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Showing posts from 2018

Billion Dollar Day 1985

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I took a 3 month break and....

....I  realized I had missed out on a lot of good stuff. I knew I hadn't posted in a while. But it turned out to be the most underrated statement I had ever made. I have a link to my blog on my Instagram page and I never miss a chance to tell people that I'm a "blogger". But it all turned out to be a sham. Why ? Because there isn't a blogger on this planet who has gone incognito for 3 months. 2 days more and I would have completed my 3rd month anniversary of not posting anything (not that it is anything to celebrate about, I'm just saying). My reason for disappearing? Nothing.

The world is a beautiful place....or is it ? - Millennial Couple Bikes Near ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed

An idealistic young American couple was killed in an Islamic State-claimed terrorist attack last month while on a cycling trip around the world.  Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, both 29, last year quit their office jobs in Washington, DC, to embark on the journey. The couple documented their year-long journey  on  ​Instagram  and on a  ​joint blog .  “You read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place," Austin wrote.  “I don’t buy it," he continued. However,  Austin and Geoghegan's  dream trip  came  to a tragic and  gruesome  end when they got to Tajikistan,  a  ​weak state  with a known terrorist threat that shares a border with Afghanistan, where ISIS and other terrorist groups are  ​highly active .  They were riding their bikes through the country on July 29 when a car rammed them . Five men got out of the car and stabbed the couple to death along with two  other cyclists, one from Switzerland and the other from the Nether

Kerala Floods 2018 update

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Read more at :  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/kerala-rain-fury-kills-26-more-toll-since-august-8-touches-97/articleshow/65431989.cms

PR Case Study : This is what happened when Ford did not give it's car to Team-BHP for a test drive

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Team BHP is India's No.1 auto portal where people post their reviews and ownership experiences of the cars they own. It is a de-facto no. 1 website that auto enthusiasts will visit for unbiased reviews. All auto manufacturers know this and so happily provide a "test vehicle" whenever a new model is launched. To summarize, Team BHP's car reviews are what CRISIL's ratings are for corporates.  Now in this particular case, Team BHP contacted Ford with a request for their Ford Ecosport model  which was recently launched. Despite several reminders and follow up messages, Ford did not respond (according to Team BHP).  Now one would think that after sending multiple requests and getting rejected so many times, anyone would break all contact with the manufacturer.But not Team BHP. They did the unthinkable (which I would personally call a genius PR move). They publicly asked their viewers/readers if they owned Ford Ecosport and whether they would oblige by giving th

I made a mistake....

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Yesterday I made a post which said that Jet Airways shares took a tumble of 67.5%. I was wrong. I misread the article which I taken as my source of information. Jet Airways share price has never gone down that much. It was a serious error on my part. I should've read the article more thoroughly and cross checked with two-three other reliable sites for the correct news. The actual status of Jet Airways shares as of 10th August.2018 is:

From 52 week high price in Jan, Jet Airways shares take a tumble of 67.5% in intraday trading today

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Jet Airways Founder Chairman felt "guilty and embarrassed" as a lot of shareholders have lost their money owing to the company's financial woes (mainly because of hike in fuel prices). Source:  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/feeling-embarrassed-about-investors-losing-money-jet-airways-chairman-naresh-goyal/articleshow/65340365.cms

ICICI Bank report 1st Quarterly Loss at Rs. 120 Cr

ICICI Bank slumped to a historic loss in the quarter ended June 2018 due to a rise in provisions as the bank set aside more money to comply with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines on old non performing assets referred to the bankruptcy courts. The bank reported a loss of Rs. 120 crore in June 2018 versus a profit of Rs. 2049 crore a year ago mainly as provisions more than doubled. Read more at:  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/icici-bank-reports-first-quarterly-loss-at-rs-120-crore/articleshow/65172348.cms

"Height" of #KikiChallenge *hahaha*

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Mira Road's Son and now Hero - RIP Major Kaustubh Rane

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A son, a husband, a father and now a HERO. Gone too soon but not in vain.  Major Kaustubh Rane (29), resident of Mira Road, lost his life  Rane, 29, lost his life fighting for the nation in the Gurez Sector of Jammu & Kashmir on August 7. He was among the four Army personnel killed in a gunfight with terrorists near the LoC in the Bandipura district on Tuesday. His coffin arrived late on Wednesday night and the last rites took place on Thursday morning with full military honours (he was decorated with the Sena Gallantry Medal by President Ram Nath Kovind on the 69th Republic Day celebrations this year). Police had cordoned off the entire area around his building.  Thousands of emotional onlookers (practically 3/4 of Mira Road's population) lined up alongside the road or from building tops and terraces to pay their respects and bid farewell to the man who made them proud and sacrificed himself to ensure their safety. Raising slogans of "Major  Kaustubh Rane , Am

Geli Mumbai Khadyaat..... #MonsoonPotholeSong - RJ Malishka

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RJ Malishka is back again with another song !!! And it's soooooo relatable!  If Dhinchak Pooja can get millions of views then so can she. Watch it!

PVR, INOX shares crash 10% + after guess what....

In what could bring relief to moviegoers who often crib about over-priced pop corns and soft drinks at multiplexes, Maharashtra government on Friday clarified that there is no restriction on taking food articles from outside multiplexes and consuming them in the multiplexes.  Following the announcement, the stock of  PVR Cinemas fell 13.47 per cent  or 188 points to 1209 level whereas  Inox Leisure fell 10.34 per cent  or 25 points to 226 level. SOURCE :  https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/stocks/pvr-inox-stock-falls-maharashtra-govt-allows-outside-food-in-multiplexes/story/280246.html READ MORE AT :  http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/mumbai/2018/jul/13/outside-food-to-be-allowed-in-maharashtra-multiplexes-1842917.html

Which type of phobia do you have ?

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And for some more funny ones.....

Backlash over Forbes calling Kylie Jenner "self-made"

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Forbes called Kylie Jenner self made and some of the Twiterrati are not taking it too well. Read more at :  https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/12/entertainment/kylie-jenner-forbes-cover/index.html

Forbes calls Kylie Jenner "self-made" - 20 year old built a $900 million fortune in less than 3 years

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I had earlier made up my mind that I would never write anything about the Kardarshian-Jenner family on my blog no matter how much and for what they came in the news (I'm not a fan of fan of an reality TV shows; Indian or otherwise). But some things can't be given a miss. Now we all know that everything that happens in the Kar-Jenner households adds to making them popular and richer. But to what extent, we have come to know now. Just 20, and an extremely young mother (she had baby daughter Stormi in February), Kylie Jenner runs one of the hottest makeup companies ever. Kylie Cosmetics launched two years ago with a $29 "lip kit" and has sold more than $630 million worth of makeup since. Add to that the millions she's earned from TV programs and endorsing products, she's conservatively worth $900 million, which along with her age makes her the youngest person on the fourth annual ranking of America's Richest Self-Made (which is a debatable point) Women.

Race against the Monsoon finally ends - All 13 Thai boys out.....!

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After close to 2 weeks of being trapped inside a huge cave in Thailand, the entire soccer team of boys ranging from 11 years to 16 years and their coach are now safely out. A mission which had half the world hooked on (especially my home; my mom first, followed by dad and then me, it's trending right now) as well as helping; the Thai Navy SEALs, divers and medics were joined by professionals from other countries ( close to a 1000 people were there at the site) as well has now come to an end.   All 12 boys and their divers have come out safely except for  a doctor who had stayed with the 13 stranded people after they were found last Monday, and three Thai Navy SEAL divers who helped with the complicated and precarious rescue operation. The worst part was that when they were first found out, the weather conditions had become really unpredictable. Plus, since the cave was filled with water and the boys didn't know how to swim, the divers felt the need to teach them scuba d

You want privacy? Check out the Toilets in ancient Rome

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And today we are worried about privacy..... Privacy is a very recent concept. All thanks to the internet. For the past 2000 years or more excluding the age of the internet, privacy never existed. 

Are you PHUBBING right now ?

(PHone snUBBING)  The constant use of smartphones and lack of human interaction.  For example, "phubbers" are people in the company of others who are endlessly texting or checking email. So are you PHUBBING someone right now ? Stop. That's rude.

Hindustan Unilever Monthly Chart

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The chart was range bound for 4 -5 years and then gave a breakout around 300 levels. Since then there has been no looking back. The breakout happened in 2012 and the current price is Rs. 1688 giving a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of  34% . 

I just came to know ALL these products belong to HUL (Hindustan Unilever) and I'm shook

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Two years ago my teacher sent the entire class on an assignment as part of our Principles of Marketing subject in which we had to visit different retail outlets and check which company manufactured them. I remember going to one such place with 3 other class mates, with Note Pad open in our phones and discreetly clicking pictures of all HUL products. It sort of felt weird at first because we had never done the picture clicking part before, but slowly got used to it as soon as we realized that the line of HUL products was just never ending. We submitted the assignment the next day and that was the end of the story. But just yesterday, I opened the HUL website again as part of my semester  VI Logistics subject assignment (yes I do get homework even in TY!). I was surprised by the products that I saw.

Thai Cave Rescue : 4 boys now above ground

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How are they bringing them out? Getting to and from where the boys are is an exhausting 11-hour round trip even for the experienced divers. The process includes a mixture of walking, wading, climbing and diving - all in complete darkness - along guide ropes already in place. Wearing full-face masks, which are easier for novice divers than traditional respirators, each boy is being accompanied by two divers, who will also carry their air supply. After an unseasonal dry spell, and furious efforts to pump out deep floodwater from the 2.5-mile narrow passageway separating the boys from the exit, the water was now at its “lowest” levels to date and most of the path was walkable. As per reports, 6 boys are currently outside the cave. SOURCE:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44757804

Divers explain the ongoing rescue of the trapped Thai soccer team - A must watch

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Thai Soccer Team of 13 boys and coach found alive in a cave after going missing for 10 days

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A Thai youth soccer team and its coach were found alive Monday in a vast, flooded cave complex where they disappeared more than a week ago, and a photo taken by rescuers showed the smiling faces of several survivors. The players, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach had been stranded since June 23 in the Tham Luang Nang Non caves in Thailand's rugged, mountainous Chiang Rai province. Last week, the U.S. Pacific Command sent a 30-person rescue team to northern Thailand to aid the desperate search, which began when a mother reported her son had not returned from practice. The soccer team had not been heard from since. Teams from Britain, China, Australia and other countries joined the effort. SOURCE :  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/07/02/thai-soccer-team-found-alive-after-9-days-lost-caves/751274002/?csp=chromepush

Year-to-Date Comparison of Large cap, Mid Cap & Small Cap Stocks

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As explained in the  previous post  large caps account for 75% of the total market capitalization, mid caps 13% and small caps 7%. Now people are always in a dilemma as to where one must invest. Some prefer small caps & mid caps because of  the profit potential while others prefer large caps because of the stable businesses, good management and lower volatility. This report will present the year-to-date gains of large caps, mid caps and small caps. This data is as of 05-07-18 and is generated from Amibroker. NIFTY 100 The average return stock for NIFTY 100 was -8%. The top gainer was 39% positive and top loser 56% down. Here are the top 5 gainers and top 5 losers for NIFTY 100 stocks.

Large Caps, Mid Caps and Small Caps explained

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NSE has a beautiful classification of large caps, mid caps and small caps. Large caps commonly refers to stocks in the NIFTY 100 index. NIFTY 100 is a diversified 100 stock index representing major sectors of the economy. NIFTY 100 represents top 100 companies based on full market capitalisation from NIFTY 500. The NIFTY 100 Index represents about 74.8% of the free float market capitalization of the stocks listed on NSE as on March 31, 2017.

Why do we YAWWWWWN ? (My Story)

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Yawning  is a mostly involuntary process of opening the mouth and breathing in deeply, filling the lungs with air. It is a very natural response to being tired. In fact, yawning  is usually triggered by sleepiness or fatigue.  Or boredom. Notice that when you get up from a good sleep you never yawn. Infact, it is difficult to yawn. But there is an exception and this happens to yours truly with regular frequency. The setup is very simple. I'm fresh from a 10 hour sleep ( I literally am a 19 year old baby when it comes to sleeping) . I freshen up and my father calls me to show something in the stock market. Within 30 seconds of him speaking, I give one big yawn. If I sit for another 10 minutes, guaranteed 5 more yawns. So much so that my jaws ache. Now at this point if I start reading newspapers, look at my phone, or do something else, the yawning vanishes.  Now if he calls me again to see the charts, the yawn comes again. How do you explain all this ? 

Repo Rate & Rev Repo Rate in Aam Aadmi language

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About the NIFTY Index

A stock market index is created by selecting a group of stocks that are representative of the whole market or a specified sector or segment of the market.  An Index is used to give information about the price movements of products in the financial, commodities or any other markets. The NIFTY 50 is a diversified 50 stock index accounting for 12 sectors of the economy. It is used for a variety of purposes such as benchmarking fund portfolios, index based derivatives and index funds. Points to Note: The NIFTY 50 Index represents about 62.9% of the free float market capitalization of the stocks listed on NSE as on March 31, 2017. NIFTY 50 is ideal for derivatives trading.

Trading Diary 28-05-18 - I earned my first Rs.3200

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Today was my first day in real time trading (after weeks of practice). My father and I have decided we will trade in NIFTY only (specifically in options). We will not be trading in stocks. We are mentally prepared for a loss of Rs. 5000 per trade. Not all trades will be profitable so the focus is on keeping the loss small and letting the profits run as long as possible. Today I was long in the morning and bought 10700 NIFTY call options. Position was squared off by 2 pm giving a net profit of Rs.3200. Given my trade size, the profit is not much.  This is the 5 minute chart of NIFTY Future. I was long in the second bar. 

Started trading in NIFTY Options

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Currently I'm learning  trading  NIFTY Options .  We prefer NIFTY Options as it helps us focus only on the index and there is no need to track multiple stocks/signals.   Positions will be  squared off  by 3:30 pm. All trades would be done using 5-minute charts. We already have a charting software and real time data feed.  This is what an intraday chart of NIFTY futures looks like. Glossary: 1. Upstox Pro - It is a online brokerage which helps you to trade and analyse the Indian stock markets in real time. They have extremely low rates (Rs.20 per order and Nil for delivery). You can take a demo at  Upstox Pro . 2. Day trading - The buying and selling of shares during market hours from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm with the intention of making a profit.

Fuel Prices on a High - Where is the Achche Din ?

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And the answer is :

Power of Compounding - What it actually means

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Compounding is the first step towards  long-term wealth creation.  Compounding allows you to  earn interest on your principal and on the interest that you reinvest . It helps you  build a large corpus over time  with the smallest of initial investment. For example: Suppose you invest Rs.1,00,000 today  for a period of 30 years , this is what you would earn under various rate of returns: Here is decoding it for you:

96 students have the same best friend

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2 - 3 people having the same best friend is acceptable. But 96 ? Seems next to impossible. But our new generation of students have proven that impossible is the new trend. The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board ( GSHSEB ) has caught 96 copycats from an exam centre for  mass copying in the English paper SSC exam held recently.  Interestingly, it was their collective best friend ' Vikram ' who spilled the beans as all 96 students had written a photocopy essay on 'My Best Friend' without changing the name and basic traits of their khaas dost .   This same thing happened when I was in first year. Our class had just gone on a Industrial Visit and each of the 65 FY students were expected to submit a detailed report. Since I was incharge of collecting all 65 word docs, I told them to write their name and roll number as the heading of the document as well as the subject of the email.  What I got was around 20 - 25 word docs with different subjects

Fun Laws they should teach you in School

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01. LORENZ'S LAW OF MECHANICAL REPAIR: Once  your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch. (More like when you're on the bike for once with your helmet on and the visor down, your ear will start to itch). Call it perfect timing. 02. ANTHONY'S LAW OF THE WORKSHOP: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. (Mostly under the table) 03. KOVAC'S CONUNDRUM: When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone. 04. CANNON'S KARMIC LAW: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tyre, the next morning you will have a flat tyre. 05 O'BRIEN'S VARIATION LAW: If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now. (Always happens at the toll naka. Tip: Never go in the all car line. The trucks line moves faster even though it looks longer. Logic: Each truck is the size of approx. 2 cars).

What is Cognitive Dissonance ?

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Happened with me a hundred times. You fight for something you strongly believe in even though all the evidence points out to your theory being wrong. Possibilities of there being a different perspective to the same situation is kinda hard to accept. No wonder people always say, gaining knowledge has no age.  There is my truth and then there is your truth. As for the Universal truth, it does not exist.

Why to keep your phone "Partially-Unlocked"

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Your phone is either locked or unlocked. There used to be no in between option. But now, there is. Passwords are kept for security.  Har ghar ki ek hi kahani hai.  Some brainy kids may be even more advanced. As teenagers we keep passwords mainly because we don't want our parents to know what plans are being made, where and with whom. Certain manual safety measures are putting the mobile data off when giving the phone to parents so that they don't see incoming notifications, putting a password lock for all social media sites, keeping another safe app open in the background so that you can quickly switch, keeping one ear open incase any ghost who walks comes in your room late at night etc.  But apparently, the best security your phone and most importantly YOU can get is by keeping it "partially unlocked" . How so? This method will defeat the entire purpose of mummy daddy se chats aur photos chupane hai until and unless you have a secret vault/ Applock/ C

Can You Solve This ?

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Bye Bye Communal Hatred - IAS Topper 2015 Tina Dabi marries Rank. #2 Athar Amir-ul-Shafi.

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He may have lost the first rank of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2015 to her, but he clearly won her heart. Shunning the inter-faith taboos, IAS toppers Tina Dabi and Athar Aamir- ul-Shafi Khan got married on 20th March 2018.  In a country where people belong to different faiths, at times it becomes quite a challenge to live in peace and harmony without letting other people's beliefs affect you. Although education has played a major role in broadening the younger generation's mindset (I conducted a poll amongst my 17-25 year old friends and 91% of them agreed that Inter-faith marriages should not be considered a taboo in society ), India still has a long way to come in accepting inter-religion marriages without hesitating. 

A ROYAL Joke

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Pun intended I don't know to what extent this happens in other colleges but it definitely happens in mine!  #CollegeLife

Cristiano Ronaldo's ridiculous bicycle kick vs. Juventus

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Check for the kick between 00.15 - 00.24 I'm not a football fan, so I don't watch matches and I have no idea about their clubs (except for a few of them) and leagues (FIFA is the only one I know about). Players, is a different story *blush blush*. So I woke up this morning to Pg. 15 of Mumbai Mirror (dated 5th April 2018) - Ronaldo's  7ft 7in high bicycle kick. And then....I had to see the video. Why ? That man is 33 years old, running at God knows what speed, aiming a bicycle kick goal, and it actually went in the net. That last time I lifted my leg that high (as in 5ft is my record), was during a 10 day Self Defence Taekwando Training Camp. And everyone in the group got it right only on the last 2 days. That was one hell of a chance that he took; and it thankfully paid off. Ronaldo's second goal for the Spanish giants in their  3-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg victory at Juventus  was one of the greatest strikes - the 33-year-old Portuguese rising

Bharat Bandh - How discussions over the violence shadowed the protests' cause

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Credits to Snapchat I got to see live videos of the protests taken by people from their homes. The protests are bad (obviously, it's nationwide). The citizens who have got nothing to do with the protests are quite annoyed with the incidents since it's causing inconvenience to their daily lives. But everyone is so focused on the magnitude of the protests that they are forgetting the main reason and what caused the SC/ST to act like this in the first place. A quite community suddenly, for once decides to fight and everyone has a problem with it. The government had tried to redress the protesters’ main grievance, and sought a review of the SC order on April 2. However, the order had been passed on March 20. Why did the government wait till the protests began?  In theory, the court is not wrong. Laws assuming the guilt of the accused can be easily misused. However, “fair, just and reasonable” procedures need to factor in the reality that objectivity can sometimes hamper equa

What actually is the SC/ST Act

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The  Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989   is an   Act   of the   Parliament of India   enacted to prevent atrocities against   scheduled castes and scheduled tribes .  Article 17 of Indian Constitution seeks to abolish 'untouchability' and to forbid all such practices. It is basically a "statement of principle" that needs to be made operational with the objective to remove humiliation and harassments meted to the Dalits and to ensure their fundamental and socio-economic, political, and cultural rights. USE OF FORCE AGAINST DALITS Sections 3 (1) (i) to 3 (1) (iii) specifies the offences of atrocities by use of force. If a member of upper class uses force against the member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe like committing acts with intent to cause injury, insult or annoyance to any member of a SC/ST by dumping excreta, waste matter, corpse or any other offensive substance in his premises or commits similar acts which

ICICI does not say yes for independent probe

India's largest private sector bank does not agree to  an independent probe  into allegations of n epotism against its chief executive. ICICI Bank refuted allegations that a loan was given to the Videocon group due to its business dealing with chief executive Chanda Kochhar's husband. Whistleblower Arvind Gupta has demanded a forensic audit. However, the bank has ruled out hiring external agencies to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of nepotism.   The Videocon loan issue was first raised by whistleblower Gupta in 2016 when he wrote about it on a blog. Gupta claimed ICICI Bank granted a Rs 3,250 crore loan to Videocon Industries in 2012 mainly due to the business relations between Deepak Kochhar and the Videocon Group. The Videocon loan had later turned a non-performing asset. 

CA? Doctor? Engineer? NO?......Then let it be. Not interested

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That's the standard reaction a lot of teenagers might be getting if they are pursuing a course other than medical or engineering. Adults just don't seem interested in talking further if they can't understand what course you're doing. It's treated as if the child is not good enough, not as if it's ignorance on the elder's part. Many a times they don't even remember your stream the next time they meet you (until and unless you're doing medical or engineering; that's a different story altogether). One practically has to move around telling people that this is the full form of my degree, it is a 3 year course, it is based on this, I am working and along side this I am also doing one million other things in college. So my life is just as busy and hectic as medical and engineering students. If at all you have to compare, don't forget to take all these things into account as well. Somehow, whatever and how much ever you do, it doesn't add

Psalm 53 Sung in Aramaic for Pope Francis by Georgians, Stunning

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There is an incredible sense of inner peace and spirituality when you listen to this incredible music. You will notice that there are not using microphones or any other type of sound enhancement, just the natural acoustics of the church.

A contrite Steve Smith has the capacity for greatness

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On Thursday night, as the devastated, broken, young man faced the people he let down there was some comfort in knowing we were right to be proud in the first place. We cherish cricket in this country. We hold our cricketers to a higher standard than everybody else because it is sport that gives us so much pride and hope.  On Thursday night Steve Smith met those standards.  He went on manfully, ashamed of his actions but not ashamed to show the world how abject he feels. “I know I’ll regret this for the rest of my life,” he said. “I’m absolutely gutted and I hope in time I can win back respect and forgiveness.” He made no excuses. He sought no mitigation. He flailed himself and when it appeared he could not go on he went on some more. Cricket was more than a game to Smith, this is more than a professional disaster. “Cricket’s been my life,” he said. “I’m sorry and I’m absolutely devastated.” Though I myself am not a cricket fan (I only watch the IPL and World Cup finals

Why the Australia Ball- Tampering Scandal is making headlines in Cricket mad India

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Cricket is a game which is revered in India. More than any sport played, this game has received a lot of support and recognition in the country. Cricketers are treated like Gods. So definitely everyone looks up to such people as role models. When such a person does this kind of an act, people start to lose faith not only in him, but in the spirit of sportsmanship as a whole. The trio must have had their reasons, those, which may never be revealed to us. They have done something wrong, have been caught in the act, and have received their deserved punishment. Here is the background story: The cricket world was left stunned by the news that Australian captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and teammate Cameron Bancroft were found guilty of  ball-tampering  on the third day of their third Test against South Africa on March 24.   On  Sunday , Smith and Warner were made to step down from their roles as captain and vice-captain of the Australia national team.   n Wednesday, C

HDFC puts iron spikes outside it's Fort branch.....and the janta is mad about it

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A prominent bank in Mumbai is facing massive outrage over its unusual move to put up iron spikes on the pavement outside a branch, to prevent the homeless from sleeping there.  The multiple rows of iron spike were panned as a public hazard when they appeared recently. A journalist drew attention to the feature in his tweet. 

Why The Godfather is the Bible of Cinema

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The Godfather was a book which I have seen sitting in my bookshelf (top row, extreme left corner to be exact) since the past 6 years. However, I was allowed to read it only after I turned 16 (the allowance came on my persistent nagging and not because my father thought me old enough to read the book). The story content is overwhelming. First, it's full of violence and secondly, never before had I ever read a book which had me hooked on for hours (443 ultra thin pages, Times New Roman, font size 12 or less). In March 1972,  The Godfather  was first screened in a New York theatre. The movies were never the same again. 46 years later, longtime Rediff movie critic Raja Sen reveals why that film means that much, and how it led him to a unique tribute. I desperately wanted to eat a cannoli. My father's hurried explanation, meant to shush nine-year-old me so the cassette would not have to be paused -- "Something to eat" -- did not sit well with me, especially consid