A good web site for parents & to be parents

www.indiaparenting.com

A very good page, to know all about children and every family should go through this page.

Can you imagine this happening in INDIA ?

Government of India has an online Grievance forum at
http://darpg-grievance.nic.in/
The government wants people to use this tool to highlight the problems
they faced while dealing with Government officials or departments like
Passport Office, Electricity board, BSNL/MTNL, Railways etc etc.

I know many people will say that these things don't work in India , but

this actually works as one of our colleague in CSC found. The guy I'm
talking about lives in Faridabad . Couple of months back, the Faridabad

Municipal Corporation laid new roads in his area and the residents were

very happy about it. But 2 weeks later, BSNL dug up the newly laid
roads to install new cables which annoyed all the residents including
this guy. But it was only this guy! Who used the above listed grievance
forum to highlight his concern. And to his surprise, BSNL and Municipal
Corporation of faridabad was served a show cause notice and the guy
received a copy of the notice in one week. Government has asked the MC
and BSNL about the goof up as it's clear that both the government
departments were not in sync at all.

So use this grievance forum and educate others who don't know about
this facility.
This way we can at least raise our concern! s instead of just talking
about the ' System' in India . Invite your friends to contribute for
many such happenings.

SPREAD THIS MESSAGE IF U WANT OUR INDIA TO CHANGE

My Thanks to Miss.Manokari Damodharan for sending this information.

To kind attn: IT people - is it right?

Use your credit card smartly

Traditionally, Indians have been quite averse to buying on credit. Don't look too far; just ask your dad if he purchased as much on credit, as you probably are now, thanks to your credit card. Your dad probably never owned a credit card and if he did, he probably preferred to use it only in emergencies. But that was in the past; among the many customs and trends that have undergone a change over the last few years in the country, credit card usage probably ranks very high.

Technically speaking, a credit card is an unsecured loan. This means that unlike a secured loan, which is advanced by a bank/financial institution against a security like property for instance, a credit card is offered without any security. In a secured loan, if the borrower fails to make good on his principal/interest commitment, the bank/institution can seize the security as compensation. In an unsecured loan like a credit card that is not possible. Hence banks take necessary steps to ensure that only those meeting certain parameters are qualified to use their credit card.

Without getting into how you can qualify for the credit card, let's understand how you must use your card once you have qualified for one. Credit cards have their pros and cons, which explains the good and bad that get reported about them. Not surprisingly, many of the negatives that get written about credit cards are related to expenses, hidden or otherwise, that the user did not know (or was not informed) at the time of opting for the card. To avoid distress at a later date, we have listed down some points that you must note while using the card:

1. Term and conditions
How many times have you read this before - read the terms and conditions carefully before signing up for anything. For every product you purchase or service you opt for, always read the terms and conditions and that includes credit cards. If you find anything in the terms and conditions of the credit card that was not conveyed to you or is contrary to what was conveyed to you, then seek a clarification from the bank. If you are not satisfied with the clarification, dump the card.

It's important that you read up on the terms and conditions before you use the card and not after. Once you use the card, it is assumed that you have read the terms and conditions and have accepted the same.

2. Annual fees
It is common for banks to waive off the annual fees/membership fees in the first year (cards are usually issued for at least two years). The second year fees are usually charged. It is possible that you are promised that the second year's fees will be waived off as well. The only way to find out is to check with the bank in the second year. It is possible that the bank may waive off the fees based on your track record of making timely payments. If the bank does not waive off the fees in the second year, you can cancel the card. However, if you wish to cancel the card in the second year ensure you do so before using it, because using the card indicates that you have agreed to pay the fees/charges for the second year's subscription.

3. Lifetime free cards
Offering 'lifetime free credit cards' is a relatively new trend in the credit card industry. While there was a time when most banks charged annual fees on their credit cards, the industry is graduating to a level where annual fees are being phased out. In effect, clients are being given lifetime free cards i.e. no annual fees are charged. However, its best to double-check with the bank what the executive has promised you about all annual fees being waived off.


4. Minimum payment
One detail you will find relatively well highlighted in your monthly account statement is the Minimum Payment Due. This is the minimum amount that you must pay for the purchases done in that month so as to not attract a penalty for default on payment of card dues. We would recommend that you pay the entire sum to the extent possible. Buying on a credit card is okay till the time you pay your bills religiously. The moment you carry forward your payment to the next monthly cycle, you will have to pay interest on the unpaid amount along with taxes. In the final analysis this turns out to be very expensive.

5. Payment by EMI
On the same lines, whenever you make a large purchase (usually over Rs 10,000, although the amount varies across banks) you may get an offer from the bank to opt for the EMI (equated monthly installment) facility to make the payment. This facility does not come cheap and the interest on the EMI is prohibitive. Again to the extent possible, we recommend that you make the payment before the due date in one go and give the EMI facility a miss.

6. Borrowing cash is expensive
Credit cards can be used for making purchases on credit as also for borrowing cash. While making purchases on your credit card (so long as you pay on time) is okay, borrowing cash on your credit card is a very expensive affair. Avoid borrowing cash on your card; use the card to the extent possible for making purchases.

7. Insurance benefit
Many credit cards are known to offer an insurance cover. We recommend that you ignore this benefit and go for the core offering - credit card. If the card has features that suit you, then you can opt for it even if there is no insurance cover. On the other hand, if the card features are not to your liking then reject it regardless of the insurance cover. In any case, on most occasions the insurance cover is usually linked with so many terms and conditions that it is very difficult to claim the same. It is altogether another thing that the insurance cover is unlikely to be sufficient for you.

No fresh taxes in Tamil Nadu Budget

No fresh taxes in Tamil Nadu Budget

Laced with a slew of tax concessions and proposals to increase the pace of industrialisation in the state, Tamil Nadu finance minister K Anbazhagan on Thursday, presented a populist Budget, which did not contain any fresh taxation proposals.

He also left uncovered a revenue deficit of Rs 2.19 crore, on the plea that it would be covered by better tax collections. In a bid to appease the women votersa, Anbazhagan waived the sales tax on magalsutras used by Hindus, Muslims and Christians. He also announced setting up of farmers self-help groups, in which members of primary agricultural co-operatives would be the members. Interest rate on farm loans have been slashed from 5% to 4%.

The minister announced a slash in the sales tax on several farmers’ produce like jatropha, jaggery and coconut products.

There is a waiver in special fee collected from students by government and government aided schools. He proposed to set up four special economic zones at Gangaikondan, Cheyyar, Perunthurai and Ranipet, each dedicated to transport engineering goods, automobile and auto spare parts, engineering goods and leather. He said the government proposed to disburse new crop loans to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore in 2008-09.

Tearful farewell to actor Raghuvaran

Renowned character actor Raghuvaran died here Wednesday after a week-long battle to survive a cardiac arrest. He was 49.

Leading lights of the film industry including Vijay, Surya and actor-politicians Sarath Kumar and Vijay Kant paid tearful homage to the actor, whose mortal remains were consigned to flames by his nine-year-old son Nanda.

His former wife and actor Rohini was inconsolable.

Honoured by the Tamil Nadu government with its premier 'Kalaimamani' award, the actor had carved a niche for himself by his method acting.

In a career spanning 26 years, Raghuvaran played hero, villain and character roles in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi movies rubbing shoulders with stars such as Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Sathyaraj, Mammooty and Mohanlal.

The distinctly different use of a cultured, baritone voice in a peculiarly slow, deliberate dialogue-delivery set Raghuvaran apart from the rest.

Noticed by critics immediately after his 1982 debut film 'Ezhavathu Manithan' (Seventh Man), Raghuvaran played hero briefly and developed into a well-established character actor.

'Raghu came up through struggle and dedication and was unique in everything he did,' said Sarath Kumar, president of the South Indian Film Artistes Association.

Salute to Sujatha - A Writer always in my mind

Sujatha ( S. Rangarajan ). May 3, 1935 - Feb 27, 2008

He was one of the most inspiring and influential Tamil writers I've known till date. He was known to be the person who made Science and technology meet common people through his science fiction novels and short stories. A versatile writer and an engineer by profession, not many know that he was also the classmate of A.P.J. Adbul Kalam in college. He was also the key person behind Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) which is now used in elections throughout India.

His association with Mani Ratnam and Shankar gave us some amazing movies such as Roja, Iruvar, Kannathil Muthamittal, Aayitha Ezhuththu, Boys, Anniyan, Indian, Mudhalvan, and Sivaji. I was keenly waiting to witness his work in Shankar's Robot, as that was his forte, Science fiction genre. Its just shocking to know that he's no more.

Sujatha...You'll be deeply missed.....

LIFE HISTORY OF SUJATHA:

He was born at May 3rd 1935. He completed his schooling at Srirangam Men's Higher Secondary School. He completed B.Sc.,Physics at St.Joseph College - Trichy. Then he completed Electronic Engineering at M.I.T Chennai. Eventhough he was an expert in the field of computers he was recognised by his stories having a scientific touch. He involved himself into the film industry and wrote story and screenply for Kamal's film Vikram. Afterthat together with Shankar, Manirathnam and many other directors his contributions speaks about his name. He was attracted by eveyone once again through Shivaji film. He has won many awards like KALAIMAMANI. He has written more than 100 novels and morethan 200 short stories. His investigation novel become popular because of his characters Ganesh-Vasanth in the novel. Srirangathu Devathaigal was also one of his famous work.

My contripution for Women's Day

For millennia, women have left their mark on the world, at times changing the course of history and at other times influencing small but significant spheres of life. Only in the past century, however, have concerted efforts been made to represent women's contributions more fully in history books. Consequently, changes in status for many women in modern times—the right to own property, to vote, and to choose their own careers—may obscure the accomplishments made by women of earlier eras. In profiling 300 women who changed the world, Encyclopædia Britannica has chosen those whose contributions have endured through the ages.

Some, though they lived centuries ago, are still alive in popular culture; music and poetry by the Roman Catholic abbess Hildegard can be heard in contemporary recordings, and Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji is one of the greatest works of Japanese literature. Many women overcame the oppression of their surroundings through determination and ingenuity: Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and risked her life helping others to freedom. Other women grew up in privileged surroundings; the philosopher and mathematician Hypatia and the historian Ban Zhao were born to families that permitted the education of girls in an era when females were rarely even taught to read.

Not all of these women changed the world for the good. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl produced propaganda films that glorified Adolf Hitler's brutal Third Reich. Many suffered through the deeds of Jiang Qing, who fought bitterly to advance her own political powers during China's Cultural Revolution.

Some were warriors such as Boudicca, who led a bloody rebellion against the Romans. Others advocated peace: Bertha, baroness von Suttner, influenced the creation of the Nobel Peace Prize that would eventually be won by many women, including Wangari Maathai and Mother Teresa. Like Mother Teresa, many were driven by religious conviction. Khadijah's belief in her husband Muhammad's revelations helped lay the foundation of Islam. Joan of Arc's divine inspiration led the French in a decisive victory against the English. Her feats were celebrated by the poet Christine de Pisan, who also penned some of the earliest commentaries on women's roles in society.

Learn about 300 women who changed the world—review their accomplishments, locate their birthplaces, and discover the eras in which they lived. The women's topics portray significant issues and dates, such as feminism and Mother's Day. The timeline tells a general story of women's achievements over the course of human history.

Who ruined INDIA and Why we are hating them

Submitted by John M. (United States), Jan 27, 2006 at 17:18
Nuray, if west allows most muslims will move to your hated kafir land.
Yes all muslims say they came here temporarily. They come here like you, live here, take full advantages and yet hate the people and the system and hope to convert them to islam and bring sharia laws.
You want to read more about muslim attrocities in India? Read on:

Will Durant, the famous historian summed it up like this:
"The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex of order and freedom, culture and peace, can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within."

Koenraad Elst , the dutch historian writes in "Negation in India"

The Muslim conquests, down to the 16th century, were for the Hindus a pure struggle of life and death. Entire cities were burnt down and the populations massacred, with hundreds of thousands killed in every campaign, and similar numbers deported as slaves. Every new invader made (often literally) his hills of Hindus skulls. Thus, the conquest of Afghanistan in the year 1000 was followed by the annihilation of the Hindu population; the region is still called the Hindu Kush, i.e. Hindu slaughter. The Bahmani sultans (1347-1480) in central India made it a rule to kill 100,000 captives in a single day, and many more on other occasions. The conquest of the Vijayanagar empire in 1564 left the capital plus large areas of Karnataka depopulated. And so on.

As a contribution to research on the quantity of the Islamic crimes against humanity, we may mention that the Indian (subcontinent) population decreased by 80 million between 1000 (conquest of Afghanistan) and 1525 (end of Delhi Sultanate)..

But the Indian Pagans were far too numerous and never fully surrendered. What some call the Muslim period in Indian history, was in reality a continuous war of occupiers against resisters, in which the Muslim rulers were finally defeated in the 18th century. Against these rebellious Pagans the Muslim rulers preferred to avoid total confrontation, and to accept the compromise which the (in India dominant) Hanifite school of Islamic law made possible. Alone among the four Islamic law schools, the school of Hanifa gave Muslim rulers the right not to offer the Pagans the sole choice between death and conversion, but to allow them toleration as zimmis (protected ones) living under 20 humiliating conditions, and to collect the jizya (toleration tax) from them. Normally the zimmi status was only open to Jews and Christians (and even that concession was condemned by jurists of the Hanbalite school like lbn Taymiya), which explains why these communities have survived in Muslim countries while most other religions have not. On these conditions some of the higher Hindu castes could be found willing to collaborate, so that a more or less stable polity could be set up. Even then, the collaboration of the Rajputs with the Moghul rulers, or of the Kayasthas with the Nawab dynasty, one became a smooth arrangement when enlightened rulers like Akbar (whom orthodox Muslims consider an apostate) cancelled these humiliating conditions and the jizya tax.

It is because of Hanifite law that many Muslim rulers in India considered themselves exempted from the duty to continue the genocide on the Hindus (self-exemption for which they were persistently reprimanded by their mullahs). Moreover, the Turkish and Afghan invaders also fought each other, so they often had to ally themselves with accursed unbelievers against fellow Muslims. After the conquests, Islamic occupation gradually lost its character of a total campaign to destroy the Pagans. Many Muslim rulers preferred to enjoy the revenue from stable and prosperous kingdoms, and were content to extract the jizya tax, and to limit their conversion effort to material incentives and support to the missionary campaigns of sufis and mullahs (in fact, for less zealous rulers, the jizya was an incentive to discourage conversions, as these would mean a loss of revenue).

Who is the person for the main cause to make INDIA under British regime

It is only because of Nadir Shah's Invasion(1738-1739)
Babar was the first of the Mughals to invade India in 1521, and seize power at Delhi by defeating the army of the Lodhi Sultan Ibrahim at Panipat in 1526. towards December 1719, Mohammed Shah Rangila was placed on the throne inspite of the protestations of his widowed mother. Power slowly passed from the hands of the Sayad brothers into the hands of Mohammed Amin Khan. He died in 1721 and was replaced hy his son Qamar-ud-din Khan. Mohammed Shah remained an Emperor in name only till his death in 1748. During all these years Afghanistan (then known as Kabul) had heen a part of the Mughal Kingdom, and at the time of Mohammed Shah it was under Governor Nasir Khan. This man's control over his province was as weak as that of the Delhi Emperor. There was hardly any collection of state revenues. The soldiers had not been paid for several years, which in fact was happening in Delhi too.

Such conditions of unrest and frustration provided an energetic outsider like Nadir Shah a golden opportunity to seize power. A son of a poor shepherd in Khurasan, a province of Iran, Nadir had joined a robber band when he was still a boy. He grew up to be its leader at about the time in 1717, when the Afghans occupied Khurasan and later the capital of Iran. Nadir's patriotic zeal was roused and he rallied a strong band of horsemen who helped him regain Khurasan. By 1725, he had hecome a national hero, who drove the Afghans out of Iran, and who hecame a sort of regent with a boy of the royal family as King of Iran In 1736, when the boy King died, Nadir assumed the title of Emperor of Iran.

The Afghans had invaded Iran several times, and to avenge these raids, Nadir Shah advanced upon Ghazni and then Kabul, both of which were occupied in May, 1738. The Governor Nasir Khan was then in Peshawar. As Nadir Shah rode out towards the Khyher Pass in November 1738, Nasir tried to block his passage with a force of 20,000 ill trained Afghans, who were just no match for the fierce Khurasani horsemen. By December 1738, Nadir Shah had crossed the river Indus, and the lush plains of the Punjah stretched before him, literally beckoning him on. Zakaria Khan had made frantic requests for aid from Delhi, but without success. When he himself came out to oppose the invaders at the hanks of the river Ravi, his army was just brushed aside (January, 1739).

Nadir Shah was an able general and a wise administrator but insane criminal. His band of soldiers would aptly be called freebooters, rapists and looters. Atrocities were committed on Punjabi Muslims and Hindus alike. Then, He accepted a gift of two million rupees and retained Zakaria Khan as his governor at Lahore. He took as hostages a son of Zakaria and a son of the minister Lakhpat Rai, and thus secure against revolt, he proceeded towards Delhi. As his whole army was on horseback, his advance was rapid. Leaving Lahore on the 26th January, he reached Sirhind on the 1st February, Ambala on the 7th, and Karnal on the 12th Fehruary. The Delhi army had been alerted in Novemher on the fall of Kabul. The generals dragged their feet in moving out of Delhi. Every fresh report of Nadir s advance struck terror into them. They took two months to move their large army and their heavy guns up to Karnal, a distance of 75 miles. Here, they decided to give battle. They heavily outnumbered the attackers, but had no discipline and hardly any heart for a fight. On the 13th February, 1739, within three hours they had lost, over 20,000 killed or wounded, and the rest just scattered in all directions.

Nadir Shah entered Delhi as a victor on 9th March, 1739. He demanded 2.5 million Rupees as retribution, but the Rangila Emperor had nothing in his government treasury. He threw open his personal safe of jewels, and Nadir availed himself of all the diamonds and rubies of the Peacock Throne, and also the famous Koh-i-noor.

He left Delhi at the beginning of May 1739, taking with him a few thousand Indian girls (both Hindu and Muslim), a large number of boys as slaves and thousands of elephants, horses and camels loaded with the booty his men had collected. The hollow shell that made up the Mughal empire had been smashed open by Nadir Shah with one sweep, and the Sikhs quickly moved in to collect the broken pieces.

During his stay at Delhi, the Sikhs had come out of their jungle retreats and had no difficulty in looting all the Mughal posts at countryside from the river Chenab to the areas around Karnal. Zakaria Khan's police forces were too demoralised to offer resistance. So Nadir's arrival was most opportune for the Sikhs in the replenishment of their depleted stores. Again when people learnt about his departure from Delhi, the rich landlords and noblemen promptly evacuated the cities and headed for the hills as they could not trust Mughals for their security anymore. Mohmmad Shah Rangila was a bad administrator, all his croonies had looted the rich landlors and elite after Nadir Shah left to fill up the coffers of Mughal kingdom.

Meahwhile, The Khalsa bands got together and passed a resolution: "Nadir Shah must deliver a part of the booty he was carrying away from Delhi." Nadir, on the other hand, felt that his reputation was a sufficient deterrent to anyone attacking him on the way. He had chosen the route along the foothills of the northern mountains to escape the heat of the plains. His baggage train being heavy-laden, lagged well behind his main force, and it was quite a shock for him to hear on reaching Akhnoor by the river Chenab, that all his slaves had been freed by Sikh bands, who had also seized a large share of his gold. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia who had just turned 21, showed a glimpse of his greatness as a leader by planning those raids, and by escorting the freed maidens to responsible homes from where they could return to their families.

Zakaria Khan had accompanied Nadir Shah to Akhnoor, and Nadir asked Zakaria Khan who those Sikhs were. On being told that they were all bands of poor sadhus, without clothing or riches, he asked;

"Then why don't you burn their houses down to punish them ?"

To that Zakaria replied,

"Their only homes are the saddles of their horses. They can last long
periods without food and rest. They are known to sleep on horseback.
We have put prizes on their heads, but their numbers keep increasing.
They are never despondent, but are always singing the songs of their Pirs."

With a sigh, Nadir admitted that in that case the Sikhs would one day rule the land. Then he obtained a promise of a tribute of 2 million Rupees annually from Lahore, and confirmed the appointment of Zakaria Khan at Lahore and of his son Shah Nawaz Khan at Multan (where Abdus Samad Khan had just died).

With the departure of Nadir Shah, Zakaria Khan took stock of his household and saw it all in ruins. He decided to take full revenge on the Sikhs for all his misfortunes.