Kumarakom

Kumarakom is a popular tourism destination located near the city of Kottayam (16 kilometres) in Kerala, India, famous for its backwater tourism. It is set in the backdrop of the Vembanad Lake which is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Kerala.

Snaps from Kumarakom bird sanctuary:

Map of the full sanctuary

Path en route the watch tower

Country boats taking mud

Mangrove forests

View of Vembanad lake in the middle of the sanctuary (apt place to rest in natural AC after a walk of 1.25km into the sanctuary)

View on top the watch tower.(Each white spot is a variety of crane)

Jungle book style swings for jumping between trees

Close up of a tortoise

Biodiversity Significance

The Bird calender

Importance of wetlands

P.S.: You can walk two kms in and 2 kms back out from the sanctuary without getting tired much. Ideal place to be away from the mad rush of city life and to be with the constant humming of a variety of birds.

Yelagiri - Chennai's Ooty

Yelagiri popularly known as "Chennai's Ooty" is an ideal drive-down hill station from both Chennai and Bengaluru rendering to the hi-tech people of both these metros looking to get a break from stress. Located is Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, 21 kms from Jolarpettai railway station. It is part of the Western Ghats range. Though the number of picnic spots to be seen are few, it  provides a calm, pollution-free environment.

Enroute to Yelagiri

The place is dotted with resorts providing in-house food and holiday activity facilities. I stayed at Sterling holidays which provides tasty food (comes at a price though :P) and the structure of the building is like a palace. Places you can visit are the usual lot of Lake view points, boat houses, gardens and such. One place that is sure to redefine the tourist pull to this place is the new 8-month old Perumal temple. This temple follows most of the traditions of Tirupati Venkateshwara temple.

Food:
Tasty, homely food at a much lower rate compared to the resorts is available at Hotel Yelagiri. Crisp non-oily 'Masala vada' is available en-route to Heritage village at Re.1 each . Pure honey can be bought from near the YMCA Camp House.

Baskets used for food storage in the village

Sterling Resort at night

Enroute to Yelagiri from Chennai you can drop by at Kanchipuram to visit some of the architectural marvels of the erstwhile kings showcased through the series of temples. Also Kanchi Math of Sankaracharya is close to the highway. Rathnagiri Murugun temple closer to Vellore is perhaps the only South Indian temple which provides a Ghat Road to reach the top to bypass the 100 odd steps (even Gods are providing easy accessibility unlike the politicians :P).

Ratnagiri Murugun temple

Da Vinci surgical system

The Da Vinci Surgical System is a robotic surgical system made by Intuitive Surgical and designed to facilitate complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach. The system is controlled by a surgeon from a console. It is commonly used for prostatectomies and increasingly for cardiac valve repair and gynecologic surgical procedures.

The da Vinci System consists of a surgeon’s console that is typically in the same room as the patient and a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms controlled from the console. Three of the arms are for tools that hold objects, act as a scalpel, scissors, bovie, or unipolar or dipolar electrocautery instruments. The fourth arm is for an endoscopic camera with two lenses that gives the surgeon full stereoscopic vision from the console. The surgeon sits at the console and looks through two eye holes at a 3-D image of the procedure, meanwhile maneuvering the arms with two foot pedals and two hand controllers. The da Vinci System scales, filters and translates the surgeon's hand movements into more precise micro-movements of the instruments,
which operate through small incisions in the body.

According to the manufacturer, the da Vinci System is called "da Vinci" in part "because Leonardo da Vinci invented the first robot", and also because he used anatomical accuracy and three-dimensional details to bring his works to life.

By providing surgeons with superior visualization, enhanced dexterity, greater precision and ergonomic comfort, the da Vinci Surgical System makes it possible for more surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures involving complex dissection or reconstruction. For the patient, a da Vinci procedure can offer all the potential benefits of a minimally invasive procedure, including less pain, less blood loss and less need for blood transfusions. Moreover, the da Vinci System can enable a shorter hospital stay, a quicker recovery and faster return to normal daily activities.

Although the general term "robotic surgery" is often used to refer to the technology, this term can give the impression that the robot (the da Vinci System) is performing the surgery. In contrast, the current da Vinci Surgical System cannot—in any manner—run on its own. This is due to the fact it was not designed as an autonomous system and lacks a decision making software, instead it relies on a human operator for all input, however all the functionality—including vision and motor functions—are performed through remote human-computer interaction and thus with the appropriate weak AI software the system could in principle perform partially or completely autonomously. The difficulty with creating an autonomous system of this kind is not trivial, a major obstacle is that surgery per se is not readily formalizable—a requirement for weak AI. The current system is designed to merely seamlessly replicate the movement of the surgeon's hands with the tips of micro-instruments, not to make decisions or move without the surgeon’s direct input.

Suresh Raina = Sachin Tendulkar Says Google Translate

Now this is funny. When you try to translate ‘Suresh Raina is god’ to Serbian, and translate it

Image Credit: http://sachingallery.blogspot.com

back to English using Google Translate, name Suresh Raina gets replaced by Sachin Tendulkar.

This is strange as proper names are not changed by any translators, and to see this happening from Google’s translation engine is bad.

Mostly the intelligent engines like a Translator tries to imitate the human brain, and do the prediction of a new profile to the already existing profiles. Mostly it uses techniques like Support Vector Machines, Linear Machines or Neural Networks. The engine is trained in a certain data, and is used to predict the future goals.

The details on the Google Translation engine is not known, but from the face it looks to me like the engine is not well trained on the Indian names.

You might want to try it now. And I hope Google makes the relevant change to its algorithm.

Sachin was creator of Helicopter shot - Not Dhoni

I know this is just a silly post, but thought would be of interesting viewing. Sachin had indeed played the Helicopter shot 4 years before Dhoni had made his debut.

You have proof here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCqVaN3kaLI&feature=share 

Sachin's Various Avatars

All Sachin Fans would love to read the below lines:

"I want my son to become Sachin Tendulkar." -Brian Lara(WI)

''V did not lose 2 a team called India, v lost 2 a man called Sachin'' - Mark Taylor(aus)

'Nothing bad can happen 2 us if v were on a plane in India wit Sachin Tendulkar on it.'' -Hashim Amla(SA)

''He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also” -Waqar Younis(Pak)

''There r 2 kind of batsman in the world. 1 Sachin Tendulkar and 2. all the others” -Andy Flower(ZIM)

"I have seen God. He bats at no.4 for India in tests” -Matthew Hayden(AUS.)

"I c myself when! i c Sachin batting” -Don Bradman(AUS)

"Do your crime when Sachin is batting, bcos even God is busy watching his batting”  -Australian Fan

Barack Obama - "I don't know about cricket but still I watch cricket to see Sachin play..Not b'coz I love his play its b'coz I want to know the reason why my country's production goes down by 5 percent when he's in batting"...



1.Bala Swami



2.Musician 



3.Bungee Jumping



4.Dance Floor- It's the time to Disco!



5.Party Time- Hangover??




6. @ tennis



7. Holding the smaller Bat!



8. Never Seen- Sachin-MamaMia!



9.Armed Men


10.Captain Sachin



11. Motoracer


12.Down to earth person.

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& finally a fan's homage to the god.!

April FOOL prank in IITB

675 IITians wrote essays to win non-existent WC final tickets - Hindustan Times

Anna Hazare's letter to PM

Dear Dr. Singh,

I have started my indefinite fast at Jantar mantar. I had invited you also to fast and pray for a corruption free India on 5th April. Though I did not receive any reply from you, I am hopeful that you must have done that.

I am pained to read and hear about government's reaction to my fast. I consider it my duty to clarify the points raised on behalf of Congress party and the government by their spokespersons, as they appear in media:

1. It is being alleged that I am being instigated by some people to sit on this fast. Dear Manmohan Singh ji, this is an insult to my sense of wisdom and intelligence. I am not a kid that I could be "instigated" into going on an indefinite fast. I am a fiercely independent person. I take advice from many friends and critics, but do what my conscience directs me to do. It is my experience that when cornered, governments resort to such malicious slandering. I am pained that the government, rather than addressing the issue of corruption, is trying to allege conspiracies, when there are none.

2. It is being said that I have shown impatience. Dear Prime Minister, so far, every government has shown complete insensitivity and lack of political commitment to tackling corruption. 62 years after independence, we still do not have independent and effective anti‐corruption systems. Very weak versions of Lokpal Bill were presented in Parliament eight times in last 42 years. Even these weak versions were not passed by Parliament. This means, left to themselves, the politicians and bureaucrats will never pass any law which subjects them to any kind of objective scrutiny. At a time, when the country has witnessed scams of unprecedented scale, the impatience of the entire country is justified. And we call upon you, not to look for precedents, but show courage to take unprecedented steps.

3. It is being said that I have shown impatience when the government has "initiated" the process. I would urge you to tell me - exactly what processes are underway?

a. You say that your Group of Ministers are drafting the anti‐corruption law. Many of the members of this Group of Ministers have such a shady past that if effective anticorruption systems had been in place, some of them would have been behind bars. Do you want us to have faith in a process in which some of the most corrupt people of this country should draft the anti‐corruption law?

b. NAC sub‐committee has discussed Jan Lokpal Bill. But what does that actually mean? Will the government accept the recommendations of NAC sub‐committee? So far, UPA II has shown complete contempt for even the most innocuous issues raised by NAC. 

c. I and many other friends from India Against Corruption movement wrote several letters to you after 1st December. I also sent you a copy of Jan Lokpal Bill on 1st December. We did not get any response. It is only when I wrote to you that I will sit on an indefinite fast, we were promptly invited for discussions on 7th March. I wonder whether the government responds only to threats of indefinite fast. Before that, representatives of India Against Corruption had been meeting various Ministers seeking their support for the Jan Lokpal Bill. They met Mr Moily also and personally handed over copy of Jan Lokpal to him. A few hours before our meeting with you, we received a phone call from Mr Moily's office that the copy of Jan Lokpal Bill had been misplaced by his office and they wanted another copy. This is the seriousness with which the government has dealt with Jan Lokpal Bill.

d. Dear Dr Manmohan Singh ji, if you were in my place, would you have any faith in the aforesaid processes? Kindly let me know if there are any other processes underway. If you still feel that I am impatient, I am happy that I am because the whole nation is feeling impatient at the lack of credible efforts from your government against corruption.

4. What are we asking for? We are not saying that you should accept the Bill drafted by us. But kindly create a credible platform for discussions - a joint committee with at least half members from civil society suggested by us. Your spokespersons are misleading the nation when they say that there is no precedent for setting up a joint committee. At least seven laws in Maharashtra were drafted by similar joint committees and presented in Maharashtra Assembly. Maharashtra RTI Act, one of the best laws of those times, was drafted by a joint committee. Even at the centre, when 25,000 tribals came to Delhi two years ago, your government set up a joint committee on land issues within 48 hours. You yourself are the Chairperson of that committee.

This means that the government is willing to set up joint committees on all other issues, but not on corruption. Why?

5. It is being said that the government wants to talk to us and we are not talking to them. This is utterly false. Tell me a single meeting when you called us and we did not come. We strongly believe in dialogue and engagement. Kindly do not mislead the country by saying that we are shunning dialogue.

We request you to take some credible steps at stemming corruption. Kindly stop finding faults and suspecting conspiracies in our movement. There are none. Even if there were, it does not absolve you of your responsibilities to stop corruption.

With warm regards,
K B Hazare

Egyptian kids named "FACEBOOK"

While American parents worry about their kids being on Facebook, Egyptian parents are naming their kids “Facebook,” to commemorate the events surrounding the #Jan25 revolution.

According to Al-Ahram (“ The New York Times of Egypt”) a man in his twenties has christened his first born daughter Facebook in tribute to the role the social media service played in organizing the protests in Tahrir Square and beyond.

GALA OPENING TO THE WORLD CUP

The world cup of cricket was off to Gala opening ceremony yesterday. The event held at the Banghabandhu stadium in the heart of the Dhaka city. Event has all the elements of a true sub-continental ceremony.

The event kicked off with the Captains of each of the respective countries entering into the stadium in a cycle rickshaw the tradition mode of transport in Bangladesh. The biggest cheers went for the sub-continental captains Dhoni, Sangakkara, Afridi and home captain Shakib-ul-Hasan. This was followed by the “GO FOR GLORY” song by Indian music sensation, Sonu Nigam. The social perspective of the games was clearly visible too, with the AIDS campaign promo release. Sangakkara and Sehwag are the ambassadors for the same.

This was followed up by a whole host of cultural activities showcasing the true colors of all hosting nations. India showcased a repeat spectacle of the Commonwealth games wherein all the danceforms from North-South-East-West. Bryan Adams, Rock start added a lot of spark and dazzle to the opening ceremony. Bangladeshi singers - Runa Laila, Sabina Yasmin and Mumtaz added a lot a local flavour. The official song of the World cup – “DE GHUMA KE” penned down by a Indian lyricist was performed by the famed trio - Shankar-Ehsan-Loy. The event was declared open by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Shiekh Hasina.

Iruttukadai Tirunelveli Halwa

Hard core tamilians and sweet tongues would never have missed out on tasting this delicacy. Considered to be traditionally followed from a group of Punjabis, this Halwa has become the brand ambassador of Tirunelveli today. Today a number of different varieties of this are in the market, but the true taste of Iruttukadai is just mind-blowing.

                 A small shop in front of the Nellaiyappar Temple with a single wooden rack might amaze the people wrt infrastructure considering the popularity the sweet has received. It is very different from the normal cake-like halwa. There are restrictions on the amount of Halwa that you get during each buy and mostly the Halwa is provided on a banana leaf. The very sight of the halwa on the banana leaf- hot and dipping in ghee would awaken your senses.

Aralvaimozhi

Aralvaimozhi (Tamil: ஆரல்வாய்மொழி) is a panchayat town in Kaniyakumari District in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.It is well-known for being the greatest source of wind energy in Asia.

Aralvaimozhi aerial view from Thovalai Chekkar Giri Malai

For road travelers from Trivandrum to Tirunelveli and Madurai, it is an ideal place to eat in natural "ac" :P. The natural scenery to boot up the soothing wind makes it a ideal picnic spot enroute.This place doubles up as a commercial hub for industries for power generation from Wind power. 

Aralvaimozhi railway station, with the wind-power mills in the background

Chetad Chetapu

I am absolutely sure that 99.99% of the readers would have heard of this place. Even I hadn't till few days back until the IEEE LINK HTC project came around. Its a extremely rural area around 15 kms from Anchal town in Kollam district. Nearest area till which bus service is available is only till Aanakulam which is 3km away. From then on its either "Nada"raja service or by jeep. The terrain is really challenging one. 

This place is home to close to 40 people who have been living in darkness all through these years. Thanks to this project, we are hoping to provide light to their lives. The place is filled with Rubber trees which is their only source of income as of now.

Sachin Tendulkar: Curriculum Vitae

OBJECTIVE :
To seek career challenges keeping in view my past achievements and future goals. And to set new industry benchmarks in everything I endeavour.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
 International Cricketer: Indian National Cricket Team [1989 onwards]
 First Class Cricketer: Mumbai, West Zone, Yorkshire [1988 onwards]
 Junior Cricketer: Shardashram School, Bombay U-15, West Zone U-15 [1985-1988].

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
 Indian Cricket Team: 1996-1997; 1999-2000.
 Others: Mumbai, West Zone, Mumbai Indians, etc. [Various Times]

KEY OPERATIONS &MISSIONS UNDERTAKEN
1. 664* — Enough said. [Mumbai, 1988]
2. 114* — Rescue mission against Spiteful Yellow Men on Green Earth. [Perth, 1991]
3. 523 runs — Mission My World Cup. [India, 1996]
4. 155* — Operation Deflate Warne [Chennai, 1998]
5. 143 & 134 — Operation Desert Storm [Sharjah, 1998]
6. 136 — Rescue Mission against the Vile Green Warriors on Dusty Earth [Chennai, 1999]
7. 98 — Operation Tame Vile Green Warriors [Centurion, 2003]
8. 672 runs — Mission My World Cup II. [South Africa, 2003]
9. 241* and 60* —  Mission Avoid Cover Drive [Sydney, 2004]
10. 117* and 93 — Operation Slay Goliath [Sydney & Brisbane, 2008]
11. 103* — Mission Heal Mumbai [Chennai, 2008]
12. 200* — Mt 200 [Gwalior 2010]

OTHER MAJOR INITIATIVES
1. 122 — Mission Hold The Empire [Edgbaston, 1996]
2. 126 — Operation Protect Final Frontier [Chennai, 2001]
3. 117 — Operation Kings of Queens Park [Port of Spain, 2002]
4. 193 — Mission Conquer Leeds [Leeds, 2002]
5. 194* — Mission Sultan of Multan [Multan, 2004]
6. 111* — Half-centurion in Centurion [Centurion, 2010]

CRISIS MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE
1. 119* — Operation Bat Till Bedtime [Manchester, 1990]
2. 82 — Mission Find New Opener [Christchurch, 1993]
3. 1-0-3-0 — Operation Hold South Africa [Kolkata, 1993]
4. 169 — Operation Counterattack [Cape Town, 1996]
5. 140* — Operation This Is For You, Father [Bristol, 1999]
6. 175 — Mission Save Series [Hyderabad, 2009]
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
1. Hundreds on Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debut.
2. India‟s youngest Test and ODI cricketer at age 16 years, 207 days.
3. Most runs in Tests and ODIs (14,513 and 17,598).
4. Most hundreds in Tests and ODIs (50 and 46).
5. Most ODI appearances (442)
6. Most Tests appearances (175).
7. 20 hundreds against Australia, the best team of my era.
8. 1894 runs and 9 hundreds in ODIs in 1998, a record.
9. 7 Test hundreds and 1543 Test runs in 2010, an Indian record.
10. 1796 runs in five World Cups.
11. Only cricketer with the 150 wickets and 15,000 runs „double‟ in ODIs.
12. First cricketer to score 40 and 50 Test hundreds.
13. First cricketer to score 20, 30 and 40 ODI hundreds


OTHER BUSINESS INTERESTS
I have interests in the food and beverages industry. I partly own two restaurants in Mumbai:
 Tendulkar‟s (Colaba, 2002).
 Sachin‟s (Mulund, 2004).


EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
 PhD in Cricket.
 Secondary School, Shardashram Vidhya Mandir, Mumbai.

PATENTS
I‟ve mastered nearly every cricket stroke in the book, but have a special reputation for these.
1. The Thunderous Bowler-Decapitating Straight Drive
2. Back-foot Punch Through Cover
3. Acute Paddle Sweep
4. Slog Sweep Against Turning Leg-Break
5. Effortless Wristy Flick Through Square Leg
6. Point-Killing Square Cut

PASSIONS
Cars & Racing: I love fast driving. I also own a Ferrari 360 Modena.
Food: I am a foodie with a fondness for seafood.
Music: I enjoy collecting music. Some of my favourites are Kishore Kumar, Mark Knopfler, MLTR.

AWARDS
1. Arjuna Award [1994]
2. Wisden Cricketer of the Year: [1997]
3. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna [1997-98]
4. Padma Shri [1999]
5. Player of the Tournament, World Cup [2003]
6. ICC Gary Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of The Year [2010]
7. ICC World ODI XI: 2004, 2007, 2008
8. ICC World Test XI: 2009, 2010
9. Rajiv Gandhi Award for Sports [2005]
10. Padma Vibhushan [2008]
11. Man of Match Awards: 74
 ODIs: 61 times
 Tests: 14 times
12. Man of the Series Awards: 19
a. ODIs: 15
b. Tests: 5

MAJOR CITATIONS
1. “AB, this little prick will make more runs than you.” — Merv Hughes to Allan Border. [1991]
2. “This kid bats just like I did.” — Donald Bradman, World Greatest Batsman. Ever. [1998]
3. “I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six.
He is the best batsman I‟ve ever bowled to.” — Shane Warne, World‟s Greatest Leg Spinner. [1998]
4. “Shit, I‟m sick of this *$#%!” — Michael Kasprowicz, Australia‟s Fast Bowler. [1998]
5. “He will end up with 50 tons in each form of the game.” —Wasim Akram, World‟s Greatest Left-arm Pacer. [2002]
6. “Jaanta hai tooney kiska catch chhoda hai?” — Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq. [2003]
7. “All we need is 11 Sachins.” — Paul Strang, Zimbabwe Leg Spinner. [1996]
8. “Cricket is our religion, Sachin is our god.” — [Repeated ad nauseum by millions of fans].
9. “Nothing bad can happen to us if we‟re on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it.” — Hashim Amla, South Africa Batsman. [2004]
10. “The archives recall not one single incriminating incident, not one drunken escapade, not one reported affair, not one spat
with a team-mate or reporter. As Matthew Parris wondered of Barack Obama in these pages recently, is he human?” —
Michael Atherton, Former England Captain. [2008]
11. “I have seen God; he bats at No. 4 for India.” — Matthew Hayden, Australia Opener. [2008]
12. “There will never be another Sachin.” — Muttiah Muralitharan, World‟s Most Successful Bowler. [2009]
13. “If I‟ve to bowl to Sachin, I‟ll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard.” Dennis Lille, Cricket‟s McEnroe & Fast
Bowling Legend. [Undated]
14. “Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara.” — Glenn McGrath, Australia‟s Most
Successful Pace Bowler. [Undated]
15. “Sachin is a genius. I‟m a mere mortal.” — Brian Lara, Tendulkar‟s Greatest Frenemy. [Undated]
16. “I haven‟t seen Bradman playing, but I have seen Sachin. To me, he himself is a milestone, and the best cricketer in the
world.” — Sourav Ganguly, India‟s most successful captain
17. “Sachin Tendulkar has been the most complete batsman of his time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon as well.” — Sambit Bal, Editor, Cricinfo


MAJOR BIOGRAPHIES
1. Sachin: The Story of the World's Greatest Batsman [by Gulu Ezekiel]
2. The A to Z of Sachin Tendulkar [by Gulu Ezekiel]
3. Sachin Tendulkar — A Definitive Biography [by Vaibhav Purandare]
4. Sachin Tendulkar — Masterful [by Peter Murray, Ashish Shukla]
5. Tendulkar Opus [by Opus Media Group]

MEDIA COVERAGE
Are you kidding me?

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Fluent in English, Hindi and Marathi.

PERSONAL DETAILS
Date of birth: April 24, 1973
Hometown: Mumbai
Family: Wife Anjali, daughter Sara, son Arjun.

EARNINGS
Approximately Rs 60 crore annually (That‟s Rs 600,000,000 or USD 13 million or GBP 7.8 million or Euro 8.7 million).

Sachin Tendulkar
Mumbai, December 21, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

P.S. I am sharing this Article from a Yahoo Cricket journalist. He has done a great job in collecting all these info and compiling it into an excellent CV.

My take on HP7 - Part 1

For one of those not very avid fiction readers like me, Harry Potter series was one I could just not miss. During my holiday time of 8th, accidently came across Harry potter and Prisoner of Azkhaban. Though the third part wasn't particularly gripping, it definitely created the curiosity to read the previous two books. It was only after the fourth part "Harry potter and Goblet of fire" came out, that I became ardent HP fan. Then I went on to catch all the previous movies that had been made in the series and the succeeding ones in the first week itself invariably :)

Image via Wikipedia

Moving on to the latest release from the series, taking the film in two part with importance given to picturising the movie very close to the book was one of the greatest tribute that can be given to Madam J.K.Rowling and fanatic Potter fans like me. Right from the part of moving Harry to "The Burrow" (Weasleys home), every minute detail was given full care by Director David Yates. Acting of Richard Fienes (Voldemort) really resembled the true nature of the character. Cinematographer,cameraman and other animation technicians deserve a great round of applause. The picturisation of "The tale of Two Brothers" on how the Deathly Hallows were created as a cartoon was really different.

On the prime characters, Harry was gr8 as usual, Ron put up a good show and Hermoine - I have no words :P :)

Just can't wait for the second part to be released. The icing on the cake would be that its on 3D :):):)

Corruption - the perennial menace

My mathematics teacher always used to say "Mathematics rules the world". How true!!!
Its indeed the 'Mathematics of money' that rules the world. Right from birth to death ie.. from getting a birth certificate to getting the death certificate one needs to face this same ordeal.

Even when we are criticizing our politicians and bureaucrats for the corruption, its highly important for one to look into why this menace is present. If you ask me, I would say the prime reason for this is the tax scheme that we are having in India. The tax rates be it the Income tax, sales tax or the corporate tax all are quite high. As a reason, there is increased urge for getting more money. So one to easiest ways in curbing this problem is to have a revamp of the tax structure.

There of course is the problem of excess greed and power. We have two evident examples for this right in the present scenario itself - Mr.Lalit Modi (IPL) and Mr.Suresh Kalmadi (CWG). In both the cases the monopoly of both the individuals in the respective games proved to be the critical factor. Though both of them are under investigation from the Enforcement Directorate and other related government agencies now, its really disheartening to know that they had such a 'free hand' all these days.

The different campaigns like the Jaago-re, Parivarthan movement have helped a lot is controlling this menace. Its high time that more stringent and efficient policies and laws are made to curb this.

ALUMNI meet

   I went in for the Reunion today to see a totally new look to my alma-mater. The construction works that were going on when I left is now almost over.

CNSSS in all its glory

Most interesting is the room Rev.Fr.Mathew Thengumpally has got for himself. The room is so large that he can accommodate around 100 detainees at the same time :P Furthermore, more trouble is awaiting our younger generation, CCTV to be put up in each floor to catch hold of miscreants red-handed with video proof :P All thanks to the most inspiring and motivating person all christnagarians have ever seen.....  

From top of the new building one gets to see the run-way, sea and vast expanse of greenery - totally MIND BLOWING sight accompanied by super wind :)  It was great to see most of classmates, interact with the seniors and to know many of the juniors. Heard lots of "unheard" school day miscreants which was totally ROFL stuff :) Thanks a lot to all for giving these ever-lasting memories........

Three years out of school and I still just can't have enough of School days :(

One awesome CWG experience

                I have never been a ardent follower of multi-discipline games, but this Commonwealth Games has been one awesome experience. Right from the Opening ceremony "MEHENDI" show to the "VANDE MATARAM" now at the closing ceremony, the whole games has been really colourful :)  Seeing the Bird's eye view of the stadium, I felt Delhi has transformed into America or so.
            
                Not just the ceremonies, even the games talent on display was really good. Though number of top class athletes withdrew from the games, they would now be regretting their decisions. Australia though ran away with the show in most of the trades, performance of India was really heartening. No.2 on the medal tally with 38 golds, just perfect on home turf :)  Golds in wrestling and shooting was expected but it was really gr8 to see athletics coming up big time with two golds. Badminton and Table tennis performance also gave a lot of cheer.

            
Amidst all the pre-games controversies and deadline lapses no one expected the games to be conducted so well. I had been a vehement Kalmadi basher, but I think he needs some credit now. ARR would be happy to see the second version clicking. Heavy credit is also due for Bharat Bala the choreographer for the opening and closing ceremonies. Hope India can keep up its preparations and host Olympic Games some time soon.......
                  
      

IEEE membership - A complete package for overall excellence

                         IEEE is the world's largest professional organization providing unending contributions in the field of technical excellence. IEEE student branch in my college (College of Engineering, Trivandrum) was quite inactive till 2008. Thanks to the efforts of our SB mentor and a dedicated EXECOM, there has been lots of activities ever since and I feel extremely lucky to have been part of them. When I had joined IEEE in the first year of my engineering study, I actually didn't know that IEEE membership would give me so many benefits. Being part of the IEEESB has improved not just my technical know-how but also my managerial skills and more importantly the overall personality.
                           
                         Now I would like to share with blog readers the different websites one needs to catch up to get the latest information on IEEE.

1.      www.ieee.org – IEEE official website

2.      http://ewh.ieee.org/r10/india_council - IEEE india council website

3.      www.ieeeusa.org – IEEE USA website

                            IEEE has lot of benefits to offer to you. Every IEEE member has a myIEEE page from where you can join IEEE, renew membership, membership benefits and details on different societies and interests.  Sources which has been of great use to me personally is IEEE TV (www.ieee.tv) ,  IEEE spectrum magazine (http://spectrum.ieee.org) and IEEE Xplore digital library (www.ieeexplore.ieee.org) . Though I have not been into my final year wherein I need to present a paper of IEEE standard, Xplore library has been a great guide.

                                                                                                                  

                                                        
                                                                       

                               IEEE community is like a ‘global village’ which opens up possibilities for interaction with colleagues from around the globe (http://www.ieee.org/societies_communities/index.html). IEEE jobsite (http://careers.ieee.org) is of great help to professions and students alike. There is also Career-alert magazine. IEEE also offers awards and scholarships to its members for their achievements. There is an online program called IEEE mentoring connection which helps establish a mentoring partnership between its members (http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/mentoring/index.html).There is also IEEE Women In Engineering community which focuses on advancement of women in technical and scientific fields (http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/women/index.html)

                      In addition to providing such technical knowledge IEEE also hosts a number of competitions wherein its members can showcase their talents and thereby even get international recognition. Couple of such competitions that are held every year are

·         IEEE Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC) which focuses on how technology can used to serve humanity better (http://www.ieeehtc.org)

·         IEEE Xtreme programming competition which is 24 hour programming contest (http://ieeextreme.org)

                      Considering these enormous number of benefits that IEEE has to offer to its members , I encourage lot more people especially students to be part of this global technical professional organisation.

P.S. Though IEEE is a professional organisation, it has always lend a helping hand to the humanity. The latest example being the relief provided for the flood victims in Pakistan (http://www.ieee.org/organizations/foundation/2010news.html).