Living Diagonally In My Parallel World!

Near the Prince's Island View from IBM office on 11th AVE SW Outside McKnight train station Enroute to North East for Indian groceries! Pedestrian bridge at the Prince's Island Park A canopy overlooking the Bow River Jogging track in the Prince's Island Park Jogging track in the Prince's Island Park The Bow river - completely frozen! Park benches City skyline as seen from the Park Another view Memorial

Interestingly, just as I had completed writing this blog I got a mail with two questions - What is the likely impact of the low oil prices on the Oil sands companies? Which will lead to another question . What can we all do, in our own small ways in IT , to help reduce impact? So I have added a paragraph trying to mention how IT can contribute. Impact of Low Oil Prices Generally low oil prices means less expenses and lower inflation. But how would it impact various countries? I have also tried to find the answer to this question. I was trying to co-relate the impact it would have on the Canadian dollar. When I landed in Calgary the CAD was trading at Rs.40.65 , now it is Rs.38.34. From what I have been reading in the media the oil price is expected to dip to USD35 by the last week of December '08, but is expected to recover to upto USD50 in February. Now that the oil prices have dipped there are bound to be some who will benefit and some losers. The ones to benefit- Based on the da...

काही उत्तम मराठी कविता सुधीर मोघे न्हाउनिया उभी मी सुकवीत केस ओले वेड्या मुशाफिराने त्याचेच गीत केले अवकाश भारलेला, माझे मला न भान अनिवार एक होती, ओठावरी तहान खासाचिया लयीत संगीत पेरलेले वेड्या मुशाफिराने त्याचेच गीत केले साधून हीच वेळ आला कोठून वारा सुखवीत फूल त्याने लुटला पराग सारा मग होई चंदनाचे अस्तित्व तापलेले वेड्या मुशाफिराने त्याचेच गीत केले दाही दिशात तेव्हा आली भरूनी तृप्ति अंगांग तेवणारी होई निवांत ज्योति येई न सांगता जे असे घडून गेले वेड्या मुशाफिराने त्याचेच गीत केले

यशवंतराव चव्हाण ---- १ मे १९६० ते १९ नोव्हेंबर १९६२ --------(केंद्रात संरक्षणमंत्री झाल्याने राजीनामा). मारोतराव कन्नमवार -- २० नोव्हेंबर १९६२ ते २४ नोव्हेंबर १९६३ -(निधन). पी. के. सावंत (हंगामी) - २४ नोव्हेंबर १९६३ ते ५ डिसेंबर १९६३. वसंतराव नाईक ------- ५ डिसेंबर १९६३ ते २० फेब्रुवारी १९७५ --(राजीनामा). शंकरराव चव्हाण ------ २१ फेब्रुवारी १९७५ ते १७ मे १९७७ -----(राजीनामा). वसंतदादा पाटील ------ १७ मे १९७७ ते ५ मार्च १९७८ ---------(विधानसभा मुदत संपली). वसंतदादा पाटील ------ ५ मार्च १९७८ ते १८ जुलै १९७८ --------(राजीनामा). शरद पवार - ----------१८ जुलै १९७८ ते १७ फेब्रुवारी १९८० -----(केंद्राकडून राज्य सरकार पदच्युत). राष्ट्रपती राजवट ------- १७ फेब्रुवारी १९८० ते ९ जून १९८०. ए. आर. अंतुले -------- ९ जून १९८० ते १२ जानेवारी १९८२ ------(राजीनामा). बाबासाहेब भोसले ----- २१ जानेवारी १९८२ ते १ फेब्रुवारी १९८३ ---(राजीनामा). वसंतदादा पाटील ------ २ फेब्रुवारी १९८३ ते ९ मार्च १९८५ -------(विधानसभा मुदत संपली). वसंतदादा पाटील -------१० मार्च १९८५ ते १ ...

Anguish of The Useless Common Man We take pride in saying that we have lost two prime ministers to terrorism. When are we going to stop highlighting our failures as our bravery? It is more than 48 hours since the attack on Mumbai is over. I am still coming to accept the fact that my country is under attack is real. It is a sick feeling to know that a handful of persons between the ages of 20-25 can hold a country to ransom. Not being in India made me feel hopelessly insecure for all my dear ones. And watching the Indian news channels heightens the helplessness even more. I am just trying to put my anguish on paper as the news starts coming as to why the elite National Security Guards (NSG's) took so long to begin their action. Here is a sequence of events as they appeared in almost all the Indian newspapers - 9.30 pm The terrorists struck Mumbai. CM Vilasrao Deshmukh was in Kerala. He was reached and briefed about the attacks on prime locations of the city. 10.15 pm Deshmukh grasp...

There are some songs which we like a lot. Sometimes there is just one line in the song that instant appeals. Many times we feel that old songs had good lyrics, but there are some "new" songs too with good lyrics and the feel is not restricted to romance. यही वो जगह है - यह रात फिर न आएगी This is one of the songs that I had first heard when I was a kid. Though I failed to understand the meaning then, the tune and the sax remained with me. Some years went by, I had almost forgotten it and then I heard it again a few years back on TV when it was sung by Abhijeet as a tribute to Asha Bhosle. Incidentally, as a kid I had always wished that TV should only play songs. There was only one channel in those days and it had songs played in a half hour slot on Thursday nights only! It may sound preposterous but that was the situation in the socialist India of those times! After so many years the wish to have an exclusive channel for music was fulfilled but now the music channels ...

YES, I am आठवी पास! I got 9 out of 10 correct. Click on the picture if you too want to take the quiz.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) EVERY bank in India has to maintain at the close of business every day, a minimum proportion of their net demand and time liabilities as liquid assets in the form of cash, gold and un-encumbered approved securities. The ratio of liquid assets to demand and time liabilities is known as Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR). In simple words, it is the percentage of total deposits banks have to invest in government bonds and other approved securities. A SLR bond also qualifies for the portfolio maintained by banks to meet the liquidity requirement. RBI in November cut the SLR for banks by one percentage point and it now stands at 24%. What is the difference between SLR and CRR? What SLR does is it restricts the bank’s leverage in pumping more money into the economy. On the other hand, CRR, or cash reserve ratio, is the portion of deposits that the banks have to maintain with the RBI. Higher the ratio, the lower is the amount that banks will be able to use for len...

The gross domestic product (GDP) is one the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country's economy. It represents the total value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period. Usually, GDP is expressed as a comparison to the previous quarter or year. For example, if the year-to-year GDP is up 1%, this is thought to mean that the economy has grown by 1% over the last year. Calculating the GDP is pretty complicated but on a very simplistic level calculation can be done in one of two ways: Either by adding up what everyone earned in a year (income approach), or By adding up what everyone spent (expenditure method). Logically, both measures should arrive at roughly the same total. The income approach, which is sometimes referred to as GDP(I), is calculated by adding up total compensation to employees, gross profits for incorporated and non incorporated firms, and taxes less any subsidies. The expenditure method is the more common approach and is calculated...

What is Repo Rate? The repo rate is simply the annualised interest rate at which banks borrow money from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over a short term. This is generally seen as a way of tiding over a short-term liquidity crunch that is experienced by banks. Repo technically stands for the word repurchase agreement . Most banks generally have a certain amount of government bonds or securities in their possession. When banks are in need for money they borrow money from the RBI using these government bonds or securities as a collateral. There is however the assurance that the bank will recover these later when the borrowed money is returned. The cost of this transaction takes the form of the repo rate. The repo rate is dependent on factors such as the credit worthiness of the borrower, how liquid the collateral is and the rates of other money market instruments. What is reverse repo? The word reverse repo generally accompanies most definitions of repo and is generally considered t...

These are not in any particular sequence आ गले लग जा - तेरा मुझसे है पहले का नाता कोई आँधी - तेरे बिना जिंदगीसे कोई शिकवा तो नही आँधी - इस मोडसे जाते हैं अभिमान - तेरी बिंदिया रे अभिमान - अब तो है तुमसे आपकी कसम - ज़िन्दगी के सफरमें अखियोंके झरोखोंसे - अखियोंके झरोखोंसे बालिका बधू - बड़े अच्छे लगते हैं बड़े दिलवाला - कही ना जा बड़े दिलवाला - तुझमें क्या है दीवाने बड़े दिलवाला - जीवन के दिन भंवर - रंग ले आयेंगे भंवर - आखें मिलायेंगे चोर पुलिस - तुमसे मिलके ज़िन्दगी दीवार - I am fallin' in love with a stranger घर - आपकी आंखोंमें कुछ घर - आजकल पाव ज़मिपर नही पड़ते घर - तेरे बिना जिया जाए ना हरजाई - तेरे लिए पलकोंकी झालर बुनू हवस - तेरी गलियोंमें इजाज़त - मेरा कुछ सामन इजाज़त - कतरा कतरा मिलती है इजाज़त - छोटी सी कहानीसे जब we met - तुमसे ही जब we met - ये इश्क हाय जब we met - नगाडा नगाडा जब we met - मौजा ही मौजा Johnny गद्दार - move your body जीवा - रोज़ रोज़ आंखों तले जीवा - दिल ...

A very good article from the 2nd November 2008 Sunday Times of India by Gurcharan Das. Among all the things that are going wrong, here is sign that says - यही तो हिंदुस्तान ज़िंदा है! Kudos to the Indian Government for thinking about such a scheme. The health scenario for the poor will improve dramatically if this scheme is really implemented properly. Nothing causes as much anxiety in a family as when someone falls sick. Nearly 65% of India’s poor get into debt and 1% fall below the poverty line each year because of illness, according to National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) 2004. The answer, of course, is health insurance, but only 6% of India’s workers have it. Free public hospitals are not an option as two out of five doctors are absent, and there is a 50% chance of receiving the wrong treatment, according Jishnu Das and Jeffrey Hammer’s study. This tragic state of affairs is, however, set to change dramatically with Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) , a visionary national ...

A very good story that I read on Pranav's blo g Two monks, Tanzan and Ekido, were once traveling together down a muddy road in a heavy rain. Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross a large mud puddle stretching across the road. "Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud. Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple, then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females", he told Tanzan, "especially not young, lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?" "I left the girl there", said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?" .... Good one. It speaks about the useless baggage that we carry in our mind which more often than not makes life less exciting. Easy to preach but tough to practise.

What Is Short-Selling? There are two kinds of short-selling. In the spot market, Party A will borrow shares from Party B and sell them in the market. ‘A’ will then buy an equivalent number of shares and return them — known as giving delivery— to ‘B’ How Do They Make Money? Let’s say Party A borrows shares when they are quoting at Rs 130 each and sells them at Rs 120. Suppose the scrip price drops to Rs 80, ‘A’ can now buy back the shares at that level. He returns the shares to ‘B’ along with a lender’s fee, and pockets the difference. But he runs the risk of incurring a loss if the share price rises instead of falling Futures Market Party A sells shares to Party B without owning the share. This is known as naked short-selling. ‘A’ simply has to deposit a margin, which could range from 8%-30% of the share price. Later, he can buy the share and ‘square the position’ before the last Thursday of the month. He can roll over his position for three months. Short-selling thus puts pressure on ...

माझ्या लहानपणीची दिवाळी सध्या इथे कॅल्गरी मधे Halloween चे वातावरण आहे . सर्व दुकानांमधे Halloween चे पोशाख , sweets आणि इतर खाद्य पदार्थांची लयलूट सुरू आहे . तिथे भारतात दिवाळी सुरू असेल . लहानपणी आम्ही मूले दिवाळीची खूप आतुर तेने वाट पहात असायचो . आमचे मनसूबे तयार होऊ लागायचे terminal exam पासून . शेवटचा पेपर दिला की वाटायचे ," Yes ! I am now ready for Diwali ." मात्र आमच्या teachers चे टार्गेट वेगळे असल्यामुळे ते आम्हाला Vacation Homework किंवा P roject द्यायचे . मग मनाशी आम्ही आमचे टार्गेट fix करायचो की homework / project शेवटच्या चार दिवसात करू . एकदा हे नक्की ज़ाले की मस्त वाटायचे . Now I was ready for Diwali . दिवाळी मधे नवीन कपडे आणि फटाके याचे मोठे glamour असायचे . मित्रांच्या Social networking मधून समजायचे की यंदा नवीन फटाके कुठले आहेत . मग आम्ही एक लिस्ट तयार करत असू . कुठल्याप्रकारचे किती फटाके घ्यायचे ते . मग ती लिस्ट आई कडे द्यायचो . दोन ...