PHYSICS PLUNGE

Greg Louganis' Physics Crown

Greg Louganis  jumping from the spring board exhibits somersaults in
air before touching the water surface. After leaving the spring board, he curls his body by rolling the arms and the legs inwards. Due to this, his moment of inertia decreases and he spins in mid air with large angular
speeds. As he is about to touch the water surface, he stretches out his
limbs. This increases his moment of inertia and he enters the water surface at a gentle speed.

Thus by using simple physics he could make the somersault possible despite having extremely deep injury over his head and shoulder.

In 1988, Greg Louganis of the united states, arguably the greatest Olympic diver in the history, cracked his head on the springboard while attempting a reverse 2.5 pike. After receiving stitches, Louganis won the gold medal in diving.


CONCLUSION : A diver performs somersaults by jumping from a high diving board keeping his legs and arms out stretched first and then curling his body so as to increase the angular speed.

WONDROUS WONDER

One is indeed wondered by wonders,
Out of the seven winsome wonders,
The joy, is also a wonderful wonder.
About which, when thought, one always wonders.

Its look is like a vibrant visage,
Always urging one to enjoy its delicious juices.
Blooming, beside Yamuna, like a flower,
It exhilarates one by pouring its serene shower.

Flushed with marvellous marbles,
Bestowed with nature's beautification,
It proves object of admiration  not only for the nation,
But for the whole population.

When seen from every nook and  corner,
It is found feeding sweetest honey to the looker.
One is  lucky to get the beatitude of eden, inside;
Dreaming to enjoy, overdrive and reside.

Ah! what an architect? what an art?
How to describe ? From where to start?
The contribution of those greats,
Who made it one of the invaluable assets.
Hats off to their immortal love story,
Which became the stanchion of this growing, glowing glory.

Knowledge Pays Off

Who is the most expensive footballer?

In 2001, Zinedine Zidane transferred from the Italian club Juventus FC
to Real Madrid of Spain on a four - year contract. The transfer fee was
$66 million, making him the most expensive player in footballer history.
The 34 -year-old French captain, popularly known as Zizou, is
considered one the greatest players of this generation. He has said that
the 2006 World Cup will be his last in competitive football. He is retiring
from club football as well.

What is the difference between an atomic and a nuclear bomb?

Nuclear bombs are of two types - those that depend on fission, like
atomic bombs, and those that depend on fusion, like hydrogen bombs.
The former get their explodrogen bombs. The former get their explosive
energy from the splittings of atoms in materials like uranium of
plutonium, which takes place automatically. On the other hand,
hydrogen bombs, which are also known as thermonuclear bombs,
depend upon the fusing together of atom, as in taking place inour sun, to
release much vaster quantities of energy than  atomic bombs. The fusing
requires very high temperatures, hence atomic bombs are generally
used as triggers for hydrogen bombs. Hence, every atomic bomb, but
every nuclear bomb is not an atomic bomb.

Why don’t CDMA phone have SIM cards?

CDMA phones have phone numbers programmed in the handset just as
numbers are programmed in SIM cards by the operator. The latest
 phones have both options. Since all CDMA phones are network locked,
there is no necessity for the SIM card provision. As GSM phones are
compatible with any operator, who provides the SIM card which
enables connectivity to the network. This makes the phone indepen
dent of the operator.

What is a caratometer?

Caratometer (sometimes spelt as caratometer) is an internationally
acclaimed device for checking the purity of gold. Most showrooms
across India use it. It’s is a non-destructive scientific method using
X-rays to give an exact reading of the purity of gold in about three
minutes. However, it only checks the purity of the gold on the top layer.
Other ways to acetoin the gold content include melting it down, the
touchstone method or XRF (x-ray fluorescence) method.

How does a Global Positioning System work (GPS)  work ?

The basic principle odf a GPS operation is that any point on Earth can be
located if it is monitored from four different locations. For this, the GPS
 system uses 24 satellites in six different orbits at an altitude of 18,000
kms. So, at any time, any location is monitored by four different
satellites. The GPS device sends its signal to the four satellites, in turn,
send back the latitude, longitude and altitude of that particular location
by referring to its database.

What is beta testing ?

Typically, Software goes through two stages of testing before it is
considered finished. The first stage, called alpha testing, it often
performed only by users within the organization developing the
software. The second stage, called beta testing, generally involves a
limited number of external users. Beta testing is a formal process of
soliciting feedback on software still under development. Beta testing is
usually the last step a software developer takes before releasing the
product to market.

When was the first Indo-Pak cricket Test played ?

India played Pakistan from October 16, 1952 at the Ferozeshah Kotla in
Delhi to kick off the first-ever Test series. India was this  Test by an
innings and 70 runs to take the lead in the five- match series. While Lala
Amarnath captained India. A H kardar led the Pakistan side. This was
the beginning of a long and fierce battle for supremacy. Later this
month, this "war by other means" continues with India's tour of
Pakistan.

What is the mileage of F1 cars ?

For every 100 Kilometers, a 900 bph F1 car uses about 1,200 liters of
patrol during a Grand Prix weekend.

Art of Living

From an early age, it was apparent that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was
destined to lead a spiritual life - even as a very young child, he was
often found absorbed in meditation. By the age of seventeen he
had completed his traditional education in both Vedic literature and
modern science.
In 1982, Sri Sri began to teach the Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful
breathing technique that eliminates stress and brings one completely
into the present moment, Today this program is taught around the world
as part of the Art of Living Course. Many people have experienced
physical and emotional healing from these programs that eliminate
stress and create a sense of belongingness.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, a
United Nations non- Governmental Organization and is the inspiration
behind numerous charitable organizations focused on service and the
promotion of humans values, As Sri Sri has said, “Service is the
expression of joy and love, Ask yourself, How can I be useful to those
around me and to the whole world?’ Then your heart starts to blossom
and a completely new level begins...”
Each year, Sri Sri travels around the world reminding us that the great
spiritual traditions have common goals and values. He encourages
people from all religions and cultural traditions to come together and
celebrate. His love, practical wisdom and dedication to service inspire
people every where, “The only true security that can be found in this
world, “says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “is in the very process of giving
love.”

SONG OF HOPE

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high;
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit -
It’s when things go wrong that you mustn’t quit.

It seems that God brought me to
Earth with a mission to play soccer,"

He is known as a legend and the best soccer player to ever play the game. He was raised in a very poor family in Tres Coracos, Brazil. Pelé began playing soccer for a local minor-league club when he was a teenager. When he wasn't playing soccer he shined shoes for pennies. Pelé went on to play in four  World Cups with Brazil's National Team.  During his career he scored 1,280 goals in 1,360 games, second only to another  Brazilian. At the club level he shattered records in Brazil. He scored 127 goals for Santos F.C. in 1959, 110 in 1961 and 101 goals in 1965. Pelé also holds the world record for hat tricks (92) and the international level (97). In 2000, Pelé was named second for the "Sportsman of the Century" award. The legendary Muhammad Ali got the honors. 

IIT Success Stories

'Let Your Fingers Do the Walking'
is the message of  Vinod Gupta's
American Business Information (ABI

Who would have thought one
could find millions of dollars
tucked away in the humble
telephone directory

Vinod Gupta did.

In 1971 he was a 25-year-old marketing research analyst working
with Commodore Corporation, a manufacturer of mobile homes in
Omaha and one of his tasks was to compile a list of all the mobile
home dealers in the United States. Since most of the available lists were
incomplete, he ordered telephone directories and decided to create the
lists himself. When all 4,800 Yellow Pages arrived at the office and
filled up the entire reception area, his boss wanted the eyesore out of the
place by 4 p.m.

Gupta hired a moving van to transport them to his garage and offered to do the research on his own time; he also offered to sell the list exclusively to Commodore for $9,000 or give it to them free if they permitted him to sell it to their competitors. The company elected the second option.

With the help of another employee, he sorted the massive books by state and painstakingly compiled the information. He then borrowed $100 from the bank and invested the money in sending mailers out to mobile home owners. Inside three weeks, he had received cheques for $22,000 and orders for another $13,000. He then hired two part-time employees and launched American Business Information in 1972, creating various lists from the information lying dormant in the Yellow Pages. So successful were these lists as a marketing tool that Gupta was able to quit his job and embark full-time on compiling a data base of every industry from A to Z.

Within thirteen years ABI had all the Yellow Pages covering the entire United States in its data base — valuable business information which could be utilized in a variety of ways. Today ABI has a market value of $500 million and 1997 revenues exceeded $190 million. The raw data is converted into accurate business-to-business marketing information and further information is added from company annual reports, 10Ks, SEC information, government publications, newsletters, newspapers and trade journals.

The phone company says 'Let Your Fingers Do the Walking' and that’s exactly what Gupta, except he made it into a mighty marathon. His database of information covers ten million U.S. and one million Canadian businesses. ABI has also developed a database of 113 million households in the United States.

According to ABI, over 1.6 million customers have used its many for
market identification and analysis, including customer profile analysis,
sales lead generation, direct mail and telemarketing. The latest
innovation is information on CD-ROMS, and lists can be obtained of
businesses classified from geographic location to employee size.
Standing behind the information is just as important and ABI’s staff
makes millions of calls to businesses every year to double check the
data. It all boils down to ideas.

ABI’S Vinod Gupta borrowed
$100 from a bank to found a
company that now has
a market value of $500 million.


Gupta’s original $100 has multiplied many times over into a business, which rakes in nearly $200 million in sales annually and provides employment to 1,000 workers. ABI went public in 1992 but Gupta’s family still owns 50 percent of the company. Not bad for a boy from the tiny village of Rampur Manhyaran, north of Delhi, a village which had no toilets, no electricity, no phones  and certainly no phone books.

A FAIR PORTRAIT OF MEENA ALEXANDER

Born in Allahabad, India, on February 17, 1951. Meena Alexander is the eldest of three children. Although christened "Mary Elizabeth," she has been called Meena since birth. At the age of fifteen, she officially changed her name to Meena. In 1956, the Sudan gained independence and asked other Third World countries for assistance in establishing its government. Alexander's father applied for a job with the Sudanese government and the family relocated to Khartoum. From age five to eighteen, Alexander traversed the waters between the Sudan and India, between Khartoum and Kerala, and between her immediate family and her grandparents. Once she was eighteen and had received her degree from Khartoum University, Alexander left her Sudanese home for Nottingham University in Britain. It was here that she earned her Ph.D., but her tie with India was not broken. She returned to Pune to her grandparents, and ended up working at Delhi University, Central Institute of Hyderabad, and Hyderabad University.
It was in Hyderabad that Alexander met her husband, David Lelyveld. In 1979, the two moved to New York City, where they still live with their two children: Adam Kuravilla Lelyveld (b. 1980) and Svati Maraiam Lelyveld (b. 1986). Alexander is currently a professor at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and still takes trips back to Kerala annually.
Meena Alexander's literary career began early, at the tender age of ten, when she began writing poetry, and while her poetry might be her best-known work, her works span a variety of literary genres. Her first book, a single lengthy poem, entitled The Bird's Bright Wing, was published in 1976 in Calcutta.
Since then, Alexander has published seven volumes of poetry, including River and Bridge; two novels: Nampally Road (1991) and Manhattan Music (1997); a collection of both prose and poetry, The Shock of Arrival: Reflections on Postcolonial Experience; a study on Romanticism: Women in Romanticism: Mary Wollstonecraft, Dorothy Wordsworth and Mary Shelley; and her autobiography, Fault Lines.
In Nampally Road, Alexander focuses on issues of cultural richness, psychological complexity, feminism and social politics. Nampally Road is a narrative of minority struggle that focuses on the juxtaposition of past relationships and cultural and historical inheritance. Alexander treads the waters of fiction lightly and gracefully".
Alexander's novel Manhattan Music is infused with the power of myth, poetry, and the inner life. She explores the crossing of borders from India to Manhattan, the Indian Diaspora, fanaticism, ethnic intolerance, interracial affairs and marriage, and what it means to be an American. One critic says, "Alexander's writing is imbued with a poetic grace shot through with an inner violence.... with her gift of heightened sensibility, she can take a tragic, violent situation and juxtapose it with a description of terrible beauty."
Alexander's autobiography, an unraveling of her past, is titled Fault Lines. It conveys that, largely as a result of her family's relocations when she was young, Alexander has struggled to forge a sense of identity, despite (or because of) a past full of moves and changes. This book revolves around the theme of establishing one's self and forming an identity independent of one's surroundings. In her autobiography, she writes: "I am, a woman cracked by multiple migrations. Uprooted so many times she can connect nothing with nothing".
Alexander's writing is lyrical, poignant, and sensual, dealing with large themes, including fanaticism, ethnic intolerance, terrorism, interracial affairs and marriages.  Her lyrical narratives have the eloquent economy that marks the best poetry.

Finding Novel Ways to Support India’s Poor

Vikram Akula 37, SKS Micro
finance Founder & CEO,
Receives TIME Magazine’s 100
Most Influential People.
He holds a BA from Tufts, an MA from
Yale and Ph.D. from the University of
Chicago, where his dissertation focused on
poverty alleviation strategies.
Vikram was honored for his vision and
leadership as the Founder and CEO of SKS
Micro finance, one of the world’s fastest
rowing micro finance institutions. As a
pioneer in the micro finance industry, he
founded SKS Micro finance in 1998 with a
mission of empowering the poor to
become economically self-reliant by
providing financial services in a
sustainable manner. SKS is, at present, one
of the fastest growing micro finance
organizations in the world, having
disbursed over Rs 240 crores in loans to
221,000 women clients in poor regions of
5 states in India. “I accept this award on
behalf of 221,000 poor women SKS
members across the country who struggle
everyday to overcome poverty and inspire
s with their courage, They are the true
heroes,” remarked Vikram as he accepted
the honor. “It was humbling to be among
so many people who are considered among
the greatest and most influential minds in the world today,” he added.
Vikram, along with Nandan Nilekani, represent the sole two Indians to
be honored by Time Magazine. Vikram has dedicated much of his
professional life to addressing India’s poverty. Prior to launching SKS,
ikram was a Fulbright Scholar in India, during which he coordinated an
action-research project on providing micro finance for food security.
He has also worked as a community organizer with the Deccan
Development Society in Andhra Pradesh and as a researcher with the
orld watch Institute, where he wrote articles on poverty and
development.
Borrowers take loans for a range of income-generating activities,
including livestock, agriculture, trade (such as vegetable vending), and
production (from basket weaving to pottery). SKS also offers interest
free loans for emergencies as well as life insurance to borrowers. Its
affiliate, SKS Education, provides education services to poor children,
including running a government-funded school for girls who have
dropped out of school.
SKS currently has 85 micro finance branches in the states of Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh and will be launching in 5 more states of India this year in pursuit of its goal to reach 700,000 clients by March 2007. SKS Micro finance has a current portfolio of $25 million (Rs 90 crores) and a 98% on-time repayment rate. 
In addition to rapid expansion, SKS leads the industry in technology innovation and transparency. It is one of the first MFIs in the world to have a fully-automated MIS that streamlines operations and helps reduce transaction costs. It also has set global standards for transparency, having twice received recognition in CGAP’s worldwide micro finance transparency competition. SKS has received numerous awards including the CGAP Pro-Poor Innovation Award, the ABN-AMRO/Planet Finance Process Excellence Award, the Digital Partners SEL Award, and the Grameen Foundation USA Excellence Award. SKS is the only MFI in India to receive the MIX Transparency Certification and was selected by Unitus as the most promising micro finance organization.

Born as the second and last son to Mohan R Nilekani, a manager in Minerva Mills , Nandan Nilekani spent his first 12 years in Bangalore, India.
His father's job was transferable, and he had to move to his uncle's place in Dharwad for his studies.

Being good at his studies, in 1973 he entered the portals of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay without much of a hassle.
One day after graduating in 1978, Nandan walked into the cabin of N. R. Narayana Murthy then head of the software group at the Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems  to seek a job. Their chemistry clicked and Murthy hired the young engineering graduate right away. Neither realised then that the relationship would last long and get etched in India's corporate annals. Three years later (1981) seven enthusiasts (including Nandan) decided to start their own outfit (Infosys Technologies Ltd) with Murthy in the lead. Their decision rewrote the domestic software industry of India.
He became the chief executive officer (CEO) of Infosys in March 2002. He currently functions as the President, CEO, and Managing Director of the company.
He is a co-founder of India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM ). He is also the chairperson of Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF). He has been named one of Asia's Power 25 the most powerful people in business in Asia' by Fortune magazine, 2004.
He is married to Rohini (an English-language writer and novelist) and they have two children daughter Janhavi and son Nihar.
In the past 15 years, India's identity has undergone one of the biggest transformations that any country has ever experienced. He and N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys' legendary chairman, have built a great global company from scratch. But the reason Nilekani, 50, is so sought out is that he has a unique ability not simply to program software but also to explain how that program fits into the emerging trends in computing, how those trends will transform the computing business and how that transformation will affect global politics and economics. It was his insight that the global playing field was being "leveled" by technology.
In this era of mounting complexity—with more people, systems and products entwined in a bewildering web of global networks—explaining is an enormously valuable skill. And it explains why, if you sit outside his office for a day, you notice that half the people going in are employees looking for instructions or customers looking for deals; the other half are politicians, journalists and ministers from around the world looking for an explanation of what it all means.

It Matters to be Among The People Who Shape Our World

This Year’s list of World’s 100 most
influential people Featured in
Time Magazine includes
Nandan Nilekani and Vikram Akula
whose talent, power and humility
 is transforming our Lives.

This year's Time 100  list is perhaps the most intriguing one. Award honors 100 men and women who define our times The annual list celebrates the lives and ideas of the world's most influential people The time 100 is now a much anticipated annual issue, in its third year, and since we view anyone who makes the list as being permanent member of the Time 100, we have very few repeats each year. U.S. President George W. Bush is one, as is Kartie Couric. Bill Clinton is back, this time paired with George H.W. Bush; Bill Gates is back too, this time with wife Melinda. Another person who makes a return visit this year is U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The awards were presented during a New York City Gala Dinner. Distinguished guests included US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Queen Rania of Jordan, US Senator John McCain, Actor Will Smith, and Producer George Lucas. “We live in an interconnected and global village, a place where people you might not have heard about, as well as those you have, are influencing the way we live in the 21st century,” said Managing Editor of Time, James Kelly.

Knowledge Pays Off

What is the difference between sports and games ?

A sport is a physical activity carried out under an agreed
set of rules,  with a recreational purpose for competition
or self -enjoyment or a combination of these. A game is a
recreation activity involving one or more players, defined
by a goal that the players try to reach, and some set of
rules to play it. Games are played primarily for
entertainment or enjoyment. The difference of purpose
differentiates sport from game, combined with the notion
of individual (or team)   skill or prowess.

What is the difference between electrical and electronic
devices ?

Since the advent of power electronics, it has become difficult to
draw a boundary between electrical and electronic devices. An
approximate boundary can be drawn on the basis of the power
level –– 20 watts can be set for this purpose. Those devices
operating at less than 20 watts can be said to be electronic and
devices above 20 watts are electrical devices. A further
classification of such devices is on the basis of operating voltage
are electronic and those with high operating voltages are
electrical.

What is the difference between sauce and ketchup ?

Traditionally, in the US, tomato ketchup was prepared with
tomatoes, sugar, vinegar/ acetic acid and spices. It is used as a
dressing or table condiment to be consumed with chips,
Buerger's, etc. Ketchup is cold and is never heated as a rule.
Tomato sauce, on the other hand, is made of vegetable stock and
spices. Vinegar is not usually used.  Sauces are generally served
hot. Most manufactures insist that ketchup is made with spices
onions and garlic while sauce is generally made with out spices.

How is the inflation rate calculated ?

The inflation rate is worked out form Consumer Price Index
values (CPI), The CPI is calculated from the weighted prices of
several groups of articles of consumption like food items,
machinery, chemicals, metals, building construction material,
etc. The inflation rate is the percentage  increase or decrease in
the values of CPI at a specified time interval.

Why does one never hear of heart cancer ?

Skin, intestine, bone marrow and other tissues are more prone to
cancer because of a large presence of dividing cells. On the other
hand, heart is less prone to tumors because its muscle tissues are
essentially non-dividing. Therefore, we usually do not hear about
heart cancer. Tumours of the heart muscle are rare but they do
sometimes develope. These are called cardiac sachems, the most
common tumour of the heart, and 30% of these are
abgiosarcomas. The heart could also be a target organ for
metastatic (spreading) cancer from other organs, like cancer of
the breast, the langurs, and also melanoma (skin cancer)

Why doesn’t  AIDS spread through mosquito bites ?

Strictly speaking, it is not AIDS but HIV that spreads through
blood, semen and from a mother to child. Mosquitoes cannot
transmit HIV for two reasons. Firstly, when the mosquito bites
with its proboscis, it draws blood and injects saliva, which
contains antiviral factors and immuoglobulines and hence cannot
transmit HIV. The blood from  one person is not injected into the
mosquito’s next victim. Secondly, HIV dies in the mosquito’s
body because the mosquitos after sucking the blood digests the
blood and doesn’t immediately need to feed on another.
Therefore, it takes a while to digest this blood and by then, it
also digests all the virus containing cells.

What is the difference between rock and pop music?

Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring  vocals (often
with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat ;
other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some
styles. The genre of rock is broad, and its boundaries loosely
-defined, with distantly related genres sometimes included. Pop
music, in popular and contemporary parlance, is a sub-genre of
popular music. Since the term spans  many acts  (rock, hip-hop,
rhythm and blues (R & B), country, dance and operatic pop), it is
reasonable to say that ‘pop music’ is a loosely defined category.
The term is also used in a derogatory manner by those who feel
that pop lacks any musically artistic meaning, or for
lack of better terminology, represents a ‘betrayal’ from the
traditional sound of either the acts itself or the specific genre to
which the act belongs.

Arun Netravali
Bell Labs President

Dr. Arun Netravali, President (Emeritus) of Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies Inc, is in the process of setting up a $250- million venture capital fund to invest in the US-based start-up companies in telecom and technology areas, which would be outsourcing to India.
"We will invest in the start-up companies and help them succeed, by helping the management, cutting overhead cost by outsourcing. Part of the $250-million has already come in," he told press persons after delivering a lecture on 'Communication Networking' : Beyond 2005,' organized by CII. He refused to divulge the size of investments, but said the fund would pick minority stakes in these companies.
"We want to bring outsourcing which has mostly been handled for large and medium sized companies to the world of start-ups in the technology and telecom areas. Start-ups have been concerned about bringing outsourcing and it is a valid concern because in the start-up world, things change all the time. So our goal is to figure out how to facilitate outsourcing by telling people to understand the value of it and reducing the fear that the start-ups may have in terms of outsourcing and reducing the overheads," Dr. Netravali said  Earlier delivering the lecture, he said that the present day Internet is likely to transform to a broadband "Hi-IQ Net"  - with active Web sites and software agents to extract desired information via text, voice, images and video.

Dr. Netravali in his predications for the new millennium said that consumers and business would have a vast veriety of individualized custom services - written by countless programmes on an open network. He added that communication network would be tailor-made to suit the needs of individuals.
He added that a growing number of network appliances will collaborate with the Hi-IQ Net offer services that will enable us to interact as we do with our friends, with the knowledge and context of a close relationship using all our senses.
Dr. Netravali said that the new network act as a mediator to bring together information of all kinds.
He said that the challenger for service providers and cellular equipment makers was to ensure that the systems they produce was as inexpensive as possible and also customize the data applications to suit specific users.
Arun Netravali is an international scientist of Indian origin. He has made many fundamental contributions in the areas of digital communications technology. Presently Dr. Arun Netravali is the President of the Bell Labs. Earlier he was Executive Vice President of research, responsible for Bell Labs' basic research efforts in all areas involving communication, computing and physical sciences.
Dr. Arun Netravali has played an important role in making the Bell Labs the leader in telecommunications technology. Dr. Netravali's pioneering contributions in algorithms for the representation, synthesis, processing, and compression of images and image sequences has transformed television from analog to digital in broadcast TV, cable TV, DBS, HDTV, and enable an entirely new set of products and services for the multimedia revolution over the Internet.
 Dr. Netravali graduated from the IIT, Mumbai, India. He earned his master's and doctorate degrees from Rice University in Houston, Taxes, in the field of electrical engineering. Dr. Arun C. Netravali was also an adjunct professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has taught graduate courses at City College (N.Y.), Columbia University and Rutgers University. He serves on the board of a number of organizations. He is a member of the Indo/U.S. Science and Technology Council, initiated by the former President Clinton and the then Indian PM, Mr. Vajpayee, and the NRI Advisory Committee for Telecommunications.
Dr. Netravali is a member of Tau Beta Phi and Sigma Xi, a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and AAAS and a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering. For his scientific achievements, he has received numerous awards, including the Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1991) an EMMY for the HDTV Grand Alliance (1994), the Computers & Communications Prize, (1997) (NEC, Japan), the Frederik Philips Award from the IEEE (2000), the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies in India) Medal (2000), and the Kilby Medal from the IEEE (2001).

A FAIR PORTRAIT OF Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Elizabeth Barrett   Moulton-Barrett)was  born at Cohnadatia Hall                 (now demolished) near Durham, England in 1806,  the daughter of Creole plantation owner Edward              Moulton-Barrett,who   assumed the last name  "Barrett" on succeeding to   the estates  of his  grandfather in Jamaica.  She  was     christened in    Kelloe church, where a plaque describes her as 'a great poetess, a noble woman, a devoted wife'. Her mother was Mary Graham-Clarke of a wealthy family of Newcastle upon Tyne. She is one of the descendents of King Edward III of England. [1]
Elizabeth spent her youth at Hope End, near Great Malvern. While still a child she showed her gift, and her father published 50 copies of a juvenile epic, on the Battle of Marathon. She was educated at home, but owed her profound knowledge of the Greek language and much mental stimulus to her early friendship with the blind scholar, Hugh Stuart Boyd, who was a neighbour.
In her early teens, Elizabeth contracted a lung complaint, possibly tuberculosis, although the exact nature has been the subject of much speculation, and was treated as an invalid by her parents. For a girl of that time, she was well-educated, having been allowed to attend lessons with her brother's tutor. She published her first poem, anonymously, at the age of fourteen. In 1826 she published anonymously An Essay on Mind and Other Poems.
Browning is generally considered the greatest of English poetesses. Her works are full of tender and delicate, but also of strong and deep, thought. Her own sufferings, combined with her moral and intellectual strength, made her the champion of the suffering and oppressed wherever she found them. Her gift was essentially lyrical, though much of her work was not so in form. Her weak points are the lack of compression, an occasional somewhat obtrusive mannerism, and frequent failure both in metre and rhyme. Though not nearly the equal of her husband in force of intellect and the higher qualities of the poet, her works had, as might be expected on a comparison of their respective subjects and styles, a much earlier and wider acceptance with the general public. Mrs. Browning was a woman of singular nobility and charm, and though not beautiful, was remarkably attractive. Mary Russell Mitford thus describes her as a young woman: "A slight, delicate figure, with a shower of dark curls falling on each side of a most expressive face; large, tender eyes, richly fringed by dark eyelashes, and a smile like a sunbeam." Anne Thackeray Ritchie described her as: "Very small and brown" with big, exotic eyes and an overgenerous mouth.
No female poet was held in higher esteem among cultured readers in both the United States and England than Elizabeth Barrett Browning during the nineteenth century. Barrett's poetry had an immense impact on the works of Emily Dickinson who admired her as woman of achievement

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.


Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

The Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Battle of Marathon, c. 1818 (age 12).
"The Rose and Zephyr," first published work, appears in 1825 Literary Gazette.
An Essay on Mind (poems), 1826
Prometheus Bound (translation of Aeschylus), 1833
The Seraphim and Other Poems, 1838
"The Cry of the Children" published 1842
Poems, 1844
Poems (includes the Sonnets from the Portuguese), 1850.
Love and Marriage: How Biographical Interpretation affected the Reception of "Sonnets from the Portugese"
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways"
Hiram Powers' Greek Slave
Casa Guidi Windows, 1851
Aurora Leigh, 1857
Poems Before Congress, 1860
Last Poems (including "De Profundis") published posthumously, 1862

Reso Cover

Union Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav wants to do something that even Amitabh Bachchan cannot do: An image makeover. Lalu wants to cleverly manipulate the perception of him outside his home turf of Bihar. The master tactician of Indian politics is embarking on a difficult assignment, of changing his brand-image, in the middle of his political career, but more interesting to note is that, so far, he has been somewhat successful.
No, this is no Lalu Joke; the railway minister is dead serious. He wants the media and the political class to leave behind the administrative mess he created within Bihar during his 15 years of rule. Lalu's confidants are requesting the media to stop equating him with a buffoon and take a fresh look at the latest statistics from the railway ministry under his leadership. His PR advisors want the media to acknowledge him as Lalu Yadav, Master of Business Administration.
The new venture, starring Lalu Yadav, has been scripted by himself and produced by his political ambition. After losing power in Bihar and humiliated and humbled, Lalu doesn't want to remain outside the public domain. To keep getting attention from the rest of India, Lalu is participating in an institution where even a few months ago his presence would have been considered most unlikely: the premier Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Recently, in a class-room in IIM-A, 16 students of the post-graduate programme in management for executives (PGPX) gave a PowerPoint presentation debating Lalu Yadav's various management decisions in the railway ministry. Lalu is 'material for case study' because Indian Railways, which defaulted in paying dividends worth Rs 1823 crore in 2001, is today profitable with its treasury boasting of Rs 12,140 crore turnover.IIM-A students have examined the issue of "turnaround" of a monstrously big organization like Indian Railways under Lalu's leadership on the basis of a 120-page long document prepared by IIM' professor G Raghuram, chairman of PGPX. Professor Raghuram told Rediff.com, "Lalu Yadav has energized Indian Railways. His consistency of direction has played a role, yet at the same time he is staying away from interfering at the operational level of decision-making."
In Lalu's presence, Professor Raghuram and his students debated, if the turning around of a loss-making Indian Railways into an impressive success story is for real or hype.
Professor Raghuram, who has studied the functioning of Indian Railways thoroughly, believes, "The railways' turnaround is not hype because the net revenues have increased from Rs 5000 crore to Rs 8000 crore.
"By increasing 'axle-loading' of wagons and combining it with a market-oriented approach, Lalu has contributed in the success of Indian Railways."
According to a member of the core group in the top railway management, "Lalu Yadav has so far believed that people don't care for development as much as they do for emotions. His voters told us, Swarg nahin swar diya (Lalu gave them voice, if not heaven). But now Lalu  thinks it's time for him to change and take up developmental politics."
The railway top brass are talking about how Lalu is shaping his leadership with a human touch. Recently, Lalu was presiding over the farewell function of a retiring senior railway employee, and found the officer a little depressed. He asked him why, and the employee said since he married a little late in life his financial responsibilities towards his family are not yet over and after his retirement there would be no income. Lalu on the spot asked the chief of Railway Board J P Batra to give a job to the retiring employee's elder son. Needless to say, the event turned emotional and Lalu gained. His senior officers claim that Lalu has for the first time changed the approach and mechanism of supervision of the regions by the head office.
Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones, each headed by a general manager. The 16 zonal headquarters have 67 divisions headed by a Division Regional Manager. In addition, it has nine production units. Previously, railway ministers were close to the Board which is excessively powerful body. But Lalu is now making the head office closer to GMs and DRMs, thereby improving the supervision of GMs' performance, making them more responsible and accountable.
Another important factor is that Lalu Yadav's team is reclassifying the management of goods transport. According to an IIM study, the railways have increased the freight volume but now the maximization of the use of wagons is making a huge difference to the bottom-line. It may be difficult to believe, but Lalu as railway minister has changed wagon management entirely by reducing corruption with the help of new benchmarks in administration.
Since the last many years the goods wagons would carry a load of around 20 tonnes per pair of wheels. A wagon with, say, three pairs of wheels would thus be carrying 60 tonnes.
This gave scope to a multi-million rupee scam. Per wagon an excess of around 15 tonnes of unaccounted goods was being transported, and the money went to the dubious nexus of railway managers and private contractors. But Lalu took a decision to increase 'axle loading' (the permitted limit of weight carried by each wagon), which left no scope for excess goods.
In typical style, Lalu has popularized the delightful slogan to carry forward his message.
He says, "You have to milk the cow, otherwise she will become sick.
The railway wagons are giving profit but that's not enough, you have to maximize the use of wagons." Lalu says railway wagons are like "a cow ready to be milked."
Not only has he increased the permissible weight limit to 22.5 tonnes and bringing in more money, he has also forced more rounds of wagons every month. Previously unloading of goods at destinations was done only during office hours but now unloading is done round the clock. Previously each wagon used to travel four to five trips per month but now wagons make eight to 10 trips. Also, Lalu has put more resources in geographical areas where more traffic and revenues are being generated. However, Lalu cannot shed his political colors entirely.
He has ensured that his constituency Chapra in Bihar gets a big pie of the railways' development projects. A railway wheel factory and loco manufacturing projects are planned for Bihar.
Thus Lalu's road-show will not end at IIM-A. He has also been invited to lecture at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. A French think-tank wants to do 'research' on him, and Jeffrey R Immelt of GE and the Suzuki chief are seeking an audience with him. Harvard University, reportedly, is planning a seminar in Delhi to hear Lalu's views on management and the economy. And, his advisors tell the media that with the Congress not improving its grass-root infrastructure and the Bharatiya Janata Party facing an acute leadership crisis, who knows what would be the outcome of the next general election!
Who can rule out that Lalu Yadav, the great grass-root politician, has a lot of potential in the uncertain Indian political environment created by the weaknesses of the two major political parties?

BRAIN BROWSING

This is a riddle attributed to Euclid from AD 300.

A mule and a horse were walking along laden with sacks of corn. The mule said to the horse, 'If you gave me one of your sacks, I would be carrying twice, as much as you. But if I gave you one, we would both be carrying equal burdens.

How many sacks of corn were they each carrying ?

SANCHAY

Knowledge Pays Off

How does a laser printer work ?

A laser printer uses the phenomenon of static electricity as a temporary glue. The core component is the photoreceptor, typically revolving drum or cylinder. This is made of highly photoconductive material that is discharged by light photons. The printer coats the drum with a positively charged toner - a fine, black powder. Since it has a positive charge, the toner clings to the negatively discharge areas of the drum, but not to the positively charged 'background'. With the powder pattern affixed, the drum rolls over a sheet of paper, which moves along a belt below. Before the paper rolls under the drum, it is given a negative charge by the transfer corona wire (charged roller). This charge is stronger than the negative charge of the electrostatic image, so the paper can pull the toner powder away. Since it is moving at the same speed as the drum, the paper  picks up the image pattern exactly. To keep the paper from clinging to the drum, it is discharged by the detach corona wire immediately after picking up the toner.

What is the VJD method in cricket ?

V Jayadevan, an engineer from Kerala, has devised a method which has the backing of the Indian board and will be discussed by the ICC’s Cricket Committee during its tow-daymeet in Dubai on May 13 and 14. Like the Duckworth-Lewis method, Jayadevan’s system (the VJD method) also comes from an analysis of numerous oneday matches. And predicting scores and targets on the basis of scoring patterns recorded from earlier games.

What is the difference between a call centre and a BPO organization ?

A Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organization is responsible for performing a process or a part of a process of another business organization ; outsourcing is done to save on costs or gain in productivity. A call centres performs that part of a client’s business which involves handling telephone calls. A call centre, for example, might handle customer complaints coming in over a telephone. Thus, a call centre can be considered a BPO organization. The  converse is, however, not true because there exist BPO organizations, such as medical transcription agencies, which handle their business through websites, and do not process ant telephone calls on behalf of their clients.

What is the origin of the buffet system ?  

A buffet is a meal- serving system where patrons serve themselves. It's a popular method of feeding large numbers of people with minimal staff. The term originally referred to the sideboard where the food was served, but eventually became applied to the form. The buffet became popular in the English-speaking world in the second half of the nineteenth century. The 16th century French term buffet applied both to the display itself and to the furniture on which it was mounted, often draped with rich textiles, but more often as the century advanced an elaborately carved cupboard surmounted by tiers of shelves. In England, such a buffet was called a court cupboard.

How does the Snickometer work ?

The Snickometer, although not used in adjudicating decisions, is a useful TV tool which tracks the cricket ball's path by picking up sounds from pitch and stump microphones. The Snickometer, invented by Englishman Allen Plaskett in the mid '90s, is used to display sound from stump microphones. The feed from the stump microphones is fed directly into the Snickometer which then represents the sound as a visual graphic. From that, viewers can tell whether the ball hit a pad (aflat, dull display) or hit the bat (a lot sharper graphic) or just went pass (a flat line).

Why does milk overflow when boiled but water does not ?

Milk is not a simple liquid - it contains tiny globules of fat and casein which are not dissolved but suspended in water. On heating milk, there occurs a separation of contituents and some elements like cream, being lighter, float up. After some time, a membrane -like film containing cream and casein  is forme. When milk begins to biol, the heat energyis used for the conversion of water into steam. As a result, the pressure below the film increases suddenly and the rising bubbles of steam makes the milk overflow. On heating water, no such film is formed and the bubbles of steam formed by boiling escape easily without any resistance. Hence, water does not overflow on boiling.

Empowerment

Trees Can Save Our Planet !

They're God's Gift

God decided to be creative,

Earthly, majestic and imaginative ,

So he made trees, you and me,

and all such lives that we can see,

But time and again the barbaric greedy hand,

has destroyed the trees of our land

Sometimes I feel so empty,

Trees less I see, bareness seems plenty,

They have so much to say,

that upon our ears does not fall

But if we are truly concerned about them,

do they really need words at all.

For our faith everything we do,

and for our greed, destruction too.

How long will we remain silent watchers,

of the inhumane acts of this nature.

The time has come to raise our united fist,

decry from our hearts the delusions of greed's mist.

So I want to accentuate,

that cutting of trees we should abate,

And each one of us should plant a tree,

ameliorate the world and make it pollution free.

Save the planet earth or the following would be the text of the letter written in the year 2070

SONG OF HOPE

MILESTONE

The milestone is far far away  as envisaged and ,
The journey that you have commenced just now
Is a perennial feature, never ending, never halting,
Nor ceasing till the life is in harness and existence
And you are meant for blending it with rhythm and fervor.

The moments that are incessant need continuity
And you are solely responsible
for keeping the momentum intact
Till the milestone is approached,
Your journey is not a singular campaign
And the entire world moves with you.

Your steps through the bushes, shrubs,
fields and river sides
Measure the distances to ultimately reach the destination,
Your determination, undeviating pledge and unfailing Mission
Are absolutely your property and,
Nothing can alter you from the path of truth and justice.

Mountain may be in front
Zigzag passage may be on the way
Many impediments and obstacles may
hinder you from surging ahead,
In all predicaments keep up the fighting attitude
And don't give up nor bow your head.

The challenges are always there to risk the life and,
Dangers may be quite acute in nature,
Put everything at stake without caring
for the consequences,
The destined spot is bound to roll back nearer and nearer
And finally the milestone is achieved.

IIT Success Stories

'Kanwal gave US $3 million to IIT Bombay to help set up
a new School of Information Technology, named KReSIT
(Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology),
which opened in 1999. He has been a major donor to
Michigan Tech, including a gift of $5 million
for new computer science facilities.

He made a promise to his wife Ann
that they would be well off by the
time he was 40. Kanwal made
$ 210 million in 1989. He was 41...
he was a year late, but he had
basically kept his promise to Ann. 

Rekhi Believed in himself

Kanwal Rekhi made his millions by launching and then selling his own start-up. Kanwal Rekhi was born in 1945 in Rawalpindi… the third of eight children of an Indian army officer. Within two years of his birth, Kanwal's family fled the newly partitioned Muslim Pakistan with little more than the clothes on their backs and settled in Kanpur, India.
After what he described as a middle-class upbringing with an emphasis on education, Kanwal graduated from the highly-esteemed IIT Bombay with a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering.
He came to America to earn a Masters in Electrical Engineering at Michigan Tech University.
Newly arrived, he recalls having only $10 in his pocket. He found a room at the YMCA for $4 a night. That first day, he found a job washing dishes for $1.25 per hour. After a full day's work, with meal provided, he had earned $10… and that's when he knew he could survive in America. "I had a place to sleep, food in my stomach, a little extra money in my pocket… and a sense of purpose,".
He took on odd jobs at night as a busboy, doorman and even factory welder.
While he was still in school, he somehow struck up a pen pal relationship with an American-born woman named Ann Holt who would soon join the Air Force.
They corresponded for three years before they actually met. Within a few weeks of their meeting, they decided to get married. By this time, he had gotten his Master's degree and was working as a computer engineer. He made a promise to Ann that they would be well off by the time he was 40.
Kanwal, along with two Indian colleagues, started Excelan, a computer networking company. Kanwal ran the company for awhile and worked hard to fit the role of American CEO, shaving his beard, buying lots of suits and white shirts and taking speech therapy. He was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Venture Magazine in 1987. The company went public… it was a successful IPO and Sold to Novell. He later turned to a group called TIE which he had helped start in 1992. TIE stands for The IndUS Entrepreneurs, a Silicon Valley based non-profit support network that helps bring young Indian entrepreneurs along, providing advice, contacts and funding.
Because education was so essential in his success, Kanwal pledged $5 million dollars to the Foundation for Excellence, which identifies bright, but poor students in India and pays for their college tuition AND living expenses, so that they don't burden their families. The Foundation has funded more than 1,500 students so far. Kanwal's particular interest is in supporting disadvantaged girls. "That's how you leverage education for the whole family," he said. "If you educate a boy, you have educated a person. If you educate a girl, you educate a family down the road." 

India Smiles : The Daughter Gets Booker Prize

Indian novelist Kiran Desai succeeded on 10 Oct., 06 where her mother failed and won the Booker Prize, the youngest woman ever to capture one of the world's most prestigious literary awards.
Desai, whose mother Anita was three times short listed for the Booker, won the £ 50,000 prize at her first attempt for her sweeping novel,  The Inheritance of Loss.
The extraordinary achievement makes the 35 years old Kiran Desai the youngest woman ever to win the Booker, a distinction previously enjoyed by Arundhati Roy.
In a remarkable act of literary filial devotion, Desai began the task of turning her mother into almost a joint Booker winner even as she accepted the award.
She's now being compared to her other Booker - winning predecessors from India such as Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things) ans Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children).
Desai's book, The Inheritance of Loss, is a story replete with sadness over globalization and with pleasure at the surviving intimacies of Indian village life.
Kiran Desai was born in India in 1971, she lived in Delhi until she was 14, then spent a year in England, before her family moved to the USA. She completed her schooling in Massachusetts before attending Bennington College; Hollins University and Columbia University, where she studied creative writing, taking two years off to write Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard.
Her mother Anita Desai currently teaches creative writing at MIT. Her maternal grandmother was German, but left before the World War II and never returned. Her grandfather was a refugee from Bangledesh. Her paternal grandparents came from Gujarat, and her grandfather was educated in England. Although Kiran has not lived in India since she was 14, she returns to the family home in Delhi every year. 
She first came to literary attention in 1977 when she was published in the New Yorker and in Mirrorwork, an anthology of 50 years of Indian writing edited by Salman Rushdie - Strange Happenings in the Guava Orchard was the closing piece. In 1998, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, which had taken four years to write, was published to good reviews. She says, "I think my first book was filled with all that I loved most about India and knew I was in the inevitable process of losing. It was also very much a book that came from the happiness of realizing how much I loved to write."
The Inheritance of Loss is set partly in India and partly in the USA. Desai describes it as a book that "tries to capture what it means to live between East and West and what it means to be an immigrant," and goes on to say that it also explores at a deeper level, "what happens when a Western element is introduced into a country that is not of the West" - which happened during the British colonial days in India, and is happening again "with India's new relationship with the States."
Is writing in her genes or is it an acquired art ? "I think, it's a combination of both. I've practiced the art of writings for years. Yet, I've inherited it from my mother. I've been inspired and influenced by her writings. Let me tell you, my mother didn't want me to take writing as a career, for she felt that writers don't get noticed for years and writing is a lonely exercise. I'm influenced by my mother's writing. I always read whatever she was reading. And her style of writing grew on me. But I have a very different style. Imagine, we still live in the same house, but I live upstairs and she's downstairs. Though writing may be an art, it's been in my blood and environment."
When you talk to Kiran, she doesn't have the haughtiness or arrogance of most writers, "I'm a very down-to-earth person. Writing takes most of my time. I do have an extrovert side, I do love a good laugh, but I need to be alone a lot. I need if for my writing."

Cheer Up !

Bill, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett
have something special for the day !!

 The Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation Since it's inception in 2000 has committed nearly $300 million from its $30 billion corpus in the fight against AIDS. malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases in India. For AIDS alone, the Foundation allotted $200 million in 2003, more than the $146 million budgeted by the government at that time.  Gates's concern about India's health goes back to his deep regard for the country's human resource and its contribution to Microsoft's development. when asked why he had chosen to focus on India, Gates had this to say: "India has contributed an amazing amount to software industry as a whole and to Microsoft in particular. A high percent of our great people come from India, a lot of our key partners are based in India. So there is a desire to give back because of that."
Another reason Gates said he is focused on India is that it had both advanced medical science capabilities of the developed world and medical problems of the developing world, and it provided opportunity to study the diseases and develop cures. "So we want to make what we are doing in AIDS prevention a model for the world.

Born on Oct. 28, 1955, Gates - World's Richest Person, Preceded by : Warren Buffett, Succeeded by : None grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International.
Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13.
In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft's chief executive officer. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair.
In his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. Gates' foresight and his vision for personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the software industry.
Under Gates' leadership, Microsoft's mission has been to continually advance and improve software technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. The company is committed to a long-term view, reflected in its investment of approximately $6.2 billion on research and development in the 2005 fiscal year.
In 1999, Gates wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought, a book that shows how computer technology can solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. The book was published in 25 languages and is available in more than 60 countries. Business @ the Speed of Thought has received wide critical acclaim, and was listed on the best-seller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com. Gates' previous book, The Road Ahead, published in 1995, held the No. 1 spot on the New York Times' bestseller list for seven weeks.
William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft had revenues of US$39.79 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2005, and employs more than 61,000 people in 102 countries and regions.
On June 15, 2006, Microsoft announced that effective July 2008 Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After July 2008 Gates will continue to serve as Microsoft’s chairman and an advisor on key development projects. The two-year transition process is to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates’ daily responsibilities. Effective June 2006, Ray Ozzie has assumed Gates’ previous title as chief software architect and is working side by side with Gates on all technical architecture and product oversight responsibilities at Microsoft. Craig Mundie has assumed the new title of chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft and is working closely with Gates to assume his responsibility for the company’s research and incubation efforts.
Gates has donated the proceeds of both books to non-profit organizations that support the use of technology in education and skills development.
In addition to his love of computers and software, Gates founded Corbis, which is developing one of the world's largest resources of visual information - a comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections around the globe.
Philanthropy is also important to Gates. He and his wife, Melinda, have endowed a foundation with more than $28.8 billion (as of January 2005) to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning, with the hope that in the 21st century, advances in these critical areas will be available for all people. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $3.6 billion to organizations working in global health; more than $2 billion to improve learning opportunities, including the Gates Library Initiative to bring computers, Internet Access and training to public libraries in low-income communities in the United States and Canada; more than $477 million to community projects in the Pacific Northwest; and more than $488 million to special projects and annual giving campaigns.
Gates was married on Jan. 1, 1994, to Melinda French Gates. They have three children. Gates is an avid reader, and enjoys playing golf and bridge.
By marketing MS-DOS aggressively to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones, Microsoft went from a small player to one of the major software vendors in the home computer industry. Microsoft continued to develop operating systems as well as software applications.
By continuing to ensure, by various means, that most computers came with Microsoft software pre-installed, the Microsoft corporation eventually became the largest software company in the world, earning Gates enough money that Forbes Magazine named him the wealthiest person in the world for several years.
Althought a phony Internal legend says some 32% of Microsoft staffers are Indians, Gates estimated that it was more in the region of 20% in just the engineering departments. But he was full of praise for them, saying: "Our employees from India are making stronger and stronger contributions, its quite amazing."
Among the first Indians to work for Microsoft when it was still a newbie company was Remala Rao, who joined as its 39th employee and worked on Windows 1.0 which was released in 1985. By 2001, Microsoft had half a dozen Indian vice-presidents and scores of top executives performing crucial functions in both engineering and marketing Windows, Excel, Powerpoint and other MS products.
Gates is widely considered one of the world's most influential people  & is often characterized as the quintessential example of a super-intelligent "nerd" with immense power and wealth.


Warren Buffett, the world's second-richest person, is donating about $ 37 billion -more than 80% of his fortune - to foundations
run by his friends Bill Gates and by the Buffett family. The move is the biggest -ever single act of charitable giving in US.
The announcement by Buffett, 75, on Sunday comes just days after Microsoft chairman Gates  said he would move away from his day-to-day role at the software giant to focus more on charity work, and highlights the close friendship of the world's two richest men.
The total amount for the Foundation comes to about $30 billion.
That is the largest commitment to a philanthropic cause ever made by one person in US.
Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, is worth an estimated $44 billion, according to Forbes magazine. That makes him the world's  second richest man behind Gates, who is worth about $50  billion. Buffett took over Berkshire in 1965, and has investments in undervalued securities and purchases of well-managed easy-to-understand businesses.
Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930 to his father Howard, a stockbroker-turned-Congressman. The only boy, he was the second of three children, and displayed an amazing aptitude for both money and business at a very early age. Acquaintances recount his uncanny ability to calculate columns of numbers off the top of his head - a feat Warren still amazes business colleagues with today.
At only six years,  Buffett purchased 6-packs of Coca Cola from his grandfather's grocery store for twenty five cents and resold each of the bottles for a nickel, pocketing a five cent profit. While other children his age were playing hopscotch and jacks, Warren was making money. Five years later, Buffett took his step into the world of high finance.
When he was 13 years old, Buffett filed his first income tax return, deducting his bicycle as a work expense. At the age of 15 In his senior year of high school, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in a barber shop. Within months, they owned three machines in different locations. At the age of  20, Buffett enrolled at Columbia Business School after learning that Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, two well-known securities analysts, taught there. During this time, Buffett also pledged to the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. He is still active today, donating every year to the fraternity.
Buffett graduated and wanted to work on Wall Street. He worked as a stockbroker. During that time, Buffett also took a Dale Carnegie public speaking course. Using what he learned, he felt confident enough to teach a night class at the University of Nebraska, "Investment Principles." The average age of the students he taught was more than twice his own.
At the age of 32, Buffett discovered a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway, that was selling for under $8 per share. Through his partnership, Buffett eventually purchased 49% of the outstanding shares. He took control of Berkshire Hathaway at the board meeting.
Berkshire began to acquire stock in ABC. Trading at $290 per share, Buffett's net worth neared $140 million. However, he lives solely on his salary of $ 1,00,000 per year.
Buffett entered in $11 billion worth of forward contracts to deliver US dollars against other currencies. By April 2006, his total gain on these contracts was over $2 billion.
At  76, Buffett announced in June that he would give away more than 80%, or about $37 billion, of his $44 billion fortune to five foundations in annual gifts of stock, starting in July 2006. The largest contribution will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

BRAIN BROWSING

Ranji Trophy in the home matches is taken very seriously and each individual's results studied in great detail after every match. In one match

early in the season, Gagan and Balaji, two of the country's favourite players, each scored 33 before being caught out. This has the effect of

lowering Gagan's  batting average by one run, but raising Balaji average by one. If, before this match, Gagan has scored twice as many runs as

Balaji  and they had each had the same number of innings, what are their batting averages ?

Why are there only 60 seconds in a minute ?

A minute is a unit used to measure both time and angles. A circle was divided into 360 degrees by ancient civillisations, probably Babylonians who figure everything in units of 10's and 60's instead of 10's and 100' as we do. The degree was divided into 60 parts and each of these parts was divided into 60 parts. The Romans called the first division of the degree 'the partes minutae primal' on the first part. The second division they called 'the partes minutate secundaes'  or second small parts. These terms were finally shortened to minutes and seconds.

Why don't clouds with millions of tons of water in them come crashing down ?

Well, they do...... but very slowly. A falling drop feels a frictional force from the air's viscostly that opposes gravity till it reaches a constant terminal velocity. This velocity is smaller radiuse of a fluid particle or crystal. Actually it's quite small for drops the size of a few millimeters and so, althought the drops in a cloud fall, they fall so slowly that only careful measurements would reveal the fact. © Susan Serebriakoff, Antwerp, Belgium) The weight of the water is distributted over a very large volume. So the density is actually less than that of air. In fact, the water is in the form of vapour which is lighter than air. This comes crashing down when it gets cooled and converted to water.

How many islands are there in the world ?
It's difficult to put a figure to the exact number on islands as there are different kinds in various water bodies including oceans, seas and rivers. However, in oceans there are over 2,000 islands.

Which actor has won the most Oscars?

Katherine Hepburn holds the distinction of having won the most number Oscars in Academy Awards history. She’s been nominated a whooping 13 times and took home the statuette on four occasions, for her roles in the films Morning Glory, The Lion in Winter On Golden Pond and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

Why is cricket not a discipline in the Olympics ?

Cricket was played just once, at the Paris Olympics in 1900. Cricket is played by just 10 countries at the highest level (though there are nearly 100 associate members of the ICI) and this would normally disqualify. It from being included as and Olympic Committee claims mass participation is a must (minimum of 16 nations). The only other occasion cricket was part of a multi- disciplinary meet was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games at Koala Lumpur.

What is the Magnetic Hill in Ladakh ?

The Magnetic Hill is located on the Leh-Kargil-Batalik National
Highway, about 30 kms from Lah, at a height of 14,000 ft above sea
level. The hill supposedly has magnetic properties which attracts metallic objects, making vehicles move up at a speed of about 20 kmph with their engines off. However, many feel that it's a mere optical illusion and nothing to do with magnetic fields, electricity or unknown forces working along mysterious lines.

Why is a Mafia gangster called a don?

The mafia as a  criminal institutions originated is Sicily, Italy. The world ‘Don’ in Italian means boss. So the leader of a mafia gang came to be known as a don. Synonyms for don include Capo Criminal, which means super boss in Italian.

What is special about Luminette glasses ?

The Luminette is a light apparatus rather like a pair of spectacles, but can be worn on top of normal glasses to administer luminotherapy treatment. Luminotherapy means light therapy and usually involves half-hour sessions in front of a light source. It's specially adapted to treat  seasonal depression. Light exposure slows down melatonin production, fighting sleepiness and depression. The light reaches the brain through the ratina of the eye, as nerve impulses, to alter hormone levels, which in turn reset your body clock and boost your immune system.