New Aathichudi

Dieting made simple!!


A olleague of mine had gone to the exhibition at Island grounds, chennai. He had taken this photograph.

Vapi? Sukinda?

Rings a bell? Nope!

Well, these two places are very much in India. Their claim to limelight? - they find their way into the World's 10 most polluted places list collated by Forbes magazine.

Admist enjoying the cosy comforts of AC, cushioned chair, steaming hot coffee, AR Rahman song in the headphone, it was quite a jolt to read the article..

"In some towns, life expectancy approaches medieval rates, and birth defects are the norm, not the exception," Forbes says, quoting the Blacksmith Institute, based on a study this fall. "In others, children's asthma rates are measured above 90 per cent and mental retardation is endemic," said the study, done by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, among others.

"Sukinda is home to 97 per cent of India's chromite ore deposits and one of the largest open-cast chromite ore mines in the world," says the magazine. "Seventy per cent of the area's surface water and 60 per cent of the drinking water contain covalent chromium at more than double national and international standards," it adds. While the main types of pollutants are covalent chromium and other metals, the potentially affected people number 2.6 million.

Vapi, on the other hand, has pollutants because of the production of dyes, petrochemicals, pesticides, pharma, textiles, fertilizers, leather products, paint, chlor-alkali and mercury, Forbes says. "Vapi's groundwater is reported to be polluted 96 times higher than the World Health Organization's health standards ," says Forbes.

"In addition, local produce can contain up to 60 times more heavy metals - copper, chromium, cadmium, zinc, nickel, lead, iron - than non-contaminated produce in control groups."

Gosh! We seem to be separated by lightyears of development ;-(

what's in the hand bag?

I get really pissed off, if anyone dares to touch my handbag..Imagine a book being written about the contents inside the handbag..Wonder what the Queen would be thinking??

EconomicTimes: "Since she doesn't need to carry cash, cheques, credit cards or car keys, royal watchers have for decades been intrigued about just what Queen Elizabeth II carries in the sizable bags that she is rarely seen without. As it turns out - a lot."

If you want to know - go ahead & buy the book - 'What's In The Queen's Handbag: And Other Royal Secrets' authored by Phil Dampier and Ashley Walton will be published on October 15 in the UK.

Forbes Asia Fabulous 50

The list is out. India leads the tally with 12 companies. The usual suspects are there: Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and Wipro.

But what caught my eye was that Taiwan comes second with 10 compaines. That by itself speaks volumes of good work being done there. If such a small Asian country can pull its act together, India needs to go a long way. Economic times says "Most of the firms represented are from the island's low-profile tech industry and include Hon Hai Precision Industry, which churns out iPhones, PCs and PlayStations. "

Want to settle down in Dubai?

Economic Times story:

Dubai-based realty developers are now targeting Indian house-hunters and investors with a much better option: Buy an apartment in the heart of Dubai at a price lower than that in Mumbai and get permanent residential visas along with it!

In game?

Textile Clusters & MBA

The Union Textiles Ministry is in the process of establishing textile clusters and common facility centres in strategic locations across Tamil Nadu. A total of 20 clusters had been planned in the country and of them three would be in Tamil Nadu. The clusters would come up in Tiruchirappalli, Kurinjipadi in Cuddalore district and Tiruvannamalai.

The above seemed like mundane news. But, the pleasant surprise came in later

In Tiruchirappalli district, Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM) has been identified as a partner in this programme. According to S Sundar, in-charge, Centre for Contemporary Management Research of BIM, the students of the institute were visiting textiles and handloom societies in the district to evaluate the performance levels. BIM would come out with the recommendations for the right type of machineries and technologies to be involved under this programme and these recommendations would help in creation of creation of common facility centres.

As a pilot initiative, textiles consortia had already been formed at Manamedu in the district, where heritage textile practices of producing cotton sarees etc had been taking place for several decades.

Way to Go!!

Bermuda

Thanks to Cricket World Cup!! came to know abt Bermuda..I actually didnt know such a country existed!!

Bermuda (The Bermuda Islands) is an overseas territory of UK in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the East Coast of the USA, it is around 1100 miles northeast of Miami.

Bermuda Wikipedia has more information.

Hmm..it is part of UK, it is not an independent country..then how come, it is playing as a separate entity in the world Cup?

And hey, there is a STORY behind our very own local Bermudas (shorts)..

They are so-named because of their popularity in Bermuda,where they are considered appropriate business attire for men when made of suit-like material and worn with knee-length socks, a dress shirt, tie, and blazer.

Thanks once again to Wiki Friendu