There are two kinds of failures: Those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought - Laurence Peter
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Friday, April 09, 2010
A Thought for Today-340:
Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself - Bernard Shaw
Monday, April 05, 2010
A Thought for Today-339:
The greatest truths are the simplest, and so are the greatest men - Augustus Hare
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Letters-82: "Igniting a Passion"
I chose passion over pragmatism when I changed my field of study from science to arts. I faced disapproving glances but I am resolute now. In the end, we have to live our own life, so we should set it up to our own taste, even if it calls for rebellion - Aastha Sharma, Kangra, HP.
Courtesy:Reader's Digest (India), Sep.2009.
Grateful thanks to Aastha Sharma and Reader's Digest.
Courtesy:Reader's Digest (India), Sep.2009.
Grateful thanks to Aastha Sharma and Reader's Digest.
A Thought for Today-338:
Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others - Helen Keller
Self-Improvement-73: Planning Your Day" by Jack Canfield
Grateful thanks to 'BetterLifeCoaches', Jack Canfield and YouTube.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Letters-81: Live-in Relationships
(Regarding the observations of the Supreme Court on Khusboo's petition about premarital sex and lived-in relationships)
Is there adequate protection in law for those involved in such relationships in case of a break-up? Has our society matured enough to accept a single-mom? There are plenty of social and legal issues that have been overlooked. Premarital sex and live-in relationships have never been illegal. The court should have held that against the case and should not have stepped ahead to give legality to such relationships - S.Balaji, Chennai.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.
Grateful thanks to Mr.Balaji and The Hindu.
Is there adequate protection in law for those involved in such relationships in case of a break-up? Has our society matured enough to accept a single-mom? There are plenty of social and legal issues that have been overlooked. Premarital sex and live-in relationships have never been illegal. The court should have held that against the case and should not have stepped ahead to give legality to such relationships - S.Balaji, Chennai.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.
Grateful thanks to Mr.Balaji and The Hindu.
A Thought for Today-336:
One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Eyecatchers-146: Disaster Management
...Bangladesh lost more than 500,000 people during Cyclone Bhola in 1970. It subsequently built 2500 cyclone shelters on elevated concrete platforms and trained more than 32,000 volunteers to help in evacuations. When Cyclone Sydr struck in 2007 with an enormous sea surge, the death toll was less than 4000.
Cyclone Nargis, a similar event in unprepared Myanmar in May 2008, cost 140,000 lives.
Cuba weathered four hurricanes in 2008. It sustained $9 billion of physical damage but very few lives were lost.
The evidence is overwhelming. Yet the lessons of these disasters are forgotten with depressing speed. Many governments have failed to follow through on the practical measures Hyogo proposes. (The Hyogo Framework for Action, a 10-year plan to make the world safer from disasters triggered by natural hazards, was adopted by 168 governments in 2005).
Some states argue that they cannot afford to embrace the prevention model. I say no country afford to ignore it.
We know prevention actually saves governments money in the long run. When China spent $3.15 billion on reducing the impact of floods between 1960 and 2000, it averted losses estimated at about $12 billion.
Similar savings have been recorded in Brazil, India, Vietnam and elsewhere.
.....
Excerpt from "Do not wait for disaster to strike" by Ban ki-moon, Secretary General, United Nations, in The Hindu, Trichy, March 27.3.2010.
For reading the Full Text of
Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015:
Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters (HFA)
http://www.unisdr.org/eng/hfa/hfa.htm
Grateful thanks to The Hindu, U.N.Information Centre, New Delhi and UNISDR.
Cyclone Nargis, a similar event in unprepared Myanmar in May 2008, cost 140,000 lives.
Cuba weathered four hurricanes in 2008. It sustained $9 billion of physical damage but very few lives were lost.
The evidence is overwhelming. Yet the lessons of these disasters are forgotten with depressing speed. Many governments have failed to follow through on the practical measures Hyogo proposes. (The Hyogo Framework for Action, a 10-year plan to make the world safer from disasters triggered by natural hazards, was adopted by 168 governments in 2005).
Some states argue that they cannot afford to embrace the prevention model. I say no country afford to ignore it.
We know prevention actually saves governments money in the long run. When China spent $3.15 billion on reducing the impact of floods between 1960 and 2000, it averted losses estimated at about $12 billion.
Similar savings have been recorded in Brazil, India, Vietnam and elsewhere.
.....
Excerpt from "Do not wait for disaster to strike" by Ban ki-moon, Secretary General, United Nations, in The Hindu, Trichy, March 27.3.2010.
For reading the Full Text of
Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015:
Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters (HFA)
http://www.unisdr.org/eng/hfa/hfa.htm
Grateful thanks to The Hindu, U.N.Information Centre, New Delhi and UNISDR.
India Watch-17:
1. All India Radio is the world largest public service broadcaster.
2. All India Radio has grown from six stations at the time of Independence to 233 stations covering the length and breadth of the country.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.
Grateful thanks to The Hindu.
2. All India Radio has grown from six stations at the time of Independence to 233 stations covering the length and breadth of the country.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.
Grateful thanks to The Hindu.
Letters-80: China's Rise in Science
1. The results of unfettered developmental activity behind the Great Wall are slowly trickling out for the rest of the world to observe, study and emulate (Editorial, The Hindu, March 26, 2010). Notwithstanding criticisms of human rights violations along the road to progress, the Chinese have demonstrated their almost supernatural commitment to hard work, scientific research and patriotism, all of which have ensured tremendous economic growth rate - Sunil P Shenoy, Bangalore.
2. China has indeed travelled a long way. The New Scientist's assessment that "China's emergence as a scientific superpower can no longer be denied" should be an eyeopener for the Indian science and technology establishment. We boast of having the largest pool of professionals in the field of science and technology. But when it comes to original and innovative works, our record is dismal. Not a single science and technology organisation figures in the top-hundred list of quality institutions in this arena (as per the Shanghai index). NASA and companies in the Silicon Valley employ a significant number of Indian professionals. This means that given the opportunity, our scientists can compete at the top level.
It is high time we seized the initiative of channelling our pool of professionals while simultaneously improving the existing institutes - Subodh Kumar, New Delhi
Courtesy: Letters to The Editor, The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.
Grateful thanks to Sunil P Shenoy, Subodh Kumar and The Hindu.
2. China has indeed travelled a long way. The New Scientist's assessment that "China's emergence as a scientific superpower can no longer be denied" should be an eyeopener for the Indian science and technology establishment. We boast of having the largest pool of professionals in the field of science and technology. But when it comes to original and innovative works, our record is dismal. Not a single science and technology organisation figures in the top-hundred list of quality institutions in this arena (as per the Shanghai index). NASA and companies in the Silicon Valley employ a significant number of Indian professionals. This means that given the opportunity, our scientists can compete at the top level.
It is high time we seized the initiative of channelling our pool of professionals while simultaneously improving the existing institutes - Subodh Kumar, New Delhi
Courtesy: Letters to The Editor, The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.
Grateful thanks to Sunil P Shenoy, Subodh Kumar and The Hindu.
A Thought for Today-335:
You must be true to yourself. Strong enough to be true to yourself. Brave enough to be strong enough to be true to yourself. Wise enough to be brave enough, to be strong enough to shape yourself from what you actually are - Sylvia Ashton-Warner
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
