Personal Weblog of Deepak Vasudevan

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) -- What is all that about? Flip through any of the newspapers or click any news website that would definitely get devoted a page on this Bird Flu, which is scientifically known as Avian Influenza . Perhaps sometime back, even computer viruses were spreading using this Bird Flu name. Is'nt it? What is all this about? Let us know background about this and inform others to stay immune and safeguard our society. Definition  It is a highly contagious viral infection which can affect all species of birds and can manifest itself in different ways depending mainly on the pathogenicity of the virus involved and on the species affected. Wild birds were found with virus infections but they have the inbuilt resistant to survive them however domesticated birds often succumb to these infections. For more information about Avian Influenza , check out CDC Website from here .

Mobile Phone -- When and When not to use... [Part II] Sometime back we were discussing over here  about some good and bad practices that we need to observe while using Mobile Phones to make it best communication partners. Perhaps for the past one week, as I watch the Television and also a couple of new hoardings at vantage points in the city of Chennai has come up, courtesy Hutchison Essar , in a supporting vien to this argument. Perhaps, this Part II discussion is an earnest and humble step to share these good thoughts that the Hutch Network operator is trying to spread for the benefit of all users. To take it further interesting,  Hutch has also dedicated a page in thier website for Mobile Etiquette . The significant ones that are being discussed in the advertisement are: A word before any picture. Ask for permission before you take anyone's picture on your mobile phone. A little kid in the ad would throw the mobile down on the floor with much force. " Ali baba an...

Chennai City Transport Corporation on the Web Thanks to the technology initiatives of  Government of Tamil Nadu , now anyone can get easy information on the various bus (public transport) routes, facilites, timings and tariffs on the website. Click on to the Metropolitan Transport Corporation website to know more. Chennai, had been recieving complains on poor information network by outsiders and hence because of that they were fleeced by autorickshaw drivers. Now, I think, with this initiative by Government of Tamil Nadu, it would be a great help to anyone in Chennai and visiting Chennai.

Telecommunications -- Within Easy Reach for Every Indian At this instance, we need to extend our heart-felt congratulations and wishes to our Hon'ble Minister Dayanidhi Maran , for his next laudable effort in bringing in a cheaper and a singly charged long distance telephony in India. Starting March 1, the state-owned BSNL takes pride in rolling out this prestigious service . Media reports and websites forecast that shortly other operators may emulate this for competition but there has'nt been any dates or announcements by other operators hitherto. BSNL claims that with this novel scheme, the much scared long distance which is called as STD ( S ubscriber T runk D ialling) may soon be an history. Quite interestingly, the CDMA-based telecommunications Carrier, Reliance has also brought in a scheme called One-India . Definitely, this would be a win-win situation for both the telephone operators and the customers using long distance services.

Valentine Celebrations in the Month of Romance Come February and it is a jubilant time for everyone. "All roads lead to rome" and so all dates in February, we think of February 14, which is being revered globally as Valentines Day . Looking back in History, Valentines day actually shares its name to a Christian priest called St. Valentine. As we assume Valentines day is not just for young lovers. It is observed in full fervour and whole heartedness by true lovers of all ages wherever they are. Check out some histories of Valentine Celebrations over here: On the History Channel. Bawarchi Pages Happy Valentine's Day!

Voice of the Consumers Consumers are the key to any industry. The Parliament of India has given the protection to consumers of India using Consumer Protection Act of 1986. But how many of us have ever exercised the legal protections given to them by the National Administration. Merchant Establishments and/or Service Providers after thier sales/service turn blind eye to any customer query. Due to paucity of time and lack of information, we are handicapped on how to have the issue taken up for redressal. Check out the following yahoogroups consumer_voice_india@yahoogroups.com Also, check out http://www.consumercourt.netfirms.com/ , which seems to be hosted by Arun Saxena,who also moderates the above YahooGroups. Recently, I came across to one more website (but currently based for Bangalore Consumers only). Check this out here: http://www.4theconsumers.com/

Scholarships for Meritorius Students Of late, one of my friend was looking out for some educational loans in Canara Bank for the admissions to Engineering coming year. While we browsed the Internet and were flipping through the various weekly magazines, we came across this nice educational foundation, helping needy students. I wanted to share this information to other readers too. Sri M. Siva Ram Prasad BREAD,401, Diamond House Adjacent to Amrutha Hills Punjagutta Hyderabad-500 082 BREAD stands for B asic R esearch E ducation a nd D evelopment Society. If somebody of your colleague needs educational assistance, write to the above for a free application form and for further details. Updated on 4th February 2006: I came across from a private YahooGroups regarding one more educational scholarship philanthropist. The details are here under: Mr.S.Ramanathan, 17 North St, Kalai Nagar, Madurai-625 014 Telephone : 91-452-2640678 Email: ramrajam2002@yahoo.com Prerequisites: The candidate must ...

Nice Quotations in MTC Buses in Chennai While travelling to work today, I was observing some nice quotations stuck in the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses in Chennai. MTC buses here and trains are known for propagating the quotes that are quite obscene and sometimes bit adult-sensitive too. Some good samaritian local television channel actor, who I have been observing for a while, in the metro media seems to be doing this social service like spreading New Year Wishes etc. This guy, named VimalaVasan seems to be really spending his good time, money and energy in doing this good social service in almost a significant number of buses, which are the best medium to reach the good thoughts to the wide depth of people. Let us wish him all success in every sphere of life.

Cricket -- Game of Ricket on Indian Economy I am just trying to address this discussion on the game of cricket from the perspective of India. Perhaps as a reader and if you share similar views from your country, please update them as comments. It is high time that the game of cricket be seriously considered whether it is going to be a merit for India. The sportive game of cricket, as the time of Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil , I apprehend, is starting to get etch in the pages of history. As a reader in this discussion forum at Rediff  suggested, Indian Cricket Team are proving time and again that they are only tigers in talking and not in achieving.  This is just a personal comment and perhaps all the related CCIs like BCCI, ICCI etc can see whether some corrective actions could be implemented for these lapses. "Barking dogs seldom bite", "Empty Vessels make more noise" are well known sayings in English. Our cricket team gives so much of press meet, promises and ass...

Floating ATM -- New Innovations Galore from Premiere Bank of India Today being a holiday, by virtue of Republic Day , i was casually surfing on and on and on. I found this nice information, though bit old but I just thought it is really informative and would be useful to everyone. With plethora of private banks ushering in with novelty of services on display and diversified marketing tactics being deployed, it is heartening that country's old premiere and trusted bank by name, State Bank of India , is also committed to introduce new and innovative channels in Banking. The country's first (and perhaps world's first!) floating ATM, owned and managed by State Bank of India and carried by Kerala Transport Inland Navigation System owned passenger ferries. The ferries have the carrying capacity of 5000 passengers per day from Ernakulam to Vyapeen Islands in 30 trips. Perhaps, you can check out this 'The Hindu Business Line' article for more detail.

Nestled in the quiet village of Nemili near Vellore, this sacred abode isn’t a temple in the conventional sense—it’s a home , chosen by Bala herself. The deity, a radiant nine-year-old form of Tripura Sundari, resides in a modest house known as Bala Peetam , where simplicity reigns and sincerity is the only offering She seeks. ️ Origin Story Over a century ago, Bala appeared in the dream of Shri Subramania Iyer, instructing him to retrieve Her from the river Kushasthalai. After days of searching, he found a three-inch bronze idol —a divine child—floating in the waters. She was installed in his home, which became Her eternal residence. Temple Practices Prasadam : Chocolates and biscuits—childlike and sweet. Alankaram : A simple silk pavadai, no pomp or grandeur. Offerings : No bargaining. Devotees are encouraged to pray with pure intent, not transactional promises. Darshan Protocol : It’s said that only those whom Bala wishes to...

Makara Sankaranthi Festival Religiously the Sankaranthi stands for the beginning of Uttarayana Punyakalam . It is also observed as Harvest Festival and is festival of joy for agriculturists in Tamil Nadu.  The word Makara indicates the sun entering the Makara (Capricorn) raasi. This year, Makara Sankaranthi is observed on 14th January 2006. We observe Pongal in three parts in Tamil Nadu. Bhogi day (Garbage Collection where old things in the home are destroyed and house is rejuvenated and repainted). It is observed on 13th January 2006. Pollution control board has advised not to burn lot of garbage since atmosphere is heavily polluted and takeoffs and landing of flights are affected heavily, which has become annual feature in Tamil Nadu during the Bhogi time. Pongal day (The actual start of Makara Sankranthi) observed on 14th January 2006. Fresh pot with freshly boiled rice is cooked and with the chanting of Pongalo Pongal the food is dedicated to the the Sun God. Mattu...

The e-Presence of our Telecom Minister The efforts contributed by our Hon'ble Telecom Minister, Dayanidhi Maran is simply laudable. India is being viewed as fast growing advanced nation in the telecommunications and significantly the good improvements with the state-owned BSNL/MTNL and ushering in and promoting healthy competitions among the private players in the industry. Just clicking through India Government website and landed on our Telecom Minister's webpage too. Check it out here . For further reading: Check out TRAI website, which has impressive projects and releases mentioned.

Holy New Year Eve I observed this New Year Eve dedicated to the Lord. With the New Year Eve falling on the regular Saturday, the Triplicane trip remains undisturbed. Besides these, I was thinking of going to Melmaruvathur which is famous for Adhiparasakthi Temple (Siddhar Peetam) . One of my friend ( Redhy Issac ) was also willing to come and hence he joined me direct @Tambaram Railway Station. I had some work in a client's house since his desktop had some issues. I was attending to the issue and then moved towards Tambaram Station. We picked up the bus to Thirukkoiloor , which reached Melmaruvathur in about an hour and a half through Chengalput and Madurantakam etc. The temple had a bit of crowd but then it was meticulously managed by them and hence we had darshan of the Lordess in just about 25 minutes.After touring around the place for a while and having some bite at the nearby restaurant, we came to the bus stand. The return trip from Melmaruvathur is always an ordeal. Inspite...

Code4Bill -- Unique Opportunity for Student Technologists from Microsoft A contest unique in itself to get the students vested with an opportunity unique in itself with the pride of even getting the student up working in Bill Gates' Technical Assistant Team. It looks like a time-limited contest for students.Check it out at Microsoft India Code4Bill webpage.

Security of Women Under Serious Question With the incident of Prathiba Srikanth Murthy getting raped and murdered by a brutal beast driver, Sivakumar , it has come to limelight that BPO organizations and the police should wake from their deep slumbers. The more shocking thing is that the most safer, secure place of Bangalore to stage this melodrama. This is not just a blog post on some girl working in some call center. Perhaps, we need to see this issue from the perspective of Prathiba or her family. At the moment, the only thing, we can is to pray the Lord for giving mental strenght for the family of Prathiba to bear with this brutal beastly attack. The more pitiable thing is that, Prathiba's mother is a widow, having lost her husband about 5 years back. Reports claim that she is not mentally prepared to come down to Bangalore from Mysore to see her daughter's body now. Letz observe a 2 minute silence towards praying the Lord for Prathiba's soul rest in peace and for givin...

Neyyabhishekam -- The Significance The most significant of the Sabarimala Pilgrimage is the Neyyabhishekam, which means pouring of the sacred ghee brought by the pilgrims in thier Pallikattu ( Irumudi ) on the idol of Lord Ayyappa. The real essence of Neyyabhishekam is to signify the merger or amalgamation of Jeevatma with the Paramatma . After all, Jeevatma has been undergoing arduous ordeals all the way along its life suffering births, deaths and pains and the ultimate goal is merger with the Paramatma to get the supreme bliss of the Lord. Well! Pouring of Ghee on the Lord represents the Power of Lord Vishnu. Pouring of Water on the Lord (Jalabhishekam) stands as a worship for Lord Shiva (Shivashakti).  The combination of Vaishnava and Saiva powers is revealed in this Holy Abhishekams.

Operation Duryodhan India TV Group (AajTak), a prime private television news channel brought out to limelight many cases of MPs accepting bribes from people for asking questions in the Parliament. Those deemed to be representatives of the people, who were sent to the Assembly purely to represent and fetch welfare for the constituency of the people and state they represent, were in fact, also getting bribes and illegal gratification for questions to ask in the parliament. It was  very bold venture by India TV Group (AajTak News Television Channel) to send their reporters to different MPs on the pretext of people's unions, giving them cash and other compensations and simultaneously clipping snapshots in mobile cameras. Check out this URL on DNA India for a detailed coverage.  NewsKerala describes this as second incident in the Indian Parliament history. Check this out at thier article .

Good News for Pilgrims to Sabarimala State Bank of Travancore, an associate branch of State Bank of India family has recently commissioned a new ATM right at Pampa. That should provide a great help for pilgrims in need of cash, while in the pilgrimage. Check out this news link from  SBI in the News , which is actually published in CMLinks Page. With a subscription from BSNL CellOne, you are never away from a simpler communication route, since BSNL has strong BTS (Base Tranciever Stations) right at Pampa too, as this story in The Hindu , describes.  

  A friend once asked, “Why not write a post summarizing the rules for Ayyappa's 48-day observation?” So here we are. While most guidelines are oral traditions passed down from elders, I’ve kept a pocketbook (in Tamil) and a few PDFs that helped me through the years. Today, with some quiet time and sincere intent, I’m compiling the essentials in English—so future Swamis can benefit. These rules aren't about rigid enforcement—they're reminders for self-control, mindfulness, and spiritual clarity. Core Principles and Practices Dedicate all tasks to Lord Ayyappa. Every action—even work—is divine instrumentation. Bhagavad Gita echoes this too. Resist inner enemies like lust, anger, greed, and attraction. Refrain from gambling, smoking, alcohol, and non-vegetarian food. Harm no one—neither by word nor deed. Offer “Sharanam” to fellow Ayyappa Swamis. Treat them as manifestations of the Lord. Serve yo...