Starting the T M Varghese Foundation ..

When I was attending the College of Engineering, Trivandrum alumni global meet in Bangalore on 21, 22 and 23 of Dec 2012, I happened to strike a conversation with the former Union Minister and former IAS officer ( CET alumnus) Krishna Kumar.

In the course of the conversation, he asked me and my wife about our family, our native place etc and the conversation then went to politics. I asked him how he spend his time now out of active politics, but he told me that he is into advising the Congress party on some crucial matters and do take part in all party activities as assigned to him.

Came my question  whether he knew the first Home Minister of Tiru Kochi state, immediately after independence, T M Varghese. When he answered in the affirmative, he asked me how I knew about him. When I told him that T M Varghese was my grand uncle, he really got interested in the conversation. He mentioned how T M Varghese was among the most educated members of the Travancore State Congress at that time, having quit his legal profession at that early age to involve himself in attaining freedom for his motherland from the British.

Nehru giving away the boat race trophy to Nadubhagam chundan in 1952

Krishna Kumar also mentioned how in spite of his repeated efforts he had failed to come up with a suitable memorial for T M Varghese either in Kollam or Trivandrum. When he asked whether I could take over the responsibility and he would help me in all official capacity, I felt I should do something in my capacity to help maintain the good deeds TM Varghese did in Kerala society and the high standards of values, honesty and intellectual uprightness he followed throughout his life.

I am looking for like minded people from all walks of life, after reading this blogpost of mine,  who would like to work with Sri Krishna Kumar in this noble endeavour of raising a Foundation in memory of T M Varghese to do good for the society.

george

Cheenavala (Chinese lift nets) in Fort Kochi ..

The Chinese lift nets (cheenavala) in the backdrop of the setting sun

I was under the impression that only Fort Kochi and another port in Vietnam were the only two ports in the world where one could find such Chinese fishing nets ( lift net). Even in China it has disappeared centuries ago .. My friend from Africa also says that he has seen a smaller version of these chinese lift nets in the Lamu archipelago in Northern Kenya Somalia border ..

Here is a wikipedia entry on these chinese nets, very informative, mentioning its working and the innovation done to catch fishes at different levels of the tide...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_fishing_nets

It is indeed a very complicated piece of machinery. History talks of these nets having come to position by 13 to 14 century AD.. http://maddy06.blogspot.in/2010/08/chinese-fishing-nets-at-kochi.html

A beautiful sight of Kochi and one which will enchant the world for centuries to come !!

Francis day in his 1862 book Perumals of Kerala states thus about the nets of Cochin– A species of Chinese nets, are used along the river's banks, they are about 16 feet square, suspended by bamboos from each corner, and let down like buckets into the water, and then after a few minutes drawn up again ; a piece of string to which is attached portions of the white leaves of the cocoanut trees, is tied at short intervals along the ebb side of the net, which effectually prevents fish from going that way. As this mode of fishing is continued all through the monsoon, (excepting on very stormy days,) it affords an excellent criterion, of the tribes and species to be found in the rainy months, and renders Cochin the best place along the Western Coast, for making observations on this subject: owing to this, the Icthyologist can continue his enquiries, (with occasional intervals,) during the boisterous, as well as the quiet months of the year, although the sea netting may be quite suspended. Fish thus caught, are sold at the nets.

Whatever be it said and done, we cannot forget the contribution of Chinese to world Science (pyrotechnics and gunpowder), agriculture (wooden till), technology (magnetic compass), way of life (silk, tea and porcelain), fishing (Chinese lift nets) and what not.. Hope the world also realises this sooner and assign China the rightful place in the development of humanity and civilisations in the world.

Image courtesy : Varghese Naveen

ge

China , world's longest bullet train ride..

Perspective view of the fastest train in the world

Front view..

How china is pushing itself ahead of the world in terms of high speed transportation is simply marvellous.

Just yesterday it set the record for the longest run by bullet train of app 2300 kms from Beijing to Guangzhou at 300 kms / hr shortening the travel time from 22 hours to barely 8 hrs.

There are 35 stops in between and the fare is app 110 euros, ie. 8500 INR.

picture courtesy Arabnews..

ge.

Obesity, the curse of modernity ..

One of the very interesting articles in the latest Economist on obesity, eye opener..

Obesity is that state of your body weight which is grossly disproportionate to your helght and build. BMI > 30. Body Mass Index is body wt in Kgs / (height in metres)^2.

India which is known to chronic malnutrition has obesity at 2 % and over weight also at around the same rates while US has obesity at 30% of population and overweight at 70% of population. (as given by the charts attached..) Have a look at the article also ..

ge..

vinayans song..

http://youtu.be/11YTQXqBNjA

--
Sincere regards,

George Easaw

GM diet for Indians..

http://www.gmdietworks.com/general-motors-diet/gm-diet-indian-version.html

ge

Appukuttan fund awards..

I was very happy to find that CETAA had not discontinued the award of Appukuttan awards in memory of Appukuttan of 1986 batch who died a tragic dealth in a traffic accident in New Delhi in 1996. He had joined as a swami of Sri Ramakrishna Mission.

CETTAB CETAGALAXY is opening curtains tomorrow 21 Dec at Bangalore for three days. visit www.catagalaxy.com for more details.

Three days of camaraderie, revelry and excitement, meeting old and new from CET.

ge..

Rare old Indian photos..

At this website there are a lot of old Indian photos, mostly taken by correspondents of the Life magazine in India.

Here is a link of the 1940s.. http://www.oldindianphotos.in/search/label/1940s

ge..

Why T M Varghese declined an offer from Nehru ?

Immediately after gaining independence, Nehru was in the process of forming the Union cabinet and was on the lookout for educated, able leaders to join him in the cabinet. He extended an invitation to T M Varghese, the home minister of Travancore Kochi, who before joining the freedom struggle had given up a very brilliant profession as a successful criminal lawyer in Kollam, Kerala.

T M Varghese who was the Home Minister of Kerala then with Pattom Thanu Pillai ( also was one of the trimurthis of Kerala), declined the offer as he was more interested in being in the state than to be in Delhi and go into oblivion.

Nehru and T M Varghese kept cordial relations from the beginning till their death which happened in a span of three years between 1961 (T M Varghese) and 1964 (Nehru).

TM Varghese watching from the background while Nehru hands over the Nehru trophy to Nadubhagam Chundan, winner of Nehru trophy boat race in 1952.

The snap shows Pt. Nehru giving away the ever rolling Nehru Trophy to the winners of the boat race in Kerala in its second edition , ( Indira Gandhi is to the left of Nehru in dark glasses..) which came to be known as the Nehru Trophy boat race. T M Varghese the home minister, the tall person, is in the centre, background.

http://www.stateofkerala.in/news/nehru%20trophy%20boat%20race%20on%20the%20punnamda%20lake.php

ge..

Great leaders ..

Inside Amazon on a busy day ..

Inside Amazon on a busy day !! Great learning on how order fulfilment happens at the world's greatest e-retailer ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Bs0nqVyqs

ge..

Remembering Veerappan ..

Njangal valla thettum cheythittundenkil maappu ..

Late Pt Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin..

Pt. Ravi Shankar and daughter Anoushka Shankar have been nominated for the Grammy, let us recollect one of the greatest performances of Pt. Ravi Shankar in West meets East, where he teams up with the greatest Western violen maestro Yehudi Menuhin.. You can get part 2 of this at the site itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Ml1R9cpTA

Another great piece, Tenderness ..

Sad that Pt Ravi Shankar expired this morn in California, US.  The world of music has lost a great musician and India a great proponent of sitar who took Sitar beyond the shores of India.

ge..

Cauvery water row again .

It is through these sluice gates that water, 10,000 cusecs per day to TN from KRS dam on Cauvery river in Karnataka ,as per SC order of 5 Dec 2012, is to flow.

eAs of 6 th Dec 4 PM, not a single drop has flown to TN through these gates..

What will happen ? Interesting to watch ..

Either SC recommends centre to take over administration of Karnataka or SC act tough with Karnataka when it sits for the Cauvery Tribunal settlement.

ge..

Twenty years back in Ayodhya ...

Twenty years back on Dec 6, 1992, a bunch of unruly fanatics belonging to a majority community under the leadership of their equally communal leaders demolished the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya in UP, a historical monument which has been there for almost 300 years.

On Dec 6 th, 1992, I was in Goa having travelled through Bangalore Majestic Central railway station two days earlier. Then I had noticed the unruly Karsevaks on their way to Ayodhya heeding to the call from Advani to converge at Ayodhya and exert moral, political and physical pressure on the ruling party at the centre to allow a Ram temple to be built on the site where the two Ram Lingas had appeared mysteriously overnight in 1949.

Equally disturbing was the fact to note than on that cold night in 1949, when two Ram lingas appearing overnight inside the Babri Masjid, the same incident would balloon out to play such havoc in India leading to the rise of a communal party to power in Delhi for the first time in secular, democratic Indian history.

Hope we Indian remain very alert against such anti-social elements and protect the communal harmony and peace in the society for ever.

ge..

What does passing of FDI in Retail in Lok Sabha mean for India ?

The step is a very forward looking step, indeed. Allowing foreign companies to have 51% stale in multi brand retail in India.

Read the very positive supportive nod for govt from media leaders..

The policy paralysis shown by the govt. had many reasons for the same. Earlier the fear expressed by the people against this bill were the farmers will be taken for a ride and there will be large scale suicides, the MNCs will take the profits out of the country, the MNCs will kill the indigenous distribution and supply chains in the country, they will hold the country to ransom by taking over all food production and so on.

But this morning I was talking to a person who is a vehement opposer of the bill. Their focus has now shifted from the farmer to the middlemen. Those greedy parasites who were out there to fleece the farmers and corner most of the profit to be paid to the farmer to his own pocket. About 10 million of them.

Should the country really care of what happens to these parasites ? They will latch on to some other living being and still continue to such blood off them ! what we call the bania community, traders ..

The other point was these MNCs could use forward trading in the commodities and then cause price increases in external martket and then divert Indian produce outside the country.

If that is a genuine fear, yes , suitable controls could be incorporated saying no green food items, agricultural goods, grains, cereals, pulses etc  can be exported.

Now let the bill be passed in the Rajya Sabha and then we can rest assured that Indian consumers and farmers who were given a bad treatment by the middlemen will now get a fair treatment.

Thanks to the big MNCs entering the Indian market and the technological superiority they will bring to the supply chains !!

The opposition again has to eat the humble pie ..

ge..

Rules of manufacturing changing .. 3D Printing taking over ..

The old rules of manufacturing that calls upon decision makers and planners to seek economies of scale, reduce labour costs etc are being turned upside down .. 3D manufacturing (additive layered manufacturing) is to change the rules of the game.

McKinsey Global Institute has come up with the report on Manufacturing titled, Manufacturing the future, Nov 2012 (180+ pages, pdf) paints indeed a rosy picture for the rich countries, which is true.

Our ancestors survived on subsistence farming, the present generation has moved up the income ladder, to higher standards of living in just one or two generations. Innovations, increased productivity have all resulted from this upward mobility.

The total value add through manufacturing in 2010 was $10.5 trillion.

McKinsey divides manufacturing as it is happening in the world now into five categories

1. Global Innovation for local markets (34%), eg : chemicals, machinery, car making etc
2. Regional processing (28%), eg: fabricated metals, food, publishing etc.
3. energy and resource intensive commodities (22%) eg : wood, paper, petrol etc..
4. Innovative global technologies (9%) eg : chips, computers, medical products etc..
5. Labour Intensive tradeables (7%) eg : textiles, clothes, toys etc.

As countries get richer manufacturing tends to account for a smaller fraction of their GDP, inversion happening at around 20 - 35%. Services then take over ..

Read the interesting article , The new Maker rules, in The Economist Nov 30, 2012.

ge..

Mar Gregorios Chapel at Erumapetty, Manarkadu, Kottayam ..

St Gregorios of Parumala ..

The foundation stone for the Mar Gregorios  Chapel and Kurissumthotti of the Kumarankode Puthupally St Gregorios Orthodox Church has been laid at Erumapetty, Manarkad, Kottayam on Saturday evening.

The stone was laid by HG Geevarghese Mar Ivanios, Orthodox Bishop of Kottayam at 6 PM on Dec 1, 2012.

Parumala Tirumeni, at death ..

( The shrine has been changed to a chapel and Bawa tirumeni did the consecration on 2 Nov 2013)

HG Mar Ivanios reaching the venue ..

The public programme at the venue was attended by the outgoing Vicar Fr. Dr. M P George ( Director, Sruthi School of Music) and the new Vicar Fr. Kurien, besides the Diocesean Secretary and the first Vicar of the parish of Kumarankode, Puthupally.

Priests and parishioners waiting to receive HG ..

The diocesean Secretary achen was reminding us how this place is going to be changed from Erumapetty to Arumapetty, with the blessings of God and the intercession of St Gregorios of Parumala.

some snaps of the occasion .. (photo on Canon EOS 1100D)

HG blessing and laying the foundation stone..

Kanakkalil family members and elders at the venue

George

Dr. Shyam Lal Pandey is no more..

My former colleague at T John College and my present colleague at Alliance, Dr. Shyam Lal Pandey succumbed to dengue fever on saturday, Dec. 1st 2012 at Apollo Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore. Wikipedia entry on Dengue fever.

Dr. Pandey was a good scholar and researcher in the Finance area in the country. A friendly, helpful, jovial person he always held a positive thinking about life. Very much an academically oriented person he was into researching and publishing in a big way..

At age 32, he leaves behind his wife and 2 kids. His demise is a great loss to the finance field in the country.

Our prayers to the Almighty, may the departed soul rest in peace !!

Ge..

Saving democracy ..

Free expression of thoughts gets a boost in the world's largest democracy .. The news in Times of India was a great solace to all peace loving citizens  in the country. it also went to prove that some ghosts still remain only ghosts, how much ever hard their supporters in the govt and outside try to impose their writ on society..

Brilliant and bold editorial in The Hindu newspaperspeaking against the terror don ..

How the Mumbai girls silenced the Mumbai elite showering praises on a Hitler supporter, excellent article in the Firstpost newspaper ..

Kudos to Maharashtra Police for taking strict disciplinary action against the errant senior police officers and magistrate who were on the side of the oppressors and were trying to intimidate two innocent girls expressing their free and frank opinion on the Internet social networking site Facebook. Their efforts were to gag them and through them the society, to prevent free expression of thought ..

Thanks also go to the media, especially Times of India and Union minister Kapil Sibal and official machinery in Delhi, CM Chavan and the state machinery in Mumbai and to the thousands of peaceloving citizens of this great country who expressed their dissent in very strong words and who in no uncertain terms condemned the arrests and wanted stern action against the culprits. They need to be thanked by the society for fervently taking the case for the two girls (and also for saving the country) to stem such fascist roots from developing into a cancer in the society ..

India has won, Democracy has won !! 

In future, we need to sensitise the errant elements in the police and judiciary not to side with any anti-social elements acting against the basic democratic structure of the country and society..

The country is sad that a goonda leader is no more, but the grief should not be expressed by trampling on freedom of the citizens of this great nation !!

As Newsweek International editor Tunku Varadarajan said, " GOOD RIDDANCE THACKERAY. India’s now a better place”. There could no better expression of grief ..

ge..

Catholicate centenary some snaps ..

Malankara Orthodox Catholicate centenary, kochi Nov 2012 ..

The growing acceptance of the Malankara Orthodox church beliefs is visible in the events held in the past one week in Egypt and Kochi.

Bawa Thirumeni hosting a dinner for Oriental Orthodox delegates at the Coptic papal consecration was a great success ..

The second event is the speakers themselves at yesterday's catholicate centenary in Kochi speaking at length and heaping praise on the Malankara Orthodox church for preserving their national identity and striving to retain its independence from foreign forces.

It is a real pity that the Catholic church and Patriarchate faction of the Orthodox church have failed miserably in preserving this national identity and working for a Christian belief incorporating the rich orthodoxy rooted in Indian culture and ethos in its day to day transactions and functions. The heaps of praises from HH Dalai Lama, former President Abdul Kalam, Vellapally Natesan, representing SNDP, a great social movement in Kerala and V Muralidharan from the BJP, the people who spoke the best yesterday, will not be forgotten for years to come !!

The special event of re-proclaiming the Koonen Cross Oath ( Coonen kurissu Sathyam) with the trumpets and drums in the background provided by Sruthi music group led by Fr. M P George, was the real climax of the whole programme. It took the audience back by 359 years to 1653 AD, and brought back nostalgic memories when our forefathers who assembled in Mattancherry in 1653 AD proclaimed their independence from the Papal over lordship, brought by the Portuguese on Indian Thoma Christians from 1599 to 1653 AD. ( through the misadventure of Bishop Menezes at the Udayamperoor synod).- the first proclamation of Independence from foreign domination !! ( like the first war of Independence of India in 1857 from the British..)

The need to assert our national sovereignty and love for our motherland of India resonated throughout the conference and in the speeches by the honourable speakers, which was indeed what our forefathers have been trying to do for the past hundred years by establishing the Catholicate and bringing the constitution in 1934 AD.

Thankfully there were no disturbances yesterday and the programme started right on time at 3 PM , went upto 6 PM witnessed by almost 2.5 lakh believers (and millions on TV) who poured in from different parts of the world to witness this historic occasion. Both at the beginning and the end of the programme, the singing of the national anthem, reasserted our firm faith in the Indian nation, its democracy and its rich culture and traditions and history of mutual respect, tolerance and peaceful co-existence of all religions, faiths and factions.

The ecumenical unity and christian love and service echoed throughout the meeting as raised by Catholic Bishop Mar Powathil, Kaldaaya Bishop Mar Aprem and Joseph Marthoma  Bishop of Marthoma church.

The choir led by Fr M P George gave excellent support for the events throughout the programme. For people who sat at home watching the events on TV, I wish to say, you have missed a slice of history yesterday at Marine Drive, Kochi, where one of the biggest congregations of Christians ever in Kerala, gathered under one roof under the able and excellent leadership of our Catholica Bawa..

ge..

Catholicate centenary. 1912-2012

Tomorrow at marine drive kochi about 3 lakhs are expected to assemble for the catholicate  centenary ..

The tibetan spiritual leader and nobel laurete Dalai Lama is expected to grace the occasion.

Ge..

Ponty and Hardeep shoot out.. Chattarpur farmhouse..

A funny news doing the round is the shootout near Delhi in a farmhouse where two brothers killed themselves. Ponty and Hardeep.. I do not know why the media is making such a fuss about it.  Misled brothers out of greed, kill each other. What's more to it ??

One of them is a liquor baron and has ammased loads of easy money by selling liquor.

In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments, only consequences..

In this case, consequences of amassing illicit money and real estate.. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Was-Ponty-Chadha-shootout-planned/articleshow/17287108.cms

One has to suffer the consequences of his actions, be it earlier or later, that is the only question !

ge..

Cheap low class entertainer of Mumbai ..

The cheap low class entertainer of Mumbai is no more.. (also respectfully called the paper tiger..)

Mumbai under enforced mourning..  Daadagiri even in mourning !!

His anti-migrant tyranny in Mumbai shows how narrow minded and silly people can be at times.. The anti-migrant proponent could not realise that he too was a migrant from UP many years back ..

Able to understand how a man's brazen intolerance, low IQ, narrow mindedness can bring a city to silence !! How fearful Mumbaikars are of any reprisals !! Shame on mumbaikars !!

Let another day be over and he will sadly be kicked into the dustbin of history !!

The intolerance which he promoted in his party with the followers were evident in the vandalism the supporters did on the doctor's clinic in Palghar, Thane. Some elements in the police who are Shiv Sena sympathisers may have acted in haste in arresting the girls who never did any crime or instigate hatred as much as the SS vandals who got away scotfree, but were finally arrested on public outcry..

The people of the nation are waiting for the Maharashtra CM and police dept to give a proper reply as to why different approaches were adopted in the case of the innocent girls and the shivsena goondas initially and then later corrected ..

ge..

Mumbai daada critically ill ..

How should the Government and its people respond when an old violent Daada who terrorised the govt and the people into submission and follow his path, on false "Marathi manoos", gets ill and is taking his final breath ?

How can people forget his attacks on South Indians and North Indians in Mumbai right from the 70s ? Can such a narrow minded person and his narrow minded children and nephews, who never could open his mind to take the people of the whole country as siblings, ever get the respect from others ? With such narrow vision and outlook, they have wasted a great opportunity and  made a fool of themselves all these years..

Is the present concern shown for Bal Thackeray by the who's who of Mumbai, out of concern or fear for what nuisance and mischief his misguided and violent followers can wreck on the society to disturb communal harmony ?

Having stayed in Mumbai for six long years I am fully aware of the daadagiri this old person still continues to throw around. Soon the country will heave a sigh of relief ..

His death has caused lot of emotions and feelings to float around. Strangely he was a misfit a for a mature democracy like India.. a person who believed that he could elbow out his competitors in the political space by the basal instincts of muscle and threats over brain to control Mumbai, its people and the businesses.. Perhaps, some more education would have made him a bit more cultured and civilized to take on the world, and be remembered for generations.

Now sadly, he is being remembered for the wrong reasons which nobody would want to be remembered for ..

ge..

CAG, 2G and 1.76 lakh crore ..

Naturally the people of the country are interested in knowing what happened to the Rs. 1.76 lakh crore loss raised by the Comptroller Auditor General on 2G spectrum sale conducted in 2008. Why the sudden loss of face for the govt and the CAG now ?

Vinod Rai, does he owe an apology to the nation ?

After the 2G spectrum auction conducted by the government recently on SC orders, following the apolitical CAG's political report on 2G spectrum sale in 2008, the central govt was shocked to find that less than one sixteenth of the speculative loss of rs. One lakh seventy six thousand crores, ie rs. 9500 crores, had been raised from auctions.

The reasons for the flop show as evident from the editorial from The Hindu, could be that the same buoyant conditions did not exist in the Economy now as in 2008, moreover the  teledensity had got to 70% perent from 25 percent then, with the consequent average revenue per user (ARPU) falling from approximately Rs 350 to less than Rs 100 now, and it is no more lucrative for telecom companies to bid at 3G rates of 2010, which amassed about Rs. 70,000 crores for the country. There was a time in 2010 when the number of subscribers were growing at a rate of 20 million a month, for the first time, in the past few months we have seen a negative rate of growth in mobile subscribers coming to less tha 10 million subscribers a month.. The country now has almost 900 million mobile subscribers, three times that of US and approximately 10 times that of England, Germany, France etc... Read this link

Times of India editorial goes this way ..

Does CAG owe an apology to the nation ? First Post article..

The big doubt in people's mind is : Has the public of the country been taken for a ride by CAG Vinod Rai when he took political sides or failed to grab the bigger picture of the commercial aspects of technology or the dynamic market forces behind any decison of the government. It is sad that the CAG is trained to work and comment only with accounts and numbers, he has failed to understand technology and its implications.

How can such a person holding a high constitutional post act in an immature fashion and jump the gun in shooting his peurile comments ?

Being an apolitical appointee of the former government was he too eager to show his concern for the country, its people and the party by his immature presumptive reporting of losses to the country, because of an earlier govt policy of spectrum sale and not auction ?

The CAG needs to be given a dressing down by the President  for having acted in great haste and not doing enough homework and not being technically qualified and competent to pass a crucial comment on a technical issue, misleading the people of the country. He gave an impression to the people as being unduly pressurised by some forces. Did he act for the greater common good or just wanted to raise an issue and score points ?

3G technology (moving data at high speeds) cannot be compared to 2G technology as it is more advanced and its commercial repercussions cannot be underestimated. Had he not just looked at the accounts and numbers and taken advice from technical experts, more so done some reading himself on the complex technology and the vast commercial opportunities with moving data at high speeds compared to 2G, CAG would have shown muted enthusiasm and would not have lost his face like now.

What a colossal waste of time, effort of the people because of a CAG who acted with some unknown vested interests ?

Let not such incompetent officers take the people of the country for a ride in future, at least .. !!! His continuing at the position only reinforces the common man's doubt whether political appointees can cling to such crucial constitutional positions in the country after committing such great blunders !!

Let us not belittle the post of CAG for the ill deeds of one man !! In future let not any constitutional figure give political fodder to parties based on incorrect, erroneous, presumptive facts and figures due to the indiligent arrogance and sheer ignorance of the person holding this high post..

As TOI editorial says, let us not waste time pointing fingers at each other. Instead let us work to improve telecom infrastructure and bring transparency in policy implementation. Policy making is government's turf, let not the CAG or courts interfere in them. At most they can point out the flaws and help to rectify them.

Ge..

Nature's way of rejuvenating the earth ..

These days in the mornings on my way to work, it is really pleasant to see mist covering the landscape, reducing visibility to about 10 metres in Chandapura, Anekal area.

Mist is another way of nature gifting us the abundance of life, moisture. Without moisture or water, life ceases on planet earth..

ge..

Bangalore water woes .. citizenmatters.in

DEPT OF MINES AND GEOLOGY ON WATER

Bengaluru's stark water shortage can get worse: new study

As if persistent warning bells were not enough, in a new study, city based geologists are showing that the region's groundwater table may be sucked dry soon, and over 2.4 million citizens may be stranded.

By Samuel Jacob

08 Nov 2012, Citizen Matters

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Over 2.4 million (24 lakh) people in Bengaluru face the prospect of severe water shortage in the near future, a study by the Department of Mines and Geology has reported. In fact, going by the growth in population of the city and the water requirement per person per day, the city harbours about 2.2 million (22 lakh) more people than there is piped water to supply them. This is before the commissioning of the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme's Stage IV, Phase 2, project. This project if it meets the target of 500 million liters a day (mld), will marginally improve the situation, provided growth of city's population stagnates at current levels.

As per the 2011 Census, the population of Bangalore urban district grew by a whopping 46 per cent from 65,37,124 in 2001 to 95,88,910 in the last decade. This is by far the fastest rate of growth for any city in India. It also means that the city faces unprecedented challenges with respect to infrastructure and amenities.

Pic: Sankar C G

Of all the amenities, water is the most critical. Unfortunately, it is also the resource most taken for granted by citizens as well as administrators. The study, by G V Hegde and K C Subhash Chandra, both geologists at the Mines and Geology department, shows how the situation can spin out of control if the current scenario persists.

Over-exploitation of groundwater, poor recharge of ground water due to a mosaic of concrete structures and asphalt roads, wastage of available water, usurpation of lakes by layouts and real-estate development, shrinking of the rivers that supply water due to encroachment and silting, non enforcement of water harvesting and recycling initiatives; all these factors in combination can lead to an explosive water shortage situation.

According to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) data, Bangalore urban district is served by a major (Banded Gneissic Complex or BGC is geological name) hard rock aquifer system covering an area of 2114 sq. kms. A smaller granite aquifer system cuts across through an area of 67 sq. kms of Bangalore Urban and 341 sq. km of Bangalore rural. Rural Bangalore is also served by a smaller laterite aquifer system of 23 sq. kms. It is from these aquifers that the lakhs of borewells draw their water.

The demand for water is calculated at 140 liters per day (lpd) per person. For the current population, the requirement works out to 1,342 million liters per day (mld). Capacity of water from the Cauvery (Stages I to IV, Phase I) and Arkavathy (Hesarghatta and Tippagondanahalli reservoirs) river sources works out to 975 mld. Conveyance and other losses reduces the effective supply by 30 per cent to 682 mld. The shortage therefore works out to 660 mld.

Demand for water: 1342 mld

Requirement litres per day (lpd) per person	140
Bangalore population	95,88,910
Total requirement in million liters per day (mld)	1342.44

 

Supply from various sources (post Cauvery Stage IV, phase 2), minus losses: 1373 mld

To meet part of the deficit, BWSSB exploits 7,000 borewells to supply 35 mld. There are about 1,05,500 private borewells registered with BWSSB, from which an estimated 106 mld requirement is met. Then there are over 2 lakh unregistered private borewells from which another 200 mld is drawn. The total supply from groundwater sources is therefore estimated at 341 mld./p>

Taken together, the overall supply of water from the cauvery river as well as ground water sources to the city is at 1023 mld. On a total demand of 1342 mld, that still leaves the city with 319 mld less than the requirement or over 22 lakh people without their average quota of water.

The picture looks even more grim when we take into account the groundwater recharge.

The Mines and Geology department study estimates the current groundwater recharge scenario. Using standard estimation methodology, the rainfall infiltration to groundwater aquifers is considered at 2 per cent for built-up area (concrete paved areas and asphalt roads) and 6 per cent for open areas. For Bangalore this amounts to the equivalent of 25 mld and 33 mld respectively for built-up and open areas for a normal annual rainfall (NAR) of 830 mm over 800 sq km. Recharge from 96 perennial tanks is considered at 25 mld. (To avoid confusion annual rainfall infiltration has also been tabulated into million liters per day and so has the recharge from lakes.) Then there is recharge from 721 mld sewage load that the city discharges. One per cent of this is taken as the recharge which amounts to 7 mld.

Therefore total recharge of groundwater from all these sources is about 90 mld. Against a withdrawal of 341 mld from the ground, the recharge is 90 mld. In other words, the current overdraft of water from the ground is a massive 378 per cent!

Not surprisingly, it is because of this substantial withdrawal of groundwater that all the three aquifer systems serving Bangalore are classified as "Over Exploited". Moreover, the granite and BGC aquifer systems for Bangalore Rural have reached a "critical" stage, according to the study by Hegde and Subhash.

How long can this be sustainable? If these aquifers run dry, another 24 lakh people are under risk of severe shortages.

A recharge well in common storm water drains with filter. Pic: RWC.

What do the scholars recommend?

The study recommends that the 467 mld of storm water which is currently being drained along with sewage, if it is protected and conserved, can take care of the requirements of about 23 lakh people. Further, if at least 70 per cent of the sewage load is treated up to the tertiary level and recycled, it can take care of the needs of another 26 lakh people.

It also recommends that groundwater aquifers should be allowed to revive and should not be exploited beyond 60 per cent of its annual recharge. Groundwater should in fact be a stand-by resource and not the main source of supply like is being used today.

According to the CGWB, there is an urgent need for sustainable and scientific management of groundwater resource. It recommends construction of artificial recharge structures in areas covered by over-exploited aquifers.

The geologists also recommend an umbrella agency to monitor/coordinate and to provide capacity building in rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge schemes being implemented by various agencies, NGOs/ VOs, industries, commercial establishments etc., since many of the implementing agencies are not having the scientific background nor knowledge base for effective implementation and at times there is a duplication of work by different departments.

References

Availability for water supply to Bangalore City, Karnataka; by GV Hegde, KC Subhash Chandra; published in Current Science, April 2012 issue.

Aquifer Systems of Karnataka, Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, GoI. Sept. 2012. Census of India, report 2011.

Samuel Jacob

08 Nov 2012

Wolfram alpha and your facebook report ..

Wolfram is the company which gives us Mathematica, one of the greatest Mathematical computation software ever written ..

The same company has come up with www.wolframalpha.com, The computational search engine or answer engine.. Here is the link from wikipedia

Wolfram Alpha (also styled WolframAlpha and Wolfram|Alpha) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research. It is an online service that answers factual queries directly by computing the answer from structured data, rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a search engine might.^[4]

Type facebook report, share your facebook data and see what all data it throws back at you ..

Marvellous !!  Do try out with different types of queries too ..

ge..

Xi Jin Ping in China..

With the re-election of Obama in US, tomorrow China also is witnessing a change.. Xi Jin Ping is taking charge and will be Pres in april of PRC.

Does Xi Jin command the respect of 1400m people? can he control dissent with an iron hand ?

Is China playing with fire ??

ge..

Windows 8 desperate for sales ..

These days when I log in to read the Times of India, I am received by a huge screen sized banner ad of Windows 8.

As if fooling people with Windows XP and some later releases, Microsoft finding its revenue streams dwindling is now coming up with new releases every year.

And a gullible public, out of ignorance fall in the trap laid by these giants in IT field. So sad and I feel so much of pity for my friends who fall in for these.

I also read from some sources that one could download for free a simple lite version of windows for free use., though I am yet to come across any such site. It is again a pointer to the fact that Microsoft is feeling the pressure from Free and Open source competitors and from Apple, Solaris and others..

Let the world be a more free place where people have the choice to select their OS and work with it.

Go open source and long live Free Software ..!!

ge..

Palliveedu .. a new concept from Bawa Thirumeni ..

HH Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, 

Our Bawa Thirumeni, HH Moran Mar Baselios Paulose II, Supreme Head of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the oldest church in the world, has been proposing this new concept called Palliveedu in some of his recent speeches ..

HH has been moved by the plight of elderly parents, mostly affluent, in our church, who have been abandoned by their loving children who have flown to foreign shores in search of a living, job, studies, less competition and an improved standard of living for the family.

The parents have gone out of the way to educate and nurture the kids in the hope that in their older days, their  kids will take good care of them. But to their shock they find, the children having abandoned them, returning to visit their parents and relatives once in two years or so.

The elderly parents, not wanting to stay in an alien environment, long to catch a glimpse of their children and grandchildren, if not through skype, in real life at least once in two years or more. A horrible and long wait !!

Some of these parents later even repent as to why they pushed their children to foreign lands for studies or jobs, even when their children were well off within the country ..

It is in these disappointing times, of desperation and helplessness both on the side of the parents and children, the proposal to establish Palliveedu ( meaning houses attached to the church) by Bawa Thirumeni finds great relevance. The children are able to give their parents the best of house, food, comforts and money, but not their love, care and presence in their final days.

If pallikkoodam earlier gave our forefathers a chance to learn the basics of language, physical sciences, spirituality and social sciences, palliveedu will give our elderly parents a chance to live a peaceful and prayerful elderly life, saving their self respect, in the company of like minded "suffering" elderly people, engaging in prayers and fasting, with caring people around to take care of them in their last days..

For we Malayalis, who in the hurry to make as much dollar bills and to flaunt a higher standard of living, have been global travellers for thousands of years in search of improved standard of living, (only to later realise how this has changed the lifestyle, values and spirituality of their children) this is a new thought.

There is no doubt that we will give Bawa Thirumeni full support in this grand plan to help our elderly people realise a peaceful, purposeful, respectful end to their lives. This is a changed reality of life .. We have to accept this truth  sometime or the other .. Let us not forget, like we treat our parents, our children will also treat us..

In foreign shores and even in our land, a place that care for elderly people are called old age homes. But this concept presented here is slightly different in that it is not simply an old age home, it is a home where the old are taken care of in divine, spiritual surroundings irrespective of your religious, social or economic background, where the young and healthy, in their spare time can go and help around with some social service.

Initially this is being proposed to be built around existing churches.. Later on depending on the availability of land, resources and cheerful minds of wilful donors, these can be set up in different places within India to cater not only to people from the Orthodox community but even elderly people from other communities.

Discussions and thoughts on this Palliveedu concept are welcome for discussions on this list.

Let us face reality and " call a spade a spade .."

George Easaw

Forbes releases Indian top richie-rich 100, 2 billionnaires ..

2 Malayali Billlionaires, Kris Gopalakrishnan and Muthootu MG George ..

No. 51 - Kris Gopalakrishnan (former Infosys CEO) $1.24 billion
No. 55 - M G George Muthootttu, (Finance companies) $1.14 billion

No. 70 - S D Shibulal, (present Infosys CEO) $ 0.77 billion
No. 77 - Joy Alukkas, ( gold/diamond jeweller) $ 0.7 billion

All the four rich malayalis have earned their wealth within India, no 2 and 4 within Kerala ..

Vijay Mallya drops out of the list (out of mismanagement of Kingfisher airlines where he has persuaded large state controlled banks, by fair means or unfair,  to sink lot of the common man's tax money into his business, which is now sure to be lost for the Indian public, about Rs 7000 crores INR, app $1.2 billion ..) and Muthoottu George enters the list as the newest billionaire of the world ..

As of 2012, 1226 billionaires in the world have combined wealth of $4.6 trillion., 7.7% of global annual GDP 0f $ 60 trillion.

List of Indian billionaires .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_list_of_Indian_billionaires

Kerala with a population of 32 million (out of global 7000 million)  - 0.45%, has two billionaires in the global ist of 1226 billionaires Kris Gopalakrishnan and MG George Muthootu .. - 0.16%.

India with population of 1200 million have 55 billionaires and is fourth in the world, after US, Russia and China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billionaire#Statistics ..

Mukesh Ambani can buy Prince Al Waheed of Saudi Arabia (richest oil sheikh) once over  and be left with $ 8 billion in pocket ....

courtesy Forbes.

ge..

A hard, tough lesson for Indian companies in Africa ..

Indian leaders with Ethiopian Finance Minister 

Last year when PM Dr Manmohan Singh visited Africa, especially Ethiopia, he had signed agreements between Ethiopian govt and Indian private investors who were ready to invest anything upto $ 5 billion in Africa to help it grow. News was also rife that while the 17th and 18 th century were the times that Europe colonised the rest of the world, including US, the 21 st century is for Asia to colonise Africa and possibly Europe. Tata and Mittal taking over the world's top stellar companies were an instance at point.

The Hindu news item where Ethiopian Govt welcomed Indian PM and Indian companies.  
There was heavy international condemnation of how native farmlands in Africa were being grabbed by greedy Indian companies in the guise of helping Ethiopia and Africa develop.  Click here for link ..

Sadly the news we read these days is that these companies are facing tough times in Africa, especially Ethiopia. Initially these companies had plans to grow Jetropa, a plant used for the extraction of biofuel, which could revolutionise the world fuel demand. But sadly, the first year the results were not that encouraging and companies like Emami have come out of Jetropa cultivation and gone into other plants which require more water.

Arid land becoming green, courtesy Guardian UK.

  

Water scarcity is the greatest factor that is threatening Indian companies in Africa. While Chinese companies have also invested heavily in colonising Africa, it is known what their experience has been.

Some of the reasons cited for the slow development of the area is

1. non-availability of water, being an extension of the Saharan Africa, water still remains the greatest threat to this land
2. Non-availability of right modes of transport, the available ones often expensive
3. Poor infrastructure connecting towns and regions and within these places for health, education etc.
4. Absence of trained labour
5. poor transportation infrastructure
6. Government inefficiency, resulting in poor decision making, lack of planning and vision, non-uniform development of different regions
7. high costs of equipment by way of taxes, duties, service charges, maintenance etc. to help in mechanisation.
8. A hostile local administration and people is being silently mentioned as an important factor behind the slow pace of growth and development of the area.

We find all these point to the poor development of the area.

I believe the companies which hold on to Africa, in spite of all these disadvantages and inconveniences will emerge stronger and capable at the end. In the long run, it is not how smart one is that matters, but how persistent and hard working one is, that matters.

ge..

La Moriyo Zegtho . the orthodox symphony in Bangalore.. three videos ..

A first of its kind in the orthodox world.. 

Hats off to Fr John Samuel and his team of musicians and singers for their untiring effort of  four months and determination to go ahead with this .. Watch the able and professional conduct of the symphony orchestra by Fr John Samuel in black robes !! Watch how the baton in his fingers twitch and glide in the air while he conducts the orchestra .. ..  Read a brief writeup here ..

Welcome to everyone ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioupk93eFIg  11 mins ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrMlJ8NosLk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ROIHzhIUQ&feature=BFa&list=UL_Ioip44G-G4   Introduction  2 min..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIDWTagYDHk&feature=BFa&list=ULV_ROIHzhIUQ   3.5 min..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ioip44G-G4&feature=channel&list=UL    8 min long 

A big thanks to all the Cor Episcopas, priests of Bangalore diocese and all the silent efficient workers and volunteers of Bangalore diocese who have worked under the dynamic and able leadership of Metropolitan Abraham Mar Seraphim to make this small positive change and development in the oldest Indian church possible.. A herculean task indeed !! 

The dynamism of young blood is unimaginable.. 

Courtesy Jayce Philip, Mamachen for putting up the videos and Rev Fr. Aikkara, Chancellor, Christ University and CMI congregation for the Christ auditorium and its excellent acoustics ...

George Easaw

Bangalore

Bangalore Orthodox Symphony, 23 Oct 2012..

With trumpets and the sound of cornet
Make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King  - Psalms 98:6

This evening, 23 October 2012, in the Christ University auditorium in Bangalore the Indian Orthodox church was celebrating the centenary of the establishment of the Catholicate and the 1960th anniversary of the establishment of Christianity in the country. The chief guest was the Hon. Governor of Maharashtra, Shri Sankaranarayanan, Catholica Bawa Thirumeni and other senior bishops from the church.

It was really history in the making in Orthodox circles. For the first time in Indian orthodox history and perhaps may be, in any orthodox church in the world, oriental or Eastern Orthodox this evening, after the main programme got over the highlight was stolen by the Orthodox symphony choir of Bangalore. Under intense training for the past four months under Fr. John Samuel, Vicar of the London Indian Orthodox church, the group gave a splendid show . . Aptly named La Morino Zegtho, the performance of achen and the symphony was mesmerising  !!

La Morino Zegtho, Bangalore orthodox symphony ..
Fr John Samuel in black robes conducting the symphony ..

The symphony was mind blowing to say the least !! With twenty instrumentalists giving company and 70 youngsters singing the different aradhana kramangal (orthodox chants)  in Syriac and Malayalam language right from Jesus' birth to crucifixion, and resurrection, the three hours programme from 7.30 PM to 10.30 PM was a meditation by itself.

Fr. John Samuel in indeed a very talented priest of our church and we are so fortunate to be witnessing history in the making in the Orthodox Church today in Bangalore. The programme was a fusion of Western instruments (8 violins, 2 cello. mandolin, acoustic guitar, keyboards, saxophone and a 6' big violin like bass instrument) with singing in parts, of the Syriac liturgy of our church. Little bit of Carnatic fusion also could be felt at certain places.

Watch youtube videos here


The unstinted support given to Fr John Samuel by HH Bawa Thirumeni and HG Abraham Mar Seraphim , Metropolitan of the Bangalore diocese has been rewarded well.

This performance was the dress rehearsal for the Nov 15 2012 Catholicate centenary celebrations at Marine Drive in Kochi Kerala which will be attended by a minimum of a lakh of people.

HG Mar Seraphim , the youngest Bishop of our church, has proved to be an asset for the Bangalore diocese and Orthodox Church as a whole.The coming days will see lot of space being devoted to this evening's performance in Bangalore in the news as well as in church circles.

As someone was mentioning, our youngsters, the future of the church, are indeed being directed and ably led by a worthy shepherd.. The three hours at the Christ auditorium, about 3000 of the audience, were taken for a heavenly experience by Fr John Samuel and his team of young musicians and singers !!

And with the support extended by Bawa thirumeni, we all know this is just the beginning  !!

ge..

Canon EOS 1100D DSLR camera ..

Cross sectional view of a DSLR ( Electronics and display not shown) (courtesy wikipedia.com) 1. Camera lens 2, Reflex mirror 3. Focal planer shutter 4. Image sensor 5. Matte focussing screen 6. Condensor lens 7. Pentaprism/pentamirror 8. Viewfinder eyepiece Click here for a DSLP photography guide (pdf ).. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_JM9l5CC8w Detailed Specs courtesy www.amateurphotographer.co.uk
International naming	• US: Canon Rebel T3  • Japan: Canon EOS Kiss X50  • Elsewhere: Canon EOS 1100D
Pricing	• US: $599.99 with 18-55 IS II lens  • Europe: €499 body only, €549 with 18-55 III lens, €549 with 18-55 IS II lens  • UK: £419 body only, £459 with 18-55 III lens, £499 with 18-55 IS II lens
Body material	Plastic (Stainless Steel chassis)
Sensor*	• 12.2 million effective pixels  • 12.6 million total pixels  • 22.2 x 14.7 mm CMOS sensor  • RGB Color Filter Array  • Built-in low-pass filter with fluorine coating  • 3:2 aspect ratio
Dust reduction	• Anti-static coating on sensor surfaces  • Software based dust-removal (camera maps dust, removed later)
Image sizes*	• 4272 x 2848 (L)  • 3088 x 2056 (M)  • 2256 x 1504 (S1)  • 1920 x 1280 (S2)  • 720 x 480 (S3)
Output formats	• RAW (.CR2 14-bit)  • RAW (.CR2 14-bit) + JPEG Large  • JPEG (EXIF 2.3) - Fine, Normal
Movie recording *	• 1280 x 720 (29.97, 25 fps)  • MOV (Video: H.264, Sound: Linear PCM)  • Max duration 17min, Max file size 4GB
Image processor*	DIGIC 4
Lenses	• Canon EF / EF-S lens mount  • 1.6x field of view crop
Focus modes	• TTL-CT-SIR with a CMOS sensor  • Auto Focus  • Manual Focus
Auto Focus	• 9-point CMOS sensor  • Cross-type F5.6 at center  • AF working range: 0 to 18 EV (at 23°C, ISO 100)
AF modes	• AI Focus  • One shot  • AI Servo
AF point selection	• Auto  • Manual
AF assist	Flash strobe
Shooting modes	• Auto  • Program AE (P)  • Shutter priority AE (Tv)  • Aperture priority AE (Av)  • Manual (M)  • Auto depth-of-field  • Portrait  • Landscape  • Close-up  • Sports  • Night portrait  • No Flash  • Creative Auto*
Metering*	TTL full aperture metering with 63-zone iFCL SPC*  • Evaluative metering (linked to all AF points)  • Partial metering at center (approx. 10% of viewfinder)  • Center weighted average metering Range : EV 1-20 (at 23°C with 50mm f/1.4 lens ISO100)
AE Lock	• Auto: In 1-shot AF mode with evaluative metering exposure is locked when focus is achieved.  • Manual: By AE lock button in creative zone modes.
AE Bracketing	• +/- 2.0 EV  • 0.5 or 0.3 EV increments
Exposure compen.	• +/- 2.0 EV  • 0.5 or 0.3 EV increments
Sensitivity	• Auto (100 - 6400)  • ISO 100  • ISO 200  • ISO 400  • ISO 800  • ISO 1600  • ISO 3200  • ISO 6400
Shutter	• Focal-plane shutter  • 30 - 1/4000 sec (0.5 or 0.3 EV steps)  • Flash X-Sync: 1/200 sec  • Bulb
Aperture values	• Depends on lens used
White balance	• Auto  • Daylight  • Shade  • Cloudy  • Tungsten  • White Fluorescent Light  • Flash  • Custom
WB Bracketing	• +/-3 levels  • 3 images  • Selectable Blue/Amber or Magenta/Green bias
WB fine-tuning	• Blue (-9) To Amber (+9)  • Magenta (-9) to Green (+9)
Color space	• sRGB  • Adobe RGB
Picture style	• Standard  • Portrait  • Landscape  • Neutral  • Faithful  • Monochrome  • User 1  • User 2  • User 3
Drive modes	• Single  • Continuous: 2 fps up to 5 RAW frames / 3 fps up to 830 JPEG  • Self-timer (2 -10secs)  • Self-timer continuous
Mirror lockup	Yes (custom function)
Viewfinder	• Pentamirror  • 95% frame coverage  • Magnification: 0.80x * (-1 diopter with 50 mm lens at infinity)  • Eyepoint: 19 mm *  • Dioptric adjustment: -3.0 to +1.0 diopter  • Fixed precision matte
Viewfinder info	• AF information (AF points focus confirmation light)  • Shutter speed  • Aperture value  • ISO speed (always displayed)  • AE lock  • Exposure level/compensation  • Spot metering circle  • Exposure warning  • AEB  • Flash ready  • High-speed sync  • FE lock  • Flash exposure compensation  • Red-eye reduction light  • White balance correction  • SD card information  • Monochrome shooting  • Maximum burst  • Highlight tone priority (D+)*
DOF preview	Yes, (assign via custom menu)
LCD monitor *	• 2.7" TFT LCD  • 230,000 pixels  • Wide viewing angle (170° horizontal and vertical)  • 7 brightness levels  • Up to 10x zoom playback
LCD Live view	• Live TTL display of scene from CMOS image sensor  • 100% frame coverage  • 30fps frame rate  • Real-time evaluative metering using CMOS image sensor  • Grid optional  • Magnify optional (5x or 10x at AF point)  • Autofocus: Quick mode, Live mode  • Manual Focus  • Remote live view using EOS Utility 2.0 (via USB or WiFi/Ethernet using WFT)
Flash *	• Auto pop-up E-TTL II auto flash  • Guide number approx 9.2*  • Modes: Auto, Manual Flash On/ Off, Red-Eye Reduction  • X-Sync: 1/200 sec  • Flash exposure compensation: +/-2.0 EV (0.3 or 0.5 EV steps)  • Coverage up to 17 mm focal length (27 mm FOV equiv.)
External flash	• E-TTL II auto flash with EX-series Speedlites  • Hot-shoe
Other features	• Orientation sensor
Auto rotation	• On (playback uses orientation data in file header)  • Off
Processing	• Highlight Tone Priority  • Auto Lighting Optimizer (4 settings)  • Long exposure noise reduction  • High ISO speed noise reduction (4 settings)  • Auto Correction of Lens Peripheral illumination  • Basic+ (Shoot by ambience selection, Shoot by lighting or scene type)
Playback mode	• Single image  • Single image with info (histogram brightness / RGB )  • Magnified view (1.5 - 10x in 15 steps, browsable)  • 4 and 9 image index  • Auto play  • Image rotation
Custom functions *	10 custom functions with 32settings
Menu languages *	• English  • German  • French  • Dutch  • Danish  • Portuguese  • Finnish  • Italian  • Norwegian  • Swedish  • Spanish  • Greek  • Russian *  • Czech  • Hungarian  • Romanian *  • Ukrainian *  • Turkish *  • Arabic *  • Thai *  • Simplified Chinese  • Traditional Chinese  • Korean  • Japanese
Firmware	User upgradable
Connectivity	• USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed) mini-B  • Video out (PAL / NTSC)  • HDMI mini output (HDMI-CEC compatible)*
Storage *	• SD / SDHC / SDXC card
Power *	• Lithium-Ion LP-E10 rechargeable battery  • Optional ACK-E10 AC adapter kit
Direct printing	• Canon Selphy Printers  • Canon Bubble Jet Printers with direct print function  • Canon PIXMA Printers supporting PictBridge  • PictBridge
Dimensions *	130 x 100 x 78 mm
Weight (no battery) *	495 g
	• Zoom Browser EX / ImageBrowser  • PhotoStitch  • EOS Utility (inc. Remote Capture; Windows & Mac except Mac Intel)  • Digital Photo Professional (Windows / Mac)  • Picture Style Editor Sanp with goat cub, Meenadom, Kottayam, 28 0ct '12.

Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh, a disgrace for the nation ..

A total disgrace to the armed forces !

I am amazed at the guts shown by the most disgraced Lt. Gen (retd.) of the Indian Army, Tejinder Singh. What low IQ this person has ?? Does he think he can take the people of the country for a royal ride ?

Even after being exposed, Tejinder had the temerity to file a defamation case against VK Singh for dragging him into the Tatra Truck corruption case.

With the CBI finally filing  case against him, six months after he filed a case against the Army Chief for unnecessarily dragging him to the Tatra case, Tejinder should be stripped of his army honours , if any, as also his pension and other benefits. In addition, he should be made to pay a hefty fine for filing a false case against the former Army Chief for causing lot of tension and hurt for Gen V K Singh. Such menaces in the army are a menace for the country too ..

It is a disgrace that when we have such people at the helm of the Indian army,  can we expect the country to develop and modernise itself ? These people are so selfish, anti-national and anti-social that they pull the country backward and put it to so much risk. When the soldiers are risking their lives and fighting for the country, such jokers play spoilsport !! He deserve to be sent to the gallows straightaway..

It is the negative agenda of these worthless individuals which is causing so much of heartburn for the masses and taking the country backward. When able, smart people like Kejriwal are trying their level best to eradicate corruption from the country, these stupid people are bringing down the repute of the armed forces and playing into the hands of the politicians.

Lone bull Kejriwal fighting a lethargic goliath ..

 
History tells us throughout the past sixty years, some of our Army officers have been equally corrupt as our politicians .. By this act, the doubt with the common man whether his country and its funds are being properly used by these soldiers is only getting stronger day by day.

These people are reminding us that the defence expenditure which is the most unproductive expenditure for the country, is indeed the most unproductive and being misused by a section of the officers in the army. The people of the country have great mistrust for these leaders from our armed forces.

There are second thoughts whether the funds of this country which is given to these soldiers by the people with great trust through the democratic setup needs to be curtailed as it is being misused and abused by these wretched soldiers.

Was it an error of judgement by Tejinder Singh ? If he was not caught, he would have still been moving in respectable circles after committing this great crime.. I doubt it was poor merit .. I would say poor upbringing ...

Where are our corrupt army officers taking us ??

ge..