Spontaneity !!!: September 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

India vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy, Centurion : 26 September 2009

How many of you last watched the arch rivals India and Pakistan clash in an One Day International Cricket match.
Do you remember when was last India vs Pakistan one day international played?

back on 2 July 2008 at Karachi.....and Pakistan won it by 8 wickets in hand..

Over an year hence, arch rivals meet again at Supersport park in Centurion for Group A match in ICC Champions trophy 2009 in South Africa. This will be 123th Ind v Pak ODI, with Pakistan leading 68 to 45 wins for India and 8 no results.6 September 2009, the day of the clash, is a Saturday, kind of holiday for most reading this.

Here's how you can enjoy the clash of the Titans: -

Match Start time :- is utterly important. Note that this India vs Pakistan champions trophy match will be played as a Day-Night ODI in South Africa = 2.30pm local time = 6pm India time = 6.30pm Pakistan = 10.30pm Sydney/Melbourne in Australia, 8.30am Canada, 8.30pm Malaysia/Singapore, 12.30am New Zealand, 1.30pm UK, 5.30am Los Angeles and 8.30pm New York in USA. For middle east viewers, match will be starting 4.30pm in the afternoon.

TV Telecast Channels :- Starcricket in India and Pakistan, check local listings for more details.

Interesting Facts:- The only previous India vs Pakistan at the venue ~ Centurion, was a cracker. Pakistan put up a healthy 273 batting first (Saeed Anwar 101) but Indians chased down it with 6 wickets in hand and 4.2 overs remaining! Openers Virendra Sehwag (21 off 14) and Sachin Tendulkar (98 off 75) blasted likes of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis to all parts of the ground (specially six over third man) and Yuvraj Singh's half century sealed the game.

Moreover, India has a 100% winning record in World Cup (** touchwood **) against Pakistan.

Interestingly, that World cup 2003 match is the only instance when India and Pakistan played a one day international in South Africa when Openers Virendra Sehwag (21 off 14) and Sachin Tendulkar (98 off 75) blasted likes of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis to all parts of the ground (specially six over third man) and Yuvraj Singh's half century sealed the game.

The six over third man by Sachin on Shoaib Akhtar's bowling got the Moment of the Year award and guess what the award was received by Sachin through Shoaib himself. :P

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

India Launches 7 Satellites from Sriharikota !!!

India has launched seven satellites from a single rocket, demonstrating its growing skills in multi-satellite launches. The success comes nearly a month after India had to end its inaugural Moon mission early.

Within a space of 20 minutes, an Indian rocket placed one big satellite and six small ones into space from the Sriharikota space center in eastern India.

The big remote-sensing satellite will map fishing zones around India, measure ocean surfaces and wind speeds and track monsoons and cyclones.

The six small satellites belong to other countries - four to Germany, one to Switzerland and one to Turkey.

Last year, India put 10 satellites in space in a single launch.

The head of the Indian Space Research organization, G. Madhavan Nair, says the latest launches have reaffirmed India's capabilities in successfully putting satellites in space.

"It is a fantastic achievement," he said. "I think we have once again proven that we can do the job precisely."

In the past decade, India's 46-year space program has focused on developing rocket-launching capabilities to gain a slice of the multi-billion-dollar space-launch market. It has put an Italian satellite and an Israeli spy satellite into orbit. But India is still a relative newcomer in a field dominated by big players such as the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency.

Wednesday's satellite launch also brings a lift to the country's space scientists, who were disappointed last month when the country's first mission to the Moon had to be terminated after contact with the unmanned spacecraft was lost.

That mission was undertaken to map the Moon's surface and search for water. Scientists say the mission was a success, and has yielded very useful data, despite its termination, a year ahead of schedule.

In recent years, India has scaled up its ambitions to explore space, not wanting to be left behind by countries like China. It hopes to send a manned mission into space, in four years time.

India's space program functions on a relatively modest budget of about $1 billion a year.

Jai Ho !!! Great going Indian scientists !!!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Gate 2010 application form, gate 2010 notification IIT Guhawati !!!

Good news for all GATE aspirants. The important dates for GATE 2010 have been announced.

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) Exam is held in 8 zones across the country by the GATE Committee. The Committee comprises of deemed faculty from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the seven notable IITs of India.
Important Dates for GATE 2010 are as below:
GATE 2010 Examination Forms Available from 22^nd Sep ‘09 – 30^th Sep ‘09
Examination Dates
Online GATE Exam (TF Paper)                       7^th Feb ’10,      Time: 09.30 hrs – 12.30 hrs
Online GATE Exam (MN Paper)                     7^th Feb ’10,     Time: 14.30 hrs – 17.30 hrs
Offline GATE Exam (All other papers)           14^th Feb ’10,    Time: 09.30 hrs – 12.30 hrs

Announcement of Results 15^th Mar ‘10
For further information, downloading application form, applying online for the exam and to know about the zone wise distribution, pls visit the link given below:
http://gate.iitg.ernet.in/index.php

Monday, September 21, 2009

Josie's Story !!!

This is the new book on the block that has been making news.

In 2001, 18-month-old Josie King was taken to the nation's best hospital, Johns Hopkins, after she was severely scalded in the bathtub at home. A few weeks later, she was dead of complications from dehydration, due to a series of preventable medical errors.

Now the mother, Sorrel King, who still lives in Baltimore, has written her own account, "Josie's Story."

Josie initially approached Women and Work in order to improve her confidence and self esteem, as she had been out of work for some time and she was fairly new to Milton Keynes. Her learning needs were lack of confidence in communicating and interpersonal skills.

Josie had to overcome her lack of self-confidence due to past experiences that had left her doubting her own abilities. She was afraid of not being accepted for who she was.

since joining the programme Josie has begun studies in communication and training. Josie enthuses: “Woman and work has changed my life. I have gained a lot of confidence and experience. The support and assistance I have received helps me remain focused on my goals and I have made some good friends.”

When the programme finishes Josie is looking towards working in training and development, designing and delivering training

and eventually running her own training company delivering

soft skills and training to the corporate world.

Go grab this book buddies !

Peace of Thought !!!

21st September in the 21st Century, fondly known as International Peace Day !!!

On September 7, 2001, a new resolution was passed by the United Nations General Assembly to give the Day of Peace a fixed date and declare it as a global ceasefire day. That day was set to be September 21st. Just four days later on September 11, 2001, the World Trade Centers were attacked and Peace Days came and went without any ceasefires.

To commemorate this day I first of all Greet you on this occassion.

Coming back to Peace, surely there must be few things ringing in your mind as to what is the significance of following such days, when

we cannot read the newspaper on a single day, without the news of violence in it.
the rest of the world is plagued by other problems such as poverty, health related problems etc.
we have inter and intra country wars for issues that are beyond reach of the common man.
the youth of the country is devoid of jobs and is struck by recession.
many innocent lives are taken away by a certain terrorist attack in some or the other part of the country.

This might seem overtly pessimistic but candidly writing, the common man doesn't even care about these sophisticated observation of days, given his sufferings. So,here lies the big question front of our society "how does one promote peace in the world ? "

World peace is now becoming day by day a major concern for all political leaders and governments due to its growing importance over other alarming factors such as climate change; it is, as it seems, useless to fight climatic changes and its consequences when war and racism prevails everywhere and hundreds of people are dying due to political instability, war and racism, which all form part of the factors acting against world peace. It is futile having a good temperate climate when terrorism, rioting and discrimination are striking in every corner of the globe and thousands of people are being killed. So, the great importance of world peace cannot be stressed enough.

So, it is my earnest request to not only observe peace day on 21st of September each year, but to take necessary steps which would promote Peace within an Individual, City, the Nation and the World.

Happy International Peace Day !!! :)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Harishchandrachi Factory !!!

Just for the record, the title of this post means "Harishchandra's Factory- The making". Raja Harishchandra (राजा हरिश्चंद्र), is a 1913 silent Indian film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, and is the first full-length Indian feature film.

Raja Harischandra is a beacon of truth among all the illustrious and renowned kings of India. The Raja stood steadfast in his determination to do his duty in the face of severe obstacles, impediments and difficulties that would have deterred any ordinary mortal.

You must be thinking what all this is doing on my blog. Enough of mystery and I now unveil the Good News,

Marathi film “Harishchandrachi Factory”, Mumbai-based theatre actor-director Paresh Mokashi’s debut movie, will be India’s official entry for the Oscars.

The movie is on the making of “Raja Harishchandra”, India’s first full length feature film made in 1913 by the pioneer of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke.

Mokashi’s low-budget period film was completed in January. It has bagged a series of international awards and honours.

This is the second Marathi film after “Shwaas” to be nominated by India for an Oscar in five years. “Shwaas” was Sandeep Sawant’s directorial debut.

Jai Ho !!! Hope it wins the Oscars !!! :)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Navratri !!! The 9 Divine Nights !!!

"Nava-ratri" literally means "nine nights." This festival is observed twice a year, once in the beginning of summer and again at the onset of winter.

What's the Significance of Navratri?

During Navaratri, we invoke the energy aspect of God in the form of the universal mother, commonly referred to as "Durga," which literally means the remover of miseries of life. She is also referred to as "Devi" (goddess) or "Shakti" (energy or power). It is this energy, which helps God to proceed with the work of creation, preservation and destruction. In other words, you can say that God is motionless, absolutely changeless, and the Divine Mother Durga, does everything. Truly speaking, our worship of Shakti re-confirms the scientific theory that energy is imperishable. It cannot be created or destroyed. It is always there.

Why Worship the Mother Goddess?

We think this energy is only a form of the Divine Mother, who is the mother of all, and all of us are her children. "Why mother; why not father?", you may ask. Let me just say that we believe that God's glory, his cosmic energy, his greatness and supremacy can best be depicted as the motherhood aspect of God. Just as a child finds all these qualities in his or her mother, similarly, all of us look upon God as mother. In fact, Hinduism is the only religion in the world, which gives so much importance to the mother aspect of God because we believe that mother is the creative aspect of the absolute.

Why Twice a Year?

Every year the beginning of summer and the beginning of winter are two very important junctures of climatic change and solar influence. These two junctions have been chosen as the sacred opportunities for the worship of the divine power because: (1) We believe that it is the divine power that provides energy for the earth to move around the sun, causing the changes in the outer nature and that this divine power must be thanked for maintaining the correct balance of the universe.
(2) Due to the changes in the nature, the bodies and minds of people undergo a considerable change, and hence, we worship the divine power to bestow upon all of us enough potent powers to maintain our physical and mental balance.

Why Nine Nights & Days?

Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore different aspects of the supreme goddess. On the first three days, the Mother is invoked as powerful force called Durga in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects. The next three days, the Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees the inexhaustible wealth. The final set of three days is spent in worshipping the mother as the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order have all-round success in life, we need the blessings of all three aspects of the divine mother; hence, the worship for nine nights.

Why Do You Need the Power?

Thus, I suggest you join your parents in worshipping "Ma Durga" during the Navaratri. She will bestow on you wealth, auspiciousness, prosperity, knowledge, and other potent powers to cross every hurdle of life. Remember, everyone in this world worships power, i.e., Durga, because there is no one who does not love and long for power in some form or the other

So enjoy this Navratri and the Garba Dance, hence enlighten and rejuvenate yourself !!!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Naughty Google !!!

What do U think Google is ?

Of course, you don't need to think what Google is. It is one of the best boons of the 21st century, a search engine that everyone at least once in his/her life must have tried and will continue to use in the near future.

But today I encountered the flip side i.e. the Naughty side of our very own Google Search Engine. Here's how:

If you wanna know just type in this words, in the Google Search box and U will come to know.

1. Why can't I have

Here's the result:

2.I ate

Here's the result

3. Girls like

Here's the result: -

4. Should I

Here's the result: -

And the list endless. Here are few for you to try out. Check them while we continue laughing. :)

Type these words in Google and the rest is history.

5. I Need To

6. I Smell Like

7. What If He

8. Man, I’m

9. What If Your

This one's interesting,

10. Have My

11. Why Don’t
This is one of the best. Take a look

and the list is endless. So continue using Google and have fun on the run !!! Enjoy !!! :)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Increase backlinks to your blog !!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Politics Simplified !!!

So time for some fun guys. I have tried to simplify Politics in this post ! :P

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

Thank U for reading through all these lines !!!

Things Everyone Should Know How To Do !!!

From my personal experience I have figured out a few things a person ( Human Being :P ) ought to know in his life ! :)

In no particular order they are,

1. Build a Fire –

Fire produces heat and light, two basic necessities for living. At some point in your life this knowledge may be vital.

2.O

perate a Computer
Fundamental computer knowledge is essential these days. Please, help those in need.

3. Use Google Effectively Google knows everything. If you’re having trouble finding something with

Google, it’s you that needs help.

4. Do Basic Cooking

If you can’t cook your own steak and eggs, you probably aren’t going to make it.

5. Tell a Story that Captivates People’s Attention-

If you can’t captivate their attention,
you should probably just save your breath.

6. Win or Avoid a Fistfight -

Either way, you win.

7.Handle a Job Interview – I promise, sweating yourself into a nervous panic won’t land you the job.

8.Manage Time – Not doing so is called wasting time, which is okay sometimes, but not all the time.

9.Speed Read – Sometimes you just need the basic gist, and you needed it 5 minutes ago.

10.Remember Names – Do you like when someone tries to get your attention by screaming “hey you”?

11.Perform Basic First Aid – You don’t have to be a doctor, or genius, to properly dress a wound.

And Above ALL

12.Swim – 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Learning to swim might be a good idea.

Enjoy life !!!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Ego !!!

I got this as a forward on my email. Read this, maybe there is a lesson for all of us.

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a home-spun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Harvard.

“We want to see the President “the man said softly.

“He’ll be busy all day “the secretary snapped.

“We’ll wait” the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president..

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave” she said to him. The President, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t touched….He was shocked. “Madam” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly ” We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”

Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name: - Stanford University , a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Most of the time we judge people by their outer appearance , which can be misleading. And in this impression, we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends, employees or customers.

Remember

In our Life, we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process. But because of our inner EGO we miss them forever.

It is you who have to decide with whom you are getting associated in day to day life.

Small people talk about others,

Average people talk about things,

Great people talk about ideas

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Locality of Reference !!!

The heading may sound familiar to those who are from the IT sector, but I do not intend to write about this Computer Science concept all over again. It is interesting to note that most of the concepts of the Computer Science have evolved from the day to day life. Be it the Buddy System, pointers, and so on. Today I came across with the importance of the Locality of Reference which all computer geeks study in System Programming.

From past few days, the battery of my bike ( Hero Honda Splendor NxG) had been giving problems and I went to the servicing center of the bike. i.e Hero Honda. As all servicing centers who leave no stone unturned in order to extract as much money from your pocket, a mechanic came to me and said, "Bhaiya, battery change karna padega" ( Brother, the battery has to be changed ) . Tell you what these mechanics are so shrewd and at the same time very loyal to their owners. Having done some R & D on my bike previously, I knew the battery wire only needed to be soldered. So I asked him," Sirf solder hi toh karna hai" (Just solder the battery and it will be ok). Pat came the reply, " Agar battery mein ched ho gaya toh? " ( what if by mistake a hole is created in the battery due to soldering ) :). WHOAAA !!! What a reply ? As if I had not seen soldering in my life.

Scenario 2 :

I went to a local mechanic and asked him " Bhaiya, battery ka soldering karna hai" ( I have to solder the battery wire). The soft spoken mechanic replies, " Thik hai bhaiya, battery mere paas chod do, shaam ko lekar jaana" ( Ok, leave the battery with me and take it back in the evening).

Being an IT professional, I can only relate this to the concept of Locality of Reference !!! ;)

So the gist of the above experience is " No matter how fast the world changes we must not get carried away by the development of these plush malls, shopping centers, and big showrooms. " ,there are umpteen number of local vendors and local talent, which can at times surpass these sophisticated developments in the society.

No wonder they say " When in Rome, do as the Romans do". In India, we call it " JUGAAD TECHNOLOGY". Will certainly update about this technology in the upcoming blogs.

Spontaneity !!!