Jugalbandi : Pt Bhimsen and Ustad Rashid Khan

With an Introduction by Ustad Vilayat Khan :: RSK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62tD4y4gKco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXsnFbgrz5s

Which song, which raag ?

 Hundreds of songs, their history, lyrics, videos and more.........

click: 

http://chandrakantha.com/raga_raag/song_title.html#m

Amazing kid - Subha Ghosh - Vocal

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs2NiXqe8Ro&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Interesting Product !

A wireless doorbell called DoorBot that transmits an audio and video feed over Wi-Fi when someone rings the doorbell. The homeowner will be able to see who’s standing at the front door and communicate over audio to find out what they want. However, there’s no video display on the DoorBot. The person standing at the front door can’t see where the homeowner is located......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lJwF5JLFfGE

Google Gives $5M To Build Drones That Hunt Poachers

Google has provided the World Wildlife Fund with $5 million to fund a big data system and aerial drones to help catch gangs illegally hunting endangered species.

As part of Google’s new Global Impact Awards, which provides funding for non-profit technology innovations, the search engine giant has provided a grant of $5 million to the World Wildlife Fund for aerial drones to help catch poachers who are hunting endangered species such as tigers, elephants and rhinos.

The goal of the Google grant is to allow the WWF to create an integrated smart system that includes aerial drones, DNA tracking and communications with law enforcement it easier to quickly identify and intercept criminal gangs that are in the process of hunting endangered animals.Increased demand for parts of endangered species, coupled with the low risks for poachers, have created a black market trade in poaching that may be worth as much as $10 billion, according to the WWF.

“We face an unprecedented poaching crisis,” said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts in a statement. “The killings are way up. We need solutions that are as sophisticated as the threats we face. This pushes the envelope in the fight against wildlife crime.”

Other projects funded by Google’s award include sensors to ensure that clean water pipes are properly maintained, providing education opportunities for low-income students, and a grant to the Geena Davis Institute to take on gender bias in media.

Our World of Last 100 Years

We have seen in youtube millenniums minimised to a few minutes. Here is a slower version- the last 100 yrs condensed into 10 odd minutes- suits a slower pace of life!.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Xxh-sS8Qoco

People vs Government !

MySnap : @ Getty Villa, Los Angeles

WHENdulkar ?

Karma !

MySnaps : Arts District , Downtown Los Angeles

The Downtown Los Angeles Arts District, previously known as the Warehouse District, occupies the eastern side of Downtown Los Angeles. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Artist" or "Artists District".

The Arts District is filled with older industrial and former railroad buildings. In 1981, the City of Los Angeles passed its "Artist in Residence" or "AIR" ordinance, which allowed residential use of formerly industrial buildings (artists had long used such spaces as living quarters illegally in any case ). The artists living there use the exterior walls of the buildings to display their work which is frequently updated ..... here are some pictures:

MySnap : Los Angeles

‎

And then, the Sun arose from the East,
Fierce and Hot and angry....
Enveloping anything that came its way,
With fire and flames....

See Tomorrow today !

The world cannot end today.....it is already tomorrow in Australia     The photo above shows two islands in sea facing each other .These are not ordinary  islands. They are located in Bering Straits and they  belong to Russia and USA and  represent two different days of calendar at any given time.They are just 2.4 km  apart from each other. The bigger one called Big Diomede with an area of 29 sq kms with no population, belongs  to Russia and part of Siberia - 25 km from main land.The International Date Line is about  1.8 km east of this island. The smaller one ,called Little Diomede, has an area 7.3 sq kms  and a population of 170 and belongs to Alaska (25 km from main land). The International Date Line is about 0.6 km west of this island.On a  clear day, by looking at Big Diomede from Little Diomede - one can see  tomorrow as the time difference between the two islands is exactly  24 hrs. Also, during winter, an ice bridge usually spans the distance  between the two islands ; therefore it is possible to walk from USA to  Russia or vice versa ! Close up Satellite View of both islands  Satellite view of Bering Straits - Siberia is towards left & Alaska is in on right side. Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diomede_Islands

Life is tough in India !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tak17cAryRI&sns=fb

MySnap : Any idea, what are they saying here?

A signage at the Guangzhou airport in China ....... English is still an evolving language in China !

RSK

MySnap : Hindi Signage in US Presidential Elections !

A bewildered foreigner's first view of a Mumbai street !

( from a blog written by one Mark Ellison )

........On either side on the road there is an endless line of stores and taking up valuable pavement space a long line of semi-permanent tiny blue-painted ramshackle wooden stores interspersed with temporary ‘market stalls’. It appears you can just about fulfil all your needs – local restaurants galore specialising in cuisine from differing regions of the country, at least 4 cinemas in the space of 500 meters showing the latest Bollywood blockbusters, mobile phone and pirated DVD vendors, barbers snipping and shaving, tailors hunched over whirring sewing machines, cobblers tapping and gluing, key cutters filing, betel leaf purveyors preparing, watch repairers squinting, clothing retailers heckling, snack cookers frying, milk parlours blending, pharmacists prescribing, juice sellers squeezing, a flour miller sieving, a fresh vegetable vendor calling and much more, not forgetting the wretched looking beggars… Whilst I am taking in this kaleidoscope of activity I also need to be wary of where I am walking, bundles of rags on the litter strewn uneven pavement suddenly become a sleeping body, dogs sprawled out unfazed, chewing goats tied to trees, small kids running about oblivious, and of course the occasional ‘Holy Cow’. All of this to a backdrop of once elegant but now faded and decrepit 100 year old and more colonial architecture, plus a mixed backing track of honking horns and Hindi music accentuated with the perfumed smoky aroma of burning incense and the less than perfumed occasional stench of shit and piss all makes for an exciting and intoxicating experience…

God save India ........... :-)

Abraham Lincoln Said That The Progress Of Any Country Depends On 4 Things :  Idea, Liberty, Trust & Freedom. In India, Idea Is Sim Card, Liberty Is Footwear, Trust Is A Brand Of Condom & Freedom Is A Sanitary Pad... God Save India...

Interesting travelogue

http://cycle-india.com/wordpress/?m=201201


Read from the bottom  of the page first.......

RSK

Motion Pictures ......

(Please let the pics open. Might take some time on a slower connection.
If you can't see the pictures, right click the small Red-Cross and choose Show Picture to view it.) 

These motion graphics are the work of illustrator Dain Fagerholm. The Seattle-based artist refers to his pieces as drawings stereographic animation. The stereo images are more commonly recognized as two parallel images fixed, varying only slightly angled and designed to be seen so that the mind combines the two to create a 3D image. Similarly,the angular multi ilutsraciones Fagerholm and are combined into a single image that gives us an illusory sense of depth.

1,000,000,000,000 Frames/Second Photography

http://funsterz.com/2012/08/16/1000000000000-framessecond-photography-ramesh-raskar-video/

Republican or Democrat ?

Britain honours Indian war heroine .....

Britain's Princess Anne looks at a sculpture of India's Noor Inayat Khan after an unveiling ceremony in central London. Britain's Princess Anne unveiled a sculpture Thursday of Noor Inayat Khan, dubbed the "spy princess", who was sent into occupied France in World War II to help the resistance.

 AFP photo

Dravid's New Critics ......

Sons are now Rahul Dravid's critics

PTI | Nov 10, 2012, 02.57PM IST

 After retiring from international cricket, former India captain Rahul Dravid might not have to deal with critics anymore, but he is continuing to face criticism from unexpected quarter -- his two sons.

The batting legend says his two sons ask him during their regular backyard sessions to bat less like himself and more like Chris Gayle, the 'Gaylestorm', referring to the West Indian's pyrotechnics in the middle.

"I think that truly proves the saying that, in our country, everyone is a cricket critic," said Dravid during a visit here.

Dravid said he was happy not to be spending all his times thinking and contemplating (about the challenges of cricket befacing him) in the last few months.

"I now know the price of onions, tomatoes and sugar on a more or less weekly basis. I am an enthusiastic participant in parent-teacher meetings and in homework sessions, renewing my appreciation for simple routines of lives, rare luxuries during the humdrum life in professional cricket", he said.

Reminiscing his cricketing days, Dravid said cricket has made him a better, well-rounded person and gave him a platform for both professional success and failure.

"On the flip side, my aspiration was always to leave the game better than I found it. I tried my very best to live up to that standard and by playing with integrity and pride. I feel I was able to achieve some of these goals on my own, very personal way," he said.

Dravid said cricket is one of the few unifying things, which has provided him the opportunity to come in contact with people of every background and every sort.

"I have played in many corners of the country where no corporate job would have taken me to. My teammates were from so many different backgrounds.

Today, the national team is largely composed of players from small towns and tier-2 cities.

The game has truly democratised and captured this diversity. This has been fascinating for me to experience," he said.

RED drives right, BLUE drives left ......

Red - drives on right; Blue - drives on left source

Although people in the majority of countries of the world drive on the right side of roads, there are some fifty nations in which people drive on the left. These include England and many former English colonies such as Australia,New Zealand, India...etc... but not the U.S. or Canada. There are several non-English countries where people also drive on the left including Japan.

India may surpass US economy over 'long term', says OECD

NEW DELHI: India economy is expected to be bigger than the United States over the "long term" while neighbouring China would emerge as the world's largest economy by 2016, according to Paris-based think tank OECD.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of developed and developing nations, on Friday said that divergent long-term growth patterns lead to radical shifts in the relative size of economies worldwide.

"The United States is expected to cede its place as the world's largest economy to China, as early as 2016. India's GDP is also expected to pass that of the United States over the long term.

"Combined, the two Asian giants will soon surpass the collective economy of the G7 nations," it said.

Currently, Indian economy is worth over USD 1 trillion. The grouping noted that fast-ageing economic heavyweights -- such as Japan and the euro area -- will gradually lose ground on the global GDP table to countries with a younger population such as Indonesia and Brazil.

Going by OECD, large cross-country differences would persist.

"China will see more than a seven-fold increase in per capita income over the coming half century, but living standards will still only be 60 per cent of that in the leading countries in 2060.

"India will experience similar growth, but its per capita income will only be about 25 per cent of that in advanced countries," the report said.

OECD has projected the world economy to grow three per cent annually.

"Cross-country GDP per capita differences mainly reflect differences in technology levels, capital intensity, human capital and skills," it said.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said that as the largest and fastest-growing emerging countries fully assume a more prominent place, "we will face new challenges to ensure a prosperous and sustainable world for all".

"Education and productivity will be the main drivers of future growth, and should be policy priorities worldwide," he added.

US ELECTIONS ........

Points To Ponder ......

.  How come it takes so little time for a Child who is afraid of the dark to become a Teenager who wants to stay out all night ? There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 a.m. - like, it could be the right number.  Do you realize that, in about 40 years, we'll have thoiusands  of old ladies running around with tattoos? (And rap music will be the Golden Oldies!)

CricTrivia

After 90 one-day internationals Virat Kohli has made 

13 centuries. Has anyone bettered this?


The quick answer is no - the most centuries any other player 

has recorded after 90 one-day internationals is nine, by 

Gordon Greenidge (Sachin Tendulkar had only made three by 

that point). Hashim Amla, however, might yet break Kohli's 

mark - he has already scored ten hundreds, but has played 

only 62 ODIs so far. Kohli currently has 3886 runs from his 

90 matches, another record: Viv Richards made 3826 in his 

first 90 ODIs. Richards (56.26) and Mike Hussey (54.93) 

both had higher averages after 90 matches than Kohli's 

current 51.81 - but they all have to give best to the 

Australian Michael Bevan, whose average after 90 ODIs was 

a remarkable 59.59 (boosted by being not out in 29 of his 

80 innings to that point).






 innings to that p

We followed pretty much a philosophy like Apple ...

MUMBAI: The 61-year-old chief executive of HDFC Bank who has managed the impossible in 18 years does not draw on management gurus Philip Kotler or Michael Porter to explain his success. He just digs into the age-old Hindu wisdom of Karma Yoga.

Aditya Puri guided HDFC Bank to become the most sought-after bank for investors across the world. Though he cut his teeth in a Western financial school, Puri has done everything to prevent his bank from becoming one of those that mindlessly chased growth.

The hallmark of HDFC Bank is that it has achieved probably what no other listed company has achieved in the country or anywhere else in the world - delivering a 30% growth for 52 quarters, stripping off the impact of the acquisition of Centurion Bank of Punjab in 2008.

So, the jury of the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence adjudged HDFC Bank the Company of the Year, 2012 - the year it surpassed the 206-year-old State Bank of India in market value.

What is the secret formula and the guiding principle that led to its consistent performance when the entire world was riding the rough seas?

"Hindu dharm nahin malum? Tum apna karam karo. Fal ki icha mat karo," says Puri, sipping hot water on the 6th floor board-room of the bank in mid-town Mumbai. (Do your duty and don't look at the fruits of labour).

The dharma is the foundation and the management principle is not complicated either.

"Don't try to do too many things. We followed pretty much a philosophy like Apple. It is more important to know when to say no. Don't try and do everything. We knew what we were doing."

HDFC Bank today has a market value of Rs 1.49 lakh crore, assets of more than Rs 3 lakh crore. It has 2,620 branches and 10,316 automated teller machines in 1,454 Indian towns and cities. It is walking into many more towns.

Almost every lender is talking about exploiting the growth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Puri talks even about tier-6! HDFC Bank offers almost every product that a billion-dollar corporate wants and has something to provide a daily-wage earner - gold loan. But, there is nothing exotic in any of the things that HDFC Bank does.


Is the extraordinary success of the last two decades possible given the shaky economy?

"The demand for financial services exceeds supply and it still holds. If you had the right brand name which stood for the right values, the right product and the right customer focus, the right people, the right technology... sky is the limit in the next to five-10 years," says Puri.

The atmosphere is not as gloomy as is being projected. Corruption is prevalent, but it is not all-pervasive. There is an opportunity to grow and profit without indulging in any corrupt practices. Indeed, he destroys the myth that people in government need to be bribed for business.

"I can tell you, it is a fallacy that dealing with the government necessarily requires you to have bad ethics," says Puri. "I can name 20 governments that we deal with where the reason we got business is that we are clean. I think there are a lot of fallacies here."

Unlike most CEOs who spend nearly two-thirds of their day in office, Puri returns home at 5.30 pm. He would keep doing it, because the institution is on auto-pilot and the systems and people are in place.

"Instinctively, everybody knows corporate governance. The problem is if you don't institutionalise it. Water and money... you can't control."

He is in control.