INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT INDIA

• India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history. Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, the Saint of Calcutta as she was called, are considered the greatest apostles of peace of the twentieth century.
  
• The concept of the number zero was created in India by the sage Aryabhatta. The place value system and the decimal system were also developed in India in about 100 B.C.
  
• The world's first University was established in Takshashila in about 700 B.C. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century C.E. was one of the great achievements of ancient India in the field of education
  
• Sanskrit is the mother lode of all the Indo-European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software, says a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
  
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. Charaka, the father of medicine, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
  
• India was the richest country on earth until after the coming of the British in the17th century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by her wealth. British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, and other "adventurers" were racing against each other to establish trading privileges in India. It was known as the true land of milk and hone
• The art of navigation was developed on the river Sindh 6,000 years ago. The very word navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word "nav gatih". The word "navy" is also derived from Sanskrit "nou".
  
• In the 5th century C.E. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun, hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun then was computed as 365.258756484 days.
  
• The value of pi was calculated first by Budhayana, and he explained the wider ramifications of what is known as the Theorem of Pythagoras. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the Arab and European mathematicians.
  
• Algebra, Trigonometry, and the basic concept of Calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were propounded by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest number the Greeks and the Romans used was 10⁶ whereas Hindus used numbers as large as 10⁵³ with specific assigned names as early as 5000 B.C., even during the Vedic period.
  
• Hindus created the largest measure of time, called "kalpa", which is the time between the birth and annihilation of the universe. This measure comes very close to the currently accepted life span, according to the pulsating theory of the universe, which is around 25 billion years.
  
• According to the Geological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world. Kohinoor, the jewel in the crown of the British monarch, is from India.
  
• USA-based IEEE has established what has been a century-old suspicion in the world scientific community, that the pioneer of wireless communication was Dr. Jagdeesh Bose of Calcutta and not Marconi.
  
• The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra, Western India. By direction of the Saka king Rudradaman I around 150 C.E., an artificial lake aptly named "Sudarshana" [beautiful] was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya.
  
• The strategy game of Chess [Shatranja or Ashtapada] was invented in India.
  
• Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and physicians of his period were conducting surgical procedures like caesarean, cataract, artificial limbs fitment, fracture treatment, urinary stones removal, and even plastic and brain surgery. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical instruments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, aetiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics, and immunology is found in many ancient texts.
  
• The first postage stamps of Asia, the "Scinde Dawk", were issued in India in 1852 in the District of Sindh. The first bi-coloured stamps of the British Commonwealth were also issued in India in 1854. The world's first air post service was introduced in India in 1911
  
• Steel was invented in India before 1000 B.C. Many varieties of steel were made and characterised.
  
• When many cultures were still nomadic forest and grassland dwellers over 5,000 years ago, India had an established Harappan culture in Sindh valley known as the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Interesting Olympic Facts

The Official Olympic Flag
Created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1914, the Olympic flag contains five interconnected rings on a white background. The five rings symbolize the five significant continents and are interconnected to symbolize the friendship to be gained from these international competitions. The rings, from left to right, are blue, yellow, black, green, and red. The colors were chosen because at least one of them appeared on the flag of every country in the world. The Olympic flag was first flown during the 1920 Olympic Games.

The Olympic Motto
In 1921, Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, borrowed a Latin phrase from his friend, Father Henri Didon, for the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius ("Swifter, Higher, Stronger").

The Olympic Oath
Pierre de Coubertin wrote an oath for the athletes to recite at each Olympic Games. During the opening ceremonies, one athlete recites the oath on behalf of all the athletes. The Olympic oath was first taken during the 1920 Olympic Games by Belgian fencer Victor Boin. The Olympic Oath states, "In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams."

The Olympic Creed
Pierre de Coubertin got the idea for this phrase from a speech given by Bishop Ethelbert Talbot at a service for Olympic champions during the 1908 Olympic Games. The Olympic Creed reads: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

The Olympic Flame
The Olympic flame is a practice continued from the ancient Olympic Games. In Olympia (Greece), a flame was ignited by the sun and then kept burning until the closing of the Olympic Games. The flame first appeared in the modern Olympics at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. The flame itself represents a number of things, including purity and the endeavor for perfection. In 1936, the chairman of the organizing committee for the 1936 Olympic Games, Carl Diem, suggested what is now the modern Olympic Torch relay. The Olympic flame is lit at the ancient site of Olympia by women wearing ancient-style robes and using a curved mirror and the sun. The Olympic Torch is then passed from runner to runner from the ancient site of Olympia to the Olympic stadium in the hosting city. The flame is then kept alight until the Games have concluded. The Olympic Torch relay represents a continuation from the ancient Olympic Games to the modern Olympics.

The Olympic Hymn
The Olympic Hymn, played when the Olympic Flag is raised, was composed by Spyros Samaras and the words added by Kostis Palamas. The Olympic Hymn was first played at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens but wasn't declared the official hymn by the IOC until 1957.

Real Gold Medals
The last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely out of gold were awarded in 1912.

The Medals
The Olympic medals are designed especially for each individual Olympic Games by the host city's organizing committee. Each medal must be at least three millimeters thick and 60 millimeters in diameter. Also, the gold and silver Olympic medals must be made out of 92.5 percent silver, with the gold medal covered in six grams of gold.

The First Opening Ceremonies
The first opening ceremonies were held during the 1908 Olympic Games in London.

Opening Ceremony Procession Order
During the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the procession of athletes is always led by the Greek team, followed by all the other teams in alphabetical order (in the language of the hosting country), except for the last team which is always the team of the hosting country.

A City, Not a Country
When choosing locations for the Olympic Games, the IOC specifically gives the honor of holding the Games to a city rather than a country.

IOC Diplomats
In order to make the IOC an independent organization, the members of the IOC are not considered diplomats from their countries to the IOC, but rather are diplomats from the IOC to their respective countries.

First Modern Champion
James B. Connolly (United States), winner of the hop, step, and jump (the first final event in the 1896 Olympics), was the first Olympic champion of the modern Olympic Games.

The First Marathon
In 490 BCE, Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, ran from Marathon to Athens (about 25 miles) to inform the Athenians the outcome of the battle with invading Persians. The distance was filled with hills and other obstacles; thus Pheidippides arrived in Athens exhausted and with bleeding feet. After telling the townspeople of the Greeks' success in the battle, Pheidippides fell to the ground dead. In 1896, at the first modern Olympic Games, held a race of approximately the same length in commemoration of Pheidippides.

INTERESTING FACTS 1

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.

6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

11. Dalmatians are born without spots.

12. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

13. The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).

14. Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.

15. The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.

16. The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it’s already been digested by a bee.

17. Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.

18. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.

19. Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.

20. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.

21. The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

22. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.

23. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.

24. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.

25. The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney.

26. Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.

27. Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan.

28. It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it.

29. The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.

30. There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

31. The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.

32. Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.

33. It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.

34. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

35. Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game.

36. The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air.

37. Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die.

38. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it
is smiling).

39. Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command “go hang yourself.”

40. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot.

41. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

42. The average person laughs 13 times a day.

43. Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are:Mizaru(See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil)

44. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

45. German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.

46. Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump.

47. Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.

48. Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.

49. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.

50. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!

FIREFOX 3 OR GOOGLE CHROME ??

I like Google Chrome, and I believe it will be able to take a significant slice of the browsers market pie, hopefully mostly at the expense of Internet Explorer, but it remains to be seen.

While I don’t find it strong enough to beat with Firefox, it is definitely a yummy option for the hundreds of millions of Google users who will be prompted to install it through a web search results page, or any of the several Google products. Which at this point in time I think is fine. The web only benefits of more and more competition but my concern in the long term is: where do Google stop?

After all Google is a public company, and all its good public benefit intentions are second to those of their shareholders at best.

Features aside (they can always be copied, even extensibility) the main difference between Chrome and Firefox, both being open source projects, is what company stands behind and their mission. Mozilla is a public benefit organization, cares about the Internet and the Internet alone, which as noble, good and idealistic as it sounds, I still have to see any evidence that proves the opposite.

It has struggled in the past for sticking to its mission. Today it enjoys success for the exact same reason, in large part because of a business partner like Google, which is not the same as saying that Mozilla would die  without Google: be sure there is no lack of companies interested in reaching 200 million users, daily.

I’m glad to welcome new products, specially products as good as Chrome.

WHY USE GOOGLE CHROME ???

GOOGLE CHROME -BROWSER FROM GOOGLE 

• Google Chrome is Google’s open source browser project.
  
• The browser will include a JavaScript Virtual Machine called V8
  
• Google Chrome will use special tabs
  
• The browser has an address bar with auto-completion features
  
• Chrome has a privacy mode; Google says you can create an “incognito” window “and nothing that occurs in that window is ever logged on your computer.”
  
• Web apps can be launched in their own browser window without address bar and toolbar.
  
• To fight malware and phishing attempts, Chrome is constantly downloading lists of harmful sites.

INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL

Here is an overview of the deal and its implications:

WHAT IS THE PACT?

* The legislation amends Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. It lets the US make a one-time exception for India to keep its nuclear weapons without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

* The amendment overturns a 30-year-old US ban on supplying India with nuclear fuel and technology, implemented after India's first nuclear test in 1974.

* Under the amendment, India must separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities, and submit civilian facilities to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

WHY IS IT CONTROVERSIAL?

* Critics say it undermines the NPT, which holds that only countries which renounce nuclear weapons qualify for civilian nuclear assistance.

* The accord sends the wrong message: it could undercut a US-led campaign to curtail Iran's nuclear program, and open the way for a potential arms race in South Asia.

* India says 14 of its 22 nuclear facilities are civilian. Critics say the pact could make bomb making at the other eight easier, as civilian nuclear fuel needs will be met by the US

WHAT DO THE DEAL'S SUPPORTERS SAY?

* US President George Bush calls the deal necessary to reflect the countries' improved relations. It strengthens international security by tightening US ties to ally India, the world's biggest democracy. It also ensures some of its nuclear industry will undergo international inspection.

* New Delhi, which relies on imported oil for some 70 per cent of its energy needs, says nuclear power will help feed its rapidly expanding economy.

* France, which signed a similar deal with India in February 2006, says the move will help fight climate change and aid non-proliferation efforts.

HOW IS PAKISTAN INVOLVED?

* Pakistan sought a similar civilian technology deal with the US but was refused last in March. It is the only other confirmed nuclear power not to have signed the NPT - saying it will join after India does.

* Pakistan's own expanding nuclear program could fan the rivalry between India and Pakistan.

INTERNATIONAL RIVALRIES?

* China is said to have supported Pakistan's nuclear weapons program since the 1980s. Some analysts see the Indo-US deal as part of attempts by larger powers, the US and China, to shore up influence in South Asia by building up rival arsenals.

* The IAEA said in 2004 that Libya and Iran's nuclear programs were based on Chinese technology provided by Pakistan.