In the Indian blunders land…
400,000 laptops, worth Rs.830 crores (abt US dollars 150 million) lying idle in UP govt. godowns.
Over 4 lakhs laptops worth Rs.830 crores (abt US dollars 150 million) are lying in godowns of the UP government as CM Akhilesh Yadav has no time to distribute them to students. Seepage of rainwater into a godown in Lakhimpur Kheri last month damaged 75 laptops. Lack of storage space in districts and tehsils is a major concern.
(Me: Distribution of laps is not to help equip the students with modern technology, but to derive political mileage...)
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From the world of science…
Soon, dogs can 'speak' to humans…
London: Researchers are developing a new device that allows dogs to become tech savvy and manipulate the gadget in order to 'speak' to humans. Called Fido or "Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations," the device being developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology lets dogs bite or tug their handlers to trigger tones audible to them and may even alert them to particular explosives.
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What role does vitamin D play in preventing cancer?
Vitamin D plays a vital role in cancer prevention. A study of menopausal women showed that those who maintained vitamin D serum levels of 40 ng/ml cut their overall cancer risk by 77%.
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The oxygen that you get during your early morning walk gives the body great amounts of energy, especially to the joints.
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High-sugar diet linked to bowel cancer...
Snacking on sugary treats like biscuits, cakes, fizzy drinks, crisps and desserts could increase the risk of colorectal cancer.
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Windows that could generate electricity…
Window glass has tinting to filer the light so it's not too bright inside a commercial building. But, an electrical engineer explained, if she can replace the tinted glass with a transparent thin film solar cell, the light that the tinting now reflects could be absorbed and converted to electricity.
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Weird world
Beauty salon offers live snail facials!
A Japanese beauty salon is offering a new treatment to help women get rid of dead skin and clean their pores – live snail facials. The snails are placed on customers' face and allowed to move at random. The slime they leave behind is the secret behind the treatment.
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Man held after gate-crashing 8-year-old's birthday party.
The police arrested a man after he gatecrashed an eight-year-old's birthday party and treated himself to pizza and balloon animals while annoyed parents looked on.
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Restaurant owner lays off entire staff through text...
New York: The employees of a Florida restaurant got the shock of their lives when they received a text message from the owner of the eatery, telling them that they had all been fired as the business was shutting down. One of the employees, who was in tears, said, the method of firing was immoral and cowardice.
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One woman to another: "My husband and I share the housework equally. One day he makes excuses for not doing it and the next day I make excuses for not doing it."
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A man walks out of a bar totally hammered, only to be greeted by a snobby woman. She takes one look at him. "You, sir, are drunk!"
"And you ma'am, are ugly. But when I wake up, I will be sober!"
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Pun fun
I shut my eyes in order to see…
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Quote of the day…
"Sexual, racial, gender violence and other forms of discrimination and violence in a culture cannot be eliminated without changing culture" – Charlotte Bunch.
(Me: very apt quote for our country…It wouldn't be fair to comment about other countries. Those who talk so much of our culture are themselves vultures..)
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Phony journalism, thoroughly devoid of realism…
"… One thing is clear, the voter places a premium on good governance" – Rajdeep Sardesai in Hindustan Times.
(Me: One of the most cliché-ridden comments in India mind you, coming as it does from the one of the 'foremost' and topmost paid journalist who is also the managing editor of a leading TV news channel. 'Non-governance' and 'policy paralysis' are the buzzwords that are being bandied about in the country for the last couple of years for all our ills. In India no policy fiscal decision can be taken by the PM without it being discussed and passed in Parliament – that is the essence of parliamentary form of democracy; even those decisions taken via promulgation of Prez ordinance route have got to be ratified in Parliament within 6 months. This is more like chasing a mirage – we have been how even the most important bills could not be taken for discussion in the august house due to the almost perpetual pandemonium in the house. Sardesai must have got Rs.20,000 for this pedestrian piece. In India, governance is no big deal for any part to get elected; the poor vote either for their jaatwallas (casteman) or the one who pays them handsomely at election eve)
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China pips India in science…
India's relative position in the world of science has declined in the last 20 years, with his country ranking 22 globally which is below China and South Korea.
This grim scenario has been painted in none other than the recently released 220-page report of the Science Advisory Council to the PM chaired by eminent scientist, CNR RAO. Though India has been producing moiré scientists (read science graduates) than before, 'but several ambitious countries like China and South Korea have outpaced us.
The creation of new scientific and technological knowledge is largely concentrated in three areas of the world: the US, Western Europe and the north-east Asian hub of Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan with a few peaks in Russia and Australia. India unfortunately presents no comparable peaks", says the report.
(Me: If this by itself isn't bad enough, our anti-science lobbies that pass off as know-all NGOs have put the country in a pretty embarrassing position in the eyes of the pro-Science West. We may thumb our chests and brag that we have the 4th largest scientific pool, but what is its real worth? Tens of thousands graduate in science streams, but their standard isn't something to write home about: they go to colleges not for studying but merely for marking their attendance and then take tuitions from the coaching classes that is one of the biggest businesses in the country and all that these classes do is to prepare the students on how to make high scores at the exams. And what is their only strategy for it? Making students intensively solve question papers of the last 10 years by mugging up the answers! No effort is taken to make the student study and learn things, either by the classes or the students themselves, or their parents. Most of my Indian friends may have attended one or the other coaching classes, plz. correct me if I am wrong. Of course, India may be faring better than our immediate neighbours but that is poor consolation. NRIs may be working in key positions in large corporations in the US, but a manager, CEO, or an executive is just that, an employee, while the inventor-boss is still a Bill Gates...)
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