Thursday, June 30, 2011

Actor Karthi's Family meets CM


Actor Sivakumar's family, excluding Karthi and his sister, called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa in Chennai Tuesday to invite her to the young actor's wedding.

The meeting that took place at the Tamilnadu State Secretariat was very cordial. "The Chief Minister happily accepted the invitation from the Sivakumars and interacted with them for sometime," as per the circles close to the family."

Taking a break from his busy schedule, brother Suriya is supervising all arrangements for Karthi's wedding. Recently, both Suriya and Karthi accompanied their dad Sivakumar to their hometown to personally invite relatives.

Karthi, who will marry Ranjini in Coimbatore on July 3, will throw a grand reception in Chennai on July 7. The who is who of Tamil Nadu politics and Tamil film industry are expected to attend the reception at a top star hotel.



Jothika with her Sisters .....
 A family photo @ Suriya's Marriage...
  ( we can hope to get a similar picture @ Karthi's marriage)

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Airbus-Transparent airplane

Widescreen: Airbus unveils transparent airplane


Airbus has unveiled a futuristic concept for a transparent plane that may be everyday air transport in 2050. With its see-through aircraft cabin, passengers of the future will get a window on the world as they fly through the sky. They will be able to see everything to the sides and in front of them.



The concept cabin unveiled at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, would be a bionic structure that 'mimics' the efficiency of the bird bone, claimed the company.




It would provide strength where needed, and also allows for an intelligent' cabin wall membrane, which controls air temperature and can become transparent to give passengers open, panoramic views.



The company believes that mid-century passengers might be able to enjoy a game of virtual golf or take part in interactive conferences, while the cabin 'identifies and responds' to travelers' needs.



In the 'interactive zone' there are virtual pop-up projections taking passengers to whichever social scene they want to be in, from holographic gaming to virtual changing rooms for active shoppers.



The 'smart tech zone' is tailored towards the more functional-orientated passenger with what Airbus describes as 'a chameleon-style offering.'
It aims to meet individual needs ranging from a simple to a complete luxury service, but all allowing 'you to continue life as if on the ground'.


"Our research shows that passengers of 2050 will expect a seamless travel experience while also caring for the environment," the Daily Mail quoted Airbus engineering executive vice-president Charles Champion as saying.


"The concept cabin is designed with that in mind, and shows that the journey can be as much a voyage of discovery as the destination," he added.
Thanks to source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/airbus-unveils-transparent-airplane.html?page=all

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Kumarakom @ Kerala

Kumarakom: Capital of God’s own country!


By early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through latente banks and spill across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars…thus Arundhati Roy begins her Booker Prize winner – The God of Small Things. Although the novel - which is set in Ayemenem village adjoining Kumarakom - does not render the unspeakable beauty of Kumarakom, aren’t the aforementioned words enough to lure you to the most beautiful place in Kerala (arguably)? And If I say Kumarakom is the capital of the God's own country, will you disagree?


Well, honestly, this is my fourth trip to Kumarakom, with an intention of doing a photoblog on Yahoo! Strangely, it had been raining all these four times, maybe, to make me realize that the beauty and majesty of Kumarakom are at its best during monsoon.

And this time, I’m in a houseboat, the perfect place for chilling out -and much more ;-). Houseboats are big barges with five-star amenities –air conditioned bedrooms with contemporary bathrooms, modular kitchens that prepare the choicest Kerala-style food, home theatre and whatever else you want. Some of them have as many as five bedrooms, some have conference halls and some are even double-storied.

Every here and there you see a fisherman, hounding for Karimeen (pearl spot). The boat captain excitedly explained to us four different methods to catch a pearl spot fish and how clinically they do it. Interesting!

At the prow of the houseboat sits Sreehari, 15, after whose name the boat is named. He doesn’t just share his name with the boat, but he owns it! The young guy too has his share of knowledge to impart – about Tiger Prawns, another taste of the Kumarakom. He flashes his torch into the water, toward the stone wall of the canal’s side and I see two small bulbs flashing between two stones. And he says those are the eyes of a Tiger Prawn. Wow!

Before I clicked this photo, it never occurred to me that lightning is the best source of light for night photography. Yes, this photo was clicked at 11:40 pm, there was lightening and the photo came out like this.

It may be the company of boatmen, the palatable Karimeen (pearl spot) fry, mouth-watering tiger prawns curry, a bottle of chilled beer from the boatmen’s icebox, a romantic night with your other half, or the cruise across the Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom guarantees you something to cherish for a lifetime.

Thanks to Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/kumarakom--capital-of-god%E2%80%99s-own-country


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Akshaya Patra @ Bangalore

  what Akshaya Patra does ?.
Akshaya Patra is the Free midday meal scheme in Karnataka.

http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/1.jpg
The kitchen from the outside -
a three-storey building which uses Gravity Flow Mechanism developed in-house
by our team. Each kitchen has the capacity to cook between 50 000 to 100 000
mid-day meals per day. Costing approximately 9 crores to set up, they are built with funds from public donations.
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/2.jpg
The kitchen from the inside, consisting of rice cauldrons each of which
cooks up to 110kg of rice in 20 minutes. Sambar cauldrons cook up to 1200
litres of sambar in two hours.
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/4.jpg
It is washed thoroughly on the 2nd floor
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/5.jpg
Washed rice is sent down the chute to the
1st floor
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Rice pours down into steam heated cauldrons
for cooking. The entire cooking process
takes place on the 1st floor
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/7.jpg
Super heated steam is used
to cook food instead of flame.
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/8.jpg
When cooking is finished, it is
loaded into trolleys
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/9.jpg
Cooked rice is sent down the chute
to the ground floor
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/10.jpg
It flows down the pipe into containers
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Piping hot rice on its way to being
loaded into food vans. Around
6000 kilosof rice are cooked daily
in each kitchen.
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/12.jpg
Food materials in Kitchen
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/13.jpg
Stock in the kitchen
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/14.jpg
Washed dal and vegetables flows
down the chute into sambar cauldron on
the 1st floor.
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/15.jpg
Vegetables and dal ready to be cooked
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/16.jpg
Sambar being cooked on the first floor
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/17.jpg
Cooked sambar is packed and sent to the
food vans to be loaded.
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/18.jpg
Chapati dough is mixed
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/19.jpg
Heavy rollers flatten the dough into
thin sheets
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/20.jpg
Dough is cut into the classic round shape
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/21.jpg
Making chapatti
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/22.jpg
Collecting all the chapattis
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/24.jpg
Transporting akshayapatra food through bus
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/25.jpg
Happy Kids
http://www.akshayapatra.org/Centralized1/data/images/26.jpg
Students benefit from akshayapatra.