Are you lucky?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Knowledge Process Outsourcing Careers
Knowledge Process Outsourcing Careers
knowledge management is the hottest subject of the day. The question is : what is this activity called knowledge management , and why is it so important to each and every one of us? The outsourcing industry is also termed as bpo industry which has given birth to its improved form termed as knowledge process outsourcing (kpo). Kpo is a refined form and an extension of business process outsourcing (bpo). Kpo provides value to the client through domain expertise rather than process expertise. The kpo which is an extension of bpo is the high value; high growth business that is independent of the co-existence of the bpo. According to the reports of global sourcing now the kpo is expected to reach $ 17 billion by 2010 out of which india’s share would be $ 12 billion. Knowledge process outsourcing, or kpo, is the latest wave to hit the outsourcing business in india. A booming sector with tremendous potential, the kpo sector in india employs around 25,000 people currently. Kpo is knowledge process outsourcing. It involves outsourcing for high-end knowledge work. This includes research and work on intellectual property, equity and finance, analytics, market research and data management, et cetera.
Kpo-suitability in india
1. It will be socially recognized in india.
2. It will be suitable to the indian work culture.
3. It will earn huge foreign exchange for the country.
4. It will help reduce educated unemployment in india
5. It will stop brain drain from india to developed countries like usa or uk.
India has a growing population of educated people capable of handling high-end knowledge-based work and research. With a huge talent pool, india could emerge as a global kpo hub as the sector requires specialized knowledge in respective verticals. With the mushrooming of engineering and technical institutes in india, there will no shortage of skilled manpower in india. A confederation of indian industry study states that india’s transition from a bpo destination to a kpo destination is imminent. Apart from india, countries such as russia, china, the czech republic, ireland and israel are also expected to bag a lucrative pie of the kpo industry. The cost advantage: more and more companies are turning to india for off shoring kpo work as quality work gets done at cheaper rates. India also offers significant cost advantages as much as 40 to 50 per cent in the areas of research and clinical trials. For instance, drafting and filing of patent applications in the us is very expensive. A typical application costs about $10,000 to $15,000 to draft and file with the united states patent and trademark office. Companies can save up to 50 per cent of the cost by off shoring the work to india.
Bpo verses kpo :- business process outsourcing means handing over the work of the company to outside company or agency for completion on contract basis. It is the delegation of one or more it intensive non core business processes to an external services provide that owns, administers and managers the selected process based on defined and measurable performance metrics knowledge process outsourcing is the field where the service providers, by using their specialized domain expertise, process the information in the most professional way and convert it into the most useful form for the client user and then deliver this processed information to client company for making most crucial decisions in the core business functions. In other words it is outsourcing of the core activities such as research and development analysis and crucial decision based function.
Functions :- the functions covered under bpo and kpo are moderately different. These functions are basically different in its natural form as the bpo covers non core functions and kpo covers core functions.
Bpo turn to kpo
Feature bpo kpo
Functions non core and routine core
Nature of for fresh graduates with for professionals like ca,
Employment good communication skills mba,engineers,phds etc.
Professional work on process expertise works on domain expertise
Approach
Career considered by people as job considered by professionals
Difference not as a career as career
Working hours type of working 24x7x365 normal 8 hours working
Employees very high (almost 40%) comparatively very less
Turnover rate
Growth rate expected to be 26% expected to be 46%
Kpo to surpass bpo:- india’s business process outsourcing industry will soon be edged out by the emerging kpo sector as the biggest revenue grosser, according to kiran karnik, president, national association of software and services companies. The global kpo industry is likely to become worth $17 billion by 2010, with the indian industry capturing between $12-$14 billion of it.
Challenges for the kpo industry
V maintaining data security and the confidentiality
V maintaining high control on the process operations
V world class infrastructure requirements
V maintenance of the talent pool in the country
V competition from the other countries like canada philippines etc.
V brain drain in india due to the people migration form india in search of jobs.
Kpo sector offers a good working atmosphere with global exposure and an opportunity to develop skill sets in a specialized field. The remuneration is high as a person with about two years experience can draw a pay packet of around rs 6 lakh (rs 600,000) to rs 8 lakh (rs 800,000) annually, while an experienced professional gets anywhere between rs 15 lakh (rs 1.5 million) and rs 20 lakh (rs 2 million). Like the bpo sector, kpo also faces attrition, as it is difficult for companies to retain talented and trained people. With higher pay packages and perks, people change jobs very frequently. Many people are still reluctant to join as they feel it is an unstable career. Many are unaware of the potential of this sector and the scope of future prospects. There is a lot of scope for teachers as this sector offers a good pay package. The sector also requires higher level of control, confidentiality and enhanced risk management.
Career building program :- bpo works on the process expertise. The process of routine work is managed by bpo more efficiently and effectively than the client companies if they do it in–house. Kpo works on domain expertise. The professional knowledge in particular field is used by kpo units to process highly critical information and data and makes it available to clients for crucial decision making in kpo industry people with high professional qualifications are employed. In this industry generally employees try to be loyal and make a career in one particular company and on the other hand the companies also try their level best to retain these employees try paying them well and providing them with better facilities.
Nature of employment :- bpo is the processing of the low end non core business functions which the people with minimum skills can do. Generally fresh or reasonably experienced bcom, ba, bsc graduates with good communication skills are preferred by bpo companies. Training is generally given by these bpo companies or by some outside training agency to the newly recruited graduates to make them suitable for the onshore as well as offshore bpo requirements. Kpo is the processing of high end core business functions and hence the people with professional knowledge and skills such as the people with the qualification like phd, ca, cwa, cs, and mba, engineering, mbbs, and llb etc are preferred by kpo industry. The specialized knowledge and expertise of these professionals is the major asset for the kpo industry.
Functions covered under kpo
1. R & d 1. Legal services
2. Business and technical research 2. Data analysis
3. Training and consultancy 3. Animations and designs
4. Network and management 4. Business and market research
5. Writing and content developments 5. Learning solutions
6. Pharmaceutical 6. Biotechnological
7. Medical services 7. Intellectual property research
Kpo’s focus areas :- areas with significant potential for kpo include pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, data search, integration and management services, financial services, research and analytics, technology research, computer-aided simulation and engineering design and professional services, such as business research and legal services. Off shoring research and development in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology also holds great potential for kpo.
Skills required for kpo jobs as distinct from bpo jobs :- kpo includes those activities that require greater skill, knowledge, education and expertise to handle than a typical bpo job. For example, an insurance company might outsource data entry of its claims forms as part of a bpo initiative, it may also choose to use a kpo service provider to evaluate new insurance applications based on a set of criteria or business rules; this work would require the efforts of a more knowledgeable set of workers than the data entry would and hence domain/industry skills are desired.
Who can join kpo :- unlike bpo where knowledge of english is essential, kpo focuses professional on educational qualifications. Educational qualification is important as the work involves specialized knowledge. People from diverse backgrounds can join this field. Teachers, engineers, mbas, professionals with financial background and even journalists are qualified to work in kpo. People with science background have a better chance as some tasks require data analysis and programming. Kpo tasks require domain expertise for projects involving moderate to high levels of analysis, especially those related to industrial sectors. The kind of work employees have to do includes abstraction of technical patents, extraction of legacy technical data, cataloguing and indexing, taxonomy building and database creation and updating. All this requires a basic interest and knowledge in specific domains besides an aptitude for working with data and information.
Job profile qualification work experience annual salary (rs. In lakh)
Customer care graduate /undergraduate freshers may also apply 1.3-1.6
Officer
Technical support technical graduation/diploma/certification fresher may also apply 1.3-1.6
Officer
Claims processes graduate fresher’s may also apply 1.3 -1.6
Support
Voice & accent graduate with requisite experience in training 1-3 years 2.2 – 4.0
Trainer
Team leader graduate with an experience of leading a team in 3-5 years 3.0- 5.0
a bpo
Manager operations graduate having experience of managing large 6-10 years 8.0-14
teams and p&l
Telemarketing graduate/ undergraduate freshers may also apply 1.4-2.2
Process associate commerce graduate freshers may also apply 1.3-1.7
Research analyst mba/postgraduate analytics iit/isi/ top b-school freshers may also apply 1.6-2.4 1-3 years 3.5-6.0
Equity research mba (finance)/postgraduate in finance 1-3 years 2.4- 4.5
Tax analyst commerce graduate/postgraduate in fixnance freshers may also apply 1.5-2.4
Recruitment procedure-career prospectus :- companies have a cut-off for marks (grades), depending on the kind of domain knowledge required for the particular project. The works also requires people to have a right aptitude and attitude for doing research-oriented work. Employment in bpo companies is still considered by people as job and not as a career. Generally graduates work in bpo in their initial working years to earn good money and then they either try to go for higher education or to go for another job. Thus jobs in bpo are still not recognized by society. Kpo employs only highly professional people and uses their expertise. Hense this sector is nowadays considered as career by many professionals for e.g. A chartered accountant going for employment in equity research in a kpo firm. After recruitment, the candidates are trained in various skills. Besides this, the candidate should possess good communication skills, should have an aptitude towards programming, and should be able to work in a team, under pressure and of course different shift timings.
The types of assessments used:- in the kpo space, domain-based assessments can be customized to count for the complexity of a job role or project and select eligible candidates. These are coupled with general abilities tests like analytical, attention to detail; communication skills like written english ability; and functional skills like typing to arrive at and select the best talent.
Kpo : skills essential career for success
The table below lists a few of the prominent kpos and the skills required to win.
Segments services skill sets required
Legal services reviewing transactional & litigation documents; drafting knowledge in us/uk laws; adept in
contracts; research memoranda & due diligence reports; legal application; ability to reason &
prosecuting patents; negotiations research
Engineering 3d modeling; conversion: 2d to 3d; finite analysis; cad/cam; drafting & modeling;
R&d computational fluid dynamics analysis; technical product design
specifications for tenders; value engineering
Market research secondary & primary research; conversion of findings to statistical tools; research techniques;
& analytics knowledge; writing & editing; formatting client reports report writing & presentations;
database research
Writing & content editorial; content delivery; digitization of content; data english communication skills;
Development enrichment & warehousing; pre-press work; proofreading; journalism; experience in writing
template designing; text composition
Pharma r&d research & development; drug discovery; clinical research doctors; master’s degree in science,
phds
Healthcare diagnostic; genetic profiling; oncology tests; hiv & allergy medical degree; specialized subject
Services knowledge
Education & k-12; private tutors; curriculum design; pedagogy; content teaching methods/techniques; cultural
Training development sensitivity; online teaching methods
Captives outnumber third-party vendors in the kpo space
Keen to reap the benefits of outsourcing yet not willing to expose themselves to risks, a number of companies have opted for the captive route. This enables them to protect themselves against possible ipr threats and feared loss of patented material. For instance, several pharma and legal companies that deal with sensitive data have opted for captives.
(nineteen of the top 20 global pharma r&d companies have established r&d centers in india.)
These captive kpos are expanding their india presence:
l google has set up its second research center in hyderabad; the first center is in bangalore.
l goldman sachs is expected to grow its india headcount to reach employee strength of approximately 2,000 by the end of 2007.
Educational opportunities for knowledge process outsourcing
Akiko callnet 16, new rohtak road, karol bagh, holistic training solutions a-267, defence colony ( 1st floor ),
Near tribbia college, new delhi -110005 new delhi-110024, e-mail: holistic@csnl.com website: www.holistic-
Website : www.shermanindia.com enterprise.com
Alcatel udyog vihar, gurgaon-1220001,
knowledge management is the hottest subject of the day. The question is : what is this activity called knowledge management , and why is it so important to each and every one of us? The outsourcing industry is also termed as bpo industry which has given birth to its improved form termed as knowledge process outsourcing (kpo). Kpo is a refined form and an extension of business process outsourcing (bpo). Kpo provides value to the client through domain expertise rather than process expertise. The kpo which is an extension of bpo is the high value; high growth business that is independent of the co-existence of the bpo. According to the reports of global sourcing now the kpo is expected to reach $ 17 billion by 2010 out of which india’s share would be $ 12 billion. Knowledge process outsourcing, or kpo, is the latest wave to hit the outsourcing business in india. A booming sector with tremendous potential, the kpo sector in india employs around 25,000 people currently. Kpo is knowledge process outsourcing. It involves outsourcing for high-end knowledge work. This includes research and work on intellectual property, equity and finance, analytics, market research and data management, et cetera.
Kpo-suitability in india
1. It will be socially recognized in india.
2. It will be suitable to the indian work culture.
3. It will earn huge foreign exchange for the country.
4. It will help reduce educated unemployment in india
5. It will stop brain drain from india to developed countries like usa or uk.
India has a growing population of educated people capable of handling high-end knowledge-based work and research. With a huge talent pool, india could emerge as a global kpo hub as the sector requires specialized knowledge in respective verticals. With the mushrooming of engineering and technical institutes in india, there will no shortage of skilled manpower in india. A confederation of indian industry study states that india’s transition from a bpo destination to a kpo destination is imminent. Apart from india, countries such as russia, china, the czech republic, ireland and israel are also expected to bag a lucrative pie of the kpo industry. The cost advantage: more and more companies are turning to india for off shoring kpo work as quality work gets done at cheaper rates. India also offers significant cost advantages as much as 40 to 50 per cent in the areas of research and clinical trials. For instance, drafting and filing of patent applications in the us is very expensive. A typical application costs about $10,000 to $15,000 to draft and file with the united states patent and trademark office. Companies can save up to 50 per cent of the cost by off shoring the work to india.
Bpo verses kpo :- business process outsourcing means handing over the work of the company to outside company or agency for completion on contract basis. It is the delegation of one or more it intensive non core business processes to an external services provide that owns, administers and managers the selected process based on defined and measurable performance metrics knowledge process outsourcing is the field where the service providers, by using their specialized domain expertise, process the information in the most professional way and convert it into the most useful form for the client user and then deliver this processed information to client company for making most crucial decisions in the core business functions. In other words it is outsourcing of the core activities such as research and development analysis and crucial decision based function.
Functions :- the functions covered under bpo and kpo are moderately different. These functions are basically different in its natural form as the bpo covers non core functions and kpo covers core functions.
Bpo turn to kpo
Feature bpo kpo
Functions non core and routine core
Nature of for fresh graduates with for professionals like ca,
Employment good communication skills mba,engineers,phds etc.
Professional work on process expertise works on domain expertise
Approach
Career considered by people as job considered by professionals
Difference not as a career as career
Working hours type of working 24x7x365 normal 8 hours working
Employees very high (almost 40%) comparatively very less
Turnover rate
Growth rate expected to be 26% expected to be 46%
Kpo to surpass bpo:- india’s business process outsourcing industry will soon be edged out by the emerging kpo sector as the biggest revenue grosser, according to kiran karnik, president, national association of software and services companies. The global kpo industry is likely to become worth $17 billion by 2010, with the indian industry capturing between $12-$14 billion of it.
Challenges for the kpo industry
V maintaining data security and the confidentiality
V maintaining high control on the process operations
V world class infrastructure requirements
V maintenance of the talent pool in the country
V competition from the other countries like canada philippines etc.
V brain drain in india due to the people migration form india in search of jobs.
Kpo sector offers a good working atmosphere with global exposure and an opportunity to develop skill sets in a specialized field. The remuneration is high as a person with about two years experience can draw a pay packet of around rs 6 lakh (rs 600,000) to rs 8 lakh (rs 800,000) annually, while an experienced professional gets anywhere between rs 15 lakh (rs 1.5 million) and rs 20 lakh (rs 2 million). Like the bpo sector, kpo also faces attrition, as it is difficult for companies to retain talented and trained people. With higher pay packages and perks, people change jobs very frequently. Many people are still reluctant to join as they feel it is an unstable career. Many are unaware of the potential of this sector and the scope of future prospects. There is a lot of scope for teachers as this sector offers a good pay package. The sector also requires higher level of control, confidentiality and enhanced risk management.
Career building program :- bpo works on the process expertise. The process of routine work is managed by bpo more efficiently and effectively than the client companies if they do it in–house. Kpo works on domain expertise. The professional knowledge in particular field is used by kpo units to process highly critical information and data and makes it available to clients for crucial decision making in kpo industry people with high professional qualifications are employed. In this industry generally employees try to be loyal and make a career in one particular company and on the other hand the companies also try their level best to retain these employees try paying them well and providing them with better facilities.
Nature of employment :- bpo is the processing of the low end non core business functions which the people with minimum skills can do. Generally fresh or reasonably experienced bcom, ba, bsc graduates with good communication skills are preferred by bpo companies. Training is generally given by these bpo companies or by some outside training agency to the newly recruited graduates to make them suitable for the onshore as well as offshore bpo requirements. Kpo is the processing of high end core business functions and hence the people with professional knowledge and skills such as the people with the qualification like phd, ca, cwa, cs, and mba, engineering, mbbs, and llb etc are preferred by kpo industry. The specialized knowledge and expertise of these professionals is the major asset for the kpo industry.
Functions covered under kpo
1. R & d 1. Legal services
2. Business and technical research 2. Data analysis
3. Training and consultancy 3. Animations and designs
4. Network and management 4. Business and market research
5. Writing and content developments 5. Learning solutions
6. Pharmaceutical 6. Biotechnological
7. Medical services 7. Intellectual property research
Kpo’s focus areas :- areas with significant potential for kpo include pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, data search, integration and management services, financial services, research and analytics, technology research, computer-aided simulation and engineering design and professional services, such as business research and legal services. Off shoring research and development in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology also holds great potential for kpo.
Skills required for kpo jobs as distinct from bpo jobs :- kpo includes those activities that require greater skill, knowledge, education and expertise to handle than a typical bpo job. For example, an insurance company might outsource data entry of its claims forms as part of a bpo initiative, it may also choose to use a kpo service provider to evaluate new insurance applications based on a set of criteria or business rules; this work would require the efforts of a more knowledgeable set of workers than the data entry would and hence domain/industry skills are desired.
Who can join kpo :- unlike bpo where knowledge of english is essential, kpo focuses professional on educational qualifications. Educational qualification is important as the work involves specialized knowledge. People from diverse backgrounds can join this field. Teachers, engineers, mbas, professionals with financial background and even journalists are qualified to work in kpo. People with science background have a better chance as some tasks require data analysis and programming. Kpo tasks require domain expertise for projects involving moderate to high levels of analysis, especially those related to industrial sectors. The kind of work employees have to do includes abstraction of technical patents, extraction of legacy technical data, cataloguing and indexing, taxonomy building and database creation and updating. All this requires a basic interest and knowledge in specific domains besides an aptitude for working with data and information.
Job profile qualification work experience annual salary (rs. In lakh)
Customer care graduate /undergraduate freshers may also apply 1.3-1.6
Officer
Technical support technical graduation/diploma/certification fresher may also apply 1.3-1.6
Officer
Claims processes graduate fresher’s may also apply 1.3 -1.6
Support
Voice & accent graduate with requisite experience in training 1-3 years 2.2 – 4.0
Trainer
Team leader graduate with an experience of leading a team in 3-5 years 3.0- 5.0
a bpo
Manager operations graduate having experience of managing large 6-10 years 8.0-14
teams and p&l
Telemarketing graduate/ undergraduate freshers may also apply 1.4-2.2
Process associate commerce graduate freshers may also apply 1.3-1.7
Research analyst mba/postgraduate analytics iit/isi/ top b-school freshers may also apply 1.6-2.4 1-3 years 3.5-6.0
Equity research mba (finance)/postgraduate in finance 1-3 years 2.4- 4.5
Tax analyst commerce graduate/postgraduate in fixnance freshers may also apply 1.5-2.4
Recruitment procedure-career prospectus :- companies have a cut-off for marks (grades), depending on the kind of domain knowledge required for the particular project. The works also requires people to have a right aptitude and attitude for doing research-oriented work. Employment in bpo companies is still considered by people as job and not as a career. Generally graduates work in bpo in their initial working years to earn good money and then they either try to go for higher education or to go for another job. Thus jobs in bpo are still not recognized by society. Kpo employs only highly professional people and uses their expertise. Hense this sector is nowadays considered as career by many professionals for e.g. A chartered accountant going for employment in equity research in a kpo firm. After recruitment, the candidates are trained in various skills. Besides this, the candidate should possess good communication skills, should have an aptitude towards programming, and should be able to work in a team, under pressure and of course different shift timings.
The types of assessments used:- in the kpo space, domain-based assessments can be customized to count for the complexity of a job role or project and select eligible candidates. These are coupled with general abilities tests like analytical, attention to detail; communication skills like written english ability; and functional skills like typing to arrive at and select the best talent.
Kpo : skills essential career for success
The table below lists a few of the prominent kpos and the skills required to win.
Segments services skill sets required
Legal services reviewing transactional & litigation documents; drafting knowledge in us/uk laws; adept in
contracts; research memoranda & due diligence reports; legal application; ability to reason &
prosecuting patents; negotiations research
Engineering 3d modeling; conversion: 2d to 3d; finite analysis; cad/cam; drafting & modeling;
R&d computational fluid dynamics analysis; technical product design
specifications for tenders; value engineering
Market research secondary & primary research; conversion of findings to statistical tools; research techniques;
& analytics knowledge; writing & editing; formatting client reports report writing & presentations;
database research
Writing & content editorial; content delivery; digitization of content; data english communication skills;
Development enrichment & warehousing; pre-press work; proofreading; journalism; experience in writing
template designing; text composition
Pharma r&d research & development; drug discovery; clinical research doctors; master’s degree in science,
phds
Healthcare diagnostic; genetic profiling; oncology tests; hiv & allergy medical degree; specialized subject
Services knowledge
Education & k-12; private tutors; curriculum design; pedagogy; content teaching methods/techniques; cultural
Training development sensitivity; online teaching methods
Captives outnumber third-party vendors in the kpo space
Keen to reap the benefits of outsourcing yet not willing to expose themselves to risks, a number of companies have opted for the captive route. This enables them to protect themselves against possible ipr threats and feared loss of patented material. For instance, several pharma and legal companies that deal with sensitive data have opted for captives.
(nineteen of the top 20 global pharma r&d companies have established r&d centers in india.)
These captive kpos are expanding their india presence:
l google has set up its second research center in hyderabad; the first center is in bangalore.
l goldman sachs is expected to grow its india headcount to reach employee strength of approximately 2,000 by the end of 2007.
Educational opportunities for knowledge process outsourcing
Akiko callnet 16, new rohtak road, karol bagh, holistic training solutions a-267, defence colony ( 1st floor ),
Near tribbia college, new delhi -110005 new delhi-110024, e-mail: holistic@csnl.com website: www.holistic-
Website : www.shermanindia.com enterprise.com
Alcatel udyog vihar, gurgaon-1220001,
5 Ways to Be the Man of Her Dreams
David Beckham
5 Ways to Be the Man of Her Dreams
It's startling what you can learn from a pit-stained T-shirt. When scientists at the University of New Mexico asked 48 women to rate the pleasantness and sexiness of shirts slept in by men, they found a striking schism. The women who were in their most fertile phase of the month preferred shirts worn by the most masculine and attractive guys, while those in their low-fertility phase showed no preference. The fertile women could actually sniff out the studs.
Your girlfriend performs the same sub-conscious calculus on your suitability, and as her hormone levels oscillate, her preferences change. Sometimes she may want a long-term catch, other times a stud for the night.
To her, it's an evolutionary tradeoff: Masculinity and attractiveness indicate good genes; intelligence and warmth suggest a good future dad. "Women tend to alternate between which type they're looking for," says Elizabeth Pillsworth, Ph.D., a scholar at the UCLA center for the study of women. "They value different partner qualities at different times based on what their bodies and brains are telling them is important at the moment."
If you're handy with these personas, you'll always be the man she desires no matter how her needs change.
source: menshealth
Thursday, October 21, 2010
5 Healthy Snacks for 100 Calories
5 Healthy Snacks for 100 Calories
Strawberry Sandwich Recipe
Peanut Butter-Banana-Apple Bites
Chocolate Matchsticks Recipe
Mini Cranberry Muffins Recipe
Apple Chips Recipe
source: rd
Strawberry Sandwich Recipe
Peanut Butter-Banana-Apple Bites
Chocolate Matchsticks Recipe
Mini Cranberry Muffins Recipe
Apple Chips Recipe
source: rd
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Achieve! Achieve!
“He who Refuses to Embrace a Unique Opportunity Loses the Prize as surely as if he had Failed” ~W James
Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower." - John Harrigan
Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands on the Saint Lawrence River, New York
Recipe for success: Be polite, prepare yourself for whatever you are asked to do, keep yourself tidy, be cheerful, don’t be envious, be honest with yourself so you will be honest with others, be helpful, interest yourself in your job, don’t pity yourself, be quick to praise, be loyal to your friends, avoid prejudices, be independent, interest yourself in politics, and read the newspapers - Bernard M Baruch
Langjokull Glacier, Iceland
A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner - English proverb
Oyster farm on Lemmens Inlet in Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
All men seek one goal: success or happiness. The only way to achieve true success is to express yourself completely in service to society. First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal-a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends-wisdom, money, materials and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.
Aristotle
Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve! - Andrew Carnegie
quiz: Kaun Banega Crorepati
James Cameron uses Earth Day release of 'Avatar' DVD to promote environmental crusade
Shakira & Nadal
BBC quiz: reddy2007.blogspot.com 3rd anniversary special
Tutankhamun was the product of an incestuous relationship, which may have caused him to suffer from several disorders including Kohler disease, new research claims. What does the rare disorder, Kohler, affect?
Bones
Twelve French wine producers and traders have been found guilty of fraud in France, after passing off millions of bottles of an inferior grape as a more expensive variety in order to get a better price. What grape variety did they claim to be selling?
Pinot Noir
President Obama has given his backing to the construction of the first civilian nuclear reactors in the US in three decades. In a speech, he referred to 56 nuclear reactors being built around the world. Which of the following country is building the most?
China
A woman in Saudi Arabia hit the headlines after starting up a Facebook protest against men selling what to women in the Kingdom?
Lingerie
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has met President Obama in Washington, despite strong protests from China. Which of the following did he not meet while they were in office?
Jimmy Carter
Authorities in Berlin have ammended the city's strict laws on noise pollution. Who has won the right to be noisy - along with church bells, emergency service sirens and snow ploughs?
Children
We reported last Friday that Walter Frederick Morrison - the man who invented the Frisbee - had died. When it was developed into an aerodynamic plastic toy in the 1950s, what was the Frisbee initially known as?
The Pluto Platter
Saturday, October 16, 2010
The wisdom of Ravan
Workers look at effigies being prepared for the upcoming Dussehra festival in New Delhi
Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same one a second time. Josh Billings
Ravan abducted Lord Ram’s wife, a crime for which he was killed by Ram himself. So says the Ramayan. The epic makes Ravan the archetypical villain. And since Ram is God for most Hindus, Ravan’s actions make him the Devil incarnate. This justifies the annual burning of his effigy on the Gangetic plains during the festival of Dussehra.
But in the hills of Rishikesh or in the temple of Rameshwaram, one hears that tale of how Ram atoned for the sin of killing Ravan. Why should God atone for killing a villain? One realises that like most things Hindu, the Ramayan is not as simple an epic as some are eager to believe.
Ravan was a brahmin, the son of Rishi Vaishrava, grandson of Pulatsya. Ram, though God incarnate, was born in the family of kshatriyas. In the caste hierarchy, Ram was of lower rank. As a brahmin, Ravan was the custodian of Brahma-gyan (the knowledge of God). Killing him meant Brahma-hatya-paap, the sin of Brahminicide, that Ram had to wash away through penance and prayer. Another reason why this atonement was important was because Ravan was Ram’s guru.
The story goes that after shooting the fatal arrow on the battlefield of Lanka, Ram told his brother, Lakshman, “Go to Ravan quickly before he dies and request him to share whatever knowledge he can. A brute he may be, but he is also a great scholar”. The obedient Lakshman rushed across the battlefield to Ravan’s side and whispered in his ears, “Demon-king, do not let your knowledge die with you. Share it with us and wash away your sins”. Ravan responded by simply turning away. An angry Lakshman went back to Ram, “He is as arrogant as he always was, too proud to share anything”. Ram comforted his brother and asked him softly, “Where did you stand while asking Ravan for knowledge?” “Next to his head so that I hear what he had to say clearly”. Ram smiled, placed his bow on the ground and walked to where Ravan lay. Lakshman watched in astonishment as his divine brother knelt at Ravan’s feet. With palms joined, and with extreme humility, Ram said, “Lord of Lanka, you abducted my wife, a terrible crime for which I have been forced to punish you. Now you are no more my enemy. I bow to you and request you to share your wisdom with me. Please do that for if you die without doing so, all your wisdom will be lost forever to the world”. To Lakshman’s surprise, Ravan opened his eyes and raised his arms to salute Ram, “If only I had more time as your teacher than as your enemy. Standing at my feet as a student should, unlike your rude younger brother, you are a worthy recipient of my knowledge. I have very little time so I cannot share much but let me tell you one important lesson I have learnt in my life. Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things that are actually good for you fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination. That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Ram. My last words. I give it to you”. After these words, Ravan died.
source: deccan chronicle
Friday, October 15, 2010
10 Exercises for Better Focus and Concentration
10 Exercises for Better Focus and Concentration
You can find strong powers of concentration in yourself. When you are decisive and sincerely want to excel in your studies, pass an important exam, or playing one of your favorite games; the power of concentration becomes available to you. This kind of concentration is raised because of some need, or desire. Increasing it in a systematic way, brings it under your control, and grants you the ability to use it easily, with no exertion whenever you need it. Real and good concentration is developed slowly, through daily work, and with special exercises. It has to be approached in a reasonable and practical way.
When starting to learn to concentrate you have to find a suitable place where you can be alone and undisturbed. You can sit crossed legged on the floor if you can, or on a chair. Sit with spine erect. Take a few calm deep breaths and then relax your body. In your mind go through each muscle and part of the body and relax it.
The following exercises should help you develop concentration skills:
Exercise 1:
Select some thought and see how long you can hold your mind on it. It is nice to have a clock at first and keep track of the time.
Suppose you decide to think about health, think of health as being a great blessing in the world. Do not let any other thought drift in. Just the moment one starts to obtrude, make it go away. Make it a daily habit of concentrating on this thought for, maybe ten minutes. Practice doing this until you can hold it to the exclusion of everything else. You might have to do this exercise regularly for 10 days or more in order to sharpen your concentration skills.
Exercise 2
Take a book and count the words in any paragraph. Count them again to be sure that it was correct. Start with one paragraph and when it becomes easier count all the words on the page. Perform the counting mentally and only with your eyes
Exercise 3
Take a small simple object such as a spoon, a fork or a glass. Concentrate on it and watch the object from all sides without verbalisation, that is, with no words in your mind. Just watch the object without thinking with words about it
Exercise 4
Draw a small geometrical figure, about 3 inches in size, such as a triangle, a rectangle or a circle. Paint it with any colour you wish and concentrate on it. Only see the figure. Do not think any words, only the figure exists. Watch the figure in front of you and try not to strain your eyes.
Exercise 5
Concentrate on the Within. Lie down and thoroughly relax your muscles. Concentrate on the beating of your heart. Do not pay any attention to anything else. Think how this great organ is pumping the blood to every part of the body; try to actually picture the blood leaving the great reservoir and going in one stream right down to the toes. Picture another going down the arms to the tips of the fingers. After a little practice you can actually feel the blood passing through your system.
Exercise 6
Watch Concentration. Sit in a chair and place a clock with a second hand on the table. Follow the second hand with your eyes as it goes around. Keep this up for five minutes, thinking of nothing else but the second hand, This is a very good exercise when you only have a few minutes to spare, if you are able to keep every other thought in the stream of consciousness subordinate to it. As there is little that is particularly interesting about the second hand, it is hard to do this, but in the extra effort of will power required to make it successful lies its value. Always try to keep as still as possible during these exercises.
Exercise 7
Close your eyes and start to visualize the number one in front of you and say “one” in your head when you see it clearly. Allow the one to disappear and start to visualize the number two and say “two” loud in your head when you see it. Repeat this procedure up to 100 if you can.
Exercise 8
Select an object like a half eaten cookie, a coin, a pen - anything - try to relax every muscle in your body and concentrate on the object. Start thinking about its shape, color, material etc and try to memorize its form. Then close your eyes and try to visualize it in front of you. If you can’t, open your eyes again and start over.
Exercise 8
Write a dream log each morning when you remember a dream and every night before you go to sleep, review your day in reverse. This exercise will help you remember your dreams.
Exercise 9
Choose a spot on the wall and look at it - do not focus too much on it though. Erase all thought from your mind and concentrate as hard as you can on your breathing. Hold on as long as you can.
Exercise 10
When You Read. No one can think without first concentrating his thoughts on the subject on hand. Every man and woman should train himself to think clearly. An excellent exercise is to read an article in a newspaper, and see in how few words you can express it. Reading an article to get only the essentials requires the closest concentration. If you are unable to write out what you read, you will know you are weak in concentration. Instead of writing it out you can express it orally if you wish. Go to your room and deliver it as if you were talking to some one. You will
find exercises like this of the greatest value in developing concentration and learning to think.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Kaun Banega Crorepati: General Knowledge refresher (http://pigmediacraft.weebly.com)
The 2012 Olympic mascot Wenlock (L) and Paralympic mascot Mandeville pose for photographers in the playground at St. Paul's primary school in London
Mascoto means "piece of witchcraft, amulet", and is thought to come from the Medieval Latin word masca, meaning witch or spectre. "Mascotte", however, means charm or amulet.
steve jobs
iPad Already Changing the Way Web Sites Are Built
hi5 web sites for civil services aspirants:-
1. civilserviceindia.com
2. upsc.gov.in
3. onestopias.com
4. civilservice.in
5. indiacareer.com/competitiveexams/civil-service-ias.html
****
What is inflation?
"Inflation is the most regressive form of taxation because it hits the poor the most." --Narendra Jadhav, Vice Chancellor, University of Pune.
Inflation is a rise in the prices of a specific set of goods or services. In either case, it is measured as the percentage rate of change of a price index.
Food prices are soaring. . . all essential items like vegetables, oil, milk, sugar are getting costlier. Rentals and real estate rates have almost doubled in just a few months in most cities. The real estate prices are at record highs making life miserable, especially for people who have migrated to cities for jobs.
Inflation based on wholesale prices during the period January 1998-January 1999 was 4.6 percent, one of the lowest in the world. Today, India's inflation is rising at a fast pace and is set to cross 7%.
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1st April, 1936Formation of the Indian state of Orissa, formerly known as UTKAL.
April 1, 1973 - Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is launched in the Corbett National Park, India.
April 1, 2001 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, which is the first country to allow it.
April 1, 2002 - The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, becoming the first nation in the world to do so.
April 1, 1960 The first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral.
***
Friesland, Limburg and Zeeland are provinces in which European country?
Netherlands
A booming economy has given which European country the nickname the Celtic Tiger?
Ireland
Which of the Earth's four oceans is the smallest?
Arctic Ocean
Which island country of the Greater Antilles uses English as its official language?
Jamaica
Which city, home to the Johns Hopkins University, is located near the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay
Baltimore
Which state has a large area of temperate rain forest - Nevada or Washington
Washington
Because the interior of an island country in the North Atlantic is covered by glaciers and volcanic features, most people live along the coast. Name this country.
Iceland
Straw floor mats called tatami are part of the cultural tradition in which Asian country that occupies archipelago?
Japan
Antwerp,Belgium,hasbeen acenterforwhichgenstoneindsutry for centuries?
diamonds
Which country has ahigher lifeexpectancy- ChileorAfghanistan?
Chile
Theworld'slongestsuspension brdigespanstheInland Sea,linking Shikoku towhich other major Japanese island?
Honshu
***
quiz
1. Why was the “Druk Phuensum Tshogpa” party in the news on March 24?
2. Which legendary sportsperson wrote the following: My Cricketing Life (1938), Farewell to Cricket (1950) and The Art of Cricket (1958)?
3. Which Biblical patriarch was also known as Israel?
4. As of 2006-2007, which club holds the record for the most wins in an EPL season?
5. What was the nationality of the famous painter Jan Vermeer?
6. What is the biggest operational difference between a tortoise and a turtle?
7. Which telecom giant gets its name from a river in Finland?
8. How many stars on a table tennis ball indicate that it is of the highest quality?
9. Which famous cartoon ‘pair’ have had the Latin names Birdus Tastius and Poultrius Devourius?
10. In the Mauryan empire, who succeeded Ashoka the Great?
11. Which Indian actress’ paternal grandfather played cricket for two countries?
12. What is dvimudrakaara in Carnatic music?
13. How is red kidney beans referred to in Indian cooking?
14. Which dance form is performed in front of the Kalivilakku?
15. What was the subject of the world’s first jigsaw puzzles?
Answers
1. It won the first democratic
elections held in Bhutan
2. Sir Donald Bradman;
3. Jacob
4. Chelsea (38 wins);
5. Dutch
6. The former cannot swim or
float on water;
7. Nokia
8. Three;
9. Road Runner and
Wile E. Coyote;
10. Dasaratha
Maurya (after half-brother Kunala became blind); 11. Soha Ali Khan; 12. A composer who has used two kinds of ‘mudras’ in his
compositions;
13. ‘Rajma’
14. Kathakali;
15. Maps.
***
Simran Kaur Mundi of Mumbai was crowned Miss India Universe 2008
machu Picchu is to Peri as Tikal is to what?
Guatemala
Which continent is the world's largest producer of Gold?
Africa
What northern California city was reduced to ruins following a strong earthquake and disastrous fire in 1906
San Francisco
Malawi, Mozambique, and what other country border Lake Malawi?
Tanzania
The snake river and Sawtooth Mountains are located in which state - Ohio or Idaho
Idaho
The economy of Brueni, a small country on the island of Borneo, is based on offshore oil and natural gas fields that lie beneath the waters of which ocean?
Pacific
Which country, one of Africa's most densely populated, is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Rwanda
Which state is closer to the Pacific Ocean - Georgia or Kklahoma?
Oklahoma
What is the term for the process by which ice sheets expand and reshape the physical landscape?
Glaciation
In February 2005, heavy rains caused dam breaks and floods that wiped out villages in Baluchistan, a province bordering the Arabian Sea. Baluchistan province is on the southwest coast of which country?
Pakistan
The Yenisey-Angara river system is the second longest river system on which continent?
Asia
One of the world's most densely populated countries includes one of asia's busiest ports. Name this small island country at the edge of south china sea
singapore
What term is used for the often triangular-shaped deposit of sediment sometimes found at the mouth of a river?
delta
What is the term for process by which ice sheets expand and reshape the physical landscape?
Glaciation.
Quiz:
1. An Indian soldier of the 34th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry, synonymous with the 1857 War of Independence, was executed on this date in 1857. Name him.
2. What culinary term associated with pig also means an amateur radio operator?
3. Where is the ‘fibrous tunic’ on the human face?
4. In literary fiction, Phileas Fogg’s manservant is…?
5. Which famous war began on June 5, 1967, and ended in less than a week?
6. How many locks does the Suez Canal have?
7. How would Rafael Nadal refer to a sauce in his native tongue?
8. Quantity-wise, how many teaspoons make up two tablespoons in the U.K. and the U.S.?
9. As part of his 12 labours, whose girdle was Hercules asked to get?
10. What do formicivore animals feed on?
11. Harald V is the present king of…?
12. If Salt Lake City was your capital, of which U.S. State would you be a resident?
13. Who is playing Dr. Bruce Banner in the upcoming flick “The Incredible Hulk”?
14. Which was the first planet found by mathematical prediction rather than regular observation?
15. What is a ‘Baumé scale’ used to measure?
1. Mangal Pandey
2. Ham
3. Also known as the tunica fibrosa oculi, it’s the outer layer of the eyeball consisting of the cornea and sclera
4. Passepartout
5. The Six-Day War
6. No locks
7. Salsa
8. Six
9. Hippolyte or Hippolyta, the Amazonian queen
10. Ants and termites
11. Norway
12. Utah
13. Edward Norton
14. Neptune
15. Density of liquids.
****
Chapultepec Park, which was once the site of a residence for Aztec rulers, in what capital city?
Mexico City
Oil production in the United Arab Emirates is centered on the country's capital city. Name this city
Abu Dhabi
Which country, once a region of nomadic tribes unified under Genghis Khan, has an economy dependent on animal producs such as cashmere and wool
Mongolia
Which country is bordered by Denmark and the Netherlands?
Germany
Which state is known as the Ocean State because of its 400 miles o coastline -
Rhode Island
The Jaffna, a region inhabited primarily by Tamils, forms the northern tip of what island country?
Sri Lanka
Oasis farming and livestock raising are common in the Xinjiang Autonomous region in the arid western part of which Asian country
China
Which agent of erosion creates V-shaped valleys?
water
Transylvania is a region that was made famous by a fictional character, Count Dracula. This region is located in which European country
Romania
What city, the most populous in Namibia, lies on a plateau between the Namib and Kalahari Deserts>
Windhoek
What term is used for the imaginary line on Earth that marks the boundary where one day ends and the next begins?
International Date Line
China and which Southeast Asian country border the Gulf of Tonkin?
Vietnam
The inland sea borders three of the four major islands that make up which country in Asia
Japan
The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, one of the world's largest churches, was built during the 1980's in the French-speaking country on Ghana's western border. Name this country
Cote d'lvoire
****
Charles Darwin works include:
Voyage of the Beagle, Zoology, Descent of Man
Quiz (Dated April 15, 2008)
1. In the world of animated TV series, how is Herschel Krustofski better known?
2. Name the most famous Italian Renaissance polymath - scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor - born on this date in 1452.
3. The birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, is.?
4. Which recurring character does Thomas Andrew Felton play in the Harry Potter movies?
5. What is `biosonar'?
6. In a famous poem of his, what did William Wordsworth refer to as: "Continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way."
7. What would one do with a `cummerbund'?
8. In the Mahabharata, who was the sister of Shalya?
9. Which is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust?
10. If one was flying the `Fighting Falcon' the aircraft would be an F-14, F-16 or F-18?
11. Which luxury car maker, founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company, is now part of Tata Motors?
12. Which Royal and minister is the Congress MP from Guna?
13. The longest and largest nerve in the human body is the...?
14. In its normal natural surroundings, why would a polar bear never attack a penguin from behind?
15. What is the biggest contribution of Kirkpatrick Macmillan to the world of locomotion?
Answers:
1. Krusty the Clown (of The Simpsons fame)
2. Leonardo da Vinci
3. Nankana Sahib
4. Draco Malfoy
5. The biological sound navigating system used by animals like bats to locate objects
6. A host of golden daffodils
7. Wear it. It's a broad waist sash often worn with single-breasted dinner jackets
8. Madri, the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva
9. Quartz
10. F-16
11. Jaguar Cars Limited
12. Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia
13. Sciatic
14. Polar bears live north of equator while all but one species of penguin live south of equator
15. The bicycle.
1. Name the only male tennis player in the Open era to have won all the four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold celebrating his birthday on this date.
2. Which comedian and actor gave the voice for Barry Bee Benson in the ‘Bee Movie’?
3. According to the nursery rhyme, what five things did Old King Cole call for?
4. How many players to a polo team on the field?
5. In geometry, angles between 181 and 360 are called…?
6. James Earl Ray is considered the assassin of which Nobel Peace Prize winner?
7. In chess, what is ‘fool’s mate’?
8. In which country is Balaklava, made famous in a Tennyson poem?
9. Whose schoolmates were Harry Wharton, Bob Cherry and Frank Nugent?
10. In America, how is a lawyer commonly referred to?
11. In Greek myth, where do the Gods live?
12. Which of Batman’s enemies has Jim Carrey portrayed on screen?
13. Who is ‘Moochu Singh’?
14. According to the Bible, how long was Noah’s Ark?
15. A vegetarian should not have ‘lachanophobia’. What is it a fear of?
1. Name the only male tennis player in the Open era to have won all the four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold celebrating his birthday on this date.
2. Which comedian and actor gave the voice for Barry Bee Benson in the ‘Bee Movie’?
3. According to the nursery rhyme, what five things did Old King Cole call for?
4. How many players to a polo team on the field?
5. In geometry, angles between 181 and 360 are called…?
6. James Earl Ray is considered the assassin of which Nobel Peace Prize winner?
7. In chess, what is ‘fool’s mate’?
8. In which country is Balaklava, made famous in a Tennyson poem?
9. Whose schoolmates were Harry Wharton, Bob Cherry and Frank Nugent?
10. In America, how is a lawyer commonly referred to?
11. In Greek myth, where do the Gods live?
12. Which of Batman’s enemies has Jim Carrey portrayed on screen?
13. Who is ‘Moochu Singh’?
14. According to the Bible, how long was Noah’s Ark?
15. A vegetarian should not have ‘lachanophobia’. What is it a fear of?
Answers
1. Andre Agassi
2. Jerry Seinfeld
3. Pipe, Bowl and Fiddlers 3
4. Four
5. Reflex angles
6. Martin Luther King Jr.
7. It’s the quickest possible checkmate in the game
8. Ukraine
9. Billy Bunter
10. Attorney
11. Mt. Olympus
12. ‘The Riddler’
13. The mascot of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team
14. 300 cubits
15. Vegetables
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What you MUST know about inflation
http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/mar/26infla1.htm
"Inflation is bringing us true democracy. For the first time in history, luxuries and necessities are selling at the same price." -- Robert Orben.
The first panacea for a misguided nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists." -- Ernest Hemingway.
"Inflation is taxation without legislation." Milton Friedman.
# There are different types of inflation: Deflation: It refers to a general falling level of prices.
# Disinflation: This is a decrease in the rate of inflation.
# Hyperinflation: When prices zoom and inflation goes out-of-control, it is called hyperinflation.
# Stagflation: It is a combination of inflation, rising unemployment and stagnation in the economy.
# Reflation: This refers to move to hike prices to fight deflationary pressures.
10 things to avoid at your job interview
Lionel-Messi
10 things to avoid at your job interview
If you have received an interview call, it means your CV has done what it was supposed to. The next step for you is to convert the job interview into a job. Your CV can't do much here. It is you who has to convince the interviewer that you are the best choice.
However good your CV is, if you can't present yourself properly during the interview, it can't get you the job. There are many small mistakes that candidates commit, costing them the opportunity and the job. This article is an attempt to put forward the small mistakes that can prove to be the death of the interview.
*
If you really want the job for which you are being interviewed, make sure you do not commit these mistakes and instead leave a good impression on the interviewer.
~ Arriving late and ignoring explicit instructions
This is the first mistake that can give a negative impression. As you go for an interview, the interviewer spares some time to meet you. Your arriving late will probably disturb their work schedule.
Try to reach on time and if you are getting late for any reason, make sure that you inform the interviewer. Also, make sure that you follow all the instructions provided to you to appear for the interview. Ignoring the explicit instructions shows your "I don't care" attitude.
Anjali went to appear for an interview. She reached the employer's office on time but ignored the instructions to enter from gate no 2 rather than the first gate. This made her waste a lot of time searching for the interview hall.
Eventually, she turned up late for the interview. As interviewers got to know this, the first impression they got about Anjali was that she does not care for instructions. She lost the interview before it could begin.
~ Don't be a job beggar
Approach the interview as a problem solver and not as a job beggar. It is not the beggars who are hired; it is the people who have a capability to solve the employer's problems, who are hired. The employer has a problem to which you have a solution, so it is a give and take relationship. Employers respect people who respect themselves.
~ Going without preparation
Prepare yourself for the obvious questions. Not being able to reply to the general questions properly gives a bad impression. Make it a point to research the company and its business before you go for an interview.
Not having the basic knowledge about the company shows that you are not interested in the job. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can commit as an interviewee. Akash replied to a notification requiring Corporate Communication Managers and with his impressive CV, he managed to secure an interview call.
*
As the interview proceeded, the interviewer asked him if he was aware of the company's business, to which he replied in the negative. The interviewer immediately told him, he could have taken a look at the company's website and collected some information before coming. An embarrassing situation that could easily have been avoided.
~ Not analysing the job profile and requirements
This is another big mistake that many candidates commit. If you do not take the time to understand the job profile and requirements properly, you cannot expect the questions the interviewer might have. Moreover, you will not be able to dispel the interviewer of the doubts s/he may have regarding your candidature on that profile.
~ Badmouthing your previous company
During an interview, do not criticize your last employer. The prospective employer will try to relate himself to your last employer and your badmouthing can give them the impression that you are a misfit. Most employers try to judge your attitude through this question. Speaking negatively about your place of work might give them the feeling that you are not an easy person to get along with.
~ Telling lies about your candidature
Remember that you have a right to remain silent over the things that you don't want to disclose. It is not necessary that you provide them the details of every inch of your career but make sure that you do not tell lies about your candidature. These lies may get you hired but they can be a big reason for you being fired as well.
~ Sounding money-minded
Employers do not like people who switch jobs for couple of thousand rupees. Although money is a major attraction, do not talk about the salary and benefits before you are offered the job. let the interviewer begin the discussion on the salary.
~ Not asking questions to the interviewer
Almost all interviewers give the candidate a chance to ask questions. This is something you can always expect. Prepare yourself to ask some intelligent questions about the company, business, your chances to grow in the organisation etc. By not asking questions you might give the impression of being uninterested or indifferent.
*
~ Failing to send a thank you note
Do not fail to send a thank you note to the interviewers within 24 hours of your interview. This will keep you fresh in their minds and give them another chance to let you know if they have any concerns regarding your candidature.
~ Over-aggression
You have all the right to speak for yourself during the interview and sell your skills but do not go overboard by interrupting the interview or arguing with him/her. This might give the interviewer the impression of over-confidence instead of confidence.
These are some of the more unusual things that might skip your attention as you appear for an interview. In addition to these pointers, there are other general things you should avoid such as not grooming yourself properly, chewing gum or smoking just before or during the interview, answering your cell phone during the interview etc.
So, take a fresh look at your approach and practice the things listed above to ensure that you leave a good impression on the interviewer and give them a reason to hire you.
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Writers booked by business
The World Trade Fair in Delhi and a session with Kiran Nagarkar, the leading Marathi writer whose novel Cuckold, written in English, I regard as the best by an Indian, gave me much food for thought. I also have in mind Sheela Reddy’s article in Outlook mentioning the huge advance royalties now being paid to new writers by some of India’s leading publishing houses like Penguin, Viking, Harper Collins, Rupa and Roli Books. They run up to Rs 50 lakh before a word of projected novel has been written.
They are higher than advance royalties offered to authors in America or England or in any other European country. And they are offered only for works in English, not for written in our national language Hindi or regional languages. It is clear that English reigns supreme in India. In the Book Fair over two-thirds of the stalls were taken by English; Hindi and Urdu were a poor second and third; other languages were barely noticeable.
The world of writers and publishers has changed beyond recognition. The pioneers of Indians writing in English — Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao either had patrons who helped them find publishers or organisations which sponsored their works. They made some noise in literary circles but not much money. The institution of literary agents was little known. The only one I heard of was Curtis Brown. It was said that if it took up your work, they would find you a good publisher and take their cut on royalties due to you. I for one never went through a literary agent-nor had problems finding a good publisher. I was happy with the 8-10 per cent they gave me on sales of my books. Today a literary agent has become a powerful factor in publishing: the best of writers use them because it is they who get publishing houses to cough up huge sums as advance royalties. The whole business resembles a whore-house. Publishers can be compared to brothel keepers, literary agents to bharooahs (pimps) who find eligible girls and fix rates of payment; writers can be likened to women in the profession. New comers are virgins (naya maal) who draw the biggest fees for being deflowered.
Publishing houses package their goods with saleable titles, beautifully drawn jackets with a line or two by a celebrity author vouching for the excellence of its contents. It has become a racket. You can see the same kind of set up in Kolkata’s Sonagachi, Mumbai’s Kamatipura and Hyderabad’s Mahboob ki Mehendi.
Rusy Karanjia
He died on Friday, the February 1, aged 95. As a matter of fact he had ceased to be the Russy I knew well almost a decade ago.
When I met him last time it was at a large reception in a hotel, his daughter Rita warned me “Uncle, he won’t recognise you.”
There he was as dapperly dressed as ever and shook me by the hand. From the glazed look in his eyes I could tell he did not know who I was. I was used to it as my wife suffered from the same ailment: Alzheimer’s disease which manifests itself by lapse of memory. During my nine years in Bombay I met Russy almost every fortnight. At times we lunched together; a few times he asked me over for drinks at his home. He had made his tabloid Blitz a weekly habit. So had Dosu Karaka and Babu Rao Patel.
Russy and Dosu had an ongoing slanging match: Rusy championing the Left, Dosu the Right; Babu Rao Patel championed Hindutva with weekly jibes at Muslims.
He lived in a suburb with his two wives and Gurkha guards for security. I regarded all three as yellow journals and enjoyed going through them. None of the obituaries I’ve read so far mentions the fact that Russy was once reprimanded in Parliament.
Russy lived in princely style. So did his friends Rajni patel, President of the Pradesh Congress Committee and Ramesh Sanghvi, PRO of the Shahenshah of Iran when he visited Bombay.
Their hearts bled for the poor and the destitute. They made people like me feel like blood-sucking capitalists. Russy had no political scruples nor concern for people he lampooned in his journal.
Having upheld Socialists and Communists most of his years, he had no compunction supporting BJP and Hindutva when it seemed to be the winning side. I was trashed more than once in Blitz (and regularly in Mother India). Russy made up by saying he knew nothing about the piece against me, as he was abroad, and inviting me to lunch.
Russy kept his cool when he was attacked by critics. The only time I saw him rattled was when his long-time friend Olga Tellis, full of oomph in her younger days, became friendly with the dashing George Fernandes, then Minister of the Central Cabinet.
None of the three journals had circulation they claimed to attract advertisers. All the three ceased publication: Blitz died in Russy’s life-time well before he was taken ill. However, whatever their negative aspects, all three left their mark on the history of India journalism, Russy Karanjia more than the other two.
Sarcastic Smiles
I smile when Prakash Karat says “Excuse me I am extremely blunt: My party is neither with Congress nor with BJP. We want to forge a third front:”
I smile when L.K.Advani says, “Being a humble man I don’t boast,
I have an unfulfilled desire
I simply covet PM’s post.”
I smile when Mayawati says
“My birthday bash enacted a wonderful scene. The topmost Babus of Uttar Pradesh
Adored me like a Phantom Queen.
I smile when our maid-servant says, “Sir, the day is not very far.
When to render domestic help
I shall come to your house in a NANO car.
*****
Print media -survival of the fittest
Though media baron Ruport Murdoch believes that digital is the future, Malayala Manorama executive editor Jacob Mathew believes that newspapers will put up a strong show and co-exist in the digital age.
India Today Group CEO and editor-in-chief Aroon Purie also graced the occasion to speak on the Future of Print Media in a morning session at the Ficci Frames today. Mathew begins by narrating an experience he encountered recently with his editor friend. "I had always considered him a sober man but this time he had a wild look in his eyes, when I asked why? He said he was chasing skirts. As he had freshly entered his fifties, I thought it was a case of male-menopause. He brushes aside my instant diagnosis and explained that he was editing fashion pages and he was constantly working and thinking about skirts, frills and pleats.
"He entered journalism with the idea of making a difference to society, but, there he was condemned to writing about frilly, silly nothings. I disrupted his ranting and pointed out that he was actually facing crisis of content. There are serious stories and entertainment stories to be told, but they go reported in a fizzle form of fashion. "It is all a matter of choice. Instead of digging for in-depth stories, editors like him are content with presenting ravishing visuals, of mass cloying words. This goes true not just for soft stories; fashion or glamour but also of hard stories; politics, economics, business, sports and human relationship," he says.
Citing that even stories of pathos and cruelty are put under the glittering glares of glamour. Content remains the greatest challenge in the newspaper industry today.
Circulation being key, he says that it has saturated in many developed countries and advertising growth rate there is negligible. In contrast, India presents attractive windows of opportunities because of increasing literacy and purchasing power.
"Indian newspaper industry has a turnover of Rs 12,000 crore in 2005. It is expected to touch Rs 13,500 crore. Indian's figure is just five per cent of Asia pacific region, even the Koreans are double our size. Paradoxically our size is our strength. We have a tremendous potential to grow as we are small right now."
On the potential that newspapers have, he says, "India reaches only 35 per cent of our adult population even though adult literacy is about 65 per cent. To build this gap between readership and literacy, and due to the competition the publications kept its prices low and depended entirely on advertisers to subsidise the reader.
"This model probably was viable in India because it simultaneously developed the vibrant advertisement industry. The industry aggregate for the years 2002 to 2004 indicates that 60 per cent of our revenues come from advertising sales. While the circulation revenue accounts for 38 per cent, other incomes account for about 2 per cent. This percentage varies between the English and the vernacular publications.
"Circulation revenue covers about 70 per cent of our variable costs. The first 25 per cent of the advertising revenue goes towards covering the variable cost and the balance 75 per cent is available for fixed cost and profits. Obviously advertising drives the print media.
"When the ad revenue grows at a healthy pace, publishers invest in increasing their circulations. With bigger circulations, they are able to command higher ad rates. This business model demands that the momentum be provided by growing ad revenues. Though some say that with lower cover prices, one chases artificial numbers of circulation to justify high ad rates.
Asking if this model is sustainable and fair, he continues, "This is being debated as some believe that there is ample scope for further cover price increase. The expanding economy has brought into the market a host of new advertisers and this has made it possible for us to increase the ad rates as well."
Looking ahead, Mathew says, "The prospects to 2006 look fairly good. With the economy of the country continuing to grow at 7.5 per cent, we may reasonably expect at least 15 to 20 per cent growth in ad revenues. This will drive the circulation at an eight per cent growth in the turnover and then can be expected to grow by 12 to 14 per cent.
"The main challenges come from Internet. Websites like Shaadi.dot come, Naukri.dot com have made major inroads for jobs and matrimonial. Real estates and second hand vehicles are two other classified ad category waited to be snapped by us webpreneurs. Baazi.dot com, now taken away by eBay has already proved its potential of internet shopping. Sensing this pattern, several newspaper publishers have forayed into the electronic media. Some have succeeded and some have bit the dust.
"Eventually, major newspaper groups will emerge as multiple media enterprises combining the strengths of electronic and print media."
Mathew sums up, "We know the strengths of our medium, yet our challenge is to aggressively convey to our local markets nationally and internationally and in particular to opinion makers whose decision impacts our collective future."
Quoting US comedian Jerry Seinfeld's accidental observation on newspaper as being bang on the dot, "It is amazing that the amount of news that happens everyday always just exactly fits in the newspaper."
Concurring with Jacob, the India Today Group CEO and editor-in-chief Purie had some interesting anecdotes as well as high points of the space and the future trends.
Purie recalls an incident that took place thirty years ago at a printing conference in Venice, the questions asked were pertaining to the future of print and will print vanish. There were printers who raised their concerns on whether the business would last or not last, as computers had started creating its presence.
Narrating the incident, Purie adds, "One of the speakers Robert Maxell, the owner of The Mirror Group in his opening statement said, "I know print will survive because you can't take the computer into the toilet." But now, of course, one can take the computer to the toilet.
He says, "But still print survived, it actually prospered and thrived. The eternal question keeps coming up every few decades when new technologies comes, will print survive?"
He points out an instance where Bill Gates offered his opinion on the Indian print media recently. Bill Gates, who is considered the biggest enemy of print and quoting him as saying, "I m sure, it will be more than fifty years, that somebody is still printing a newspaper and taking it to someone, somewhere."
He continues that Gates is fifty and in all probability, newspapers will out last him. He adds that surprisingly Gates in the interview stated, "Newspaper readership is still growing in India." Purie remarked, "This is something when a man like him has obviously noticed and has not declared the demise of newspaper or print media."
Throwing some light on various figures, he says, "Last fifteen years, the ad revenue share in print of the total ad pie has shrunk from 70 per cent to a humbling 46 per cent due to the advent of cable and television. Internet and radio has compounded its misery. People thought that print has completely lost out. Any kind of change of this kind would have destroyed any other industry in my opinion."
"The readership grew by 28 per cent with newspapers leading the pack; Hindi newspapers grew by 68 per cent, Telegu newspaper 63 per cent, English newspapers grew by 36 per cent. Quietly, but clearly the new growth has been in the Indian language print media."
Citing a recent study conducted by an industry journal, he says that it estimated that the highest growing print media companies included Jagran Prakashan that grew at 26 per cent; Bennett, Coleman & Co at 17 per cent; Bhaskar publishing group at 16 and my own company Living Media at 12 per cent.
Referring to growth in advertisement with respect to last year, he highlights that the ad business grew by 15 per cent to about Rs 12000 crores setting a new trend; the print share has increased 48 per cent from being 46 per cent while the television share remained at 42 per cent. Although television has grown but one can see that there is a slight change in the trend.
"The print media has in fact staged a comeback to define all forecasts and international trends. The ad revenue growth can be attributed to the significant increase in ad spend by educational institutes, retail, real estates, consumer durables, automobiles. The revenue growth in television has been powered by FMCG sector," says Purie.
Speaking about growing consumerism, he says, this trends will throw up new opportunities for special interest publications. The mass circulated dailies and magazines will also benefit by adding special interest both genre wise and geographically.
He cities the example of the India Today Group wherein, "We grew the topline circulation by 30 per cent from the previous year by using innovative marketing strategies including news focus offerings. The innovations included usage of digital media such as SMS and Internet besides, strong subscription campaigns.
"At present, India Today has an add -on free magazine every week, from city magazines to lifestyle to education. All this has come on the back of the cover price increase from Rs 15 to Rs 20, a whopping increase of 33 per cent. And in just one year India Today English and Hindi editions over too The Times of India and Nav Bharat Times' national readership by over 5 million."
Speaking on the future trends, he says, the print media will see an area of super fragmentation. It will virtually expand in every genre. While players will work towards super niche positioning, consumers will have to pay more for their newspaper and magazines. The trend may also see that the publishers will have to reduce their dependence on advertisement revenue to drive their successful models.
But, with caution he also says, "While, it may not be the accurate predictions for India. It validates opinion that fragmentation may not affect mature medium like print to the extent it affects relatively newer medium like television."
Pointing another trend -the access to capital, he says, "The print media will be powered by many media companies tapping the financial markets, by ways of IPOs, inflow of capital by private equity and by going public enabling expansion and reducing any barriers that in the past were big constrains for any news entrants. The trend has already started and will become bigger for the businesses.
At present, the government has permitted 26 per cent foreign direct investment in news and current affairs publications, which has led to Financial Times picking up stake in Business Standard, BBC and Times of India in a joint venture company WWM.
But, Purie believes regulations are still too restricted and should be opened up and even the policy for facsimile editions and foreign publications coming here is really very confusing and unnecessary.Picking up on another trend is digital opportunities. He says, "The 300 pound gorilla, which I think publishers don't know what to do with it. Internet does not have to be a competitor like radio and television. It can be partner to the print media. It can only supplement the distribution of content and leverage the print brand.
Narrating yet another recent incident at Dow Jones where The New York Times publishers Sulzberger was asked, "aren't you worried about the decline in readership and ad revenue being threatened by the Internet".
Sulzberger explains, "In the newspaper business there are basic costs-- paper, distribution and people. If Internet comes, I will get ride of the first two as I do away with the problem of paper and distribution. I still have the brand, the content and the ability to sell the advertsiment. I'm not worried."
No wonder every newspaper may have an online presence, the challenges for the publishers is to monetise this and to appreciate unique qualities of the Internet interactivity and immediacy.
He agree with the point made by the global media barron Rupert Murdoch who opines that today newspaper is just a paper, tommorrow it can be a destination.
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Visual Journalism
Newspapers are vying with each other to jump into the bandwagon of visual journalism. The attempt is not only to make the product visually more attractive, but also to reduce the cognitive load of the reader.One of the reasons cited for this trend is the change in readership habits. People, especially of the younger generation, spend very little time these days reading newspapers. According to surveys conducted in India and abroad, they expend a lot of time watching television and surfing the Internet. A national readership survey (2002) found that an urban reader in India, on an average, spends 32 minutes on newspapers against 100 minutes watching television. These findings need to be looked at closely. There is little doubt there are many things in modern life that compete for a person's time. So, the time he spends on newspaper has come down. However, the 100 minutes on television is not in direct competition with newspaper or news. Many other activities, like time spend on going to the theaters, would have taken a cut.InfographicsMany newspapers in India and abroad have found a solution to the dwindling 'reader interest' on their product. (In India, their circulations have never been dwindling). They include simplification of the language, offering of soft stories and presentation of stories with highlights, infographics and even pinups. This could turn out to be a vicious circle with the reader looking for lesser and lesser cognitive load on him. The readers, especially the younger ones, may become lazier as information is offered to him in tablet form. Making the reader lazier would be suicidal for the medium in the long run.MTV generationHowever, there is little reason to think that today's reader is lazier than the aristocrats of the past. Nor is there evidence that the MTV generation cares less for good content. The readership surveys do not look at reader satisfaction. We have seen readers throwing away newspapers saying that there was hardly matter for ten minutes reading in them. This did not mean that there was nothing in the 10 or 12 pages each of those newspapers. Apparently, the reader is not finding material that interests him, or what he thinks he should spent more time on. So, the problem is more with the content rather than design. (Design sometimes creates the impression of plenty or the lack of it). Light material would get thrown away more easily than gripping and serious stories. This is not to say that one should not try to make the pages more attractive. Initial buying decisions and sustained liking for a newspaper may be decided by lay out and ease of reading (from the typographical point of view). Printing and other production technologies including colour printing have made it possible to make visually appealing pages quicker than before. There is no reason why one should not take advantage of them.Web vs. PrintHowever, there is a tendency to adapt design elements from the Web. This needs to be chosen carefully. Compared to computer and television screen, the luminosity of the printed page is very low, especially on newsprint. So, clutter of infographics and images could darken up the page more easily on print than on the screen, especially if the tonal values are high. They can also cause visual overload. (Visual overload happens very often on the Web. This may be one of the reasons, other than slow loading of images, that prompts readers to look for text in preference to images on Web pages.) Images, advertisements and infographics could suppress text.On the Web, news stories appear in different pages. So, design requirements vary. For example, a photo or graphic with every story, which is desirable on the Web, would not be desirable on the print unless the format is of magazine. Text is more readable on the print than on the Web. (Readability is lower for the Web as the resolution of the computer screen is low*.) So, print can always accommodate more text without the reader being turned away. News sites would have to depend on infographics more than the printed publications to tell the story, because the screen size is small. Many readers are even reluctant to scroll down. (If we accept the argument that the readers are inherently lazy, the print has an advantage here. However, it is notable that interactivity is described as the great advantage of the new medium.)Of Visual Journalism:Visually attractive does not mean that the product would be intellectually attractive. The pages should look inviting. At the same time, the content should be stimulating. If the objective of the newspaper is only to sell, sex and crime on the front page could achieve the objective. Still, there is the question as to how many pin ups one would want to see in the morning (See the related link). However, as everyone knows, stature of a newspaper and lack of higher objectives are mutually exclusive.It is said about the Web that content is the king. This is all the more true for newspapers where the written content is the King.
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Winner
Winners
Officials rejected a candidate for a news broadcasters post Since his voice was not fit for a news broadcaster. He was also told that with his obnoxiously long name, He would never be famous. He is Amitabh Bachchan.
In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition For the executives of the Decca Recording Company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, One executive said, " We don't like! Their sound. Groups of guitars are On the way out." The group was called The Beatles.
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In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency Told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, " You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married". She went on and became Marilyn Monroe.
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In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, Fired a singer after one performance. He told him, " You ain't goin' nowhere son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck". He went on to become Elvis Presley.
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A small boy--the fifth amongst seven siblings of a poor father, Was selling newspapers in a small village to earn his living. He was not exceptionally smart at school but was fascinated by Religion and rockets. The first rocket he built crashed. A missile that he built crashed Multiple times And he was made a butt of ridicule. He is the person to have scripted the Space Odyssey of India Single-handedly. He is Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. President of India.
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When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, It did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, " That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to see one of them?"
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When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, He tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, " I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process".
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In the 1940s, another young inventor named Chester Carlson Took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in The country. They all turned him down. In 1947, after 7 long years of rejections, He finally got a tiny company in Rochester, NY, the Haloid Company, To purchase the rights to his invention--an electrostatic Paper-copying process. Haloid became Xerox Corporation.
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A little girl--the 20th of 22 children, Was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, She contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, Which left her with aparalyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on And began to Walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, Which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every Race she entered, She came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she Actually won a race. And then another. >From then on she won every race she entered. Eventually this little girl-- Wilma Rudolph, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.
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A schoolteacher scolded a boy for not paying attention to his mathematics And for not being able to solve simple problems. She told him that you would not become anybody in life. The boy was Albert Einstein
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Kaun Banega Crorepati :General Knowledge Master (http://pigmediacraft.weebly.com)
Portugal becomes the eighth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriages nationwide
For students, Sehwag's second triple ton shows that destiny is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice; it's not a thing to be waited for, it's a thing to be achieved. Today a man, down on his luck just three tests ago, proved that determination and perseverance can move the world and demolish the roadblocks that come in the way
What is the subprime effect?
Subprime lending, also called ‘B-Paper’, ‘near-prime’ or ‘second chance’ lending, refers to the practice of giving loans to borrowers at interest rates above the prevailing market rates because of their low credit status and increased risk due to either a limited credit history, or histories of payment delinquencies, charge-offs or bankruptcies. Subprime lending includes mortgages, credit cards and car loans. It is risky for both the lender and the borrower. It helps those consumers who otherwise would not have access to credit market. But on the flip side the borrowers do not have the resources to meet the long-term loan obligations. But the crisis began in 2006, when in the US, thousands of borrowers defaulted in payments; as a result many lenders had to file for bankruptcy leading to a direct impact on the US housing market and economy as a whole.
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APPSC Examination held on 9.3.2008 General Studies random questions (APRO Paper)
1. Jean Paul Satre was famous for:
2. Panchayat Raj System was introduced in the year :
3. Which amendment of the Constitution gave priority to Directive Principles over Fundamental Rights?
4. What is the main objective of the Rural Development Programmes?
5. Identical twins are born when:
6. 6. What are the primary colours?
7. Khalsa was founded by:
8. Blue colour of sky is due to:
9. Today Mal was associated with:
10. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award is given for outstanding performance in:
11. Tripitakas are the sacred books of the
12. Mohini Attam is a dance form which originated in:
13. Red blood corpuscles are produced in:
14. Mountain is to the Himalayas as ocean is to:
15. Protestant reformation was directed against:
16. Khasis are an important tribe in India. Where most of them live?
17. The famous Kanha Wild Life Sanctuary is located in the state of:
18. Planning does not entail:
19. A bat is a/an:
20. Genetic engineering is a branch of:
21. Material most commonly used in nuclear power plants is
22. Which of the following is not an infectious disease?
23. The capital of the Kushanas was:
24. Rajatarangini is a historical book of the
25. The Golden temple at Amritsar has built at the site where:
26. The world famous painting ‘Mona Lisa’ is the work of
27. The President’s rule can be imposed in a state for a maximum period of:
28. Judicial review signifies that the Supreme Court :
29. The structure of the Indian Constitution is:
30. Which one of the following writs literally means ‘we command’?
31. Money bill can originate in
32. Parliament of India is a
33. Which of the following is the chief source of political power in India?
34. The cabinet secretariat functions under the direct control of the :
35. Which writ is sought to be issued to prohibit action?
36. Which nation has adopted the system of Administrative Law
37. The constituents of India’s Parliament are Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and
38. Who decides whether a bill is Money Bill or not?
39. The special status of Jammu and Kashmir implies that it has:
40. The Preamble can also be amended under:
41. The cause of inflation is:
42. Which of the following is not a bar to public service
43. Which of the following is called the Magna Carta of Indian liberties?
44. Appellate Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court does not involve?
45. What is the most remarkable aspect of Indian industry since independence?
46. The community development programme was launched in:
47. Globalisation of Indian economy means:
48. Devaluation of currency leads to
49. A growing country is one with
50. Which is not the main source of state revenue?
51. What are the grass-lands of South America called?
52. Ecitement in human body is caused by:
53. Goitre is caused by the deficiency of
54. Kautilya’s Arthashastra is a great treatise on
55. By whose efforts, Buddhism became the global religion?
56. Tides in the Ocean are caused due to:
57. Light year is the
58. Which organ is associated with the production of insulin in the human body?
59. Buddhism disappeared from the land of its birth primarily because of
60. Article VI of GATT (WTO) is related with:
General Knowledge
Kilimanjaro with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawensi, and Shira, is an inactive stratovolcano in north-eastern Tanzania. Although it does not have the highest elevation, Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain rise[1] in the world,[2] rising 4,600 m (15,100 ft) from its base, and includes the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 meters (19,340 ft), providing a dramatic view from the surrounding plains.
McKinley, Mt- Norht Pk 20,320 feet (North America)
South America, the planet's 4th largest continent, includes (12) countries and (3) major territories. It contains the massive Amazon River and surrounding basin - the largest tropical rain forest in the world; the toothy-edged Andes Mountains, that stretch the entire length of the continent, and some of the most diverse and spectacular landforms on the planet.
Argentina's Aconcagua (22,835'/6960m) is famous as the highest peak in the western hemisphere, but Andean peaks rise to over 20,000'/6100m in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador as well, and Colombia (18865'/5750m) and Venzuela (16427'/5007m) are not far behind. Make no mistake, these are big, glaciated, and serious mountains for almost their entire length.
The tallest Mountain in Antarctica is Vinson Massif rising 4,892 metres (16,050 feet) above sea level
The lowest point in Antarctica is within the Bentley Subglacial Trench, which reaches 2,555 meters below sea level. This is also the lowest place on earth not covered by ocean (although it is covered by ice)
Extreme point of Europe: Northernmost point — Cape Fligely, Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land, Russia (81° 48′ 24″ N)
The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of biogeographic regions being the world's smallest continent but the sixth-largest country in the world. The population of Australia is concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts. The geography of the country is extremely diverse, ranging from the snow capped mountains of Tasmania to large deserts, tropical and temperate forests.
Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast. Highest point is Mount Kosciuszko
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A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing one or more extra days (or, in case of lunisolar calendars, an extra month) in order to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year. For example, February would have 29 days in a leap year instead of the usual 28. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of full days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. A year which is not a leap year is called a common year.
Today is Leap day (29.2.2008)
quote of the day:
The way to recover the meaning of life and the worthwhileness of life is to recover the power of experience, to have impulse voices from within, and to be able to hear these impulse voices from within - and make the point : This can be done. - Abraham Maslow
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March 2, 1953 - The Academy Awards are first broadcast on television by NBC.
March 2, # 1949 - Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.
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March 3, 1575 - Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi
March 3, 1971 - Beginning of Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and India's official entry to the Bangladesh Liberation War in support of Mukti Bahini
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March 4, 1774 - First sighting of Orion Nebula by William Herschel.
MArch 4, 1789 - In New York City, the first United States Congress meets, putting the Constitution of the United States into effect.
March 5, 1968 - U.S. launches Solar Explorer B, aka Explorer 37 from Wallops Island to study the Sun.
March 5, 1912 - Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
March 7, 1926 The first successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation took place, between New York City and London.
March 7, # 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the telephone (patent # 174,465).
International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on March 8 every year. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.
Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc).
In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
The IWD is also celebrated as the first spring holiday, as in the listed countries the first day of March is considered the first day of the spring season.
***
Tiger Trivia
The tiger population in India is moving towards extinction faster than we can say Tiger! Soon school excursions to tiger parks, adventure holidays to tiger sanctuaries or even a visit to the zoo to see the big cat will be a thing of the past!
Human encroachment of the natural habitat and poaching are the main causes for this travesty. We all need to wake up to this stark reality before we lose the national animal forever! Did you know.
* The earliest known portrayal of the Royal Bengal Tiger in India comes to us from the Indus Valley Civilization where a 2500 BC seal featuring a tiger was found.
* At the current rate of poaching and habitat loss, it is estimated that tigers in the wild could completely disappear within the next ten years
* Bengal Tigers are native to India, Nepal and Bangladesh.Tigers are fully grown at 3-4 years of age. Male Bengal tigers reach up to 230 kilograms and three metres in length, while the female Bengal tigers are 130-170 kilograms and up to 2.5 metres long
* Tiger stripes are like fingerprints. No two are the same. The stripes are not only in the tiger's fur, but are a pigmentation of the skin.
* At full running speed tigers reach up to 60 kilometres per hour.
* Tigers have a white spot on the back of both ears, which looks like eyes. This tricks predators into thinking the tiger is looking at them. This is why they are called 'eye spots
* A group of tigers is called a 'streak'.
* Tigers have two noses! Well, not literally of course. A secondary scent gland called 'Jacobson's organ' is located in the tigers mouth and is used in assisting the animals in identifying other scents.
* All tigers have a similar marking on their forehead, which resembles the Chinese symbol Wang, (King).
* The tail gives the tiger extra balance when running and is also used to communicate to other tigers.
* The tendons in a tiger's leg are so strong that it has been known to remain standing after it has been shot dead.
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Timeline:-
Anything with a question mark in the date is probable, but not known for definite. A tilde (~) indicates that the date is approximate.
Only relatively few episodes have specific dates attached to them, but dates for the rest of them can be guessed at with a fair degree of certainty. For this purpose, I have made the simple assumption that the chronological order in which episodes occur is the same as the order of production code. There were four production seasons of roughly 18 episodes apiece. Space Pilot 3000 (1ACV01) is the first, The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings (4ACV18) is the last. This system enables all the episodes to be placed on the timeline, with only a little uncertainty and only one episode (Roswell That Ends Well) definitely out of sequence.
A slight anomaly is that this results in about 20 episodes taking place between January 1 and February 14, 3002. Hey ho. There are a few other interesting notes which you'll find as you read.
17 years before the Big Bang: Nibblonian civilisation is born
~28,997,001 BC or earlier: Emperor Nimbala rules Zuben 5. He will be seen in the year 3000 as a mummy in a tiny sarcophagus
1410 AD: Origins of banking industry regulations
1776: The United States of America are founded
1788: Steamboat invented
1793: Cotton gin invented
19th century: Light bulb, steamboat and cotton gin invented, according to Leela. Note that she's wrong on two of the three counts; the steamboat and the cotton gin are both from the 18th century. See above.
1820 to 1887: Golden Age Of Muttonchops
1874: Light bulb invented
1900s: Gwen's family starts making candy hearts from bone meal and earwig honey
20th century?: The Stupid Ages? Fry's era is referred to as the Stupid Ages more than once in the series. No dates are given, but the 20th century seems stupid enough to me.
July 9, 1947: Emerging from a time-warp, the Planet Express ship crash-lands near Roswell, New Mexico
July 10, 1947: Planet Express returns through the time-warp, leaving behind Bender's head
1951: Pete's TVs: "letting people watch news reports in our window since 1951"
August 9, 1960: David Duchovny is supposedly born; Duchovny is in fact the individual who will later be known as Calculon; his birth date might be a lie.
1960: The 1960 Presidential elections are fixed by John F. Kennedy, according to Richard Nixon
September 8, 1966: The first episode of the original series of Star Trek is aired
1969: The New York Mets win the World Championship.
July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin land on the Moon. The original landing site will have been lost for centuries by the year 3000.
1973: Computers will double in speed between now and 3000, according to Richard Nixon in 3000 - probably something of an understatement
1973: Muhammed Ali faces an 80ft-tall mechanical Joe Frazier. The entire Earth is destroyed, according to George Foreman, whose memory is not, apparently, what it was
1974: birth of Philip J. Fry
1975: In Leela's dream, the Yellow Brick Road is renamed Martin Luther King Boulevard
1984 or later: Stricken with incurable boneitis, "that guy" (Steve Castle) is frozen. We know he's from the 1980s, but he has also certainly seen Apple's "1984" advert
1985: The New York Mets win the World Championship. Shea Stadium has a banner proclaiming: "Home of the 1969 & 1985 World Champion Mets". Note: This obliquely suggests that the Mets won't win the World Championship again for over a thousand years!
1988: What Hermes Conrad will later describe as a "legendary Jamaican bobsled team" first competes in the Winter Olympics
between 1990 and 1996: Applied Cryogenics experiences their penultimate power failure
1994 or 1995: Fry scrawls a picture of himself on a rocket
1995 to 1998?: Fry goes roughly three years without getting time off
1997: Fry's dog, Seymour, is born.
1997: Applied Cryogenics experiences their most recent power failure.
circa 1997: date on the last existing can of anchovies ("Angry Norwegian Anchovies" brand)
August 1997: Fry meets his dog, "Seymour Asses"
July 1998: The summer from "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer". Seymour swims in toppings.
1999 or earlier: The evil brainspawn begin constructing the Infosphere. The Nibblonians forsee its completion and realise their need to cryogenically freeze Fry so that he can ultimately defeat them.
March 28, 1999: In real life, the first episode of Futurama is aired
1999: Fry spills a can of beer, disrupting the transmission of the series finale of Single Female Lawyer
Evening of December 31, 1999: Nibbler orders a pizza to be delivered to Applied Cryogenics, using the pseudonym I. C. Weiner.
11:35pm, December 31, 1999: Fry leaves on his last pizza delivery.
At this point the time-stream diverges. As is well recorded, Nibbler is hidden underneath the desk that Fry will sit at as the new millennium rolls in, intending to deliberately make Fry fall in the cryogenics tube, so that in the future (specifically, the episode "The Why Of Fry") he can defeat the brainspawn on behalf of all intelligent life.
In one timeline (timeline A) this goes ahead as planned. In timeline B, a Fry arrives from the future, sent back in time by the brains, just in time to deliver to Nibbler the dire warning, "Scootie-Puff Junior sucks!" This will have significant consequences, as we shall see in the year 3002 or so. Either way, Nibbler's plan proceeds as envisaged:
12:00:0?am, January 1, 2000: Philip J. Fry falls backwards into a cryogenic chamber, which automatically freezes him for a thousand years
lunchtime, January 1, 2000: Fry's father calls him, wondering where he is.
2000: The year Past-O-Rama is supposed to emulate
2000: Great Garbage Crisis in New York City. Garbage is put on a barge which is then pushed out to circle the world's seas for the next 50 years.
21st century: Cyborgs enslave humanity
2001?: Jury Duty II: Trouble On The Hubble is released
2003: Lucy Liu is named People Magazine's sexiest woman of the year
August 10, 2003: In real life, the final episode of Futurama airs
2007: Charlie's Angels III: The Legend Of Charlie's Gold is released in cinemas
2008: Stop 'n' Drop becomes America's favourite suicide booth
2012: War of 2012. Conan O'Brien loses his freakishly long legs.
2012 or 2013: Seymour dies.
2019: Calculon is a robot arm working on Project Satan, the world's evilest car.
2038: Petroleum reserves run dry
2052: New York City obtains a rocket with which to launch the garbage into outer space.
2063: Lucy Liu is named People Magazine's sexiest woman of the year for the second time
2063: Humanity starts dropping ice cubes into the ocean to counteract global warming
2158: Central Bureacracy is established
~2200: Pine trees become extinct
2200s: The anchovy becomes extinct; also, the Decapodians arrive on Earth
2200s: The Star Trek cast do some musical reunions, but the guy who plays Scotty has trouble yodelling so he is replaced by Welshy.
23rd century: By this time, Star Trek has become a religion
~2202?: Lucy Liu is captured and held prisoner by kidnappster.com
2208: To get around relativity, scientists increase the speed of light. Note that all existing light continues to move at its original slow pace.
2256: date of a spear seen in a museum of weaponry
2265 to 2270: Time period of the original Star Trek five-year mission
2275: The Fairness In Hell Act is passed, requiring the Robot Devil to release a soul (and a solid gold fiddle) from Robot Hell if someone can beat him in a fiddle contest
24th century?: A medieval civilisation arises on the site of old New York. It will later be destroyed by aliens. (During the 1000-year sleep montage, you can see castles being built and then destroyed. No date is explicitly given, but a cop later in the episode suggests "going 24th century" on somebody's "ass". The connection is clear. Note that New New York City was hence built after this time.)
~2302?: Dashuba (sp?) monks begin searching for God
2354: Kwanzaabot begins giving out "What the hell is Kwanzaa?" books
~2400: American Express ceases to exist
2443: Second coming of Jesus. Most 20th century-era videotapes are damaged.
2475: Washington DC is rededicated to Washington the Sweathog
~2500: Visa ceases to exist
~2500?: New New York City becomes garbage-free. Note that New New York City was hence built before this.
2600s: New Yorkers elect a supervillain governor, who steals most of the world's monuments and puts them on Monument Beach
2620: To end that stupid joke once and for all, Uranus is renamed.
2636: Mars University is founded
~2702: The original cast of Star Trek leaves Earth behind
2790: Bender's Uncle Vladimir is constructed
2790: Ava Porter is born.
2800 or earlier: Voter turnout in world presidential elections dips below 6%, and will stay that low until 3000
2801 or earlier: The last ghost at Bender's Uncle Vladimir's castle dies
2801: Creation of Robotic Santa
April 9, 2841: Professor Hubert Farnsworth is *actually* born
April 9, 2851: Professor Hubert Farnsworth claims to have been born
2856: Eloise Porter is born.
2880?: Wernstrom is born
~2881?: Farnsworth begins working for Momcorp.
2890: establishment of Staadgi & Staadgi auctioneers
~2900?: Wernstrom is Farnsworth's most promising student
2922: Date on Farnsworth's old Harold Zoid hologram
2923 or 2924?: Bigfoot is born.
2927: The Yankees are put in a jar (?)
1:54pm, October 17, ~2927?: While 14 geese fly outside the window, Farnsworth invents the pollutant robot
~2931?: Farnsworth walks out on Mom
~2952: The invention of Smellovision coincides with the beginning of Harold Zoid's decline from stardom
~2960?: Slurms MacKenzie's babes join him
2962: The Bigfoot video is made
2967 or 2968: Melllvar is born
2972?: Sheldon and Gwen get married, also start running Romanticorp
2973 or 2974: Calculon claims to have been born
2974 or 2975?: Leela claims to have been born
2975?: RobotMania is held for the first time. (Assumes RobotMania is a yearly event like Wrestlemania.)
2976?: RobotMania II is held
2977?: RobotMania III is held
2978?: RobotMania IV is held
2979?: RobotMania V is held
2980: At the 2980 Summer Olympic Games, Hermes Conrad witnesses a kid die while attempting to imitate him in the limbo event. Hermes will never limbo again.
2980?: RobotMania VI is held
2981?: RobotMania VII is held
2982?: RobotMania VIII is held
2983?: The tradition of Claw-plakh is instituted on Decapod 10.
2983?: RobotMania IX is held
2984: Future teen singer Wendy is born.
2984: Hermes is beaten in every Olympic limbo event by Barbados Slim.
2984?: RobotMania X is held
2984 or earlier?: Fry's Holophonor teacher, Mrs. Mellinger, starts taking the joy out of music
2985?: RobotMania XI is held
2986?: RobotMania XII is held
2987: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives, as it will every year from now until at least 3003
2987?: RobotMania XIII is held
2988: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2988?: RobotMania XIV is held
2989: Cubert Farnsworth is cloned from a growth on Farnsworth's back
2989: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2989?: RobotMania XV is held
2990: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2990?: RobotMania XVI is held
2991: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2991?: RobotMania XVII is held
2991 or 2992?: Leela gets her green jacket
2992: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2992?: RobotMania XVIII is held
2992?: Zoidberg joins Planet Express.
2993: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2993?: RobotMania XIX is held
2994: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2994?: RobotMania XX is held
2995: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2995?: Nibbler is presumed to have been born. Note that Nibbler is in fact at least a thousand years old; his race lacks the ability to time-travel, and he was seen alive in the year 1999.
2995?: RobotMania XXI is held
2996: Some coin with a picture of a guy with dreadlocks is made (?)
2996: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2996?: RobotMania XXII is held
2996 or 2997 or 2998?: Bender is constructed in Tijuana.
2997: Fronty's Meat Market: "Not a front since 2997"
2997: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2997?: RobotMania XXIII is held
2998: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2998?: RobotMania XXIV is held
2999: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
2999?: Farnsworth presents his Death Clock at the science symposium
2999?: Farnsworth builds the smelloscope
2999?: RobotMania XXV is held
2999?: Farnsworth declares himself dead as a tax dodge
Tuesday, December 31, 2999: Fry is unfrozen. (Bender correctly notes later in the episode that it is a Tuesday.) Note: Fry was not frozen for a full thousand years. He was woken up roughly twelve hours early, during daylight hours. There are a number of possible explanations for this: a slightly fast timer on the cryogenics chamber or a slight change in the length of the Earth's day due to events similar to those in "Crimes Of The Hot" are the two most obvious that spring to mind.
12:00:00am, January 1, 3000: Planet Express ship escapes the police
3000?: Events of "The Series Has Landed"
During Superbowl MXXIV?: Planet Express ad airs (on another channel)
Stardate 3000.3: Events of "Love's Labor's Lost In Space"
April 13th.2, 3000: Further events of "Love's Labor's Lost In Space"
3000?: Events of "Fear Of A Bot Planet"
3000: Events of "A Fishful Of Dollars"
3000?: Events of "My Three Suns"
after April 9, 3000?: Events of "A Big Piece Of Garbage". Farnsworth is aged 149 in this episode.
3000?: Events of "Hell Is Other Robots"
3000?: Events of "A Flight To Remember"
3000?: Events of "Mars University"
3000?: Events of "When Aliens Attack"
3000?: Events of "Fry & The Slurm Factory"
3000?: Events of "I Second That Emotion"
3000?: Events of "Brannigan Begin Again"
3000: Events of "A Head In The Polls". Note: The 3000 world presidential elections take place in this episode. Richard Nixon wins. This is, according to a reporter, Nixon's third term as president, which technically violates the Constitution. This in turn means that the whole of Earth is now using the same constitution that America started out with in 1776, which in turn means that (in the Futurama universe), sometime between 2000 and 3000, America attacked and conquered the entire world!
3000: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
3000?: RobotMania XXVI is held
December 24, 3000: Events of "Xmas Story"
January 3, 3001: Trash pickup resumes outside the Planet Express building
3001?: Events of "Why Must I Be A Crustacean In Love?" Decapodian mating season on Decapod 10.
3001?: Events of "Lesser Of Two Evils"
February 14, 3001: Events of "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"
3001?: Events of "Raging Bender". RobotMania XXVII is held.
3001?: Events of "A Bicyclops Built For Two"
April 9, 3001: Events of "A Clone Of My Own"
3001?: Events of "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back"
3001?: Events of "The Deep South"
3001?: Events of "Bender Gets Made"
Mother's Day, 3001?: Events of "Mother's Day"
3001?: Events of "Anthology Of Interest"
3001?: Events of "War Is The H-Word"
3001?: Events of "The Problem With Popplers". Note: This is probably the same event as below.
June 12, 3001? (exactly 247 days prior to "Love & Rocket"): Omicron Persei 8 invades Earth. This is probably the same event as above.
3001: Events of "The Honking"
3001: At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
3001?: Events of "The Cryonic Woman"
3001?: Events of "Amazon Women In The Mood"
3001?: Events of "Parasites Lost"
Xmas 3001: Events of "A Tale Of Two Santas"
3001 or 3002?: Events of "Luck Of The Fryrish"
3001 or 3002?: Events of "The Birdbot Of Ice-Catraz"
3001 or 3002?: Events of "Bendless Love"
3001 or 3002?: Events of "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid"
3002: Events of "That's Lobstertainment!"
3002?: Events of "The Cyber House Rules"
3002?: Events of "Where The Buggalo Roam"
3002?: Events of "Insane In The Mainframe"
3002?: Events of "The Route Of All Evil"
3002?: Events of "Bendin' In The Wind"
3002: Events of "Time Keeps On Slippin'". Note: Major temporal kerjiggers go on in this episode, but since the universe seems to be approximately back to normal at the end of it, we can place a year on it.
3002?: Events of "I Dated A Robot"
3002: Events of "A Leela Of Her Own"
3002?: Events of "A Pharaoh To Remember"
3002?: Events of "Anthology Of Interest 2"
September 21, 3002: Events of "Roswell That Ends Well" begin. The Planet Express ship enters a time warp. Note: If we assume the episodes take place in order of production code, this is the only episode which is out of sequence. You can mentally shift it down below "Love & Rocket" if you like.
September 22, 3002?: Bender's head is dug up again
3002?: Events of "Godfellas"
3002?: Events of "Futurestock"
3002?: Events of "30% Iron Chef"
3002?: Events of "Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch"
3002?: Events of "Leela's Homeworld"
February 14, 3002?: Events of "Love & Rocket"
3002?: Events of "Less Than Hero"
3002?: Events of "A Taste Of Freedom"
3002?: Events of "Bender Should Not Be Allowed On TV"
3002?: Events of "Jurassic Bark"
3002?: Events of "Crimes Of The Hot". Note that Earth's orbit is increased in radius slightly in this episode, simultaneously easing the effects of global warming and lengthening the year by one week - namely, Robot Party Week.
3002?: Events of "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles"
3002?: Events of "The Why Of Fry".
It is here that the split caused in 1999 becomes significant. Fry is sent by the Nibblonians into the brains' InfoSphere so that he can destroy it. In timeline A, Fry's vehicle - a Scootie-Puff Junior - shatters in his hands, and he is sucked along with the InfoSphere into an empty universe. The brains then send him back in time to 1999, timeline B: see above.
In timeline B, thanks to Fry's warning in 1999, the Nibblonians provide Fry with a Scootie-Puff Senior with which he escapes the InfoSphere in time.
3002: Events of "Where No Fan Has Gone Before"
3002: Roboticon 3002 is held. At Momcorp, the future of robotics arrives.
3002 or 3003?: Events of "The Sting"
3002 or 3003?: Events of "Bend Her"
3003: Events of "Obsoletely Fabulous"
3003 or 3004?: Events of "The Farnsworth Parabox"
February 14, 3004: Kif Kroker gives Amy Wong a watch for Valentine's Day
Summer 3004: Events of "Three Hundred Big Boys"
3004?: Events of "Spanish Fry"
3004?: Events of "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings"
3021?: Time when Leela could expect to receive Bender's brain back from Central Bureacracy, if she filed a request during "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back"
3022?: Kif's babies sprout legs and crawl back onto land as children
~3300: Trapped robots on the universe's last titanium mine on Titan are expected to all be dead by now
4001?: The year Fry and his girlfriend would have woken up if they'd stayed frozen for another thousand years
~1,000,000,000,002,000: Al Gore, Fry, Deep Blue, Stephen Hawking, Nichelle Nicholls and Gary Gygax finish playing Dungeons & Dragons (not that this is canon, of course]
Conclusions
Futurama has a pretty rich timeline which is much more complete and consistent than most people would imagine. Whether the writers are aware of this and have a definite plot of future history written, or they just got lucky, is unknown, but there is only one definite contradiction in the whole series' run (look up Hermes' Olympic exploits in 2980, then in 2984), which in fact is very impressive. One can only hope that if (and when) further Futurama episodes are made, Futurama's writers have the sense to respect and work within the continuity they have created for themselves
**********
March 12, 1993 - Several bombs explode in Bombay (Mumbai), India, killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more.
March 12,1894 - Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.
****
March 16, 1872 - The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1-0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
March16, 1926 - History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
March 16, 1966 - Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena Target Vehicle.
***
March 17 , # 1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
***
Chinese race past Americans to top of world internet league
China has more internet users than any other country in the world, according to researchers at the Beijing-based analysts BDA. The research group said China had leapfrogged the US to become the world's most powerful nation online.
At the end of 2007, figures from China's internet network information centre said the country had 210 million internet users, putting it just a few million people behind the US. According to BDA, growth rates indicated that China had now taken the top spot.
"Based on these sources, we can conclude that China has by now comfortably surpassed the United States as the world's largest internet population," said Bin Liu, an analyst with the company.
China's number of internet users is increasing by around 200,000 a day, and the dotcom business sector is expanding rapidly.
But concerns have been raised about Beijing's repressive approach - using the so-called "Great Firewall" to block sites it deems politically dangerous.
The press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières, which this week staged an international day of protest against internet censorship, said in a report that China had imprisoned a number of political dissidents, and blamed western corporations for helping.
The report said: "The hunting down of independent thinkers online is all the more effective as several major western companies have colluded with governments in pinpointing 'troublemakers'."
Last year the founder of the internet company Yahoo! apologised to the family of the journalist Shi Tao - who is serving 10 years in jail - for passing information to the Chinese government that led to his arrest and imprisonment.
Tao had received government instructions on how to report the anniversary of Tiananmen Square and his crime was to forward an email to a human rights organisation.
****
March 18, 1909 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter, becoming the first radio broadcaster
March 18, 1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
March 18, 2005 - The first-ever Muslim Friday prayer led by a woman in a mixed-gender congregation is held in New York City, marking a break with a 1426-year Islamic tradition.
March 20, 1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.
March 20, 1739 - Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
***
Quiz
1. Name the Senator who is assured of the Republican nomination for the Presidency of the U.S.
2. Name the Roman leader who was assassinated during the "Ides of March" in 44 B.C.
3. Which batsman had the most runs in the recently concluded Commonwealth Bank Series?
4. Farmer Grey was the first owner of which literary equine?
5. The "last human on the moon" celebrates his birthday on this date. Name him.
6. The only ballroom dance written in 3/4 time and performed primarily in closed position is called..?
7. The migration of Prophet Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622 (Common Era) is called?
8. Which celebrated Nobel Laureate was born on March 14 in 1879 at Ulm, W�rttemberg, Germany?
9. In scrabble, how many letters have a value of 2?
10. Name the painter of such works as "The Potato Eaters", "Sunflowers" and "The Starry Night".
11. The branches of which tree appear on the United Nations Flag?
12. What is the 1994 direct-tovideo sequel to the Disney classic "Aladdin" called?
13. Who created the characters of Captain Arthur Hastings and Colonel Race?
14. Which organ in the human abdomen functions in the destruction of old red blood cells and holds a reservoir of blood?
15. If one was likened to "a bad penny", he or she would always.?
Answers:
1. John McCain
2. Julius Caesar
3. Gautam Gambhir (440 runs)
4. Black Beauty
5. Eugene Cernan
6. Waltz
7. Hijra
8. Albert Einstein
9. Two (D and G)
10. Vincent Van Gogh
11. Olive
12. `The Return of Jafar'
13. Agatha Christie
14. Spleen
15. Turn up
***
Common date of the Equinox. In astrology, March 21 the day of the Equinox is the first full day of the sign of Aries. It is also the traditional first day of the astrological year; and International Astrology Day.
March 21, 1970 - The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
March 21, 1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
March 21, 2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
date 21.3.2008 quiz
1. The actor who played Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies celebrates his birthday on this date. Name him.
2. Who was the last male player to win FIFA World Player of the Year award two years in a row?
3. We should thank Fraunhofer Gesellschaft for creating and patenting which popular music format?
4. Fill in the blank: “Sea gull, sea gull, sit on the sand; It’s a sign of _______ when you are at hand.”
5. To which European leader is the term ‘axis’ as used in the WWII alliance popularly attributed?
6. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce is considered as an inventor/pioneer of which ‘visual’ activity?
7. If either Christopher Columbus or Vasco da Gama had ‘thalassophobia’, they would not have done what they did. What is ‘thalassophobia’ a fear of?
8. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is the President of…?
9. Which animal is also called sand rat or desert rat?
10. India won the Olympic gold in men’s hockey uninterrupted from 1928 to…?
11. The legislative capital of South Africa is…?
12. In which part of the brain is the cerebrum?
13. Which type of coffee is usually served in large mug or bowl filled with coffee and steamed milk?
14. What was the nationality of the astronomer Tycho Brahe?
15. What five-lettered word is used for a vault beneath the main level of a church and normally used as a meeting or burial place?
Answers
1. Gary Oldman
2. Ronaldinho
3. MP3
4. Rain
5. Benito Mussolini
6. Photography
7. The sea
8. Republic of Maldives
9. Gerbil
10. 1956. It lost in the 1960 final
11. Capetown
12. Forebrain
13. ‘Café au lait’ (sometimes café latte also)
14. He was Danish
15. Crypt
****
India slips on UN e-governance list (msn)
March 24, 1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
March 25, 1807 - The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, became the first passenger carrying railway in the world.
March 25, 1979 - The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.
***
March 29, 1857 - Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry revolts against the British rule in India and inspires a long-drawn War of Independence of 1857 also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
March 29, 1886 - Dr John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.
March 29, 2004 - The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
March 30, 1842 - Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.
***
Quiz
28.3.2008
1. On this date in 1930, the cities of Constantinople and Angora changed their names to…?
2. Who or what is a ‘mouse potato’?
3. The structure in the cells of plants and algae where photosynthesis takes place is/are called…?
4. On March 28, 1987, the world lost the Austria-born singer on whom the character of Julie Andrews was based in the classic “The Sound of Music”. Name her.
5. Which is the only recognised natural predator of the polar bear?
6. Which astronaut is the only person to fly on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions?
7. What distinction does Victoria Woodhull have in America politics?
8. What would an entomophagist prefer in his/her food?
9. Which essential organic compound gets its name from the Greek for ‘primary’?
10. Which American legend has the most career men’s singles tennis titles with 109 titles?
11. What is a ‘flex-cuff’?
12. In which country is the Atacama Desert?
13. Which of these natural phenomena is said to cause the most fatalities: floods, heat wave or hurricanes?
14. From whose neck did the winged horse Pegasus spring?
15. What type of a firearm is a SLR?
answers
Answers: 1. Istanbul and Ankara
2. An addictive computer user
3. Chloroplasts; 4. Maria von Trapp; 5. Man!; 6. Walter Marty Schirra, Jr. He flew on the Sigma 7 Mercury mission, Gemini 6A and Apollo 7 missions; 7. She was the first ever woman candidate for President of the U.S.; 8. Insects
9. Protein (from ‘proteios’)
10. Jimmy Connors; 11. A plastic strip that can be fastened around one’s wrists as a restraint;
12. Chile; 13. Heat wave;
14. Medusa; 15. Self Loading Rifle
.........
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