Mayanti Langer Bashed Trolls Making Sexist Remarks at Her & Stuart Binny!!!

Mayanti Langer shuts down trolls for commenting on husband Stuart Binny's performance!!!!

Whether you agree or disagree, some people in India aren't that fond of Stuart Binny.

In a country where every cricket fan is an expert, differs in views regarding the fast-bowling all-rounder. Some don't have a clue what he is doing in the Indian cricket team, some of his fans are disappointed whenever he fails on the pitch and some are just jealous because he has sports anchor Mayanti Langer as his wife. Technically, what the Karnataka cricketer does on the field should not be linked to his wife.

Mayanti Langer:
Born:8 February 1985 (age 31)
 Delhi,India
Other names:  Mayanti
Occupation: Indian TV sports journalist
Years active :2006– present
Spouse(s) :Stuart Binny (2012–present)
Parent(s): Lt. General Sanjiv Langer
Preminda Langer


Her interest in football grew when she was in USA, as her father worked in UN. She was in her college football team in the beginning and then became a guest anchor for a broadcast of FIFA beach football
Mayanti is the daughter of Lt. General Sanjiv Langer who worked for the UN and Preminda Langer. She is a B.A.(Hons) graduate from Hindu college,University of Delhi.With the success of the broadcast, she was offered a spot as host and associate producer for Football Cafe on Langer then went on to work for various football shows on the Zee network providing commentary and interviews during pre-match, half-time and post-match shows.She was also the anchor on Zee Sports for the football tournament .

Mayanti, the leading female sports anchor in India, was at the receiving end of trolls after hubby Stuart Binny gave 32 runs in an over by Evin Lewis against the West Indies in a T20 match recently in the USA. That was a game that Mayanti was anchoring. People on twitter started making jokes about Binny being hit for five sixes in an over and linking poor Mayanti to it.

Mayanti Langer Shut Up Everyone Who Trolled Her And Husband Stuart Binny With Just One Tweet.Upcoming young bowler Stuart Binny and TV presenter Mayanti Langer have been married for four years. The trolls haven’t been kind to them, often trolling their marriage, saying that Stuart Binny got more than he deserved.

Recently, in the match against West Indies, Binny was hit for five sixes in a single over. Langer wascovering the same match as the anchor.

Mayanti Langer, a famous TV anchor,Anchor, Emcee, blessed to have hosted 5 World Cups in 3 different sports....currently hosting for StarSports and the wife of Stuart Binny, the Indian cricketer, has finally had enough of twitter trolls making sexist remarks about her marriage. Every time Stuart Binny's performance on the field is less than adequate, her name gets dragged into the conversation (which is less dialogue and more trolling).

The tweets over time also have brutal. Twitterati hasn’t held anything back before trolling Binny’s performance and his marriage with Mayanti Langer..
This is really not a new trend. Indian cricket fans have been known to be unbelievably sexist to the point of blaming the player's significant others for a lackluster performance. We've seen the same happening to Anushka Sharma way too many times.

If one is to go by what Twitterati has to say about Indian cricketer Stuart Binny performance at the T20, one would think that a sports person's capabilities depends on their spouse.
After Binny's poor performance at the T20 against West Indies, his wife Mayanti Langer, who is also a sports anchor, was subjected to mean trolls on social media.

The trolling has always been there, only this time it got way out of hand. When Binny managed to give away five sixes in a single over in India’s T20 game with the West Indies on August 27, the trolls were at it again. The couple that has been happily married for four years now, was clearly at the last straw when cricket fans took to questioning how Langer was happy with settling for someone like Binny. Some also taunted her with remarks about divorcing Binny or even committing suicide.

Langer then put out a statement that should be able to shut up all naysayers, on Instagram and Twitter.
Mayanti Langer is an Indian TV sports journalist with STAR. She has hosted many tournaments like Football Cafe on Zee Sports, 2010 FIFA World Cup broadcast on ESPN, 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2011 Cricket.She also hosted a sports news show Star Power on Star Sports One. She also hosted the Champions League Cricket tournament and Indian Super League Football tournament TV broadcasts in 2014. She was also an anchor for Cricket World Cup 2015 for Star Sports.

DIgital Marketing Assures your future !!!!!

Ease of access



A key objective is engaging digital marketing customers and allowing them to interact with the brand through servicing and delivery of digital media. Information is easy to access at a fast rate through the use of digital communications. Users with access to the Internet can use many digital mediums, such as Facebook, YouTube, Forums, and Email etc. Through Digital communications it creates a Multi-communication channel where information can be quickly exchanged around the world by anyone without any regard to whom they are. Social segregation plays no part through social mediums due to lack of face to face communication and information being wide spread instead to a selective audience. This interactive nature allows consumers create conversation in which the targeted audience is able to ask questions about the brand and get familiar with it which traditional forms of Marketing may not offer.

Competitive advantage

By using Internet platforms, businesses can create competitive advantage through various means. To reach the maximum potential of digital marketing, firms use social media as its main tool to create a channel of information. Through this a business can create a system in which they are able to pinpoint behavioral patterns of clients and feedback on their needs.This means of content has shown to have a larger impingement on those who have a long-standing relationship with the firm and with consumers who are relatively active social media users. Relative to this, creating a social media page will further increase relation quality between new consumers and existing consumers as well as consistent brand reinforcement therefore improving brand awareness resulting in a possible rise for consumers up the Brand Awareness Pyramid. Although there may be inconstancy with product images; maintaining a successful social media presence requires a business to be consistent in interactions through creating a two way feed of information; firms consider their content based on the feedback received through this channel, this is a result of the environment being dynamic due to the global nature of the internet. Effective use of digital marketing can result in relatively lowered costs in relation to traditional means of marketing; Lowered external service costs, advertising costs, promotion costs, processing costs, interface design costs and control costs.




Effectiveness

Brand awareness has been proven to work with more effectiveness in countries that are high in uncertainty avoidance, also these countries that have uncertainty avoidance; social media marketing works effectively. Yet brands must be careful not to be excessive on the use of this type of marketing, as well as solely relying on it as it may have implications that could negatively harness their image. Brands that represent themselves in an anthropomorphizing manner are more likely to succeed in situations where a brand is marketing to this demographic. “Since social media use can enhance the knowledge of the brand and thus decrease the uncertainty, it is possible that people with high uncertainty avoidance, such as the French, will particularly appreciate the high social media interaction with an anthropomorphized brand.” Moreover digital platform provides an ease to the brand and its customers to interact directly and exchange their motives virtuall

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING- The term 'Digital Marketing' has a number of marketing facets as it supports different channels used in and among these, comes the Social Media. When we use social media channels ( Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, etc.) to market a product or service, the strategy is called Social Media Marketing. It is a procedure wherein strategies are made and executed to draw in traffic for a website or to gain attention of buyers over the web using different social media platforms.

Social Networking
Game advertising - In-Game advertising is defined as "inclusion of products or brands within a digital game." The game allows brands or products to place ads within their game, either in a subtle manner or in the form of an advertisement banner. There are many factors that exist in whether brands are successful in their advertising of their brand/product, these being: Type of game, technical platform, 3-D and 4-D technology, game genre, congruity of brand and game, prominence of advertising within the game. Individual factors consist of attitudes towards placement advertisements, game involvement, product involvement, flow or entertainment. The attitude towards the advertising also takes into account not only the message shown but also the attitude towards the game. Dependent of how enjoyable the game is will determine how the brand is perceived, meaning if the game isn’t very enjoyable the consumer may subconsciously have a negative attitude towards the brand/product being advertised. In terms of Integrated Marketing Communication "integration of advertising in digital games into the general advertising, communication, and marketing strategy of the firm" is an important as it results in a more clarity about the brand/product and creates a larger overall effect.
Online PR
Video advertising - This type of advertising in terms of digital/online means are advertisements that play on online videos e.g. YouTube videos. This type of marketing has seen an increase in popularity over time.Online Video Advertising usually consists of three types: Pre-Roll advertisements which play before the video is watched, Mid-Roll advertisements which play during the video, or Post-Roll advertisements which play after the video is watched.Post-roll advertisements were shown to have better brand recognition in relation to the other types, where-as “ad-context congruity/incongruity plays an important role in reinforcing ad memorability”.Due to selective attention from viewers, there is the likelihood that the message may not be received.The main advantage of video advertising is that it disrupts the viewing experience of the video and therefore there is a difficulty in attempting to avoid them. How a consumer interacts with online video advertising can come down to three stages: Pre attention, attention, and behavioural decision.These online advertisements give the brand/business options and choices. These consist of length, position, adjacent video content which all directly affect the effectiveness of the produced advertisement time,therefore manipulating these variables will yield different results. Length of the advertisement has shown to affect memorability where-as longer duration resulted in increased brand recognition. This type of advertising, due to its nature of interruption of the viewer, it is likely that the consumer may feel as if their experience is being interrupted or invaded, creating negative perception of the brand. These advertisements are also available to be shared by the viewers, adding to the attractiveness of this platform. Sharing these videos can be equated to the online version of word by mouth marketing, extending number of people reached.Sharing videos creates six different outcomes: these being “pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, and control”. As well, videos that have entertainment value are more likely to be shared, yet pleasure is the strongest motivator to pass videos on. Creating a ‘viral’ trend from mass amount of a brands advertisement can maximize the outcome of an online video advert whether it be positive or a negative outcome.
It is important for a firm to reach out to consumers and create a two-way communication model, as digital marketing allows consumers to give back feed back to the firm on a community based site or straight directly to the firm via email. Firms should seek this long term communication relationship by using multiple forms of channels and using promotional strategies related to their target consumer as well as word-of mouth marketing.
Multi-channel communications
Push and pull message technologies can be used in conjunction.
Self-regulation
The ICC Code has integrated rules that apply to marketing communications using digital interactive media throughout the guidelines. There is also an entirely updated section dealing with issues specific to digital interactive media techniques and platforms. Code self-regulation on use of digital interactive media includes:
Clear and transparent mechanisms to enable consumers to choose not to have their data collected for advertising or marketing purposes;
Clear indication that a social network site is commercial and is under the control or influence of a marketer;
Limits are set so that marketers communicate directly only when there are reasonable grounds to believe that the consumer has an interest in what is being offered;
Respect for the rules and standards of acceptable commercial behavior in social networks and the posting of marketing messages only when the forum or site has clearly indicated its willingness to receive them;
Special attention and protection for children.
Advantages and limitations
The whole idea of digital marketing can be a very important aspect in the overall communication between the consumer and the organisation. This is due to digital marketing being able to reach vast numbers of potential consumers at one time.
Another advantage of digital marketing is that consumers are exposed to the brand and the product that is being advertised directly. To clarify the advertisement is easy to access as well it can be accessed any time any place
However, with digital marketing there are some setbacks to this type of strategy. One major setback that is identified, is that Digital marketing is highly dependent on the internet. This can be considered as a setback because the internet may not be accessible in certain areas or consumers may have poor internet connection.
As well as digital marketing being highly dependent on the Internet is that it is subject to a lot of clutter, so it marketers may find it hard to make their advertisements stand out, as well as get consumers to start conversations about an organisations brand image or products.
As digital marketing continues to grow and develop, brands take great advantage of using technology and the Internet as a successful way to communicate with its clients and allows them to increase the reach of who they can interact with and how they go about doing so, There are however disadvantages that are not commonly looked into due to how much a business relies on it. It is important for marketers to take into consideration both advantages and disadvantages of digital marketing when considering their marketing strategy and business goals.
An advantage of digital marketing is that the reach is so large that there are no limitations on the geographical reach it can have. This allows companies to become international and expand their customer reach to other countries other than the country it is based or originates from.
As mentioned earlier, technology and the internet allows for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service for customers as well as enabling them to shop online at any hour of that day or night, not just when the shops are over and across the whole world. This is a huge advantage for retailers to utilise it and direct customers from the store to its online store. It has also opened up an opportunity for companies to only be online based rather than having an outlet or store due to the popularity and capabilities of digital marketing.
Another advantage is that digital marketing is easy to be measured allowing businesses to know the reach that their marketing is making, whether the digital marketing is working or not and the amount of activity and conversation that is involved.
With brands using the Internet space to reach their target customers; digital marketing has become a beneficial career option as well. At present, companies are more into hiring individuals familiar in implementing digital marketing strategies and this has led the stream to become a preferred choice amongst individuals inspiring institutes to come up and offer professional courses in Digital Marketing.
A disadvantage of digital advertising is the large amount of competing goods and services that are also using the same digital marketing strategies. For example, when someone searches for a specific product from a specific company online, if a similar company uses targeted advertising online then they can appear on the customer’s home page, allowing the customer to look at alternative options for a cheaper price or better quality of the same product or a quicker way of finding what they want online.

Some companies can be portrayed by customers negatively as some consumers lack trust online due to the amount of advertising that appears on websites and social media that can be considered frauds. This can affect their image and reputation and make them out to look like a dishonest brand.
Another disadvantage is that even an individual or small group of people can harm image of an established brand. For instance Dopplegnager is a term that is used to disapprove an image about a certain brand that is spread by anti-brand activists, bloggers, and opinion leaders. The word Doppelganger is a combination of two German words Doppel(double) and Ganger (walker), thus it means double walker or as in English it is said alter ego. Generally brand creates images for itself to emotionally appeal to their customers. However some would disagree with this image and make alterations to this image and present in funny or cynical way, hence distorting the brand image, hence creating a Doppelganger image, blog or content (Rindfleisch, 2016).
Two other practical limitations can be seen in the case of digital marketing. One,digital marketing is useful for specific categories of products,meaning only consumer goods can be propagated through digital channels.Industrial goods and pharmaceutical products can not be marketed through digital channels. Secondly, digital marketing disseminates only the information to the prospects most of whom do not have the purchasing authority/power. And hence the reflection of digital marketing into real sales volume is skeptical.

World War One: The British hero who did not shoot Hitler

World War One: The British hero who did not shoot Hitler!!!!

Henry Tandey became the most decorated private soldier in World War One. His bravery though, would be eclipsed in the run up to World War Two by allegations he had spared Adolf Hitler's life, in 1918. But, is the story accurate?The two events were separated by 20 years. On 28 September 1918, Pte Tandey earned the Victoria Cross "for most conspicuous bravery and initiative" at the fifth Battle of Ypres.

Twenty years later, Hitler himself is said to have planted the seeds of the legend during a visit to the Fuhrer by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in his doomed attempt to secure "peace for our time".

He apparently seized on the fact that along with many of his fellow soldiers, Pte Tandey had tempered justice with mercy, refusing to kill unarmed, injured men in cold blood. The leader of the Third Reich claimed he was one of those spared.

At his Bavarian retreat the Berghof, Chamberlain noticed a picture on the wall of Hitler's study, depicting a scene from a battle at Menin crossroads in 1914. The soldier in the foreground was apparently Pte Tandey, carrying a fellow soldier to safety.

Hitler told Chamberlain the soldier had pointed a gun at him but spared him.

"That man came so near to killing me that I thought I should never see Germany again," Hitler is alleged to have said.

"Providence saved me from such devilish accurate fire as those English boys were aiming at us."

The museum of the Green Howards - Pte Tandey's regiment, which commissioned the painting in 1923 from Italian war artist Fortunino Matania - confirmed a copy was hanging at Hitler's retreat.
The museum has a letter from Hitler's adjutant, Capt Fritz Weidemann, thanking them: "The Fuehrer is naturally very interested in things connected with his own war experiences. He was obviously moved when I showed him the picture."

The painting's route to Hitler's wall was fairly convoluted, centring on one of his staff, a Dr Otto Schwend, who had received a postcard of the painting from a British soldier whom he had befriended in WW1.Hitler had apparently claimed to recognise in it a soldier he met in 1918, but the painting depicts a battle that actually took place in 1914.Dr David Johnson, Pte Tandey's biographer, throws more doubt on the story.

He pointed out that even if the date were accurate it would have been unlikely for Pte Tandey to have been recognisable from the painting. He had been injured during the 1918 battle, and in contrast to the painting, would have been "extremely dishevelled and covered in mud and blood".

Perhaps even more compellingly, Dr Johnson argues there was no way Pte Tandey and L/Cpl Hitler could have crossed paths.On 17 September, Hitler's unit had been moved about 50 miles (80km) north of Pte Tandey's, which was in Marcoing, near Cambrai in northern France.The meeting of the men was supposed to have happened on 28 September 1918, but papers at the Bavarian State Archive show Hitler had been on leave between 25 September and 27 September.

"This means that Hitler was either on leave or returning from leave at the time or with his regiment 50 miles north of Marcoing," Dr Johnson said.

He also said it was not likely that Hitler had been simply confused."It's likely he chose that date because he knew Tandey had become one of the most decorated soldiers in the war," said Dr Johnson.

"If he was going to have his life spared by a British soldier, who better than a famous war hero who had won a Victoria Cross, Military Medal and a Distinguished Conduct Medal in a matter of weeks?
"With his god-like self-perception, the story added to his own myth - that he had been spared for something greater, that he was somehow "chosen". His story embellished his reputation nicely."

It was another detail that also set alarm bells ringing, Dr Johnson said.
No telephone

On returning to Britain, Mr Chamberlain is alleged to have phoned Pte Tandey to pass on details of the exchange he had with Hitler.

He was out at the time, so a nephew apparently took the call.

Dr Johnson is highly sceptical the call was made, not least because Mr Chamberlain was a very busy man.

"I can't see him spending time tracking down and telephoning a Private," he said.

"He also sent long and detailed letters to his sisters and kept diaries. Nowhere in his papers was the Tandey affair mentioned."

British Telecom archives add more doubt - Pte Tandey did not have a telephone.

But the story has persisted, having probably first come to light at a regimental event in 1938 where, Dr Johnson said, Pte Tandey was told by an officer who had heard it from Mr Chamberlain.

"We don't know whether Tandey was taken to one side and told privately - or whether it was a jocular part of an after-dinner speech, or something like that," he said.

Pte Tandey himself was noncommittal about it. He acknowledged he had spared soldiers on 28 September, and was initially prepared to entertain the idea - but always made a point of saying he needed more information to confirm it.
He was quoted in an August 1939 edition of the Coventry Herald as saying: "According to them, I've met Adolf Hitler.

"Maybe they're right but I can't remember him."

But a year later, he appeared to be more certain, when a journalist approached him outside his bombed Coventry home, asking him about his alleged encounter with Hitler.

"If only I had known what he would turn out to be," Pte Tandey is quoted as saying.
"When I saw all the people and women and children he had killed and wounded I was sorry to God I let him go."

The newspapers seemed to say it all:

"Nothing Henry did that night could ease his sickening sense of guilt."
"It was a stigma that Tandey lived with until his death"

"He could have stopped this. He could have changed the course of history"
However, there is no evidence, not even anecdotal, he was either hounded or avoided after the claims.
'Extremely dishevelled'

"It must be remembered that this was a low point for the country and for Coventry, and Henry can be excused for feeling a little sorry for himself and emotional after the sights he had witnessed," Dr Johnson said.

"We must not forget that in 1918, no-one knew who Hitler was. Why would Henry remember and regret that specific encounter, especially when Hitler would also have been extremely dishevelled and covered in mud and blood, not looking like he did 20 years later.
"It might be equally true that the journalist concerned took Henry's comments out of context, which might go some way to explaining his distrust of the press."

WORLDS TOUGHEST EXAM!!!!!!!!!

Master Sommelier Diploma Exam

The world’s toughest examination. One does not have any idea as to how selective the authorities can get while selecting candidates. The exam was first taken 40 years ago in the UK and since then only 200 candidates have been selected on the basis of this exam. On an average, every candidate appears for this exam at least for 2-3 times before getting selected. The exam is divided into three sections, which are theory, service and blind tasting. Most of the students pass the first two sections and fail badly in the third one, and thus have to repeat that section again next year. The blind tasting section is tougher than one can imagine. Candidates not only have to identify the grape variant, but also the year and the region where it was grown. Even the most famous sommeliers in the world had passed this exam in the third or fourth attempt.

The Master Sommelier Diploma Examination is similar in format and content to that of the Advanced Sommelier Examination in that it consists of three parts: a theory examination (an oral examination and not written), a blind tasting of six wines, and a practical wine service examination. The minimum passing score for each of the three sections is 75% as opposed to 60% for the Advanced Examination. Students must first pass the Master Sommelier THEORY Examination and then have three consecutive years to pass the remaining two parts of the examination.

Thus a student who passes one or two parts may retake those he or she failed in during the next two years. If all three parts are not passed during a three year period the entire exam must be retaken. Members of the examining panel are Master Sommeliers chosen by the Examinations Committee and the Director of Education.

The candidate is required to wear professional working attire and to also provide all tools of the sommelier trade for the examination. The candidate should exhibit a high standard of both technical and social skills throughout the examination, and demonstrate the courtesy and charm of a Master Sommelier. It is also essential that the candidate demonstrate excellent salesmanship.

Elements of the Master Sommelier Diploma Examination
Part 1. Theory: what does the Sommelier need to know?
The theory examination is verbal and is fifty minutes in length.Speak with authority on the wine areas of the world and their products.Know the principal grape varieties used in winemaking and the areas of the world where they are cultivated.Answer questions on international wine laws, including the European Community, United States, Australia and other global wine regions.Display knowledge of fortified wines, their vinification, storage and handling.Describe the various methods of distillation and the making of spirits and liqueurs, as well as the process of making beers and ciders and the reasons for the variations in style between different products

.Knowledge of cigar production, with special reference to Havanas, will be required.Discuss how the products should be properly stored to ensure that they remain in the optimum condition.

Part 2.
Practical Restaurant Wine Service and Salesmanship

Discuss, recommend and serve aperitifs, displaying a thorough knowledge of their ingredients and production methods as well as the ability to serve them correctly.Select, prepare and position glassware necessary for the service of all beverages in the lounge, restaurant, or private function room.Discuss menu content and wine list, recommending wines to accompany a wide range of foods; displaying a sound knowledge of the products, their vintages and characteristics.Present, offer, prepare, (decanting when necessary) and serve wines, demonstrating a high degree of efficiency and proficiency.Present, offer, prepare and serve brandies, liqueurs and other spirits, including knowledge of the proper serving portions for each.Handle questions and complaints with skill, elegance and diplomacy

.Part 3. Practical Tasting
The tasting examination is scored on the candidate's verbal abilities to clearly and accurately describe six different wines. Within twenty-five minutes he or she must:Identify, where appropriate, grape varieties, country of origin, district and appellation of origin, and vintages of the wines tasted.

Kumbh Mela gathering visible from space!!!!!!!!!!

Kumbh Mela gathering visible from space!!!!!!!!!!

The 2011 Kumbh Mela was the largest gathering of people with over 75 million pilgrims. The gathering was so huge that the crowd was visible from space
Sacred site festivals in India, called melas, are a vital part of the pilgrimage tradition of Hinduism. Celebrating a mythological event in the life of a deity or an auspicious astrological period, the melas attract enormous numbers of pilgrims from all over the country.

The greatest of these, the Kumbha Mela, is a riverside festival held four times every twelve years, rotating between Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers; Nasik on the Godavari River; Ujjain on the Sipra River; and Hardwar on the Ganges River. Bathing in these rivers during the Kumbha Mela is considered an endeavor of great merit, cleansing both body and spirit. The Allahabad and Hardwar festivals are routinely attended by five million or more pilgrims (13 million visited Allahabad in 1977, 18 million in 1989, and nearly 24 million in 2001) thus the Kumbha Mela is the largest religious gathering in the world. It also one of the oldest.

Two traditions are in circulation regarding the origin and timing of the festival: one that stems from ancient texts known as the Puranas, and the other that connects it with astrological considerations. According to the Puranic epic, the gods and demons had churned the milky ocean at the beginning of time in order to gather various divine treasures including a jar containing amrita, the nectar of immortality.

As the jar emerged from the ocean the gods and demons began a terrific battle for its possession. For twelve days and twelve nights (equivalent to twelve human years) the gods and demons fought in the sky for the possession of the potion of immortality. During the battle, which according to some legends the gods won by trickery, four drops of the precious potion fell to earth. These places became the sites of the four Kumbha Mela festivals.

The astrological tradition (ascribed to a lost Puranic text and not traceable in existing editions) seems to derive from a very ancient festival called the Kumbha Parva, which occurred at Hardwar every twelfth year when Jupiter was in Aquarius and the sun entered Aries. At some later time the term 'Kumbha' was prefixed to the melas held at Nasik, Ujjain and Prayaga (the earlier name of Allahabad), and these four sites became identified with the four mythical locations of the immortality potion. In theory the Kumbha Mela festivals are supposed to occur every three years, rotating between the four cities.

In practice the four-city cycle may actually take eleven or thirteen years and this because of the difficulties and controversies in calculating the astrological conjunctions. Furthermore, the interval between the Kumbha Mela at Nasik and that at Ujjain is not of three years; they are celebrated the same year or only a year apart. This deviation in practice is intriguing and can not be fully explained by either astrological or mythological means. The following chart gives the astrological periods of the four melas, and the years of their most recent and future occurrences:

Hardwar.....when Jupiter is in Aquarius and the Sun is in Aries during the Hindu month of Caitra (March-April); 1986, 1998, 2010, 2021.

Allahabad.....when Jupiter is in Aries or Taurus and the Sun and Moon are in Capricorn during the Hindu month of Magha (January-February); 1989, 2001, 2012, 2024.

Nasik.....when Jupiter and the Sun are in Leo in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (August-September); 1980, 1992, 2003, 2015.

Ujjain.....when Jupiter is in Leo and the Sun is in Aries, or when Jupiter, the Sun, and the Moon are in Libra during the Hindu month of Vaisakha (April-May); 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016.

The antiquity of the Kumbha Mela is shrouded in mystery. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Hsuan Tsang, made a visit to an Allahabad festival in the 7th century AD while in the company of the King Harsavardhana. Tradition associates the 9th century philosopher Sankaracharaya with the organization of the Kumbha Mela at Prayaga (Allahabad). Sankaracharaya had established four monasteries in the north, south, east and west of India, and had called upon yogis, sadhus and sages to meet at these sites for an exchange of philosophical views. These sites in the four cardinal directions were separated by great distances, however, and therefore the more centrally located site of Prayaga became the meeting place of choice.

Indologists speculate that during the 9th to 12th centuries other monks and religious reformers perpetuated this periodic assemblage of sadhus and householders at sacred places on the banks of holy rivers, in order to create an environment of mutual understanding amongst different religious sects. Additionally, the festival gave householders the opportunity to benefit from their association with the normally reclusive sages and forest yogis. What was originally a regional festival at Prayaga thus became the preeminent pan-Indian pilgrimage site.

While many millions of Indians, male and female, young and old, lay person and monk, visit the Allahabad Kumbha Mela, the festival is traditionally known as the mela of ascetics and sadhus. At the most auspicious hour on the most auspicious day of the month-long festival many thousands of naked holy men from various sects will immerse themselves in the river for a ceremonial bath. Following the bathing of the sadhus, millions of other people attempt to enter the river.

 For a devout Hindu, to bathe at the Kumbha Mela sites (especially Allahabad and Hardwar) at this auspicious time is considered an opportunity of immeasurable significance. This great religious fervor of so many people focused on so small an area of land and water has frequently resulted in hundreds of pilgrims being trampled to death as the masses surge towards the river banks. During the 1954 Kumbha at Allahabad over 500 pilgrims were killed. The Indian government has taken measures to address this problem yet little can be done when such great numbers of pilgrims are involved.

Furthermore, it is important to note that many Hindus consider the Kumbha Mela sites to be the most favored places at which to die, and ritual suicide, though discouraged by the government, is still practiced. Westerners are bewildered, even shocked, by this matter and frequently make judgments without understanding the mythological, religious and cultural reasons behind the behavior. While it is beyond the scope of this essay to discuss the subject in detail, it is interesting to focus attention upon the two origin myths of the Kumbha Mela festival.

 Four drops of a nectar or potion of immortality were supposed to have fallen to earth at these sites, and at particular astrological periods the four sites are believed to function as portals into immortality and everlasting union with god. How did such myths arise and what is the message encoded in them? Perhaps there is some energy, some mysterious spirit or power, manifest at these places and times that somehow assists human beings to more fully experience spiritual immortality and divinity. The fact that hundreds of millions of people (coming from the most ancient and sophisticated philosophical and metaphysical system on earth) have for thousands of years believed this to be true suggests that an awesome power is indeed present at the Kumbha Mela sites.

In the case of those who give up their bodies after purifying themselves at Prayaga by bathing at the confluence of these two rivers – Ganga and Yamuna – the two wives of the ocean, there is no bondage of another body in a future birth and this liberation is achieved even without philosophical knowledge.

APJ ABDUL KALAM'S INSIDE STORIES!!!!

A brief bio

Bharat Ratna Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, generally known as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was the 11th President of India (2002-07). He was elected against Lakshmi Sehgal in 2002 and had support from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress, the two leading parties of Indian politics. By profession he was a scientist and an administrator in India. He worked with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as an aerospace engineer before becoming the President of India. His work on the development of launch vehicle and ballistic missile technology had earned him the name of the 'Missile Man of India'. The Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted in India in 1998 after the age-long original nuclear test of 1974 saw him in a pivotal political, organisational and technical role.

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore; the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad; and the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong. He was a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the JSS University in Mysore and at the Anna University in Chennai, apart from being an adjunct and visiting faculty at other research and academic institutions in India. He was the honorary fellow of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and the Chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology at Thiruvananthapuram.

In his book India 2020, he has recommended plans to make the nation a fully developed one by the year 2020. His interactions with the student community and his motivational speeches have made him quite popular among the youth. In 2011 he launched a mission called 'What Can I Give Movement' aimed at the youth of India, which focused on defeating corruption in the country.


Detailed Personal Background



Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was born to a poor Tamil Muslim family on 15 October 1931 at Rameswaram in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. His father, Jainulabdeen, was a boat owner, and his mother, Ashiamma, was a homemaker. He started working at a young age to support his father. He received average grades in school but was seen as a hardworking and bright student with a strong desire to learn things. He used to study for hours, especially mathematics. He completed his schooling from Rameshwaram Elementary School. In 1954 he graduated in Physics from St. Joseph's College in Tiruchirappalli, which was then affiliated to the University of Madras. Thereafter in 1955 he moved to Madras and joined the Madras Institute of Technology and studied aerospace engineering. His dream was to become a fighter pilot but he was ranked ninth while the IAF offered only eight slots. He was a bachelor.


Death



Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam passed away on 27 July 2015 due to a massive cardiac arrest after he collapsed during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong.


Journey and Achievements as a Scientist
After completing his graduation in 1960 Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam joined as a scientist in Defense Research and Development Organisation's Aeronautical Development Establishment.
At the very start of his career he designed a small helicopter for the Indian army.
He also worked under the renowned scientist Vikram Sarabhai as a part of the committee of INCOSPAR.
From 1963 to 1964 he visited the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; the Wallops Flight Facility located at the Eastern Shore of Virginia; and the Langley Research Center of Nasa situated at Hampton Virginia.
In 1965, he, for the first time, worked independently in Defense Research and Development Organisation on an expandable rocket project. The programme was expanded in 1969 and more engineers were included after receiving government's approval.
He became the Project Director of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) when he was transferred in 1969 to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). In July 1980 his team was successful in deploying the Rohini satellite near the orbit of the Earth.
Dr. Kalam's efforts in developing the projects on SLV-III and Polar SLV from 1970s to 1990s proved to be successful.
Dr. Kalam directed Project Valiant and Project Devil that aimed at developing ballistic missiles using the technology of the SLV programme that was a success. It is known that the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, using her discretionary powers, allotted secret funds when these aerospace projects were disapproved by the Union Cabinet.
Dr. Kalam and Dr. V.S. Arunachalam, on the proposal of the then Defense Minister R. Venkataraman, worked on developing a quiver of missiles instead of one at a time. Dr. Kalam was made the Chief Executive of the programme, which was named Integrated Guided Missile Development programme.
From July 1992 to December 1999 he remained the Secretary of the Defense Research and Development Organisation, and also the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister. This period witnessed the Pokhran II nuclear tests, when Dr. Kalam played a key technological and political role. At the time of the testing phase, he, along with R. Chidambaram, was made the Chief Project Coordinator.
He developed a low-cost Coronary Stent along with Dr. Soma Raju, a cardiologist, in 1998. It was named "Kalam-Raju Stent" after them. Both of them also designed a tablet PC called "Kalam-Raju Tablet" for healthcare in rural areas.

Dr. Kalam's Tenure as President of India

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on 10 June 2002 proposed Dr. Kalam's name for the Presidential post to the Leader of Opposition, Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The Nationalist Congress Party and the Samajwadi Party supported his candidature.
Dr. Kalam served as the President of India from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.
He won the election, getting 922,884 votes, thus defeating Lakshmi Sehgal, who got 107,366 votes.
Dr. Kalam succeeded K.R. Narayanan as the 11th President of India.
He was the third President of India to have received the prestigious Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour. It was earlier given to Dr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnan in 1954 and Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1963.
He was the first bachelor and scientist to reside in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dr. Kalam was affectionately called the People's President.
According to him the toughest decision taken by him as President was signing the Bill of Office of Profit.
He was criticized as a President for his inaction to decide the fate of 20 mercy petitions out of 21, including that of the Kashmiri Terrorist Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the Parliament attacks in December 2001.
Honours and Awards
The United Nations has recognized Dr. Kalam's 79th birthday as "World Student's Day".
In 1981 he received the Padma Bhushan and in 1990 the Padma Vibhushan from the Indian Government for his work with DRDO and ISRO and as scientific advisor to the government.
He received the Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his contribution in the field of scientific research, development and modernisation of technology in the defense sector of India.
In 1997, the Indian National Congress conferred him with the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration.
In 1998 the Government of India gave him the Veer Savarkar Award.
The Alwars Research Centre of Chennai bestowed on him the Ramanujan Award in 2000.
The University of Wolverhampton in UK bestowed on him the Honorary Doctorate of Science in 2007.
The Royal Society of UK honoured him with the King Charles II Medal in 2007.
In 2008 he received the Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa) from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.
The California Institute of Technology, USA honoured him with the International von Karman Wings Award in 2009.
He received the Hoover Medal from ASME Foundation, U.S.A in 2009.
The University of Waterloo honoured him with the Doctor of Engineering in 2010.
In 2011 he became the Honorary member of the IEEE.
In 2012 the Simon Fraser University conferred him the Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa).

Documentaries and Books by Dr. Kalam


Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India
Inspiring Thoughts
Indomitable Spirit
The Luminous Sparks
Turning Points: A journey through challenges
My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions
Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology, by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Roddam Narasimha
India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Y.S. Rajan.
Wings of Fire: An Autobiography, by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari.
Mission India, by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam .
Envisioning an Empowered Nation, by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and A. Sivathanu Pillai.
You Are Born To Blossom: Take My Journey Beyond, by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari.
Target 3 Billion, by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh

cloud computing revolution in technology!!!!

What is the cloud? Where is the cloud? Are we in the cloud now? These are all questions you've probably heard or even asked yourself. The term "cloud computing" is everywhere.

In the simplest terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet. It goes back to the days of flowcharts and presentations that would represent the gigantic server-farm infrastructure of the Internet as nothing but a , accepting connections and doling out information as it floats.



What cloud computing is not about is your hard drive. When you store data on or run programs from the hard drive, that's called local storage and computing. Everything you need is physically close to you, which means accessing your data is fast and easy, for that one computer, or others on the local network. Working off your hard drive is how the computer industry functioned for decades; some would argue it's still superior to cloud computing, for reasons I'll explain shortly.

The cloud is also not about having a dedicated or server in residence. Storing data on a home or office network does not count as utilizing the cloud. (However, some NAS will let you remotely access things over the Internet, and there's


For it to be considered "cloud computing," you need to access your data or your programs over the Internet, or at the very least, have that data synced


with other information over the Web. In a big business, you may know all there is to know about what's on the other side of the connection; as an individual user, you may never have any idea what kind of massive data processing is happening on the other end. The end result is the same: with an online connection, cloud computing can be done anywhere, anytime.
Consumer vs. Business

Let's be clear here. We're talking about cloud computing as it impacts individual consumers—those of us who sit back at home or in small-to-medium offices and use the Internet on a regular basis.

There is an entirely different "cloud" when it comes to business. Some businesses choose to implement .) There's also Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), where a business can create its own custom applications for use by all in the company. And don't forget the mighty (IaaS), where players like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Rackspace provide a backbone that can be "rented out" by other companies.
Cloud computing is a type of Internet-based computing that provides shared computer processing resources and data to computers and other devices on demand. It is a model for enabling ubiquitous, on-demand access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., computer networks, servers, storage, applications and services), which can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. Cloud computing and storage solutions provide users and enterprises with various capabilities to store and process their data in third-party datacenter that may be located far from the user–ranging in distance from across a city to across the world. Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economy of scale similar to a utility (like the electricity grid) over an electricitynetwork.

Advocates claim that cloud computing allows companies to avoid upfront infrastructure costs (e.g., purchasing servers). As well, it enables organizationsfocus on their core businesses instead of spending time and money on computer infrastructure. Proponents also claim that cloud computing allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with improved manageability and less maintenance, and enables Information Technology (IT) teams to more rapidly adjust resources to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand. Cloud providers typically use a "pay as you go" model. This will lead to unexpectedly high charges if administrators do not adapt to the cloud pricing model.

In 2009, the availability of high-capacity networks, low-cost computers and storage devices as well as the widespread adoption of hardware service connected and autonomic and utility computing led to a growth in cloud computing.Companies can scale up as computing needs increase and then scale down again as demands decrease. In 2013, it was reported that cloud computing had become a highly demanded service or utility due to the advantages of high computing power, cheap cost of services, high performance, scalability, accessibility as well as availability. Some cloud vendors are experiencing growth rates of 50% per year,but being still in a stage of infancy, it has pitfalls that need to be addressed to make cloud computing services more reliable and user friendly.

Cloud computing is the result of the evolution and adoption of existing technologies and paradigms. The goal of cloud computing is to allow users to take benefit from all of these technologies, without the need for deep knowledge about or expertise with each one of them. The cloud aims to cut costs, and helps the users focus on their core business instead of being impeded by IT obstacles. The main enabling technology for cloud computing is virtulization. Virtualization software separates a physical computing device into one or more "virtual" devices, each of which can be easily used and managed to perform computing tasks. With operating system virtulization essentially creating a scalable system of multiple independent computing devices, idle computing resources can be allocated and used more efficiently. Virtualization provides the agility required to speed up IT operations, and reduces cost by increasing infrastructure utilization. Autonomic computing automates the process through which the user can provision resourceson demand. By minimizing user involvement, automation speeds up the process, reduces labor costs and reduces the possibility of human errors.Users routinely face difficult business problems. Cloud computing adopts concepts from serviceoriented Architecture (SOA) that can help the user break these problems into Services that can be integrated to provide a solution. Cloud computing provides all of its resources as services, and makes use of the well-established standards and best practices gained in the domain of SOA to allow global and easy access to cloud services in a standardized way.

Cloud computing also leverages concepts from utility computing to provide metrics for the services used. Such metrics are at the core of the public cloud pay-per-use models. In addition, measured services are an essential part of the feedback loop in autonomic computing, allowing services to scale on-demand and to perform automatic failure recovery. Cloud computing is a kind of gridcomputing; it has evolved by addressing the QoS (quality of service) and reliability problems. Cloud computing provides the tools and technologies to build data/compute intensive parallel applications with much more affordable prices compared to traditional parallel computing techniques.


Cloud computing exhibits the following key characteristics:
Agility for organizations may be improved, as cloud computing may increase users' flexibility with re-provisioning, adding, or expanding technological infrastructure resources.
Cost reductions are claimed by cloud providers. A public-cloud delivery model converts (e.g., buying servers) to This purportedly lowers , as infrastructure is typically provided by a third party and need not be purchased for one-time or infrequent intensive computing tasks. Pricing on a utility computing basis is "fine-grained", with usage-based billing options. As well, less in-house IT skills are required for implementation of projects that use cloud computing. The e-FISCAL project's state-of-the-art repository contains several articles looking into cost aspects in more detail, most of them concluding that costs savings depend on the type of activities supported and the type of infrastructure available in-house.
enable users to access systems using a web browser regardless of their location or what device they use (e.g., PC, mobile phone). As infrastructure is off-site (typically provided by a third-party) and accessed via the Internet, users can connect to it from anywhere.
Maintenance of cloud computing applications is easier, because they do not need to be installed on each user's computer and can be accessed from different places (e.g., different work locations, while travelling, etc.). enables sharing of resources and costs across a large pool of users thus allowing for:
centralization of infrastructure in locations with lower costs (such as real estate, electricity, etc.)
peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer and pay for the resources and equipment to meet their highest possible load-levels)
utilisation and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10–20% utilisperformance
is monitored by IT experts from the service provide, and consistent and loosely coupled architectures are constructed using as the system interface.
Productivity may be increased when multiple users can work on the same data simultaneously, rather than waiting for it to be saved and emailed. Time may be saved as information does not need to be re-entered when fields are matched, nor do users need to install application software upgrades to their computer.
Reliability improves with the use of multiple redundant sites, which makes well-designed cloud computing suitable for and .
Scalability and elasticity via dynamic ("on-demand") Provisioning of resources on a fine-grained, self-service basis in near real-tim(Note, the VM startup time varies by VM type, location, OS and cloud providers), without users having to engineer for peak loads.This gives the ability to scale up when the usage need increases or down if resources are not being used.
security can improve due to centralization of data, increased security-focused resources, etc., but concerns can persist about loss of control over certain sensitive data, and the lack of security for stored kernels. Security is often as good as or better than other traditional systems, in part because service providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues that many customers cannot afford to tackle or which they lack the technical skills to address.However, the complexity of security is greatly increased when data is distributed over a wider area or over a greater number of devices, as well as in multi-tenant systems shared by unrelated users. In addition, user access to security auditlogs may be difficult or impossible. Private cloud installations are in part motivated by users' desire to retain control over the infrastructure and avoid losing control of information security.