Well, Jayant , my friend, told me the following incident which i wish to share with you. It has had a deep impact on my thinking.................

"In the diwali vacation, Jayant and his couple of friends had gone to delhi. They rented a taxi for local sight-seeing.........

The driver was a old sardar man, and boys being boys, Jayant and his pals began cracking sardarji jokes, just to insinuate the old man....

But to their surprise, the fellow remained unperturbed.
At the end of the sight-seeing, they paid up the hire-charges. The sardar returned the change.
Moreover, he gave each one of them one rupee extra and said,( in Hindi , of course) ,'son, since morning you have been telling
sardarji jokes. I listened to them all and let me tell you, some of them were in a very bad taste.
Still, I don't mind coz I know that you are young blood and are yet to see the world. But I have just one request. Here I am
giving you one rupee each. Give it to the first sardar beggar that you come across in this city."
Jayant continued," That one rupee coin is still with me. I couldn't find a single sardar begging on the streets of Delhi........"

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Friends, humour and insult..........have very thin line in between............like in most of the relations, and we have to respect that thin line ......................And you never know the jokes............. which are so relaxing for you or a way of expressing that you are living in a country where there is freedom of speech................. becomes actually a direct insult then good humour.............I think we can laugh without cracking sikh jokes.................or jokes on any other cast and creed..............we are society ..........don't make a society which on the name of laughing on each other.......................is in fact insulting each other..............by judging just the patience of others....................

Ever wonder what google.com think about YOU? ha ha :)) well yes you can find out that and if you wish you can also share with us here..........on G4M...............well what you hav eto do is to log in to

http://www.googlism.com/

and Googlism.com will find out what Google.com thinks of you, your friends or anything! Search for your name here or for a good laugh check out some of the popular Googlisms below.

References: By Miranda Hitti, reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

SOURCES: Howard Klausner, MD, emergency physician and medical director for emergency medical services and disaster medicine, Henry Ford Hospital. Alexander Isakov, MD, MPH, assistant professor of emergency medicine, Emory University; medical director, Emory Flight. Federal Emergency Management Agency: "Are You Ready? Explosions." American Red Cross: "Terrorism: Preparing for the Unexpected." Anie Kalayjian, EdD, DSc, RN, psychology professor, Fordham University, author, Disaster & Mass Trauma: Global Perspectives on Post Disaster Mental Health Management.

now read the post........

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It's a problem no one wants to face. But life is unpredictable, and terrorism is no stranger to many countries.

If you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, what should you do?

And when terrorism strikes farther away, how do you stay compassionate without becoming overwhelmed by or numb to horrific events?



Safety First

The first tip probably mirrors your gut instinct to put safety first.

"You want to exit the area as quickly as you are physically able," Howard Klausner, MD.

Klausner is medical director for emergency medical services and disaster medicine at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital.

"Your overriding response, I think, is going to be your own personal safety and the safety of those around you — trying to assist people to get out of harm's way or out of ground zero," says Alexander Isakov, MD, MPH.

Isakov is an emergency medicine physician and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Emory University.


Staying Calm

"Stay calm and be patient" tops the American Red Cross list of general disaster guidelines.

But how do you do that in the face of terrorism?

"As a government or a responding agency, of course, the desire would be that people remain calm because the alternative is panic," says Isakov. "Panic isn't going to be really conducive to regaining control and order of the situation."

Predicting how someone might respond would be "very difficult," he says.

"I think to expect that some people will be calm and some people will be terrified and panicked is probably consistent with reality," says Isakov.



Following Directions

If you're on the scene, follow instructions from local emergency service providers when they arrive, say Klausner and Isakov.

If you're in another part of a town hit by terrorism, you should also comply with government orders, says Isakov.

For instance, he says authorities may ask people to avoid certain areas, minimize their use of personal communications equipment, or stay out of hospitals unless they're victims or in dire medical straits.



Helping Others

In the chaos right after a terrorist attack, many people want to help their fellow survivors.

"It's hard to give people advice to not stop and help others, because that is your natural human instinct — to try to render assistance," says Klausner.

"In general, though ... you want to help others only after you have really determined that it is really safe for yourself. That's very difficult to do in a stressful situation," he says.

Some attacks may include secondary devices, say Klausner and Isakov.

"To stay in the area of an event ... might put you at risk of being a victim of a second explosion, if there was such a thing," says Isakov.

"I think people [are] going to make personal determinations about what they think they can accomplish for their new acquaintances at the scene," he says.

"I don't know that there's a good overriding recommendation for them except that when emergency service providers arrive to be compliant with their instructions and their direction."



After a Building Explosion

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) posts this advice about building explosions:

—Get under a sturdy table or desk if things are falling around you.

—When those items stop falling, leave quickly. Watch for obviously weakened floors or stairways.

—Don't use elevators in the building.

—Once outside, don't stand by windows or other potential hazards.

—Move away from sidewalks or streets needed by emergency officials or others still leaving the building.

FEMA's advice for those trapped in debris:

—Try to signal rescuers. Whistle, tap on a wall or pipe, or use a flashlight.

—Shout only as a last resort. You could inhale dangerous amounts of dust.

—Avoid unnecessary movement, which could stir up dust.

—Cover your nose and mouth with anything you have on hand. Densely-woven cotton can act as a good filter. Try to breathe through the material.



Emotional Response

Distance shouldn't exempt us from caring, says Anie Kalayjian, EdD, DSc, RN.

"The key for mental health is to balance that empathy without completely absorbing and feeling and going through the pain and re-experiencing the pain," says Kalayjian.

She is a psychology professor at Fordham University and a Red Cross-certified disaster mental health specialist. Her books include Disaster and Mass Trauma: Global Perspectives on Post Disaster Mental Health Management. Kalayjian also serves as treasurer for the U.N.'s nongovernmental organization committee on human rights.



Showing Your Humanity

It's important not to get overwhelmed by or desensitized to such events, says Kalayjian, who was heading to the United Nations.

"It is only showing our humanity when we are affected by it," she says. "What affects one person in another country will ultimately affect us."

"We need to be more conscious of that and aware of that and embrace that, instead of rejecting it by presenting ourselves with our daily tasks and not reflecting on the trauma," says Kalayjian.



Planning Ahead

Government officials have repeatedly asked Americans to develop a personal emergency plan and to report suspicious packages and activities.

Planning where your family would meet or communicate could also help in the event of natural disasters, says Isakov.

He encourages people to take fire and disaster drills seriously at work.





__________________
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.

I was reading one article find it unusual so thought to share it with you.........as always first is referencing so this article is from http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articlei d=6936
here is the article.........


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August 15, 2005
Get Ready for World War III
by Paul Craig Roberts

With every poll showing majorities of Americans both fed up with Bush's war against Iraq and convinced that Bush's invasion of Iraq has made Americans less safe, the White House moron proposes to start another war by attacking Iran. VP Cheney has already ordered the U.S. Strategic Command come up with plans to strike Iran with tactical nuclear weapons.

Bush refuses to meet with Cindy Sheehan, instead using his vacation time at the Crawford ranch to talk war with Israeli television. In a recent interview with Israeli TV, Bush said "All options are on the table" with regard to Iran.

Likudnik Israel is Bush's last remaining ally, or egger-on, in his war against "Islamic terrorism." Israel, which is loaded with nuclear weapons and is not a signatory to the nuclear pacts, is the accuser against Iran, asserting that Iran's nuclear energy program is just a veil behind which to produce weapons. Israel's Likud Party fears that Iranian weapons would be a check to its plans to complete the dispossession of the Palestinians and further expand Israel's borders.

Iran has signed the nonproliferation pact and is willing for the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor the nuclear energy program.

Bush, however, dismisses all facts and assurances and is willing to attack Iran based on nothing but Israel's paranoia.

Bush can ignore the American public, because the Democrats, like the Tory Party in the UK, have completely collapsed as an opposition party. The Republican Party is now increasingly referred to as the Republikud Party.

The only check on Bush is the lack of U.S. troops. Bogged down in the Iraqi quagmire, U.S. commanders are stating that a third rotation of our exhausted and demoralized troops in Iraq can be avoided only by troop withdrawals by next spring.

However, on Aug. 11, Bush nixed the military's talk of reducing U.S. troops in Iraq. The next day, the commander of U.S. logistics in Iraq announced that the number of insurgent attacks on US forces along supply routes has doubled in the last year, making it clear that far from winning, the U.S. is not even holding its own.

Cindy Sheehan has the right question for Bush: What noble cause is being served by all this suffering and destruction?

Bush is in hiding from Mrs. Sheehan, because he knows only ignoble causes are being served. According to the CIA, the main beneficiary of the war is Osama bin Laden's recruitment drives. While America's military recruitment falters and U.S. generals announce that the war has broken the Reserves and National Guard, the cause of Islamic extremism basks in the Iraqi war.

Gentle reader, do you realize the danger of having a president so disconnected from reality that he plots to attack Iran – a country three times the size of Iraq – when he lacks sufficient forces to occupy Baghdad and to protect the road from Baghdad to the airport?

Despite all the high profile "sweeps" of U.S. forces through insurgent strongholds, U.S. commanders report a doubling of insurgent attacks.

The Bush administration is insane. If the American people do not decapitate it by demanding Bush's impeachment, the Bush administration will bring about Armageddon. This may please some Christian evangelicals conned by Rapture predictions, but World War III will please no one else.
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What do you think about the possibility of World War III and about BUSH's interference in every country possible in this world?

Are you among the vast majority who use it as a place for stashing their salary? Or are you among the smart few, who make every rupee count?

If you are not in the latter category, then it's time you keep the advanced gyan on mutual funds and ULIPs aside for some time and focus on getting the basics right... and it can't get more basic than your savings bank account.

Here are some pointers. They're simple, yet they are rarely followed.

Keep some cash handy

As a standard practice, keep three months of expenses as cash in your saving account. Anything above that, you must either invest (so you and your dependents can enjoy tomorrow) or use (so you enjoy today).

To start with, fall in love with your savings account. This will at least ensure you visit it every few days, if not daily. These days, it's not so difficult to know what is happening in your account.

Life begins with your ATM

It starts with your ATM. Most cash withdrawals are done via the ATM nowadays.


However, instead of taking the receipt for the transaction, would it not be better to take a mini statement? That way you would be in a position to track past transactions as well as save paper (in case you take the mini statement after taking a printout for the last transaction).

Also, the mini statement deserves a longer life span. It would be better placed in your file at home rather than torn and thrown into the dustbin right beside the ATM.

Next is your bank statement

You get it quarterly if you have an account with a private bank. With government-owned banks, you get the passbook. See to it that the passbook is always updated, which is again not a big hassle these days.

As for the bank statements, go through the details minutely if possible. If not, at least look at the big entries. These will tell you the amount and the date on which you withdrew or deposited cash in your account. Check the figures with your ATM mini statements.

These exercises may sound time consuming, even useless as long as things go well. In case something goes wrong with even a single entry in your account (let's say you ask for two accounts to be linked to a single ATM card, and find they have been linked to somebody else's card -- trust me it happens!), it is these very habits that will save you some trouble.


It's like insurance. You buy life insurance hoping nothing goes wrong. But you still have to have insurance; if something does go wrong, you have something for your dependents.

Make entries in your chequebook

Another operational hassle can be filling details at the back of the chequebook.

It might sound like a trivial thing to do. Since you are the only one who issues cheques from your cheque book, you may choose to ignore this exercise. However, it is always better to keep a record of whom a particular cheque was issued to, for what reason, on what date and for what amount.

In case your bank provides you net banking facility, do opt for it. This way, you can monitor your account at your own convenience.

Not maintaining a minimum balance can surprise you

You should always keep an eye on the amount you have in your saving account. You should know that not maintaining average quarterly balance could give you a nice little financial shock. Most banks charge you a penalty if you don't keep a certain minimum balance with your bank.

Does this scare you? Take heart. You can always use the sweeper facility that most banks offer you.

This is how it works. The bank asks you to keep an extra amount of over Rs 5,000 that goes into a fixed deposit account and generates higher returns for you. If and when the balance in your savings account goes below a certain minimum prescribed by the bank, this amount from your fixed deposit is again swept back into your savings account.

Check your bank's website regularly

Go through all the links on the website. Know what features are available; do not necessarily avail of all of them, but at least keep them in mind.

Finally, in case of any discrepancy, call the bank immediately. Be armed with your records and demand immediate action. Escalate the matter to the branch manager; send mails to the grievance mail id, create a scene if need be. Don't forget -- it's your money. Don't be ashamed to make yourself heard in a bank.

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Thanks.....

Tax reforms have conventionally been considered to be a rather contentious area that was left untouched by most in the past. However, the finance minister ventured into this contentious territory and has emerged standing tall!

As a part of the process, benefits under Section 88 have been scrapped and Section 80L has been omitted. Instead the finance minister has proposed a new regime wherein each taxpayer will be allowed a consolidated limit of Rs 1 lakh for savings.

Simply put, investors can now make investments up to Rs 1 lakh, from their income chargeable to tax; the same will be treated as a deduction from the income.

More importantly all prevailing sectoral caps have been removed i.e. within the abovementioned Rs 1 lakh investors will have a free hand to make investments as per their own choice.

This is contrary to the earlier regime wherein Section 88 benefits could be claimed by investors subject to stated upper limits e.g. investments in equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS) had a cap of Rs 10,000 for the purpose of claiming tax benefits.

Also deductions in certain areas like interest payments towards home loans, contributions towards medical insurance premium, interest on loan taken for higher education etc. have been left unchanged. Investors are free to claim benefits from the same over and above the stipulated Rs 1 lakh investments.

A new tax structure has been introduced as well,

New tax brackets and rates
Taxable income Rate of tax
Upto Rs 100,000 Nil
Rs 100,000 to 150,000 10%
Rs 150,000 to 250,000 20%
Above Rs 250,000 30%


The income level for applying the 10% surcharge has been hiked from the erstwhile Rs 8.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh at present.

What does the budget hold for retail investors?
Retail investors have every reason to rejoice. While Section 88 benefits and Section 80L have ceased to exist, investors continue to have the opportunity to reduce their tax liabilities by investing the earmarked sum of Rs 1 lakh.

Investments in small savings schemes, ELSS, contributions to insurance policies and pension plans etc have all been made a part of the eligible Rs 1 lakh. On a positive note, tax benefits will no longer dictate investors' investment decisions.

Now investors have the opportunity to create a portfolio based on their individual preferences and needs rather than from the tax-saving perspective.

Hence if you are an investor with a high-risk appetite, invest a significant portion of your portfolio to ELSS, on the contrary retirees and conservative investors can opt for the small savings segment.

In the erstwhile tax regime, investors with a gross total income of more than Rs 5 lakh could not claim any benefits under Section 88; this disparity has been done away with since investors across tax brackets can utilise the Rs 1 lakh deduction.

The new tax regime permits investors to plan their finances as per their individual needs, which is a basic tenet of financial planning; the finance minister undeniably deserves a round of applause for his efforts.

Thanks..............

Everyone has heard of the Sensex. Most of us know it is the index of the Bombay Stock Exchange. But there are lots of facts you are probably unware of. Here are six interesting facts about the Sensex.

1. The Sensex is an abbreviated version of The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index.
It is the benchmark index for the Indian stock market, closely followed by Nifty, which is the index of the National Stock Exchange. Officially called S&P CNX Nifty, this name is credited to the 50 stocks that comprise its index.

2. The Sensex is made up of only 30 stocks.
These stocks represent around a dozen sectors. They are leaders in their respective industries.

3. The stocks are picked by the stock selection committee (known as the Index Committee).
There are certain basic parameters fixed when picking these 30 stocks. They are:

~ The stock should have been traded on each and every trading day (the days on which the stock market works) for the past one year.

~ It should be among the top 150 companies listed by average number of trades (buying or selling of shares) and the average value of the trades (in actual rupee terms) per day over the past one year.

~ The stock should have been listed on the BSE for at least one year.

4. The job of the Sensex is to capture the price movement of the equity market.
The Sensex reflects the price movements of shares. If the Sensex rises, it indicates the market is doing well.

The price of every stock price rises or falls for two possible reasons:

News about the company
Great earnings, great annual or quarterly results, product launch, closure of a factory, the government providing tax or duty exemptions to the sector so more profits expected, a feud among the company's top bosses, etc. This will be stock specific news.

News about the country
Testing a nuclear bomb, a terrorist attack, the Budget announcement, new tax regime, declaration of war, change of government, good monsoons and hence a good agricultural crop, etc. This will be called index news.

The job of an index is mainly to capture the news about the country. This will reflect the movement of the stock market as a whole. It could also reflect the sentiment of the market as a whole. If corporate India is largely doing well, then it will get reflected here.

A good index will only capture news that is common to all stocks in India. This is what the Sensex does. In order to present a broad picture, the stocks selected are from different sectors.

5. The value of each of the stocks in the Sensex is not equal.

The market cap method
Each of the 30 stocks in the Sensex has a weight attached to it. This weight depends on the market capitalisation of the stock.

Market capitalisation refers to the number of shares of a company multiplied by its market value (the price of each share). For instance, if a company has 10 million shares whose value is Rs 30 per share on July 1, 2006, it will have a market cap of Rs 300 million on July 1, 2004.

Let's assume the market cap of the 30 Sensex stocks is Rs 3,00,000 crore. Let us also assume the market cap of ITC (which is one of the 30 shares that make up the Sensex) is Rs 20,000 crore, then ITC's weight in the Sensex is 6.66%.

The rise or fall in the price of ITC's shares will impact the Sensex to that extent.

This is referred to as the full market capitalisation methodology.

Free-float weightage
Here, a company's entire lot of shares are not taken into account (which means we are not looking at the entire market capitalisation). Only the shares readily available for trading are considered.

In every company, a certain amount of shares are not available for trading on the stock exchange. These shares could be held by the government or the promoters of the company. Under the free-float weightage method, they are not taken into account.

How does the stock exchange arrive at this weightage?
In this case, the market cap is multiplied by the free float factor (which is the proportion of a company's shares that can be readily bought and sold).

The Sensex uses the free-float weightage method.

The Sensex's free-float market cap at close of business on December 3, 2005, was Rs 3,66,124 crore.

Unlike the Sensex, the 50 stocks in Nifty -- the index of the National Stock Exchange -- is based on the market cap method and not the free-float method.

You can read about the free-float method in detail on the BSE web site.

6. The clincher

Even though the BSE came into existence in 1875, the Sensex was formulated and came into existence only in 1986.

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Thanks................. ..