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$ 100000 Cheque Awaits Mystery Owner of Rare Apple 1 Computer !!!

June 1, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

$100,000 Cheque Awaits Mystery Recycler of Rare Apple 1 Computer

A $100,000 check is waiting for a mystery woman who donated a rare Apple 1 computer.

A $100,000 cheque is waiting for a mystery woman who donated a rare Apple 1 computer to a Silicon Valley recycling firm.

CleanBayArea in Milpitas, California, is trying to track down a woman in her 60s who dropped off some electronic goods in April, when she was cleaning out the garage after her husband died.

In one of the boxes, buried under worthless keyboards, personal computer pieces and wires, was a 1976 Apple 1, a groundbreaking home computer. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak designed and hand-built the computers and sold them for $666.66 each. Only a few dozen are known still to exist.

The recycling firm sold the Apple for $200,000 in a private auction. Its policy is to split the proceeds 50-50 with the person who donated the equipment.

“The body was made out of wood. I’ve never seen anything like that. My first reaction was it was a fake. Then we started looking at it,” said Victor Gichun, vice president of marketing for CleanBayArea.

Gichun declined to say who bought the Apple 1, only that it was a private collector. He’s not sure whether the Apple is still operational.

He said he will recognize the woman, who he believes is local, when he sees her and will write her out a cheque for $100,000.

The boxes sat in the company’s warehouse on a pallet for a couple of weeks because they didn’t expect to find anything valuable, Gichun said.

Source…..www.ndtv.com

Natarajan

” நான் பட்ட கஷ்டங்கள் என் குழந்தைகள் படக் கூடாது …” இது சரியான குறிக்கோளா …?

May 31, 2015June 2, 2015Natarajan2 Comments

நான் பட்ட கஷ்டங்கள் என் குழந்தைகள் படக்கூடாது” – இது நல்லதா ?

கழுகுகள் நமக்கு கற்றுதரும் பாடம்!!!

பறவைகளில் கழுகுகள் மிக சக்தி வாய்ந்தவை. அவை மிக உயரமாகப் பறக்கக் கூடியவை. அவற்றைவலிமை மற்றும் தைரியம் ஆகியவற்றின் சின்னமாகக் கருதுகின்றோம். ஆனால் அந்தக் கழுகுகளின்பறக்கும் சாகச சக்திகளும், வலிமையும், தைரியமும் பிறப்பிலேயே வருபவை அல்ல. அவைகழுகுகளால் ஒரு கட்டத்தில் கற்றுக் கொள்ளப்படுபவை தான்.

குஞ்சுகளாகக் கூட்டில் சுகமாக, பாதுகாப்பாக இருக்கும் போது கழுகுகள் பலவீனமாகவேஇருக்கின்றன. அவை அப்படியே சுகமாகவும், பாதுகாப்பாகவுமே இருந்து விட்டால் வலிமையாகவும்,சுதந்திரமாகவும் மாறுவது சாத்தியமல்ல. எனவே குஞ்சுகளாக இருக்கும் போது வேண்டியஉணவளித்து, பாதுகாப்பாக வைத்திருக்கும் தாய்ப்பறவை குஞ்சுகள் பறக்க வேண்டிய காலம் வரும்போது மாறி விடுகின்றது.

முதலில் கூடுகளில் மெத்தென இருக்கும் படுக்கையினைக் கலைத்து சிறு குச்சிகளின் கூர்மையானபகுதிகள் வெளிப்படும்படி செய்து கூட்டை சொகுசாகத் தங்க வசதியற்றபடி செய்து விடுகின்றது. பின்தன் சிறகுகளால் குஞ்சினை அடித்து இருக்கும் இடத்தை விட்டுச் செல்லத் தூண்டுகின்றது. தாய்ப்பறவையின் இம்சை தாங்க முடியாத கழுகுக்குஞ்சு கூட்டின் விளிம்புவரை வந்து நிற்கின்றது. அதுவரை பறந்தறியாத குஞ்சு கூட்டின் வெளியே உள்ள உலகத்தின் ஆழத்தையும் உயரத்தையும்விஸ்தீரணத்தையும் பார்த்து மலைத்து நிற்கின்றது.

அந்தப் பிரம்மாண்டமான உலகத்தில் தனித்துப் பயணிக்க தைரியமற்று பலவீனமாக நிற்கின்றது.அது ஒவ்வொரு குஞ்சும் தன் வாழ்க்கையில் சந்தித்தாக வேண்டிய ஒரு முக்கியமான தவிர்க்கமுடியாத கட்டம். அந்த நேரத்தில் அந்தக் குஞ்சையே தீர்மானிக்க விட்டால் அது கூட்டிலேயேபாதுகாப்பாகத் தங்கி விட முடிவெடுக்கலாம். ஆனால் கூடு என்பது என்றென்றைக்கும் பாதுகாப்பாகத்தங்கி விடக் கூடிய இடமல்ல. சுயமாகப் பறப்பதும் இயங்குவதுமே ஒரு கழுகுக்கு நிரந்தரப் பாதுகாப்புஎன்பதைத் தாய்ப்பறவை அறியும்.

அந்தக் கழுகுக்குஞ்சு கூட்டின் விளிம்பில் என்ன செய்வதென்று அறியாமல் வெளியே எட்டிப்பார்த்துக் கொண்டு இருக்கும் அந்தக் கட்டத்தில் தாய்ப்பறவை அந்தக் குஞ்சின் உணர்வுகளைலட்சியம் செய்யாமல் குஞ்சை கூட்டிலிருந்து வெளியே தள்ளி விடுகிறது. அந்த எதிர்பாராததருணத்தில் கழுகுக்குஞ்சு கஷ்டப்பட்டு சிறகடித்துப் பறக்க முயற்சி செய்கின்றது. முதல்முறையிலேயே கற்று விடும் கலையல்ல அது.

குஞ்சு காற்றில் சிறகடித்துப் பறக்க முடியாமல் கீழே விழ ஆரம்பிக்கும் நேரத்தில் தாய்க்கழுகுவேகமாக வந்து தன் குஞ்சைப் பிடித்துக் கொள்கிறது. குஞ்சு மீண்டும் தாயின் பிடியில் பத்திரமாகஇருப்பதாக எண்ணி நிம்மதியடைகிறது. அந்த நிம்மதி சொற்ப நேரம் தான். தன் குஞ்சைப் பிடித்துக்கொண்டு வானுயரப் பறக்கும் தாய்க்கழுகு மீண்டும் அந்தக் கழுகுக்குஞ்சை அந்தரத்தில் விட்டுவிடுகிறது. மறுபடி காற்று வெளியில் சிறகடித்துப் பறக்க வேண்டிய நிர்ப்பந்தத்திற்கு அந்தக் குஞ்சுஉள்ளாகிறது.

இப்படியே குஞ்சை வெளியே தள்ளி விடுவதும், காப்பாற்றுவதுமாகப் பல முறை நடக்கும் இந்தப்பயிற்சியில் கழுகுக் குஞ்சின் சிறகுகள் பலம் பெறுகின்றன. காற்று வெளியில் பறக்கும் கலையையும்விரைவில் கழுகுக்குஞ்சு கற்றுக் கொள்கிறது. அது சுதந்திரமாக, ஆனந்தமாக, தைரியமாகவானோக்கிப் பறக்க ஆரம்பிக்கிறது.

கழுகுக் குஞ்சு முதல் முறையாக கூட்டுக்கு வெளியே உள்ள உலகத்தின் பிரம்மாண்டத்தைக் கண்டுபயந்து தயங்கி நிற்கும் அந்தத் தருணத்தில் தாய்க்கழுகு அதனை முன்னோக்கித் தள்ளியிராவிட்டால் அந்த சுதந்திரத்தையும், ஆனந்தத்தையும், தைரியத்தையும் அந்தக் கழுகுக்குஞ்சு தன்வாழ்நாளில் என்றென்றைக்கும் கண்டிருக்க முடியாது. பறக்க அறியாத அந்தக் குஞ்சை கூட்டினைவிட்டு வெளியே தாய்ப்பறவை தள்ளிய போது அது ஒருவிதக் கொடூரச் செயலாகத் தோன்றினாலும்பொறுத்திருந்து விளைவைப் பார்க்கும் யாருமே அந்தச் செயல் அந்தக் குஞ்சிற்குப் பேருதவி என்பதைமறுக்க முடியாது

ஒவ்வொரு புதிய சூழ்நிலையும் யாருக்கும் ஒருவித பதட்டத்தையும், பயத்தையும் ஏற்படுத்தக்கூடும். ஆனால் அந்தக் காரணத்திற்காகவே அந்த சூழ்நிலைகளையும், அனுபவத்தையும் மறுப்பதுவாழ்வின் பொருளையே மறுப்பது போலத் தான். கப்பல் துறைமுகத்தில் இருப்பது தான் அதற்குமுழுப்பாதுகாப்பாக இருக்கலாம். ஆனால் கப்பலை உருவாக்குவது அதை துறைமுகத்தில் நிறுத்திவைக்க அல்ல. கப்பலின் உபயோகமும் அப்படி நிறுத்தி வைப்பதில் இல்லை. கழுகிற்கும்,கப்பலுக்கும் மட்டுமல்ல, மனிதனுக்கும் இந்த உண்மை பொருந்தும்

தாய்க்கழுகு தான் குஞ்சாக இருக்கையில் முதல் முதலில் தள்ளப்பட்டதை எண்ணிப்பார்த்து “நான்பட்ட அந்தக் கஷ்டம் என் குஞ்சு படக்கூடாது. என் குஞ்சிற்கு அந்தப் பயங்கர அனுபவம் வராமல்பார்த்துக் கொள்வேன்” என்று நினைக்குமானால் அதன் குஞ்சு பலவீனமான குஞ்சாகவே கூட்டிலேயேஇருந்து இறக்க நேரிடும். ஆனால் அந்த முட்டாள்தனத்தை தாய்க்கழுகு செய்ததாக சரித்திரம்இல்லை

அந்த தாய்க்கழுகின் அறிவுமுதிர்ச்சி பல பெற்றோர்களிடம் இருப்பதில்லை. “நான் பட்ட கஷ்டங்கள்என் குழந்தைகள் படக்கூடாது” என்று சொல்லக்கூடிய பெற்றோர்களை இன்று நாம் நிறையவேபார்க்கிறோம். ஒரு காலத்தில் கூட்டுக் குடும்பமும் அதில் கும்பலாகக் குழந்தைகளும் இருந்த போதுபெற்றோர்களுக்குத் தங்கள் ஒவ்வொரு குழந்தை மீதும் தனிக்கவனம் வைக்க நேரம் இருந்ததில்லை.அதற்கான அவசியம் இருப்பதாகவும் அவர்கள் நினைத்ததில்லை.

ஆனால் இந்தக் காலத்தில் ஓரிரு குழந்தைகள் மட்டுமே உள்ள நிலையில் பெற்றோர்கள் தங்கள்குழந்தைகளுக்கு மிக நல்ல வாழ்க்கை அமைத்துக் கொடுக்க வேண்டும் என்பதில் குறியாகஇருக்கிறார்கள். அதில் தவறில்லை. ஆனால் தான் பட்ட கஷ்டங்கள் எதையும் தங்கள் குழந்தைகள்படக்கூடாது என்று நினைக்கும் போது பாசமிகுதியால் அவர்கள் அந்தக் கஷ்டங்கள் தந்த பாடங்களின்பயனைத் தங்கள் பிள்ளைகளுக்கு அளிக்கத் தவறி விடுகிறார்கள். அதற்காக “நான் அந்தக் காலம்பள்ளிக்கூடம் செல்ல பல மைல்கள் நடந்தேன். அதனால் நீயும் நட” என்று பெற்றோர்கள் சொல்லவேண்டும் என்று சொல்லவில்லை. வசதிகளும், வாய்ப்புகளும் பெருகி உள்ள இந்தக் காலத்தில்அப்படிச் சொல்வது அபத்தமாகத் தான் இருக்கும்.

இன்றைய நவீன வசதி வாய்ப்புகளின் பலனை பிள்ளைகளுக்கு அளிப்பது அவசியமே. தேவையேஇல்லாத கஷ்டங்களை பிள்ளைகள் படத் தேவையில்லைதான். ஆனால் ‘எந்தக் கஷ்டமும், எந்தக்கசப்பான அனுபவமும் என் பிள்ளை படக்கூடாது’ என்று நினைப்பது அந்தப் பிள்ளையின்உண்மையான வளர்ச்சியைக் குலைக்கும் செயலே ஆகும்.

வாழ்க்கையில் சில கஷ்டங்களும், சில கசப்பான அனுபவங்களும் மனிதனுக்குஅவசியமானவையே. அவற்றில் வாழ்ந்து தேர்ச்சி அடையும் போது தான் அவன் வலிமைஅடைகிறான். அவற்றிலிருந்து பாதுகாப்பளிப்பதாகப் பெற்றோர் நினைப்பது அவனுக்குவாழ்க்கையையே மறுப்பது போலத் தான். சில கஷ்டங்கள் பிள்ளைகள் படும் போதுபெற்றோர்களுக்கு மனம் வருத்தமாக இருக்கலாம். ஆனால் கஷ்டங்களே இல்லாமல் இருப்பதுவாழ்க்கை அல்ல, வாழ்க்கையின் அர்த்தமும் அல்ல, அது சாத்தியமும் அல்ல.

Source….input from a friend of mine….original source not known.

Natarajan

New “Malaysia Airlines ” set to Fly From September 1….

May 29, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The state-run airline’s sole shareholder, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, has this week appointed an Administrator to facilitate the transfer of selected assets and liabilities from the existing Malaysian Airline System Berhad to new company Malaysia Airlines Berhad. The current business will continue to operate through to August 31, 2015, with the new operator, effectively a start-up, taking to the air from September 1, 2015.

Troubled Asian national carrier Malaysia Airlines will be completely revamped as a business through the remainder of the year as its new boss takes drastic action to return the loss-making operator to profitability. Christoph Mueller, who recently joined as chief executive officer from Aer Lingus has played important roles in the restructuring the Irish carrier and other European flag carriers.

The voluntary administration follows the passing of a special Malaysia Airlines administration act by both houses of the Malaysian Parliament last year to provide for “an effective, efficient and seamless means to transition the business, property, rights, liabilities and affairs”.

The transition of the business is a key component of the 12-point MAS Recovery Plan, which was announced on in August last year to restructure the national carrier and set it on a path towards sustainable profitability. The process also includes conditional investment funding by Khazanah of up to RM6 billion ($1.66 billion), disbursed on a staggered basis and subject to the fullfillment of strict conditions.

Christoph Mueller, Chief Executive Officer Designate of the new airline, said: “This appointment does not affect our daily operations or existing reservations. All Malaysia Airlines flights, schedules, and reservations continue to operate as normal. I assure you our operations are very much business as usual.”

The ‘new’ Malaysia Airlines is expected to operate under a new brand and livery and there are certain to be changes to its network and fleet strategies, including the departure of some, if not all, the Airbus A380s in its fleet and which are used on its routes to London and Paris from Kuala Lumpur.

In this first official interview since taking over at Malaysia Airlines on May 1, 2015, Mueller has outlined more details of his management brief to Reuters. He said the ‘new’ Malaysia Airlines will operate like a “start-up” and would not be “a continuation of the old company in a new disguise,” but that “everything is new”.

“I’m hired to run the new company entirely on commercial terms and there’s very little margin for error,” he told Reuters in this week’s interview in the downtown Kuala Lumpur office of Malaysian state investor Khazanah. The airline is expected to cut its 20,000 workforce by around a third through the switch of airlines, with all those keeping employment with the state-run business doing so on revised contracts. .

Source….Richard Maslen in http://www.routesonline.com

Natarajan

World’s Biggest Hotel to Open in Mecca…in 2017…

May 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The hotel will feature four helipads and 12 towers. Picture: Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) Source: Supplied

MOVE over Vegas, the biggest hotel in the world is set to open in a different desert.

Towering over the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Abraj Kudai hotel will feature 10,000 rooms, 70 restaurants and four helipads.

Set to open in 2017, the project will cost around $4.5 billion and has been designed to look like a desert fortress.

The mammoth hotel will be 45 stories high, made up of 12 towers standing on top of a 10 storey podium. There will be a shopping mall, food courts, a bus station and a huge ballroom to service the millions of people that converge on the city for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Five of the floors will be strictly off limits to guests and reserved entirely for the Saudi royal family.

Some critics worry about the destruction of Saudi Arabia’s heritage. Picture: Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners)Source: Supplied

Irfan Al-Alawi, director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told The Guardian that the hotel was proof the city was “turning into Mecca-hattan”, and lamented the little heritage left in Saudi Arabia’s holy cities.

The hotel will be built in the Manafia district, a few kilometres south of the Grand Mosque, and is funded by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and designed by the Dar Al-Handasah group.

The Saudi royal family has five levels dedicated entirely to them. Picture: Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) Source:Supplied

Source….www.news.com.au

Natarajan

” To Bee or Not to Bee….”

May 19, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Bees are an investment with high returns — the crop yield increases and products become healthier.

When bees are kept alongside farming activities, production increases between 20-200 per cent besides, of course, getting to sell honey on the market.

Shrikant Gajbhiye, founder of Bee The Change is helping spread awareness on bee keeping and its multiple merits. Read on to know more…

The new name for the butterfly effect is the ‘bee effect’, at least these days.

These buzzing clusters of little black and yellow insects pollinate almost 70 per cent of the crops that feed 90 per cent of humanity. But this long and intricate natural chain, created by these busy bees, has been getting altered.

The sudden drop in bee populations worldwide is threatening the balance of the ecosystem with unpredictable consequences.

Shrikant Gajbhiye is the founder of Bee The Change, which offers free bee-keeping training to farmers and forest populations in Maharashtra.

He argues that when bees are kept alongside farming activities, production increases between 20 to 200 per cent besides, of course, getting to sell honey on the market.

A study in the UK has revealed that honeybees contribute £200 million a year with the services they indirectly enhance through their activities, and £1 billion with what they pollinate.

Similar studies are available in few other countries, but the function of bees in the food chain is the same everywhere.

In the US, some species of bees have virtually disappeared, the European Union has admitted their risk of extinction, and in India the number of the insects has drastically decreased — some point out RFR emitted by mobile phones and towers as one of the main causes. And this alarming fall in bee numbers is alarming everyone.

Given these assumptions, talking about ‘bee effect’ to indicate the massive consequences that can result from a relatively small cause, does not seem an exaggeration.

This is why Shrikant’s venture is not only about producing honey, but is directed towards broader outcomes.

Two years ago, after graduating from IIM Kozhikode, he took up a five-day hobby course on bee-keeping at a government institute in Pune, and fell in love with the striped honey-makers.

“I learnt some of the most amazing facts about bees and the role they play in the ecosystem by means of cross pollination.”

This opened my eyes not only on the key role bees play in nature, but also on the potential they have in changing the lives of people at the bottom of the pyramid,” Gajbhiye says.

In the last few months, Bee The Change has trained more than 500 farmers and forest populations, and currently its network counts 50 trainees.

“As part of our operations, we meet farmers in rural areas and provide them with bee boxes and free training. Then, once they start bee-keeping, we buy back the honey at a pre-determined price. Ours is a not-for-profit outfit, and we generate income by selling this honey to retailers under our own brand.”

For farmers, the proceedings of honey and wax sales are only one of the numerous gains.

Bees are an investment with high returns — the crop yield increases and products become healthier.

“Bee-keeping and pesticides don’t really go hand in hand because chemicals cause the insects to die. So the farmers are asked to refrain from using pesticides while rearing the bees,” explains Shrikant.

This automatically reduces the use of pesticides.

Twenty-five Bee the Change trainees are working towards obtaining the certification for organic farming, which they usually apply for in groups generating cooperative work.

It is not easy to persuade farmers to take up the challenge because bee-keeping requires an investment.

“A bee box costs around Rs 5,000 and bees start producing honey only after a few months. Usually, in areas where we haven’t worked before, one out of ten farmers is willing to keep bees for a year. But once this farmer shows an exponential increase in crop production, others follow.”

Also, each bee colony can give as much as two more bee colonies through division each year providing additional income.

The organisation works with populations in the forests a little differently.

“We train them in techniques of natural honey hunting, which consists in extracting honey from existing combs without hurting the bees. This allows them to increase their income, and bees to be preserved in the wild.”

Gajbhiye says that there are very few organisations working on a similar models, but most of them working only with farmers, whereas Bee the Change includes populations living in the forests.

“Also, these organisations have priced their products in the premium range; whereas we have kept our product accessible,” he says.

Lack of training facilities for bee keeping in Maharashtra, unavailability of bee colonies, difficulties in maintaining a system of support for trainees, getting over negative preconceptions against bees, language barriers, and lack of funds are some of the challenges Bee The Change had to go through.

However, Gajbhiye says, “We dealt with these problems by getting ourselves trained first. We work with experts who help us with training and support, and importing colonies from elsewhere. We believe that exemplifying success stories is the best way of spreading awareness and gaining social interest.”

Currently, the number of colonies in nature is very low. This results in the costs of mobilising and installing these colonies is much higher than the price of the colonies itself.

“We are trying to rear the bee colonies in nature, breed them, and multiply them through our network to such levels that economies of scale can be exploited to increase our operational

efficiency,”says Srikanth.

Moreover, to further diversify the sources of income, Bee The Change is also planning to start training groups of women to produce organic honey and wax-based cosmetics.

The relevance of what Bee The Change is doing is undoubtedly huge and the team, which counts 20 volunteers, seems to have a great time in the process.

Shrikant Gajbhiye quotes Steve Jobs, “At least make a dent in the universe, else, why even be here.”

However, in a venture where resources are not abundant and ambition must scale up ten times faster that the venture itself, not a dent, but a revolution is the goal.

Source…..www.rediff.com

Natarajan

Power of One Rupee…

May 10, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Students get the accumulated amount at the end of the year. Photo: Special Arrangement

Lions Club of Central Chennai has been giving Re. 1 to every student at Brinda Primary School to reduce the dropout rate and absenteeism, reports K. Sarumathi.

What is the value of a rupee? A lot, if you ask Hari Narayanan, project coordinator of the Lions Club of Central Chennai.

When he read an article on how the Municipal Corporation of Thane checked the dropout rate in municipal schools in the region by distributing Re. 1 to every student every day, Narayanan was immediately attracted to the idea. He thought of replicating the method in Chennai Schools.

“The Thane Municipality was my inspiration and when I put forth the idea to other members of Lions Club of Central Chennai, they were more than happy to start the project,” he says. However, getting the go-ahead from the Corporation, they knew, would be almost impossible. Therefore, they selected a primary school run by the Gopalapuram Educational Society for poor children. At the Brinda Primary School, this initiative has been going on for seven years now.

“Most of these children are sons and daughters of maids, daily wage earners and others engaged in menial jobs. Through this small incentive, it has been ensured that these children attend school regularly,” says Malarvalli, the school principal, who is is going to retire this year, after 32 years in service. To start with, the programme was aimed at only girl students. “Though these children were given free uniforms and book and nourishing meals, they were hardly interested in coming to school. Also girls were held back for taking care of chores at home on most days. When we announced the project, parents ensured they sent their daughters to school every day. We have a fall in the dropout rate as well as absenteeism,” says Narayanan.

Though intake of students has been quite low in this school in Class 1, the management is happy that it is able to carry on with minimum dropouts.

“We want the school to survive for those who can’t afford English education and we want students to continue finishing their primary schooling here. That is the idea behind the initiative,” he says.

Regular attendance has also meant improvement in studies for these children. “Under the ABL method, they are assessed every day. Since they take fewer days off they are able to score better and learn more. Our teachers are totally dedicated as well. They have gone from door to door asking parents to send their wards to this school and benefit from the initiative,” says Malarvalli.

Seeing the popularity of the initiative, parents of boys also approached the Lions Club asking them to give their sons a similar incentive. “For four years now, even boys in the school are getting the amount for attendance,” says Narayanan.

Depending on the number of days they come to school, the accumulated amount is presented to the students at the end of the year in a grand function where parents are also invited. The club has also invested in some infrastructural development of the school such as laying new pavements, creating toilets and installing an RO plant for safe drinking water.

Source….K.Sarumathi in http://www.the hindu.com

Natarajan

Indira Gandhi International Airport Adjudged world’s Best airport…

May 2, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been adjudged the world’s best airport for the year 2014, under the category of handling 25 to 40 million passengers per annum, officials said on Saturday.

Airports Council International (ACI) presented the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award to IGIA at a ceremony of the ACI Asia-Pacific/World Annual General Assembly on April 28 in Jordan.

“We are honoured to represent an Indian airport at a highly acclaimed international forum as ACI. Our IGI Airport partners and employees have consistently delivered a memorable and distinct experience to our customers, enabling us to achieve the coveted world number one position,” said I. Prabhakara Rao, CEO of Delhi International Airport Pvt. Limited, which manages IGIA.

The Delhi airport scored 4.90 on a scale of 5 points measured by 300 members of the ACI ASQ benchmarking programme.

IGIA bettered its ranking from second position for the years 2011, 2012 . and 2013 to emerge on top in 2014.

Their score was 3.02 in 2007.

ASQ is the key to understanding how to increase passenger satisfaction and improve business performance, said Angela Gittens, director general of ACI World.

As many as 40 million passengers used IGIA to reach 58 domestic and 62 international destinations in 2014-15.

During the period, the average flight movements were 885 per day while 696,000 metric tonnes of cargo was handled.

IGIA hosts six domestic carriers, 56 international carriers and also has the capacity to handle the gigantic Airbus A380 aircraft.

The airport serves as a hub for leading Indian airlines Air India, IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet.

Delhi International Airport Private is a joint venture between the GMR Group, Airports Authority of India, Fraport and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.

The airport was developed under the public-private partnership mode with the mandate for DIAL to finance, design, build, operate and maintain the Delhi airport for 30 years, with an option to extend it for another 30 years.

ACI, founded in 1991, is a trade association of the world’s airports.

Source……www.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Natarajan

The Blind Street Vendor Who Founded a Million Dollar Company…An Inspiring story …

April 23, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

“I used to be badly bullied in school.”

“Whenever I used to go around asking for help, I was told, ‘You are blind. What good can you do?’

“The only way to run a successful business is to think with your heart in the equation.

“It will take time. A lot of time. Untold sacrifice and hard work.

“But if you are doing what your heart tells you to do, you will achieve what you set out to achieve.”

Visually impaired entrepreneur Bhavesh Bhatia tells us how he overcame criticism and rejection to set up Sunrise Candles, a start-up that provides employment to other visually impaired citizens like him.

Bhavesh Bhatia

Bhavesh Bhatia was not born blind, but had little vision while growing up.

Born with retina muscular deterioration, he always knew that his sight would only get worse with time.

At 23, his eyes finally decided to give up on him and no amount of preparation could have predicted the gloom that was to come.

He was working as a hotel manager and scrambling to save money for his mother’s treatment, who was suffering from cancer.

His desperation to save his mother stemmed from more than filial love.

She was the backbone of his existence, providing the support he so badly needed to navigate life with his disability.

Bhatia, now 45, recalls, “I used to be badly bullied in school. One day I came home and told her that I wouldn’t go back from the next day. Everyone ganged up to taunt me with chants of ‘Blind boy, blind boy.’

“Instead of forcing me, or worse giving in to my demands, she gently stroked my hair and told me that the boys were not cruel.

“They want to be my friend, but are thrown off by how different I am. She told me that bullying was their way of getting my attention.

“I had a hard time believing her but did as she told me to. The following day, instead of treating them with the hostility they deserved, I approached my bullies with an offer of friendship. We became friends for life.”

He continues, “It is this early life lesson that has been my guiding principle in business as well. My poverty and disability have created insurmountable challenges for me. But her wisdom has lead me to make the right decisions.”

So, when faced with losing his mother, losing his eyesight too was a devastating blow. He was fired from his job.

His father had already extinguished all their savings on his mother’s treatment.

Without a job, and no employment prospects to boot, they couldn’t afford to give her the care she needed. She passed away soon after.

“I was bereft without her,” says Bhatia.

“She was not very educated herself, but worked tirelessly to make sure that I was. I could not read the blackboard. She would pore over my lessons with me for hours — a practice she continued till my post-graduation.”

Bhavesh wanted to make something worthwhile of himself for her. That she would pass away when he was just getting started felt like the world’s greatest injustice.

Loss

Though the loss of his mother, his eyesight and his job wracked him with grief, he found solace in what Bhatia says is, ‘The best advice I’ve ever received,’ given, unsurprisingly, by his mother.

She told me ‘So what if you cannot see the world? Do something so that the world will see you.’

” Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Bhavesh set off in search of that elusive ‘something’ which would make the world see him.

That thing was not hard to find.

“Since childhood I was interested in creating things with my hands. I used to make kites, experiment with clay, shape toys and figurines, etc. I decided to dabble with candle making because it allowed me to harness my sense of shape and smell. But mostly because I am, and always have been, attracted towards light,” he says.

With no resources, except for a burning passion, he had little idea on how to get started.

“I took training from National Association for the Blind (Mumbai) in 1999. They taught me how to make plain candles,” he recounts.

“I wanted to play around with colours, scents and shapes, but dyes and scents were beyond my budget.”

So he would make candles all night long and sell them from a cart, standing at a corner of a local market in Mahabaleshwar (a popular hill station in Maharashtra).

“The cart belonged to a friend and he let me use it for Rs 50 a day. Every day I would set aside Rs 25 to buy my supplies for the next haul.”

It was a lonely and backbreaking mode of survival.

“But at least I was doing what I loved,” says Bhavesh, firmly repudiating any expressions of sympathy.

One day, out of the blue, things started looking up.

It began when a lady came by his cart to purchase candles.

He was struck by her gentle manner and lively laughter.

They struck up a friendship on the spot, conversing for hours.

“I would say it was love at first sight. But, sans the sight, the description doesn’t hold water. It was a more a connection between kindred souls.”

Her name was Neeta and Bhavesh became determined to marry her.

She felt the same way, returning to his cart every day to talk and reminisce about their life together.

Neeta faced backlash from her home for her decision to marry a penniless, blind candle-maker. But she was firm and the two soon embarked on a shared life, living in his small home in the beautiful hill station town.

Neeta was a relentless optimist. Since he could not afford to buy new containers, Bhavesh used to melt the wax in the same utensils that he cooked food in.

He worried that this would offend his wife. But she laughed his concerns off, procured a two wheeler so she could ferry her husband around town selling his candles and later, as their circumstances improved, even learnt how to drive a van so she could accommodate the larger quantities of candles that they were now dealing with.

“She is the light of my life,” smiles Bhavesh.

Struggles

That is not to say that his struggles became any easier once Neeta came into his life. But now that he had a comrade to share the burden with, the load did not seem quite as heavy.

“Sighted people were not ready to accept that a blind person could stand on his own feet. One time some miscreants pulled all my candles from the cart and threw it in the gutter.

“Whenever I used to go around asking for help, I was told to my face, ‘You are blind. What good can you do?’

“I tried to get guidance from professional candle manufacturers and other institutes. But no one helped me.”

While loan requests earned him outright rejections, even simple non-monetary requests were met with hostile reactions.

He wanted advice from experts on candle manufacturing, but received derision and scorn.

“So I would go with my wife to malls and tried to touch and feel the different varieties of the overpriced candles displayed there,” recalls Bhavesh.

Based on what his senses could accrue, and basing the rest on his talents of hustling and creativity, he tried for a greater variety in his creations.

The turning point came when he was granted a loan of Rs 15,000 from Satara Bank, where NAB had a special scheme for blind people.

“With this, we purchased 15 kilos of wax, two dyes and a hand cart for Rs 50,” says Bhavesh on what would go on to become a multi-crore business, with prestigious corporate clients from all over the country and the world and a dedicated team of 200 employees — all of whom are visually impaired.

Secret to success

Bhavesh Bhatia receives the entrepreneurship award for disabled from Pranab Mukherjee

Bhavesh says, “When I look back, I realise the reason so many people turned me away when I asked for a loan was because the way the world does business is ruthless. Everyone thinks with their mind and not their heart.

“I have come to realise that the only way to run a successful business is to think with your heart in the equation. It will take time. A lot of time. Untold sacrifice and hard work. But if you are doing what your heart tells you to do, you will achieve what you set out to achieve.”

Once upon a time Bhavesh, used to painstakingly set aside Rs 25 a day to purchase wax for the following day’s candle stock.

Today Sunrise Candles uses 25 tonnes of wax a day to manufacture their 9,000 designs of plain, scented and aromatherapy candles.

They purchase their wax from the UK. Their client list includes Reliance Industries, Ranbaxy, Big Bazaar, Naroda Industries and the Rotary Club.

On his decision to employ the visually challenged to run Sunrise Candles, Bhavesh says, “We train blind people so that they can understand the work and not just help us at our unit, but some day go back home to set up their own business.”

While he likes to concentrate on the creative aspects of the firm, Neeta takes care of the administrative duties of the enterprise.

She also imparts vocational training to blind girls, aiding them to become self-sufficient.

The sportsman

One would think that building a multi-crore business from scratch, especially given the challenges Bhavesh has had to overcome, would consume all of his time. But he is a gifted sportsman and manages to devote enough time to hone his abilities professionally.

Bhavesh says, “I was active in sports from my childhood. Contrary to stereotypical cliches, blindness does not mean inherent physical weakness. I take pride in my athleticism.”

He had to become disconnected from sports for a long time while building Sunrise Candles, but now that his business is in full bloom, he is rigorous about his daily training.

“After getting settled in the candle business, I once again started my sports practice (he specialises in the short put, discus and javelin throw).

“I have 109 medals (in paralympic sports events). I do 500 push ups, run eight kilometres every day and use the gym that I have installed at our factory.

“To practise running, my wife takes a 15 feet nylon rope and ties one end to our van. She gives me the other end and drives the van at my speed while I run alongside it.”

“But,” he smiles, “I have to be scared of her. If I talk in a loud voice with her, the speed of the van increases the next day.”

Dreams, goals and the future

Currently, Bhavesh is training to participate in the 2016 Paralympics, to be held at Brazil.

He is also set on conquering another world record.

“Germany holds the record for the tallest candle in the world, standing at 21 meters. My plan is make a taller one. Last April we started on a new skill — that of creating life style wax statues of Shri Narendra Modiji, Shri Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar and 25 other well-known eminent personalities.”

Having achieved all that he set out to, Bhavesh says he is far from satisfied.

“I have so many dreams, so many more goals. I want to become the first blind person in the world to climb Mount Everest.

“I want to win a gold medal for my country in the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil. But, above all, I want to ensure that each and every blind Indian is standing on their own feet.”

Source…….Rakhi Chakraborty in http://www.rediff.com

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Meet this Guy… Who will be Travelling to 13 countries and over 20000Miles…all for Free !!!

April 12, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Scott Keyes will be travelling to 13 countries and over 20,000 miles on his next trip, all for free.

When I spoke with Scott Keyes, he was on a 10-hour layover in Dallas kicking back in theCenturion Lounge where American Express has provided its members with free food and drinks, high-speed WiFi, free spa services, and even its own shower suite.

“It’s just a day in the office in here essentially,” the 28-year-old Keyes told Business Insider. “I’ve got a nice work space, food, drinks, some WiFi. This is like this whole other world.”

Keyes, a reporter for Think Progress, gained access to the lounge as a perk from one of his 25 credit cards. The card, an American Express Platinum, typically has an annual fee of $US450, but Keyes managed to get it waived for the first year by taking advantage of an online deal. After that, he’ll either try to get the next year’s fee waived as well, or he’ll simply downgrade the card to something that doesn’t carry a fee.

This is nothing new for Keyes who told us that he uses his massive collection of credit cards to gain points, frequent flyer miles, and plenty of other member perks all the time. He then turns around and uses those perks on vacations like his upcoming trip which will take him
20,000 miles on 21 flights — all for free.

This isn’t luck. Keyes is somewhat of an expert on travelling for little to no cost, not unlike extreme couponers who put incredible amounts of time, energy, and thought into making sure they never pay a penny more than they have to when making purchases.

After jealous friends kept asking him how he does it, Keyes decided to write his e-books “How To Fly For Free” and “How To Find Cheap Flights.” He even made an email list to send friends updates on any amazing travel deals he comes across on Twitter or his RSS feed.

The epic world trip spans 13 countries — Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Grenada, Germany, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Lithuania, and Finland — over the next two months. Total airfare is 136,500 frequent flyer miles plus a few small taxes such as ‘airport use’ fees which are all under $US20 per flight.

Aside from those taxes, Keyes will be paying exactly $US0 for his trip, including his hotel stays.

He told Business Insider that it took around 10 to 15 hours to plan his itinerary, including finding flights that will use his miles, choosing between airlines, and avoiding “fuel surcharges” at all costs.

Keyes had previously been living and working for the past year in Oaxaca, Mexico, but now that he’s returning to the US, he realised it was the perfect opportunity to spend some time travelling before jumping back into a full-time job. “It’s tough when you have a job and you have to ask your boss for time off,” Keyes told Business Insider. “You only have a limited time off and then you spend a lot of that travelling. I figured while I’m in a position where I don’t have a 9-to-5, I might as well take advantage.

This is not the first time Keyes has gone on an incredibly cheap getaway for next to nothing. He has flown to Milan for $US67, gone to Galapagos for $US45, and visited Norway and Belgium for around $US70.

“It’s not necessarily easy or intuitive for beginners,” he told Business Insider about finding bargain flights. “But the good news is that because if you do a little bit of leg work — learn how to get a few miles and how to use them well — you can start to travel really, really well.”

Keyes has a few methods to procure his frequent flyer miles, including opening new credit cards that award miles or points, letting airlines know when there’s a problem with his flight, and not being afraid to get bumped if a flight is full.

He also uses Award Wallet and a detailed spreadsheet to keep organised so he never misuses his credit cards or loses track of his points and miles. In fact, since he started accruing cards, Keyes insists his credit score has actually increased just by virtue of handling his credit responsibly.

Standing 18 inches from the mouth of this hippo in Mozambique was the ‘most scared I’ve been in my life,’ according to Keyes.

And when it comes to finding cheap trips, Keyes has an RSS reader and Twitter list chock full of blogs and websites like Airfarewatchdog and The Flight Deal that he skims to see if there are any “mistake fees” or cheap flights available.

The key, he said, is flexibility.

“If your ultimate goal is to be able to find as cheap a flight as possible and go somewhere cool for not much money then starting with an open, blank slate and going wherever there’s a cheap flight right now is going to be your best bet,” he told us.

Since starting his frequent flyer mile journey, Keyes has been to 30 countries — this next trip will make that count 42 — and flown 354,000 miles or roughly 14.3 times around the earth.

“The moon is only 250,000 miles away,” Keyes laughed. “I’ve only got 150,000 more to go until I can get back from the moon.”

As for his upcoming trip, Keyes said he’s most excited to visit a “beer spa” in Prague.

“I don’t quite understand it because I don’t speak Czech, but my understanding from pictures is that you just go and soak in beer,” he told us. “And who can complain about that?”

Source…….MEGAN WILLETT in http://www.businessinsider.com.au

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Most Extreme Runways in the World …

April 7, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Long lines, terse agents, overpriced food and delays – in the world of travel, airports are notorious for being necessary obstacles standing between travellers and their final destinations. But according to users of the question-and-answer site Quora.com, at the world’s most unique airports, the take-offs and landings make it all worth the ride.

A death-defying descent
Nepal’s Tenzing-Hillary Airport is built for adventurers. Tucked high in the Himalayan town of Lukla, the airport’s 460m runway has a steep 12% incline, making it only accessible to helicopters and small, fixed-wing planes. To the north of the runway, there are mountains, and to the south is a steep, nearly 600m drop, leaving absolutely no room for error.

The terrifying airstrip serves as an entry point for mountain climbers who are keen to tackle the world’s tallest mountain. “This is where most Everest summiters land,” wrote Quora userAmy Robinson. “It is one of the most dangerous airports in the world.”

Perhaps it’s appropriate, then, that this airport was named after the region’s most famous adventurers: Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first people to reach Everest’s summit.

Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla, Himalayas, Nepal (Credit: Credit: Prakash Mathema/Getty)

A harrowing Himalayan runway Credit: Prakash Mathema/Getty)

A runway under water
At high tide, the runway of Scotland’s Barra Airport is nowhere to be seen.

“The airport is unique, being the only one in the world where scheduled flights use a beach as the runway,” wrote Quora user Amit Kushwaha. As such, flight times are dictated by the tide.

Barra Airport, Traigh Mhor beach, Outer Hebrides, Scotland (Credit: Credit: Califer001/Barra Airport/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

A wet and wild take-off at Scotland’s Barra Airport. (Credit: Califer001/Barra Airport/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Located in the shallow bay of Traigh Mhor beach on Barra Island in the Outer Hebrides, the airport’s runways are laid out in a triangular formation and are marked by wooden poles to help guide the Twin Otter propeller planes onto the sand.

A stretch for tropical take-offs
For pilots, landing at the Maldives’ Male International Airportis daunting. The lone asphalt runway – which lies just two metres above sea level – takes up the entire length of Hulhule Island in the North Male Atoll, so a minor miscalculation could send the plane careening off into the Indian Ocean.

Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, Male International Airport, Hulhule Island, Maldives (Credit: Credit: Thinkstock)

Landing on a tropical island in the Maldives. (Credit: Thinkstock)

“[It’s] one of the few airports in the world that begins and ends with water and takes up an entire island,” wrote Quora userPeter Baskerville.

Because Hulhule Island (one of 1,192 coral islands spread over roughly 90,000sqkm) is used mainly for the airport, visitors typically take speedboats to their final destinations once they land.

Hit the brakes
Landing at Juancho E Yrausquin Airport, on the Caribbean island of Saba, “is not for the faint of heart,” wrote Quora userDhairya Manek.

That’s because it is widely regarded as having the shortest commercially serviceable runway in the world – approximately 396m. (Typically, runways are between 1,800m and 2,400m.) That means only small aircraft, which can quickly decrease speed, can land here.

Juancho E Yrausquin Airport, Saba, Caribbean (Credit: Credit: Patrick Hawks/Juancho E Yrausquin Airport/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

The world’s shortest runway. (Credit: Patrick Hawks/Juancho E Yrausquin Airport/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

Its setting is as beautiful as it is dangerous. “The airport’s runway is located on a cliff that drops into the Caribbean Sea on three sides and is flanked by high hills on the other,” Manek wrote. “Jet airplanes are not allowed to land at the airport due to its incredibly short runway.”

‘Nerve-racking… yet stunningly beautiful’
At 2,767m above sea level, Colorado’s Telluride Regional Airport is North America’s highest commercial airport. “[It’s] nerve-racking to experience, yet stunningly beautiful,” wrote Quora user Erin Whitlock.

Telluride Regional Airport, Colorado, USA (Credit: Credit: Robert Alexander/Getty)

Telluride’s ‘nerve-racking’ runway. (Credit: Robert Alexander/Getty)

Telluride’s single runway – which sits on a plateau in the Rocky Mountains, next to a heart-stopping, 300m drop to the San Miguel River below – used to be notorious for a giant dip in its centre. But renovations in 2009 made the airstrip safer and made it possible for larger aircraft to land. Today, the airport’sMountain Flying Safety guide advises pilots of single- or light-twin-engine aircraft not to attempt night landings, not to attempt flight if high-altitude winds exceed 30 knots, and not to fly if visibility is less than 15 miles.

A heart-stopping approach
So petrifying was the landing at the now-closed Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, passengers had a nickname for it: the Kai Tak Heart Attack.

Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, Kai Tak Heart Attack (Credit: Credit: Frederic J Brown/Getty)

Hong Kong’s heart-stopping approach. (Credit: Frederic J Brown/Getty)

“The Kai Tak Airport no longer exists, but it was one of the wonders of the flying world when it was in operation [between 1925 and 1998],” wrote Quora user Jay Wacker. “It was on a little bit of reclaimed land in a harbour and there were high-rises on both sides. It was a relatively short runway for big planes, and it always felt harrowing when landing on a 747. When you looked out the window during take-off or landing, you felt like you could look into the living rooms of people.”

Source……..www.bbc.com

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