base in India. States like West Bengal, Goa , Kerala, Punjab, and Manipur have traditional soccer fan base. Maybe Football is so popular because of the excitement it generates and the way its is presented.

On a personal front, being attracted towards football was quite natural. Coming from a Bengali family and having a father who is an avid fan of Mohun Bagan, I was naturally inclined towards football.

The world's biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup is here and it will certainly bring out the best in world football. Yes, the World Cup is the buzz word this season. So let's check out why this game is so popular.

There are many reasons for this. In football you mainly use your feet, chest and head thus making the ball always open and so the game is fast paced and demands a vast array of techniques. It is because of this fast nature of this game that makes it worth watching. It has all the elements of a Bollywood potboiler. Probably, that's why it is so appealing to the Indian masses. Running after the ball, dribbling it, kicks through the air, ball bouncing off the goal post, on field fouls, yellow cards, free kicks, slight mistakes by the defender, misses by the goal keeper and GOAL ...these are the sights that draw the oohs and aahs from the audience and also bring out moments of eternal joy. People just love it. Anything can happen within the wink of an eye. A goal in the last minute can entirely change the outcome of the game. It is this unpredictability of this game that makes it beautiful.

The popularity of this game is also due to the relative simplicity of the game. All that is needed is a ball and two teams. This game has also diminished the difference between rich and poor. This is everyone's game. This is the people's game. And guess what?? Some of the best players in world football have come from the poorest of families.

The game of football definitely needs some good skills and foot-eye coordination. Millions of dollars are spent in securing players with perfect skills by various clubs and this simply builds media coverage and adds to the popularity of this game.

Football is watched and played more than any other sport globally mainly due to the excitement of hoping to see a goal and the importance each goal scored has on the flow of the match. Each year football becomes more popular than the year before, no other sport has ever been able to achieve this over such a long period of time.

This game has inspired the today's youth. It has given them hope. It has taught them that if they are dedicated, if they put in their best efforts, if they are determined, have faith in themselves and if they strive to achieve their dreams, then nothing is impossible. These noble thoughts are taught by the game of soccer, and is one of the many reasons why this beautiful game is so appealing to the masses.

Greek's Obsession with the letter 'S'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:37:00 +0000

Greece is one of those teams you would never expect to win the World Cup. However, in football, as they say, no team is a weak team. Well back in the Euro Cup of 2004, they stunned everyone, in fact I was shocked, when they won the Cup defeating Portugal 1-0. But their charm hasn't worked as of yet in this World Cup. The first match of the Greek team against South Korea was held on 12 June in the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium, and they lost 0-2. As a result of this loss Greece now holds the record for the "Most matches played without scoring a goal" in the World Cup.

What caught my attention was not their soccer skills, but their unique names. Most of the players have names that end with the letter 'S', both their first names and last names. Of the 23 players in the national team, 20 players have the letter 'S' both in their first and last names, 2 have it only in their first name, and the remaining 1 has it in his last name only. Here is a list of the Greek players.

1. Kostas Chalkias
2. Alexandros Tzorvas
3. Michalis Sifakis
4. Giourkas Seitaridis
5. Nikos Spiropoulos
6. Vangelis Moras
7. Vasilis Torosidis
8. Sotirios Kyrgiakos
9. Sokratis Papastathopoulos
10. Stelios Malezas
11. Alexandros Tziolis
12. Giorgos Karagounis [Captain]
13. Sotiris Ninis
14. Kostas Katsouranis
15. Sakis Prittas
16. Georgios Samaras
17. Angelos Charisteas
18. Dimitris Salpigidis
19. Theofanis Gekas
20. Pantelis Kapetanos
21. Avraam Papadopoulos
22. Loukas Vyntra
23. Christos Patsatzoglou

What do you think of this post?
Please post your comments here.

The Sound Of Football : Vuvuzela

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:27:00 +0000

The FIFA world cup has finally begun in Africa ...South Africa. But guess what's making the loudest noise???
Did you say Messi's form?
The Spanish Team?? Brazil??
Christiano Ronaldo???

NO .....actually it's the Vuvuzela [pun intended]

It's actually a metre long plastic trumpet used by South African football fans. Although cricket fans in India are among the most noisiest ones but nothing can compared with the Vuvuzela loving South African football fans.

Last night, while watching the match between South Africa and Mexico on TV, I had to keep the volume pretty low 'cause the sound of the noisy Vuvuzelas of the South African fans was so loud that it was almost impossible to listen to the commentary. After tolerating the noise for sometime, I had to give up, finally and lower down the volume.

Personally, I found the sound to be really irritating ....as irritating as the humming of bees close to your ears but the volume magnified a thousand times. The sound of vuvuzela is actually deafening.

The Bafana bafana are quite used to this sound (or noise, as you put it). They seemed to be quite comfortable with the noise in the stadium. However, the Mexicans, surely, would have found it difficult to concentrate on their game and communicating with fellow team mates. I find no other reason for such a high ranked team to be held to a 1-1 draw by a low ranked team. The vuvuzelas did their trick!!

Another important piece of South African football is the makarapa (a decorated miner's helmet). In addition to this, fans were spotted with large sunglasses and signs with phrases dedicated to their team. Many fans had even got their faces painted with South African flags.

India's Top 50 Universities

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:36:00 +0000

Here is the list of India's Top 50 Universities - 2010 (Ranking according to INDIA TODAY - Nielsen Survey) :

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
University Of Delhi, New Delhi
University Of Calcutta, Kolkata
University Of Madras, Chennai
University Of Mumbai, Mumbai
University Of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalaore
Jadavpur University, Jadavpur
Osmania University, Hyderabad
Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam
Punjab University, Chandigarh
Bangalore University, Bangalore
S.N.D.T Women's University, Mumbai
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
University Of Mysore, Mysore
Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai
M.S. University Of Baroda, Vadodara
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
Birla Institute Of Technology & Science-Pilani, Pilani
Pondicherry University, Pondicherry
University Of Allahabad, Allahabad
University Of Lucknow, Lucknow
North Eastern Hill University, Shillong
Gauhati University, Gauhati
University Of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupathi
Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla
Karnatak University, Dharwad
Anna University, Chennai
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore
Goa University, Goa
Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujar
Awadesh Pratap University, Rewa
Kakatiya University, Warangal
Cochin University Of Science and Technology, Ernakulam
Rabindra Bharti University, Kolkata
Bharhtidasan University, Tiruchirapalli
Rashtransant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur
University Of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Utkal University, Bhubaneswar
Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur
Patna University, Patna
Amravati University, Amravati
Assam University, Silchar
Jiwaji University, Gwalior
Nagarjuna University, Guntur

Source : http://bit.ly/bcNvYP

Are YOU satisfied with these rankings?
Is your University in the Top 50?

Post your comments and share your views here....

IIT JEE Results 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 May 2010 03:52:00 +0000

The anxious wait is finally over for thousands of IIT aspirants. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have announced the result of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2010 conducted on April 11, 2010 for admission in 15 IITs (Bhubaneswar, Bombay, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Mandi (H.P.), Patna, Punjab, Rajasthan and Roorkee, IT-BHU Varanasi and ISMU Dhanbad.)

You can check your result on various IIT JEE websites here :

IIT Bombay – http://www.jee.iitb.ac.in
IIT Delhi – http://jee.iitd.ac.in
IIT Guwahati – http://www.iitg.ac.in/jee
IIT Kanpur – http://www.iitk.ac.in/jee
IIT Kharagpur – http://www.iitkgp.ernet.in/jee
IIT Madras – http://jee.iitm.ac.in
IIT Roorkee – http://www.iitr.ac.in/jee

Share your reults here. Post your comments and views.

Kites : What We Learn?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:49:00 +0000

Here's a list of the things we learn from the movie 'Kites' :

This is a Spanish movie ( I'll kill those morons who told me it's a Hindi movie ........only the subtitles are in Hindi ....everything else is in Spanish or English )
This film is inspired by "Rapidex : Learn Spanish in 2 hours" ........If you're learning Spanish or you've taken up a course in Spanish, watch the movie as many times as you want. I bet you'll get an A+ after watching this movie.
Hrithik is a salsa trainer who Bboys in dance competitions.
Ethics and morality comes into play when you are about to rob a bank, not when you marry 11 girls for the sake of some money!
In this movie, Hrithik and Barbara travel so much that I feel had they traveled in a straight path they would have gone around the Earth twice.
They travel, so they get dirty, and hence, they take a bath and when they are in minimal clothes, there are the intimate scenes ......there's no other justification for having so many intimate scenes.
This movie is so repetitive that you'll find the repeat telecasts of daily sops more interesting.
Cops are dumb and truck drivers deaf ........Can't you hear cars exploding if you've headphones plugged into your ears? Well the truck driver couldn't ....maybe he was using the latest Bose noise cancellation headphones ....if he was, he must have been too rich to be a truck driver then.
You can't get shot in the crossfire if you're the hero of the movie. You can evade death as long as the director of the movie wants it.
The movie has a sad ending ....but at least it has one 'cause for a moment (read 1 hour) I thought it wasn't going anywhere.
And finally, I wanna know why is the movie called 'Kites' ??? .......The title and the story don't go together. It's like the answers given by engineering students in University exams .....the questions demands something and the answer is something else!!!

Badmaash Company : What we learn?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:31:00 +0000

Here's a list of what we learn from this movie :

People from Sikkim, Nagaland, the entire North-East and even Thailand are all Chinese
'Smugglers' and Hindi films are inseparable.
Auto-rickshaws in Bangkok have more space.
When in Bangkok, beware of girls ....they may actually be gays!!
"Ye batein nahin kartein" (Watch the movie to know about it)
Street vendors not only sell cigarettes and ghutkas ...but you can also buy condoms from them!
To get a 5 year modeling contract, you've to just spend 5 minutes with your boss in a hotel room .
Tiger is the father of a cat.
Michael Jackson is still alive.
MJ may be a pop star but he likes Jazz ....at least he likes Jazz mamu's brand of shirts.
MJ's group dancer has more say than his stylist.
If some people in India are dumb, people in the US are dumber.
To get a green card, marry an American. However, while doing so, your girlfriend might give you a red card.
When you are rich, your wife/girlfriend gets everything she wants but when you get poor she gets pregnant.
Fakira is not a censored word ....even if it may sound like one.
Bakwaas Company will be an apt title for this movie instead of Badmaash Company.
Why are the actors in this movie richer than those in C Kompany?? ......'Cause they earn in dollars.
"They did all the bad things ...the right way" ....I just wish they'd written the script and made the movie the right way

Neglected by college, Raped by media

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 11:43:00 +0000

25th April 2010 | Post by Abid.

Well friends, I'm a student of Silicon Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar. This blog is regarding the incidents that have troubled the students of our college over the past few days. Silicon Institute of Tech., popularly known as Silicon, is one of the premier engineering institutes of Eastern India. In fact, Silicon was adjudged as the Best Private Engineering College* under Biju Pattnaik University Of Technology and overall as the 2nd Best Engineering College*. This college has produced some of the best of technocrats and brilliant minds. As a matter of fact, this year's All India Gate Topper, Arindam Bhattacharya, is from our college. Siliconites have been known for their discipline, dedication, intelligence and hard work. But today, Silicon, for the first time, is reeling under a huge crisis.

All of this began with the death of Shamsuddin Shah (popularly known as Shyam), a 3rd year student of Electronics and Telecommunications, on 22nd April, 2010. Although I did not know him personally, but we had some common friends and it is from them that I came to know about him. He was a lateral entry student. He joined our college in 2008. He did his diploma from IGIT, Sarang. He was a very good student. In fact, he was the batch topper at IGIT. He was very humble, disciplined, polite and soft-spoken. When it comes to discipline, teachers used to set him as an example. He was very helpful and whenever his friends needed him he was with them. He had an expertise over his branch subjects. On 23rd April, a condolence meeting was organised at our college and I was really moved to see how much the students of ET liked Shyam .....I regret not having contact with him and now it's too late to have. May his soul rest in peace. God bless him.

The controversy was regarding the manner of his death. The internal exams for the 3rd year students had started from 19th April and it was supposed to end on 23rd April. On 19th April, it is believed that the curd given during lunch in the canteen was stale. Many students fell sick the same day allegedly because of the food given during lunch. (Even I had lunch on that day but nothing happened to me). According to the hostel students, about 72 students in the hostel fell sick. Many of them complained of constipation and loose motions. Shamsuddin, also, had his lunch in the canteen that day and even he fell sick. But I suppose that wasn't too serious 'cause he continued to appear for the internal exams. On 22nd April too, Shamsuddin appeared for the exams and after the exams he had his lunch in the canteen. After sometime he felt uneasy and he returned home. He was NOT a hostelite. He went home, took his medicines and then he went to sleep. After that he did not wake up again.

The news of his death soon reached the students. Since our college hostels are within the campus, by evening, everyone in the college was aware of Shyam's death. There was a sense of tension and grief in the campus. Then like wildfires, rumors started spreading that Shamsuddin died of food poisoning. Students were really agitated to hear this. The deteriorating quality of food in the canteen was already a issue and coupled with it the rumors about Shyam's death and the growing number of sick students in the hostel acted as fuel for fire. Grief gave its way to anger.At dinner time, the students did not enter the canteen. Instead, they gathered and decided to protest in front of the canteen at T-square. The canteen staff and the faculty-in-charge of the canteen arrived and had a talk with the angry students but that did not satisfy the students. Later on Sanjeev Nayak, Director (Administartion) and Ramananda Mishra, Director (Finance) arrived and had a discussion with the student representatives. This continued for sometime. Meanwhile, the media came to know about the incidents within the college campus and late in the night media-persons from various local TV channels arrived. However, they could not enter into the college. The college security guards prevented them from entering inside the campus. During this time, a girl from the Silicon Girl's Hostel fell seriously ill. She was taken in the college ambulance but the college main gate was closed and seeing the media persons outside the main gate, it was decided to take the ambulance from gate no. 3 but suddenly the ambulance stopped near the gate no. 3. Seeing this, the other students rushed to the ambulance. They realised that the media persons had reached gate no. 3 as well and hence the gate was locked. After several requests to open the gate was denied by the security guards, the students decided to break the lock and finally they succeeded in doing so. But with this, the media persons also entered inside the campus. The guards asked them to not enter the college but they did not respond and entered inside the campus. Then began the unfortunate and ugly battle. Some of the Silicon staff while trying to prevent the media persons from entering the campus resorted to violence. What followed next was a bitter clash between the Silicon staff and media persons. Several media persons were hurt, cameras and microphones were damaged as well. The media called in the police and three Silicon staff were arrested. ....What a horrible night it was!! I tried to sleep but constant phone calls and messages did not let me.

If you thought the night was bad, then hold on .....the worse was yet to come. This news was everywhere ....from the front pages of almost every neswaper to the top story of every local TV channel. Wondering why I said worse?? Cause there was total misrepresentation of facts . None of the TV channels, nor the newspapers published the correct news. As the say in Hindi - jitne muh utni baatein. Each of the channels and newspapers had a different version of their own. And what was like adding insult to injury is, none of them said anything properly about Shamsuddin. None of the channels made an effort to at least get Shamsuddin's photograph. What was even more sad is that most of them did not even mention his name ....just said that 'a boy' from Silicon had died. They had completely deviated from the real issue and made the attack on them as an issue of EGO. In the 30 minutes news bulletin, 25 minutes was spent only on showing how the journalists were attacked .... at least they could have reported 2 minutes on Shamsuddin ...but it wasn't. Had the journalists not been attacked, I bet this news item would not have lasted even 30 seconds. They'd made a mockery of our plight. One of the local newspapers reported that Silicon staff agreed to give them information and asked them to come inside the campus and then they took them to a dark remote corner of the campus and then attacked them from behind. Another reported that goons were hired for attacking the journalists. Come on man if they publish such crap on the front pages of newspapers, then I must say they deserve to get beaten up. And about the attacks .....the media persons were no angels. Yes, I agree they were attacked but they counter attacked as well. Agreed that Silicon staff abused them but even they abused the staff in return. Well, I hope they know that two wrongs do not make a right. And on what moral grounds are they reporting such bullshit if they themselves resort to such things. Well I must admit when I first saw the news on TV in the morning, only 3 words came out of my mouth - WHAT THE F**K!!! ( Forgive me for the language being used, but any other word could not have justified my reaction). We're the students. We were there the whole night. We know the real story. How can the media say such nonsense stuff. Here's another instance. A journalist named Balram (I don't remember his surname) in an interview said that last night the ambulance carried the dead body but as I have said earlier it was a girl who was severely ill was being taken to the hospital. Even worse were several other newspapers who claimed Shamsuddin was a hostelite and he died in the hostel. Another paper claimed he was taken to KIMS hospital where he had blood vomiting before his death. I just can't believe how can journalists be so irresponsible. ( I dont know the procedure to sue. If I did know it, I bet I would have earned so much money as compensation from so many of these news channels and newspapers that next year I could have bought Mumbai Indians from Mukesh Ambani. Any lawyer reading this blog, please mail me the procedures to sue). Almost all the media houses have reported he has died of food poisoning. How can they be so sure when we the students ...even the closest of his friends or even his roommate isn't so sure of. Do they have the post-mortem report?? Atleast they could have used the word "allegedly" or "supposedly" but no ....no one in the college is sure about his death but the media is!! Long live media!! Maybe they can smell things and know about it. Certain sections of the media have also reported that Siliconites have ransacked the college building and other public properties. The fact is we have never resolved to violence even at times of despair and the case of ransacking our institute is absolutely false this time too. The media has literally assassinated the character of our college ....raped our souls ....made a mockery of our plight as if the death of one of our friends wasn't enough.

The news that I'm getting at the moment is that the media is planning to continue their agitation. They're reportedly trying to cancel the affiliation of our college. How can the media put the future of 2500 students at stake just for the acts of 4-5 people ....and I thought media was sensible, responsible ....all bullshit!!

The future of Siliconites is uncertain ....our college and hostels have been shut down sine die. I just don't know what's in store for us next. But I know one thing that Siliconites are the best in Orissa ....Siliconites are strong ....Siliconites will bounce back once again and we'll reach the sky for sure!!!
As far as the media is concerned, I would request them to let us live alone. Do not interfere in the college's internal matters. And please stop the malicious and ill-motivated hate propaganda carried on against Silicon.
There is some good news as of now. The Orissa Private Engineering Colleges Association (OPECA) has come out in support of Silicon. So there is still hope. There's definitely light at the end of the tunnel.

Well, at least, Shamsuddin would have never liked to have such a thing going on after his demise. Let's pray that Shamsuddin's soul rest in peace. May God give strength to his family at this moment of crisis. Shamsuddin has united all of the Siliconites. Let's carry this unity forward and fight against all odds existing within the college as well as the odds posed the media.

I would request all Siliconites, all the engineering students and the general public to pass on this message to everyone and fight for the cause of the students of Silicon.

Lastly I would like to say, on behalf of all Siliconites,

Give us some sunshine,

Give us some rain,

Give us another chance,

We wanna grow up once again.

* Ranking by the website : www.bputstudents.com

The Joy of Giving

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:54:00 +0000

The idea of making a difference in this world has been on my mind for quite some time now. I am excited to finally be doing so - however small it may be.

Do not hesitate to donate through this Website ( http://www.giveindia.org/give/pledgepage/helpindianow )- it is simple, totally secure and the most efficient way to help me reach my goal. The NGO I have chosen will receive your money quickly and effortlessly. You will receive tax benefits for your deduction in India.

GiveIndia will process every donation and provide you with a receipt for the same. Please visit my iGive page and support my cause.

Name of NGO *: Child Aid Foundation

Vision : To provide comprehensive aid and care to poor and needy children so that they may pursue and complete their educations to as high a level as they desire and are capable of achieving.

How can you make a difference??

Find your passion...
Give...
Volunteer...
Donate...
Cherish... the JOY in GIVING...

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." - Lao Tzu

"Never think you need to apologize for asking someone to give to a worthy cause, any more than as though you were giving him or her an opportunity to participate in a high-grade investment. The duty of giving is as much his or hers as is the duty of asking yours." - John D. Rockefeller Jr.

"To give alms is nothing unless you give thought also. A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money." - John Ruskin

"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it."
- James, William

P.S : Please visit http://www.giveindia.org/give/pledgepage/helpindianow and support my cause

SRK vs. Shiv Sena

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:28:00 +0000

"Is Shivsena justified in protesting against SRK's stance on Pakistani players selection in IPL3? "

The question doesn't even arise 'cause there is only one answer for it NO ....absolutely no. Yes, everyone has the right to voice their opinion but while doing so, one has to be within the rules of the society. You just can't go out threatening anyone and beat up persons for something which isn't worth an issue at all. The Shivsena, in its efforts to get into the limelight and gain back its vote-bank, particularly, after their loss in the October assembly elections, is desperately trying to cook up this controversy.

All that SRK had said was that he would have preferred to have had some Pakistani players in IPL3. All that he wanted was good, normal ties between the two neighboring nations. What the heck is wrong in it!! How the hell does he become a 'traitor' by saying so?? Such allegations labeled against SRK are beyond my comprehension.

Bal Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray and the rest of the 'T-Company' have gone all out in propagating hate speeches against the Bollywood Badshah. Don't they have something called 'common sense' .....if they don't have that, the least they could have done is to borrow some from normal human beings before putting up such stupid allegations against SRK.

It's an irony that even such kind of people exist even in the most cosmopolitan city of our country. It's a shame that no action is taken against a party that survives on spilling out venom on people from some parts of India. These people have tried to create divisions in India not only on regional grounds but also communal. This time they have crossed all limits ....they have targeted the most loved Indian actor all over the world for no fault of his own. It's high time that something action must be taken against these uncivilized barbaric people who send their children to English medium schools and talk about Maraathi Manoos!!

Coming to the question of Indo-Pak relations, of course, the major problem lies in the attitude of the political heads of both the nations but because of people like those in the Shivsena people-to-people contact initiatives will definitely get a beating. It's an open secret that even the Pak cricketers were under a major threat of being targeted by the Sena had they been picked up for IPL3. Surely that was a major reason for the team owners for not picking up Pak players for IPL3. Cricket is one of those peace-fostering tool that can definitely bring the two nations closer. Besides cricket, music and literature are two other ways of reviving peace between India and Pakistan but even that is under the threat of the goons of Shivsena. Hopefully, peace would overcome all these obstacles and let peace triumph.

As far as SRK is concerned, as a big fan of his, I can just wish him good luck and hopefully My Name Is Khan becomes the greatest hit of all time and even the people of Mumbai should get a chance to witness this movie!

32 Amazing Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:27:00 +0000

1. A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

2. Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.

3. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

5. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

6. A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why.

7. A 2 X 4 is really 1-1/2" by 3-1/2".

8. During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur," a small red car can be seen in the distance (and Heston's wearing a watch).

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily! (That explains a few mysteries... .)

10. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

11. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

12. The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves per side in a game of chess is 318,979,564, 000.

13. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and silver.

14. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan. There was never a recorded Wendy before.

15. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

16. If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death. (Who was the sadist who discovered this??)

17. Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film down so you could see his moves. That's the opposite of the norm.

18. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen' s "Born in the USA."

19. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.

20. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

21. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was Victrola, so the called themselves Motorola.

22. Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.

23. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand.

24. Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.

25. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.

26. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

27. Sherlock Holmes NEVER said, "Elementary, my dear Watson."

28. An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than three steps backwards while dancing!

29. The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

30. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from public libraries.

31. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.

32. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave!

Solar Eclipse And Superstitions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:24:00 +0000

There's always something magical, divine, extra-ordinary when you get to watch such a rare celestial spectacle as a Solar Eclipse, an event when the moon steps in between the sun and the earth.The solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 is an annular eclipse of the Sun with a magnitude of 0.9190. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun, causing the sun to look like a ring, blocking most of the Sun's light. It is visible as a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia. It is seen as annular within a narrow stretch of 300 km (190 mi) width across Central Africa, Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), North Sri Lanka, parts of Burma and parts of China.

While the scientific community is gearing up for the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium, the people too are preparing themselves for the rare event in their own way. And irrespective of their educational background, a cross section of the people are still firm in their superstitious beliefs related to eclipses.

Let's have a look at superstitions related to solar eclipse all over the world

During eclipses, expectant mothers from Mexico and some other parts of Latin America frequently wear bright red panties with a safety pin tucked through them, the result of a tradition dating back to Aztec and Mayan days. It seems those tribes belived that the eclipse released energy that could cause birth defects and to ward off its power, pregnant women would step outside only if they tied a red string around their waists with an arrowhead attached to it.

The ancient Chinese believed that a dragon is trying to swallow the Sun.The Chinese would shoot fireworks and bang gongs to scare the dragon away if they know a solar eclipse is coming it seems.

In India, people believe when the sun rays are covered by the moon, the atmosphere becomes polluted. Therefore, for the whole day -- about 12 hours of the day time -- people observe fast and do not eat any food in the polluted atmosphere. People pray during the eclipse period so that they did not indulge in any evil activity. The same is done during Lunar Eclipse but the period of fast is only nine hours.

Javanese people remain inside their homes and don't venture outside.

Even in ancient Greece, people were superstitious about Solar Eclipse. In the Odyssey, Homer states that, “the Sun vanished out of heaven and an evil gloom covered all things about the hour of the midday meal.”

Even though superstitions persists among a huge majority of people, still science and its advocates have a few listeners, at least I have no faith in superstitions. What about you?