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I came across this poem written by the famous Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu in memory of the tsunami victims. I can't read Tamil and so I took the help of my friend RR who read it out for me. As usual, he is at his best in this masterpiece also. Those who know Tamil, can read it here or take help from someone who knows Tamil...
This is a story of a poor Scottish farmer whose name was Fleming. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby dog. He dropped his tools and ran to the dog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the boy from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you" said the nobleman. " Yes," the farmer replied proudly. "I'll make you a deal. Let me take your son and give him a good education. If he's anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of." And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St.Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on
Terra Research, a four-person set-up, of Oregon, USA claimed that there was a possibility of a fresh earthquake of 7.9-8.1 magnitude any time until January 1 and a resultant tsunami.
This made the Indian Government release a fresh tsunami warning which caused panic among those who lived along the coast lines and the relief work was greatly disrupted.
Here's a simple question, when will the world end ??
Having no idea??
Well, some say the world is going to end in 2010. And some say on July 7, 2007 coz of so many 7s. Whew! That's just one day before my 24th B'day!!
Click here to read more such prophecies...
Courtesy: Ramesh
Sri Lankan wildlife officials are stunned -- the worst tsunami in memory has killed around 22,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast, but they can't find any dead animals.
Giant waves washed floodwaters up to 2 miles inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lanka's biggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards.
"The strange thing is we haven't recorded any dead animals," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of the national Wildlife Department, told Reuters on Wednesday.
"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit," he added. "I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."
Honda Motors India has come up with a new 18-seater bike, which will be introduced next year!!
Unbelievable?? After their success with Honda Unicorn, Honda's Indian R&D center in B'lore came up with this unique concept when one of their customers told them that he would like to carry his whole family in a bike, which are currently two seaters.
Still don't believe me??
Here's a photo of the proposed bike, which a friend of mine was able to sneak through from the Honda company.
The world can exhale a collective sigh of relief. A newfound asteroid tagged with the highest warning level ever issued will not strike Earth.
The giant space rock, named 2004 MN4, was said on Dec. 23 to have an outside shot at hitting the planet on April 13, 2029. The odds climbed as high as 1-in-37, or 2.7 percent, on Monday, Dec. 27.
Researchers had flagged the object as one to monitor very carefully. It was the first asteroid to be ranked 4 on the Torino Scale, a Richter-like measure for potentially threatening space rocks. The asteroid is about a quarter mile (400 meters) wide, large enough to cause considerable local or regional damage were it to hit the planet.
All along, scientists said additional observations would likely reduce the chance of impact to zero for the April 13 scenario, but they did not expect any significant new data to allow such a downgrading for days or weeks.
Instead, old observations provided the data necessary to rule out an impact.
Here is a breakdown of the toll* so far:
• Sri Lanka: Some 18,700 were reported killed. More than 1 million people were displaced.
• Indonesia: The government said 19,000 died, including 10,000 in Meulaboh, the village closest to the earthquake's epicenter.
• India: An estimated 4,371 people died, the Home Ministry said. The international Red Cross estimated 6,000 deaths in India.
• Thailand: The government said 1,516 people died, among them more than 700 tourists.
• Somalia: A presidential spokesman said hundreds were killed.
• Myanmar: About 90 people were killed, according to reports compiled by international aid agencies.
• Malaysia: At least 65 people, including an unknown number of foreign tourists, were dead, according to official reports.
• Maldives: At least 52 people were confirmed dead.
• Tanzania: At least 10 people died, mostly swimmers, said Alfred Tibaigana, police commander in Dar es Salaam.
• Seychelles: Three were killed.
Here's a video grab of a Tsunami that happened in China some years ago.... You can get a jist of what Tsunami is all about!!
Here's a theory that's doing the rounds.... Some "soothsayers" say that the Tsunami occurred because the Kanchi Seer was arrested and humiliated. They have their version that the gods are not happy with what the human race has done to the Kanchi Seer and hence this natural catastrophy.
They describe it as a "DIVINE RETRIBUTION" from the "Almighty".
PS: I've removed the word "pissed off" because some of the readers felt it is not right to use this term along with God. And I also came across an interesting article regarding this Divine Retribution
I have been hooked on to TV ever since the first news of tsunami broke out in Sun News channel at around 09:00 AM yesterday. It's been a tragedy of a massive kind and the latest figures say that around 25,000 people have died in the South East Asian region.
But one startling thing that came to my mind while watching all these clippings was the sheer lack of information about what has happened in Andaman & Nicobar islands with no/or very little information coming out of there.
Is something terribly wrong there or is it just because of no access to any communication equipment??? While praying for the best, I searched for some basic information about these Islands and the findings are shocking!!
What would have happened to Andaman & Nicobar Islands??
District of Andamans is Northern Part of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and comprises of 550 Islands, Islets and rocks out which only 26 are inhabited. Some of these islands are large such as Middle Andaman, North Andam
The strongest earthquake in 40 years, with a magnitude of 9.0, rocked the Indian Ocean off Sumatra; tremors and subsequent tsunamis result in over 23,000* deaths in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and other adjacent coastal areas.
How it Occurred?
Could it have been stopped??
NO!! No system can protect against a sudden tsunami.
Why wasn't there no warning?
India is not part of any global warning systems. In the Pacific, where Tsunami's are regular, all beaches have a warning system against Tsunamis. It is also debated that ISRO could have issued a warning through their satellites just hours before the Tsunami hit India, but then again this theory is debatable.
Yes, believe it or not!!
A friend of mine called me up today and said that he has a brand new IBM laptop at a throwaway price of Rs. 15,000/-. This is only for a few days and is offered by a computer dealer as part of the Christmas Celebrations.
I've already booked one for me. He told me that 3 more are available. If you are interested, Click Here for the dealer's details!!
The system configuration is as follows:
Pentium III 750Mhz
256Mb SDRam
14 " screen opengl x2AGP
videocard (32mb)
18GB SCSI HDD
Combo Drive
SBlive soundblasteR
2x firewirE
2xUSB ports
Leading Indian Superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, who had recently been brought to the world's attention through his international fame worldwide in some of his latest movies to name but a few, “Kal Ho Na Ho” , “Devdas” and the latest ”Veer - Zaara” has decided to live on The Palm, Deira.
The heartthrob, who has been hailed as 'the World's biggest movie star in terms of recognition' by Time Magazine, was invited to visit Nakheel's Corporate Office in Emirates Towers where he and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of Nakheel discussed the incredible project that has risen above sea level in the last few months.
Infosys Technologies said it may not be able to sustain its profit margins due to pressure on prices, foreign-exchange fluctuations and rising wages.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, the company said it expects "increased selling and marketing expenses in the future, which could result in declining profitability."
Here are the top 10 signs to show that you work for a "Hi-Tech" Company.... Check it Out
Courtesy: KTJ
Airbus won an order Tuesday for 30 aircraft from India's budget carrier Air Deccan in a deal valued up to $1.8 billion, the third agreement struck in Asia in a week by the European aircraft maker.
Delivery of the 180-seat A320 aircraft will begin in September 2005. The order is part of plans by Air Deccan, which started operations in August 2003 as India's first budget airline, to increase its fleet to 60 aircraft in five years.
And Kingfisher Airlines, another Indian low-cost operator, placed an order Saturday for 10 Airbus planes, with the option to buy a further 20. In all, that deal also could be valued at up to $1.8 billion.
PS: Kingfisher Airlines, as the name suggests is promoted by none other than Vijya Mallya of the UB Group!!
Tenet Healthcare Corp. said Tuesday it agreed to pay $395 million to settle lawsuits claiming patients at Redding Medical Center, one of its former hospitals, received unnecessary heart procedures.
Under the agreement, Tenet will establish a $395 million settlement fund by year's end that will be distributed among more than 750 plaintiffs.
PS: How can we forget Tenet Healthcare calls!! Hope, they don't conduct another call for this development.
The Bose Lifestyle 48 DVD home entertainment system will change the way you think about movies, music ... even your CD collection. Digitally store and organize up to 340 hours of music in the media center, featuring a progressive scan DVD/CD player. The ADAPTiQ audio calibration system analyzes your room and adjusts your Lifestyle system’s sound for great performance. Tiny, award-winning Jewel Cube speaker arrays fill your room with wondrous surround sound.
PS: This can be yours for a coool $4,000!! (around Rs.1,75,000/-)
Wal-Mart , the world's largest supermarket chain, is offering a laptop for only $498 (about Rs 21,000) during the festive season in the United States!
Walmart.com and Linspire Inc. have come together with this stunning offer. The laptop, called Balance, is loaded with the Linspire operating system and the OpenOffice.org office suite.
The two companies said that Balance is the cheapest laptop available.
It features a VIA C3 1-GHz processor, 128MB RAM, a 30GB hard drive, a CD-ROM drive and a 14.1-inch liquid crystal display. It comes preinstalled with applications like word processor, spreadsheets, presentation tools and a mail client.
The software includes a built-in firewall to protect users from viruses, spam and pop-ups.
The laptop launch serves as part of Wal-Mart's efforts to promote low-priced consumer electronics. The Balance laptop is available on Wal-Mart's Web site in the US.
India took an early lead in establishing itself as a center for offshore outsourcing. Now, however, according to experts at Wharton and elsewhere, as many as 40 locations - including cities in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America - are vying to attract BPO work. The next big phenomenon will be the emergence of a hub-and-spokes model in the globalization of services.
Read More
I've been enjoying The Simpsons, the hit soap opera in Star World for a long time. I just love their wits. And it is the first animated series to run for nearly 10 seasons in the US.
Now, now!! We Indians are great at mockery... Just think of a series where Simpsons are replaced by SinghSons (yes, our very own Banta Singh and group)...
Check it out !!
1000 Event Briefs - An Amazing Achievement!!
We have the will to win, the desire to succeed, and the urge to reach our full potential!!
And the greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests!!
We at KGiSL Media BPO have done it again and "Yeh Dil Maange More!"
So, it's time to Celebrate guyz!!
A truck carrying 12 million honeybees hit a wall on a highway ramp in Las Vegas, dumping its load across the pavement shortly before the evening rush hour.
The truck was carrying 480 bee colonies, each with 25,000 insects, to California to pollinate the state's almond crop when it struck the wall Wednesday afternoon.
The collision spilled the bees and gallons of honey onto the highway and forced troopers to close the ramp for more than four hours.
Authorities summoned beekeepers to help but decided capturing the bees alive would take too much time and money. Firefighters doused the insects with water to kill them.
Courtesy: Sumi
Halfway through one of his sales pitches, a call center agent heard a clicking at the other end of the line. Thinking the man may have hung up, he asked, "Are you still there?"
"Yeah, still here," said the man.
"Sorry, I heard a click and I thought you’d been disconnected."
"No," the man said, "that would sound more like this."
He then proceeded to show him what it would sound like by slamming down the phone.
The pace of M&A talk has picked up in recent weeks and today there were two big M&A deals announced!!
Here's how some combinations currently being discussed would stack up against other major U.S. deals announced this year.
Now, here's a search engine that scans the Web for TV-related video.
The beta offering, dubbed Blinkx TV , captures and indexes video and audio streams directly from television and radio broadcasters to make available news, sports and entertainment clips. The engine lets people group specific searches using "smart folders" that continuously collect multimedia content from sources including Fox News, HBO, ESPN, National Public Radio and the BBC World Service.
Wondering why Google didn't come up with this??
According to sources, Google is courting broadcasters and cable networks with this new technology that would do for television what it has already done for the Internet: sort through and reveal needles of video clips from within the haystack archives of major network TV shows.
PS: Video is in the spotlight as the Internet begins to mature into an entertainment platform and becomes a viable companion for television, convergence devices that combine PC and
Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), India's market leader in shampoos, as part of the relaunch of Clinic All Clear Total, today announced a promotional alliance with "Dil Maange More". Winners of the contest will be given an opportunity to watch the premiere of the movie with Shahid Kapur.
Contestants have to answer a simple question - Shahid Ko Dandruff Se Aazadi Aur Kamal Ke Baal Kaun Deta Hain? (Who gives Shahid a dandruff free and great looking hair?)
The choices are:
-- Pani Ki Botal (a bottle of water)
-- Bajuwala Hotel (neighborhood hotel)
-- Clinic All Clear Total
Contestants should SMS 'Play CAC' to 8888 or log on cacdilmaangemore.indiatimes.com
10 lucky winners from across the country will be flown down to Mumbai to watch the premiere of the multi-starrer blockbuster and also get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get photographed with the icon Shahid Kapur.
PS: Any idiot can answer that question!! :-)
Google has come out with another great product!! This time it's Google Suggest !!
As you type into the search box, Google Suggest guesses what you're typing and offers suggestions in real time. This is similar to Google's "Did you mean?" feature that offers alternative spellings for your query after you search, except that it works in real time.
Confused?? Try it yourself
PS: Google Simply Rocks!!
One of thousands of families split by India and Pakistan's long dispute over Kashmir celebrated an engagement in a novel way, by hurling the gold engagement ring across a mountain river dividing the region.
Relatives of teenage cousins Mohammad Faizan, who lives in Pakistani Kashmir, and Samyra Bashir, who lives in Jammu and Kashmir, gathered on either side of Neelum River dividing the Himalayan region at sunset on Sunday.
The engagement was sealed when Mohammad's parents tossed a package containing a ring, a gold necklace and a dress 25-30 metres across the fast-following river into Indian Kashmir.
They then tied packages with other gifts, including cookies and coconuts, to a rope and hauled them across one by one.
Courtesy: Sumi
Google Inc . won a major legal victory Wednesday when a federal judge said the search engine could continue to sell ads triggered by searches using trademarked company names.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected a claim by auto insurance giant Geico Corp., which argued that Google shouldn't be allowed to sell ads to rival insurance companies that appear whenever Geico's name is typed into the Google search box.
Google derives a major portion of its revenues from selling ad space to businesses that bid on search terms used by people looking for information about products and services online.