Interesting Facts

Interesting Facts

 Butterflies taste with their feet.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons combined.

On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.

On average people fear spiders more than they do death.

Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.

Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

It's possible to lead a cow upstairs ...... but not downstairs.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

It's physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the
weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

A snail can sleep for three years..

No word in the English language rhymes with "MONTH."

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. SCARY!!!

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

All polar bears are left-handed.

In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies,
including their eyebrows and eyelashes.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

"Go," is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet, two inches tall.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.

Facts about Bill Gates... Don't miss the last one...

 

1. Bill Gates earns US$250 every SECOND, that's about US$20 Million a DAY and US$7.8 Billion a YEAR!

2. If he drops a thousand dollar, he won't even bother to pick it up bcoz the 4 seconds he picks it, he would've already earned it back.

3. The US national debt is about 5.62 trillion, if Bill Gates were to pay the debt by himself; he will finish it in less then 10 years.

4. He can donate US$15 to everyone on earth but still be left with US$5 Million for his pocket money.

5. Michael Jordan is the highest paid athlete in US.If he doesn't drink and eat, and keeps up his annual income i.e. US$30 Million, he'll have to wait for 277 years to become as rich as Bill Gates is now.

6. If Bill Gates was a country, he would be the 37th richest country on earth.

7. If you change all of Bill Gate's money to US$1 notes, you can make a road from earth to moon, 14 times back and forth. But you have to make that road non-stop for 1,400 years, and use a total of 713 BOEING 747 planes to transport all the money.

8. Bill Gates is 40 this year. If we assume that he will live for another 35 years, he hs to spend US$6.78 Million per day to finish all his money before he can go to heaven.

Last but not the least:

If Microsoft Windows' users can claim US$1 for every time their computers hang because of Microsoft Windows, Bill Gates will be bankrupt in 3 years!!!!!!!

 

 

Republic Day Special

National Anthem 

The National Anthem of India is played or sung on various occasions. Instructions have been issued from time to time about the correct versions of the Anthem, the occasions on which these are to be played or sung, and about the need for paying respect to the anthem by observance of proper decorum on such occasions. The substance of these instructions has been embodied in this information sheet for general information and guidance.

The National Anthem - Full & Short Versions

The composition consisting of the words and music of the first stanza of the late poet Rabindra Nath Tagore's song known as "Jana Gana Mana" is the National Anthem of India. It reads as follows:

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat-Maratha
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga.
Tava shubha name jage,
Tava shubha asisa mange,
Gahe tava jaya gatha,
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

Download National Anthem (817 KB, 0:52 Sec.)

The above is the full version of the Anthem and its playing time is approximately 52 seconds.
A short version consisting of the first and last lines of the National Anthem is also played on certain occasions. It reads as follows:

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

Playing time of the short version is about 20 seconds. The following is Tagore's English rendering of the anthem:

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

The occasions on which the full versions or the short version will be played have been indicated at the appropriate places in these instructions.

Playing of the Anthem

1. The full version of the Anthem shall be played on the following occasions:
   
   1. Civil and Military investitures;
   2. When National Salute (which means the Command "Rashtriya Salute – Salami Shastr" to the accompaniment of the National Anthem is given on ceremonial occasions to the President or to the Governor/Lieutenant Governor within their respective States/Union Territories;
   3. During parades – irrespective of whether any of the dignitaries referred to in (ii) above is present or not;
   4. On arrival of the President at formal State functions and other functions organized by the Government and mass functions and on his departure from such functions;
   5. Immediately before and after the President addresses the Nation over All India Radio;
   6. On arrival of the Governor/Lieutenant Governor at formal State functions within his State/Union Territory and on his departure from such functions;
   7. When the National Flag is brought on parade;
   8. When the Regimental Colours are presented;
   9. For hoisting of colours in the Navy.
   
   
2. The short version of the Anthem shall be played when drinking toasts in Messes.
3. The Anthem shall be played on any other occasion for which special orders have been issued by the Government of India.
4. Normally the Anthem shall not be played for the Prime Minister, though there may be special occasions when it may be played.
5. When the National Anthem is played by a band, the Anthem will be preceded by a roll of drums to assist the audience to know that the National Anthem is going to be played, unless there is some other specific indication that the National Anthem is about to be played, as for example, when fanfares are sounded before the National Anthem is played, or when toasts are drunk to the accompaniment of the National Anthem or when the National Anthem constitutes the National Salute given by a Guard of Honour. The duration of the roll, in terms of marching drill, will be 7 paces in slow march. The roll will start slowly, ascend to as loud a volume as possible and then gradually decreases to original softness, but remaining audible until the seventh beat. One beat rest will then be observed before commencing the National Anthem.

Mass Singing of the Anthem

1. The full version of the Anthem shall be played accompanied by mass singing on the following occasions:
   
   1. On the unfurling of the National Flag, on cultural occasions or ceremonial functions other than parades. (This could be arranged by having a choir or adequate size, suitably stationed, which would be trained to coordinate its singing with the band etc. There should be an adequate public audition system so that the gathering in various enclosures can sing in unison with the choir);
   2. On arrival of the President at any Government or Public function (but excluding formal State functions and mess functions) and also immediately before his departure from such functions.
   
   
2. On all occasions when the National Anthem is sung, the full version shall be recited accompanied by mass singing.
3. The Anthem may be sung on occasions which, although not strictly ceremonial, are nevertheless invested with significance because of the presence of Ministers etc. The singing of the Anthem on such occasions (with or without the accompaniment of an instruments) accompanied by mass singing is desirable.
4. It is not possible to give an exhaustive list of occasions on which the singing (as distinct from playing) of the Anthem can be permitted. But there is no objection to the singing of the Anthem accompanied by mass singing so long as it is done with due respect as a salutation to the motherland and proper decorum is maintained.
5. In all schools, the day's work may begin with community singing of the anthem. School authorities should make adequate provision in their programmes for popularising the singing of the Anthem and promoting respect for the National Flag among students.

General

1. Whenever the Anthem is sung or played, the audience shall stand to attention. However, when in the course of a newsreel or documentary the Anthem is played as a part of the film, it is not expected of the audience to stand as standing is bound to interrupt the exhibition of the film and would create disorder and confusion rather than add to the dignity of the Anthem.
2. As in the case of the flying of the National Flag, it has been left to the good sense of the people not to indulge in indiscriminate singing or playing of the Anthem.

Source: India 2009 - A Reference Annual

Social Hazards

We seem to be taking one step back for every three steps forward.

Chandrayan has landed on the moon, yet we superstitiously declare a holiday for schools on the day of the solar eclipse to avoid children "being exposed to the evil effects of the eclipsed sun."

Some of the more cautious (and sensible?) newspapers termed it as a holiday to enable the children to watch the celestial phenomenon.

The woman who comes to clean my house left early because she has to be safely at home before the Moon glides in front of the Sun.

I wish we could really put the education that we get, into practice!

Are Online Courses for You?

 

 

Ask Yourself 10 Questions Before Signing Up for any Online Courses

Online courses can offer tremendous opportunities and open career doors, but before you sign up, take some time and ask yourself the following 10 questions:

 



1. Am I comfortable using a computer, the Internet, and email?
You don’t have to be a computer expert by any means, but you should have a good working knowledge of computers and possibly even certain programs depending on your course.

2. Do I have reliable access to the Internet?
All the computer knowledge in the world won’t help you succeed in online courses if you can’t count on your Internet connection. And since connections can fail at any time, be sure to have a back-up plan as well, perhaps a local Internet cafe or even a trusted friend’s computer if you’re in dire straits.
3. Do I enjoy working and learning on my own, at my own pace?
Online courses are great because many give you the freedom to be an independent learner, but if that isn’t something you enjoy or excel at, online courses may not be for you.
4. Do I have the time and energy to commit to online courses?
Don’t be fooled into thinking that online courses take less time and energy than traditional courses on campus; you’ll save time on travel, but you’ll also be spending a lot more time on online discussions.

5. Do I manage time effectively?
Taking online courses mean that you decide when you will read and learn materials, participate in discussions, and study; you must be able to plan your schedule on your own taking into account all of your obligations.
6. Do I need a flexible schedule?
If you have work or family commitments that require flexibility in scheduling, online courses may be the right option for you as you continue your education.

7. Am I comfortable asking for help and more information from instructors and peers?
Chances are that throughout your online courses, you will come across material that is difficult to understand or even simply not downloading correctly. You may need to contact your instructor and/or peers on a regular basis, so you should be comfortable doing so.
8. Am I a strong reader and enjoy text-based learning?
Although online courses often include visual components as well, for the most part you will be learning through reading texts, materials, and email discussions. College-level.

9. Am I driven, motivated, and capable of pushing myself to succeed?
Your success in online courses is almost entirely up to you and your desire to learn, so you need to know how to push yourself to do your very best without having an instructor or fellow students in your face to offer motivation.

10. Is there an online course I’m interested in taking?
So you’ve answered all the questions above and you think online courses are for you? Well now is the time to find out whether online courses are offered in your discipline. Course offerings are growing all the time, but some industries offer many more opportunities than others, so be sure to have a good look around to determine whether online courses are an option for you.

Reviewing the Top Online Colleges

Rankings of the top online colleges in the United Nation in order to select the top online accredited degree for your career.

	University of Phoenix - Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's & Doctorate Degrees. With a diverse group of students attending University of Phoenix, degree programs are offered in a variety of fields to fit everyone's needs and desires. University of Phoenix is an accredited university with classes available on campus or online.
	Kaplan University - Associate's, Bachelor's, & Master's Degrees. Kaplan University has been able to find the perfect blend for students seeking an online degree or a degree in a classroom setting. At Kaplan University, degree programs are designed uniquely to fit the needs of a working adult.
	American InterContinental University Online - Associate's, Bachelor's, & Master's Degrees. American InterContinental University has assisted students in reaching and devloping meaningful career skills in advance of entering the industry. At AIU, students will be taught by a well respected faculty with years of experience in their field.
	Ashford University - Associate's, Bachelor's, & Master's Degrees. Ashford University's degree programs are available to anyone who has access to the internet. With this convenience, Ashford makes it easy for students seeking to start a new educational challenge.
	Everest University - Associate's, Bachelor's, & Master's Degrees. Everest University offers the highest quality undergraduate and graduate level degrees currently available to take online. Everest offers degrees in a variety of high growth industries that need college graduates to fill current open positions.
	Colorado Technical University - Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's & Doctoral Degrees. Colorado Technical University makes it easy to start a college at any time and entirely online. CTU offers a number of quality degrees online that are accredited.
	Liberty University - Associate's, Bachelor's, & Master's Degrees. Liberty University offers a dynamic curriculum that students will find very helpful in the college career. At Liberty, students are immeresed in a Christian community that assists students graduate quickly and easily.
	DeVry University - Associate's, Bachelor's, & Master's Degrees. DeVry University assists working adults go back to college to start their college education or continue it. DeVry University offers affordable degree plans for students seeking to go back to school on a budget.
	Strayer University - Associate's, Bachelor's & Master's Degrees. Learners of all ages can go back to school at Strayer University and get the college degree they have been longing for. At Strayer, students will receive a first rate education by a well respected faculty and staff.

Client/project web links

Fauna & Flora International/FFI Leading global conservation organisation based in Cambridge, UK	Durrell Wildlife Jersey-based conservation organisation and zoological park
m-GovWorld Specialist mobile-governance website service based in India	SMS Solutions A site dedicated to SMS and MMS solutions
ResourceAfrica South African based environmental and development organisation	In-Tuition.net UK-based provider of a range of email solutions targeted at small businesses
Wildscreen/ARKive On-line 'Noahs Ark' containing digital multimedia portraits of global wildlife	WorldPay Global electronic payment solution now owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland
TTPCom Limited The leading independent supplier of silicon IP to the mobile industry	UNEP-WCMC The World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the UN Environment Programme
Cercopan Nigerian NGO promoting primate and forest conservation	Help an African Schoolchild Jersey-based charity providing help and education to street children in Zambia and Tanzania
t4cd FFI/ResourceAfrica project investigating the use of ICTs in conservation and development	Conservation Through Public Health Ugandan conservation, ICT and public health NGO working in conservation areas in Africa
Bailhache Labesse Leading law firm and advocates based in Jersey, C.I.	Vodafone The world's largest mobile community headquartered in the UK

100 Useful Links for eBook

You already know that the Internet is one of the most convenient, effective means of researching and finding information for your classes, but did you know that in some cases it can replace all of your hefty textbooks and reading assignments too? With ebooks, you can read, stream, and listen to lessons, classic literature, poetry and reference books on the Internet or your mobile device. 

Here are 100 useful links for ebook lovers.

Free
These ebooks are all free, so you can download as many as you want without having to set up a textbook budget.

1. Gutenberg: Project Gutenberg was the first to supply free ebooks, and today they have almost 30,000 free titles in stock.
2. Free-eBooks.net: Besides browsing topics like biography, fan fiction, games, history or tutorials, you can submit your own ebook, too.
3. ManyBooks.net: You can conduct an advanced search, type in a title or author, browse categories or select books by language, from Finnish to Bulgarian to Catalan to Swedish.
4. DailyLit: Get free downloads sent to your e-mail by RSS feed.
5. iBiblio: Find archives, ebooks, tutorials, language books and more from iBiblio.
6. Authorama: This public domain book site has a wide variety of ebooks for free, by Lewis Carroll, Emerson, Kafka, and more.
7. askSam: Search free ebooks and archives in categories like literature, political, government reports, and legal and judicial.
8. Bartleby: Whiel Bartleby charges for some titles, it has a free ebook store here.
9. bibliomania: You will find over 2,000 classic texts from bibliomania, plus study guides, reference material and more.
10. Baen Free Library: You can download ebooks for HTML, RTF, Microsoft Reader and for Palm, Psion and Window CE.
11. eReader.com: eReader.com has many classic lit selections for free.
12. Read Print Library: These novels, poems and poems are all free.
13. Fictionwise: Fictionwise has plenty of fiction, plus nonfiction books, mobile downloads and audio files.
14. ebook Directory: From children’s books to IT books to literature to reference, you’ll find lots of free titles and book packages here.
15. Planet PDF: Planet PDF has made available classic titles like Anna Karenina and Frankenstein for free.
16. Get Free Ebooks: This website has free ebooks in categories like from writing to environment to fiction to business, plus features and reviews.
17. FreeBookSpot: Search by title, ISBN or author, or browse categories like Chinese, Geosciences, hardware, and others.
18. Globusz: There are no limits on the number of free books you can download on this online publishing site.
19. eBookLobby: You’ll find lost of self-help, hobby and reference books here, plus children’s fiction and more.
20. Bookyards: This online "library to the world" has over 17,000 ebooks plus links to other digital libraries.
21. The Online Books Page: You’ll be able to access over 35,000 free ebooks from this site, powered by the University of Pennsylvania.
22. Starry.com: These novels and anthologies were last updated in 2006, but you’ll still find an interesting selection of online and virtual novels.

eBook Readers
Get reviews and product information for all kinds of ebook readers, including the Kindle.

24. E-book Reader Matrix: This wiki makes it easy to compare ebook reader sizes, battery life, supported formats and other qualifications.
25. Amazon Kindle: Learn about, shop, and discover titles for the Kindle here.
26. Abacci eBooks: All the books here are for Microsoft Reader.
27. eBook Reader Review: TopTenReviews lists reader reviews from 2009.
28. List of e-book readers: Learn about all of the different e-book readers from Wikipedia.
29. E-book readers at a glance: This guide reviews and compares the new, cool readers.
30. Free iPhone ebook readers head-to-head: Reality Distortion ranks iPhone ebook readers.

About eBooks
These links will connect you to ebook news, new title releases and ereader information.

31. TeleRead: This blog shares news stories about ebooks and digital libraries.
32. MobileRead Forums: Learn about new ebook releases, clubs and readers.
33. E-book News: Technology Today has made room for a whole section on e-book news.
34. Ebook2u.com: Get the latest headlines about readers, troubleshooting, titles and more.
35. eBook Authors: Get news and releases here.
36. The eBook coach: Learn how to write a successful ebook.

Audio and Mobile
Get ebooks on your iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry, Palm or other mobile device.

37. Feedbooks: You can download books for any mobile device here.
38. Mobipocket: Find ebooks and an ebook reader for PCs, Smartphones, BlackBerry, Palm, Windows mobile and more.
39. Stanza: If you want to read an ebook on your iPhone, use Stanza.
40. Books in My Phone: Read ebooks on a java-enabled phone when you download them here. You can also manage a reading list.
41. Barnes & Noble eBooks: Get NYT titles, new releases and more for your iPhone, BlackBerry or computer.
42. MemoWare: Get literature, poetry, and reference books for your PDA.
43. Audible.com: Here you can download books to your iPod or mp3 player.
44. iTunes: iTunes has audiobooks for iPhones and iPods.
45. LibriVox: Get free audio book files on this site, or volunteer to record your narration for other books.
46. eReader.comMobile: Get the mobile-friendly version of eReader.com here.

Business and Education
Turn to these ebook lists and resources for help with classes and your career.

47. Open Book Project: Students and teachers will find quality, free textbooks and materials here.
48. BookBoon.com: Students can download free textbooks, from economics to biology to study abroad here.
49. Digital Book Index: This site has over 140,000 titles, including textbooks and a pending American Studies collection.
50. Classical Authors Directory: Get lesson plans, audio files, ebooks and more from authors like Washington Irving, Benjamin Franklin and Homer.
51. The Literature Network: Find classics, from Balzac to Austen to Shakespeare, plus educational resources to go along with the plays, short stories and novels.
52. Free-books.org: You can download lots of history and literature books and texts here.
53. OnlineFreeEbooks.net: All kinds of business, hobby, education textbooks, and self-teaching books are available for free on this site.
54. Free Ebooks and Software: Learn how to do your own taxes and more from the books here.
55. The Franklin Free eBook Library: This is a great site for downloading classic literature and poetry, history books and texts, reference materials, and more.
56. eLibrary Business Ebooks: Get emarketing, how-to, and other business ebooks here.
57. Free Business eBooks: This guide has links to all kinds of free business ebooks.
58. Data-Sheet: Data-Sheet finds ebook pdfs.
59. Pdfgeni.com: Type into the search box the type of book you want to read, like business education or vampire fiction.
60. Ebook Search Engine: Simply type in your search and choose to have results displayed as PDFs or Word documents.
61. PDFse: Look for ebooks, especially in science, reference and education, here.
62. Ebook Engine: This engine brings up free ebooks.
63. eBook Search Queen: You can search ebooks by country here.
64. ebookse.com: Browse by category or type your search into the box to bring up your query.
65. Addebook: Free Ebook Search Engine: This tool is Google’s ebook search engine.
66. Boocu: Boocu can pull up thousands of ebooks and digital resources.

Twitter
Keep up with ebook news, new titles, ereaders, and more by following these Twitter feeds.

68. @AnEbookReader: Get tech reviews, accessories news and more for ereaders and ebooks.
69. LibreDigital: This company helps people find what they want to read and watch, on any medium.
70. @e_reading: This feed comments on Kindle news and more.
71. @RogerSPress: Roger publishes ebooks and has been reading them for 10 years already.
72. @DigiBookWorld: Read about the latest trends in digital publishing.
73. @ebooksstore: Follow @ebooksstore for interesting ebook news and releases.
74. @ebookvine: This feed is all about Kindle.
75. @vooktv: Now you can watch books on high-quality video online.
76. @ebooklibrary: This is a feed for anyone who wants to learn more about free ebooks.
77. @ericrumsey: Eric is a librarian who loves ebooks, his iPhone and the Internet.
78. @namenick: Nick Name is an ebook addict and mobile fiction writer.
79. @KindleZen: Get the latest in Kindle news and hacks.

Tech eBooks
Get programming, design and other tech assistance when you head to these ebook resources.

80. FreeComputerBooks.com: Find magazines and IT books for reference and general interest.
81. OnlineComputerBooks.com: Find free computer ebooks on networking, MySQL, Python, PHP, C++ and more.
82. KnowFree.net: KnowFree has mostly tech books for download, plus some business titles.
83. FreeTechBooks.com: This site has downloads in categories like artificial intelligence, functional programming and parallel computing.
84. Zillr: From graphics to Linux to Office to Cisco, you’ll find all kinds of computer and tech books here.
85. Tech Books for Free: From the web to computer programming to science, you’ll find all sorts of tech ebooks here.

Poetry
Find poetry ebooks and collections here.

86. everypoet.com: Read classic poetry on this site.
87. Greatest Poems: Here you will find a collection of 365 of the greatest poems ever written.
88. PoemHunter.com: Download poems in PDF format here.
89. Poetry: You’ll find poetry ebooks for download on this site.

Kids
Share these interactive ebook resources with young students.

90. International Children’s Digital Library: The ICDL is a colorful site devoted to children’s ebooks.
91. ebook88: On this site, there’s a Christmas Bookshelf, and plenty of other kids’ ebook links.
92. Children’s Storybooks Online: Find kids’ storybooks, home schooling materials, and more.
93. Tumble Books: This Tumble BookLibrary features fun, animated, talking picture books.
94. Raz-Kids.com: This is another interactive kids’ book site that helps kids learn to read.
95. Children’s Books Online: the Rosetta Project, Inc.: Here you’ll find loads of books and translations for kids.
96. Read.gov: From children’s classics to in-progress digital books, Read.gov has excellent ebook resources.
97. Storyline Online: The Screen Actors Guild Foundation presents Storyline Online with streaming videos of actors reading children’s books.

Miscellaneous
From social networking and ebooks to bundles of books, turn here.

98. Scribd: This ebook finder and social network shares what people are currently reading, and lets you upload your own book.
99. Diesel: Diesel has 500,000 ebook store downloads, including custom bundles, mobile downloads and some free titles.
100. eBooks.com: Get NYT bestsellers for $9.99 each, plus all kinds of academic ebooks, non-fiction and more.

State of the World’s Indigenous People

Source: United Nations

Indigenous peoples contribute extensibly to humanity’s cultural diversity, enriching it withmore than two thirds of its languages and an extrordinary amount of its traditional knowledge.

There are over 370 million indigenous people in some 90 countries, living in all regions of the world. The situation of indigenous peoples in many parts of the world is critical today.

Poverty rates are significantly higher among indigenous peoples compared to other groups. While they constitute 5 per cent of the world’s population, they are 15 per cent of the world’s poor. Most indicators of well-being show that indigenous peoples suffer disproportinately compared to non-indigenous peoples.

Indigenous peoples face systemic discrimination and exclusion from political and economic power; they continue to be over-represented among the poorest, the illiterate, the destitute; they are displaced by wars and environmental disasters; indigenous peoples are dispossessed of their ancestral lands and deprived of their resources for survival, both physical and cultural; they are even robbed of their very right to life.

In more modern versions of market exploitation, indigenous peoples see their traditional knowledge and cultural expressions marketed and patented without their consent or participation.

Of the some 7,000 languages today, it is estimated that more than 4,000 are spoken by indigenous peoples. Language specialists predict that up to 90 per cent of the world’s languages are likely to become extinct or threatened with extinction by the end of the century.

Full Report (PDF; 2.8 MB)

Codefest, IT-BHU

Event: Codefest

Organised by: Department of Computer Engineering, IT-BHU

Key dates:
Fest dates: Jan 25-Mar 21

Details: With immense pleasure we, on behalf of Department of Computer Engineering, IT-BHU, invite you to participate in Codefest, a completely Online technical festival, which is being organized by our department for the very first time from 25th January to 21st March, 2010. It includes exciting competitions on Application Development, Algorithms, Programming & Logic and Mathematics and is open for participation from students & professionals all over the globe.

Why should you participate?

* Easy to participate - As all the events are completely online, you can participate from anywhere & form teams with anyone round the globe. Besides, all the submissions will be through our website portals.
* Challenge yourself - All the questions will be new, challenging & fun-filled. Its a test of how wise your grey cells are.
* Learning Platform - Best solutions will be made available after each contest. All your doubts will be answered at our forum. Get to know about your short comings & discuss strategies to improve them.
* Enlarge your Technical Circle - Compete & get in touch with top programmers round the globe through discussion forums.
* Exciting Prizes - Lots of exciting prizes are to be won :). Details of prizes will be available soon on our website

Events:

* GumboRumble : Adobe sponsored 2 months long application development competition, where participants shall be using AIR2.0 SDK platform (Flash 10). Team of 2 members.
* Manthan : An algorithm intensive programming competition on the lines of ACM-ICPC, with 8-10 problems and time duration of 5 hours. Solutions can be submitted in 35 languages. Team of 3 members.
* Code Warrior : Test of overall aptitude and problem solving skills. The event comprises of problems on Puzzles, Algorithm Designing, Debugging & Programming. Submission time shall be 10 days. Team of 2 members.
* Perplexed! : C obscure Programming Competition, to get in-depth knowledge of C. Simple Programming Problems with constraints on the use of header files and tokens like semicolon, keywords (for, if, switch, etc). Event shall comprise of 6 – 8 Problems to be solved in time duration of 12 Hours. Team of 2 members.
* Mathmania: An event with Challenging Mathematical Problems as in Project Euler, comprising of 10 questions and time duration of 6 hours. Individual event.


Website: Click Here

Deemed Universities de-recognise count 44

The HRD ministry has decided to de-recognize as many as 44 "deemed universities", spelling uncertainty for nearly two lakh students who are enrolled with them. The ministry's decision amounts to an acknowlegement of irregularties in conferring the "deemed" tag to these institutions under the first UPA government in which Arjun Singh was the HRD minister.

 

The 44 "deemed" universities, including one promoted by I&B minister of state S Jagathrakshakan, three government-sponsored ones, and some in the NCR, such as Manav Rachna, Shobit and Santosh, are spread across the country. These deemed universities were found deficient on many grounds -- ranging from lack of infrastructure to lack of evidence of expertise in disciplines they claim to specialize in.

The big step, as reported first by TOI, was taken after clearance from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and is also an indictment of the manner in which the "deemed" status was doled out during the tenure of the last HRD minister, Arjun Singh. Although the list includes many that were given deemed status during Murli Manohar Joshi's time, the list of those red-pencilled indicates how during Arjun Singh's tenure, the "deemed" status was virtually up for grabs.

The HRD ministry emphasized that the affected students would be taken care of. The ministry's task force has recomended that institutions not found fit for deemed university status "revert to status quo ante as an affiliated college of the state university of jurisdiction so that students would be able to complete their ongoing courses and obtain degree from the affiliating university." Similarly, medical and dental colleges not found suitable can affiliate to state university or state medical university.

In case, the institution is unable to obtain affiliation, efforts would be made to facilitate the migration/re-enrolment of the affected students in other institutions. Doctoral students will have to re-register in affiliating universities and those in distance education should either go to IGNOU or state open universities. While these safeguards have been recommended, the students are nonetheless likely to go through a phase of uncertainty as they move from one university to another.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in the Viplav Sharma vs Union of India case, the HRD ministry said the review committee found only 38 institutes fit to have the deemed university status. Another 44 were found "deficient" in some aspects which need to be rectified over the next three years. With Supreme Court likely to approve HRD's action, it is unlikely that government will have to face any litigation.

These 44 deemed universities have 1,19,363 students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In addition, there are 2,124 students pursuing research at MPhil and PhD levels and another estimated 74,808 students pursuing distance education programmes. As many as 41 of the 44 deemed universities have several constitutent institutions under them, which would further swell the number of affected students.

Tamil Nadu has the distinction of having 16 of the 44 derecognized deemed universities, 15 of them private and one government-sponsored. Among those found undeserving of deemed status in Tamil Nadu is Bharath Institute of Higher Education & Research -- with six constituent institutions -- run by S Jagatharakshakan, MoS information & broadcasting.

Karnataka has six derecognized deemed universities; Uttar Pradesh four; Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Maharashtra three each; Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, one each. The three government-run institutions to be de-recognized are Nava Nalanda Mahavira in Bihar, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Tamil Nadu, and National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology, New Delhi.

The HRD ministry's review committee found following glaring omissions in case of 44 deemed universities:

* Undesirable management structure where families rather than professional academics controlled the functioning
* Several institutions had violated the principles and guidelines prescribing excellence in teaching and research and were engaged in introduction of thoughtless programmes
* Little evidence of noticeable efforts in case of emerging areas of knowledge
* Little evidence of commitment towards research
* Institutions increased their intake capacity disproportionately
* Undergraduate and post-graduate courses were fragmented with concocted nomenclatures
* Higher fee structure than prescribed