Education – Page 74 – Take off with Natarajan

ISRO Creates History. Launches India’s First Space Observatory – ASTROSAT ….

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

ISRO has successfully launched India’s first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory – ASTROSAT, which is meant to observe distant celestial objects and to gain a more detailed understanding of our universe.

Right after celebrating the completion of Mangalyaan’s first year in the Martian orbit, the Indian Space Research Organization has set yet another milestone today. ISRO got its name etched in the scientific history of the India with the launch of the country’s first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory – ASTROSAT.

A 50-hour countdown for the launch of the scientific satellite began at 8 am on Saturday.

And the final launch took place at 10 am today from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. –

Source: Twitter

ASTROSAT is an astronomy observatory, a place from where India can study different cosmological phenomena. It is meant to observe distant celestial objects and to gain a more detailed understanding of our universe.

The speciality of ASTROSAT is that with just a single satellite, it enables simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of many astronomical elements.

The 1,513-kg satellite, estimated to have cost around Rs. 180 crore, was launched by PSLV-C30 into a 650 km orbit inclined at an angle of 6 degree to the equator. This is the 31st flight of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), and six small satellites of three foreign countries have also been launched along with ASTROSAT. It is for the first time that the PSLV launcher, which has lifted 45 small and mid-sized foreign satellites till date, is carrying four US Nano satellites. The other satellites are from Canada and Indonesia.

The spacecraft control centre at Mission Operations Complex (MOX) of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore will manage the satellite during its mission life.

While most of ISRO’s spacecraft are for specific applications such as communication, Earth observation and navigation, this is one among the few scientific satellites launched by the country. According to the official release by ISRO, missions of ASTROSAT include the following:

To understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes
Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars
Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy
Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky
Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the Ultraviolet region

ASTROSAT has five payloads which rely on the visible, Ultraviolet and X-rays coming from distant celestial sources.

ASTROSAT in clean room before its integration with PSLV-C30 –

They will gather data for the better understanding of various astrophysical processes occurring in our universe, and will send it to the ground station at MOX. This data will then be processed and distributed by the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC). While most scientific satellites can observe a narrow range of wavelength band, ASTROSAT will observe universe in the optical, ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. All major astronomy institutions and some universities in India will also participate in these observations.

The types and functions of the payloads as described by ISRO are as follows:

The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT, capable of observing the sky in the Visible, Near Ultraviolet and Far Ultraviolet regions of the electromagnetic spectrum

Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC, is designed for study the variations in the emission of X-rays from sources like X-ray binaries, Active Galactic Nuclei and other cosmic sources.

Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) is designed for studying how the X-ray spectrum of 0.3-8 keV range coming from distant celestial bodies varies with time.

Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI), functioning in the X-ray region, extends the capability of the satellite to sense X-rays of high energy in 10-100 keV range.

Scanning Sky Monitor(SSM),is intended to scan the sky for long term monitoring of bright X-ray sources in binary stars, and for the detection and location of sources that become bright in X-rays for a short duration of time.

CONGRATULATIONS @isro! PSLV-C30 successfully launches #ASTROSAT into the orbit. pic.twitter.com/3PlK5BLZWR

— Doordarshan National (@DDNational) September 28, 2015

Source……..Tanaya Singh…www.the better india .com

Natarajan

How Modi won the internet during Silicon Valley visit……..

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday answered questions from the audience at a Townhall at the Facebook headquarters and took a tour of the Google headquarters with CEO Sundar Pichai. The Prime Minister spoke about the role of social media in governance, and the effect it has had on his personal life.

Here are the top 10 quotes:

1	Social media was like a guide and an easy textbook to know about things for me. It helped mould my thought process. It helped me build world consciousness.
2	I used Chinese social media to wish the PM there. It went viral. I wished the Israel PM in Hebrew and he replied in Hindi!
3	We need both highways and i-ways (information ways) in India.
4	People today live in places where infrastructure is present unlike the past when water was the reason. Soon we might live in places where there is good digital infrastructure.
5	For our government to achieve economic progress, we have to utilise the potential of the 50 percent population — the women in India.
6	My mother is illiterate. My father is no more. My mom understands things through media. My mother took lot of pains to help me grow.
7	I come from a poor family and my family played an important role in my life. No one could have imagined that the world’s largest democracy could have accepted an ordinary tea seller.
8	I thought technology helps us save time, but in fact it is the opposite: people are spending maximum time using technology.
9	I want to encourage hack-a-thons in Indian cities too.
10	India’s unique strengths: 3D. Demographic dividend, democracy and demand. I have added another D: deregulation. Source….www.thehindu.com Natarajan

நரேந்திர மோடி ஏன் உலகை கவர்கிறார்…..

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

உலகளவில் அமெரிக்க அதிபர் ஒபமாவுக்கு பிறகு சமூக வலைதளங்களில் அதிகம் பேர் பின்தொடரும் நபராக இந்திய பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடி இருக்கிறார். தகவல் தொடர்பு நிறுவனங்களின் உலகத் தலைநகராக கருதப்படும் சிலிக்கான் வேலியே அவரது வருகையால் சிலிர்த்துக் கொண்டது என்றுதான் சொல்ல வேண்டும். உலக நாடுகளில் மோடிக்கு ஏன் இவ்வளவு வரவேற்பு இருக்கிறது என்றால் அதில் சில ரகசியங்களும் அடங்கியிருக்கிறது.

பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடி பொலிட்டிக்கல் சயின்சில் முதுகலை பட்டம் பெற்றவர். அதோடு அமெரிக்காவில் ‘இமேஜ் மேனேஜ்மென்ட் மற்றும் பப்ளிக் ரிலேஷன்ஷிப்பில் சிறப்பு பட்டம் பெற்றவர் என்பது நிறைய பேருக்கு தெரிந்திருக்க வாய்ப்பில்லை. அவருக்கு ஒரு விஷயத்தை பற்றி மக்களிடம் எப்படி செய்தி சேர வேண்டும் என்பதில் தெளிந்த அறிவு உண்டு. இளம் வயது முதலே ஊர் ஊராக பயணம் மேற்கொள்வதில் மோடிக்கு மிகுந்த ஆர்வம். எங்கே போகிறோம் என்று தெரியாமலேயே மோடியின் பயணம் அமைந்திருக்குமாம். அப்படி ராஜ்கோட் முதல் இமயமலை வரை மோடியின் இளம் வயது பயணம் அமைந்திருக்கிறது. சில காலம் இமயமலையில் சந்நியாசி வாழ்க்கை கூட மோடி வாழ்ந்திருக்கிறார். மோடி வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு ஏன் அடிக்கடி பறக்கிறார் என்பதற்கு இப்போது விடை கிடைத்திருக்கிறதா?

பிரதமர் மோடி ஒரு மிகச்சிறந்த புகைப்பட கலைஞர். அவர் எடுத்த புகைப்படங்களை கொண்டு கண்காட்சியும் நடத்தியிருக்கிறார். அவரது தாய்மொழியான குஜராத்தியில் கவிதையும் புனைந்துள்ளார். சில புத்தகங்களையும் எழுதியுள்ளார். அமெரிக்க அதிபர் ஒபாமாவுக்கு பிறகு ட்விட்டரில் அதிக ஃபாலோயர்கள் உள்ள தலைவர் மோடிதான். இவரை ட்விட்டரில் ஒரு கோடியே 20 லட்சம் பேர் தொடர்கின்றனர். உலகளவில் மோடிக்கு இதில் 2வது இடம். 1965ஆம் ஆண்டு பாகிஸ்தானுக்கு எதிரான போரின் போது மோடியும் நாட்டுக்காக தன்னால் முடிந்த பங்களிப்பை செய்திருக்கிறார். அதாவது ரயிலில் செல்லும் ராணுவ வீரர்களுக்கு உதவி செய்யும் சிறுவனாக பயணித்திருக்கிறார்.

குஜராத் முதலமைச்சராக மோடி 13 ஆண்டுகள் இருந்திருக்கிறார். இதில் ஒருநாள் கூட அவர் விடுமுறை என்று எடுத்ததில்லையாம். இரவு லேட்டாக உறங்க சென்றாலும் மோடியின் விடியல் காலை 5.30 மணிக்கு தொடங்கி விடும். பள்ளி, கல்லூரி காலத்தில் நாடகங்களில் நடிப்பதில் ஆர்வம் உண்டு. பல வேடங்களில் கலக்கியிருக்கிறார். மோடியின் சொந்த ஊரான வத்நகரில் உள்ள ஏரி, முதலைகளுக்கும் வசிப்பிடமாக இருக்கிறது. இளவயது மோடி அந்த ஏரிக்கரையில் விளையாடுவது வழக்கம். கரையில் கிடந்த முதலையிடம் வம்பிழுத்திருக்கிறார். முதலை வாலால் தாக்கி விட சிறிய காயத்துடன் தப்பிய வரலாறும் மோடிக்கு உண்டு.

மோடி குஜராத் முதல்வராக இருந்த போது கடந்த 2010ஆம் ஆண்டு உலகின் மிக வேகமாக வளர்ந்து வரும் 3வது நகரமாக அகமதாபாத்தை ஃபேர்ப்ஸ் இதழ் தேர்வு செய்தது. முதல் இரு இடங்களை சீனாவின் ஜோக்ஜிங், செங்குடு நகரங்கள் பெற்றன. ஒரு மாநாட்டில் மோடி பங்கேற்கிறார் என்றால் அங்கு பேச வேண்டிய விஷயங்களை ஹோம் வொர்க் செய்து பார்த்து விட்டுதான் மோடி மேடையே ஏறுவார்.

Source…..www.dinamalar.com

Natarajan

“இல்லத்தில்…அலுவலகத்தில்… பொது வாழ்வில்…மனித உறவுகள் சீராக இருக்க”….

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

A to Z 🔔

🔔APPRECIATION – மற்றவர்களின் நிறைகளை மனதாரப் பாராட்டுங்கள்.
> 🔔BEHAVIOR – புன்முறுவல் காட்டவும் சிற்சில அன்புச்சொற்களைச் சொல்லவும் கூட நேரம் இல்லாததுபோல் நடந்து கொள்ளாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔COMPROMISE – அற்ப விஷயங்களை பெரிதுபடுத்தாதீர்கள். நேரில் சந்தித்து மனம் திறந்து பேசுங்கள்.
> 🔔DEPRESSION – மற்றவர்கள் நம்மை புரிந்துகொள்ளவில்லையே என்று சோர்வடையாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔EGO – மற்றவர்களை விட உங்களையே உயர்வாய் நினைத்துக் கர்வபடாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔FORGIVE – கண்டிக்கக்கூடிய அதிகாரமும் , நியாயமும் உங்கள் பக்கம் இருந்தாலும் எதிர்த்தரப்பினரை மன்னிக்க வழி இருக்கிறதா என்று பாருங்கள்.
> 🔔GENUINENESS – எந்தக் கட்டத்திலும் சந்தேகம் வேண்டாம். எந்த விஷயத்தையும் நேர்மையாக கையாளுங்கள்.
> 🔔HONESTY – தவறு செய்தால் உடனே மன்னிப்புக் கேட்பதைக்
> கௌரவமாக கருதுங்கள்.
> 🔔INFERIORITY COMPLEX – எவரையும் பார்த்து பிரமிக்காதீர்கள் நான் சிறியவன் என்ற தாழ்வு மனப்பான்மையை விட்டு விடுங்கள்.
> 🔔JEALOUSY – பொறாமை வேண்டவே வேண்டாம். அது கொண்டவனையே அழிக்கும்.
> 🔔KINDNESS – இனிய, இதமான சொற்களை மட்டுமே பயன்படுத்துங்கள்.
> 🔔LOOSE TALK – சம்பந்தமில்லாமலும், அர்த்தமில்லாமலும், பின் அறியாமலும் பேச வேண்டாம்.
> 🔔MISUNDERSTANDING – மற்றவர்களைத் தவறாகப் புரிந்துகொள்ளதீர்கள்.
> 🔔NEUTRAL – எப்போதும் எந்த விஷயத்தையும் முடிவு எடுத்துவிட்டுப் பேச வேண்டாம் .பேசிவிட்டு முடிவு எடுங்கள். முக்கியமாக நடுநிலை தவறவேண்டாம்.
> 🔔OVER EXPECTATION -அளவுக்கு அதிகமாகவும், தேவைக்கு அதிகமாகவும் ஆசைப்படாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔PATIENCE – சில சங்கடங்களை சகித்துத் தான் ஆகவேண்டும் என உணருங்கள்.
> 🔔QUIETNESS -தெரிந்ததை மாத்திரமே பேசுங்கள். அநேகப் பிரச்சனைகளுக்குக்
> காரணம் தெரியாததைப் பேசுவதுதான். கூடுமானவரை பேசாமலே இருந்துவிடுங்கள்.
> 🔔ROUGHNESS – பண்பில்லாத வார்த்தைகளையும், தேவைஇல்லாத
> மிடுக்கையும் காட்டாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔STUBBORNNESS – சொன்னதே சரி, செய்ததே சரி என பிடிவாதம் பிடிக்காதீர்கள்.
>
> 🔔TWISTING – இங்கே கேட்டதை அங்கேயும், அங்கே கேட்டதை
> இங்கேயும் சொல்வதை விட்டு விடுங்கள்.
>
> 🔔UNDERESTIMATE – மற்றவர்களுக்கும் மரியாதை உண்டு என்பதை மறவாதீர்கள்.
>
> 🔔VOLUNTARY -அடுத்தவர் இறங்கி வரவேண்டும் என்று
> காத்திராமல் நீங்களே பேச்சை முதலில் தொடங்குங்கள். பிரச்சனை வரும்போது எதிர்தரப்பில் உள்ளவரின் கருத்துக்களுக்கு முதலில்
> காது கொடுங்கள். பின்பு அதற்கு பதில் கொடுங்கள்.
>
> 🔔WOUND – எந்தப் பேச்சும், செயலும் யார் மனதையும் காயப்படுத்தாமல் இருக்கட்டும்.
>
> 🔔XEROX – நம்மை மற்றவர்கள் எப்படி நடத்தவேண்டும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கிறோமோ அப்படியே மற்றவர்களை நாம் நடத்தவேண்டும்.
>
> 🔔YIELD – முடிந்தவரை விட்டுக்கொடுங்கள். விட்டுகொடுப்பவன்
> கெட்டுப்போவதில்லை, கெட்டுப்போகிறவர்கள் விட்டுக்கொடுப்பதில்லை.
> 🔔ZERO – இவை அனைத்தையும் கடை பிடித்தால் பிரச்சனை என்பது பூஜ்ஜியம் ஆகும்.
>
>Source…..unknown….Input from a friend of mine

Natarajan

Modi gets his message across in Silicon Valley…”Make in India” and “Digital India “

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Cisco’s John T. Chambers, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Qualcomm’s Paul E. Jacobs and Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai during the Digital India dinner function in San Jose. Photo: PTI

Midway through his second visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already addressed three of the four major constituencies he planned to reach out to—at the bilateral, multilateral and Indian diaspora levels.

The fourth—the US leadership—is next in line, say analysts.

At the multilateral level, Modi addressed the United Nations (UN) General Assembly where he spelt out the need for “climate justice” and chaired a meeting of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan—four nations that have demanded a place for themselves as permanent members of a revamped UN Security Council.

Before leaving the US, Modi is also set to address a conference on UN peacekeeping—a global duty that is substantially underpinned by Indian contributions.

On the bilateral economic front, Modi has held meetings with key US business leaders, seeking and enlisting their support for his “Make in India” and “Digital India” campaigns.

That a number of chief executive officers (CEOs) in Silicon Valley are Americans of Indian origin helped Modi link up with the diaspora—the third key constituency that he has reached out to on all his trips abroad. Modi was set to address an audience of 20,000 people of Indian origin in California on Sunday.

The fourth constituency is the US establishment, and Modi will be meeting US President Barack Obama overnight Monday before heading home.

Former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh noted that Modi’s six-day US trip had a multilateral component focused on key foreign policy issues such as the revamp of the UN Security Council, while the bilateral agenda with the US was tied to domestic economic issues.

“On the whole, the tenor of the visit has been positive,” Mansingh, also a former Indian ambassador to the US, said on Sunday.

Economy—the key focus area

Arriving in New York late on Wednesday after a brief halt in Ireland, Modi’s first engagements on Thursday were back-to-back meetings with the US business community aimed at burnishing the image of Asia’s third largest economy as an investor-friendly destination. Last week, the Asian Development Bank cut India’s growth projection to 7.4% for 2015-16 from 7.8% predicted earlier. And there has been criticism, albeit muted, that the Modi government, elected to office last May on a pro-jobs and pro-development platform, has been slow in putting in place measures that would spur the economy.

Among those who met the prime minister were Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp.; Ajay Banga, president and CEO of MasterCard who also chairs the US-India Business Council; Marilyn A. Hewson, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp.; Citigroup chairman Michael O’Neill; Boeing International president Marc Allen, and Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn. These meetings came on a day the Indian government formally announced that foreign companies without a permanent establishment in India will be exempt from the minimum alternative tax, levied on profit-making entities that do not pay corporate income tax because of exemptions and incentives.

“The idea (behind the intensive engagement with the business community) is that while we have expanded in a significant way our political security and defence cooperation, we need to make enhanced effort in terms of expanding the economic engagement between the two countries,” India’s ambassador to the US, Arun Singh, told reporters last week.

“When President Obama had visited in January, the two leaders had declared a goal of taking our trade relationship to a level of $500 billion from the present level of $120 billion. So, it would be important to see what kind of new opportunities we can create in the economic sector and that is why an important part of Prime Minister’s engagement during his visit to the United States is certainly focusing on the economic sector,” Singh said.

If the emphasis of Thursday’s meetings was on investments and manufacturing, it was Digital India at the weekend, when Modi travelled to California. Digital India is the Prime Minister’s flagship programme seeking to promote the use of technology to deliver governance and services. Those who met Modi included John Chambers, executive chairman of Cisco Systems; Paul Jacobs, executive chairman of Qualcomm who announced a $150 million investment in Indian start-ups; Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft; Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google; Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe; and Venk Shukla, president and trustee of Silicon Valley at The Indus Entrepreneurs, a group representing tech entrepreneurs.

“Today, more than 15% start-ups in Silicon Valley are attributed to Indian-origin tech entrepreneurs. Therefore, this is an additional dimension to the potential for cooperation between India and the United States,” ambassador Singh told reporters, underlining the potential role of the diaspora in the digital India initiative.

Ahead of the meeting with the leading lights of the Silicon Valley, Modi received Tim Cook, CEO of technology giant Apple, and invited the company to start manufacturing in India under the Make in India initiative that aims to boost India as a global manufacturing hub. Modi also visited Tesla Motors Inc., which designs and manufactures premium electric vehicles on Saturday, a visit that underlined the India’s growing emphasis on renewable energy, including plans to generate 100,000 megawatts solar power by 2022.

“The Prime Minister heard them and their concerns. How he deals with the problems once he is back home is to be seen,” Mansingh said.

At the UN

At the multilateral level, Modi has had two major engagements. On Friday he addressed the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the world community adopting the Sustainable Development Goals that aim to reduce global poverty. The second was early Saturday when he chaired a meeting of the Group of Four (G4) countries—Brazil, Germany, India and Japan—that seek to become permanent members of the UN Security Council.

In his address to the UN General Assembly, Modi spoke of how many of the initiatives launched by the Indian government—financial inclusion, education and skill development and pension schemes for the vulnerable—mirrored the Sustainable Development Goals. With an eye on the Paris climate change conference scheduled later this year in Paris, Modi urged developed nations to transfer technology, innovation and finances to developing countries in order to tackle the challenge of climate change.

Highlighting India’s plans to produce 175 gigawatts of electricity by 2022 through renewable energy sources, energy efficiency measures, improving public transportation, cleaning up cities and rivers, and the waste-to-wealth project, Modi said: “The objective of our collective efforts is common but differentiated responsibilities.” The principle institutionalizes the idea that rich nations must bear historical responsibility for global warming and therefore must take the global lead in efforts to reduce carbon emissions that cause climate change.

“Climate justice” was appropriate to taking the concerns of the poor in sustainable development, Modi said.

Modi also used the UN platform to stress the need to reform the Security Council, seven decades after the body was constituted at the end of the Second World War. “We must reform the UN and the Security Council. This is essential so that the institutions have greater credibility and legitimacy. With a broad-based representation, we will be more effective in achieving our goals,” Modi said.

To drive the message home, Modi invited Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to a summit level conference of the G4 countries pushing for the reform of the UN Security Council. The four countries support each other’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council and, in a joint statement, sought such reform “within a fixed time frame”.

This is the first summit of the four countries in a decade and comes against the backdrop of the previous 69th UN General Assembly deciding earlier this month to begin negotiations based on a broadly agreed text on reforming the Security Council. “With this summit, I think the prime minister has underlined this as a key foreign policy objective,” Mansingh said.

Modi’s last few engagements on Monday include a meeting with President Obama in New York and a separate meeting of countries that send troops for UN peacekeeping missions.

Elizabeth Roche….www. livemint.com

Natarajan

This Artist Decided To Bring A Van Gogh Painting To Life In A Very Literal Way…

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Flying into Minneapolis, you might be surprised to find yourself face-to-face with a Van Gogh painting — one that stretches out over more than a square acre of land. The unique thing about this version of the painting is that it is etched directly into the ground.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

This is the latest project by landscape artist Stan Herd, who uses fields as canvases to create large-scale interpretations of art. He recreates famous pieces (like the Van Gogh painting seen here) and even works on some originals. They’re unique because they can only be seen in full from the air.

This piece is composed of different plants, tracks, and soil patterns. Herd used grass of different lengths to create various tones and values.

This is the painting that Herd recreated with living plants.

Wikimedia Commons

It’s Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 piece called Olive Trees.

First, the painting was measured and the land was parceled out.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

The grid you see on the print helped Herd and his team create a scale model.

After that, the real work began.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

This piece of landscaping art is located near an airport in Minneapolis, and it’s visible to passengers as they enter the city. Herd has been working on these landscaping projects, which he calls “earthworks,” since 1981.

The project was commissioned by the Minneapolis Institute of Art (which is home to the original painting) in an effort to get people excited about visiting the city.

Each element of the painting had to be carefully planned out to ensure that the proportions were right.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

Creating an earthwork like this is no simple feat, and it requires a lot of physical labor.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

And this isn’t even the largest earthwork that Herd has created.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

In the early 1980s, he made one that covered 160 acres of land in Kansas.

With patience and hard work, the image started coming together.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

(via Colossal)

The Van Gogh earthwork will be on display near the airport throughout the autumn season. Herd plans to mow down the creation when winter arrives, but even his method of destruction is symbolic. He will remove the earthwork in a concentric circle pattern that mimics Van Gogh’s painting method.

You can see more of Herd’s earthworks on his website, and learn more about the original Van Gogh painting from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. If you happen to fly into Minneapolis this fall, snap a picture of the field and share it with the tags #BDayMia and #vangrow.\

Source….www.viralnova.com

Natarajan

Da Vinci’s Inventions that Were Ahead of their Time….

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

When I hear the name Leonardo Da Vinci, my first associations are his incredible works of art, such as “The Mona Lisa” or “The Last Supper”. Da Vinci, however, was a man of many talents and not just a mere painter – he was also a prolific inventor who came up with concepts that were so advanced, they could only have been realized in our time.

Da Vinci used to write down his ideas and sketch designs in his notebook; most of them were preserved after his death in 1519. There isn’t any evidence that most of Da Vinci’s inventions were constructed during his lifetime, but these 6 designs most definitely were centuries ahead of their time.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The Flying Machine

Da Vinci's Inventions

Da Vinci had hundreds of sketches in his notebook that revolved around flight. The design he put most of his time into, was based off of the body structure of birds and bats.

The design included a set of very large wings, attached to a wooden frame where the pilot is meant to lie down on his stomach and control the device with some levers. Sadly, Da Vinci never constructed the flying machine, and experts claim that even if he did – it wouldn’t be able to get off the ground or sustain flight without an engine.

It took 400 years until people managed to build a machine that can actually fly.

Da Vinci's Inventions

Da Vinci’s Tank

Da Vinci's Inventions

Most people consider Da Vinci to be a delicate soul, mainly concerned with creating art. Da Vinci was also heavily involved in military technologies, and one of his greatest patrons, Ludovico Sforza, the duke of Milan was the man entrusted with defending Italy from the invading French army.

To receive Sforza’s financial patronage, Da Vinci designed a variety of military contraption, an armored tank being one of them. The invention included a human-powered carriage, covered in sheets of metal with slits that would allow Italian soldiers to fire their rifles safely.

Like his flying machine, Da Vinci’s tank also never saw the light of day. 400 years later, tanks became commonplace in all of the world’s armies.

Da Vinci's Inventions

Diving Suit

Da Vinci's Inventions

Even though he wasn’t the first person to come up with the idea of a diving suit, his design was the most ingenious and advanced for its time. According to his sketches, the suit was to be made almost entirely of leather and included a full body combination of a jacket, pants and a helmet with tiny glass windows. Air was to be kept in the front bulge of the jacket with tubes attached to the mask to allow the diver to breath.

The suit even had a small compartment for urine collection, because Da Vinci didn’t know how long the diver will have to remain underwater. Special pockets for various tools were also designed into the suit, including a knife, and even a horn he can blow to signal he needs to surface.

It was not until Jacque Cousteau invented the “water lung” in the middle of the 20th-cetury that diving suits became common.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The Machine Gun

Da Vinci's Inventions

Another one of Da Vinci’s ingenious military designs was the machine gun, which has some resemblance to modern-day weapons. The design was for a typical cannon, but with 12 barrels. The device could shoot one cannonball, then quickly be moved to the next loaded barrel and show again, as the used barrel is being loaded.

This design was also never constructed during Da Vinci’s lifetime, and the first modern machinegun appeared on the battlefield in 1862, during the American Civil War.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The City of the Future

Da Vinci's Inventions

During the 15th-century, Europe was still recovering from the black plague, which annihilated more than a third of Europe’s population. Da Vinci noticed that cities were more vulnerable to the plague in comparison with rural areas and hypothesized that the cause if how cities were constructed, making them more vulnerable.

The solution was a whole new futuristic city, full designed from top to bottom to provide the best sanitary conditions to the inhabitants. Da Vinci’s City of the Future was divided to several “layers”. Anything that was considered to be unhygienic would be located at the bottom layer, to be evacuated via canals. Each part of the city would enjoy running water thanks to an intricate hydraulic system that also served as the basis of modern plumbing.

The result was a marvel of city planning, but its construction was beyond Da Vinci’s means, and he couldn’t find a patron that would support his endeavors.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The Robotic Knight

Da Vinci's Inventions

Even today, autonomous, human-like robots seem like a piece of science fiction, but under Sforza’s patronage, Da Vinci invented a “Mechanical Knight”, which was supposedly capable of moving its arms, neck and even open and close its “mouth”. This strange mechanical doll was controlled via external cables that were attached to sets of pulleys inside the robot’s body.

The design was discovered nearly 450 years later and in 2002, a functioning replica of the “Robotic Knight” was built by Mark Rosheim – A robotics researcher from NASA.

Da Vinci's Inventions

Source…..www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

14 Signs You’re not Drinking Enough Water…

September 27, 2015Natarajan1 Comment

There’s not much in this world more refreshing than a tall, ice-cold glass of water. I don’t think there’s anyone alive that can deny that sometimes, a simple glass of water can be more satisfying than a cup of coffee or a can of soda. Despite this, too many of us don’t drink enough water on a daily basis. By depriving ourselves of the world’s most natural resource, we are continuously damaging our bodies. If you experience any of the following, you can improve your situation by starting with a glass of H2O.

1. Your Mouth is Dry

This seems pretty obvious, but the ramifications might not be so. Of course, any time you feel that sticky, nasty feeling in your mouth, you’d obviously reach for some sort of liquid. But sugary drinks are only a temporary solution to a larger problem. Drinking water lubricates the mucus membranes in your mouth and throat, which will continue to keep your mouth moist with saliva long after that first sip.

2. Your Skin is Dry

Your skin is your body’s largest organ, so of course it needs to stay hydrated. In fact, dry skin is one of the earliest signs of full-on dehydration, which can lead to much larger problems. A lack of water means a lack of sweat, which leads to a body’s inability to wash away excess dirt and oil accumulated throughout the day. If you want to stave off breakouts, your first recourse should be to drink more water.

3. You’re Overly Thirsty

We went over dry mouth already, but thirst goes beyond a desert-like tongue. Anyone who’s ever had a hangover can tell you that, upon waking up, your body just can’t get enough water. Alcohol dehydrates the entire body, and drinking water sends “YES PLEASE!” signals to the brain until your fluid levels get back to baseline. Listen to what your body is telling you; it knows what it’s talking about!

4. Your Eyes Are Dry

By now it should be clear that drinking water affects more than just your mouth and throat. A lack of water intake leads to dry, bloodshot eyes (again, think of that last pounding hangover). Without water in the body,your tear ducts dry up. If you’re thinking “So what if I can’t cry?”, realize that this could cause much more harm to your eyes, especially if you wear contacts on a daily basis.

5. You Experience Joint Pain

Our cartilage and spinal discs are made up of about 80% water. This is an absolute necessity to keep our bones from grinding against each other with every step we take. By keeping your body hydrated, you ensure that your joints can absorb the shock of sudden movements, such as running, jumping, or falling awkwardly.

6. Your Muscle Mass Decreases

Your muscles, also, are comprised mostly of water. Obviously, less water in the body means less muscle mass. Drinking water before, during, and after a workout not only keeps you hydrated and comfortable, it also brings water to the right places in your body, and decreases the chance of developing inflammation and soreness related to exercise and weightlifting.

7. You Stay Sick Longer

Drinking water allows your body to continuously flush out toxins. Your organs work to filter our certain waste products like a machine, but if you don’t fuel the machine with water, it cannot work properly. What ends up happening in a dehydrated body is organs start to pull water from stored areas like your blood, which leads to a whole new set of problems.

8. You Feel Fatigued and Lethargic

As we just mentioned, when a body is dehydrated it “borrows” water from your blood. A lack of properly hydrated blood leads to a lack of oxygen being brought throughout the body. Of course, a lack of oxygen leads tosleepiness and outright fatigue. A lack of stamina means you”ll start to experience that 2PM crash earlier and earlier in your day (and remember, coffee won’t help in the long run).

9. You Experience Hunger Pangs

When you’re dehydrated, your body might start to think it needs some food. This happens throughout the day, and overnight when you wake up craving that midnight snack. However, eating food creates more work for your body, whereas drinking water purifies and your organs and supplies it with the fuel it needs to go through the other processes a body goes through.

10. You Experience Digestive Problems

We spoke before about the mucus in our mouth and throat, and how keeping hydrated allows the membrane to function correctly. This also applies to the entire digestive system. Without proper hydration, the amount and strength of mucus in the stomach lessens, allowing stomach acid to do some major damage to your insides. This leads to what we commonly refer to as heartburn and indigestion.

11. You Experience Constipation

Like we said, staying hydrated helps lubricate the digestive system. During the process of dehydration, the colon uses up the water that would have been used by the intestines in the next step of the digestive process. Without going into too much detail, I’ll let you figure out what a lack of lubricant in the intestines leads to.

12. You Experience Reduced Urination

Believe it or not, if you’re not taking a trip to the restroom 4-7 times a day, you’re probably not drinking enough water. And when you do go #1, it should be a light yellow or clear color. If it’s a darker yellow, your body is telling you it’s lacking proper hydration. In extreme cases, dehydration can lead to urinary tract infections, in which case you should consult a doctor right away.

13. You Experience Premature Aging

The amount of water our bodies retain naturally decreases as we age. Obviously, what this means is that, as we get older, we should consciously increase our water intake. While premature aging is more evident on the outside, the damage it does to our insides will ultimately be felt over time. To decrease the risk of running your body raw, it’s important to continue to drink water throughout your lifetime.

14. You’re Reading This And Have Gotten This Far

I drink water all the time. I almost always have a glass or bottle of water next to me, whether I’m working, working out, or vegging out in front of the TV. If you clicked on this article, chances are you thought to yourself “Hm, I don’t think I drink enough water.” So if you don’t think you do, pour a glass right now! Don’t overdo it, of course, but if you’re not getting the recommended amount (which is higher than you’d think), there’s no harm in drinking more. Now if you’ll excuse me, all this typing has made me thirsty.

Featured photo credit: Pixabay via pixabay.com

Source….www.stumbleupon.com

Natarajan

Banana Peels ….Not only edible but also Nutricious….

September 27, 2015Natarajan1 Comment

That’s right, you can eat banana peels. And not only are they edible, they’re also good for you.

If you live in the US, you’re probably used to tossing banana peels in the trash. But people in other countries, including India, have been taking advantage of their nutritional benefits for decades.

While a banana’s flesh is soft and sweet, the skin is thick, fibrous, and slightly bitter. To eat the peel, you can either blend it into smoothies or fry, bake, or boil them for at least 10 minutes. Heat breaks down the skin’s fibre and loosens up that tough texture, making the peel easier to chew and digest.

Also, the riper you allow the banana to get, the thinner and sweeter the peel becomes. That’s because of a natural plant hormone called ethylene that fruits release as they ripen.

Ethylene interacts with the sugars and fibre in the banana skin, changing complex sugars into simple sugars and breaking down pectin, a form of fibre in bananas that keeps them stiff. That’s why the older your banana is, the flimsier it feels. At the same time, other hormones break down the green pigments in the peel, turning them yellow and eventually brown.

Nutritional benefits

The sweet flesh of a medium-sized banana contains significant percentages of your daily recommended intake of various nutrients, such as:

12% of your daily fibre, which helps with digestion and may help lower your risk of diabetes
17% of your vitamin C, which is important for your immune system as well as growth and development
20% of your vitamin B-6, which aids the body’s ability to convert food into energy
12% of your potassium, which helps in development of cells, tissues, and organs throughout the body
8% of your magnesium, which is important for the body’s energy productions and regulating glucose and blood pressure levels

If you then eat the skin along with the flesh you get an even bigger boost in these same nutrients:

“[The skin] contains high amounts of vitamin B6 and B12, as well as magnesium and potassium. It also contains some fibre and protein,” San Diego-based nutritionist Laura Flores toldLiveScience.

Eating the peel is not only good for your body but also better for the environment.

In 2013, bananas were America’s most-popular fresh fruit. The average American ate 11.4 pounds of bananas over the course of that year.

Since a medium-sized banana weighs about 0.3 pounds, that equates to about 38 bananas per person, or roughly 12 billion for the whole US. And since most of us toss the peel, that also means a lot of organic waste. Most of this waste goes to landfills, but some of it is used asfertiliser, in water purification, and in composting.

Other uses for the incredible banana peel

If you can’t stomach the thought of eating a banana peel, then consider some of the many other ways you can re-use this valuable product of nature. Here are a few of the 16 ways that health and wellness website Natural Living Ideas suggests:

Add a few slices of banana peel to a bucket of water and let the mixture sit for a couple of days. Use this to water your planets. The added nutrients from the banana will keep your plants growing strong.
You can make banana vinegar from the peels that can then be added to salads and vegetables. See the recipe instructions here.
Place your meat atop a ripe banana peel in your roasting pan to keep the meat moist and tender as it cooks.

Whether you’re gnawing on a raw peel or using it in your cooking, always make sure to wash it thoroughly.

Source…JESSICA ORWIG …….www.businessinsider.com.au

natarajan

From Kolli Hills to Italy, two women win hearts with ‘Murukku’….

September 27, 2015September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

‘I had to stop going to school after 7th standard as my parents did not have enough money to even feed us’

‘I was just an uneducated and poor farmer till I joined the self-help group. Going to a foreign country to highlight our achievements was a dream come true’

‘My dream is to see all women like me who live in villages to come up in life and be independent’

Malliga and Jayalalitha talk to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com about how millet farming changed their lives, their successful trip to Milan and how their ‘murukku’ was appreciated at Milan.

Image: Malliga Seerangan and Jayalalitha Easwaran in Chennai. Photograph: Ramesh Damodaran

The journey from a remote village in Kolli Hills in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu to flashy Milan has been an unforgettable experience for Malliga Seerangan and Jayalalitha Easwaran.

Their background is similar – poverty, no education and cut off from development. But today the success story of the two women, 35-year-old Malliga Seerangan and 27-year-old Jayalalitha Easwaran, is an inspiring lesson in women empowerment.

These two women are part of a self-help group supported by by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, that promotes biodiversity through farming. They were in Milan to attend an event on ‘Agricultural biodiversity, value chains and women’s empowerment’ organised by Bio Diversity International, on September 17.

The event was organised to celebrate the women ‘who grow, harvest, process, cook, buy or sell a variety of food and agricultural products to sustain their families and contribute towards conservation of agricultural biodiversity’.

“Women and agricultural biodiversity are closely linked,” say the organisers. So both Malliga and Jayalalitha were the right people to represent what the event stood for; Agricultural biodiversity, value chains and women’s empowerment.

Image: Malliga (second from left) and Jayalalitha in Milan. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

It was their first trip abroad and accompanying them was Dr Oliver King of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. MSSRF is playing a key role in transforming the lives of many women by promoting different types of millet cultivation — little millet, Italian millet, finger millet, common millet, and Kodo millet under different agro-climatological and landscape conditions.

The organisation has helped them follow locally suited traditional agricultural practices like inter-cropping, multiple cropping, mixed cropping and crop rotation based on soil types and rainfall pattern focussing on the food and nutritional security of the people. For example, mixed cropping is practised to maintain the family’s food security.

The nutritious products made from millet are sold through Kolli Hills Agro Biodiversity Conservers Federation (KHABCoFED) in attractive packs as organic food in nearby cities. MSSRF follows the four ‘C’s: conservation, cultivation, consumption and commercialisation.

Image: Millet farming transforms the lives of farmers. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

How millet farming transformed Malliga Seerangan’s life

‘My family has been involved in farming for many generations and I grew up seeing my grandparents going to the fields. From the time I could remember, I was also helping them and my parents in the fields.

‘I had to stop going to school after 7th standard as there was not enough money to even feed us. We had a small farmland. Since there was no market for millets, naturally there was not much income from farming. I continued doing the same work after getting married.

‘People in and around Kolli Hills do only farming and that too, only ragi and samai. There was a time when we farmed just enough for us to consume, and nothing more than that.

Today, we are farming six varieties of millets, thanks to MS Swaminathan Research Foundation which came to our village around 15-20 years ago. Other than helping the farmers in cultivating, they also helped us start small self help groups groups of men and women.

‘There are more than 1500 farmers in our small region itself and each group consists of 13 women. I am the head of our group.

‘We pool in small amounts of money and put it in the bank, and then each member can take a loan for farming. Earlier, we didn’t even have a bank account, nor did we know how operate an account.

‘They also taught us how to do farming depending on the weather. We had no knowledge of good farming practices. Now, we are producing several folds of different varieties of millets.

Image: The murukkus turned out to be a big hit at Milan. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

‘Earlier, we had to grind millets physically which involved hard labour but today MSSRF have installed mills so that in less than half an hour, the powder is ready.

‘They also taught us how different products can be made of these millets to make it popular among people. We were used to eating them as it is but today, we make and sell products like millet rice, ragi murukku in attractive packs.

‘Now, we know that these millets have high iron content and are excellent for good health. You won’t believe, not a single person is diabetic in our village, and it is only because we have been consuming millets for generations.

Today, even city-dwellers have understood the health benefits of millets. They make tasty upma so children also enjoy eating it. Our ragi malt powder, murukku powder, samai, etc are available in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka under the Kolli Hills brand.

‘Life has changed for us after all this! We had no voice in those days; we never went to the market alone. Today, we go to the market with our products.

We have our own bank accounts and we need not beg for money from our husbands. If you take the case of our group itself, all of us make a profit of Rs 2500-3000 every month and each one of us deposits Rs 100 in our group.

‘Now, after taking care of the household needs, I can buy saris and jewellery with my own money. I am able to educate my children better.

‘My dream is give as much education to my children as possible. I could not study much but I do not want my children to have the same fate. I want them to do better in life.

‘Till the groups were formed, there was no respect for women; now the men in our village know that we are as capable or better than them.

‘We are financially independent as well. We operate bank accounts, deposit and withdraw money. We take loans and also repay them. We know to do all these things without anybody’s help now.

‘We also have the knowledge about millets and can talk to people about its nutritive values.

‘From being confined to the four walls of the house, if women in our village have progressed today, it is all because of MSSRF urging us to form groups, helping us diversify and selling our products in the markets.

If you take my case, till they came, I had not even stepped out of the village. Now, I got the opportunity to travel to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and for the first time abroad too.

‘When I got into the flight the first time when I went to Delhi, I just couldn’t believe it.

‘This time, when we were going to Milan, I thought it was a dream. I am just a small, uneducated farmer who was born in a very poor home, and here I was going to a foreign country to show them what we do.

‘We were asked to make ‘murukku’ for the delegates there. All of them enjoyed eating our ‘murukku’. We made around 50 murukkus and they got over in no time, and we felt really happy and excited about it.

‘They took photographs and videos of us making ‘murukku’. They had so many questions for us and as we don’t understand English, Sir (Oliver King) played the role of an interpreter. I have no words to express my happiness. It was an overwhelming experience.

‘Then, we went around sightseeing. I am so impressed with the cleanliness of the city. I did not spot any garbage on the road and I didn’t see anyone throwing anything on the road.
‘They have built good footpaths for people and I also liked the pedestrian crossings. Here, we have to run to cross the road but there the vehicles stopped for us.

‘After seeing Milan, I wondered why we can’t keep our cities clean. I really liked their city better than ours.’

Image: When they appreciated the ‘murukkus’ we made, I felt extremely happy, says Malliga. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

A life changing experience for Jayalalitha Easwaran

‘In our village, everybody has been farming since generations. Though I helped my parents as a child in the farm, I got involved in farming actively 10 years ago.

‘Malliga Akka who was my neighbour told me to join the self help group started by MSSRF, and from then on my life changed completely. She told young women like me that if we join the group and start working we would become independent and capable.

‘I was just a school drop-out who had no confidence to even to talk to strangers but today, I can confidently talk about the importance of eating millets and its health benefits.

‘I go to the bank all alone, I have learnt to open an account and operate it. I also take loan from the bank, repay it on time and manage my finances well.

‘Till I joined the group, I was an illiterate young girl confined to my home. I had to depend on my husband for money.

‘Today, I manage my household expenses with the money I earn from my work. My husband is also proud of me!

‘Earlier, we had to physically plough the field, now with the machines given by MSSRF, we do not have to labour so hard.

Similarly, they have installed grinding machines to powder millets. All these have helped in our work tremendously. We concentrate mainly on ragi malt and ragi murukku and sell them in attractive packets in 15 markets.

‘It’s only because of MSSRF that I travelled to Mumbai in a flight for the first time in my life. Till then, I had not stepped out of our village.

‘Now, I have gone to a foreign land also. I cannot explain how excited I was about the trip.

‘I could not believe that a school drop-out like me could go abroad to showcase what we make. I had never dreamt that I would have such good fortune.

‘When they appreciated the ‘murukkus’ we made, I felt extremely happy.

‘My dream is to see all women like me who live in villages to come up in life and be independent.’

Source…….Shobha Warrier /www. Rediff.com

Natarajan