Light in Dark..

Reality of Information

2012-01-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

Fence Story

2012-01-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

What is Maturity?

2012-01-18T23:51:00.001-08:00

Maturity is the ability to control anger and settle differences without violence or destruction.
Maturity is to have patience.
Maturity is the willingness to pass up immediate pleasure in favor of the long-term gain.
Maturity is perseverance, the ability to sweat out a project or a situation in spite of heavy opposition and discouraging set-backs.
Maturity is the capacity to face unpleasantness and frustration, discomfort and defeat, without complaint or collapse.
Maturity is humility. It is being big enough to say, "I was wrong." And, when right, the mature person need not experience the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so."
Maturity is the ability to make a decision and stand by it. The immature spend their lives exploring endless possibilities; then they do nothing.
Maturity is the art of living in peace with that which we cannot change, the courage to change that which should be changed -- and the wisdom to know the difference.

Spiderman - After Marriage

2012-01-11T22:50:00.001-08:00

Japani in India

2012-01-11T01:26:00.000-08:00

Japani came to India...!

He took an auto to go to the airport, on the way a Honda overtakes...
Japani: HONDA made in JAPAN..... very fast
next a toyota overtakes
Japani: TOYOTA made in JAPAN.....very fast
Reached Airport & asked How Much?

Driver: RS. 8000
Japani: Why so expensive??
Driver: METER made in INDIA ........''VERY FAST''

Brutal reality!!

The Gun Markets of Pakistan

2012-01-09T22:41:00.000-08:00

This is totally insane. It’s sad that most people in the west never see this, and they should.

Kerala Karela Kerala!

2011-10-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

Being really poor

2011-10-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

One day, a rich dad took his son on a trip. He wanted to show the boy how poor someone can be. They spent time on the farm of a poor family. On the way home, dad asked, "Did you see how poor they are? What did you learn?".

Son replied, "We have one dog, they have four, we have pool, they have a river, we have lanterns at night, they have somay stars, we buy food, they grow theirs, we have walls to protect us, they have friends all around, we have encyclopedias, they have the Bible." and then the boy concluded, "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are."

MORAL: It's not about money that make us rich, it's about simplicity and having God in our lives.

Famous Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita

2011-10-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

Albert Einstein: When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.

Mahatma Gandhi: When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day.

Henry David Thoreau: In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer: The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions.

Sri Aurobindo: The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization.

Carl Jung: The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his Timaeus in which it states..." behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant." This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in chapter 15 of Bhagavad-Gita.

Herman Hesse: The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.

Rudolph Steiner: In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it.

Adi Shankara: From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures.

Aldous Huxley: The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity.

Ramanuja: The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme Lord Krishna's primary purpose for descending and incarnating is relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity.

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati: The Bhagavad-Gita is not seperate from the Vaishnava philosophy and the Srimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is transmigation of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it is apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we continue and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter we can see that the ultimate conclusion is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord.

Madhvacarya: The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary to evolve and protect humanity and that within it the Bhagavad-Gita is the epitome of the Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk and pollen is the essence of flowers.

The G.A.M.E

2011-10-06T21:24:00.001-07:00

This... I have been through

2011-09-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

Was Jesus a Buddhist Monk? - BBC Documentary

2011-09-25T01:56:00.000-07:00

In this - BBC 4 documentary examines the question "Did Jesus Die?". It looks at a bunch of ideas around this question until minute 25, where this examination of ideas takes a very logical and grounded turn with surprising conclusions that demonstrate...

The three wise men were Buddhist monks who found Jesus and came back for him around puberty. After being trained in a Buddhist Monastery he spread the Buddhist philosophy, survived the crucifixion, and escaped to Kashmir, India where he died an old man at the age of 80.

Effective way of studying for exams

2011-09-23T03:20:00.000-07:00

Student of University of Madras, Preparations for exams (working hard, they tie their hair to a nail in the wall to prevent falling into sleep).

Excellence and Satisfaction

2011-09-21T20:43:00.001-07:00

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency.

Observe demotion of Salman khan

2011-09-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

2009: WANTED (I.P.S)
2010: Dabangg- (inspector)
2011: Body guard
2012: Security man?
2013: Watch man?!

Water into wine! lol

2011-08-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

"Apostle Thomas came to Kottayam and said "Jesus rose from the dead". Nobody believed him. He said "Jesus turned water into wine". Half of kottayam turned to Christianity."

Scams of India

2011-08-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

Scams of India - A Summary Of Scams from 1947 to 2010

Who Says Men Don't Remember Anniversaries

2011-08-21T05:52:00.000-07:00

A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in the bed.

She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front him. He appears deep in thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of coffee.

"What's the matter, dear?" she whispers as she steps into the room. "Why are you down here at this time of night?"

The husband looks up, "Do you remember 20 years ago when we were dating, and

you were only 17?" he asks solemnly.

The wife is touched thinking her husband is so caring and sensitive. "Yes, I do," she replies.

The husband pauses. The words are not coming easily. "Do you remember when

you father caught us in the back seat of my car?"

"Yes, I remember," says the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.

The husband continues..."Do you remember when he shoved a shotgun in my face and said, "Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to jail for 20 years".

"I remember that too", she replies softly.

He wipes another tear from his cheek and says... "I would have gotten out today"!

Arun Jaitely speech in Rajya Sabha on PM Statement

2011-08-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement on the arrest of activist Anna Hazare.
The BJP leader rejected the statement in the house and demanded that the prime minister release the activists and give them a place to stage their protest.

1st Part

2nd Part

Some of the catchy slogans direct from India Gate - Anna Hazare movement

2011-08-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hoo hoo haa haa, Kapil Sibbal Chuhaaaa!
Manmohan Singh ek kaam karo, chudi pehen k dance karo!!
Sonia jiski mummy hai, wo sarkar nikammi hai!
Ghar ka kutta kaisa ho, kapil sibbal jaisa ho!!
Manmohan jiska tau hai, wo sarkar bikau hai!!
Desh ka yuwa jaag gaya, dekho Rahul bhag gaya!
Corruption --> Virus, Anna --> Anitvirus!!
Ye ander ki baat hai, police hamare saath hai!

LAND OF LUNGI

2011-08-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

Land of Lungi official music video starring Colin 'Krishna', Jamie, Martin, Benjamin Chacko, Julieta , Dominique, Chiara, Antara Chacko, Xan Chacko and Yohan Chacko with guest appearances by Sanil, Bhuvaneshan, Narayanan and Chacko Shot completely at Mankotta Island, Kerala

Lyrics
Travelling in a snow white amby
With my driver & his name was thampi
Said he was a recent gulf retunee
Gave me a soda of brandy

Welcome to the land of lungi
Everybody here calls it God's own country
Appam stew & meen curry
You better taste I know you like it simply

Got stuck in a jam in delhi
i was sad bcoz
I no malum hindi
The cars on the road are so crazy
I turn to police said sirjii..
& i come from the land of lungi
Goes well with a khadi sanjee

Everybody here drive like monkey..
Road is good but traffic here, Excuse me!!!

Mammookaaaa... mamookaaa... mamookaaaa

Met a man in a bar in dubai
Thick mustahe having beef curry
Said his T shirt was lacoste
Big gold chain & misthubushi

He come from the land of lungi

Everybody here calls it God's own country
Double stitch and call it kailli..

Wear it white with starch call it dothi
I come from the land of lungi
Women sweet men are very hairy
Lift the cloth show off your one good knee

You become very very sexy
Welcome to the land of lungi

Kappa beef fish molee
Weather is hot & food is spicy
Better taste i know you like it simply

The man who burnt money while we burn our lives for it.

2011-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

I don’t hate money. I never will. In fact off late I have started loving the idea of being rich. Having said that, I am not obsessed either with the idea of being a billionaire. And I never will be.

What makes me talk about money today is this one picture that always ends up disturbing me somehow...

‘A man burning currency at a crossing in front of a silent crowd…’

I have often heard nothing in this world is free. For everything you get-you give something. Even the ’money’ you earn- you pay a ‘price’ for that- that ‘price’ could be hard work, your health or even costing you your own personal relationship in life at times.

A few years back I was with some guests at Agra when our car stopped briefly at a prominent crossing and I noticed slight commotion across the street. That time I used a Nikon with a 50-500 Sigma lens. Out of curiosity, while sitting in the car, I zoomed and shot couple of pics of a disheveled man burning some paper. We were there hardly few seconds so I didn’t quite follow what was happening. It was only later when I looked at the pics on laptop I realized the man was actually burning money-currency notes of Rs 10 & 20! The realization kind of unsettled me a bit.

Out of curiosity and disbelief I went again to that place after about a week looking for that man. I asked the cigarette shopkeeper n couple of other people around about that person. Different people told different stories-one said he was once a very rich man but lost whatever he had playing lottery. Another guy told me he had lost his money drinking and spoiled his life and there was another one who said while he was too busy earning money his wife left him for someone else and he could not take it and went mad. Nobody really knew the truth except that he was mad.

Either which way now he hated money -he would beg and then burn it. And then just stare at it silently even if there was a volcano inside. Burning currency is a criminal offence in any country and that place in spite of being across a police station –no one really cared. Because he was mad.

Mad? Was he violent? Did he misbehave with people? Did he scream or shout or throw stones? Nope. Mad because he was burning money while everyone was busy trying to earn it.

I wondered why someone would hate money to that extent unless it took away from him something far more precious than money itself. Are we not mad too-burning our lives chasing more n more money and then one day we realize we earned lots of it but then we lost the youth and whole lot of golden moments we could have lived with our loved ones...

Original Post by Pravin Talan

and It's raining in Bengaluru!

2011-08-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'Because I'm free.. Nothin's worryin' me.

Enjoying Exposure

2011-08-12T02:24:00.000-07:00

Scene: A naked and drunken woman boards a cab in NewYork. Driver of the cab, an Indian, keeps staring at her and does not start the cab.

Woman: "Haven't you seen a naked woman before?"
Indian: "Cool down. I am not staring at you. I am just wondering where you have kept the money to pay me?"

Moral: This is what most of the American banks failed to do - Assess the repayment capacity before enjoying exposure.

Historical Blunder

2010-12-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

We All Know TAJ MAHAL As Symbol Of Love

But The Other Lesser Known Facts are:
1. Mumtaz Was Shahjahan's 4th Wife Out Of His 7 Wives.
2. Shahjahan Killed Mumtaz's Husband To Marry Her!
3. Mumtaz Died In Her 14th Delivery!
4. He Then Married Mumtaz's Sister!

Question Arises WHERE THE HELL IS LOVE!???!

Give it a thought!

Why Godse Killed Gandhi?

2010-11-30T01:10:00.005-08:00

Sixty one years after the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a ‘mahatma’ to many but really a cunning politician who had mastered the art of manipulating the Indian National Congress and offering simplistic solutions to the most complex problems, apart from coercing others to toe his line by abandoning food, the story of his murder continues to elicit both curiosity and passion. He was not the first leader to be felled by an assassin’s bullet, nor is he the only eminent Indian, or South Asian for that matter, to fall victim to an elaborate murder conspiracy.

But Gandhi’s assassination was different. Not only his killers were Hindu, they killed a man who had by then come to be regarded at home and abroad as an “apostle of peace” and symbolized the unique doctrine of ‘non-violence’. In those early days of freedom, it was unthinkable that anybody would dare raise a finger, leave alone a gun, at Gandhi. Yet Nathuram Vinayak Godse did the unthinkable, with more than a little help from Narayan Apte, Vishnu Karkare, Gopal Godse, Madanlal Pahwa and Digambar Badge. Godse assassinated Gandhi on January 30, 1948, approaching him during the evening prayer, bowing, and shooting him three times at close range with a Beretta semi-automatic pistol. Immediately after this, he surrendered himself to police. Nathuram Godse, Apte and their accomplices look remarkably relaxed during the trial, unconcerned about the possibility of being sentenced to death – eventually Godse and Apte were hanged; Karkare, Gopal Godse, Pahwa were sentenced to life imprisonment. They never regretted their deed.

Those were terrible days. Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan were struggling to keep body and soul together. Many of them had lost their loved ones in the partition riots — women were raped in front of their husbands and children; young girls were abducted; men were disemboweled; trains arrived laden with dead bodies; people fleeing marauders were set upon with ferocious brutality. Madanlal Pahwa, a young refugee, Malgonkar writes, “reached a place called Fazilka, in Indian Territory, and discovered that another refugee column in which his father and other relatives had set out, had fared much worse. They had been attacked by Jihadi mobs: ‘Only 40 or 50 had survived out of 400 or 500…’.” Delhi was flooded by nearly one million refugees, all of them desperately looking for food and shelter. They were distraught and traumatized, unable to figure out why their lives had been turned upside down in so gruesome a manner. Nor could they understand the rationale behind protecting Delhi’s Muslims. What left them aghast was Gandhi’s insistence that Hindu and Sikh refugees should be sent back to Pakistan and Muslims who had left India be brought back. It didn’t make sense. Nor did the vicious blood-letting that followed. Meanwhile, Pakistan had launched its mission to smash and grab Jammu & Kashmir and was demanding that India hand over Rs 55 crore, its share of the cash reserve inherited from the departing British colonial Government.

After independence Gandhi used to start Satyagraha on every issue which went directly against the interest of India. Gandhi started hunger strike against sending of troops to Kashmir after Pakistani invasion. He was in favour of ahinsha Satyagraha against Pakistani invaders. In west Punjab, lakhs of Sikhs were killed and their body dispatched by train. In reaction to this, Sikhs started to retaliate here. Gandhi started hunger strike again to prevent it.

The proverbial last straw was Gandhi’s threat to go on a fast to force the Government of India to accept Pakistan’s demand of Rs 55 Crore. In all fairness, it needs to be recalled that Jawaharlal Nehru was opposed to the idea: He famously declared that giving the money to Pakistan would mean providing it with “sinews of war”. The old man was not listening: In the end, Gandhi had his way although people were aghast. But did this gross act of injustice to the people of India and the callous disregard for the sentiments of millions of refugees — half-a-million people perished in the violence, 12 million were rendered homeless — justify Nathuram Godse’s action? What inspired Narayan Apte, son of a well-known historian and Sanskrit scholar, to decide on January 13 (the day Gandhi declared he would go on a fast to press Pakistan’s demand for Rs 55 crore) that he must turn into a killer? What was Madanlal Pahwa’s role in the conspiracy? And why did Badge turn approver?

Godse is often a misunderstood character. He is referred to as a Hindu fanatic. It is often hard to understand Godse because the Government of India had suppressed information about him. His court statements, letters etc. were all banned from the public until recently. Judging from his writings one thing becomes very clear – He was no fanatic. His court statements are very well read out and indicate a calm and collected mental disposition. He never even once speaks ill about Gandhi as a person, but only attacks Gandhi’s policies which caused ruin and untold misery to Hindus. Another interesting point to note is that Godse had been working with the Hindu refugees fleeing from Pakistan. He had seen the horrible atrocities committed on them. Many women had their hands cut off; nose cut off, even little girls had been raped mercilessly. Despite this Godse did not harm even single Muslim in India which he could easily have. So it would be a grave mistake to call him a Hindu fanatic.

Then what was the motive behind Godse’s act??? Nathuram Godse was a learned man, very sharp and intelligent – editor of “Agrani” (one of the most famous newspaper of that time – with Nana Aapte). In his last editorial of “Agrani” which he changed overnight – he said “Gandhi must be stopped – at any cost” and he justified why Gandhiji’s assassination was not only inevitable but also a delayed action and that should’ve happened LONG AGO.

He knew exactly what he is going to do. In Nathuram’s Words – “Assassination is never as easy as picking up a rifle and pulling the trigger, assassination is never an accident. Yes, murder could be an accident but not assassination. In this case of Gandhi, it could never be…”

Did he tamper with an important era of history?? He said – “I differ with the word era. It could be a page, a leaf of history. Certainly not an era. If we don’t turn this page today, the rest of the pages of the history of our nation will remain unwritten, blank…”

By seeing the nature of the assassination in public space and Godse’s act of turning himself over to the Police, we can see that Godse did not do this for personal reasons. He very well knew that he would be hanged and his name would be disgraced as Gandhi was considered a saint. And again Godse could have ran away and escaped punishment. But he did the reverse. He called a police officer and courted arrest. Before we proceed it would be wise to understand the backdrop of the assassination. The central government had taken a decision — Pakistan will not be given Rs 55 Crores. On January 13 Gandhi started a fast unto death that Pakistan must be given the money. On January 13, the central government changed its earlier decision and announced that Pakistan would be given the amount. On January 13, Nathuram decided to assassinate Gandhi.

Also according to one source, after the state of Pakistan was formed administrative problems started to crop up. Therefore Pakistan came up with a proposal to link East Pakistan (the present day Bangladesh) and West Pakistan. According to the plan a road (you could say an area) 10 km wide would be linking the east division with the west. Now the RSS activists feared that if Pakistan requested Gandhi to sanction such a proposal then Gandhi would readily agree and the Mahatma’s would be the final word as he was the father of the nation. They knew that Gandhi was Pakistan’s best lobby so they had him eliminated through Godse. I wonder what would have happened if we had allowed a road to be built across our country. I just can’t imagine.

In the Hindu Rashtra daily dated 9/7/1947, Godse had given the following message to the fellow Indians. “Brothers! Our mother land has been cut into pieces. The eagles have torn her skin into bits. Hindu women are being raped in the middle of the road. How long can we tolerate this? It’s a shame that lakhs of Hindus live like refugees in their own country. Women being raped burn my heart.”

He warned Gandhiji “Gandhiji! By approving the Pakistan partition, you have stabbed the nation. Unless you change your activities, you must face harsh consequences. We consider the dividers of our nation as traitors our nation.”

In Nathuram’s words – “I don’t refute Gandhi’s theory of non-violence. He may be a saint but he is not a politician. His theory of non-violence denies self-defence and self-interest. The non-violence that defines the fight for survival as violence is a theory not of non-violence but of self-destruction. The division of the nation was an unnecessary decision. What was the percentage of the Muslim population as compared to the population of the nation? There was no need for a separate nation. Had it been a just demand, Maulana Azad would not have stayed back in India. But because Jinnah insisted and because Gandhi took his side, India was divided, in spite of opposition from the nation, the Cabinet. An individual is never greater than a nation. But Gandhi has stared considering himself greater than the nation.

We never opposed a Muslim prime minister. In a democracy you cannot put forward your demands at knife-point. Jinnah did it and Gandhi stabbed the nation with the same knife. He dissected the land and gave a piece to Pakistan. We did picket that time but in vain. The Father of our Nation went to perform his paternal duties for Pakistan! Gandhi blackmailed the cabinet with his fast unto death. His body, his threats to die are causing the destruction — geographical as well as economical — of the nation. Today, Muslims have taken a part of the nation, tomorrow Sikhs may ask for Punjab. The religions are again dividend into castes; they will demand sub-divisions of the divisions. What remains of the concept of one nation, national integration? Why did we fight the British in unison for independence? Why not separately? Bhagat Singh did not ask only for an independent Punjab or Subhash Chandra Bose for an independent Bengal?
At the time of Partition, when Suharawady surrendered only due to political pressure, but only Suharawady, not his followers…they went on with the massacre. Gandhi started his fast; the Hindus put their weapons down. I still remember that day. A poor Hindu told Gandhi, ‘I am putting down my weapons because I don’t want your death on my conscience but I am staying alone with my family in the Muslim area. That night, before leaving Hyderabad I visited his home. The whole household was screaming, weeping, his only eight-year-old son had been killed by the Muslims. He had no weapon to defend himself. He threw his son’s body on my lap and said, “Take his blood to your Mahatma. Tell him, if he goes on fast again, he can finish it by drinking not orange-juice but my son’s blood.” I could not say anything. Gandhi was the Father of my Nation. For a moment, I was tempted to pull out the Muslims from their homes and chop them down. But I controlled myself. Violence for self-defence is justified; otherwise it is an ill-cultured act. I returned to where Gandhi was staying but he had already left by car. Of course, there would have been no point in meeting him… he would only have prayed for both the killer and the victim.

I am going to assassinate him in the open, before the public, because I am going to do it as my duty. If I do it surreptitiously, it becomes a crime in my own eyes. I will not try to escape, I will surrender and naturally I will be hanged. One assassination, one hanging. I don’t want two executions for one assassination and I don’t want your involvement, participation or company. (This was for Nana-Apte and Veer Savarkar as they were against Gandhi’s policies too; Godse wanted to assassinate Gandhi all by himself and took promise from Nana Apte that he will continue helping Veer Savarkar in rebuilding India as a strong free nation.)
On January 30, I reached Birla Bhavan at 12 pm. Gandhi was sitting outside on a cot enjoying the sunshine. Vallabhbhai Patel’s granddaughter was sitting at his feet. I had the revolver with me. I could have assassinated him easily then, but I was convinced that his assassination was to be a punishment and a sentence against him, and I would execute him. I wanted witnesses for the execution but there were none. I did not want to escape after the execution as there was not an iota of guilt in my mind. I wanted to surrender, but surrender to whom? There was a good crowd to collect for the evening prayers. I decided on the evening of January 30 as the date for Gandhi’s execution.

It was 4.45 pm when I reached the gate of Birla Bhavan. The security staff at the gate was scrutinising the crowd entering and I was a little worried about them. I mingled with a small group of people and sneaked inside. It was 5.10 pm when I saw Gandhi and his close associates coming to the prayer place from his room inside. I approached the passage from where he was likely to climb the steps of the lawn, in such a way that I was covered by a few people.

Gandhi climbed the steps and came forward. He had kept his hands on the shoulders of the two girls. I wanted just three seconds more. I moved two steps forward and faced Gandhi. Now I wanted to take out the revolver and salute him for whatever sacrifice and service he had made for the nation. One of the two girls was dangerously close to Gandhi and I was afraid that she might be injured in the course of firing. As a precautionary measure I went one more step ahead, bowed before him and gently pushed the girl away from the firing line. The next moment I fired at Gandhi. Gandhi was very weak, there was a feeble sound like ‘aah’ (There are proof that Gandhi did NOT say “Hey Ram” at that time – it’s just made up stuff) from him and he fell down.

Those who were close to me saw the weapon in my hand. They rushed away from the spot. Gandhi had fallen to the ground, I was standing and the crowd had formed a ring around us. After the firing I raised my hand holding the revolver and shouted, ‘Police, police’. For 30 seconds nobody came forward and I scanned the crowd. I saw a police officer. I signalled to him to come forward and arrest me. He came and caught my wrist, and then a second man came and touched the revolver… I let it go…”

Trial and execution

Following his assassination of Gandhi, he was put on trial beginning May 27, 1948. During the trial, he did not defend any charge and openly admitted that he killed Gandhi. On November 8, 1949 Godse was sentenced to death for the murder. Godse’s legal team was savaged by critics for not introducing considerable evidence that their client was mentally unbalanced and/or manipulated by others. Among those calling for commutation of the death sentence for both defendants were Nehru and Gandhi’s two sons who felt that the two men on trial were pawns of RSS higher-ups and, in any case, executing their fathers’ killers would dishonour his memory and legacy which included a staunch opposition to the death penalty. Godse was hanged at Ambala Jail on November 15, 1949, along with Narayan Apte, the other conspirator. Savarkar was also charged with conspiracy in the assassination of Gandhi, but was acquitted and subsequently released. Godse stipulated that his ashes were not to be deposited in a body of water according to Hindu dictates, but rather were to be held in storage until they could be deposited in The Sindhu after Pakistan had been reunited with India. For years, his brother kept Godse’s ashes over his fireplace and held an annual salute to “the hero martyrs” on the anniversary of the assassination.

Yes! I Killed Mohandas Gandhi and I am Glad I Did It!

That is what Gopal Godse says. Gopal Godse spent 18 years in prison for his role in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. His brother and one other conspirator were hanged by the neck until dead. But it was all worth it, says Gopal Godse. Gopal Godse proudly recounts his role in plotting the assassination of Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1948.

only when I sleep live

2010-11-22T23:51:00.001-08:00

only when I sleep live
by: Corrs

Jago Grahak Jago - Love or Arrange?

2010-11-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

Arrange marriage expenses: 2lac on wedding arrangements + 4lac on jewelery ..etc ...
Love marriage expenses: 100/- fr stamp + 50/- for notary +20/- for photos!!
paisa apka, pasand apki.... faisla apka! jago grahak jago!! apne lover ke sath bhago!

We get back what we give

2010-11-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

A little boy got angry with his mother and shouted at her, "I hate you, I hate you." Because of fear of reprimand, he ran out of the house. He went up to the valley and shouted, "I hate you, I hate you," and the echo returned, "I hate you, I hate you."

Having never heard an echo before, he was scared, and ran to his mother for protection. He said there was a bad boy in the valley who shouted "I hate you, I hate you"

The mother understood and she asked her son to go back and shout, "I love you, I love you". The little boy went and shouted, "I love you, I love you," and back came the echo.

That taught the little boy a lesson: Our life is like an echo. We get back what we give.

Via: Gems of Wisdom

#oneletteroffmovies

2010-03-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

Twitter had an interesting trending topic this weekend, #oneletteroffmovies. It’s amazingly hilarious, if you take the title of a popular movie and change a letter if you have the brains. Not being satisfied with the stupid responses lately on twitter, I compiled my own list of #oneletteroffmovies (though also including some from twitter).
Some NC-17 content also awaits you in the list, so read ahead at your own risk. You have been warned.

1) My best friend’s weeding
2) Beauty and the breast
3) Mobsters, Inc.
4) Fight cub/ Flight club
5) Top gum/ Toy gun
6) Jurassic pork/ Jurassic dark/ Jurassic bark
7) Malice in wonderland
8 ) School of cock
9) French Kids/French piss
10) Porn on the fourth of July
11) Fat and furious/ fast and curious
12) Apocalypse, wow/ Apocalypse, how
13) Terminator 2: Judgement gay
14) The deported/ She departed
15) Full mental jacket
16) No country for bold men
17) Boy story/ Joy story
18) Shaving private Ryan (Although Shaving Ryan’s privates is a better title)

Just a couple of hindi movies as well :

19) Jab we met becomes: Jab me wet (Okay, technically it’s two letters but who cares)
20) Gandhi becomes Aandhi (Okay, technically it’s not a hindi movie but who cares)

Tell me which ones were the best, and which ones were humorless. Also add some more in the comments, if you can come up with a #oneletteroffmovies list as well.

My nomination for the first Lufthansa A380

2010-03-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

My nomination for the first Lufthansa A380: "The A380 the new Lufthansa flagship, a special experience, the Lufthansa A380. Find out more about the fascination of a new era in air travel. Take part, Raffles, Downloads, Photos, Video, Gallery, First Flight in 2010."

Ajit Jain: The Indian in Warren’s Investment Buffet

2010-02-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

Via: indoamerican-news.com

OMAHA (Outlook): Warren Buffett certainly knows a thing or two about making the right investments. In 1986, when Indiaborn Ajit Jain gave up his job as a consultant at McKinsey for new challenges at Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett was quick to recognise the worth of his new colleague. In his letter to shareholders at the investment holding company last month, Buffett wrote: “Very quickly, I realised that we had acquired an extraordinary talent. So I did the logical thing: I wrote to his parents in New Delhi and asked if they had another one like him at home. Of course, I knew the answer before writing. There isn’t anyone like Ajit.”

Berkshire Hathaway’s third major insurance operation is Jain’s reinsurance division headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and staffed by 31 employees. “This may be one of the most remarkable businesses in the world, hard to characterise, but easy to admire,” Buffett said. “From year to year, Ajit’s business is never the same. It features very large transactions, incredible speed of execution and a willingness to quote on policies that leave others scratching their heads. When there is a huge and unusual risk to be insured, Ajit is almost certain to be called.”

Such lavish praise from the man Forbes magazine branded the richest in the world in 2008 has once again set tongues wagging: Does the 79-year-old ‘Oracle of Omaha’ intend to appoint Jain as his successor?

To some, Buffett appeared to signal as much when he went on to add “a final post-script on BHAC (Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Co)”. “Who, you may wonder, runs this operation? While I help set policy, all of the heavy lifting is done by Ajit and his crew. Sure, they were already generating $24 billion of float along with hundreds of millions of underwriting profit annually. But how busy can that keep a 31-person group? Charlie (Charles Munger, vice chairman, Berkshire Hathaway Corporation) and I decided it was high time for them to start doing a full day’s work,” he wrote.

Speculation that Jain will fill Buffett’s shoes has been gaining steam for a few years now. In 2006, the International Herald Tribune carried a story with the headline: ‘Ajit Jain has Buffett’s ear—and may have his job when he’s gone’. Indeed, Jain is among a handful of candidates seen most likely to succeed Buffett. Other potentials often cited are Richard Santulli, who runs NetJets, an operator of private jets; David Sokol, chief executive of Berkshire’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings; and Tony Nicely, chief executive of the company’s GEICO car insurance unit.

Jain’s assistant Beverly Ward told Outlook that he was travelling and unavailable for an interview. But given his past responses to similar media requests, the selfeffacing Jain would have likely declined to comment had he been available. “Mr Jain doesn’t usually do interviews,” Ward explained. In 2006, while declining to comment on similar succession speculation, he had told the IHT in an e-mail message that showcased his self-deprecating humour: “It is undoubtedly the case that any disappointment I have caused you by declining the interview is far less than the disappointment I would have caused you by granting it.”

Author Robert P. Miles has a stack of books on Buffett to his credit. In one of these—The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets from the Berkshire Hathaway Managers— Miles describes Jain as the “accidental manager”. Born in India in 1951, Jain earned his engineering degree at IIT, Kharagpur. “Even though I enjoyed being an engineer and looked forward to engineering as a profession, I very quickly realised that engineers— certainly in India, but also here in the United States—end up being shortchanged. I was working six days a week and making a quarter of what people in sales and marketing were getting paid. So I figured that if I couldn’t beat them, I’d join them,” Jain told Miles.

At the urging of one of his supervisors in India, Jain went on to study at the Harvard Business School. After getting his MBA in 1978, he joined McKinsey and Co as a management consultant. Fed up with his job, Jain quit in 1981 and returned to India. Following an arranged marriage, it was Jain’s wife, Tinku, who pushed him to return to America, where his former employer McKinsey promptly snapped him up.

In 1986, at the urging of his former boss, Michael Goldberg, Jain joined Berkshire Hathaway. The rest, as they say, is history. Jain is second only to Buffett in his revenue-generating abilities at the company. In the spring of 2001, Buffett wrote in his annual ‘Chairman’s Letter to Shareholders’: “It is impossible to overstate how valuable Ajit is to Berkshire. Don’t worry about my health; worry about his.” Miles notes that Jain is known for “closing the largest sale in reinsurance history, but no deal is too small for him. He will still get in his car to capture a $1 million insurance agreement”.

He describes Jain’s small office as cluttered full of papers and documents at the time of their meeting. “Ajit is very frugal— maybe even more so than Buffett. At the time of our interview, he hadn’t replaced his secretary in three months, and was retrieving his own e-mail and booking his own travel reservations.” In an interview with Outlook, Miles described Jain as a regular guy. “Ajit is a kind man, someone who you would enjoy having a cup of coffee or tea with,” he said. “He is obviously a brilliant man, having graduated from IIT, but not all intelligent men are friendly like Mr Jain.”

Industry insiders describe the relationship between Buffett and Jain as extremely close. Miles says the two talk on the telephone every day, usually in the afternoon. “They talk about the insurance risks being considered and the appropriate premiums to charge. Many of the deals Mr Jain does are one-off or one of a kind insurance policies that only Berkshire Hathaway has an appetite for. Deals like insuring the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, or Pepsi $1 Billion Dollar Chimpanzee Challenge or (baseball star) Alex Rodriguez’s $250-million disability insurance contract,” he says.

“Do first-class business in a first-class way. Work hard. Be smart. Manage little,” is how Miles describes the common ground between the two. Jain is not easily distracted by chatter about succession plans at Berkshire Hathaway. But Buffett’s frequent praise for Jain only helps fuel the speculation. When asked outright at a press conference whether he intended to appoint Jain as his successor, Buffett quipped: “I still do talk to him every day.... That’s how I get smarter.”

- By Ashish Kumar Sen

How Insurance Agents Cheat Customers?

2010-02-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

Via: indianmoney.com

Consider a situation you pay 500 rupees for a pen which has the name “PARKER” on it. You go home and take out the pen to write. It comes as a shock to you when you see that this pen has a refill of Cello Gripper inside. You start fuming and rush to the shop and yell at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper says that he never guaranteed you about that pen and you never asked for a guarantee, and shows the board which reads “goods once sold cannot be returned or exchanged”.

You may say that this situation is an exaggerated one but this is somewhat very similar to what happens in the insurance industry when claims of policy holders are rejected.

All the organizations in the world have a rule book which decides the actions that all the employees have to perform and which differentiates DO’s and Don’ts and insurance companies are not an exception to this. Each and every country has a regulating body to monitor and regulate the insurance companies. In India the regulating body is IRDA (Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority). As it happens in almost all businesses even this industry has got some disputes and many times in the news paper we see policy holder suing his insurance provider. Now there may be many reasons for such a thing happening and one of the factor which is widely accepted and debated is the role of the insurance agents. There have been many reports where the insurance agent has not provided the complete information or unwanted information or mis-informed the prospective customer in order to close the sales. As a result of this policy holder is at the receiving end when his claims are rejected by the insurance companies.

Some of the reasons why the insurance agents lie to prospective customers are;

Insurance agents are only bothered about commission that they will be getting once they get the deal done.
They do not have the full knowledge of the product that they are selling hence they end up giving false information to the customer.
They are afraid of the awkward questions that the customer can shoot at them while they are explaining about the product to customer.
They are under the pressure of their boss and are trying to reach the sales targets.

Although we have given some of the possibilities these cannot be generalized. It cannot be concluded that all theinsurance agents are alike. There are some who have taken their work seriously and have come up in this field, but we cannot disagree with the fact that the attrition rate is pretty high in this particular field which leads to companies recruiting people very often and which results into this situation.

There are various situations during which the prospective customer is foxed by the insurance agent. In this article we will be discussing some of them and try to find out the ways by which we can overcome such situations.

Good morning sir, I’m calling from X company. Recently we have launched policy named…….

We all receive such calls day in and day out. The only answer that the receiver should say is “I’m not interested”. Have no doubts the lady speaking on the other side will have a very sweet voice but our concern is we are the ones who will be investing our hard earned money. A basic rule put down by IRDA is that to sell a policy you should have passed the exam conducted by the same body. Now the person who is speaking over the phone with the client may or may not have this certification and most of the times it’s seen that they don’t have any certification. They will just try to persuade you to accept to the offer and collect all the details of your credit card number. If you give all the details you will blame yourself whole life for doing that. The person calling us may not have any certification and hence experience and will not have the full knowledge of the policy that she is selling to customer. In the process they end up over promising or adding some of the features or do not give you the full details.

Sir you will be getting back 5% of the premium amount in the first year….

This will be also one of the greatest lies and the most often heard by customers. Not only this along with this agents will add up sentences like “you are the selected one” or “our company is giving this offer only for this month” or “limited period offer”. Agents will say anything and everything to lure the customer which in reality will be far from the truth. This will be utter lie more than 90% of times. We know that insurance agents get commission for business that they have got for the company. Commission is decided on percentage basis. For example an agent sells a policy of 3,00,000 rupees and if the commission is 2% then he will be getting commission of 6000 rupees. Now if the premium that customer pays for the first year is 10,000 rupees and agent has told the customer that 10% of premium is refunded, and then the amount will be 1000 rupees. Agent won’t mind paying one thousand when they can get 5000 rupees because of that one policy.

Sir you just need to sign here I will manage all the other documents…..

This is one of the dialogues which insurance agent says. He will take your sign and then move. But have you seen the offer document, illustration sheet, prospectus etc. if no then there is always a possibility that you may have missed something which would obstruct you from claiming the insurance money later. Never ever just sign on any piece of paper that the agent gives you. Go through all the documents that he is showing you make sure that you have read all the clauses that are printed and then only go ahead and sign.

Sir you pay the first premium now. I will get all the documents tomorrow and get your signature….

If the insurance agent tells you this then you may have a loud laugh at it. Do not agree to all that he says. What if tomorrow he comes to you with documents in which it has been printed that your insurance cover is for 4 lakhs whereas on the previous day agent had said that it would provide cover of 6 lakhs. You may feel that these things will never happen, but there have been many instances where such cases have occurred and the policy holders have taken a legal action and have got justice. This would take a lot of your valuable time and energy. That’s the reason it is always better to prevent than to cure.

Sir this policy covers even you treatment charges…..

There are health insurance policies and they cover your treatment charges. Insurance agents sell these to customers and this is the only dialogue that they tell them. If the customer knows about insurances then he will surely ask agent about all the diseases that this particular policy covers. If in case you get any disease not covered under this policy then you will have to shell out your own money for the treatment. Hence it becomes very important for a customer to know of all the diseases that policy covers. What is the use of taking a medical insurance policy which does not cover diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, brain tumor etc and your family has had a history of diabetes. It is very important because there are various policies such as Mediclaim, GIC’s medical insurances policies which does not cover a host of diseases ranging from asthma to hypertension. Customer should go through the fine print very carefully.

Now-a-days idea of just opting for insurance cover is getting outdated. Due to want of earning more and more money and advancement of financial system there has come an investment which will take care of both your investment and insurance cover, its ULIPS (Unit Linked Insurance Plan). Let’s look at some of the things that agents say while selling ULIPS.

Sir this plan will give guaranteed returns….

This sentence is used to attract the customers because agents know that customer will definitely fall for this sentence. One thing the customer needs to understand that there are more than ten investment avenues that will give you guaranteed returns, the reason why you have opted to invest here is you want more returns and insurance cover. Customer must enquire about the premiums paid to existing customers. If it’s not suiting your investment objectives then opt for another plan or approach for another service provider.

Sir this plan has given 36% returns over last four years.

At the outside the percentage looks damn good and attractive for a customer to opt for this plan. But they have to be careful and not fall for the percentage figure, because what he is saying is the total returns given over the four years. Using a concept called as CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) you can easily say that agent is fooling you.

(1+i)4 = 1.36

1+i = 1.0799

i = .0799 or 7.99%

Once you dissect the figures you get to know that all he is saying that plan is giving you returns of 7.99% per year. Most of the investment avenues assure you more than this one.

Sir you can stop paying premium after three years….

The truth is that the period that agent is referring here is lock in period and an investor can stop paying the premium even before three years. ULIPS are considered to be long term investments and agent is telling customer that he may stop paying premium after three years which is against the investment objectives.

Some preventive steps that customers can take are

Make your agent explain the fine print to you. Fine print contains all the terms and conditions and if the agent can explain you all that and if you are satisfied then go ahead with the plan. Customers have the right to learn all the properties or characteristics of the products that they have been offered.

Best thing is to buy the policy from an experienced agent.

Note down all the documents that have to be produced by the customer in order to claim the policy money.

Remember if you don’t get justice here or feel that you have been cheated by the company or agent then you can go to the redressal committee.

Google > Microsoft > Yahoo!

2010-02-25T22:33:00.000-08:00

Google Buzzzz way!

2010-02-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

Via: thedoghousediaries

I LOVE RAIN!!!!

2010-02-09T23:20:00.001-08:00

Bus Day @ namma Bengaluru

2010-02-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

February 4th, 2010 was observed as the first Bus Day here in Bengaluru. And is scheduled/planned to happen every month on the 4th.

What is this Bus Day?

It is a daylong event promoting ‘Public Transport’ in the city of Bengaluru on February 4th, 2010. It is an event calling all the citizens of Bengaluru to use the ‘Public Transport’ on Feb 4th for all their daily commute in the city.

What is so special about bus day?

Bus day is suggested by few enthusiast citizens (members of Praja as well). The idea behind Bus day is to observe the changes which can be brought in the city in following respect · Environment · Traffic Situation · Health of individuals · Perception

Success Story: (experts from DH)

Pollution levels dropped on Bus Day

There is clearly a need for more ‘Bus Days’ in the City as the first such venture by the BMTC on Thursday saw a marked slump in the level of pollutants in the atmosphere.

An analysis of ambient air quality levels before, during and after the ‘Bus Day’ was conducted. The KSPCB mobile laboratory was stationed for eight hours on February 2, February 4 (Bus Day) and February 5. The monitoring was carried out from 10 am to 6 pm on all the days.

Additional Info: Poster (Click) | Bus Day Route map (Click)

Certificate of completion

2009-07-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

Madhukar BR

Chk this - most downloded torrents!

2009-07-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

was dumbfount when i saw that Islam related stuffs where the most downloaded torrents! check the screenshot!

Can we save the earth? Verdant Kodagu at the mercy of smugglers, poachers.

2009-06-29T03:15:00.000-07:00

Climate change is already altering the world's rich natural heritage and threatening countless species, including sea birds, butterflies, sea turtles, wild cats, fish, and scores of trees across the landscape. More destruction of our natural resources like the forests is un-acceptable.

If we don't act now to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, thousands of species across the world are doomed.

Its sounds suspicious about the state ruled current government as the CM himself holds the post of forest minister also! what an unethical and social culture our so called leaders have. As others say the road is being constructed to help the smugglers amuggle the goods easily across the border between Kerala and Karnataka.

I urge you to support an economy-wide support in saving our forests and wildlife by taking necessary action to stop the Road being build inside the Pushpagiri wildlife sanctuary in Kodagu district.

TAKE ACTION :: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-pushpagiri :: NOW

more info:

below article is from Deccan Herald. (dated: 29 June, 09 - Page No. 5)

http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/02/stories/2009010258270300.htm

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_central-panel-upset-over-road-works-in-sanctuary_1257369

A.R. Rahman issues statement on Michael Jackson's death.

2009-06-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

I am shocked at the untimely passing away of Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musicians of our time.

MJ, for most of our generation was an icon who made uncompromising music. He pushed the milestone of Pop music to unbelievable levels through the 80s and 90s. I am yet to find an artist with that energy, perfection and vision.

I met him personally after the Oscars in Los Angeles and we vibed very well. He said that he loved India and the Indian people. He said he heard good things about me and he was praising the chord progression of Jai Ho's chorus. He was bursting with energy and told me that every dance move he did,came from his soul and did a five second stunning example. It was like a lightning strike :)

He was concerned about developmental issues such as Global Warming and about wars and its damages to the human community. He asked me to compose a unity anthem on the likes of "We are the World " for him. I nodded in awe...!

He introduced me to his three lovely bright kids. The kids told him "I love you dad" and he replied “I love you more” as a proud father.

I wished him well for his concerts and he said “God Bless you”.

After hearing the shocking news I wished it was another rumor which would fade away soon. It took me time to believe that he is no more.

I remember, my late sound engineer Sridhar had brought me a video of the premiere of "Remember the Time" when I was recording "Kadal Rojave" for my first movie Roja. Seeing it inspired all of us that afternoon.

Now, there is no Sridhar and no Jackson anymore. I hope all of us value people's existence more and respect them when they are alive.

LIFE IS SHORT...! Artists and their art live for ever. Jai Ho, MJ !

We love you for your music, regardless of all the controversies!

A.R. Rahman | 25 June, 2009.

Via: arrahman.com

Make erring cops pay : Praveen Sood, additional commissioner of traffic

2009-06-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

Not knowing this may leave a big hole in your pocket
Information you cannot miss out

If you are getting caught quite often by Bangalore's traffic police, then this will be the article you cannot miss out on. From now onwards, the Traffic Police cannot catch a motorist just to examine the driving license or vehicle documents. He can catch you only if you have violated any traffic laws or if you are driving drunk.
Remember that when caught for traffic violation, the fine you pay must be limited to the violation. In other words, the police can't bloat the bill saying that you have no insurance cover or emission certificate, etc.
Many motorists do not know this. According to the State's Road Transportation Act, no policeman can slap a penalty on you just because you have no insurance or emission certificate. If you have not purchased insurance cover for your vehicle, then the police officer must issue a notice, not impose penalty. You must be given 15 days' time to purchase insurance cover and one week for obtaining the emission certificate. Days later, meet the sub-inspector at his station with the insurance cover or emission certificate, so that he will annul the charge at once. Police can fine you only if you fail to produce these documents within the stipulated period. If your vehicle is brand new, then you need not bother about obtaining the emission certificate for one full year.
In response to a question as to why policemen fine people instantly without giving them time to obtain insurance cover or emission certificate, Additional Commissioner for Traffic Praveen Sood said, "Yes, it is a mistake. People must force policemen to issue notice or complain to me at least the following day. I have suspended the Indiranagar sub-inspector for catching people for silly reasons," he said.
The best way to teach the police a lesson is filing a written complaint with their higher officials and, a week later, using the Right to Information Act (RTI) to know the action taken against them.
Remember, any question or application filed under RTI cannot be ignored and no official is bold enough to ignore the RTI Act.
Praveen Sood (Additional Commissioner for Traffic) - 080 22942276.

Source : link
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Make erring cops pay : Praveen Sood, additional commissioner of traffic (Thursday, May 14, 2009 11:08 IST)

Traffic police personnel stationed near traffic signals are only allowed to book motorists driving rashly or jumping red lights, additional commissioner of traffic Praveen Sood clarified on Wednesday. The officer made this statement following complaints of traffic police personnel stopping and checking vehicular documents in such areas, causing jams in the process.
Admitting that such exercises may result in disruption of the traffic flow, he said, "Police personnel deployed for enforcement of rules near signals are not allowed to stop vehicles for any reason other than jumping traffic lights and negligent behaviour, which includes talking on the phone while driving." Any traffic policeman, who is caught stopping vehicles for reasons other than these, is liable to be punished, he said.
Stating that he has given strict instructions to his staff to book cases of rule violations and negligent driving, Sood said that at least five enforcement cameras, apart from 80 surveillance cameras, have been installed at traffic signals to apprehend offenders.
"Persons caught on camera will be issued notices," Sood said. Strict action will also be taken against motorists who park on zebra crossings, break lane discipline and violate other rules, he added.
"But then, if motorists come across any erring policemen, they may come to my office to lodge a complaint or register it on the Bangalore City Traffic police website: http://bangaloretrafficpolice.gov.in," he said.

Source : link
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if anyone uses the landline number provided pls let me know if it is working!.. thanks!

ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST - a mail i received

2009-06-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

BEWARE OF THESE BANKS

Looking at the rising complaints against ICICI Bank, Citibank, and Standard Chartered Bank , we request consumers to properly read their documents and keep a record when dealing with these banks, especially regarding credit card and housing loan. These three banks are biggest defaulters and do not resolve consumer problems easily. Be aware of their terms in writing. Keep a perfect record of all correspondence with them. If they do not agree to written communication, immediately stop their services. If you ask some nationalised bank to take over the housing loan from ICICI Bank, even after paying full amount, you will not get back your original documents for months. You will be told that the documents are in Mumbai and they are trying to retrieve the same. This is the answer you get everyday.

BEWARE OF NOKIA

Nokia assures that their handset is covered under insurance. They even provide a certificate of insurance. But the condition is that if the handset is lost/stolen, you have to lodge an FIR to seek claims. The catch here is that the police station does not lodge FIR for loss of handsets, they only register NC. So you will never get insurance claims on basis of NC.

Nokia is selling some of its degraded products that have software problems. If you come across such problem in a new set, do not waste your time in running around service centres as it is not going to help much, ask for a replacement with a new set. All those who have purchased 3230 set, have experienced that there was software problem in every set. Nokia is simply dumping the sets, which can not be sold in other countries.

BEWARE OF AIR DECCAN

Their confirmed bookings are highly unreliable and of no guarantee that you will be allowed to fly . The booked tickets get cancelled without intimation to consumer only to be known by him when he goes to the airport to catch his flight. You will not get refund immediately, if you have booked your ticket through credit card. If you call up their call centre, if you press numbers relating to refund, you will not be attended at all even if you try for hours together. If you talk to somebody regarding refund, you have to press options relating to ticket booking, so that someone will attend to you. Then you can ask for refund. They are following very good trick.

BEWARE OF COUNTRY CLUB, BANGALORE

They advertise that if you take their membership, a plot of land will be given free of cost near Golden Spa at Coconut Grove. Please note Golden Spa is 35 Kms from Bangalore and the said plot of land is over 100 Kms from Bangalore . Based on false promises and with arrangement with Citibank and ICICI Bank, this team cheats the consumers of his money by asking payments through credit card.

BEWARE OF PRIVATE BUS OPERATORS/TRAVEL AGENTS

If you book your ticket in a private bus operator, you will find that your seat is allotted to somebody else also. Many a times, though you have booked your ticket to some destination, you will dropped few kilometers away, if there are not enough passengers for your destination. Then you will have to depend on other services to reach your destination. Keep the records/proofs and give a complaint to the nearest police station, when you come back. If you find that the police is supporting the travel agent, immediately inform his higher ups or give a complaint to consumer forum. Always try to use government transportation services. They may be bad in service but will never cheat you.

BOOK TELESALES & RECOVERY AGENTS

If you receive unwanted advertisement / telemarketing call from any company or recovery agents. You will find it annoying especially when you are on roaming network. Ask their telephone number and report to the police. File a police complaint against the Chairman of the company.

BEWARE OF SOME HOSPITALS

If you happen to get admitted (or admit your family person/friend/relative) for any operation in any hospital, keep all the records. Even if the doctor scribbles any information on a piece of paper and give it you, please keep it with you. In future, for your bad luck, if some adverse thing happens due to wrong dialysis or wrong operation, these things will come handy to fight it in a court. Please be clear that consumer forums are not of much help to you because they do not have good doctors in their panel. Many a times they do not have any doctors in their panel and even if they have, a doctor in the panel will try to help a doctor. In such a case you will have to fight tooth and nail. Hence keep all the records/proofs with you carefully.

BEWARE OF TATAINDICOM BROADBAND and WIRELESS FIXED TELEPHONE

Their promises to get you a broadband connection within a week is not to be relied upon. Once your money is stuck (about Rs. 2000), it takes lot of pains to recover it back. If you book Wireless fixed telephone, the Tataindicom sales person will tell you that you can send/receive fax, send/receive e-mails in other service providers' account also (for example vsnl, touchtel etc). Once you install the telephone, you will find that the instrument can not support fax machine even if connected through EPABX, you will find that you can receive e-mails in other accounts and can not send e-mails at all. You have to send e-mails only through Tataindicom e-mail service.

CAREFUL WHEN DEALING WITH THESE COMPANIES / PRODUCTS

LIST OF WORST COMPANIES AGAINST WHOM WE RECEIVE COMPLAINTS VERY FREQUENTLY

AIRLINES: Air Deccan

BANKS: ICICI bank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank

BUILDERS: Parimiti Buildcon (Thane), Madras City Co-op Bldg. Soc (Chennai)

CARS: Tata motors, Hyundai

CREDIT CARDS: SBI credit card, Citibank, Standard Chartered

CELLPHONE SERVICES: Tata Indicom Broadband, Airtel, BPL mobile

HOME APPLIANCES: Videocon,
HOME BUSINESS: Kenya Star Tea
INSURANCE: National Insurance Co., New India Assurance, generally all private/Multinational Insurance Companies
MOBILE PHONES: Nokia 6260, 3230
TIMESHARE: Royal Goan Beach Club (Goa), Happy Home Constructions (Bangalore), Country Club India Ltd. (Bangalore)
TRANSPORTERS: Sky Packers and Movers (Mumbai), Packways Pvt. Ltd.(Mumbai), Sai Packers and Movers (Mumbai)

ARE U BEING HARASSED BY CONSUMER COURTS?

WE ARE GATHERING INFORMATION ON CORRUPT JUDGES, REGISTRARS & CLERKS

We have received many complaints from consumers that they are being harassed in the consumer courts when they go there to submit consumer complaint and attend hearings. They are not being served properly by the clerks, and the judges keep on giving hearing dates without arriving to judgment. These acts are contrary to the purpose of setting up of consumer courts that were basically meant to help the consumers. Please inform us if you have experienced or witnessed harassment or corruption. Inform us the exact time, date, and location of the incident in writing through duly signed letter. Your details will not be disclosed on this website, but you should be ready to co-operate when action against these people is initiated by nabbing them through proper channel.

For further clarifications you may contact:

Sri.ARUN SAXENA

International Consumer Rights Protection Council

B-9/55, Vijay Nagari,

P.O . Kasarvadavali,

Thane (West) 400601

Mumbai - India

Kannada Websites Patti (List)

2009-06-17T00:01:00.001-07:00

General Sites
http://www.kannadastore.com/
http://www.kannadakasturi.com
Kannada Wikipedia
http://www.vishvakannada.com/
http://www.kannada.com/
http://www.totalkannada.com/
http://www.my-kannada.com/
http://www.thatskannada.com
http://www.ourkarnataka.com/
http://www.karnatakarakshanavedike.org/
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~kulki/kannada/kanindex.html
http://sify.com/kannada/
http://www.kannadaratna.com/
http://www.vishwabanku.org/
http://www.kannadasangha.com.bh/index.htm

Kannada History
http://www.ancientscripts.com/kannada.html
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/index.htm

Kannada Songs & films
http://www.kannadaaudio.com/
http://www.udbhava.com/
http://www.chirag-entertainers.com/
http://www.viggy.com/
http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/kannada/
http://www.MusicIndiaOnline.org
http://www.chitraranga.com
http://www.chitraloka.com/
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/
http://www.hamaracd.com/hcdindia/asp/Kannada.asp?eid=4%2B3
http://www.angelfire.com/ar/kebballi/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/singer_ram/
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~kulki/kannada/haadu.html
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/8329/
http://kannada.galatta.com/
http://nagathihallichandru.com/
http://www.achichu.com/Kannada-Songs/3.htm

Kannada Radio
http://kannadasongs.allindiansite.com/
Sify Radio
http://www.kannadaaudio.net/

Kannada Lyrics and Literature
http://www.kannadalyrics.com/
http://www.kannadasaahithya.com/
http://www.dasasahitya.org
http://www.missouri.edu/~physchan/kannada/kannada.html

Kannada Newspapers and Articles
http://199.74.239.15/udayavani/home.asp
http://www.kannadaprabha.com/
http://www.sanjevani.com/
http://www.prajavani.net/apr292005/home.php
http://www.vijaykarnatakaepaper.com
http://www.prajavani.net
http://www.eesanje.com/
http://www.kannadadhvani.com/
http://www.prakashaka.com/
http://www.sampada.net/
http://www.idukannada.com/

Karnataka Cook Book
http://www.bennett.com/curry/archives/cat_karnataka.php
Southern Kitchen

Karnataka Tour
http://kstdc.nic.in/
http://www.junglelodges.com/
http://www.mybangalore.com/
http://www.karnatakatourism.org/
http://www.tourisminindia.com/indiainfo/states/karnataka/index.htm

Cities & Places
http://www.explocity.com/bangalore.asp
http://www.karnataka.com
http://www.bangalore.com
http://www.bangaloreit.com
http://www.bangaloreonline.com
http://www.apnabangalore.com
http://www.bangalorebest.com
http://www.bangalorenet.com
http://www.children-of-bangalore.com
http://www.bangaloretelecom.com/
http://www.bangalorebio.com/
http://linux-bangalore.org/
http://www.educationbangalore.com/
http://bangalore.gnu.org.in/
http://www.cyberbangalore.com/
http://www.mybangalore.com/
http://www.bangalore-online.com/
http://www.iskconbangalore.org/2.asp
http://www.bangaloreyellowpages.com
http://www.koramangala.com/
http://www.bangalorelabs.com/
http://www.bwssb.org/
http://www.bangalore.travelmall.com/
http://www.harappa.com/post/bang.html
http://www.bangaloreonlineflorists.com
http://www.naveenmysore.com/mysore/mysore.htm
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/mysore/jewelry.htm
http://www.mysorepalace.org/
http://www.mysoredasara.com/
http://www.mylibnet.org/
http://www.mysoresamachar.com/
http://www.mysore.nic.in/
http://www.starofmysore.com/
http://www.agumbe.com/
http://www.kodava.com/
http://www.yakshagana.com/
http://www.uni-mysore.ac.in/
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2960/
http://www.mysore.net/history.htm
http://www.dharwad.com/
http://www.hubli.bsnl.co.in/
http://www.clickhubli.com/
http://www.bijapur.net/
http://www.mangalore.com/
http://www.mangaloreuniversity.ac..in/
http://mangalorecustoms.kar.nic.in/
http://www.mangaloredelicacy.netfirms.com/
http://www.mgl.stpi.in/index.html
http://www.udupipages.com/travel/mlore.html
http://www.mangalorecity.com/mlore.htm
http://www.mangalore-karnataka.com/

Others
http://www.kannadavrinda.org/
http://www.pampakannadakoota.org/
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/kannada.htm
http://cad.nic.in/users/mmh/kannada.html
http://members.tripod.com/~lingayat/index.html
http://www.baraha.com/kan_news/news019.htm
http://www.ekavi.org/kannada.html
http://www.ciil-learnkannada.net/
http://www.akkaonline.org/
http://www.geocities.com/kannadaganaka/
http://www.indianlanguages.com/kannada/
http://www.kannadakutaillinois.com/
http://www.clickhubli.com/kannadalinks.htm

FIT TO BE TIED

2009-04-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

Learn the right way (and the wrong way) to lace your shoes.

	STEP 1 You can tie the starting knot by passing the left lace over the right (shown at left), or by wrapping right over left. Either method can yield a balanced knot or a granny knot—it depends on what you do afterward.
	STEP 2 Next you make a loop with the right lace (shown at left) or the left. Either choice can yield a balanced knot or a granny knot—independent of which starting knot you made. It comes down to what you do next.
	STEP 3 Then you circle the other lace around the loop you just made—either in front or in back of the loop. The right choice depends upon how you did steps 1 and 2. (In the knot shown at left, back is correct.) To see the proper last step that matches your technique, consult the chart at right.

Right and Wrong

BALANCED KNOT
If properly tied with a reef knot, your shoelace bow should sit sideways across the shoe.

UNBALANCED KNOT
If you instead tie a granny knot, your shoelace bow will probably twist to become angled or perpendicular.

Via: runnersworld.com

Where to buy trekking gear?

2009-01-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

If you are in Bangalore:

Adventure Worx, Brigade Road

Ozone Adventure Gear, State Bank Road, Museum Road

Wildcraft

If you want to buy online:

decathlon.in
Stikage.com

Mumbai under attack

2008-12-01T04:17:00.000-08:00

Late Wednesday night, Mumbai, India found itself the target of a ferocious terrorist attack, and the situation remains unresolved even now, three days later. According to reports, upwards of 60 young men entered Mumbai in small inflatable boats on Wednesday night, carrying bags filled with weapons and ammunition, and spread out to nine locations to begin their attacks. Lobbing grenades and firing their weapons, they entered hotels, a railway station and several other buildings, killing scores and wounding even more. As of this moment, the identity of the attackers has yet to be definitively determined, though there are reports indicating some of the gunmen were Pakistani - at least nine of them have been killed, nine more arrested. As of this writing, there were a reported 151 people killed from 11 different countries - though nearly 100 were Indian. More than 300 injuries have also been reported - those numbers may yet rise as several hostage situations still exist in the city. (35 photos total) - full story on http://www.boston.com

A city bleeds, nation mourns and an army of heroes who have dedicated their lives to the country fight a savage battle with extremists to restore peace and order. But the truth is the terrorists have claimed victory and a small section of their inhumane breed will call them martyrs. Cowards they are. If this what their religion teaches them to do, then I am proud not be born as one among them. Its true, they only represent a small fraction and others from their community cant be held responsible, but my heart cries looking at these images. These are common people from all walks of life. People who are at peace with the word while they fight their own individual battles. Do they deserve to be caught in this ghastly act.
Shame on those who participate and perpetuate these. Shame on your so called religion.

Posted by Bleeding Soul November 28, 08 12:18 PM to www.boston.com | The Big Picture

From the Big Picture.

A reporter talks on her phone as smoke is seen coming from Taj Hotel in Mumbai November 27, 2008. Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from the top of the landmark Taj Hotel in Mumbai on Thursday and heavy firing could be heard, a Reuters witness said. (REUTERS/Arko Datta)
--

Injured Indian security personnel lie at the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008. The two men later died from their wounds. (AP Photo/Mumbai Mirror, Sebastian D'souza)
--

A gunman walks through the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Mumbai Mirror, Sebastian D'souza)
--

Employees and guests of the Taj Mahal hotel, site of one of the shootouts with terrorists, are recued by firefighters as fire engulfs the top floor on late November 26, 2008. (LORENZO TUGNOLI/AFP/Getty Images
--

Firefighters try to douse a fire at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai November 27, 2008. Indian commandos freed hostages from Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel on Thursday but battled on with gun-toting Islamist militants. (REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe)\

- full story on http://www.boston.com

its wrong to blame pakistan or any other muslim country ...[PS: im NOT A MUSLIM]
its the western countries like US and Britain who milk feed terrorism and its centres .....and then pretend to show solace to the victims ......why the hell does US support Pakistan and afghanistan (previously) ....there is a deep divide and rule policy that these countries adopt against asian countries ...and yess ...fuck china too!!!! ....bye take care...love u all ...nothing personal!!!

Posted by varun November 30, 08 09:21 AM to www.boston.com | The Big Picture

- full story on http://www.boston.com

How to quit your job in the middle of Global Financial Crunch!

2008-11-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I & Rashmi Sinha (An inspirting friend & Chief Executive at SlideShare.net) had a hot discussion over GoogleTalk on this fucked-up global financial system & it's impact over tech. I know, the subject-line of the mail is hillarious, but that applies to the sense of the discussion and the situation we're having in the system right now. I though, I should just share some thoughts to extend the discussion & invite all you to join-in... Grab a coffee & get ready to fly... ;)

In last whole month, I'm hearing & reading lot about the Global Credit Crunch we're having in our planet. I'm seeing people relating this crisis to each & everything which matters & even not matter at all. That is really crap!

I seriously hate when people directly relate technology with this crunch and then directly target India like this is the slowdown of Indian Technology Ecosystem; and it is more frustrating when many Indians itself support this crap-talk! My question why people act so blindly like our nation is all about off-shoring, why don't they see the innovation. Surely, a large part of our technology ecosystem is based on outsourcing, But that is not the only thing that defines the system, there is major part of innovation which is driven from small start-ups incubating to large enterprises, there is innovation driven by small technologists like us, there is innovation driven by the most talented pool of minds in whole world we have.

Let's take a typical Bangalore scenario. Out of city's 5.8 million population almost 1.6 million people work here for technology. And, you may be one of them. Let me be very specific here... You work for "technology"; you do not work for your big IT company. Give a big hug to Big Uncles that your piece of job which you thought you were working for your Big IT company, might be part of lay-off movement. You never know. And, you've seen it too that corporate-culture sucks. Especially in remotely controlled technology ecosystem like ours. This really sucks!

Crunch like these works typically as a fuel to more technological innovation. 8 years ago we've seen when the bubble burst during the start of this century. That was a similar situation, though the center that time was the world wide web, this time the center is the Wall-Street & Markets around the world. For example, Take a look at YouTube, Facebook, Skype, Ning, Mozilla, WebMD all these companies started right in the middle of the bubble's burst, all are valued over a billion dollar companies today.

Let's talk about the tech now... Look closely, technology is anywhere & everywhere. It is wheel that drives innovation. Finance, Money etc is definitely an essential part of the system which is build by technology. But look separately, technology alone always keeps moving, it is completely a different matter that large tech companies are in crisis now, because we've really fucked-up the whole planet-wide financial system! Both are part of same system, but specifically both are different things. That is why I called you you work for "technology"... So be proud that you work for technology, not for your company! You're a free bird!

Recently, I heard Barack Obama on saying via Krishna's blog...

Bigness of purpose is what separates 20th century and 21st century organizations: Yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things - Tomorrow, we must build small organizations that can do tremendously massive things...

Obama is 99% correct in recognizing the patterns here. I'm just hoping they do not fuck the system again, like they did.

Definitely, this is a major shift we're witnessing. The trend is changing, this is a new era when new frontiers in technology / technology enabled systems will come up and redefine the system. And, we (India) have a major role to play... remember, you work for technology!

I'll just finish this mail with lines below...

...Get involved » more coffee » quit your job » start a company » crunch blooms entrepreneurship »»»
...We all have ideas. Those ideas, by themselves are worthless unless you enterprise them »»»
...It takes a lot to jump-in to entreprenuship, but trust me. It is even better than orgasm! »»»
And, your twenties are time to take risks & it is a roller coaster ride »»»
And, lastly... This is the best time to quit your job & start something you always dreamed about »»»

// Discussion on this is open here.

Via: Sheklog

9 Things I Hate

2008-11-05T22:33:00.001-08:00

1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time...I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?

2. People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for the TV remote because they refuse to walk to the TV and change the channel manually.

3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?

4. When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it?

5. When people say while watching a film "did you see that?" No Loser, I paid Rs.125 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.

6. People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?

7. When something is 'new and improved!' Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.

8. When people say "life is short". What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?

9. When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?" If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?

Wealth Special: How to get your tax refund fast!

2008-10-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

In January 2005, Ruchi Das resigned from her stint as a newspaper journalist to join an online media company.

Her provident fund (PF) balance was worth Rs 38,500, and she wanted to transfer this amount to her new employer's PF account, since a withdrawal before five years would be taxed.

In January 2007, Ruchi applied to her current employer for the transfer of PF balance. In December 2007, Ruchi, still has no clue about the status of her transfer.

When she made an inquiry, she discovered that her former employer had issued a cheque for Rs 38,500 in May 2007 in favour of the Recognised Provident Fund Commissioner (Delhi) with whom her current employer maintains the PF account. But the money was not credited into her account.

According to social activist Shailesh Gandhi, who perseveres in his fight with government agencies for the right of information, cases of pending provident fund are not uncommon.

If you are in the same boat as Ruchi, the Right to Information Act is a good bet, to help you find out the status of your dues (PF, tax refunds or old age pensions) from the Government.

The waiting period for tax refunds is usually one year from the time of filing your returns.

Plan of action for Ruchi

Shailesh outlines these steps to help Ruchi get the information she needs (for a draft format, turn to page 4 ):

1. Format

Central Government bodies have not prescribed a format for requesting information. But the State of Maharashtra has. You could use a similar format, because it is clear and concise.

2. Language of communication

Write your application in Hindi, English or the local language.

3. To whom

Address the application to the public information officer (PIO) of the organisation. In Ruchi's case, it is the Recognised PF Commissioner of Delhi. Do not forget to affix an Indian postal order stamp of a Rs 10 denomination, on your application.

4. Documents and records

Attach a photocopy of proofs like your transfer form or tax return copy to your application. If you don't have a copy of the transfer form, make sure you get your PF account numbers. Sign the RTI application and maintain a copy.

5. Content

Keep your language usage, simple. For instance, Ruchi could quote her PF number and other relevant details and frame it like this: What is the status of my PF transfer?

When framing questions, Shailesh suggests that you don't ask 'Why has there been a delay?'. Instead, focus on "What is the status?"

Questions that use words like 'what' and 'where' have a definite answer unlike the question 'why', because the person in charge may not know be able to trace the exact reason for the delay.

What next?

The PIO of the concerned office -- in this case, the PF office in Delhi -- will have to provide information within 30 days of receiving the application.

If you don't get a response within the time-frame, a first appeal can be made to the first appellate (an officer who is a rank senior to the PIO). He is bound to give you a response within 30 days.

Despite this, if the information is not provided or is refused, approach the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). The CIC is an autonomous body that inquires into citizen complaints. If the PIO has no justifiable reason for not providing the information or if he provides incorrect information, the act penalises him with an amount of Rs 250 per day.

According to Shailesh, in the case of PF transfers and tax refunds, the chances of a refusal are very, very low. Narayan Varma, a senior chartered accountant agrees.

He says, "I used RTI to get my tax refund. In my case, the dues were credited within 30 days. I mentioned my telephone number in the RTI application. The assessing officer called me to say he would act, immediately."

According to Varma, he has personally helped in approximately 50 cases of tax refunds. Of these, more than 95 per cent, have been successful.

Application sample

To,
The Public Information Officer
Recognised Provident Fund Commissioner
New Delhi
From,
Ruchi Das
No 18 Chamiers Road
Mumbai
Subject: Pending provident fund transfer
Description of the information required: I applied for transfer of my PF from account number xxx with company abc to account number yyy in company pqr.
Company abc tells me that the amount has been paid to you vide cheque number 12345 dated 5th May 2007. However, the transfer has not been effected into my account number yyy.
I want the following information:
a. What is the progress of the file?
b. Which officer dealt with this file and with whom is the file pending?
Place: Mumbai
Date: xxx
Signature

Note: In case you are awaiting a tax refund, address the 'The Assessing Officer/ Joint Commissioner of Income Tax' (who is the appellate authority).

Disclaimer: While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in the content, the web site or the author shall not be held responsible for any loss caused to any person whatsoever who accesses or uses or is supplied with the content (consisting of articles and information).

- ibnlive.com

In the Limelight!: Orientation Adventure Camp - Jogimatti

2008-10-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

In the Limelight!: Orientation Adventure Camp - Jogimatti

Recession is coming

2008-10-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

--
Recession is coming .... make your own judgment, don't panic !! Dowhat iswise.

The recession looks very eminent. It is really time to take pro active
steps to avoid a painful time in the next two years which is how long
the recession is expected to last.

Suggestions:

1. Don't take any loans; buy homes, properties with loans, or even cash.
Keep as much cash as possible.

2. Pay off as much of personal loans, private loans, as debt collection
will be hastened.

3. Sell any stocks you can even at lower prices.

4. Take money off from Trust Funds.

5. Don't believe in huge sales forecast from customers, be extremely
prudent, lowest inventories, reduce liabilities.

6. Don't invest in new capital.

7. If you are selling homes/ properties/ cars, do it now, when you can
get good prices, they are going to fall.

8. Don't invest in new business proposals.

9. Cancel holiday plans using credit cards.

10. Don't change jobs, as companies will retrench based on 'last in
first out'.

Stay cool, wait, and if you took all of the above actions and more, you
probably will be better off then many. This is not a rumor.
Bear Stearns is the first of many banking and financial institutionsthat
will start falling in the not too future. If Bear Stearns can fall, socan
JP Morgan, Citibank, HSBC, and the whole world. US economy falls, therestwill crumble.

India and all those self economies will be the most protected, but not
gullible.

Europe may be a little stronger, but not China , another giant! :place
Malaysia will see significant impact.

A friendly reminder from a friend!!!
--

A mail i received..!

Problem: Where Can I Get The List Of MICR Codes For Indian Banks?

2008-09-18T04:13:00.001-07:00

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintains the list of MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) codes for all Indian banking institutions (ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, et al.) at the following location:

http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/content/pdfs/68774.pdf

The Life of a BMTC Bus

2008-09-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

If a BMTC bus could talk it would probably say “Ayyo Devare! Ee Bengaluru janara sahavaasa bedave beda”. (Translation: “Oh God! I do not want to have any association with the people of Bangalore”). A BMTC bus is a very faithful, un-complaining people ferrying machine. Despite its loyalty, it is the first thing to be attacked whenever a situation turns violent. People stone, set fire to, and puncture a BMTC bus for reasons that are not even remotely connected to it. For example, BMTC buses were attacked when,

Dr. Rajkumar was kidnapped by Veerappan
Tamil Nadu wanted Cauvery water
Babri Masjid was demolished
US invaded Iraq

Think your job is tough? Try being a BMTC bus for a day.

Moral: A BMTC bus is like a faithful pious wife. An easy target

- Vinaya HS | vinayahs.com

New knight rider - preview

2008-01-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

knightrideronline.com

Lessons on Life

2007-10-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge
things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches
and better times are sure to come some time or later.

"True love never dies for it is lust that fades away.
Love bonds for a lifetime but lust just pushes away"

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.'
Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.'

tit-a-bit

2007-10-29T01:01:00.000-07:00

^Faith - For the believer nothing is miraculous, it is merely a confirmation of what he or she already knows to be true.

^There is no teacher who can teach us something new...he cn only help us remember things we always knew!!

good day

GM v/s MS

2007-10-24T03:21:00.000-07:00

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,
"If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:

"If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part, especially 7'th point and 10'th point):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would ! run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed an Illegal Operation" warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

And last but not the least… Never undervalue the manufacturing & automobile industry !!"

Newton in Romantic mood!

2007-10-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

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" Love can neither be created nor be destroyed; only it can transfer from One girlfriend to another girlfriend with some loss of money. "

first law :

"a boy in love with a girl, continue to be in love with her and a girl in love with a boy, continue to be in love with him, until on unless any external agent(brother or father of the gal) comes into play and break the legs of the boy."

second law:

" the rate of change of intensity of love of a girl towards a boy is directly proportional to the instantaneous bank balance of the boy and the direction of this love is same to as increment or decrement of the bank balance."

third law:

"the force applied while proposing a girl by a boy is equal and opposite to the force applied by the girl while using her sandals."
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What are the Twenty-three Fields of Activities?

2007-09-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

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Five great elements called mahabutas:

1. Earth.
2. Water.
3. Fire.
4. Air.
5. Ether.

Three subtle elements:

6. False ego.
7. Intelligence.
8. Independent mind.

Five acquiring senses:

9. Eyes.
10. Ears.
11. Nose.
12. Tongue.
13. Skin.

Five working senses:

14. Voice.
15. Legs.
16. Hands.
17. Anus.
18. Genitals.

Five objects of senses:

19. Smell.
20. Taste.
21. Form.
22. Touch.
23. Sound.

Difference between 'Love' and 'Like'

2007-09-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

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It's hard to talk about this boundary without using example and comparison. They don't give an exact picture, but they suggest and give you a sense of the reality.

If you say, "I love my dog," but look at an apartment that doesn't allow pets, you only liked the dog. Whoever said, "You can fall in love with a rich man as easily as a poor man," never loved. Whoever thinks love can be measured by a bathroom scale or diminished by age, never loved.

Love is like the answer to a riddle. Other answers may seem good or clever, but only this one answer is perfect.

Love is like the right job. The job inspires you and feels like play. You crave the work, you are passionate about it. It lifts you up and drives you to new levels.

Love is the color which connects with the deepest level of your being. It is the music which speaks to you.

When you love someone, you are totally yourself with them. Nothing can drive a wedge between you. Whatever life throws at you, you deal with together.

When you reach the boundary between like and love, you know you are entering another country. You are beyond newness and infatuation. You know what Shakespeare meant when he called love "an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken."

Premji richest Muslim tycoon

2007-09-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

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New York, Sept. 12: India’s software czar Azim Premji now has a new nomenclature — the world’s richest Muslim entrepreneur — as he holds more wealth than any other Muslim outside the Persian Gulf royalty, the Wall Street Journal reported in a front-page profile. The newspaper said Mr Premji, chairman of India’s third-largest IT exporter Wipro, defies all the conventional wisdom about Islamic tycoons — he does not hail from the Persian Gulf, did not make his money in petroleum, and does not wear his faith on his sleeve.

“Azim Premji has tapped India’s abundant engineering talent to transform a family vegetable-oil firm, Wipro Ltd, into a technology and outsourcing giant. By serving Western manufacturers, airlines and utilities, the company has brought Premji a fortune of some $17 billion,” the report said. Mr Premji is ahead of Russia’s metal and real estate baron Suleman Kerimov ($14 billion), Kuwait’s Nasser Kharafi ($11 billion), Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Amoudi ($8 billion), the UAE’s Abdulaziz Ghurair ($8 billion), Russia’s Iskander Mahmudov ($8 billion), and Saudi Arabia’s Maan Sanea and Suleiman Rajhi ($7.5 billion each) among the richest Muslim entrepreneurs in the world.

The daily quoted Mr Premji in the report, titled “How a Muslim Billionaire Thrives in Hindu India”, as saying that such success shows globalisation is turning into “two-way traffic” that can bring tangible benefits to developing countries. “We have always seen ourselves as Indian. We’ve never seen ourselves as Hindus, or Muslims, or Christians or Buddhists,” Mr Premji told.
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Parliament disruptions cost nation Rs 18 cr

2007-09-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: Disruptions, disruptions and adjournments. That was the story of this monsoon session overshadowed by the furore over the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

And three days before the session was scheduled to be over, an emotional Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chaterjee blamed the members for their continuous unruly behaviour.

”I am disturbed, I’m unhappy, sorry and concerned,” said Chaterjee.

And given the volatile political scenario this could well be the last or one of the last sessions of the 14th Lok Sabha.

The nuclear deal issue is proving to be politically irreconcilable. Even the MPs are aware that they have been guilty of an enormous amount of wastage of taxpayers' money.

There have been six disruptions in the Lok Sabha and 54 in the Rajya Sabha.

Take a look at the figures to understand the sheer volume of expense to be borne by the national exchequer. This is how the Parliament expenses are calculated

“Per minute Rs 34,500 are spent,” said MoS for Parliamentary Affairs, Suresh Pachauri.

And per hour it means a loss of Rs 20. 7 lakh. If you translate that into loss per day it comes to Rs 1.55 crore.

This session, the Lok Sabha lost 42 hours, the Rajya Sabha 41. And given the high cost of loss per hour that meant the expenditure incurred by the government for these scenes of pandemonium totaled to Rs 18 crore.

They say battles put a heavy burden on the exchequer. But while this lack of coordination between he government and the Opposition may not be a battle, it’s literally draining the exchequer of lakhs and crores.

Via: IBN Live

First day at work? CEO may greet you with flowers

2007-09-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

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When Gerald Prasath walks into a new job, a big surprise awaits him. The CEO and management of his new company, Bangalore-based Aditi Technologies, greets him at the gates.

Then, the rituals begin: the crowning, tilak, garlanding, aarti and a puja in the background.

As if that's not enough, an ornately-decorated elephant showers blessings, as well. Prasath is one of 14 new recruits, and they have never seen anything like it.

“It’s an out of the world experience. We are fortunate to be part of this family,” they say.

IT firms are going out of the way to make staff feel wanted.

Honeywell Technologies extends a welcome card, business newsletters and a gift or flowers to new employees even before their first day at work.

Unisys Global Services extends, on the other hand, puts up a welcome aboard sign with the new recruits' names and gives them a kit with a company branded t-shirt.

ITC Infotech conducts a campus to corporate module to simplify the transition from a college mode to a more professional corporate culture for first timers.

FMCG firm, Hindustan Unilever plans to send an official pick-up and drop for new employees on the first day.

“Younger profiles are entering the job market, they have seen and explored, experienced a lot of possibilities and organisations, so its’ very important that you enter and feel good,” said Nanda Majumdar, Head of HR, Manpower.

With attrition at a high of 30 per cent every year among IT firms and BPOs, companies realise they need to ensure new recruits feel special.

Now flowers may soon wither away but they are meant to leave a lasting impression.

Via: IBN Live
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Free service? Banks don't do any such favours

2007-08-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

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There's no such thing as a free lunch. Banks today offer a slew of services to the customer, which only seem to increase the amount that they charge you by the day.

Let’s take stock of what you pay to avail of services for a typical savings bank account.

1. Non-maintenance of minimum balance

You must maintain a stipulated minimum balance in your account (Rs 1,000 for a nationalised bank, Rs 5000 for a private bank).

If you fail to maintain this average quarterly minimum balance, you attract a bank charge of Rs 750-1500 respectively.

You could also face fines for cash transactions at branches and ATMs.

2. Chequebook charges

Most nationalised banks provide chequebooks free as per your requirement.

Many private ones, on the other hand, charge you Rs 50-200 per chequebook, if you use up more than 2-3 per quarter.

3. Account closure charges

Some banks charge Rs 50-200 if the account is closed before six months elapse.

4. Charges for certificates

Unlike most nationalised banks, private banks charge Rs 50-250 for documents like balance certificate, interest certificate, address confirmation, signature attestation, photo attestation etc.

5. Cheque return charges

Nationalised banks fine you Rs 50-200 in case of cheque return (due to insufficient funds, signature mismatch etc), but private ones charge you Rs 100-Rs 500.

6. Cash transaction at other branches

In case of a cash transaction at a branch other than where your account is opened, 1-3 transactions are free per quarter. Beyond that, be prepared to be charged at the rate of Rs 5 per for every Rs 1000 transacted.

7. ATM charges

If you use the ATM of another bank for balance enquiry or cash, you could be charged anything from Rs 10-100 per transaction.

8. Account statement

RBI directs that all banks must send free quarterly statements to their customers. Should you require more statements (in case of loss etc), you may have to pay Rs 50-500 per statement.

9. ATM or Debit Card fees

Most banks offer ATM cards free of cost, but some do charge their customers for debit cards. For example, ICICI Bank provides a combo ATM/ Debit card, for which it charges Rs 99 per annum.

Over and above these, there are several other charges, like outstation clearing charge (Rs 50- 500), pay order/ demand draft charge (based on amount), standing instruction charges, home cash delivery charges, old records retrieval charges, activation of dormant account charge etc.

Note: Visit the bank's web site or any of the branches, for a copy of these expenses. It is mandatory for every bank to give it to you.

The author, Ketul Shah, is a Chartered Accountant He can be contacted at ketul.shah@moneycontrol.com
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Intelligent Answers ???

2007-08-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

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Q.How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
A. Concrete floors are very hard to crack! (UPSC Topper)

Q.If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build it?
A. No time at all it is already built. (UPSC 23 rd Rank Opted for IFS)

Q.If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
A. Very large hands.(Good one) (UPSC 11 Rank Opted for IPS)

Q. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
A. It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with
one hand. (UPSC Rank 14 Opted for IES)

Q. How can a man go eight days without sleep?
A. No Probs, He sleeps at night. (UPSC IAS Rank 98)

Q. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?
A. It will Wet or Sink as simple as that. (UPSC IAS Rank 2)

Q. What looks like half apple?
A : The other half. (UPSC - IAS Topper)

Q. What can you never eat for breakfast?
A : Dinner.

Q. What happened when wheel was invented?
A : It caused a revolution.

Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state?
A : Liquid (UPSC 33 R ank )

---
Interviewer said "I shall either ask you ten easy questions or one really difficult question.

Think well before you make up your mind!" The boy thought for a while and said, "my choice is one really difficult question."

"Well, good luck to you, you have made your own choice! Now tell me this. "What comes first, Day or Night?"

The boy was jolted in! to reality as his admission depends on the correctness of his answer, but he thought for a while and said, "It's the DAY sir!"

"How" the interviewer asked,

"Sorry sir, you promised me that you will not ask me a SECOND difficult question!" and he was selected for IIM!

An assault on the soul of the nation???

2007-08-27T04:23:00.000-07:00

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I had gone to the Landmark book shop on Nungambakkam High Road Monday evening. When, I got a new 2 Rupee Coin minted in 2006 as loose change towards the balance that was payable to me, I was shell-shocked to note that on one side of this coin was the usual and familiar Ashokan Lion Capitol in miniature size (! ?) with the constitutionally approved and administratively established inscription of Sathyameva Jayathe (Truth Alone Triumphs) deliberately smudged/omitted with pseudo-secular sinister intentions. On the reverse of the same coin, I could clearly see the inscription of a Christian Cross which had replaced the map of India. I asked myself a highly saffronised and communal question: Are we living in a Catholic country like Italy or Spain or Portugal where Roman Catholicism is the religion of the State and the people? To quote the bracing and blazing words of B R Haran in this context: 'I too was literally shocked to see the Cross on the 2 Rupee coin. Some may feel that it is only a 'X' mark, but it is not true. Why should and for what reason the government of India have the 'X' sign on the coin? Whereas, the motive behind '+' mark makes sense. I am sure it is a 'Cross' and the calculated motive of the Italian-led government is only to spread Christianity in India. It is a fraud committed, not only on the so-called secularism of the country, but also on the Constitution and the conscience of our people. It is indeed outrageous and atrocious that the beautiful map of India in the previous version of the 2 Rupee coin minted in 2000 has been removed and replaced with this lousy Cross in 2006. I wonder what the opposition is doing! How it that it escaped their attention? How are we going to put an end to all this pseudo-secular drama?'

Ever since the UPA government under the dynastic stranglehold of Sonia Gandhi came to power in New Delhi in May 2004, it has been following a calculated and damnable policy which I have often described times without number as 'Christianity-Coveting, Islam-embracing and Hindu-Hating in stance, posture, ideology, philosophy, programme and action.'

In these columns I had exposed the anti-national designs of the government of India on 3 January, 2007. I had observed as follows about the dastardly slant of the government of India even in the very routine matter of presentation of government of India websites: I was going through the government of India websites 10 days ago. I had the misfortune of running into a government of India website relating to e- greetings under four heads: a) Celebrations; b) Heritage; c) Festivals and d) Glimpses of India. I did not find any e-greeting card for any Hindu festival. However, there were 16 cards for Christmas and nine for Eid. I could clearly see the egalitarian impact of Sachar Committee and Dr Manmohan Singh's Minority Appeasement Declaration (MAD) in concerted action even on a government of India website.'

In this context I would like to quote these immortal words of Shri Aurobindo in his last political speech at Uttarpara on 30 May, 1909: 'I say it again today, but I put it in another way. I say no longer that nationalism is a creed, a religion, a faith; I say that it is the Sanatan Dharma which for us is nationalism. This Hindu nation was born with the Sanatan Dharma, with it it moves and with it it grows. When the Sanatan Dharma declines, then the nation declines, and if the Sanatan Dharma were capable of perishing, with the Sanatan Dharma it would also perish. The Sanatan Dharma, is indeed nationalism. This is the message that I have to speak to you'. If India is held together, it is because of SANATANA DHARMA.' It is shocking that a Two-rupee coin has been issued with a 'sectarian' or 'religious' motif. This is a pseudo-secular assault on the state which vows 'pantha nirapekshataa' - neutrality as to 'religion.' This is a departure from the practice of issuing commemorative coins to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, B R Ambedkar, Rajiv Gandhi, Dnyaneshwar, 1982-Asian Games, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sri Aurobindo, Chittaranjan Das, and Chhatrapati Shivaji.

This indeed is unfortunate. Who is behind all this calculated national mischief? Is it the Congress Party and its pseudo-secular anti-Hindu allies? Is it Sonia Gandhi and her caucus with its own convoluted conduit pipes? Is it an over enthusiastic Christian bureaucrat dreaming of a Padma award or some sinecure post after his retirement? These are the questions that can be asked by every responsible and enlightened citizen in India today.

In my view, the 2 Rupee Coin issued in 2006 bearing the 'Christian Cross' resembles the Gold Coin issued by Louis the Pious (778 AD-840 AD), also known as Louis I, Louis the Fair, and Louis the Debonaire.. He was Emperor and King of France from 814 to his death in 840. He issued a coin bearing a Christian Cross which has been copied shamelessly by the Mint Master who has included the same Cross on one side of the new 2 Rupee coin issued in 2006. I am presenting below the picture of that coin issued by Louis the Pious (778-840).

Please see the Cross on the above coin on the left . There are four dots in all in the above coin, two on either side of the vertical line of the Cross. During the days of the Crusades and the Byzantine Empire, they were known a besant or besants. Besant was also called solidus, a gold coin of the Roman empire used in Europe until the 15th century. Four dots (besants) on the cross of Louis the Pious (9th century) later evolved into the 'Jerusalem Cross' which was used as a coat of arms for the Latin kingdom in Jerusalem. It was also called 'Crusader's Cross' during the Crusades. The four small dots (later small crosses) are symbolic of the four Gospels proclaimed to the four corners of the earth, beginning in Jerusalem; the large cross symbolizes the person of Christ. (http://christianity.about.com/cs/artgallery/p/jerusalemcross.htm) Four canonical gospels are attributed to the Four Evangelists: (Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John). 'Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned' (Mk 16:15-16). The Gospel of Mark is cited as the doctrine for Dominus Jesus initiated by Ratzinger, the present Pope in the Vatican. (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html)

There is a good possibility that this initiative was the inspiration for the Bharatiya Mint Master to produce the plagiarised masterpiece of Crusader's Cross on the 2 Rupee Coin issued by Government of India in 2006 and also for deleting the words 'Satyameva Jayate' from the Indian State Emblem on the obverse of the coin.

I am presenting below two sides of the 2 Rupee Coins issued in 2000 and 2006.

Please note the Indian Two Rupee Coin above bearing the 'Christian Cross' in the coin issued in 2006.

FIRST ROW ABOVE: Obverse and reverse sides of the Indian coin (Rs 2) minted in 2000. Please see the map of India on the right. Please see the inscription of Satyamevajayate below the Lion Capitol on the left coin.

SECOND ROW ABOVE : Obverse and reverse sides of the 2 Rupee Indian coins minted in 2006.

IN THE OBVERSE SIDE OF THE 2006 VERSION ABOVE : Note carefully the 'Christian Cross' which has replaced the national symbol of the three lions. The National Symbol of India (The 3 lions from the hoary Ashoka Chakra) has at long last been crucified!

Ashok T Jaisinghani (ashokjai@sancharnet.in) has asked the following relevant questions which will be fully endorsed by the patriotic Hindus of India numbering over more than 800 millions and in absolute majority:

How many Hindus have noticed the new two-rupee coins bearing the 'Christian Cross'?

* Is the secular government of India openly using the sign like the Cross on Indian coins to encourage the spread of Christianity in India?

* Is the UPA-led government of Manmohan Singh favouring the Christian community just to keep the Italian Christian Sonia Gandhi in good humour?

* Is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acting as a mere puppet of Sonia Gandhi who is behaving like a de facto Empress of India?

I have cited the example of Christian Cross to be seen in the coins issued by Louis The Pious (778-840) which has been used by government of India on the 2 Rupee Coins issued in 2006. The pseudo-secular anti-Hindu leaders of India of New Delhi can say that the example of Louis The Pious is no longer relevant today in 2007!! To such Hindu-baiting people, I would like to give the following examples / samples of Christian Crosses from a modern website of AmeriYank's Christian Crosses:

In the second row above , the Cross on the extreme right looks almost similar (if we exclude the ornamental ends on the four arms) to the Cross on the 2 Rupee Indian Coin issued in 2006.

Today in India, tragically a Hindu has only one parichaya, only one name by which he is known. He is known as a communalist. Islamic ideology, Christian ideology, Communist ideology � very humane and very civilized according to the Minority UPA government� have all made such inroads that a Hindu is being called a communalist in his own land. This is the 10th wonder of the world.

(The writer is a retired IAS officer)

e-mail the writer at vsundaram@newstodaynet.com

Via: newstodaynet.com

Wishing every Indian a happy 60th indipendence day

2007-08-16T01:47:00.001-07:00

MBA-grad mints money from garbage management

2007-08-14T02:53:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: Manik Thapar, an MBA graduate turned his business into a mission and vice-versa.

"When I was studying in the US people used to ask me how could I live in a dirty country. That's when I decided that I need to clean up,” says Thapar.

It was then that Thapar decided to set up shop in garbage management and collection in Noida two years ago. And the idea he had back in college in the US is now a money churner. Thapar's Ecowise Waste Management collects garbage from nearly 20,000 households, as well as a few malls and hotels, in Noida. This is then converted into almost 60 tonnes of compost or manure every month, and then sold in the open market.

“The waste is segregated and then divided into bio-degradable and non biodegradable waste. The Biodegradable waste is then converted to compost,” says Thapar.

Wet waste, which is primarily kitchen waste is then converted into organic and vermiculture compost. This sells for Rs 40 a kilo, while the organic manure is sold at Re 1 per kg. And it's not just about making money - Thapar says his venture saves Noida Authority, which produces around 350 tonnes of garbage every day, around Rs 9 lakh a day. Also, the men working under him are each paid Rs 5,000 per month and are given medical insurance. And Thapar plans for more!

“Future plans include expand work to cities like Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Kerela. And crush PET bottles and supply these to Reliance and turn them into fibre optics,” says Thapar.

Thapar's also an advisor on the MCD's solid waste management committee. And while he's certainly making money, he says what drives him is also the will to make a difference.

Via: IBNlive

Turn of Fortune: Mexican is world's richest man

2007-08-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

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"BILLIONAIRE'S CAUSE: Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim with former US President Bill Clinton." - below

Mexico City: Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the world's wealthiest man with riches of $59 billion, according to Fortune magazine.

Fortune, which tracks the performance of the world's top companies, said Slim has increased his net worth by $12 billion so far this year based on the market value of his companies listed on stock exchanges.

In an online profile of Slim, 67, Fortune said he had a fortune of $59 billion based on the value of his public holdings at the end of July. Gates, the Microsoft founder and perennial No. 1, had a net worth estimated to be at least $58 billion, the magazine said.

Slim, the son of a Lebanese immigrant, owns Latin America's largest cell phone company, America Movil. Fortune said Slim's companies, ranging from a restaurant chain to a bank, made up a third of the Mexican stock market and his family's holdings represented more than 5 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product last year.

In July, a respected Mexican financial journalist announced that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest man but the magnate said he did not care.

“It's water off a duck's back to me,” the cigar-smoking Slim told foreign correspondents last week. "I don't know if I'm No. 1, No. 20, or No. 2,000. It doesn't matter."

Gates and billionaire US investor Warren Buffett, who was the second-richest person in the world until Slim overtook him this year, have been giving more of their money to charity in recent years.

Slim also backs philanthropic causes and last week announced a $300 million plan to build 100 schools in Mexico, but says he does more good by creating wealth and jobs through his own companies.

- Via: IBMlive

Sensitivity Training - 13+

2007-08-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here is what goes on at sensitivity training at a coed college.

Sensitivity Training - A funny movie is a click away

Planet to be named after Mumbai boy

2007-07-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

A few people have roads named after them, some others have buildings but a boy from Mumbai has a minor ice planet somewhere in the solar system named after him.

“If I look up at the sky, I can always feel there's something out there named after me. That's an excitement and rush like nothing else,” says 17-year-old Rishin Behl.

Rishin's world has acquired a dizzying spin of its own, heady with excitement.

“The exact coordinates will come along with my Intel award,” he says.

It's a project which Rishin presented at an Engineering Fair organised by Intel in the US that has earned him the honour and a scholarship to study electrical engineering in the US.

And that's not all. One of the leading defence forces in the world is now eyeing his innovative design and the details are top secret.

“I can't talk about it right now,” says Rishin.

It is this piece of equipment that has earned Rishin his place in the universe so to speak.

A seismograph, which is used to measure the intensity of an earthquake, much like the ones in our met department, but Rishin designed his using a magnetic field and a laser to make his computer generate a 3-D image of the shock wave.

It is considered a huge improvement over the conventional mechanical device. But Rishin is not resting by his laurels just as yet.

“I plan to use the same technology to create a portable device which can detect anomalies in the heart in case of a cardiac arrest,” he says.

And it isn't just technology but also tennis that drives this young innovator to play on.

- Via: IBN Live

BEING IN TWENTIES - SOMETHING

2007-07-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

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We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."

FATE DETERMINES WHO COMES INTO OUR LIVES.....HEART DETERMINES WHO STAYS

more >> Being in 20's at Jaggu81
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100 sets of twins in one village, and still counting

2007-07-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

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Kondinjni village, Malapuram (Kerala): How easy was it to play a prank and get away with it when you were a child? Well for many students at the Government Higher Secondary School in Kodinjni village, there is always a benefit of doubt - for a large number of them are twins.

Says a teacher at the school, Shibhu, "It is actually a huge problem for us. There are so many similar faces that it's confusing as to whom we are dealing with. We can't make the twins of the same class sit in different divisions and they don't want to sit in different divisions either. Also they get away with pranks many a times."

There are more than 50 sets of twins at the school and all are from Kodinjni, which has now earned itself quite a reputation of being a village of twins.

70-year-old, Abdullah Kutty is perhaps one of the oldest twins alive here. He too is puzzled with this unique phenomenon.

"We do not know how this has been happening. Neither have we tried to get to the bottom of it. We feel it's the gift of God," says he.

But even as the village celebrates, its doctors are confused.

Says the physician at the Tirurangadi Taluk Hospital, Dr Sribiju, "It cannot be mutation as the village is a very small place. It can be the influence of some drugs, but that's all speculation. We have no concrete theory or proof at the moment."

The village has more than 100 pairs of twins and is still counting. While the villagers here feel that it's a gift of God, the birth of every twin in this village adds yet another chapter to the mystery that surrounds this place.

- Naveen Nair | Via: CNN/IBN

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The tragedy of the Krishna commune in Kazakhstan

2007-07-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

THE KRISHNA COMMUNITY NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT

This Krishna community may be driven away from their property and homes at any moment. To assist in relocating dozens of faithful and their temple, plus thirty beautiful cows and their barn.

Please contact info@kazakhkrishna.com

More news up to date at : >>> http://kazakhkrishna.com/en-main/

Summary of the Issue

Contents:
1. The Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan
2. History of the Conflict
3. Demolition of 13 homes
4. Recent events

1. The Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan

The Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness (RO SKC) was opened in Kazakhstan in 1994 when it was registered as a municipal religious organization by the bodies of justice in Almaty city.

Besides this organization in Almaty, there are seven more registered religious organizations Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan: in Astana, Aktobe, Karaganda, Balkhash, Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk. Followers of this religion can be found in a few other cities of Kazakhstan. All these organizations and groups (except the society in Almaty) are small and possess no real property.

Since the time of registration of the Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness in Almaty it has been doing big social and humanitarian work: charity food distribution, numerous seminars propagating traditional spiritual life of India, benefits of vegetarianism, practice of yoga and mantra-meditation.

The cultural center Govinda’s was opened in Almaty.

As the number of faithful in Almaty grew they decided to establish a farm community in the country. To this end in 1999 the members of SKC purchased land in the Karasai district of Almaty province (40 km from Almaty) and started to develop the community meant to propagate healthy life-style and satisfy cultural and spiritual demands of the faithful. The community also works to build a bio-farm and provide necessary facilities for the development of the Society for Krishna Consciousness and its charitable activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

It is the only farm community of RO SKC on the territory of former CIS.

The farm community is located on three separate plots of land with the total area of 47,7 hectares (116 acres). Two of these plots are cultivated land. The farmer’s house, the cowshed and other farm buildings are situated on the third plot. The farmer’s house serves as the office of the provincial Society for Krishna Consciousness. The Society is legally registered at that address. The third plot adjoins the summer colony. Some of the cottages in that colony belong to SKC members on the basis of individual ownership. Most of them live in their cottages the year round as they have no other accommodations.

2. History of the Conflict

At the time when the farm was purchased there was no law of private land ownership in Kazakhstan. Land was allotted for usage, and the right of land use was transferred from one person to another. The plots at issue were purchased and registered by three citizens of Kazakhstan.

The plots were in a deserted condition, however they included all the presently existing buildings. The faithful started to develop the farm: they made lawns and flower gardens, planted an orchard, set up a spring with drinking water which is currently used by people from the entire summer colony. The house, the cowshed and the accessorial buildings were renovated, the road in the summer colony was asphalted.

The number of people who desired to participate in developing this project gradually increased, the community needed additional premises. Since the functional purpose of the community’s plots did not allow for housing, the members of SKC started to buy cottages in the summer colony.

The growth of the SKC’s community attracted the attention of the local authorities. In April of 2002 the community was repeatedly visited by the officials with a series of checkups. The goal of the checkups became known to the community members from the interview given by the chief expert of the Social Department of the Karasai District Hakimat, Ms. Saule Babayeva, to “Ana Tili (Native Language)” newspaper (No.47 of November 21, 2002):
“Thinking of closing the questionable religious associations in our district, in April we organized special checkups conducted by the officers of the Committee of National Security, the Prosecutor’s office, the Fire Inspection and the Sanitarian Epidemical Department. At that time we unanimously decided to close these associations.”

Trying to act within the legislation of RK, the community applied for registration to the Ministry of Justice of Almaty province. In May of 2002 the community was registered as the Provincial Religious Organization “Society for Krishna Consciousness.”

However, after less then one year the district authorities again demonstrated their intolerance. In April of 2003 the prosecutor of the Karasai district filed a claim to withdraw the registration of the Provincial RO SKC. The claim was disallowed by the district court.

When the Law of Private Land Ownership was enacted in Kazakhstan, the plots with the total area of 47.7 ha (116 acres) used by the community were privatized by their owners (March of 2004).

Wishing to legalize their cottages, the individual members of the community also tried to privatize their plots of land. Those who were the first to apply for privatization managed to receive title documents. However, very soon the local authorities demanded that all the applicants for privatization should have stated in writing that they were not members of RO SKC. Later the process of privatization at this summer colony was fully stopped at the decree of the District Hakimat.

In 2004 the Anti-Extremism Law was enacted, which was followed by new intense checkups at the community conducted by different authorities in August of 2004. During that month the community was visited by all possible controllers practically every day. They found a number of administrative infractions.

Trying to obey the legislation of Kazakhstan, RO SKC paid the fines and gradually eliminated the infractions, which is confirmed by the respective documents. In particular, the members of RO SKC fulfilled the order to destroy the foundation of a temple that the community members started to build that summer. It was the only construction conducted by the community members from the time when the land was purchased.

Although all the prescriptions were fulfilled, the local authorities took even stricter actions against the community. Thus, in October of 2004 the Provincial Land Department filed its first claim to confiscate one of the community’s plots of land (the one with the farmer’s house and the juridical address of RO SKC) for the reason of non-functional (unauthorized) usage. The claim was dismissed by the district court. After a month the claim was repeatedly made by the same plaintiff and again dismissed.

In November of 2004 the cottagers members of RO SKC whose individual applications for privatization had been repeatedly rejected made a collective application for privatization of 30 summer plots. In that application the members of RO SKC expressed their willingness to meet the head of the local authority to discuss the situation. Unfortunately, the local authorities totally refused to negotiate about the issue. Instead, in December of 2004 the Provincial Land Department made a collective claim against all the cottagers listed in the application accusing them of non-functional use of their plots. The claim was disallowed by the district court. None of the other cottagers (those who are not members of RO SKC) received any claims against them.

In the same month the then President’s Advisor for Religious Affairs, Amanbek Mukhashov, speaking at the panel discussion on anti-extremism issues, mentioned numerous infractions found in the activities of RO SKC and called the Society for Krishna Consciousness an extremist organization.

In December of 2004 M. Tanirbergenov, the assistant director of the Almaty Provincial Department of Justice, said to the reporter of the informational agency Kazakhstan Today, “Our Department of Justice in cooperation with the law-enforcement authorities is taking measures to liquidate the Society for Krishna Consciousness on the territory of the Merei peasant farm.”

The leaders of SKC requested to explain the reasons for the liquidation of the society and once again expressed their willingness to meet the local authorities and discuss the situation. In answer to this Mr. Tanirbergenov said that numerous infractions had been found in the activities of the society, however the question of liquidation had not been raised.

On February 22, 2005, the director of the Provincial Department of Justice, T. Onalbayev, in his answer to the inquiry of the Provincial Hakim, S.K. Kulmakhanov, virtually described step-by-step program to liquidate RO SKC. He wrote in that letter, “Also the question of confiscating 30 summer plots in the Horticultural Association “Ptitsevod” of the Eltai village district of the Karasai district is considered as the plots are used contrary to their purpose… At the present time the Department of Land Resources Management, requested by the Karasai district court, is preparing materials about the confiscation of the plots of land from each of the land-users separately… At the present moment we consider it practical to confiscate the plots of land thru the court… The mentioned facts form the ground for the liquidation of the juridical entity – the religious organization in our case, according to section 49 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (general part). The prosecutor’s organs should initiate the liquidation of the juridical entity thru the court.”

In accordance with Onalbayev’s instructions, in April of 2005 first individual claims were made against each of the cottagers members of RO SKC. All the claims made at that time and later have affected exclusively members of RO SKC. The authorities did not make claims against any other cottagers, even though all the 199 cottages in that area had been purchased and used under the same procedure.

The cottagers were accused of non-functional use of their summer plots and of the absence of title documents to land and buildings. It was for the first time that the head of the local authority, the Hakim of the Karasai district B.S. Kutpanov, began to act as the plaintiff. Since that time not a single court case has been won by the members of RO SKC in both the district and the provincial courts. The situation is absurd because the Hakim is the only one to give permission for privatization, and without his permission one cannot apply for legalization of the building situated on the plot of land. The cottagers repeatedly approached the Hakim, but he answered with new claims against them based on the absence of privatization and title deeds for the buildings.

In each of the claims the cottagers are accused of unauthorized construction (even though all the houses existed at the time of purchase) and of unauthorized use of their houses as “hostels of the religious organization ‘Society for Krishna Consciousness,’” while the religious affiliation of the defendants is directly mentioned. Thus, in the claim No.01-10/804 of the Almaty Provincial Land Department and the Hakim of the Karasai district dated April 15, 2005, against A.V. Markin for the eviction from the plot of land, demolition of the illegally constructed building and declaring the records in the horticultural books null and void it is stated, “A.V. Markin… built a two storied house that he uses contrary to its functional purpose as a hostel of the religious organization “Society for Krishna Consciousness” which he is an active member of.”

All the other claims have the same contents except for the owner’s name and the serial number of the plot.
In May of 2005 the district Hakim filed a claim to cancel the entire series of contracts related to the plots of land owned by the community, beginning from the contract of 1999. The community members are accused of the alleged forgery and non-functional use of all the three plots of land.

The district Hakim filed this claim even though
- the period of limitation had expired twice,
- all the contracts (there was a number of them) had been personally signed by the Hakim,
- the Hakim was not a party to the contracts, thus he could not act as a plaintiff,
- the contracting parties did not have claims against one another.

This claim was made to prevent the transfer of the ownership of the community’s land from the physical person to the religious organization.

At that time the religious organization was using the land (its right of land use was soon confirmed by the decision of the Supreme Court of RK dated June 30, 2005, which remains in force till now). The members of RO SKC who used the land wished to transfer the ownership of these plots to the religious organization in order to re-register the land for religious purposes, in accordance with the legislation of RK. However the local authorities did not allow it to happen as they again preferred to take strict actions against RO SKC.

In case the contract is cancelled the parties have to return each other all the items of the contract. However, according to the ruling of the Karasai District Court of December 22, 2005, all the contracts were declared null and void, and all the plots of land at issue transferred to the district land reserve without any compensation offered to the land’s owners.

In this way, the members of SKC who legally purchased the plots and struggled to develop them for 6 years, were deprived of their entire property by the decision of the court.

RO SKC and its members have repeatedly approached both local governmental authorities and different governmental organs in Astana requesting them to enter a dialogue and peacefully settle the conflict.

On April 25, 2006, the local authorities attempted to demolish the cottages owned by five members of RO SKC. Once again they demonstrated their unwillingness to have a dialogue with SKC. However their attempt failed because of the passive resistance offered by the faithful and the presence of mass media.

This event attracted the attention of the world community and the human rights organizations.

In September of 2006 the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, was preparing to host the Second International Congress of World and Traditional Religions. At that time the world community actively discussed the religiously colored conflict between the Kazakh authorities and RO SKC. In response to that, one week before the opening of the Congress, a special commission was established in Astana at the Religious Affairs Department to investigate and resolve the situation around RO SKC. A. Mukhashov was appointed the chairman of the Commission.

The activities of the commission were observed by representatives of OSCE, the Almaty Helsinki Committee and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law. Expressing their opinion of the Commission’s activities, the observers stated,
“Unfortunately, we have to declare that, in our opinion, it was not the objective and impartial conflict analysis that was the purpose of the Commission’s activities, nor studying of the circumstances de jure and de facto and looking for its fair settlement, but the absolute confirmation of the local authorities’ actions’ lawfulness and proving the absence of religious discrimination.”

Until the establishment of the Commission the Religious Affairs Department had remained inactive for a long time in spite of numerous appeals made by the representatives of RO SKC. In summer of 2006 the coordinator of RO SKC in Kazakhstan in Central Asia, Govinda Swami, met with the chairman of the Religious Affairs Department, E. Tugzhanov, who asked the question, “What does your religious organization need so much land for?” One of the officers of the Department also remarked that RO SKC is the only religious organization in Kazakhstan that owns such a big property.

3. Demolition of 13 homes

On November 21, 2006, the governmental authorities demolished 13 houses of the members of RO SKC without any notification of the date and the time of the action.

That day all electricity to the community was suddenly disconnected and later heavy equipment was brought to the community, accompanied by 200 riot policemen. The police cordoned off the entire area of the settlement and blocked the entrance ways of the community. Journalists, human right observers and members of the congregation who were not present in the village at the time, were not allowed in. All cameras and video recorders were confiscated.

It was a winter day, snowing, and with subzero temperatures. Тhe homes and entire family belongings were destroyed.
Kazakhstan accepted an International Pact on economical, social and cultural rights. The International Pact recommends the governments to avoid forcible eviction of people from their property, considering it to be a rough violation of human rights. Thus it is said that in case of evacuation of people, the government should study all possible measures to avoid the eviction and in case of evacuation the government should provide sufficient compensation for the property. In accordance with article 1.15 it is strictly forbidden to conduct evacuation in bad weather or at night. And finally evacuation should not end with people left homeless.

The November demolition was all the more unexpected for the members of the community because they were waiting for a final decision of the special Commission chaired by A. Mukhashov which was supposed to be pronounced in December. On the day of demolition Mukhashov said that he knew nothing of the demolition, that he was on vacation, and asked to stop disturbing him.

Two days after the demolition, on November 23, 2006, the district Hakim filed five new claims against the members of RO SKC for their eviction and the demolition of their houses. The chairman of the Commission refused to comment on that action, and the members of RO SKC lost all hope for the Commission to be able to resolve the situation.

On December 16 it came to the knowledge of RO SKC that the decision of the Commission had appeared to exist, it had been signed by Mukhashov (though it was undated) and distributed thru the channels of the Foreign Ministry. A written inquiry was sent to the Religious Affairs Department about when and who made that decision in the absence of the representatives of RO SKC who were also the members of the Commission, however that inquiry was never answered. The members of RO SKC were invited for the next meeting of the Commission which clearly showed both the reason behind the decision of unknown origin and the goal of the Commission itself.

On that meeting (December 22, 2006) the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, G. Beiseyeva, read a letter of the Deputy Foreign Minister of RK, R. Zhoshybayev, to the RK Ministry of Justice (which includes the Religious Affairs Department). The letter said about the urgent necessity to convene the Commission and give subsequent reports in the mass media. The Foreign Ministry was concerned with the response of the world community to the situation around RO SKC because this response was detrimental to the international image of Kazakhstan.

Unfortunately, the goal behind the establishment and the activities of the Commission proper was the same – the government was dissatisfied with the broad publicity given to the situation around the Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan, and tried to give tangible proofs to the public that the conflict had no religious background.

The Commission recommended in its decision that the Hakimat should allow all the cottagers to privatize their property. However in January of 2007 all the Krishnaite cottagers’ applications for privatization were again rejected.

The Commission also recommended that RO SKC should approach the district Hakimat with the request to allot a plot of land to the Society for the construction of a place of worship.

In the end of the last week the leaders of RO SKC were hastily called to the Religious Affairs Department. At the meeting that took place the Department’s chairman and an officer from the President’s Administration emphatically recommended the Society to apply for the allotment of land for a place of worship as soon as possible.

Two days after the meeting, the government-sponsored mass media reported that
- the conflict around SKC is the result of infractions on the part of the members of SKC,
- the conflict is nothing but a land dispute, there is no religious persecution in Kazakhstan,
- the Religious Affairs Department has offered a solution to the Society which is to apply for the allotment of land for a place of worship.

The governmental officials avoid discussing the issues of compensation to the injured whose houses were destroyed and of withdrawal of claims against RO SKC and its members. The Department’s chairman E. Tugzhanov said at the last meeting with the leaders of RO SKC that the claims would continue to be considered in the court and the government was not going to interfere in the court cases.

4. Recent events

At the February 5-9, 2007 Annual meeting of the OSCE Advisory Council on freedom of religion and belief in Warsaw the Advisory Council decided to continue working on SKC issue as the Kazakh Foreign Ministry finally responded on OSCE November 27, 2006 statement and invited OSCE experts to be mediators in the issue. It was decided to send delegate 2 members of the Council to Kazakhstan for mediation.

On February 21-23, 2007 the visit of OSCE Advisory Council experts to Kazakhstan, Malcolm Evans and Cole Durham took place. OSCE experts met SKC representatives and Human Rights observers in Almaty and visited the commune to see the damage made to community. Then they left to Astana to meet officials there.

No concrete decision was taken by the Government during the experts visit. Kazakhstan officials said that there would be no way which the litigation against SKC would stop. Officials denied discrimination on religious grounds.

On February 15, 2007 a meeting of the SKC representatives with the Religion Committee and representative of the Administration of the President took place at Astana. Officials suggested SKC to apply to local Hakimat for a land plot for religious purposes. It was said that SKC could apply for a land plot from a part of the current 116 acre property or in another location. Officials declared that litigation regarding 116 acre and numerous summer plots will continue till the end.

On March 15th, 2007 the Religious Committee offered the community 5 acres of land 70 kilometers northeast from Almaty city. The chairman of the Religious Committee repeatedly instructed the community's leaders to accept the offer as soon as possible. The Karasai Hakimat emphasized that the community would not retain the land on which it is presently situated.

Officials have offered to compensate the Krishna devotees for the loss of the 116 acres of lush green farmland with a five-acre plot of arid desert. Reportedly, the soil is filled with salt and the only vegetation that the proposed land now sustains is thorn bushes.

The unseemly offer suggests that Kazakhstan is seeking a quick-fix to its tarnished image.

On March 20 a band of men armed with sledge hammers and crow bars attempted to demolish a second group of homes of the commune. According to a Forum 18 News Report, government officials hired the workers to destroy more homes, but were prevented by the sudden arrival of “a person in a black Mercedes Benz” – purportedly a high level official – who ordered the demolition be immediately stopped.

In Vienna at the OSCE meeting on March 30, 2007 the head of the Kazakh delegation Bolat Baikadamov met the Coordinator of the Society for Krishna Consciousness in Central Asia Govinda Swami. Ninel Fokina of the Almaty Helsinki Commission participated in the meeting.

Baikadamov emphatically stressed that he had been instructed by the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan to deliver a message that the Kazakh government saw the issue of the Krishna Society as an obstacle to their aspirations to attain OSCE chairmanship. Thus he expressed the government's desire to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

He said that the president's administration viewed the issue as "bad governance" of the Karasai district authorities, the government Land Committee, and the state controlled Religious Committee. Therefore the issue is directly under the guidance of the president's administration and would no longer be dealt with by the above mentioned bodies.

On April 5th Baikadamov announced in media that a solution to the issue had been reached in Vienna. He said that Govinda Swami agreed to accept one half (1/2) acre of land in the vicinity of Almaty city, that the government may consider land for herd of cows, and that the government may consider compensation for the homes destroyed.

Society for Krishna Consciousness advisors in Kazakhstan have opined that this media blitz was conducted due to the arrival in Kazakhstan of the OSCE Chairman in Office Miguel Angelo Moratinos.

The Society sent a letter to the president's administration and to the OSCE advisory committee requesting OSCE to participate as observers in the course of negotiations with the Kazakh Government on our issue.

As of no reply from the President's administration, SKC secretary spoke to Baikadamov on Friday April 20, 2007. Baikadamov stated that the issue is not under the President's administration, that it was never under the President's administration, and that it will not be under the President's administration. He said that the issue remains under the Religion Committee under the guidance of Yeraly Tugzhanov. Such statement came as a total "about face." When being informed, Ninel Fokina was dismayed as she had participated in the conversation.

Yeraly Tugzhanov told that he had liaised with the Almaty city administration and instructed SKC to apply for land in Almaty city to establish a temple. When SKC leaders did so the Almaty city administration appeared to know nothing of the situation.

Thus it appeared that the Kazakh government is again playing the game of dragging out time, doing nothing, but sending signals to the world that the issue is being dealt with in order to secure its OSCE bid. In reality, nothing has been done.

On May 4, 2007 bailiffs of the Karasai district again made an attempt to destroy another 13 homes of the faithful. Observers from OSCE and the US Embassy, as well as media people came to the demolition spot. The community leaders informed of the situation the General Prosecutor’s office, the President’s Administration, and the Religious Committee.

Religious Committee told that that the issue of the community is under negotiation and was interested to know who initiated the demolition. General Prosecutor office as well as Almaty province Hakimat could not answer who gave an order for demolition, since there is an agreement that no force can be used until the conflict remains unresolved. Finally the bailiffs did not come, and the demolition did not take place.

On May 8, 2007 the RK Supreme Court passed by the judgment that the land of the Hare Krishna community may be confiscated in favor of the government at any moment. The Supreme Court reversed its own judgment made on June 30, 2005, which had enabled the community to use 116 acres of land and receive the right of ownership after processing respective documents by the registering bodies of the Karasai district. These bodies have never registered the plots in favor of the RO Society for Krishna Consciousness because the land was arrested by the Karasai District Court at the request of the local Hakim.

The chairman of the Society for Krishna Consciousness explained to the Panel of the Supreme Court that the religious organization had never been informed of the proceedings. Furthermore, the courts of the first and second instance did not even take the trouble to send their decisions to the defendant, i.e. the religious organization. The chairman of the RO requested the court to postpone the hearing as she needed time to study the case and invite lawyers. However the court decided to conduct the hearing immediately and only gave the RO chairman a few hours to study the rulings of the courts of the first and second instances. Thus the defendant was left without legal protection, unable to retain an attorney.

The judgment of the Supreme Court came into force from the moment it was read. It means that at any moment the land of the main center of the RO Society for Krishna Consciousness can be confiscated and transferred to the Karasai district land reserve.

On May 18, 2007 the Coordinator of the Society for Krishna Consciousness in Central Asia Govinda Swami met in Astana with the Chairman of the Religious Committee Yeraly Tugzhanov. Govinda Swami expressed his concern that the allotment of land to SKC promised by the government was supported only by word of mouth, while there were no duly signed documents that could attest good intentions of the government to resolve the issue. Govinda Swami requested Mr. Tugzhanov that both parties should sign an agreement on their intentions as a guarantee that the Society would be given a plot of land. The Chairman of the Religious Committee declined this request and said that he would not sign anything.

Govinda Swami asked him what guarantees the religious organization has that the government would give the promised plots, namely

* 0.75 acres of land in Almaty city for the construction of a place of worship,
* about a dozen acres of land to keep the cows (including a cowshed, a summer pen and a farmer’s house),
* 0.25 acre plots for individual housing of the each victim of the demolition.

Mr. Tugzhanov assured that this question is supervised by the President’s Administration and he is directly supported by the President’s Administration. On the strength of this Mr. Tugzhanov said that he guarantees

* that a plot of land will be allotted in the city for the construction of a place of worship,
* that a plot of land will be allotted in Almaty province to keep the cows by the end of the next week (by May 26, 2007)

As for the compensation to the victims of the demolition, the situation remains unclear. The only thing that Mr. Tugzhanov said was that the members of the Society should discuss this question in the district Hakimats of the Almaty province. Mr. Tugzhanov appointed a meeting of Govinda Swami with the first deputy hakim of Almaty province, Mr. Dolzhenkov.

On May 19, 2007 Mr. Dolzhenkov said that the hakims of the Iliy and Talgar districts had been given an order to pick several plots of land for cows from the land reserve for SKC to choose among.

The representatives of the Society explained that the courts had also ruled that the owners be evicted from their land plots. Therefore SKC representatives asked a question whether it was possible to get plots of land for the individual housing of those members of the Society who suffered their cottages’ demolition.

Mr. Dolzhenkov said that he had heard nothing of it, then he said that, according to the legislation, only those citizens of Kazakhstan who have no house and who have never (before) applied to the government for housing may get land for individual housing. He said that in principle this question might be considered, but the law should be maintained. Also he said that this question should be discussed directly with the district hakims of the Almaty province.

On May 21 the Chairman of the Religious Committee Yeraly Tugzhanov was told by the SKC leaders that one acre of the land offered in Almaty province is not sufficient to keep the cows and have individual housing. Mr. Tugzhanov replied that it is not a question of religious matters and should be discussed with the local authorities. He told SKC to fit in one acre plot offered. Then he told that if SKC wants to have individual housing to relocate faithful together with cows then no land plot at the Almaty city would be offered.

Finally Mr. Tugzhanov instructed the community's leaders to contact district hakimats as soon as possible.

There have been a total of 17 hearings in court.

There are 27 homeowners who have had cases brought against them.

14 homes have already been demolished.

13 more houses of the faithful may be demolished at any moment.

With the court judgment, any day the faithful may be forced to vacate the land wherein the Society is registered. SKC will need to relocate around 45 devotees, 30 cows and the temple.

Still as for the compensation to the victims of the demolition, the situation remains unclear.

In practice nothing has been done on the issue over the last two months since the Government declared the issue to be resolved.

More Bangalore for your buck - IT for Info Tech or Intl Terror?

2007-07-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

Strap: Is it any surprise that Islamic terror masterminds are outsourcing jobs to the world's most famous vendor city"

When news broke of the arrest of two Bangalore boys for the UK terror plot, a friend asked me, "Hey, what is happenning to your IT city" I can't believe a peaceful state like Karnataka can send terrorists to the UK."

I didn't have to think too hard to reply, "Bangalore is the outsourcing hub of the world, and terrorism is just the latest dish on its menu. IT stands for information technology; now it also stands for international terror". My plain reply to her anxious questions really surprised her.

Brand Bangalore is a new link in the global terror network. Or is it just an exception? " The West is shocked its vendor city Bangalore has developed the audacity to challenge it with bombs and highly qualified bombers.

Anybody who has a fair idea of Karnataka's socio-economic life, and its troubled communal history, can cut through the hype and hysteria and understand what is happening.

Some old assumptions about Bangalore and the southern states need to be thrown away.

Till the early 1990's, Karnataka was seen by northerners as a place where their children could go and study medicine and engineering. Bangalore, 2,500 km down South from the national capital of Delhi, was not all that important for the central government and the so called "national" media, which doesn't know anything beyond the Lutyen's Delhi.

Economic liberalisation of the 90's changed many assumptions overnight. Karnataka and its booming capital Bangalore appeared on the world map with a big bang. The cities like Mumbai, Delhi etc started to look like dull places before the glamour and influence of Bangalore. Foreign heads of states started to arrive directly in Bangalore making Delhi and Mumbai sulk. Indian and international media started to present a rosy picture of the city. The IT and BT companies and the BPO sector did their best to make Bangalore look like the greatest destination in the world for moneybags.

View from New York

Thomas L Friedman came all the way from New York to write his bestseller 'The World is Flat' on Bangalore's miraculous journey from Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and garrison city to global outsourcing hub. He can now add terror outsourcing when he writes his next edition.

It is true that Karnataka is rich when compared to other states in India. But it is no utopia, as portrayed by the media and corporate interests.

Karnataka has witnessed countless communal clashes after Independence.The state has provided a fertile breeding ground for both the Muslim and Hindu fundamentalist forces. All kind of Hindu and Muslim fundamentalist forces have strong presence in the state. They live in resentful proximity. A veteran chief minister privately admitted to me that at least 1,500 had died

in communal clashes after 1985. It led to the communal polarisation and the raise of BJP and the fundamentalist Muslim elements in a big way. Muslims in Karnataka are much better off than their counterparts in the north. Tall public figures hail from this community. Muslim writers, poets, educationists, bureaucrats, politicians,sportspersons, teachers, businessmen have been contributing to the state and its public life.

Sufi streams

Karnataka has a very rich Sufi culture. Its Muslim influence dates back 800 years. Many Muslim dynasties have ruled Karnataka. According to the recent Justice Sachar panel report, Muslims constitute 11 per cent of the state, and their share in the government jobs is more than 8.5 per cent.

Nearly 70% of the Muslims have access to formal education. This is a good record when you see figures from other states.

Nearly half a million Muslims from the state work in the Middle East and sending millions of dollars back home. While all this suggests Muslims have no grounds to feel alienated, we shouldn't be surprised that well-off Muslim youth are joining bomb squads to create an Islamic world and take on the ' SATAN 'West.

Our PM Manmohan Singh, who is disconnected from the hard realities of life, talks only about economic growth. Neither he nor his intelligence set-up (many of them are retired and senile bureaucrats) has noticed any Islamic radicalisation among

the educated and well-off Muslims south of the Vindhyas.Many IB 'agents'assigned to gather information on terror activities spend their time at Press Clubs or ouside somebody's house, talking to some ill informed people.

Duty-free terror

Globalisation and terrorism have close links. Perhaps one product that used to move freely from one place to another even before liberalisation was terror. Extremist organisations set up their globalised networks much before our governments opened their doors to global markets. BBC's terrorism correspondent Phil Rees' book 'Dining with the Terrorists' analyses the problem brilliantly.

Krishna Prasad, one of India's best informed journalists based in his native palace city of Mysore , dispels the "poverty" myth by quoting from The Times, London:

A study of 172 al Qaida terrorists done four years ago by Marc Sageman, a forensic psychiatrist and former CIA case officer in Pakistan, found that 90 per cent came from a relatively stable, secure background. Most were from middle-class or upper-class families, and were college educated professionals.

Sageman's findings, published in 2004 in Understanding Terrorist Networks, led him to conclude that "most of these men were upwardly and geographically mobile".

He wrote: "Because they were the best and brightest, they were sent abroad to study. They came from moderately religious, caring,middle-class families. They spoke three, four, five, six languages."

Unlike the lone serial killer, these men functioned well in groups.

Indeed, isolated in a foreign country, they depended on a close circle of friends who reinforced their beliefs. Ask Sageman to name two likely professions for a second-wave terrorist and he selects "engineers and physicians".

"What makes people like engineers or physicians try to work for the good of society is the same impulse that makes people sacrifice their lives for the sake of a community, (in this instance) the ummah (the global community of Muslims)," he said.

Sageman's findings answer most of our questions related to how and why these three Bangalore youth joined the web of terror. A major technology hub like Bangalore is the best place to rope in such people for terrorist activities. It is a fact that they can't get such people from the poor Northern states.

But 14 crore Muslims in India and close to 7 million Muslims in Karnataka shouldn't be asked to pay the price for the mistakes of a few misguided Muslim youth.

Terrorists have no attachment to a place or country. They have a purely globalised mind! It would be foolish to brand a country or a city as a terror hub just because two or three men took it into their heads to blow up an airport.

Globalisation is a Western euphemism for greed. It has given birth to a sophisticated form of global terror. Brand Bangalore is a vital participant in globalisation. With the fruit comes the seed, and it can be awfully bitter. Bangalore in particular and India in general can't escape from it.

Here Rudyard Kipling's words " If you can meet with triumph and disaster at the same time. And treat these two imposters just the same " become most relevant.

- DP Satish | Via: IBNLive

Kill your Boss?

2007-07-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Kill your Boss

Monsters??? - When a 3-year-old girl is asked about monsters.

2007-06-14T10:55:00.001-07:00

Before n After

2007-06-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

BEFORE MARRIGE.......

He: Yes. At last. It was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: NO! Don't even think about it.
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: NO! Why you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Yes!
She: Will you hit me?
He: No way! I'm not such kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?

Now after the marriage you can read it from bottom to the top

Top 100 Scariest Movie Scenes of All Time

2007-05-30T01:39:00.000-07:00

Some films aren't scary by design, but happen to have creepy and shocking moments that deserve special recognition. So enjoy this list and have fun discovering a bunch of new movies to see!

>>> LINK <<<
.

World's oldest bowling alley found in Egypt

2007-05-30T00:07:00.000-07:00

CAIRO, May 28 (RIA Novosti) - Italian archeologists have found in Egypt what may be the world's oldest indoor bowling alley, Egyptian media said Monday.

A spacious room, with a shallow lane running through into a pit and two heavy stone balls lying nearby, was found at an ancient site in the province of Al-Fayyum, 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Cairo, and appears to be man's first attempt to create an area for a game that was to become the prototype for modern-day bowling, archeologists taking part in the excavations were reported as saying.

The site dates back to the Ptolemaic era, which began in 332 B.C with Ptolemy I Soter declaring himself Pharaoh of Egypt following Alexander the Great's conquest, and ended with the Roman conquest in 30 B.C.

The period bowling room was apparently part of a residential building, with papyruses, pottery and copper utensils found at the site in abundance.

-en[dot]rian[dot]ru

A millionaire - a mail I got

2007-05-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

A jobless man applied for the position of "office boy" at Microsoft.
The HR manager interviewed him then watched him cleaning the floor as a
test.

"You are employed."

He said." Give me your e-mail address and I'll send you the application to fill in, as well as date when you may start."

The man replied "But I don't have a computer, neither an email."

I'm sorry", said the HR manager, "If you don't have an email, that means you do not exist. And who doesn't exist, cannot have the job."

The man left with no hope at all. He didn't know what to do, with only $10 in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy a 10Kg tomato crate.

He then sold the tomatoes in a door to door round. In less than two hours, he succeeded to double his capital. He repeated the Operation three times, and returned home with $60. The man realized that he can survive by this Way, and started to go everyday earlier, and return late Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.

5 years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers in the

.

He started to plan his family's future, and decided to have a life insurance.

He called an insurance broker, and chose a protection plan. When the conversation was concluded, the broker asked him his email. The man replied, "I don't have an email". The broker answered curiously, "You don't have an email, and yet have succeeded to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an email?!!"

The man thought for a while and replied, "Yes, I'd be an office boy at Microsoft!"

Moral of the story:

M1 - Internet is not the solution to your life.

M2 - If you don't have internet, and work hard, you can be a millionaire.

M3 - If you received this message by email, you are closer to being an office boy, than a millionaire..........

Have a great day!!!

Pls Note: - Do not forward this email to me back, I'm closing all my

email addresses & going to sell tomatoes!!!

Smiling after reading is not mandatory!!!!

I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty.

2007-05-29T23:55:00.000-07:00

By Andrew J. Bacevich
Sunday, May 27, 2007

Parents who lose children, whether through accident or illness, inevitably wonder what they could have done to prevent their loss. When my son was killed in Iraq earlier this month at age 27, I found myself pondering my responsibility for his death.

Among the hundreds of messages that my wife and I have received, two bore directly on this question. Both held me personally culpable, insisting that my public opposition to the war had provided aid and comfort to the enemy. Each said that my son's death came as a direct result of my antiwar writings.

This may seem a vile accusation to lay against a grieving father. But in fact, it has become a staple of American political discourse, repeated endlessly by those keen to allow President Bush a free hand in waging his war. By encouraging "the terrorists," opponents of the Iraq conflict increase the risk to U.S. troops. Although the First Amendment protects antiwar critics from being tried for treason, it provides no protection for the hardly less serious charge of failing to support the troops -- today's civic equivalent of dereliction of duty.

What exactly is a father's duty when his son is sent into harm's way?

Among the many ways to answer that question, mine was this one: As my son was doing his utmost to be a good soldier, I strove to be a good citizen.

As a citizen, I have tried since Sept. 11, 2001, to promote a critical understanding of U.S. foreign policy. I know that even now, people of good will find much to admire in Bush's response to that awful day. They applaud his doctrine of preventive war. They endorse his crusade to spread democracy across the Muslim world and to eliminate tyranny from the face of the Earth. They insist not only that his decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was correct but that the war there can still be won. Some -- the members of the "the-surge-is-already-working" school of thought -- even profess to see victory just over the horizon.

I believe that such notions are dead wrong and doomed to fail. In books, articles and op-ed pieces, in talks to audiences large and small, I have said as much. "The long war is an unwinnable one," I wrote in this section of The Washington Post in August 2005. "The United States needs to liquidate its presence in Iraq, placing the onus on Iraqis to decide their fate and creating the space for other regional powers to assist in brokering a political settlement. We've done all that we can do."

Not for a second did I expect my own efforts to make a difference. But I did nurse the hope that my voice might combine with those of others -- teachers, writers, activists and ordinary folks -- to educate the public about the folly of the course on which the nation has embarked. I hoped that those efforts might produce a political climate conducive to change. I genuinely believed that if the people spoke, our leaders in Washington would listen and respond.

This, I can now see, was an illusion.

The people have spoken, and nothing of substance has changed. The November 2006 midterm elections signified an unambiguous repudiation of the policies that landed us in our present predicament. But half a year later, the war continues, with no end in sight. Indeed, by sending more troops to Iraq (and by extending the tours of those, like my son, who were already there), Bush has signaled his complete disregard for what was once quaintly referred to as "the will of the people."

To be fair, responsibility for the war's continuation now rests no less with the Democrats who control Congress than with the president and his party. After my son's death, my state's senators, Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, telephoned to express their condolences. Stephen F. Lynch, our congressman, attended my son's wake. Kerry was present for the funeral Mass. My family and I greatly appreciated such gestures. But when I suggested to each of them the necessity of ending the war, I got the brushoff. More accurately, after ever so briefly pretending to listen, each treated me to a convoluted explanation that said in essence: Don't blame me.

To whom do Kennedy, Kerry and Lynch listen? We know the answer: to the same people who have the ear of George W. Bush and Karl Rove -- namely, wealthy individuals and institutions.

Money buys access and influence. Money greases the process that will yield us a new president in 2008. When it comes to Iraq, money ensures that the concerns of big business, big oil, bellicose evangelicals and Middle East allies gain a hearing. By comparison, the lives of U.S. soldiers figure as an afterthought.

Memorial Day orators will say that a G.I.'s life is priceless. Don't believe it. I know what value the U.S. government assigns to a soldier's life: I've been handed the check. It's roughly what the Yankees will pay Roger Clemens per inning once he starts pitching next month.

Money maintains the Republican/Democratic duopoly of trivialized politics. It confines the debate over U.S. policy to well-hewn channels. It preserves intact the cliches of 1933-45 about isolationism, appeasement and the nation's call to "global leadership." It inhibits any serious accounting of exactly how much our misadventure in Iraq is costing. It ignores completely the question of who actually pays. It negates democracy, rendering free speech little more than a means of recording dissent.

This is not some great conspiracy. It's the way our system works.

In joining the Army, my son was following in his father's footsteps: Before he was born, I had served in Vietnam. As military officers, we shared an ironic kinship of sorts, each of us demonstrating a peculiar knack for picking the wrong war at the wrong time. Yet he was the better soldier -- brave and steadfast and irrepressible.

I know that my son did his best to serve our country. Through my own opposition to a profoundly misguided war, I thought I was doing the same. In fact, while he was giving his all, I was doing nothing. In this way, I failed him.

Andrew J. Bacevich teaches history and international relations at Boston University. His son died May 13 after a suicide bomb explosion in Salah al-Din province.

-washingtonpost[dot]com

As you pass this way

2006-02-22T23:08:00.001-08:00

You will make a difference in the world today. What kind of difference will that be?

Your life will travel in some direction today as the result of your thoughts and actions. What direction will that be?

This day presents you with a magnificent opportunity that you've never had before. You can take all that you are, all that you've learned, all that you've experienced up to this point, and use it to move your whole world forward.

Every good and valuable thing you do for life makes your world a better place to be. Every time you lift up others, your own experience of life is made more wholly fulfilling.

This day and all its possibilities will soon pass. Yet the value that you create from it will stay with you and will add its own unique flavor to all of life.

You will make a real and lasting contribution to life today. Choose to make it such that you'll always be thankful for having passed this way.

Choose now

2006-02-22T23:08:00.000-08:00

Just because you experienced anxiety a moment ago does not mean that you must continue to hold on to it. Choose now to let it go.

You may have recently been angry about one thing or another, yet that destructive anger does not have to continue. Choose now to transform the energy of that anger into positive, healing, productive thoughts and actions.

Whatever the past may have held, this moment can be filled with what you choose right now. Peace, acceptance, joy, forgiveness, and positive purpose are all as close as your decision to choose them.

Think of the most joyful and fulfilling times you've ever known. Allow yourself to feel the way it feels when you're at your very best.

The world is as it is, the people around you are as they are, and this moment is here. You can choose now to face it all with the best you have to give.

Life is ever filled with all kinds of possibilities, and this moment is no exception. Choose now to make the most positive of those possibilities a part of who you are.

The small moments

2006-02-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

In the small moments there are big opportunities. For the small moments are where successful, fulfilled lives are built.
The small moments have great power because there are so very many of them. Make wise, effective use of the small moments, and the impact can be enormous.

To harness the power of the small moments you must accept them for what they are. To gain value from the small moments you must make use of them as they come.

One particularly effective strategy for making the most of the small moments is to cultivate positive and productive habits. Habits enable you to choose in advance what you will do with the valuable load of small moments that will surely and steadily come your way.

Keeping yourself focused and disciplined only every now and then is no great challenge and produces no great result. However, when you can stay consistently and persistently focused on an objective, there is no limit to the magnitude of what you can accomplish.

Though the small moments may seem trivial and not worth your attention, they are in fact a crucial factor in the quality of your life. Give your best to the small moments, for they are where much of life's greatest value is built.

Touch your dreams

2006-02-22T23:06:00.001-08:00

Dreams are not practical yet they have a reason that's as real and as worthwhile as any pragmatic consideration. When was the last time you touched your dreams?

Your dreams show you who you are. And that is very much worth knowing.

If you let them take hold of you, they will steadily pull you forward. When you commit yourself to follow them, your dreams can bring out the best of you.

Your dreams embody your highest hopes and visions. Through the eye of your dreams you see a world in which you have made a powerful positive difference.

Your dreams are not there to tease you with visions of what you do not have. Rather, your dreams truly show you, in a profound and intimate way, what is most certainly possible for you.

Your dreams are yours for a reason, and much of that reason is to entice you into living a life of purpose and fulfillment. Allow those dreams to touch you deeply, and let them work their magic through you.

With love

2006-02-22T23:06:00.000-08:00

Put no demands on love, and love will bring you much. Give love away, and it will be yours in greater and greater abundance.
With love, what was weak will grow strong. With love, what was impossible becomes real.

Love can find the beauty and value in even the most desperate situation. Love will bring hope where nothing else can.
Though love cannot be explained, it can never be denied. Love has its own reality that transcends the most oppressive limitations.

Love elevates what it touches to a higher dimension. When love is present, fears are calmed, wounds begin to heal, and joy is gloriously within reach.

Love, not because there is a reason, but because there is the possibility. Love, and you will know what you cannot understand.

Complications

2006-02-22T23:02:00.000-08:00

Life becomes complicated when you make it so. Yet you never have to make it so.

When you try to avoid life and insulate yourself from reality, you can make it unbearably complicated. When you fight against what is, and obsess over what has been, the complications you create can become a virtual prison.

You can walk out of that prison at any time. Simply choose to accept the reality of the moment and to deal with life it as it comes.

Stop worrying about what is not yet real and may never be. Instead, live with discipline and value, with purpose and commitment, making the very most of this moment right now.

Let go of the anger, regret, resentment and pain of what has already happened. Instead, find something real about this moment right now for which you can be truly thankful, and give the best of yourself to it.

Allow life to happen, and the complications of your own making melt away. Allow life to happen, and you are free to fully experience its true richness.

Real History of "Taj Mahal" with link

2006-02-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

Check out the LINK below AFTER reading this......
Real History of "Taj Mahal"

"The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal built the Taj Mahal. It was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world!. Many people believe Ustad Isa of Iran designed it." This is what your guide probably told you if you ever visited the Taj Mahal. This is the same story I read in my history book as a student.

NOW READ THIS.......

No one has ever challenged it except Prof. P. N. Oak, who believes the whole world has been duped. In his book Taj Mahal:

The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz's tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya). In the course of his research Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh.In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai SIngh for Mumtaz's burial.

The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur still retains in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for surrendering the Taj building. Using captured temples and mansions, as a burial place ! for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers.

For example, Humayun,Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions. Oak's
inquiries began with the name of Taj Mahal. He says the term "Mahal" has never been used for a building in
any Muslim countries from Afghanisthan to Algeria. "The unusual explanation that the term Taj Mahal
derives from Mumtaz Mahal was an illogical in atleast two aspects.

Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani," he writes.

Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters 'Mum' from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name for the building."Taj Mahal,he claims, is a corrupt version of Tejo Mahalaya, or Lord Shiva's Palace.

Oak also says the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's
time corroborates the love story. Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan's era, and was a temple dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by Rajputs of Agra city.

For example,
Prof. Marvin Miller of New York took a few samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan.

European traveler Johan Albert Mandelslo,who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city in his memoirs.But he makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built.

The writings of Peter Mundy,an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz's death, also suggest the Taj was a noteworthy building well before Shah Jahan's time.

Prof. Oak points out a number of design and architectural inconsistencies that support the belief of the Taj Mahal being a typical Hindu temple rather than a mausoleum.Many rooms in the Taj !Mahal have remained sealed since
Shah Jahan's time and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Lord Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples.

Fearing politicalbacklash,Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Prof. Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and hreatened the Indian publisher of the first edition dire consequences. There is only one way to discredit or validate Oak's research.

The current government should open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal under U.N. supervision, and let international experts investigate.

Do circulate this to all you know and let them know about this reality.

The below link adds as a visual proof to what is described above.

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm