Krishnan's weblog – an assortment of things. A scribble pad. A hybrid microblog. Mostly bread crumbs of an internet journey.
Today, I am having an hour to kill at the new NewDelhi Airport. When I booted my laptop, my laptop detected two networks. But when I connected to either, internet connection didn’t happen by default.
Airtel’s network requires you to carry a mobile phone. When you start your browser it prompts you for a mobile number. The username and password are sent by SMS. You will need these login credentials to access the internet.
I’m done. I can kill the hour now. But I wonder if this would work for international passengers.
The US Department of Agriculture recently announced “BioPreferred : A Biobased product consumer label rule”
In principle, this is just a small step that helps the consumers make an educated choice towards consuming a product that can be sustainably produced. The idea is as simple as the red dot and green dot on the food products that help us differentiate the non vegetarian products from the vegetarian. It is a step in the right direction that puts more responsibility in the hands of the consumer.
The USDA announcement outlines the power that lies in this little idea whose time has come:
“Increasing the purchase and use of biobased products is a priority of the Obama Administration because it helps increase our nation’s energy security and independence by using American agricultural products, while spurring economic development in rural areas. Consumers want to make more informed product choice decisions and BioPreferred will help them. This label will help consumers, businesses and Federal government purchasers easily identify biobased products.”
Now, if I dont see a BioPreferred label on a pack in the supermarket rack today, I know I cant find that product on shelves if the oil/commodity prices go up in future. If every one insists on buying stuff that has BioPreferred labelling, soon manufacturers would be forced to resort to sustainable means.
It is ironical that at the beginning of 21st century our focus is shifting from industrialization back to agriculture. Nevertheless, I think the USDA has set an example for the rest of the world to emulate.
In a country like India which feeds over a billion mouths every day, the ability to see what is sustainable will make a whole lot of difference. I am hoping that the Indian Government is watching such changes happening else where and acting on it.
I stumbled upon this post titled Fiction Fragment: At the wedding that Neha Vishwanathan wrote:
She writes :
“A sudden flash of memory. Standing in the assembly, roasting in the
summer sun. Uniforms being checked. One arm distance from the person
ahead of her in the line. Reciting the national pledge together. India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters.
It makes her want to throw up. She didn’t know what was more revolting. The idea of state-sponsored incest or the thought that all the awful people she was in the midst of were somehow related to her.”
Her blog seems to be written out of London and there is no ambiguity in what she has to say.
If I meet her some time, I’d like to ask her if her parents were Indians – and if they were, what would that make her.
At least in India, I believe you cannot do something that would be a direct insult to a national symbol. If she were in India, I would have liked to listen to her in the court of law, the explanation she would have to offer on what prompted her to write what she wrote.
Sadly, she even has an Indian audience which doesn’t seem to understand that it is not right to insult a country’s sentiment.
It has always made me sad to see people who were born in India, who in their early years profit from the family and education system here and then leave this country to make a fortune else where. Some of them are senseless enough to think that sitting in a foreign land makes them invincible and they can get away by parting with their wisdom of why the Indian system sucks irrespective of how other Indians feel about it.
If Neha were educated in India, I’m sure she must have known that its not funny to make fun of the National Pledge, and I’d really like to see an apology from her.
Today was my first day at the new fitplaza gym.
Today I also made my first visit to Ambi mall, which is supposedly the largest mall in India. I found Reliance Trends to be very interesting – excellent value for money.
One man cannot cause global warming. The globe is warmer now because over several decades , its people have continued to do things that have consumed energy. Cutting down unnecessary energy consumption is the first step to slow down the process. Here is a quick check list that applies in the Indian scenario.
Please print this and paste this in a place so that it hits the eye often.
I was surprised when this landed in my e-mail. An excellent collection of 20 odd pictures of old Indian currency. The star is the 10,000 rupee note!
This email claims that the first set of British India notes were the ‘Victoria Portrait’ Series issued in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000. These were unifaced, carried two language panels and were printed on hand-moulded paper manufactured at the Laverstock Paper Mills (Portals). The security features incorporated the watermark (GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, RUPEES, two signatures and wavy lines), the printed signature and the registration of the notes.
Rupees Ten
Rupees Hundered
British India Notes facilitated inter-spatial transfer of funds. As a security precaution, notes were cut in half. One set was sent by post. On confirmation of receipt, the other half was despatched by post.
Half note
This series remained largely unchanged till the introduction of the ‘King’s Portrait’ series which commenced in 1923.
Green Underprint – Rupees Five Hundred
Green Underprint – Rupees Five
Red Underprint – Rupees Fifty
Small Denomination Notes
The introduction of small denomination notes in India was essentially in the realm of the exigent. Compulsions of the first World War led to the introduction of paper currency of small denominations. Rupee One was introduced on 30th November, 1917 followed by the exotic Rupees Two and Annas Eight. The issuance of these notes was discontinued on 1st January, 1926 on cost benefit considerations. These notes first carried the portrait of King George V and were the precursors of the ‘King’s Portrait’ Series which were to follow.
Rupee One – Obverse
Rupee One -Reverse
Rupees Two and Annas Eight – Obverse
King’s Portrait Series
Regular issues of this Series carrying the portrait of George V were introduced in May, 1923 on a Ten Rupee Note. The King’s Portrait Motif continued as an integral feature of all Paper Money issues of British India. Government of India continued to issue currency notes till 1935 when the Reserve Bank of India took over the functions of the Controller of Currency. These notes were issued in denominations of Rs 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 10,000.
Rupees Fifty
Rupees One Thousand
Rupees Ten Thousand
The Bank’s issues to January 1938 when the first Five Rupee note was issued bearing the portrait of George VI.
Rupees Five – First Note issued by Reserve Bank of India
This was followed by Rs 10 in February, Rs 100 in March and Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 in June 1938.
Rupees One Hundred
Rupees One Thousand
Rupees Ten Thousand
In August 1940, the one-rupee note was reintroduced, once again as a war time measure, as a Government note with the status of a rupee coin,
Rupee One Obverse
Rupee One Reverse
Rupees Two
As an added security feature, the security thread was introduced for the first time in India.
George VI Profile
George VI Frontal
The George VI series continued till 1947 and thereafter as a frozen series till 1950 when post independence notes were issued.
Receiving marketing calls on your mobile phone is getting very frequent and unpleasant nowadays. I heard from a friend that there is a DONOTCALL page in most of the banks. Once you register, you can avoid those nagging calls from various banks. I guess it works!
Here are the links to the DONOTCALL pages of various banks
ICICI:
http://www.inuonline.com/dnc/donotcall.asp
HDFC:
http://www.hdfc.com/donotcallform.asp
HDFC Bank:
https://www.hdfcbank.com/applications/misc/dnc/dnc.htm
HSBC:
https://www.tools.asiapacific.hsbc.com/webform/apply?id=in+donotcall
CitiBank India:
http://www.online.citibank.co.in/ngrhtm/custhmdnd.htm
Standard Chartered:
https://play.standardchartered.com/smail/in/IN15/index.html
ABN Amro:
http://mail.abnamrobank.co.in/creditcard/do_not_call_servicemail_cc.asp
SBI:
http://www.sbicard.com/sbi/donotcall.jsp
Canara:
http://www.canbankindia.com/personal/card/faircard/faircard-main.htm
Tags: Banks, DONOTCALL, Marketing calls
The IITs have taken up an initiative of starting online teaching and thus have started offering course materials online for every engineering stream. Many professors from all the IITs have provided course materials for each chapter and each subject.
One has to register at the link provided below and can access the course material. Every Chapter has been described with diagrams and charts. Please spread this message to everyone, as many can benefit from this program taken up by the government and IIT.
This is just a trial period going on and hence I request everyone to register at the link given.
1] Go to http://nptel. iitm.ac.in
2] Click on Courses
3] Sign up as a NEW USER
4] And one can access any course material.
Please spread the word, so that this initiative benefits as many students as possible.
What can you do to reduce plastic usage?
Learning Daily is a personal blog that is just as random as my thoughts. The navigation bar at the top and the search box may be the only things that will help you find something.
My present interests lie in sustainability, peak oil, debian, Web after 2.0, creativity and epistemology. I learn daily. I learn about everything under the sun and even those beyond it. I am a perpetual student whose believes that wisdom is the real reward for learning.