Discipline – Page 176 – Take off with Natarajan

Message For the Day…” Core of Truth Will Never Change…”

March 16, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

When the moon is just a little arc in the sky and one desires to see it, a person indicates it by pointing a finger towards it. Or, when one desires to look at a particular star, a person says, “There, just above that branch of this tree.” The moon is far away, and the star is much farther. At the moment it could be seen just above the branch, but that is only a temporary location. Soon, the location changes. The finger can no longer be correct, for the star or moon moves across the sky. But the genuine characteristic never undergoes change. The form may suffer change; the name may change; times may change; and the space it occupies may change. But the core of Truth will not change. That core is denoted as existence, luminescence, and attractiveness(asthi, bhathi, priyam) in Vedantic texts. The above three together are the nature of God. On these as the basis, forms are constructed by the mind, and names for the forms follow.

Sathya Sai Baba

Hong Kong’s Third Runway Backed by IATA and Cathay Pacific….

March 15, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The HK$150 billion project has been backed by both Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), with the interpretation that a third runway is necessary in order to see the aviation industry in Hong Kong flourish.

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is set to begin the construction of a third runway and associated infrastructure.

Construction on the third runway is expected to commence next year, to be completed by 2023, and will help Hong Kong International Airport boost capacity to 100 million passengers and 9 million tons of cargo a year by 2030.

IATA have said that HKIA plays a crucial role as an economic catalyst – Hong Kong is home to some 3,500 regional headquarters and boasts a HK$250 billion tourism industry. The airport serves 63 million passengers and processes 4.4 million tonnes of cargo.

“IATA has long been an advocate of the need for a third runway in Hong Kong. And it is in the interest of everyone in Hong Kong to see the aviation industry flourish. Aviation and aviation-related tourism account for 8.2% of the Hong Kong economy. Increasing HKIA’s capacity to be able to serve 100 million passengers and 9 million tonnes of cargo by 2030 will ensure that the airport continues to be a pillar of Hong Kong’s success—provided the expansion is built, financed and funded wisely,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO in a speech to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong.

IATA has outlined a framework which will allow Hong Kong’s new infrastructure to be built without increasing airline charges, without placing a burden on taxpayers, without making it more expensive for travellers, without adding an extra burden to shippers and while increasing competitiveness of the hub’s air transport network.

HKIA is consistently profitable, and IATA’s Tony Tyler has suggested the airport use its advantageous financial situation to fund its expansion by borrowing through commercial loans or bonds.

Flag carrier, Cathay Pacific has supported IATA’s suggestions to fund the project by saying that the third runway can be self-funded through existing income streams, especially as the number of passengers moving through the airport continues to grow.

“Hong Kong International Airport is extremely successful. It is the world’s busiest airport for international freight and the third busiest in terms of international passenger traffic. The Airport Authority enjoys the highest net profit of any airport in the world and benefits from strong cash flows, a healthy balance sheet, and growing income from retail and aeronautical streams,” said Ivan Chu, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive.

Cathay Pacific also believes that, as a public body, the Airport Authority should reinvest its income in the development of the third runway, so that the airport can maintain its premier hub status and continue to make an important economic contribution to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s air transport network is under pressure to remain competitive, after its share of the market connecting China to the rest of the world shrank from 20 percent to 17 percent between 2005 and 2013.

Its share on the ASEAN to North America market has remained at 10 percent, whereas the airport’s share on ASEAN to European traffic has contracted to 2.4 percent from 3.3 during the same period.

“There are lots of reasons why these changes are happening. The Middle East airlines are proving to be strong competitors with efficient and affordable hubs being a central piece of their success. And hubs closer to Hong Kong continue to improve their offerings to enhance the competitiveness of their networks,” said Mr Tyler.

SOURCE:::::::: Poppy Marello in http://www.routesonline.com

Natarajan

Riddles For the Weekend….

March 14, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Riddle Time: 12 Challenging Brainteasers

Get ready to put on your thinking cap. It’s time to rack your brain with these 12 riddles.

1. I am only useful when I’m full, yet I am always full of holes. What am I?

A sieve (used for straining food like pasta).

2. Fill in the blanks with four, four-letter words that all share the same first three letters.

Samuel the secretive Scotsman was dressed to ____ in his twill woven ____. Little did they know he had a ____ of marijuana stashed away as he innocently warmed his hands by the Scotch ____.

Kill, kilt, kilo, kiln

3. What is special about the number 854,917,632?

It is the numbers from one to nine in alphabetical order.

4. It stalks the countryside, with ears that cannot hear. What is it?

Corn

5. A word with horizontal symmetry is one whose letters are a mirror image of themselves. If you drew a horizontal line across the word and folded it over, it would overlap on itself. Examples: EXCEEDED and ICEBOX. What is the longest word with horizontal symmetry?

CHECKBOOK

6. I travel a lot and meet both the rich and the poor, but nobody knows where I am going next. I’m invisible but you can see what I do. Who or what am I?

The wind.

7. King Ferdinand has no immediate living relatives and decides to hold a contest to find a worthy successor for when he dies. He gives a seed to every contestant and explains that the person with the healthiest and most beautiful plant will win the throne.

When the final day of the contest arrives, the king finds hundreds of plants of all shapes and sizes. However, he ignores them and awards the throne to a girl holding a pot with only moist dirt. Why did she win?

King Ferdinand was a kind and trusting man and wanted to be sure he found an honest heir. He gave small pebbles to all the contestants, claiming they were seeds. Therefore, any contestant with a plant had switched their “seed” in order to win. Everyone but the girl had been dishonest.

8. What can go up a drainpipe down but not down a drainpipe up?

An umbrella.

9. What word could be added to all of these words?

apple
cone
lake
tree
ridge
nuts

Pine.

10. What goes up and down but doesn’t move?

A staircase.

11. Brandon was walking around at the carnival. A man called out from a booth and said, “If I can write your exact weight on this piece of paper, you have to pay me $50. If I can’t do it, I’ll pay you $50.”

Brandon checked the booth for a scale but saw nothing. He agreed. Since your weight can fluctuate by a pound or two, he decided that no matter what number the man wrote, he would just say he weighed a pound more or less. In the end, the man in the booth won the $50. How did he do it?

The man in the booth wrote the words, “Your exact weight” on the piece of paper.

12. You can have it, and be at it, but it never lasts forever. What is it?

Peace

H/T: riddlesbrainteasers.com

SOURCE:::: http://www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

Image of the Day… ” Return of Expedition 42 to Earth ” …

March 14, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft is seen as it lands with International Space Station Expedition 42 commander Barry Wilmore of NASA, Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Elena Serova of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. The landing took place on the evening of Wednesday, March 11 in the U.S, and early in the morning on Thursday, March 12, in Kazakhstan.

The three crew members returned to Earth after a 167-day mission on the orbital outpost that included hundreds of scientific experiments and several spacewalks to prepare the orbiting laboratory for future arrivals by U.S. commercial crew spacecraft.

SOURCE:::: http://www.nasa.gov

Natarajan

This Date in Science…13 March…Discovery Of Uranus…Completely By Accident !!!

March 14, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

March 13, 1781. The 7th planet – Uranus – was discovered on this date, completely by accident. British astronomer William Herschel was performing a survey of all the stars that were of magnitude 8 – in other words, too faint to see with the eye – or brighter. That’s when he noticed an object that moved in front of the star background over time, clearly demonstrating it was closer to us than the distant stars. At first he thought he had found a comet, but later realized this object was a new planet in orbit around our sun – the first discovered since ancient times.

Later, it turned out, astronomers learned they had observed Uranus as far back as 1690. But it was Herschel who first realized the true nature of this distant light in our sky.

William Herschel’s famous 40-foot telescope, constructed between 1785 and 1789 at Observatory House in Slough, England. It was the largest telescope in the world for 50 years. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Herschel proposed to name the object Georgium Sidus, after King George III, but those outside of Britain weren’t pleased with the idea. Instead, on the suggestion of astronomer Johann Elert Bode, astronomers decided to follow the convention of naming planets for the ancient gods. Uranus – an ancient sky god, and one of the earliest gods in Greek mythology – was sometimes called Father Sky and was considered to be the son and husband of Gaia, or Mother Earth.

King George III was still pleased, however. As a result of Herschel’s discovery, the king knighted him and appointed him to the position of court astronomer. The pension attached let Herschel quit his day job as a musician and focus his full attention on observing the heavens. He went on to discover several moons around other gas giant planets. He also compiled a catalog of 2,500 celestial objects that’s still in use today.

Voyager 2 gave us our first close-up image of the planet Uranus in 1986. Its images showed a featureless gas giant world.

In 1977, astronomers using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory made another serendipitous discovery – of rings around the planet Uranus. That discovery made Uranus the second known ringed planet in our solar system.

The closest we humans have come to Uranus was in 1986, when the Voyager 2 spacecraft swung by the planet. At its closest, the spacecraft came within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of Uranus’s cloudtops on Jan. 24, 1986. Voyager 2 radioed thousands of images and voluminous amounts of other scientific data on the planet, its moons, rings, atmosphere, interior and the magnetic environment surrounding Uranus.

Bottom line: British astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus – first planet to be discovered since ancient times – on March 13, 1781.

source::::: http://www.earthskynews.org

Natarajan

” You Do not Need Money to be Rich…” Watch This Video clip …

March 14, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

While everyone you meet is fighting his own battle, some people stride ahead of others by winning their battle with integrity. Varun Pruthi spotted, or rather had a serendipitous encounter with the richest man in the world.

This video is special because I’ve always found Varun’s “God sent me for you” videos a bit cheesy; he could have just handed over the money & be with it. The God angle makes the videos difficult to digest. Thankfully, this visually-impaired samosa seller has better clarity on life than most others.

His words, “What I make with my efforts in enough for me.” shows his character & commitment to hard work.

He may not have the riches of the world, but he has a heart of gold.

SOURCE::: http://www.storypick.com and You Tube

Natarajan

” How to Sound Smart While Saying Absolutely Nothing … ” !!!

March 14, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

In a hilarious talk capping off a day of new ideas at TEDxNewYork, professional funny person Will Stephen shows foolproof presentation skills to make you sound brilliant — even if you are literally saying nothing. (Full disclosure: This talk is brought to you by two TED staffers, who have watched a LOT of TED Talks.)

Will Stephen has written for New York Magazine, The New Yorker, and CollegeHumor, where he also worked as a staff writer and editor. He is a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

This talk was given on Saturday, November 1, 2014 at TEDxNewYork. The theme was “Grand, Central.” For more information, visit http://tedxnewyork.com or follow http://twitter.com/tedxnewyork.

SOURCE:::: You Tube and wwwba-bamail.com

Natarajan

Message For the Day…” Understand the Power of Creator…God…”

March 14, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The cosmos is a magnificent wonder, a source of continuous amazement. It will impress anyone, whoever you are, as a supreme marvel. When an object has to be made, we know it needs someone with skill, intelligence, and power to make it. Without a maker, it is just impossible. Therefore, how could these visible objects — the sun, moon, stars, and constellations— move and behave as they do without a Supreme Creative Designer? Can they exist and function with any ordinary power? No. After observing the creation with such mighty capabilities, intelligent people can easily infer how immeasurable the power of the Maker must be. Not just that, look at the uniqueness and variety in creation! No one thing is the same as another; no one person resembles another. This can only be the sport (leela) of the phenomenon with limitless glory – God! No lesser power could be the source. From the mystery inherent in creation, understand the Creator.

Sathya Sai Baba

” A Jumbo Jet Made A Tricky Landing on a Short and Narrow Runway …” Why ?

March 13, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The aircraft which is known as ‘The City of Canberra’ was cheered and applauded by a crowd of thousands as it made a tricky landing on the short and narrow runway.

FUN FRIDAY: Qantas Lands Jumbo Jet in Small Regional Airport

A Qantas jumbo jet has made history by landing at a regional airport in New South Wales to become the first 747-400 in the world to go on display.

The aircraft which is known as ‘The City of Canberra’ was cheered and applauded by a crowd of thousands as it made a tricky landing on the short and narrow runway.

Illawarra Airport’s runway, which is only 1,800 metres, is less than half the length of Sydney Airport’s runways and at just 30 metres wide, the aircraft’s wingspan of 64 metres caused the two engines to hang over the runway’s edge on landing.

The aircraft was retired to Wollongong after 25 years of service, where it will become a prized addition to the aviation museum based at Illawara Regional Airport.

Qantas’ final 747 flight departed Sydney Airport last weekend, and flew at just 4,000 feet and at a much slower speed for its 15 minute journey to Wollongong.

The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society who will be looking after the jumbo jet has Australia’s biggest collection of historical aircraft including a plane known as ‘Connie’, a Lockheed Super Constellation originally built for the US Air Force.

“It’s a bit sentimental but it’s going to a great home down here and we know it’s going to be looked after by the society volunteers,” Captain Greg Matthews said.

The City of Canberra is the oldest aircraft in the Qantas fleet and holds the record for the longest ever non-stop commercial flight for its trip from London to Sydney in 1989.

In total, the plane has flow 85 million kilometres, which is equivalent to 110 return trips to the moon. Its last commercial flight was in January this year between Johannesburg and Sydney.

SOURCE::::: Poppy Marello in http://www.routesonline.com

Natarajan

” Take a Brisk Walk For 30 Minutes PerDay…EveryDay… Why ? …Read Furher…”

March 13, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The Health Benefits of Brisk Walking

It’s bizarre to think this, but these days people just don’t walk enough, or even stand, for that matter. It’s easy to let ourselves move from comfortable seat to comfortable seat, from bed to sofa. But the act of walking isn’t just a chore, it’s something our bodies are meant to do. When we do walk, the body benefits in many great ways. You won’t believe how much better it is to go on regular walks.

health walking