The New Online Experience!

What exactly is ShopWiki?
Shop wiki is really an experience in online Shopping you must have.

ShopWiki revolutionizes online shopping since it finds every store on the internet by crawling like Google. Traditional shopping sites will only show you stores that have PAID for placement, and ShopWiki will give a shopper everything.

For a shopper, this means they can find anything and everything for sale on the web at ShopWiki.com. More products from more stores means better deals and savings for your readers.

ShopWiki is an Internet shopping search engine founded in 2005 and launched in early 2006. It was founded by the former DoubleClick CEO Kevin P. Ryan, the former CTO and DoubleClick co-founder Dwight Merriman and Eliot Horowitz. Their primary distinguisher is crawling the internet for stores instead of using data feeds from merchants.

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Tide of the Century

The “Tide of the Century” may hit Mumbai on 24th July 2009.

Mumbai could be facing a re-enactment of the catastrophe that devastated life and property four years ago—perhaps on the very same dates. While the severity of the flooding would probably be unabated, better preparedness and closer co-ordination among government bodies, corporate & general public can help in minimizing its impact.

What caused floods in 2005?

Mumbai is at an average elevation of 10-15 meters above sea level and receives an annual rainfall of 2,200 mm out of which 50% is in the month of July.

On 26 July 2005, Mumbai got a record single day rainfall of 944mm (42% of the city’s annual rainfall). This coupled with a high tide of more than 4.8m, overwhelmed the drain-age systems and flooded the city.

Mumbai lost close to $200 million of revenue and over 1,000 lives. The floods also caused serious damage to property, infrastructure and left serious diseases in its wake. Many were even traumatized.

Mumbai faces a similar situation now!

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has indicated the possibility of a high tide of 5.01m & 5.05m on 23rd and 24th July 2009 respectively.

The South West Monsoon which is expected to hit Mumbai by 10th June could prove disastrous if it rains heavily on any of these two days. Low lying areas could experience flooding even with moderate rains.

While MCGM has apparently undertaken measures to improve the city’s disaster management capabilities, it is imperative for individuals & corporate’s to review their pre-paredness for responding effectively.

Checklist- Preparing for the 'danger days'

Before :

• Restrict all non-essential travel on critical days. Advise inbound travelers as well
• Familiarize yourself & family/colleagues with warning signs, alert systems & designated high land areas
• Be aware of the potential flooding zones and the evacuation routes
• Keep all the emergency contact numbers handy
• Stock food, drinking water and other essential emergency supplies
• Dispose all garbage and inform public authorities of any clogged drainage
• Teach children, how & when to call first responders and train them on flood response drills**

During :

If Indoors:

• Turn off the electric supply
• Using the available source of communication, intimate your family members
• Use battery operated radio to get latest emergency information
• If instructed by authorities to evacuate, do so immediately

If Outdoors:

• If stranded in a vehicle, exit the vehicle and move to a higher land
• Avoid walking / travelling through any flooded routes
• Avoid unnecessary calling on Emergency Contact Numbers
• Rely on authentic information & don’t spread rumours

After :

• Don't return/enter your home until authorities declare it safe`
• Help neighbours who may need assistance
• Watch out for poisonous insects & reptiles
• Beware of loose electrical wires
• Beware of water borne diseases
• Go for Medical checkups if exposed to flood waters
• Discard any food item which has been in contact with the flood water
• Contact your insurance company for claims
• Consult a crisis counsellor in case of post traumatic stress syndrome

Emergency Contact Details

Disaster Help Line 108
Mumbai Police 100
Fire Brigade 101
Central Complaint Registration System 1916
Medical Emergency 101
Local Ward
Office HR
Family Acquaintance
Family Doctor
Insurance Company

* For respective Ward Representative & Emergency Contact Details visit www.mcgm.gov.in

Railway Budget

Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee presented the Railway Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament on Friday.

Here are some highlights of her Railway Budget speech:

* Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.
* "My priorities will include better passenger amenities, safety and security and provision of good quality food and drinking water," says Banerjee.
* Railway ministry has plans to develop important stations through private-public partnership. These include CST Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Howrah, Sealdah, Varanasi, New Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kanpur, Chennai Central, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Secunderabad, Bangalore City, Byappanahalli, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Habibganj, Agra Central, Chandigarh, Kolkata, New Jalpaiguri, Puri and Kochi.
* Railways to develop multi-functional complexes with shopping malls, food stalls, medicines and variety stores in different parts of the country.
* Infotainment services to be provided in major long-distance trains, Banerjee says.
* Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.
* Develop 50 stations as world class stations
* Improvement of trains amenities
* Railways is trying to keep up with change
* Committed to the cause of the underpreviliged.
* India wants better rail connectivity.
* Book stores, PCOs to be set up across stations
* Infotainment services on Rajhandi and Shatabdi trains
* To take the private-public partnership route to develop stations
* Priority for food and water on trains
* Developing multi-functional complexes at stations
* Priority to passenger amenities
* Rail projects shouldn't be gauged by economic viability but governed by social viability: Mamata
* To set up panel for financing unvaiilable rail projects

Where has the Plane gone?

Five days after an Air France plane -- travelling from Brazil to France -- sunk into the Atlantic Ocean (or somewhere else), there is no trace. The wreckage -- initially said to be the Air France debris -- was nothing but sea trash, emerging reports indicate. New reports say there is no evidence of the crashed plane.

That leads to a puzzling and mysterious question: Where has the plane gone?

Indian Student Attacked

A 23-year-old Indian student was beaten up for the second time in a fortnight by a group of youths in Melbourne -- the 11th person from India to be assaulted within one month in Australia .

Kamal Jit was found unconscious and bleeding by another Indian student in western suburb of the city yesterday.

It was the second attack in two weeks on Jit, who was previously pelted with eggs by several masked men after getting off a late night train at St Albans station in western suburb.

"It is very bad because we pay a lot of money and we are living far away from our country and from our families and we are without protection," Jit was quoted as saying in 'The Age' newspaper today.

As he walked home at about 1:40 am yesterday, Jit said, he noticed three men acting suspiciously in a car and he tried to avoid them.

He then saw two men come out of it near a pizza shop, while another waited in a car.

"The two guys pushed me to the ground and I was hit on the head, I think with a steel rod," Jit said.