Tata's Nano

Tata calls it the 'People's Car'.

Given the modest price tag -- Rs 100,000 -- and an ambitious roll-out scheme, the Nano could very well become a true car for the common man, ubiquitous on Indian roads and part of the nation's identity.

In that sense, the Nano is just the latest in a long line of affordable, mass-produced automobiles to lay claim to the 'People's Car' title.

One hundred years ago, when Henry Ford launched his Model T in 1908, he is famously said to have declared: "I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one - and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."

At roughly half the price of its competitors, the Model T empowered an entire generation of working-class families to buy vehicles, and is still referred to colloquially as the car that 'put America on wheels'. In the 1930s, in Germany, the Volkswagen (which in German literally means 'People's Car'), became a source of national pride, symbolic of the Third Reich's hyper-patriotism and rush for modernity.

These two iconic automobiles, along with many other 'economy' models released over the past century, have worked to revolutionise the auto industry, by encouraging greater and greater segments of the population to become car owners.

A volcano erupts

Scientists sailed Thursday to inspect an undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga — shooting smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet (meters) into the sky above the South Pacific ocean.

Authorities said Thursday the eruption does not pose any danger to islanders at this stage, and there have been no reports of fish or other animals being affected.

Spectacular columns are spewing out of the sea about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the southwest coast off the main island of Tongatapu — an area where up to 36 undersea volcanoes are clustered, geologists said.

Trade winds continued to blow gas and steam away from the island Thursday.

Beautiful Scenes

Are boys becoming weaker !

Considering the present situation where the girls are succeeding in every field & wining hands on in every competition leaving the boys far behind, the thought certainly comes to mind " Have the boys become weaker than the girls".

By weaker, I dont mean physically, I mean mentally. Is it just possible that this has happened. Let us for a moment consider this as true, then how has this happened?

The phenomenon starts from the very first day at school. The boys are taught by ladies teachers who do not understand their psychology. The teachers are not wrong, but who is to tell them that boys are by nature boisterous & girls are quiet. This nature of the boys is being stopped at a very young age. Let these kids make a little noise for gods sake. Dont compare them with the quiet girls.

As the boys become older this comparison continuous. At every step they are compared with their girl classmates by their teachers parents, teachers or other elders which again affects them psychologically.Nature has made the two sexes different , so why do we want to mould one like the other.

Dont get me wrong, I am not against the ladies coming up in life. On the contrary their progress is very much needed for the progress of the society. But at what costs? Do we want to become a society with weak men who are unable to take decisions? The day will not be far mind you if this continues.

DONT COMPARE THE BOYS AND GIRLS> THEY AR BY NATURE DIFFERENT, PHYSICALLY & MENTALLY.

More Battered Cricketers

Sri Lankan cricketer Tharanga Paranavitana is carried on a stretcher as he is being taken inside a local hospital in Lahore after a dozen gunmen attacked their bus near the Gadaffi stadium on Tuesday.

Paranavitana, who opened the batting for Sri Lanka in the second Test, had a shrapnel wound to his chest and was out of danger.

Battered Cricketers!

The most seriously injured player was Thilan Samaraweera, who was shot in the leg. Doctors will decide on Wednesday whether to try to remove the bullet.

Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis, who was injured during the attack by gunmen in Lahore on Tuesday, arrives at the Colombo airport early on Wednesday morning.

Cricket tour called off!

The Lahore second Test between Sri Lanka and hosts Pakistan has been called off after a gun attack on the touring team bus injuring players, a Sri Lankan cricket board official said.

"We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible. The Test match has been cancelled," the official said on Tuesday.

Six members of Sri Lanka's cricket team were wounded in a shooting attack in Pakistan on Tuesday, and two including an assistant coach were still being treated in hospital, Sri Lanka's sports minister said.

"Six members were injured including assistant coach Paul Farbrace. Four have been treated at hospital, and Thilan Samaraweera and the assistant coach are still being treated," Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge said.

Their injuries are not serious and the other players are safe at their hotel, he added.

Cricket Team attacked

Gunmen killed at least four people in an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus on Tuesday as it drove to the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore. Four players received minor injuries in the attack -- Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis , Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana.

Pakistan television channels said four people were killed. Two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden. The two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.

Pakistan had invited the Sri Lanka team to tour after India's team pulled out with security concerns following the militant attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai in November.

The incident took place when the Sri Lankan team was attacked by around 10 armed gunmen near the Liberty Chowk which is close to the stadium.

One explosion was also heard at the stadium.

The attackers later escaped in separate groups.

The liaison officer of the Pakistan team said players of the host nation have been sent back to the hotel.

"The Sri Lankan players are presently safe at the Gaddafi stadium and they are getting treatment," one PCB official told PTI.

Sources also claimed that the police had received a threat on Monday that the Sri Lankan team would be attacked so a different route was used to transport the team to the stadium.

"The firing took place from at least four sides and continued for some minutes," one police official said.

"There were 12 masked gunmen," Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman told reporters, adding that police battled against the assailants for about 25 minutes.

"They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws. They were armed with rockets, hand grenades, Kalashnikovs," he said.

Television channels aired footage of at least two of the gunmen, one of them wearing shalwar kameez and other jeans and a jacket. Both were armed with assault rifles and carrying backpacks.

Police cordoned off the area immediately after the attack and launched a search for the gunmen. The driver of the cricket team's bus drove away from the spot immediately after the firing started.

"We are assessing the situation," Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ejaz Butt said.

"Five policemen who were providing protection to the team sacrificed their lives," he added.

Beautiful scenes

Look Alikes or Twins.

According to the Indian folk lore there are seven people in the world who look exactly like you. I have always been wondering whether this can be true. Many authors have written stories about these look alike, remarkable amongst them being 'Comedy of Errors'.

Is this theory really true? Have any of you really met the person who is your exact look alike but not your twin?

All this is very intriguing & I would really like to hear the stories about these people. Can any body help me solve this mystery because I, have not met a single person in real life who has the remotest resemblance to me.

Osama Hiding in Pakistan???

Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist in the world, is likely to be hiding in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released Tuesday.

A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species.

Basing their conclusion on nighttime satellite images and other techniques, the scientists suggest Osama may well be in one of three compounds in Parachinar, a town 15 km from the Afghan border, the USA Today reported.

Parachinar is the capital of Khurram Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, of Pakistan. It is about 290 km west of Islamabad and is situated on a neck of Pakistani territory south of Peshawar close to Afghanistan. Parachinar is the closest point in Pakistan to Kabul and borders on the Tora Bora region in Afghanistan.

The research incorporates public reports of Osama's habits and whereabouts since his flight from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001.

Osama's, the main accused behind 9/11 attacks in US, whereabouts are considered "one of the most important political questions of our time", the study, reported in the MIT International Review, notes.

The study's real value, Gillespie says, is in combining satellite records of geographic locations, patterns of nighttime electricity use and population-detection methods to produce a technique for locating fugitives.

The study also makes assumptions that Osama might need:

- Medical treatment, requiring electricity in an urban setting

- Security combining a few bodyguards and isolation that requires a walled compound

- Tree cover to shield outdoor activities from aircraft.

Mental Block

Hey guys!

Every blog writer , or for that matter any writer(however good he may be), suffers from a mental block sometime or the other.I am sure all of you have suffered from the same.

Today morning I was thinking of writing something & suddenly went blank. Blank as in BLANK. I just could not think of anything to write & then I thought of an idea. It is said that internet has answers to every problems. I just googled mental block & came across a site named skribit.

This site claims that they can give suggestions about ideas to post on your blog. Great is'nt it? I went ahead n registered with them & placed their widget on my blog. Let me see how much help I get.

Al QAEDA WARNS INDIA.

A top Al Qaeda commander, who was reported to have been killed in a US drone strike last year, has appeared in a video warning India of more Mumbai-style terror attacks if it tried to attack Pakistan.

'India should know that it will have to pay a heavy price if it attacks Pakistan,' Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, believed to be Al Qaeda's military commander in Afghanistan and ranked behind No 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in a 20-minute video in Arabic received by the BBC.

Yazid, who the Pakistani military said may have been killed in fighting last August in the Bajaur tribal region, said: 'The Mujahideen will sunder your armies into the ground, like they did to the Russians in Afghanistan. They will target your economic centres and raze them to the ground.'

Yazid denounced the ban on terrorist groups in Pakistan following the Mumbai attacks and asked the people of Pakistan to rise up and overthrow the government and President Asif Ali Zardari , the BBC reported.

The Al Qaeda leader is said to have been involved in a number of terror attacks, including last year's Danish Embassy bombings, in Pakistan and had claimed the responsibility of assassinating former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Grammy For Zakir Hussain.

While Slumdog Millionaire picked up seven BAFTA awards in a ceremony in London , the Indian presence was also felt at the Grammy awards with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain winning in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album Global Drum Project.

Hussain worked with Mickey Hart of the rock band Grateful Dead, Nigerian percussionist Sikiru Adepoju and Puerto Rican jazz percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo for the album.

"Global Drum Project is the second collaboration between Hart and Hussain after their compilation Planet Drum, which was released in 1991 and went on to win the first ever Grammy Award in the World Music category.

But the other Indian Grammy hopefuls, slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya and classical vocalist Lakshmi Shankar, who were nominated in the Best Traditional World Music category, were disappointed as they lost out to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African acappella singing group.

The ceremony this year was high on drama as a tearful Jennifer Hudson remembered her slain family while accepting her first Grammy. It has been a major comeback for the singer whose mother, brother and nephew were murdered last October.

Blame game

The people of India are really disgusted with every passing day after the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Its like both the Indian Government & Pakistan government are working hand in hand to just pass the time till people start forgetting about the tragedy & the public demand for action slows down. With every passing day either of the governments find some point or the other & pass on the blame to each other.
Till when will this game continue?

Do they really want to find a solution out of this?

From the look of it the people dont think so. What the general public thinks is that the Indian Government should act tough & give an ultimatum to the Pak Government. Say 24 hours. They have to act before 24 hours or face the consequences. What do you say? Something like this is necessary.

Everyday the foreign ministers of both countries keep giving statements about what is going on & what should be done to curb terrorism. Will this really help? Will any solution be achieved from this?

If the Indians think the root of terrorism is Pakistan, they should go the American way & attack Pakistan & if they dont have enough proof regarding that they should just shut their mouths & wait patiently for the next attack which has been happening continuously for the last many years.

Similarly if the Pakistan has proof that their land is not used for terrorist activities they should hand it over to India & finish the debate once & for all. All this blame game is not going to help.

Smiling is infectious

Assault aginst Hamas

http://www.caledonian-comment.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/gaza.jpg
Israeli forces closed in on Gaza City (pictured above) yesterday, pressing home the ground assault against Hamas in the face of desperate diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire.
As the death toll rose towards 550, Hamas leaders remained defiant, promising to “fight on in the name of God”. Hamas “must lay the foundation for a tomorrow without Zionists”.

Messy Aftermath in Mumbai

Messy Aftermath in Mumbai
The Taj Hotel caught fire Early Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008, after the terror attack in Mumbai, India. Dozens of people were killed and more than 200 wounded in coordinated attacks on hotels, a train station and other locations frequented by tourists.

The dancing, spider-like futuristic cruiser!

Call it the wave of the future -- a dancing spider-like cruiser that can take up to 12 people on a 5,000-mile journey.

Sounds like something out of a James Bond flick? Yes, you heard it right. Scientists have built the Proteus, a cruiser known as Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel or WAM-V, which blasts along on two giant inflatable tubes that let it 'dance' with waves.

According to them, the spider-like craft, powered by twin diesel engines, can be crewed by just two people as it tackles voyages of up to 5,000 miles.

Introduce Yourself & Your Blogs Here.

Hey Guys!

I want you to introduce yourself & Your Blog here so that like minded people can read your blog, get to know you & react with you. So what are you waiting for? Get set and go.