TRANSFER; some tips for your travel

If you got transferred or you are moving to a new place due to change in the working place then take note of the following to avoid any awkward situation:

1. Pack the things in an order in which you kept the things in the old house
2. Use a marker pen to write the contents/hints on the packets
3. Take tarpolines to cover it on the vehicle if it rains.
4. Keep all the transportation passes/royalty papers for your furnitures in a small bag with you
5. Ask the driver and confirm that he has got all the necessary papers of the vehicle with him
including his driving license
6. Confirm the distance and route on which you are going to travel-download the map if possible
7. Take enough drinking water for your family
8. If the journey is for more than two hours then take a break on the way and eat something .
9. Meanwhile don't forget to check the loaded packs on the vehicle..tighten the goods if it is loose.
10.If you expect to reach the destination during the wee hours then make advance
arrangements for your dinner/don't forget to carry a torch light.
11.Be sure that someone is their to help you to unload the things from the truck.

A Good Fight May Keep You And Your Marriage Healthy

Researchers looked at 192 couples over 17 years and placed the couples into one of four categories: both partners communicate their anger; in the second and third groups one spouse expresses while the other suppresses; and both the husband and wife suppress their anger and brood, said Ernest Harburg, professor emeritus with the U-M School of Public Health and the Psychology Department, and lead author. The study is a longitudinal analysis of couples in Tecumseh, Mich.

"Comparison between couples in which both people suppress their anger, and the three other types of couples, are very intriguing," Harburg said.

When both spouses suppress their anger at the other when unfairly attacked, earlier death was twice as likely than in all other types.

"When couples get together, one of their main jobs is reconciliation about conflict," Harburg said. "Usually nobody is trained to do this. If they have good parents, they can imitate, that's fine, but usually the couple is ignorant about the process of resolving conflict. The key matter is, when the conflict happens, how do you resolve it?"

"When you don't, if you bury your anger, and you brood on it and you resent the other person or the attacker, and you don't try to resolve the problem, then you're in trouble."

Of the 192 couples studied, 26 pairs both suppressed their anger and there were 13 deaths in that group. In the remaining 166 pairs, there were 41 deaths combined.

In 27 percent of those couples who both suppressed their anger, one member of the couple died during the study period, and in 23 percent of those couples both died during the study period.

That's compared to only six percent of couples where both spouses died in the remaining three groups combined. Only 19 percent in the remaining three groups combined saw one partner die during the study period.

The study adjusted for age, smoking, weight, blood pressure, bronchial problems, breathing, and cardiovascular risk, Harburg said.

The paper only looks at attacks which are considered unfair or undeserved by the person being attacked, said Harburg. If the attack is viewed as fair, say an abused child or woman who believes they deserved the attack, then the victim does not get angry, Harburg said.

Harburg stresses that these preliminary numbers are small, but the researchers are now collecting 30-year follow-up data, which will have almost double the death rate, he said.

Co-authors are: Niko Kaciroti, Center for Human Growth and Development; Lillian Gleiberman, Department of Internal Medicine; M. Anthony Schork and Mara Julius, both SPH emeritus.

The paper, "Marital Pair Anger Coping Types May Act as an Entity to Affect Mortality: Preliminary Findings from a Prospective Study (Tecumseh, Michigan, 1971-88) will appear in January in the Journal of Family Communication.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Michigan.

source: Science Daily

Learn to Walk

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Tax on petrol exceeds it original price.Now its time to share the vehicle or learn to walk...
double click the picture above to open and read the details.

CBSE-Admission to Class XI and Pass Criteria for Class IX - XI

CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
2, COMMUNITY CENTRE, PREET VIHAR, DELHI-110092.

No. CE/PA/2007/14151-21150 20thJune,07

To all the Heads of Institutions
Affiliated to CBSE

Subject : Admission to Class XI and Pass Criteria for Class IX/XI.

Dear Principal,

As you may be aware, many schools follow the practice of starting class XI along with other classes in the month of April in the new academic session to utilize the period before summer vacation for instructional purposes. Academically, this seems to be correct practice so that the children may remain busy with meaningful activities. So the schools admit students of class XI provisionally before the announcement of the results of class X Board examination and accordingly allow them the subjects’ choice/Stream as per their performance in pre-boards and unit tests.

It is understood that some schools resort to the un-psychological practice of forcing students to change their subjects/steams in class XI after the class X results are announced. Students are often forced to change from Science subjects to Commerce or Humanities subjects.

Once the students get admission to class XI with a particular combination of subjects, they buy the textbooks and start attending the classes for nearly a month. A forced change of subjects later demoralizes the students, causing mental and emotional stress. Further, parents are compelled to take on the additional burden of buying a second set of books for the newly allotted subjects.

This practice has to be discouraged. Hence, schools are instructed not to force the students to change their subjects in class XI once they have been admitted with a particular combination of subjects. If there is any change in subject(s), the request has to come from the student and it has to be dealt as per the Clause 26 of Chapter 4 of the Examination Bye-Laws.

You are further informed that the Board has prescribed pass criteria for Class IX & XI in the Examination Bye-Laws of CBSE and the same is as under :-

Rule 40.1(vi) “ in order to be declared as having passed the Class XI Examination a candidate shall obtain 33% marks in all the subjects. The pass marks in each subject of examination shall be 33%. In case of subject involving practical work a candidate must obtain 33% marks in theory and 33% in practical separately in addition to 33% marks in aggregate in order to qualify in that subject “

Rule 41.1(vi) “ in order to be declared as having passed the Class IX Examination a candidate shall obtain 33% marks in all the subjects. The pass marks in each subject of examination shall be 33%.”

It is understood that many schools do not follow the Pass Criteria for Class IX and XI as prescribed by the Board. It is reiterated that the above Pass Criteria be implemented by all the schools for Class IX and XI.

Yours faithfully,


( M.C.SHARMA )
CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATIONS

Indian experiments in micro gravity provide new insights

UDHAGAMANDALAM: The first results from the microgravity experiments on board the space capsule that was successfully launched and recovered (after its re-entry into the atmosphere) last year were presented at the ongoing 15th National Space Science Symposium (NSSS-2008) on Wednesday.

The results from the two experiments that were carried out in the maiden flight are highly encouraging — and even somewhat unexpected — said Kamanio Chattopadhyay of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the National Coordinator of the Indian Microgravity Programme. The success of these experiments seems to suggest that materials processing in space, in particular biomaterials, could be a promising area to be pursued in the future microgravity platforms.

Microgravity refers to the condition of “weightlessness” that one obtains in a spacecraft, which, while in orbit around the Earth, is in a state of “free fall” under Earth’s gravity. Both the spacecraft and the objects in it are experiencing the same amount of gravitational pull of the Earth with no counter reaction force (due to, say, an anchored floor) that gives the feeling of “weight” to the objects. Till date, 44 microgravity experiments in 42 missions by 15 countries and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been conducted.
Unique in execution

According to Prof. Chattopadhyay, the Indian experiments were unique in their conceptualisation and execution. As a consequence, the results are absolutely new in the field of materials processing in space, he added.

Called the Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1), ISRO’s first microgravity platform was launched aboard the PSLV-C7 on January 10, 2007, in a circular polar orbit at an altitude of 635 km and was recovered after its splashdown 150 km east of Sriharikota in the Bay of Bengal on January 22, 2007. SRE-1 was launched along with three other satellites: ISRO’s Cartosat-1, LAPAN-TUBSAT of Indonesia and PEHUENSAT of Argentina.
Experiments

The two experiments on this scientific mission were:

Biomimetic synthesis of the particles of the inorganic chemical hydroxyapatite (a calcium-nitrate based substance). (Biomimetics refers to mimicking biological systems in nature for designing engineering systems and applications in modern technology.)

Growth of magnesium-zing-gallium (Mg-Zn-Ga) quasicrystals in an isothermal heating furnace (IHF) through a ‘peritectic’ reaction. (Quasicrystals have the unusual five-fold symmetry, like the icosahedral patches on the surface of a traditional leather football. A ‘peritectic’ solution is a mixture of substances in different phases, like a mixture of a solid and a liquid, and the mixture has the lowest melting point. During crystallisation, the two phases crystallise simultaneously from the molten solution.)

Bones and hard tissues in mammals, in particular the enamel of teeth, are made predominantly of hydroxyapatite (HAP), whose chemical formula is Ca10 (PO4)6(OH)2. The self-assembly of HAP rods in the teeth, for example, occurs in a matrix of the body protein collagen. Scientists have tried to grow this in large molecules in the laboratory (under normal gravity conditions) but have been unsuccessful, said Prof. Mukhopadhyay. The idea was to see if this biological process could be reproduced in the microgravity environment of a spacecraft. Instead of a collagen matrix, for making HAP in space, the scientists brought the appropriate chemicals to combine in a gel matrix of the polymer polyvinyl acetate (PVA), which resulted in the successful self-assembly of the molecules into the typical rod-like structures. “Initially I was sceptical, but contrary to intuition the self-organisation of HAP in the presence of large molecules is better in space,” Prof. Chattopadhyay said.
Cause rock formation

Speaking about the second experiment, Prof. Chattopadhyay said, “It is peritectic reactions that result in the formation of rocks, materials in asteroids etc. But in the presence of Earth’s gravity, these reactions rarely go to completion because sedimentation of one of the substances due to gravity cannot be prevented.” On the Earth the crystallisation of an Mg-Zn-Ga peritectic mixture was found to result in a mixture of structures with Mg-Zn crystals, Mg-Zn quasi crystals and the original peritectic solution coexisting. “The peritectic reaction could not be completed,” he observed.
Increase in crystal spacing

“But in space,” Prof. Chattopadhyay said, “the pathways of solidification seem to be different. The significant thing here is the crystallization of gallium from the solution. Electron microscopic images have clearly revealed the formation of magnesium-zinc-gallium quasicrystals. The morphology of the crystals is also different in space where the crystal spacing shows an increase.” According to him, only a French group studying aluminium-nickel peritectic mixture had earlier observed such an increase in crystal spacing while others had found a decrease. The reasons for this need to be studied, he said.
Next platform in 2009?

The next microgravity platform SRE-2 may be flown next year, Prof. Chattopadhyay said. This is likely to be bigger than the SRE-1 platform to include slightly scaled-up versions of the earlier experiments as well a new biomaterials experiment in collaboration with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Scientists of JAXA are currently in India to discuss the possibility of such a payload on SRE-2.

source: The Hindu

Two Ears one Mouth !

Good communication begins with listening

By Annette Richmond

Whether you're interviewing with a potential employer, meeting with a client or giving a project update to your boss whether you're successful or not depends in large part on your communication skills.

Unfortunately, most people think of communication as talking or writing. They think primarily about getting their message across to the other person. This is a big mistake.

The key to being a great communicator is to learn to listen. Understanding what the other person is thinking will help you tailor your message to their needs. This is the best way for you to succeed. Become a better listener by using these three techniques today.

Focus on the other person

Remember the last time you tried to carry on a conversation with someone who was looking around the room or checking his watch? Imagine what it's like for a potential employer.

Let's say Joe is interviewing with Susan the marketing manager at ABC Company. Joe is prepared. He carefully explains why he wants the job and what he can do for the company. Trouble is Susan notices that Joe frequently looks down or gazes out the window. She finds it difficult to take Joe seriously.

Naturally, you'll want to avert your gaze from time to time in order to avoid starring. Try to do this while still focusing on the other person. Practice maintaining eye contact with friends and colleagues. Soon you'll feel comfortable in any situation.

Stop thinking about you

I once read a quote from Ed Howe, "No man would listen to you talk if he didn't know it was his turn next." While this seems a bit harsh, I believe that there is probably an element of truth to it.

At one time or another, everyone has been guilty of planning a response while the other person is still talking. Maybe you're meeting with an important client, eagerly waiting to answer her question. Be careful. Don't be so eager to dazzle her with your knowledge that you miss what she's really asking.

Don't be afraid of silence. Practice taking a few moments to gather your thoughts once the other person has finished speaking.

Pay attention to the music

Make sure you listen to the music. You'll hear it in the other person's tone of voice. Do the words and tone agree? It's like seeing a fake smile. When someone truly smiles her eyes sparkle and her face lights up. When someone "puts on" a smile only the corners of her mouth turn up.

The next time you're in a meeting listen to the words AND the music. There's a difference between "OK, I'll take care of it" and "OK, I'll take care of it!" Make sure that you're getting the right message.

Many philosophers have suggested that we have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak. That's great advice for everyone who wants to develop better communication skills.

Being a good listener is more than being there while someone is speaking. Being a good listener means hearing and understanding the message that's being sent.

It HOTS up for students!: Deccan Herald

Bangalore, Feb 11: For the first time, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students of Class 10 and 12 will take their exams that includes Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) that will put to test, their application skills.

The 2008 examination, which is set on the new curriculum, will have 20 per cent of questions based on HOTS.

Addressing presspersons in Bangalore on Sunday, CBSE Chairman Ashok Ganguly said in HOTS format, students will have to understand and interpret the questions. “It is more of application-based,” he said.

Earlier, the questions were more — Most Of The Same (MOTS) type, which was repetitive and stereotype.

The question paper is designed in such a way that students should be able to answer all the questions within the stipulated time, besides revising them.

This year too, they will be given an additional 15 minutes so that they get sufficient time to read the questions carefully. Internal evaluation in Maths, Social Science and Science subjects and oral testing in languages will be introduced for Class I to X.

A new model on grading system for Class IX and X is in the offing, Mr Ganguly disclosed.

For the first time, CBSE has come out with joint certification for vocational course. The course is Financial Marketing Management, being taken up in 90 schools and which will be certified by NSE and CBSE.

CBSE is also planning to develop many such courses in collaboration with NIFT, NASSCOM for IT-based package course and other organisations including general health care and retail management. All these courses will be supported by the industry.

“We need industry support not only for framing curriculum but also for the transition of curriculum. This is going to be a paradigm shift for Class 11 and 12. One of the reasons for the change is the 11th Plan, which is about universalisation of secondary education,” Mr Ganguly said.

On new subjects for Class 12, he said it will be more skill-based. One of them has already been implemented — creative writing and translation. “Some of the programmes we are planning to introduce are films and media, heritage crafts and others,” he said.

The chairman said the board is thinking of introducing nanotechnology at school-level. “We are thinking whether to introduce in science or as a separate subject,” he added.

'Fish rain' takes Kerala villagers by surprise

Residents of Kandanassery village near here were quite surprised when small fish started raining down towards the end of a sudden downpour on Monday night.

The phenomenon was first noticed by two persons when the little slimy things started pattering on their body while they were returning home late in the night.

As they thought that people would reject this as a mere fantasy or concocted tale unless there was a tangible proof, they picked up some of the bubbling fish and kept them in a water-filled bucket near the village library.

Sivaraman, who first sighted the rare phenomenon, said he also saw some fish crushed by vehicles that drove on the road when it was raining.

"There is no reason to disbelieve what the villagers say, as it is possible to have a scientific explanation for this", Dr C K Rajan of the School of Marine Sciences of the Cochin University of Science and Technology told PTI when asked about the phenomenon.

"When convective clouds are formed, it is possible that tiny aquatic organisms get lifted to the atmoshpere. They can survive suspended in the clouds so long as the clouds have moisture content," he said.

The type of fish that came down from the sky was the same as commonly found in ponds and canals in the area, the villagers said.

Some time back, a few places in the state had received 'red coloured' rain. Scientists who studied the phenomenon attributed it to the presence of algae in clouds.

source:http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14603512

My comment:It is simple..the tornadoes (high speed revolving-tube like winds)can easily lift schools of fish from the sea or pond and throw it in the land when the velocity of wind decreases.

The SINPO report

The SINPO report

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The SINPO report (Signal, Interference, Noise, Propagation, Overall) is manly used by SWLs (Short-Wave Listners) and describes the quality of a radio communication with a five digit number.

This report is more accurate than the RST that is very often just 59 and therefore doesn't really reflect the quality of the received signal. SINPO reports are very appreciated by broadcast station for the quality of the feedback information.

In this report all digits are from 1 (worse) to 5 (best) according to the following table:

Signal	Interference	Noise	Propagation	Overall
Strength of the signal received.	Interference from other stations.	Presence of atmospheric or other noise.	Fading characteristics of the signal.	How well the signal is received.
1 Barely audible 2 Poor 3 Fair 4 Good 5 Excellent	1 Extreme 2 Severe 3 Moderate 4 Slight 5 None	1 Extreme 2 Severe 3 Moderate 4 Slight 5 None	1 Extreme 2 Severe 3 Moderate 4 Slight 5 None	1 Barely audible 2 Poor 3 Fair 4 Good 5 Excellent

The SIO report (Signal strength, Interference, Overall quality) is a simplified version of the SINPO report that is sometimes used.

Now let me tell you what is this !.Did you listen to short wave radio,then this can be a new hobby for you..ie.D'Xing .It is a simple hobby of collecting QSL cards from around the world.What you need is a good short wave radio with all the broadcasting bands in it.

Whenever you stumble upon a new radio station, note down the quality of the reception (in numbers grade) per the above chart.. if your points are 4 5 4 3 4, it means your reception is graded good overall..Study the table above and try to grade a station in the relevent numbers to get the SINPO.Dont forget to note the name of the station, the time(GMT),the programme (title/name/host etc.),now with all these details , with your radio model and brand name,place of listening write a post card or a letter to the station.you may think it is a costly affair,but I have an idea to send these letters to foreign lands..Take out the Manorama Year Book or search the net for the Embassy address of that country from where you listened to the station..and send a post card(forgive me ,that is what I have done in the past.Now there is e.mail).After verification of your details with the stations logbook ,they will respond with a QSL card-which means "I acknowledge receipt." (colorful post card).Collecting these cards and listening to shortwave radio stations is called D'xing-a hobby.

Now this hobby lost its charm because most of the stations don't rely on listeners feedback to know their reach, due to the advancement in communication technology.

Anyways, you can give it a try.After all this means of communication is the only reliable mode even today.

now go to: Andamansikkim

OXYMORONS- opposites attract

An Oxymoron is a combination of contradictory or incongruous words, such as 'Tight Slacks'.
'Peace Force' ,'Cruel Kindness' or 'Jumbo Shrimp' (Jumbo means 'large' while Shrimp means 'small'). It is a literary figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory words, terms, phrases or ideas are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means.

Here read what Sashi Tharoor(in his Sunday Times of India column) says about India:

It has become a cliché to speak of India as a land of paradoxes. The old joke about our country is that anything you say about India, the opposite is also true. We like to think of ourselves as an ancient civilisation but we are also a young republic; our IT experts stride confidently into the 21st century but much of our population seems to live in each of the other 20 centuries. Quite often the opposites co-exist quite cheerfully.

One of my favourite images of India is from the last Kumbha mela, of a naked sadhu, with matted hair, ash-smeared forehead and scraggly beard, for all the world a picture of timeless other-worldliness, chatting away on a cellphone. I even suggested it to the publishers of my newest book of essays on India as a perfect cover image, but they assured me it was so well-known that it had become a cliché in itself.

And yet, clichés are clichés because they are true, and the paradoxes of India say something painfully real about our society.

How does one come to terms with a country whose population is still nearly 40% illiterate but which has educated the world’s second-largest pool of trained scientists and engineers, many of whom are making a flourishing living in Silicon Valley? How does one explain a land where peasant organisations and suspicious officials once attempted to close down Kentucky Fried Chicken as a threat to the nation, where a former prime minister bitterly criticised the sale of Pepsi-Cola since 250 million of our countrymen and women don’t have access to clean drinking water, and which yet invents more sophisticated software for the world’s computer manufacturers than any other country on the planet? A place where bullock carts are still an indispensable mode of transportation for millions, but whose rocket and satellite programmes are amongst the most advanced on earth?

The paradoxes go well beyond the nature of our entry into the 21st century. Our teeming cities overflow while two out of three Indians still scratch a living from the soil. We have been recognised, for all practical purposes, as a leading nuclear power, but 600 million Indians still have no access to electricity and there are daily power cuts even in the nation’s capital.

Ours is a culture which elevated non-violence to an effective moral principle, but whose freedom was born in blood and whose independence still soaks in it. We are the world’s leading manufacturers of generic medication for illnesses such as AIDS, but we have three million of our own citizens without access to AIDS medication, another two million with TB, and tens of millions with no health centre or clinic within 10 kilometres of their places of residence.

Bollywood makes four times as many movies as Hollywood, but 150 million Indians cannot see them, because they are blind. India holds the world record for the number of cellphones sold (8.5 million last month), but also for the number of farmer suicides (4000 in the Vidarbha district of Maharashtra alone last year).

This month, in mid-November, the prestigious Forbes magazine list of the world’s top billionaires made room for 10 new Indian names. The four richest Indians in the world are collectively worth a staggering $180 billion, greater than the GDP of a majority of member states of the United Nations. Indian papers have reported with undisguised glee that these four (Lakshmi Mittal, the two Ambani brothers, and DLF chief K P Singh) are worth more than the 40 richest Chinese combined.

We seem to find less space in our papers to note that though we have more dollar billionaires than in any country in Asia - even more than Japan, which has been richer longer - we also have 260 million people living below the poverty line. And it’s not the World Bank’s poverty line of $1 a day, but the Indian poverty line of Rs 360 a month, or 30 cents a day - in other words, a line that’s been drawn just this side of the funeral pyre.

Last month, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex crossed 20,000, just 20 months after it had first hit 10,000; but on the same day, some 25,000 landless people marched to Parliament, clamouring for land reform and justice. We have trained world-class scientists and engineers, but 400 million of our compatriots are illiterate, and we also have more children who have not seen the inside of a school than any other country in the world does.

We have a great demographic advantage in 540 million young people under 25 (which means we should have a dynamic, youthful and productive workforce for the next 40 years when the rest of the world, including China, is ageing) but we also have 60 million child labourers, and 72% of the children in our government schools drop out by the eighth standard. We celebrate India’s IT triumphs, but information technology has employed a grand total of 1 million people in the last five years, while 10 million are entering the workforce each year and we don’t have jobs for them.

Many of our urban youth rightly say with confidence that their future will be better than their parents’ past, but there are Maoist insurgencies violently disturbing the peace in 165 of India’s 602 districts, and these are largely made up of unemployed young men.

So yes, we are a land of paradoxes, and amongst those paradoxes is that so many of us speak about India as a great power of the 21st century when we are not yet able to feed, educate and employ our people. And yet, India is more than the sum of its contradictions. It may be a country rife with despair and disrepair, but it nonetheless moved a Mughal Emperor to declaim, ‘‘if on earth there be paradise of bliss, it is this, it is this, it is this...’’ We just have a lot more to do before it can be anything like paradise for the vast majority of our fellow citizens. (source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2568182.cms)

Learn some words of the vanishing tribe:The Jarawas of Andaman

Jarawa-----English
A Ham -Morning
Daag-Coconut
Aale Mama-I will come tomorrow
Eig-Water
Aotal-Bamboo
Ent-Bathe
Antapo-It is good
Ena Jababa-Come
Aot Kohalo-Kill
Enat Thae-Sit
Anodae-Hair
Ekdda-Here
Anae Hpo-Eyes
Euli-Stone
Anna Ho-Teeth
Fara Va Ae-Swim
Anno Tahe-Cheeks
Hakada Enat-Sit here
Anna Aal-Shoulder
Kalag-Roof
Anol-Finger
Katu Paalae-Deer
Ano Paeta-Nail
Kaaya-Mother
Aan-Yes
Kakma D Ekda Aale Mama-You must not come tomorrow?
Boa-Pig
Kkma Me Ekda Aale Ma Nrima-I will not come tomorrow
Chav -It is good
Lee-Third man
Chavaya-Take a walk
Me Ulida-I am ill
D Tangi-Are you getting married to a girl or not?
Motha-Head
D Tangav-Are you getting married to a man or not?
Meta Jil-Friend
D Tomo-You are good
Me Ulaeda-I am ill
D Aat-Sit down
Maaye-My child
D Aalae-Lie down
Maap-Elder brother
D Aomo=Go to sleep
Ma Da m-My wife
D Aata Enat=You sit
Magi=My husband
D Aote=Man who is sitting
Mi Aallema=I will be back
D T Kune=Stand up
Naagi=Your husband
D Chavaya=Let's go
Napu=Fish
D Baro=You are good
Piti piti=Bad
D Chapte=Climb up
Paincha=Me Dead
D Chagi=You Alight
Pil=Bear
D Tale=Night
Tag Utu=Ship
D Vage Aativa=What's your husband's name?
Tuh=Fire
D Vagam Aativa=What's your wife's name?
Tapo=Want
D Ativa=What's your name
Thooye=Girl
D Achaela Aatiba=How many children have you?
Unnu=Come here
D Aeti Oon=All go
Ummu=Father
D Aati Fet=Run away
Vaannaam =His wife
Daa=Son
Vaagi =Her husband
Ya Kota=Elder brother

Centella asiatica

This herb is found abundantly in India . Which is commonly called Godataap in Sikkim because of its appearance resembling the horse foot.When I talked about it with an elderly lady here ,she said it is vidhya dhar-means wisdom bearing .. In West Bengal(Golpatta) and in Tamil Nadu(vallarai) ,Sanskrit Mandooka parani(frog sittingplace),by the Tribals of chota nagpur -mendak baazi -it is eaten as cooked leafy vegetable.It is often mistaken for the original Brahmi.
The medicinal value of this plant is of immense value as it can be used as a general tonic by any one.For Memory boosting,nuerological disorders,stomach ailments,for ageing people it acts like kayakalp(elixir).

Eating a few leaves daily was thought to "strengthen and revitalize worn out bodies and brains." Centella asiatica has also been recommended as a treatment for mental troubles, high blood pressure, abscesses, rheumatism, fever, ulcers, leprosy, skin eruptions, nervous disorders, and jaundice.

This post is from my own experience and observation..Two leaves daily can be taken raw.Be sure to use the right variety of it..there are many varieties of it found here in Sikkim,the smooth and clean one should be used.

see the picture of this plant at www.centralpendamschool.blogspot.com

MIND SET

Did you ever noticed ! when you learned a new word or something new then you always see the same word often or the related matter which you learned the other day.Avid readers must have experienced it.If you are interested in visual/graphic kind of things then you will not disagree with me seeing images of people or portraits in clouds, walls/in places .Our mind can be set to a certain extend for what you want to learn or what you want to achieve.Our brains are programmable and it is similar to our modern day computers,because the computers are made to behave like our brains.

Some times the name of a person is in the tip of your tongue ,and not coming out! Then leave it for some time and engage yourself in some other work.The name will pop- up suddenly when you are not thinking about it.

I use Alphabetical Technique to bring out the names I forget.I start from A then B,C ,D....Insight shows me the name.If I can't then I leave it to my mind to bring it out!

MIND -MASTER AND SLAVE

I started learning about the mind ,when I was 24 years old.Here I want to post some secrets of our mind which is never discussed in easy and simple language .I am not an expert,but I learned,experienced these things and want to share.Our mind works in two different levels.Conscious and unconscious levels,as I am typing this my conscious level is working,but the other side is working independently without showing any existence of it.Conscious mind is active when we are not sleeping.( or till we hit by something and go unconscious!)

THE SLAVE

The other side is everything in our life,but it is a slave to commands and never judge,to put it simply ,it is a robot like thing which obeys!Whatever we put/feed in our day today life slowly seeps into the otherside and becomes part of our nature which is reflected in our actions.As we sow ,we reap.. kind of thing.

This simple principle can be applied to tame this hidden otherside(unconscious) for our benefit.
It is called auto-suggestion,we can... through positive suggestions change the way we act,behave,and think.I will post about it later.Now let us try to understand our this side and otherside.

When we wake up in the morning..the gloomy,dullness is the secret.This mind level is called the
alpha level ,neither awaken nor in sleep..the sleepy/trance stage.When we are about to slip into sleep..that stage is also similar to this.At this moment our brain waves are in such a level which is akin to meditation -the trance.This level has to be created in the middle of the day or in our office...in a fully aware state of mind, for results, to get most out of the otherside.


THE MASTER

Yogis,siddhas,sanths all train themselves physically and mentally to be in that state always.The otherside is so powerful..so the people who reached that level are called threekaal darshis(who can see the present,past and future)

Imagine that the conscious is on the top and below is the otherside..two layers,the otherside is Mahasakhti(great power and energy)which knows everything,our instinct ,master ,name anything-but it is the Master of everything.This side can be lifted to the level of consciousness.That is called Enlightenment,awakening.It tries to come up ,but we wake up .During our deep sleep the otherside awakens and try to come up..during this..some people dream about the future happenings..it is premonition.

See you in the next post ,if you are interested in this subject then let me know..put a comment.

Cartoons in Textbooks of Rajasthan

Jaipur: Mickey Mouse and other cartoon characters will enliven the text books of Class I children in Rajasthan from the next academic session to help get the children more interested in studies.

The Rajya Pustak Mandal has decided to print cartoons on the cover pages and make the books more colourful.

"Mickey Mouse would be on the cover page and if our plan is successful then we would incorporate similar changes in books for Classes 2 and 3," Vasudev Devnani, state minister for education, told IANS.

"Kids love cartoons the most. We want them to learn and enjoy at the same time," he said.

"It is a good step and would certainly help in generating the interest of students," Vivek Sharma, a father of a five-year-old daughter, said.

Despite its efforts, Rajasthan still has a high drop out rate, which as per estimates stands at over 34 percent. The state government has taken various initiatives to improve educational standards in the state, including appointing around 41,000 teachers, while the appointment of another 31,000 teachers is being finalised.

The government has improved the student-teacher ratio in primary classes and secondary classes.

Under the Shiskha Sambal Mahaabhiyaan, 1.65 million children in the age group 6-14 years were enrolled while 9.6 million children were given free text books. IANS

GANDHI AS SCHOOL MASTER

THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH
By Mahatma Gandhi

PART 4
CHAPTER XXXII

AS SCHOOLMASTER

The reader will, I hope, bear in mind the fact that I am, in these chapters, describing things not mentioned, or only cursorily mentioned in the history of satyagraha in South Africa. If he does so, he will easily see the connection between the recent chapters.

As the Farm grew, it was found necessary to make some provision for the education of its boys and girls. There were, among these, Hindu, Mussalman, Parsi and Christian boys and some Hindu girls. I was not possible, and I did not think it necessary, to engage special teachers for them. It was not possible, for qualified Indian teachers were scarce, and even when available, none would be ready to go to a place 21 miles distant from Johannesburg on a small salary.

Also we were certainly not overflowing with money. And I did not think it necessary to import teachers from outside the Farm. I did not believe in the existing system of education, and I had a mind to find out by experience and experiment the true system. Only this much I knew-that, under ideal conditions, true education could be imparted only by the parents, and that then there should be the minimum of outside help, that Tolstoy Farm was a family, in which I occupied the place of the father, and that I should so far as possible shoulder the responsibility for the training of the young.

The conception no doubt was not without its flaws. All the young people had not been with me since their childhood, they had been brought up in different conditions and environments, and they did not not belong to the same religion. How could I do full justice to the young people, thus circumstanced, even if I assumed the place of paterfamilias ? But I had always given the first place to the culture of the heart or the building of character, and as I felt confident that moral training could be given to all alike, no matter how different their ages and their upbringing, I decided to live amongst them all the twenty-four hours of the day as their father. I regarded character buildings as the proper foundation for their education and, if the foundation was firmly laid, I was sure that the children could learn all the other things themselves or with the assistance of friends.

But as I fully appreciated the necessity of a literary training in addition, I started some classes with the help of Mr. Kallenbach and Sjt. Pragji Desai. Nor did I under-rate the building up of the body.

This they got in the course of their daily routine. For there were no servants on the Farm, and all the work, from cooking down to scavenging, was done by the inmates. There were many fruit trees to be looked after, and enough gardening to be done as well. Mr.

Kallencbach was fond of gardening and had gained some experience of this work in one of the governmental model gardens.

It was obligatory on all, young and old, who were not engaged in the kitchen, to give some time to gardening. The children had the lion"s share of this work, which included digging pits, felling timber and lifting loads. This gave them ample exercise. They took delight in the work, and so they did not generally need any other exercise or games. Of course some of them, and sometimes all of them, malingered and shirked. Sometimes I connived at their pranks, but often I was strict with them. I dare say they did not like the strictness, but I do not recollect their having resisted it. Whenever I was strict, I would, by argument, convince them that it was not right to play with one"s work. The conviction would, however, be short-lived, the next moment they would again leave their work and go to play. All the same we got along, and at any rate they built up fine physiques. There was scarcely any illness on the Farm, though it must be said that good air and water and regular hours of food were not a little responsible for this.

A word about vocational training. It was my intention to teach every one of the youngsters some useful manual vocation. For this purpose Mr. Kallenbach went to a Trappist monastery and returned having learnt shoe-making. I learnt it from him and taught the art to such as were ready to take it up. Mr. Kallenbach had some experience of carpentry, and there was another inmate who knew it; so we had a small class in carpentry. Cooking almost all the youngsters knew.

All this was new to them. They had never even dreamt that they would have to learn these things some day. For generally the only training that Indian children received in South Africa was in the three R"s. On Tolstoy Farm we made it a rule that the youngsters should not be asked to do what the teachers did not do, and therefore, when they were asked to do any work, there was always a teacher co operating and actually working with them. Hence whatever the youngsters learnt, they learnt cheerfully. Literary training and character building must be dealt with in the following chapters.

CBSE to overhaul Class X, XII exams next year

Kolkata, Sept. 23

The question paper pattern of Central Board of Secondary Education has been overhauled focussing on objective-type questions for its Class-X and XII examinations with effect from next academic year. The Board also plans to launch grading system for Class-X examinations as soon as it gets the green light from the ministry of human resource development.

For the first time, in 2008, examinees will have to appear for their Board examinations under a new curriculum. At the same time, to maintain a balance between speed and accuracy ~ for students to complete their papers comfortably, the typology and design of the question papers have undergone major alterations. Objective-type questions find more importance in the papers. Shifting from the idea of multi-choice question, where students have to choose the correct answer from the multiple options, under the new system, they have to write their own answers.

Twenty per cent of the questions will be based on higher order thinking skills (Hots) which will test their abilities in thinking and analysis rather than pure bookish knowledge. Chairman of the CBSE, Mr Ashok Ganguly, said that objective-type questions were aimed at getting the correct picture of a student's performance. That part will delve into their minds through fundamental questions instead of those from text books. "Since our aim is not to make students only academically strong, the paper has been designed in a manner that will need a synchronisation of head, heart and hand,” he said.

He also stressed that under the new pattern, examinees would have to attempt all questions. There may be internal options, for example, question No-1 might have two options ~ that is 1a and 1b ~ and the examinees could answer anyone. A specimen of the new version of question papers is already available on the Board's website.

The Board chairman also observed that a holistic idea about a student was possible only through a continuous and comprehensive evaluation process, which included internal assessment, abolishment of marks and introduction of grading system. Mr Ganguly added that the Board already designed a model for introduction of grading system in Class-X exams but was awaiting a final nod from the MHRD.

He added that internal assessment had already started in subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Social Science in Class-IX and Class-X. While five-point grading system is already in Class-III and Class-V, it is seven-point grading system in Class-VI and Class-VIII.

WATER:Consumers Beware

PAANI PAANI RE...

“The ISI has very high standards. In fact, ‘mineral water’ means that it should have undergone no processing at all. Presently, what is sold in the market as ‘mineral water’ is actually ‘packaged’ water. Real mineral water must have no additions, must have not undergone any ozonisation and should not have had any processing in the first place.”

"Packaged drinking water", the official notification defines as water derived from any source of potable water, which is subjected to treatment such as filtration, activated carbon filtration, demineralisation and reverse osmosis. The standard for packaged drinking water, which is being introduced for the first time, is more flexible in terms of source and processing.

The popular brands are only Packaged Drinking water and not Mineral Water,only four or five brands in India can claim to be Mineral Water. Customer should learn to make a difference between these two.

Schools cannot compel students to disclose caste: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday said that schools in the country cannot compel students to disclose their caste status at the time of admission.

Any such disclosure shall be optional, or in other words, it should be left to the discretion of the student to divulge his/her caste identity, a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said.

The bench, however, dismissed a PIL filed by an 81-year-old freedom fighter, Salemvelu Gandhi alias Velu, from Tamil Nadu who sought a complete ban on "caste disclosure" forms circulated by schools to students during admissions.

The apex court, while appreciating the "laudable objective" of the petitioner, said it cannot pass any direction on the issue as it would create problems for those who want to avail free scholarships and other benefits.

The bench said the school leaving certificate forms the basis for SCs, STs and BCs pursuing higher education or seeking jobs, as otherwise such beneficiaries would not be able to get the benefits.

How to Perform Self Hypnosis

Self-Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state of mind which can be defined as a heightened state of focused concentration, (trance), with the willingness to follow instructions (suggestibility).

Steps:

1. Go to a comfortable, private place and sit in any comfortable chair or couch. Although some people prefer to lie down, you are more susceptible to sleep than when sitting up.
2. Close your eyes and try to rid your mind of any feelings of fear, stress, or anxiety. When you begin, you will find it difficult not to think. You may find that thoughts keep intruding. When this happens, don't try to force the thoughts out. Observe them impartially, and then let them slip away.
3. Recognize the tension in your body. Beginning with your toes, imagine the tension slowly falling away from your body and vanishing. Imagine it freeing each body part one at a time starting with your toes and working its way up your body. Visualize each part of your body becoming lighter and lighter as the tension is removed. relax your toes, then your feet. Continue with your calves, thighs, hips, stomach and so on, until you've relaxed each portion, including your face and head. Using imagery techniques of something you find comforting or soothing, such as water(I feel the water rushing over my feet and ankles, cleansing them of tension)can be effective as well.
4. Take slow, deep breaths. When you exhale, see the tension and negativity leaving in a dark cloud. As you inhale, see the air returning as a bright force filled with life and energy.
5. Appreciate the fact that you are now extremely relaxed. Imagine you are at the top of a flight of 10 stairs. Picture every detail of this scene from the top to the bottom. Tell yourself that you are going to descend the stairs, counting each step down, starting at 10. Picture each number in your mind. Imagine that each number you count is further down and one step closer to the bottom. After each number, you will feel yourself drifting further and further into deep relaxation. As you take each step, imagine the feel of the step under your feet. Keep counting and stepping down until you reach the bottom. Once you reach the bottom imagine that you are happy and relaxed. I find that rolling my eyes gently back into my head induces a trance rather well.
6. At this point, you should begin to address the issue you're concerned about. Speak in the present tense. Your subconscious mind does not understand negatives in speech - avoid using statements with negative connotation such as "I don't want to be tired and irritable." Instead, say, "I am calm and relaxed." Examples of positive statements "I am strong and slender," "I am successful and positive," and, if you have pain, "My back feels wonderful." (see warning on PAIN)
7. Repeat your statement(s) to yourself as many times as you wish.
8. When you are satisfied, say to yourself that you will now count upwards to 0 to 10, and when you reach the number 10, you will slowly rise back to normal consciousness and remain calm and relaxed. Proceed to count upwards, again picturing the numbers in detail.
9. Once you have ascended, give yourself a few moments before opening your eyes, and take your time getting up.