ENDHIRAN PIX

GORDIMER IMPACT

Nadine gordimer needs no introduction.During a short visit to Mumbai,Gordimer chose to introduce herself

to her audience via  a short story about a little girl who details the immense sufffering and struggle of her  life

.Gordimer ,small and elegant,suddenly transformed into her character,lending it an immediate visual impact

that few authors can.

Responding to questions from the audience ,Gordimer said that she regarded writer's like "Chekov,Tolstoy and

Dostoeyvsky as her professors".Of Indian authors ,she said that she was struck by the works of Nayanthara

Sahgal and of course Salman Rushdie.Amitav Ghosh for his wonderful books on the opium wars and Shashi 
Tharur

SAVE THE EARTH

"Save the Earth" is the slogan of the day.The whole world heard this call during the "Earth Summit-1992" held at Rio city in Argentina.Save the Earth from what? was the question asked by the people.Save the Earth from the dangers of destruction,Pollution,Deforestation,and killing of Wildlife.The future of Earth was dark,it seems.

Today the earth is not like as it was before hundred years ago.Advancements of Science and Technology in all walks of life have simultaneously disturbed the balance of the nature.For example,use of chemicals and fertilizers has polluted the land and water.But we are not being able to find a solution.All the livings things on earth are dependant on water.One can live without food for days but not without water.If the land and water are polluted with chemicals,it will cause many health problems for all men.

Secondly,the forests are destroyed and the trees are felled throughout the world by people.Forests are the source of rain.They are also essential for the prevention of soil erosion.Moreover the Deforestation leads to the loss of shelter for animals and also causes Global Warming.Thus the disturbance in the order of nature creates many interlinked problems.

Another serious problem is the pollution of air and atmosphere.The gases released from the factories pollute the atmosphere.Since the people inhale impure air,the fall sick and get all types of diseases.Apart from this the gases change the composition of the air in  the atmosphere.For example,holes have been made in the ozone layer covering the earth.These holes may permit infra light rays into the land.

What are the ways that we can do to save the earth from these risks?.We should preserve our forests.We should plant more trees and saplings in our society.The air and water should not be polluted.Avoid unnecessary travel by vehicles.The gases released from factories and industries should be filtered.The Industrial wastes should not be allowed to reach the sea.Man should not exploit natural resources,instead they should learn to use it economically.For example all the petroleum resources will be exhausted by 2050.So we must act before it is too late.If we do not act now,the world will not be a fit place for the future generation to live.These problems are because of us.The solution to all these problems is also in our hands.It is up to us to "Save The Earth".

TYPES OF CURVES

 

The Production possibility curve represents the supply side in international trade. It shows the various alternative combinations of the two commodities that a country can produce more efficiently by fully utilizing the factors of production with the available technology. It represents the demand side in international trade. A commodity difference curve shows the various combinations of two commodities which yield the same satisfaction to a community.

 

2. The Offer Curve

 

Another important tool in international economics is the offer curve or reciprocal demand curve.The offer curve of a country returns the relative commodity price at which trade takes place.It shows various quantities of its exportable commodity.A country is willing to exchange for an importable commodity at various international prices.

 

3. The Trade Indifference Curve

 

It is a technique used to show the import of  trade on consumption output and gains from trade. A trade indifference curve shows changes in domestic production and consumption as well as in real income from shifts in terms of trade and volume of trade.

DOCKING CRADLE

Altec Lansing's digital docking system exclusively for the ipod family is glossy,stylish,sexy and sporty with a sleek black finish.You dont have to bother about poor battery life on your ipod anymore.The docking system comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion batteries equipped with seven hours of playback.What's more,it has built in FM tuner,an LCD screen to display your ipod tracks and a remote control.The T612 comes with adapters includedfor previous generation products,so you can plug in any ipod,for an amplified music experiernce.It is priced at Rs 7500.

ON A ROLL

Actor John Abraham is on a roll.His latest Venture,despite an element of risque,has got him and his co-stars

rave reviews.A grinning and a satisfied Abraham said that the break he had taken seems to have done good.

"My weakest point is never knowing what scripts to choose.I realised that i was  not choosing the right scripts

so i decided to sit back for a while and it seems to have worked.

Abraham is all praise for his co-stars as well as the director karan Johar."I nearly revolted when he suggested

 that i wear yellow briefs.But he told me that would be the defining moment of the film  and it seems to be true.

So I really do the trust the guy.

Talking about the relationship with Bipasha Basu,Abraham grins wickedly and says," Marriage is not on the cards right now;we know each other too well for all this to bother our relationship.I suppose we are at a mature stage now  would like to keep it at that.We are going to concentrate on our careers and leave the display of affection in Public to others .I think we have gone beyond that stage.

  

SEXY DAD

An International magazine recently votedArjun Rampal as India's  Sexiext Dad and the model-turned actor

confessed that it shocked his daughters Mahikaa and Myra especially the older one who taught that it was related to sex.After  years of remaining in the shadows Arjun Rampal has strucked Gold in the last two years .Imagine Hrithik Roshan getting beated by Arjun Rampal in this category.

DIRECTORS PRIDE

Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK who directed the critically acclaimed film "FLAVOURS"  in 2004 are back in the

news.Their short film "Shor" based on Mumbai has won the best Short film award at the Indo-American Arts

Council festival this month.To be smart,stylish and comic is their USP and coming up this february is a bollywood

film by the duo titled "99",this one stars Boman Irani,Soha ali khan,Cyrus Broacha,Mahesh manjrekar,Simone

Singh,Vinod Khanna.

HARDWARE

The components or devices that are connected to a computer are collectively known as hardware.For example monitor,mouse,Keyboard,speakers,     and printer come under the term Hardware.

Input-Output devices: As you know, a computer follows the I-P-O cycle for processing.Therefore all the devices can be categorized as input devices,output devices,and processing devices.The input devices are used to give instructions to the computer.For example Mouse and keyboard are  input devices.The output devices are used to display output of an operation.For example Monitor and printer.

Keyboard:The Keyboard has already been identified as input device.This is a component that closely resembles a typewriter console.The keyboard provides different keys to perform various operations.

Mouse: A mouse is a small device that is connected to the system by means of a long wire.This is another input device,whose movements causes corresponding movement of a pointer on the screen.It usually has two or three buttons using which the user can select options from the screen.

VDU: Now that you are familiar with some of the input devices of the computer,let us take a closer look at an output device.VDU is the abbreviated form of Visual Display Unit.Data that has been processed needs to be displayed to the user.This is done using the monitor or the VDU.The VDU is similar to that of a TV screen and can display both text and graphic images.The display can be either in Black and white or in color.

Printer: The output on the VDU cannot be stored for later reference.For a permanent,you would require a printer that is also an common output device.Using the printer,you can obtain the output on paper.Printers are capable of printing at a very high speeds.The printers commonly used with the PC are the dot matrix printer,the ink-jet printer and the laser printer.

Microphone: A microphone is an input device that allows a user to speak to the computer to enter data and instructions into the computer or it is used to record sound.

Joystick: A joystick is a pointing device with a vertical lever mounted on a base.It is mainly used for computer games and ultra sound scanners in hospitals.

Scanners: A scanner is an input device used to capture information,such as photographs and documents on paper and translate the information into a raster computer image.

Speakers: You can use speakers on a multimedia machine to listen to the sound files,which can be audio,recorded by audio Cd's or Microphone.  

SKODA'S FABIA FOR LESS

Those who have always dreamt of owning the Fabia Elegance,rejoice,for the first  time to make that wish come true.Skoda is currently offering a discount of rupees 11,000 on the insurance price-tag of any variant of the Fabia.This means that if you opt for the Elegance version  whose insurance is worth up to Rupees 29,000,all you need to pay is Rupees 18,000 only.In addition to this, if  you are also planning to fund your Fabia through a loan,the five percent loan payout discount ensures that you end up saving a good amount.So if you were to opt for the Fabia Elegance diesel variant on a seventy percent loan,you would save a healthy Rs 28,000.The total discount we are talking about here is in  the region of Rupees 39,000.This is the first time since the launch of the Fabia that the car is being made available with such an enticing offer and I believe it is an excellent buy. This car has been given an awesome rating of 4 on 5.So why wait go grab your fabia.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND HEALTH HAZARDS

The growth of civilization,with the help of Science and technology,has made our life more happy,comfortable and secure.But it has been found in recent years that it has also caused the problem of pollution.Pollution has caused so many havoc not only for living beings but also for the life less.For example,Taj Mahal faces the changes of color change because of the smoke from nearby oil refinery.Water,Soil and air are polluted by men.

The pollution of water is caused by the discharge of chemical wastes from industries and factories.Disposing city sewage into the river and sea also pollutes water and soil.All the living things are dependant on water.If they consume polluted,it will cause various health problems.For example,the jaundice disease is due to the intake of impure water.

In India,as many as 50,000 people die due to the environmental pollution created by the factories and industries.The Government has not taken any action against this.We must act before it is too late.We should not allow the people to discharge waste into the river water.The drinking water should be free from pollutants.All the industries should be given licenses only after the installation of pollution control systems.All erring companies should be closed.All the automobile companies should be closed.Plastic bags and plastic papers should be banned from using it,instead jute and other allied products should be replaced.All the automobile vehicles should be fitted with pollution control mechanism.More centres should be opened to check air pollution by the vehicles.The government should enact strict laws to control pollution.The State and the Central governments have drawn various schemes.Now an awareness has been created among the people about the seriousness of the problem.In schools and colleges,the topic,"pollution" has been included in the syllabus.

TELEVISION-BOON OR BANE

The television is an audio-visual aid.Now-a-days it is necessity rather than a luxury.Because,it is a good entertainer.In our vast country more than 75% of the population is reached by this mass media.Thus it helps to bring about unity among the people.The Television programmes are informative and educative.

Art,Architecture,Music,and the life in the various regions in our country are brought before our eyes in actual color.Live telecast of national and international events are seen by the people in the television.This brings about better understanding between people of different states and countries.

This visual medium makes an indelible impact on the minds of the people,both young and old.Teaching and learning of lessons are made easy  through educational telecasts for students of schools and colleges.The programmes for farmers enlighten them latest ideas and techniques in their field.Sports lovers see the live telecast of games and sports events held in different countries.The Television news brings us close to the world.Everyday we see and hear the speech of national and international leaders.In short,the television has become an integral part of our lives.

But television has sometimes been misused by students.They abstain from classes to see cricket matches.They see all the programmes for entertainment.It affects their study very much.Continuous viewing of television programmes also affects the eye-sight of students.So the students should see only those programmes which are educative and informative.

YUVVRAAJ-GHAI'S YET ANOTHER FLOP

From the time the title shows A.R.Rahman's name on the screen till the end where he makes a small appearance;its Rahman's movie all the way.Three cheers to the music of the film.All the songs are fantabulous.He enchants us throughout with his brilliant songs and impeccable background score.But sadly the film is only an assemblage of mesmerizing tunes with a poorly conceived plot backed by bad screenplay and editing throughout the film.Subash Ghai has tried a musical here but it's so over the top and cliched with pointless scenes throw in,that the movie sinks quickly.Though the witty dialogues do make us laugh and forget the atrocities being screened;the movie doesn't work on the whole.

The movie is about a arrogant Devan(Sallu) and spoiled brat Shanu(Zayed) scheming to get their deceased father's fortune from their autistic music-genius brother Gyanesh.Apart from the fiery dialogues the two brother's exchange,there seems to be no plan what-so-ver.The attorney(Mithun) is irritating so are the family members of the brothers.Salman doesnt make use of a great opportunity.Two people who makes the movie passable, apart from A.R.Rahman are Anil kapoor and Katrina Kaif,the latter attracting us with her beauty and convincing acting and the former with his convincing antics though it gets over the top at times.Look out for scenes where Anil Kapoor sings;commendable enacting.

A movie worth for Rahman fans and a big no for everyone else.

COMPONENTS OF TIME SERIES

The four components of time series are:

1.Secular trend

2.Seasonal variation

3.Cyclical variation

4.Irregular variation

Secular trend:A time series data may show upward trend or downward trend for a period of years and this may be due to factors like increase in population,change in technological progress ,large scale shift in consumers demands,etc.For example,population increases over a period of time,price increases over a period of years,production of goods on the capital market of the country increases over a period of years.These are the examples of upward trend.The sales of a commodity may decrease over a period of time because of better products coming to the market.This is an example of declining trend or downward trend.The increase or decrease in the movements of a time series is called Secular trend.  

Seasonal variation: Seasonal variation are short-term fluctuation in a time series which occur periodically in a year.This continues to repeat  year after year.The major factors that are responsible for the repetitive pattern of seasonal variations are weather conditions and customs of people.More woollen clothes are sold in winter than in the season of summer .Regardless of the trend we can observe that in each year more ice creams are sold in summer and very little in Winter season.The sales in the departmental stores are more during festive seasons that in the normal days.

Cyclical variations:Cyclical variations are recurrent upward or downward movements in a time series but the period of cycle is greater than a year.Also these variations are not regular as seasonal variation.There are different types of cycles of varying in length and size.The ups and downs in business activities are the effects of cyclical variation.A business cycle showing these oscillatory movements has to pass through four phases-prosperity,recession,depression and recovery.In a business,these four phases are completed by passing one to another  in this order.

Irregular variation: Irregular variations are fluctuations in time series that are short in duration,erratic in nature and follow no regularity in the occurrence pattern.These variations are also referred to as residual variations since by definition they represent what is left out in a time series after trend ,cyclical and seasonal variations.Irregular fluctuations results due to the occurrence of unforeseen events like floods,earthquakes,wars,famines,etc. 

PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN

India is my country.It is the most beautiful land with a glorious past.This ancient land has awakened the people of the world by her wisdom and learning.This is the country where great saints like Buddha,Mahavira,Valluar and others were born.This is the place where great epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata were written.This is the birth place of great emperors,philosophers,scientists,poets,artists and architects.

The climate,color,language,life habits in India are diverse in nature.While,Tamilnadu in the south,has the warm climate,Kashmir is very cold.We speak different languages.But there is a feeling of unity among the people.Indians are not averse to any religious faith.They go on pilgrimage to worshipping places of all religions.We give respect to faith and beliefs of others.

Majority of our people live in villages.The predominant occupations are agriculture and handicrafts.But now we are becoming an industrialized nation.We are now manufacturing  aeroplanes,ships,rail engines,motor cars and other things.We are second to none even in the space research.We are now launching rockets and satellites into space.

Ours is the biggest democracy in the world.We believe in the principle of good will and mutual co-operation between all nations.Our country always strives for the cause of peace the world.We don't place our faith in gun and war.This is the holy land where Gandhiji was born.He showed the importance of non-violence to the world.The western countries may boast of their development in technology.But our country always remains as place of pilgrimage for the whole world to learn spiritual and more values in life.I love my country very much.I feel proud to be an Indian.

RAJINI ASKS FANS NOT TO CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY

Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth has asked his fans not to celebrate his58th birthday on december 12.to express 

soladiraty with the srilankan Tamilswho were suffering in the ongoing war between army and LTTE in the

island nation's embattled north.

According to Rajinikanth's Fans Welfare Association in-charge Sudhakar,"everyone is deeply hurt by the 

sufferings of Tamils in the island nation.Hence we have chosen not to celebrate Rajinikanth's Birthday.

Earlier ,actor Kamal Hasan had chosen to abstain from celebrating his birthday on November 7 on the issue.

Hassan had said that it would be good if his birthday could be used to leverage public opinion infavour of 

Srilankan Tamils.

YANG QUITS AS YAHOO CEO

Yahoo co-founder  Jerry Yang , who earned the ire of many shareholders for rejecting a 47$-billion takeover

offer from Microsoft,is stepping down as the CEO.The Sunnyvale,California,firm announced on Monday,that 

Mr.Yang(40),who took over as CEO just over a year ago,would remain in the post until a replacement could

be found by the board of directors.

Mr.Yang founded the portal in 1995 at the age of 26 with Stanford University classmate David Filo.Mr.Yang

said it was time to turn Yahoo,whose share price has plunged during the past year over to a new leader.A

Proposed advertising partnership with internet search king Google fell through this month amid opposition 

from U.S Justice Department antitrust regulators.

SECOND JAPANESE WOMAN TO GO INTO SPACE

Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki will board the U.S shuttle Atlantis in 2010,and will be become the 

second japanese woman to blast in space.

20,000 KNITWEAR WORKERS TO LOSE JOBS

The Economic recession sweeping the Western World has started taking its toll on the knitwear industry in

Tirupur,about 20,000 workers are to lose jobs.Exports have plummeted steeply in the first half of this financial year and projections for the remaining half of the Fiscal look 'unenthusiastic'.Retrenchment has become imperative as exports for the first six months of this financial year ending September 30 has declined to Rs 5,050 crore from Rs 5,350 crore registered during the corresponding period last fiscal.

In terma of earnings in U.S dollars,the downturn was pegged at 10 percent.There had been a 30 percent decline

in orders placed with the tirupur Knitwear cluster.

Vaarnam Ayiram

The hit trio of Gautam Menon,Suriya and harris Jayaraj is back.The film that celebrates a range of  relationships,shows actor suriya donning the role of son and father for first time.The cast includes Sameera Reddy,Divya Spandana and Simran.The film draws abudantly from the directors relationship with his father.The first half of the movie is very fast and the second half has been very lengthy and boring.There is nothing to complain about harris's music and well cinematographed by the cinematographer.Overall I would give  3/5 for this movie.

3 INDIAN WOMEN IN GLOBAL LIST

                                                                                                 

Led by pepsico chief Indra Nooyi,the three Indians have made their way into the Wall street journal's

global list of fifty women to watch for this year .CISCO's Chief Technology Officer Padmashree Warrior

and INX Media's Chief Executive Indrani Mukerjea.

NOW,ONE STEP CLOSER TO MOON

The Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) executed without blemish on Monday night.The engine

fired for 866 seconds from 9:58 p.m.This led to chandrayaan-1's aposelene being reduced from 7,502 km to

255 km and its periselene from 200 km to 187 km.They will study Chandrayan-1's final orbit of 100 km by

100 km above the moon for a day or two.We will then release the moon impact probe.All the sub-systems

in the board are functioning properly.

INDIA TO PLAY ENGLAND TOMMOROW

India has one game to the credit of the seven match Hero Honda series.England lost badly in the first ODI play

ed in Rajkot by 158 runs.England has a chance to scalp the second ODI as Ishant Sharma and Yuvaraj Singh

are ruled out due to the injury.Yuvaraj had injured his back while playing against England and Ishant has a 

sprain in his leg which has not yet recovered.Subramaniam Badrinath will replace the injured Yuvi.Ishant

will be replaced by R.P.Singh.I think England has a slight edge over India tomorrow.

FINANCIAL CRISIS

 A dozen or two companies have retrenched about 10,000 employees  in various countries due to the

financial crisis.In United States of America half a dozen firms have started to retrench their workers.Companies 

like DHL,HCl,Microsoft,Walmart,etc have closed some of their units in U.S. 

In India several firms have retrenched their employees and some have given an unpaid leave.Jet Airways has

retrenched around 1000-2000 airhostess and stewards.Bigger Firms like the TATA motors have shut down 

their factories for a week or so, as the number of buyers have decreased.Ashok Leyland has also shutdown

some of its units in the country due to the crisis.The number of  placements in several colleges in India have

been reduced and the students are finding it difficult to be placed as they need to score high in their UG or PG 

courses.

It might take a year or so in bringing back the countries to square one.

INDIA SIGNS DEFENCE PACT WITH QATAR

On the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the hydro-carbon-rich Qatar,India has sought surplus funds from that country to sustain the flow of investments at a time of global credit squeeze and signed two aggrements relating to defence and law enforcement.

Describing the defence aggrement with qatar as a landmark and they would layout a structure for joint maritime security and training as well as exchange of visits.Another aggrement on security and law enforcement would 

lay out the frzmework for sharing of information and databases on threats posed by extremists and to check money laundering and transnational crime.

Although an aggrement on supplying additional Liqueified Petroleum gas could not be inked,both sides discussed a new era of mutual investments. 

CAT 2008: WHAT TO EXPECT

It is the time of the year when students across disciplines will put their best foot forward in an attempt to bell the CAT(Common Aptitude Test).While management seat aspirants,wo have been sweating it out over the year,will now focus on sharpening their skills,the stray MBA aspirant will sit down to some last minute cramming.

Whether the global financial crisis will affect MBA placements is yet to be seen.However with an additional 50,000 applicants to CAT-2008 and nearly 40 colleges adding to their names to the list of colleges that decides the admission on CAT scores the management dream does not seem to be losing its sheen-atleast not for these e-lite institutions.

HARRIS AND GAUTAM SPLIT UP

Varnam Ayiram has raised great expections thanks to the rocking combo of harris-gautam.But this will be the last project of  the combo.Harris has openly come out with his regret that relations between him and Gautam are 

no longer what they were earlier.The have decided to part away.They both debut together in 2001 and have given some great hits together.I was very disappointed hearing this news.I really miss them.

KARUN CHANDHOK TESTS WITH FMS AND I-SPORT

Karun Chandhok returned to the track for the first time since the final round of the GP2 series in Monza,to test with GP2 teams Fisichella Motorsport and his team from the 2008 season,I-sports international.

FITNESS KIT

If you are the type that jogs with your ipod shuffle on your sleeve check this out.You can pair this new Nike+sports kit with your ipod and it will tel you how long you jogged,the distance,the pace and the calories burned.It has two components- a sensor and a receiver that communicates using a wireless protocal.The moment you start your workout,the ipod starts collecting data from the sensor and keeps tack of the distance you have walked and the pace at which you did it.It is priced at Rs.2000. 

DASVIDANYA

Funny man vinay pathak turns producer with this film,which is about an ordinary Mumbaikar who starts each day with a to-do-list.One fine morning he makes a list of "10 things  to make my life worthwhile before i die" and he sets about acheiving his goals,unpredictable things happen.The film stars vinay pathak,ranvir shoney,rajat kapoor and Neha dhupia and is directed by sushant shah.

TERMINATOR AS VILLAIN IN TAMIL MOVIE

After crossover films hollywood is crossing over to India.Former Mr.universe Roland Kickinger,who dons the role of the killing machine in terminator Salvation-The future begins,is playing the villain in kollywood movie Peraanmai.Atop a hill in verdant vagamon,the crane whirls around while hero jayam ravi and villain kickinger crapple with a knife.The Shot is taken again and cleared .The six-packs abs is clear and the biceps cry for attention.He was as tight -lipped abou his(kickinger) role in perannmai as that of terminator salvation...except to say that it was a tough role,shooting in forests and rough terrain.

INDIA HAMMERS ENGLAND.

England won the toss and elected to field first as he(kevin pieterson) thought that the ball might swing a bit in the first two hours or so .Then England went on to bowl and got thrashed by the indian openers-Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.The  Duo added a hundred run partnership between them.Then after both the openers got out.It was the time of yuvaraj singh.He had to settle scores with the selectors.He made a blistering 139* not out and was well supported by Raina,Dhoni,Rohit sharma who added to the total.By the end of the 50th over India 

made 387 for 6.That was an awesome total to put on the board.In reply to the india's score,England started off well but they could not withstand the bowling of Zaheer Khan and Munaf patel.The former got the first three England wickets.England then could not reach to that massive total and was allout for 218.Kevin Pieterson played the captain's innings.Now India leads the series with 1-0. 

STYLISH STORAGE

A IGO launches Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes pen drive that has F1's stylish,sleek,body design and also benefits with high quality perfomance.

It has  Host USB 1.1/USB  2.0 that can play for extra hours without extra drivers.This Light-weight , 2GB Pen drive comes with a free one-year warranty.Its fresh and unique is sure to grab a lot of eye balls.

COOL TALK

LG Electronics has launched the LG KC550 and LG Secret.Equipped with an advanced 5.0 megapixel camera,LG Secret(left side) boasts of120fps video recording and playback.The phone comes with a unique insight of scratch proof display and carbon fire back panel.You can enjoy the motion censored games with a flick of a wrist.Priced at 18,990 Rs.

The LG KC550 is designed to easily capture fantastic moments that require a speedy reaction.Its five mega pixel imaging sensor and the Schneider-Kreuznach certified lens can produce ultra fine enlargements in high resolution.The camera's sensitivity can be setup to ISO 800.Priced at 14,900 Rs.

FULLY LOADED

Mitashi Edutainment private limited launches DVD 317 player for the Indian market.It has sleek and trendy look

,delivers high definition images and crystal clear sound.Mitashi DVD 317 player has great compatibility with all the possible audio-video formats.

                                                    It also equips itself with CD ripping feature from CD to USB and also supports USB disc

It comes with optical and coaxial digital audio output.,supports dolby digital 5.1 channel surround,newest pro logic 11 technology.

HIGH PRIORITY TIES WITH INDIA:OBAMA

U.S President-elect Barack Obama has assured India that he attaches "high priority" to further strengthening the strategic bilateral ties as top officials of the two sides met here to discuss the global financial crisis, the second

high -level contact between them in as many days.

I think Obama will do wonders to his country and also India.He will also remove this current financial crisis.He would make a better president than the former George Bush.

AJITH'S FAMILY AND SURIYA'S FAMILY

DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS FOUND IN BOLIVIA

The Fossillised footprints of dinosaurs have been found by a Bolivian Farmer in the southern province

of Chuquisaca.They are believed to be about one fourty million years old.

ASHTOUSH KAUSHIK IS BIGG BOSS 2

Three months after entering the reality show ,Kaushik on Saturday night walked away with the bigg boss 2 and
whopping Rs 1 crore in cash.Actor Akshay Kumar announced the winner of the bigg boss 2 in presence of the
show's host Shilpa Shetty .Kaushik lauded Rahul Mahajan for his support where Mahajan was sent out of the
house for violating the house rules.

DOTING DAUGHTER

What happens when you are a Bollywood star shotting in some remote place  and its yor dad's b'day?We'd 

tackle this as a work hazard.But well if you are Aishwarya rai Bacchan you get to fly to where dad's lives and

launch an upmarket watch and wish dad too .This week thats what our pretty woman did.Shooting for Mani 

ratnam "Ravan" in Kochi along with hubby abishek,Ash took a day off to fly down to Mumbai for daddy dearest.

But trust her to value time  and combine it with work.So there she was ,as brand Ambassador at the launch of 

Longines new collection.And we are sure pops was pleased as Punch.

AL-QAEDA LEADER KILLED IN PAKISTAN

Rashid Rauf,said to be behind the 2006 trans-atlantic plane bombing plot,was among five AL-QAEDA militants
killed in a U.S missile attack in Pakistan's North West on Saturday

OUAKE IN SUMATRA

A 6.8 magnittude earth struck Indonesia's sumatra island late on Saturday.The U.S Geological
Survey said there was nothing to worry.No one was injured in the place .

BLASTS ROCK LAHORE

Atleast three people were injured in a series of three blasts in Lahore on Saturday Night.The blasts took place
outside the alhamara Arts council complex,where a perfoming arts festival is underway.A large contingent
of Indians is participanting in the 10 day festival known as the World festival of the perfoming Arts.

IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY

Computers and communications combine to give information Technology,by which the use of information becomes far more efficient.As we had mentioned earlier,this more efficient use of information can affect society and management.In fact,this will have an effect on all aspects of life.IT is one of the most pervasive technologies,and hence,has effects on practically everything we do.One may argue that in a third world country such as India."How can people living in rural areas possibly be affected by computers".But we can consider the following the points:

1.Computers predict weather and communicate it to rural areas,besides suggesting best crop cycles,fertilizers,and other numerous matters.

2.All rural planning is carried out on computers such as water supply,roads,buildings,agricultural pattern and so on.These works are carried out in cities but the effects are on rural areas.

3.Most transport facilities to rural areas are also computerised just like the railway reservations systems that we are familiar with.

4.All communications systems,which are essential for rural development,are heavily dependant on information technology like Radio,Television,Telephone and so on.Therefore it is essential that we are at least conscious of the pervasive effects of Information Technology.  

Now,let us consider the effects of IT on something closer to our hearts such as education.Computers have made direct impact on our lives and in the field of education in the form of systems that are actually involved with the teaching process such as Computer Assisted Instruction(CAI),Computer Assisted Learning(CAL),Computer Based training(CBT),and Computer Managed Instruction(CMI).

Educationist,Allan Ellis once stated,"Using Computers in education is not learning about computers but is learning about education".So the very use of computers enforced some rethinking on education.

SOFTWARE

A PC is incapable of performing any task with the hardware alone.It requires instructions to function as desired.Liked data,instructions are also entered via the input devices like Keyboard,mouse,and joystick.

Application Software

We spoke of computer applications and identified certain areas where computers are being used today.Software specially suited for specific applications is now available in the market .Such software is called application software since it is designed for a specific application.Application software that takes care of variety of business and corporates need can now be bought off the shelf.These are also called standard software packages.They are reasonably priced and can run on any standard PC.Two popular standard software packages are Financial Accounting and Inventory Control packages.In case a user is not satisfied with the available packages,because it does not meet all the requirements,the package can be modified.However,if the package cannot be modified,the user can opt for a customized software package.A customized package is developed for a user's specific needs and may not be relevant to any other user.

Though these packages are for very specific applications,there are general application software like database management systems,spread sheets and word processors.Using DBMS software,a user can maintain large volumes of data that can be modified,updated and queried.A spread sheet package allows a user to enter a numeric data,specify formulae and perform calculations.Graphs can also be generated from the data.The special feature of automatic recalculation allows changes made in any one item to reflect in all items dependant upon the first one.

A word processing package converts a PC into a sophisticated typewriting machine.It has the facility to perform spell checks,provide for synonyms and allow changes or corrections in the document without having to re-type the entire document.

COMPUTER SYSTEMS

The Personal Computer(PC) is although the most popular computer system although the most popular computer system,there are other computer systems too,which are categorized on the basis of size,cost and Performance.Before we describe some of these computer systems,it is essential to understand the term system.A system is a group of integrated  parts that have a common purpose of achieving an objective.Following are the various  categories of computers.

Personal Computer or Microcomputers

The microcomputer is also known as PC.The most popular form of the computer in use today is probably the PC.The PC can be used for various applications and,in fact,there size but capable of handling large tasks.It can perform a diverse range of functions,from keeping track of household accounts to keeping records of the stores of a large manufacturing company.The most widespread example is the IBM PC,Hewlett Packard and DELL,based on microprocessors from intel corporation,PS/2 and Apple's Macintosh.

Minicomputers

A popular computer system is in the minicomputer,which is a small,general-purpose computer.It can vary in size from a small desktop model to the size of a small filing cabinet.A typical mini system is more expensive than a PC and surpasses it in storage capacity and speed.

Supercomputer

At the end of the size and capability scale are the supercomputers.These systems are the largest,fastest and the most expensive computers in the world.They are used for Bio-medical research,weather forecasting,chemical analysis in laboratory,complex scientific,and defence applications.BlueGene/l System is now the world's fastest supercomputer.It is a joint development of IBM and DOE's national Nuclear Security Administration and installed at DOE's Lawrence National Laboratory in Liver more.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

International Business refers to business activities that takes place across national frontiers.Though many people use the terms international business and international trade synonymously,the former is a much broader term.International business involves not only trade in goods and services,but also other operations such as production and marketing of goods and services in foreign countries.The reason behind this is that nations cannot efficiently produce all that they require.Due to differences in resource endowments and labour productivity,countries find it much more advantageous to produce goods and services in which they have cost advantage and trade the surplus in such goods and services which others can produce more efficiently.

International vs Domestic business: Conducting and managing the international business operations is more complex than undertaking domestic business.Differences in the nationality of parties involved,relatively less mobility of factors of production,customer heterogeneity across markets,variations in business practises and political systems,varied business regulations and policies,use of different currencies are the key aspects that differentiate international businesses from domestic business.These,moreover,are the factors that make international business much more complex and a difficult activity.

India's involvement in world business: Since time immemorial,India has been trading with foreign countries.Over the years,India's trade has registered spectacular growth.Currently foreign accounts for about 24 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.United States of America,United Kingdom,Belgium,Germany,Japan,Switzerland,Hong Kong,United Arab Emirates,China,Singapore and Malaysia are the major trading partners.These eleven countries together accounted for about forty eight percent of India's total trade.

OVERPOPULATION=INDIA

The Population and economic development are closely related,as the latter depends on the former .Abnormal size and increase in population lead to the problem of food scarcity and equitable supply of food to the millions.It reduces the growth of the national income and the per capita income retarding the economic growth of the nation.Rising population leads to various types of Unemployment problems and the burden of unproductive consumers has to be borne in the economy.The problem of increasing births demands higher expenditures by the Government for medical care,education, housing,clothing,etc.All these factors urge the necessity of reducing the birth rate in India.A large population by itself may not be a big issue for the country to tackle,provided the number is maintained at the same level for a fairly large period of time.But the problem is worsened by the rate at which the population increases every year an alarming increase of 10 million every year.In India,a baby is born every 1.5 seconds,causing a baby boom and demanding an extra supply of 12.80 million quintals of food every year,25 lakhs of houses,200 million metres of cloth 1.2 lakh schools and 3 lakhs of teachers.Hence the population of India represents the following the problems :

1.The population in our country is very large;

2.The rate of increase of population is very high;

3.Even the existing population could not maintain a decent minimum standard of living.

4.Efforts of planning and developments are completely nullified by the increasing population.

5.To control the increasing number and cater to the needs of the existing people.

MULTINATIONALS IN INDIA

India was the earliest victim of multinationals and had the worst experience of them.A large number of dominant foreign corporation operate in India.They operate in diverse fields like tobacco,pharmaceuticals,toiletries,beverages,petrochemicals and manufacturing industries.Since the advanced countries had developed technology,the import of foreign capital and technology became essential for India to attain the take-off stage.However,multinationals do not appear to have been strong enough to exercise a dominant influence on Indian politics.

According to the Company Law Board,there were 740 foreign undertakings in 1972-73 with assets worth Rs.535 crores.All these operating in India could not be termed as MNC's,because many of them were small trading companies.The United Kingdom based companies had 460 undertakings,the U.S based had 116,the rest were Swiss,Japanese,West Germany and Swedish Companies.The number of foreign affiliates gradually declined with the Indianisation of some of these organisations.

The highest concentration of foreign units in India is in the manufacturing sector.The major part of foreign investment is in basic industrial chemicals,electrical goods,transport equipment,aluminium,pharmaceuticals and rubber goods.For a long time in India,the petroleum industry was completely under foreign control.However,those companies viz,Burmah-Shell,Esso,Caltex were taken over and their domination was broken.But foreign domination is still found in cosmetics,pharmaceuticals,rubber goods,paints,cigarettes,food-stuffs and some sectors of engineering goods.

NATIONAL INTEGRATION

India is a big country.Our people are of different colors,religion,languages,castes and ways of life.But there is always unity in diversity.We fought unitedly against the British rule under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.Our spirit of unity got us independance.The  same spirit of "All are Indians" is needed for the continuous growth and welfare of the nation.Only when there is peace,we can develop into a great nation.So national integration is needed for ever.

But now and then some forces of disintegration show out their ugly faces.Sometimes people are killed due to rivalry between members of different religion.India is a secular country.Here people are free to follow any religion.But some politicians try to exploit people in the name of religion.At times tension is also created in various parts of the country due to caste,community and language rivalries.Some people have also raised their voice demanding separate nations for Sikhs and Kashmiris.Because of these conflicts,valuable human life and national properties are lost.We can not settle our disputes and problems by killing innocent people.So we should be cautious about these seeds of disintegration.We should try to sort out our differences through democratic means.

All religions preach love and universal brother hood .We should do good to all people around us irrespective of our differences.When we begin to see the differences between the people,the peace of the nation is disturbed.Terrorism has no religion.They are a separate group of people intended to target a peaceful nation.India has seen as a soft target in this area.As a result,development of a country takes the back seat.The developed countries like America,Germany and Japan have proved this point to this world.

The strength of Indian culture les in our unity in diversity.Our people have stood as a nation during our conflicts with China and Pakistan.The recent Mumbai terror blast tells us the importance of unity.So let us live as a nation.      

HARRY POTTER PREQUEL TO BE RELEASED ON DEC 4

J.K.Rowling,the creator of the famous boy wizard is now ready with the The Tales Of Beddle The Bard.It is

a prequel to the series.It is said top be released worldwide on December 4.

COUPLE,MAID FOUND MURDERED AT HOME

In a gruesome incident,three persons,including a septuagenarian couple were stabbed to death at their residence in Ashok Nagar here on thursday.Police said S.Saravanan(74),former Chairman and director of TAMIN,his wife S.Kasthuri,retired Secretary Department of Home,and a domestic k.Inbarasi(17),were found dead with multiple stab injuries on the second floor of a house on Dr.Natesan Salai.

CITIGROUP TO RETRENCH 50,000 JOBS

CITIGROUP Chairman Sandy Weil has officailly announced the Pink slip to 50,000 staffs and the managment

group due to its unpaying debts.CITIGROUP will chuck 50000 employees all over the world.In India they

may retrench about 5000-7000 employees.HSBC has asked their employees to take an unpaid leave for a 

year or so and then they would employ them again.Pepsico has made the lay-offs to around 1,200 employees.

SRILANKAN NAVY DESTROYS LTTE BOATS

The Srilankan Navy on Tuesday claimed its e-lite Special Boat Squadron destroyed two LTTE boats and killed

six of its cadres in a predawn battle off Nayaru.The LTTE suffered severe damages during the confrontations 

in Andakulam general area.Intercepting LTTE radio communications it is conformed that many LTTE cadre

were killed.In subsequent search operations conducted in that area ,troops found Military items left behind

by the fleeing terrorists.

BJORKMAN RETIRES

Sweden's jonas bjorkman bowed out of professional tennis on friday after a glittering 17-year career that earned him nine grand slam doubles titles.

Bjorkman,36 was treated to a special ceremony at Qi Zhong stadium after he and partner Kevin ullyett were knocked out of the Tennis masters.

T20 WONT SURPASS TESTS:CHANDERPAUL

World cricketer of the year shivanaraine chenderpaul says players are increasingly eyeing the huge pay packets offered by Twenty20 cricket but believes the Test format will remain the games goldd standard.

MUSIC REVIEW OF "RAB NE BANA DI JODI"

The much anticipated Rab ne bana di jodi is here but the music doesnt match the hype created around the film and the return of Aditya Chopra on the director's chair.No its not bad but largely situational.Salim-Sulaiman impressed with Roadside romeo and Fashion and here they have tried to showcase a different genre of music.It has five songs and all the five songs are of same genre.I would give 2.5/5 for this music.

SHIPWRECKS DISCOVERY LEADS TO DISPUTE

Deep sea treasure hunters have located two potentially valuable wrecks lying off the west coast of Ireland,opening the way for a legal battle over who owns treasure deposited on the sea bed in international waters.Shipwreck company Odyssey Marine has filed claims on two wrecks sites found after seabed in an around the english channel with what is said an advanced new research equipment.

The sites lie under between 400 and 600 metres of water about 100 miles to the west Dingle,Co kerry.The florida based company said the sites ,which are 37 miles apart,appeared to contain the remains of steel hulled vessels.

FIRST ON THE LIST

Inheriting an economy in peril,US President-elect Barack Obama has assembled his economic team and called on Congress to pass an economic recovery  programme.He warned that the road to economic recovery will not be easy,at his first press-conference as president elect after a meeting with some of the country's top economic experts.He pledged that he would act to help those devastated by lost jobs,disaapearing savings and homes seized in foreclosure.But the man who promised 'CHANGE' in his campaign speeches cautioned against hopes of quick solutions.

OBAMA FOR BOND

Ex-James Bond Pierce Brosnan believes that the U.S President elect Barack Obama would make a good 007 spy.Talking at the second annual Jane Goodall  Institute leadership awards celebration in washington D.C.Brosnan said that Obama would make an even better president .He's cool enough.He's definitely got the walk the talk.

DISAPPEARING ACT

Guess who's having the last laugh,fellas?Celina jaitley.And Aishwarya rai is cringing.Well not that the dimpled celina has any meaningful roles to her her credit so far.She is the best remembered for her violin toting,bikini attired role in Feroz Khan's "Janasheen".The girl actually has grey matter.When the makers of "Pink Panther " offered her two piece role,she conferred with the advisors and passed it out.Now the flick is out and Ash is nowhere to be seen in it.She is nowhere in the promos.

ON A HIGH !!!

priyanka chopra has pulled her act together,big time.She has poured herself into the skimpy one piece swim suit in Karan Johar's "DOSTANA" looks the part of the desi supermodel in Madhur Bandarkar's "FASHION" and has easily put behind her disasters like "God tussi great ho" and the unwelcomed drone of "Drona".Buzz is that the shapely actress is priortising her next big flick with beau Harman Baweja.The bigger buzz is that this time around ,she has consulted her tarot reader,the family astrologer and broken enough coconuts to try and ensure that this one doesnt turn out like a box office turnkey a la "Love story 2050".

'SECOND LIFE' ENDS FIRST MARRIAGE FOR BRITISH MAN IN VIRTUAL AFFAIR

A British woman is to divorce her husband after discovering that he was having a virtual affair within the online game 'second life'.Amy taylor,28 met david pollard within the game in may 2003,and six months later,she moved into his home in cornwall.The couple married in july 2005.

After a rare break from the computer,Ms taylor returned to find her 40 year old husband in an intimat, albeit virtual position with an online woman of vice within 'Second life',which she said was the ultimate betrayal".

"ANTI-SIKHS RIOTS ABSOLUTELY WRONG"

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed "absolutely wrong" the riots against the sikhs in nineeten eighty four

following the assasination of Indira Gandhi