Tidbits about this and that.

Younger states of India

2007-10-18T04:38:00.000-07:00

[Had intended to post this blog on August 15, 2007. I was investigating facts about the changes in India from what I learnt in History and Geogrphy. However, I refrained from posting it; thought perhaps these facts were well known. Very recently during my vacation this topic came up again, and I finally decided to post the information. So here goes ....]

Chhattisgarh

Founded: November 1, 2000.
Capital: Raipur
Facts: 10th largest state of India by area

Uttarakhand

Founded: November 9, 2000.
Capital: Dehradun
Major Cities and Industrial Centers: Nainital, Haldwani, Rudrapur, Roorkee, Tanakpur, Dehradun, Haridwar, Kotdwara, Rishikesh

Jharkhand

Founded: 15 November 2000.
Capital: Ranchi
Major Cities and Industrial Centers: Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Sindri, Giridih, Gumla, Deoghar,Daltonganj, Hazaribagh and Dhanbad once a part of West Bengal.

Roth IRA

2007-03-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

Few thoughts on Roth IRA:

1. What is Roth IRA - post tax dollars, interest grows tax free

2. Limit for 2007 - $4000

3. Article on recommended investment contributions for retirement: http://www.fool.com/retirement/retirement02.htm?source=erggglsrc241001

4. Advantages
- do not have to pay taxes for withdrawing
- withdraw contributions (after 3 - 5 years) without penalty
- distributions not mandatory after 70 and a half years (as required in 401K)

5. Where can you invest
- Banks
- Mutual Fund Companies
- Brokerage Firm
- Insurance Company

6. Things to research prior to setting up a Roth IRA account
- minimal amount
- annual fee
- inactivity fee
- account transfer out fee
- fees for changing investments
- fees for withdrawing money

Emergent Care versus Urgent Care

2006-12-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Emergent care is the treatment necessary to safeguard life, limb or eyesight. Examples of an emergency would be a broken arm or leg, excessive bleeding or a severe head injury.

Urgent care is sought when treatment is not immediately necessary but should be sought within 24 hours. Examples of some urgent care situations would be a urinary infection, a severe sprain or a fever in an infant.

Reference: http://esc.hanscom.af.mil/hansconian/Articles/2002Arts/02082002-10.htm

Miscellaneous

Emergent/urgent services obtained at an emergency room or urgent care center do not require approval by your primary care physician (PCP) or precertification by Preferred Care, but you are encouraged to notify your PCP after treatment to arrange for follow-up care.

Trivia 1 - Comparing Lake Michigan and Dead Sea

2006-10-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

	Lake Michigan	Dead Sea
Length	307 mi	42 mi
Breadth	118 mi	11 mi
Average Depth	85 m	120 m
Maximum Depth	282 m	330 m
Volume	4920 cubic km	147 cubic km

Pluto's Planetary Status and the like

2006-08-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

These days I have been reading headline news on the reelection whether Pluto will be considered as a planet or not, whether our solar system will have 12 planets. Most of the articles sound like frighteningly similar to Geography lessons.

Today I read this article on news.sctosman.com and thought that it was very well written; more like a story than a geography lesson. Here is the link.

It speaks of the proposed definitions for planets, plutons and how they will line up with our solar system. It concludes with a nice explanation on whether we need a change in definition or not.

Hence this post!

Shantiniketan

2006-05-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading Indira Gandhi's biography. As a child she attended many schools in India and abroad. The book mentions that Shantiniketan is the place where a young Indira Gandhi had her most relevant education.

Location: 136 kilometers from Calcutta

Ashram founded in: 1863
Founder: Maharshi Devendranath Tagore

International University founded in: 1901
Founder: Rabindranath Tagore

Named: Visva-Bharati University
Recognized: 1951

Quoted from the Shantiniketan official website:

“It was always the objective in Shantiniketan that learning would be a part of life's natural growth. The first step towards this objective was to establish in the child a sense of oneness with nature. A child has to be aware of his surroundings - the trees, birds and animals around him. The mind is deprived if one is indifferent to the world outside. Rabindranath said we concentrate on learning from books and neglect the knowledge that is freely available on all sides.”

Description

• Open-air education, started as an experiment by Rabindranath Tagore with 5 students to foster interaction with nature

• It consists of the following schools
- Kala Bhavan (College of Fine Arts and Crafts)
- Sangit Bhavan (College of Music and Dance)
- Vidya Bhavan (College of Humanities)
- Siksha-Bhavan (College of Science)
- Vinaya Bhavan (Teacher's Training College)
- Cheena Bhavan
- Hindi Bhavan

• The university focuses on development of arts

• The university has 6500 students enrolled

• The university offers courses for international students

• The campus is adorned with sculptures, frescoes, murals and paintings of Rabindranath Tagore, Nandlal Bose, Ramkinkar, Bindobehari Mukhopadhyaya and others

• The university has 44 hostels, 4 guest houses

• Free medical treatment is provided to all students by the Pearson Memorial Hospital

Famous Students

- Indira Gandhi
- Satyajit Ray (Biography – At Shantiniketan)
- Amartya Sen

For further details, do visit the Visva-Bharati website at http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in/

References

http://www.indiatravelogue.com/dest/wben/wben1.html
http://www.wb.nic.in/westbg/shanti.html
http://www.travelmasti.com/domestic/wb/santiniketan.htm
http://www.calcuttahotel.net/shantiniketan.htm
http://www.travel-westbengal.com/shantiniketan.htm
http://www.journeymart.com/breakfree/India/shantiniketan/index.htm
http://www.ashextourism.com/Westbengal/shantiniketan.htm

http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in/

Shanghai

2006-04-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

Why this city? We were discussing over population and crowding of Indian cities. And someone mentioned Shanghai as the city that is gradually sinking by over a centimeter per year. Hence I started google'ing the city.

History of the city:

- Became a walled city in the 16th century
- Opened to foreign trade by the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842
- Until World War II, Shanghai was a divided city
* Most part was a British concession, since 1843
* North Shanghai became a US concession in 1863
* A French consession was formed in 1849
The zones were under extraterrestrial administration, maintained their own courts,
police system and armed forces.
- The zones were occupied by the Japanese after December 7, 1941; recaptured by
Britain and US is 1943 and France in 1946
- After World War II, the Central Chinese government for the first time gained
control of the entire city
- Attacked by Communist forces in May 1949
- Pudong was declared a special development zone, for international trade and a
financial center in 1990

Location:

Shanghai means "on sea".

Sinking

Found an article dated September 13, 2003, on BBC news online related to this topic. It said that parts of Shanghai are sinking at the rate of one and a half centimeters a year, due to the weight of its skyscrapers. Shanghai is the home to China's tallest building and a new building under construction will be the world's tallest. Concern for the sinking city will result in slashing new high-rise buildings. (The rate of acceptable sinking is 1 centimeter/year.)

It was reported in 2004, that 3 railway tracks had to be closed, due to sinking earth. Read this article for further details.

Visting Shanghai

Getting to Shanghai by Air:

Shanghai has two international airports
- Pudong International airport (PVG) - handles 60% traffic
- Hongqiao International airport (SHA) - handles 40% traffic

Best time to visit Shanghai:

The best time to visit is in spring and early autumn. The temperatures range from 50 F to 72 F. The summers and winters are severe.

Shanghai Attractions

Huang Pu River and The Bund - The Huang Pu River divides Shanghai into two parts, east and west. The Bund (meaning "muddy waterfront") is a famous waterfront. The Jin Mao building, 1380 feet tall (tallest building in China) can be seen while walking across the Bund.

Yu Yuan Garden (Garden of Contentment) - It is located in the center of Shanghai's old city and is more than 400 years old. It is spread across five acres and is divided into six parts by five boundary walls.

Shanghai Museum - The exterior design of the museum symbolizes a round heaven (dome) and a square land (base). The galleries of the museum cover the following categories of Chinese art - ancient bronze, ceramics, sculpture, ancient jade, paintings, calligraphy, coins, Ming and Qing furniture, seals and minor nationalities. It is well known for its ancient bronze collection. The museum has a huge collection of books, around 200,000, on Chinese art and history.

Nanjing Road - As a part of the British concession, the Nanjing Road became the earliest shopping street in Shanghai for foreign goods. Now the 3.4 mile long road is dominated by modern shopping malls, upscale stores like Tiffany, theaters and international hotels. It also has about a hundred traditional stores selling silks, jade, embroidery, wools. A trackless sightseeing train provides a tour of the street.

Jade Buddha Temple - Built in 1928, the temple houses a 1.9 meter high, 1000 kg, white jade Buddha. Around 7000 Buddhist sutras line the walls. About 70 monks live in this temple and work there. The temple has a vegetarian restaurant.

Oriental Pearl Tower - Standing high at 1536 feet, the tower is the world's third tallest TV and radio tower, after Toronto and Moscow. Visitors can travel up and down the tower in double-decker elevators that can hold 50 people. The tower has a revolving teahouse and a sightseeing platform which can accommodate 1600 people.

Shanghai Stock exchange:

The Shanghai stock exchange was founded on November 26, 1990 and was operational from December 19, 1990. As of February 2006, the number of listings is 1075.

Shanghai Stock Exchange - Home Page

References

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0861054.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3105948.stm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/11/content_338498.htm
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/shanghai/getting-there.htm
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanghai/index.htm
http://www.chinahighlights.com/shanghai/attractions.htm
http://www.sse.com.cn/sseportal/en_us/ps/home.shtml
http://www.sse.com.cn/sseportal/webapp/datapresent/
TradingSummariesMonthlyAct?reportName=BizCompTradingSummariesMonthlyRpt

Wikipedia