Its Raining Dollars

In the nook and corner of the world cinema, the recent talk is about British movie slumdog millionare. It was a stunning night for the same film, which won seven awards including award for a best film in British Academy Film Awards in London .

Danny Boyle, who bossed Slumdog Millionaire, was named best director. Boyle mainly thanked his audience and family who were the main reasons for the accomplishment of the film with a grand success.

Also the film bought an award to its starrer former Skins actor Dev patel, who was very much happy to receive that. It was a great privilege to Slumdog writer Simon Beaufoy to receive the award for best adapted screenplay. This British movie is largely set in the Indian city of Mumbai.

It is clear that the rag-to-riches movie is hotly tipped to win best picture at the Oscars and it has all the enough requirements to win the global admiration.

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Yet another safe-water landing has been done by an Australian pilot Steve Bolle similar to that of landing the airbus 320 in New York’s Hudson river last month. He guided a light plane to land safely in shallow waters of the northern city of Darwin after experiencing engine trouble shortly after takeoff.

The plane, belonged to a computer technology company CSG, was carrying five technicians in it. In Darwin, the plane came to rest on a sand bank in about two feet of water at low tide. All six people were able to wade the 200 yards to the beach. Officials praised pilot Steve Bolle.

Failure is due to a loss of power in one of the engines. Hence the brave pilot planned to land it on the beach. Emergency teams were working to remove the partly submerged plane from the water before the turn of the tide.

However, it is becoming a fashion to land planes in waters. Who knows? Ships in sea can be replaced by fast moving planes!!

Popularity: 7% [?]

It is a striking shift to anyone who has followed politics in Washington,in recent years,the image of sitting president admitting error.The presidencies of George W Bush and Bill Clinton were marked by resistance of both men to confess mistakes. But there was the 44th president Obama on Tuesday night,pleading guilty in television interviews for misbehaving the collapsed nomination of Tom Daschle. Also it sure would be an awkward family reunion. But, believe it or not, the first African-American president is related to both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Ok.. distantly related: Obama and Bush are 11th cousins.

That’s because they share the same tenth great grandparents — Samuel Hinckley and Sarah Soole Hinckley of 17th century Massachusetts. That means Obama and former President George Herbert Walker Bush are 10th cousins once removed. Obama is related to Cheney through Mareen Duvall, a 17th century immigrant from France. Mareen and Susannah Duvall were Obama’s oct-great grandparents and Cheney’s hept-great grandparents.

That makes Obama and Cheney ninth cousins once removed.

Cheney and Bush are related to one another by a completely different common ancestor.

I leave it to you to figure out their relationship…

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As the number one ODI team on April 1 will be richer by $175,000 with the runners-up getting $75,000, the fight for first place have reached censorious position.

India geared to second place in ICC ODI rankings after Australia were pushed to the third spot following their defeat at the hands of New Zealand in Melbourne which helped India pip Australia. Beating Sri Lanka 4-0 in the ongoing ODI series also helped India to rise in the rankings. Australia not only slid down the rankings but also earned their fifth consecutive defeat at home. Thursday’s victory against Sri Lanka was the ninth win on the trot for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team, including the 5-0 verdict against England last year.

This is India’s best ranking ever, while South Africa, who had toppled Australia to grab the number one position, having 125 points, while New Zealand follow on fourth rank with 117 points. Pakistan is further down the ladder at fifth while England and Sri Lanka are sixth and seventh respectively.

Australia, who have been on the decline in the last few months, have just about managed to retain their place as the number one team in the longer version of the game despite losing the Test series at home to South Africa. In ICC Test Rankings, Australia is in first place while second placed South Africa would get a chance to topple Australia when they take on Ricky Ponting’s men in a home series beginning later this month. India are third placed eagerly waiting to come forward.

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When was the last you sent an envelope? I remember folks at home writing to each other when was a kid, wasy back, when I was in second grade. Since then, the telephone made a lot of impact. Sharing photos, sending invitations were the only ways to force yourself to buy the envelope.

I used to send a couple of envelopes every week at work. I used it to reimburse my bills, when I stayed back at work place, for additonal work. All communication was to be done by email, yet the bills had to be submitted online. Scanning might work, but a few unethical workers at my work place, meant that the physical copy could not be reused.

Forget envelopes, When was the last time you bought stamps? I never remember buying stamps in the whole of my life. I have never sent an invitation, nor shared photos via post. Digital age meant photo albums are to be shared via picassa and mobile me.

Will the future generation ever see stamps?

Popularity: 7% [?]

Kids are always fun, but some times a lot mischievous. I enjoy playing with a lot of very young kids, just when they have started walking and talking. The new babies are introduced to a lot of new things int he world everyday, and it is like living in a all new planet.

Yesterday, I was at Janice’s, my cousin, who is very much like The “Oh. My. God” Janice in Friends, except that she has a very cute daughter. I visit her place often and enjoy playing with her daughter a lot. Her daughter Maria, is very cute and is only three years old. They have bought a lot of new stuff for the child and she is having a great time.

How much I wish I was in a place, where everything was new!! I wish I listen to people, and get so much attention too. In a lot of science research, It has been suggested that people learn a lot when they are kids. The number of words absorbed or learned per day is far higher when you are a child. Wikipedia has a very good article on child learning – I bet you want to take a look at the learning log. Are adults learning at all?

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We have, for long, indulged in over utilization and mindless exploitation of natural resources. As a result, the environment has suffered degradation. The quality of lie of the people in many areas such as economical, social, political, ethical, scientific, technological and even religious has also been affected. It is now realized that there is a need for environmental management while planning development.

One must know that each species has the right to live, each species has value for its own sake, an intrinsic value, unrelated to human needs. As all species are interdependent, the loss of one species may have far reaching consequences on other members of the community. Resources should not be wasted or over exploited. We have to live within the same ecological limitation as other species do.

Some guidelines to protect the environment are: sorting out garbage into separate items, so that they can be recycled, avoiding wastage in all forms: food, water, electricity, etc., using recycled papers. Avoiding the usage of plastic wherever and whenever possible. Informing the concerned local authority if we perceive any threat to the environment and make others aware too. We are aware that if health is lost everything is lost but we are yet to be aware of the fact that if our health environment is lost, our very survival too will be lost. Population explosion, exuberant growth of urbanization decline of cultivable lands, increasing number of vehicles on the road, deforestation, industrialization, changing pattern of consumption and exploitation of natural resources by human activities have all threatened our basic survival on this planet. It should be alerted at this juncture, otherwise we will be deprived of all natural wealth bestowed upon by our mother nature itself…..

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Mercury is skyrocketing and we are sweating. Year after year, the summers are becoming more and more inexorable. The reason for this — GLOBAL WARMING. As a common man, we may say that it concerns scientists and environmentalists. But actually we are facing the dogdays. Here are the consequences of global warming: There will be more heat waves and forest fires; glaciers will melt rapidly and increase the water level resulting in an imminent danger of severe floods; coastal regions and small islands will become extinct; crops will be affected; many species of birds and animals will become tales of history.

We may point our finger at Mother Nature, but actually transgression lies with us. From the invention of wheel to largest aeroplane A 380, our progress has been extraordinary, but we must realise that we still need fresh air, clean water and food to be left on planet earth. Mother nature gave these invaluable gifts absolutely free. But in pursuit of so called industrialization, we never valued free gifts from nature. All is not still lost. Scientists say still we have eight years to take preventive measures. We should open two fronts to tackle global warming.

On the international front, all countries whether first world or third world countries should become united. Major emitters such as the U.S., China, India and Brazil should join the Kyoto Protocol countries of Europe and Japan in imposing cutbacks in heat-trapping gases like carbon-dioxide emitted by power plants, industries and vehicles. World should move from carbon heavy fuels like coal to cleaner fuels such as solar energy. On the personal front, each of us can grow a tree. It will be a small step for us but a giant leap for the survival of human race. “Save Mother Earth; Save the human race”

Popularity: 8% [?]

As a youth, the range of relationships in your life is varied. You have close interactions with parents, relatives, teachers, etc. But you spend the most time with your friends. Just as much as you need friends, your friends also need you. So being a good friend and expressing friendship is important

Often you meet someone who becomes a friend, then asks for a favor or wants your help. Once the favor is granted, you are forgotten. Such experiences of being used or abused put one off from making or being friends. Today, there are many casual acquaintances to who you can say “Hi, how are you?” and move on to saying,” Bye.” You may often mistake these superficial relationships for friendship.

A real friend is someone who is a source of strength, support and companionship; they accept you as you are and allow space for you to grow in your own way. The best part of friendship is not just being together, but also the strength of discovering that someone believes in you and is willing to trust you. That gives you spiritual strength.

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