What can Rs.3 do?

Have you ever wondered what Rs.3 can do?

A smoke for the chimneys called smokers perhaps, a strand of flowers for the women folk, a sachet of shampoo for most of us and maybe a few toffees for kidos but am sure we don’t add up a few of these 3’s to make our livelihood!

Quite stark isn’t it? To think people actually sell various things for Rs.3 and try and eke out a living. We in Mumbai have these frail ladies young, massively malnourished kids trying to sell us the ‘nazar’ mirchi and nimbus for Rs.3! What an irony that they are trying to ward off the evil spirits while trying to resurrect their own – just for Rs.3!

Ever imagined how many of those ‘3’s they have to sell to make a living, to feed themselves, their families and their hopes?

I was quite stunned when one I saw one of these ladies come to me, in pouring rain, shivering and eyes filled with hope to sell me one of those, my belief apart, have never bothered to buy one till that time. Laziness to take my wallet out, indifference to the ‘product’ and sheer apathy never made me buy one of those, but that day somehow I managed to take a tenner and hand it to her. Having strung the ‘nazar utaru’ on my car she came to me and I handed over the note, imagine my utter disbelief when she was trying to add up all the little change she had to give me back the balance. Only a tyrant could have taken that money back. I closed my window and could catch a surprised, confused but am sure expectant look on her face.

They are so many kids around who sell peanuts for a pittance, gees how many packets they have to sell to even earn Rs.20 a day as commission, you feel so dam helpless, you feel so guilty for having spent more on a meal than it actually deserves, you feel fortunate that you can have meal when and what you want – gosh we are so lucky! Three bucks, in fact even ten often mean nothing to us but it means so much to them, it can mean a decent meal at least on that day. I keep poking at my pockets to give these kids some money all the time, never mind the argument of “don’t encourage begging” and all that bull, the fact is that there is a boy/girl(old man/woman) who does not have food at that point, does not have clothes to protect him and am very sure he’d be playing, eating Maggi or Kellogs or watching Pogo if he had a choice. To hell with these arguments, he/she’s a child and deserves ALL our empathy at that moment and they deserve to be given that.

It is sometimes so easy to feel happy and make others happy too! Like when you give a dozen banana’s to a hungry chap or buy up all the peanut packets he has in his hand or ask the rate of what he’s trying to sell give him the money and not take the product, or give a brand new t shirt to somebody, boy there are so many ways …….next time you see somebody in need try and discover a way to feel happy, you cant start with as little as Rs.3, trust me!

And yes Rs.3 has so much more value to me now!!

Beware of counterfeit notes

To pay his son's school fees, Suryabhanu Pratap (name changed) withdrew Rs 5,000 from his private bank's automatic teller machine. A day later, the school called him to inform that they had found four fake Rs 500 notes in the amount deposited.

"I was scared and felt completely humiliated," says Pratap. He quietly went back to the school next day and exchanged the notes. Why didn't he inform the bank or the police?

Reading the signs

Serial numbers are printed with fluorescent ink, which can be seen when viewed under a ultraviolet lens

Floral design on the left side - half the denomination of the currency will be printed on the front side and the other half on the back side. If seen against bright light, the complete denomination appears

Just below the floral print, a mark is made in intaglio (a kind of printing, where the image is slightly raised) for the visually-impaired to identify the denomination. For the Rs 500 note, the mark is a circle, for the Rs 100, it is a triangle and a square for the Rs 50

Similarly, a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, the RBI seal, a guarantee and promise clause, a Ashoka Pillar emblem on the left and RBI Governor's signature are all printed on intaglio

A band printed on the right side contains a latent image of the denomination of the banknote. The numeral appears when the currency is held horizontally at eye level

A wide security thread with inscriptions "Bharat" in Hindi and "RBI" runs through the banknote. The thread fluoresces on both sides in ultraviolet light

"I had no way to prove that the money was withdrawn from the bank ATM. I also did not want to get involved in any police investigations," Pratap claims. The notes were torn and thrown in the nearest ditch - a loss of Rs 2,000.

Banks, on their part, said that that it is in the "rarest of rare cases" that someone finds counterfeit notes in the money withdrawn from an ATM. "The notes to be deposited in the ATM go through a series of checks to be ATM-fit. Counterfeit currencies, if any, are detected during these checks," said Jitendra Balakrishnan, deputy managing director, IDBI Bank. However, though banks keep the record of the serial numbers of new notes being put into the machine, there is no record of older notes.

There has been huge rise in the number of counterfeit notes in the last one year. According to recent RBI data, the value of fake currency detected in 2007-08 rose by 137 per cent to Rs 5.5 crore (Rs 55 million) from 2.4 crore (Rs 24 million) in the previous financial year. And for hapless victims like Pratap, there is nothing much that can be done.

"The police can investigate with the bank only if the notes are in a series," Robin Matthew, a criminal advocate, says. Since the possession of fake currency is a criminal offense, even the possession of a single note can lead to serious trouble.

So what should you do when counterfeit currency is encountered? A senior RBI official says, "If the currency notes have come from the bank, either from an ATM or direct withdrawal, the customer should lodge a police complain and mention the source of the currency." After that, the currency is either destroyed or sent to RBI for further investigations, if the police are unable to establish the bank as the source.

When banks find counterfeits during a deposit, the teller confiscates it and destroys it in front of the customer. Later, an application is filed at the local police station giving the details of the currency and customer details, according to KVS Manian, group head, retail liabilities and branch banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank [Get Quote].

An official letter is sent to the customer, whose notes have been destroyed, with the serial numbers. There is no mechanism to ensure that the customer gets his money back and nor are there any guidelines or rules to protect the customer from this problem. "The game is all about passing the buck. So, whoever is in possession of the fake currency, is the culprit," a senior banker said requesting anonymity.

Beef Vs. Chicken

Choice: Chicken
If you're a carnivore with an eye toward environmentalism, your best
bet is to eat more chicken. According to a 2005 study published by
Earth Interactions, cattle accounts for over 67 times more non-CO2
greenhouse gas emissions, including methane gas and nitrous oxide,
than its feathered counterpart. Not only that, but one pound of beef
also requires a significant amount more feed and water to produce
than an equal weight of chicken.

Go whole hog: Become a vegetarian.

Getting A Millionaire's Mindset

Let's face it; we all don't make millions of dollars a year, and the odds are that most of us won't receive a large windfall inheritance either. However, that doesn't mean that we can't build sizeable wealth - it'll just take some time. If you're young, time is on your side and retiring a millionaire is achievable. Read on for some tips on how to increase your savings and work toward this goal. Stop Senseless Spending Unfortunately, people have a habit of spending their hard-earned cash on goods and services that they don't need. Even relatively small expenses, such as indulging in a gourmet coffee from a premium coffee shop every morning, can really add up - and decrease the amount of money you can save. Larger expenses on luxury items also prevent many people from putting money into savings each month. That said, it's important to realize that it's usually not just one item or one habit that must be cut out in order to accumulate sizable wealth (although it may be). Usually, in order to become wealthy one must adopt a disciplined lifestyle and budget. This means that people who are looking to build their nest eggs need to make sacrifices somewhere - this may mean eating out less frequently, using public transportation to get to work and/or cutting back on extra, unnecessary expenses. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't go out and have fun, but you should try to do things in moderation - and set a budget if you hope to save money. Fortunately, particularly if you start saving young, saving up a sizeable nest egg only requires a few minor (and relatively painless) adjustments to your spending habits. Fund Retirement Plans ASAP When individuals earn money, their first responsibility is to pay current expenses such as the rent or mortgage expenses, food and other necessities. Once these expenses have been covered, the next step should be to fund a retirement plan or some other tax-advantaged vehicle. Unfortunately, retirement planning is an afterthought for many young people. Early doing means you can contribute less money overall and actually end up with significantly more in the end than someone who put in much more money but started later. Improve Tax Awareness Sometimes, individuals think that doing their own taxes will save them money. In some cases, they might be right. However, in other cases it may actually end up costing them money because they fail to take advantage of the many deductions available to them. Try to become more educated as far as what types of items are deductible. You should also understand when it makes sense to move away from the standard deduction and start itemizing your return. However, if you're not willing or able to become very well educated filing your own income tax, it may actually pay to hire some help, particularly if you are self employed, own a business or have other circumstances that complicate your tax return. Renting Versus Buying At some point in our lives, many of us rent a home or an apartment because we cannot afford to purchase a home, or because we aren't sure where we want to live for the longer term. And that's fine. However, renting is often not a good long-term investment because buying a home is a good way to build equity. Unless you intend to move in a short period of time, it generally makes sense to consider putting a down payment on a home. (At least you would likely build up some equity over time and the foundation for a nest egg. Buying Expensive Cars There's nothing wrong with purchasing a luxury vehicle. However, individuals who spend an inordinate amount of their incomes on a vehicle are doing themselves a disservice - especially since this asset depreciates in value so rapidly. How rapidly does a car depreciate? Obviously, this depends on the make, model, year and demand for the vehicle, but a general rule is that a new car loses 15-20% of its value per year. So, a two-year old car will be worth 80-85% of its purchase price; a three-year old car will be worth 80-85% of its two-year-old value. In short, especially when you are young, consider buying something practical and dependable that has low monthly payments - or that you can pay for in cash. In the long run, this will mean you'll have more money to put toward your savings - an asset that will appreciate, rather than depreciate like your car. Don't Sell Yourself Short Some individuals are extremely loyal to their employers and will stay with them for years without seeing their incomes take a jump. This can be a mistake, as increasing your income is an excellent way to boost your rate of saving. Always keep your eye out for other opportunities and try not to sell yourself short. Work hard and find an employer who will compensate you for your work ethic, skills and experience. Bottom Line You don't have to win the lottery to see seven figures in your bank account. For most people, the only way to achieve this is to save it. You don't have to live like a pauper to build an adequate nest egg and retire comfortably. If you start early, spend wisely and save diligently, your million-dollar dreams are well within reach. by Glenn Curtis. Glenn Curtis started his career as an equity analyst at Cantone Research, a New Jersey-based regional brokerage firm. He has since worked as an equity analyst and a financial writer at a number of print/web publications and brokerage firms including Registered Representative Magazine, Advanced Trading Magazine, Worldlyinvestor.com, RealMoney.com, TheStreet.com and Prudential Securities. Curtis has also held Series 6,7,24 and 63 securities licenses.

Google Chrome, Google's Browser

Download from http://www.google.com/chrome

Google Chrome is Google’s open source browser project

• The browser will include a JavaScript Virtual Machine called V8, built from scratch by a team in Denmark, and open-sourced as well so other browsers could include it. One aim of V8 was to speed up JavaScript performance in the browser, as it’s such an important component on the web today. Google also say they’re using a “multi-process design” which they say means “a bit more memory up front” but over time also “less memory bloat.” When web pages or plug-ins do use a lot of memory, you can spot them in Chrome’s task manager, “placing blame where blame belongs.”
• Google Chrome will use special tabs. Instead of traditional tabs like those seen in Firefox, Chrome puts the tab buttons on the upper side of the window, not below the address bar.
  
  
• The browser has an address bar with auto-completion features. Called ’omnibox’, Google says it offers search suggestions, top pages you’ve visited, pages you didn’t visit but which are popular amd more. The omnibox (“omni” is a prefix meaning “all”, as in “omniscient” – “all-knowing”) also lets you enter e.g. “digital camera” if the title of the page you visited was “Canon Digital Camera”. Additionally, the omnibox lets you search a website of which it captured the search box; you need to type the site’s name into the address bar, like “amazon”, and then hit the tab key and enter your search keywords.
• As a default homepage Chrome presents you with a kind of “speed dial” feature, similar to the one of Opera. On that page you will see your most visited webpages as 9 screenshot thumbnails. To the side, you will also see a couple of your recent searches and your recently bookmarked pages, as well as recently closed tabs.
  
  
• Chrome has a privacy mode; Google says you can create an “incognito” window “and nothing that occurs in that window is ever logged on your computer.” The latest version of Internet Explorer calls this InPrivate. Google’s use-case for when you might want to use the “incognito” feature is e.g. to keep a surprise gift a secret. As far as Microsoft’s InPrivate mode is concerned, people also speculated it was a “porn mode.”
• Web apps can be launched in their own browser window without address bar and toolbar. Mozilla has a project called Prism that aims to do similar (though doing so may train users into accepting non-URL windows as safe or into ignoring the URL, which could increase the effectiveness of phishing attacks).
• To fight malware and phishing attempts, Chrome is constantly downloading lists of harmful sites. Google also promises that whatever runs in a tab is sandboxed so that it won’t affect your machine and can be safely closed. Plugins the user installed may escape this security model, Google admits.

Shut Down Vs. Leave Your Computer Running

Choice: Leave it running

Every time you power up a computer, it's like giving the device a minor
heart attack. Electricity surges through delicate circuits, flash-heating
them and causing expansion. Immobile hard drives quickly spin up
from a stop to speeds exceeding thousands of rotations a minute.
Rebooting several times a day is a good way to wear out your
machine fast and considering the nasty,Eco-unfriendly process
required to make a new PC, the green thing to do is to keep the one
you have as long as possible. Besides, in stand-by mode, modern
PCs don't consume much power anyway. Please Ditch that
old tube monitor for an energy-efficient LCD model.

Touchy Story - Wrong Number !!!

It was the day of her son's XII results and she was so tensed. She 

sat beside him while he logged on the website with his registration

no. "Ma", he screamed in excitement," I scored 1191, with centum in

4 subjects.I cant believe it.  " She kinda became numb in my 

excitement. Her eyes became wet. She kissed him on his forehead 

and smiled. Soon they realized that he stood first in the state. Oh, 

her joy knew no bounds when Reporters and media persons soon

swamped her house for interviews and photos. She was so honored 

to join him in the snaps. She wanted to call her 

"wrong-number- friend" to tell him the news......She was so excited. 

He was someone whom she has known for more than 20 years.

She still did not remember when they became friends, but certainly

cannot forget the first day he called her when she blasted him for

giving her so many wrong calls.....after that he had called up a week 

later asking apology, for he had now got the right no of his friend 

whom he wanted to talk to . They spoke for an hour that day...even 

without knowing each other's names.Though he kept pestering her to 

reveal her name she never did and so he kept a name...Sweety. She

used to get so shy whenever he called her 'Sweety'. She was doing

first year of BSc. Maths then, and he was a Computer Engineering student.

From then he used to call her very often . They almost discussed

everything ..By the final year of her college, they probably were in

love, but she had been cautious. She was in a dilemma whether to

tell him. But what if he was of a different religion? Does she have

the courage to talk to her parents about it? ........all these questions

ran through her mind.

She decided tat she'll not talk to him thereafter. When he called

next time she lied to him that she was going to Delhi for her post

graduation. He gave her his office number and asked her to ring 

him up once she reach there.

She never called .......

A couple of months later her marriage got fixed with a guy of her

parent's choice. She was not happy but she did not complain; 

rather accepted it as an obedient daughter. At times she felt she

missed her wrong- number- friend...... .Her hubby was a moody 

person; she has hardly spent any good time with him- but he was

genuine indeed and never bothered her personal space. After 

2 years they had a boy... Yet,she was not very happy with her 

married life... One day she happened to browse through her 

diary and found that she still had her old friend's office phone

no that he had given her. she dialed it and spoke with him. He

said he was married and got a kid too. She was happy for him

though in the bottom of the heart she felt bad that she could

not marry him.From then she used to occasionally call him

on that number. She never gave him hers as I felt that would 

put her in trouble.. And till today she almost shared everything 

with him including her relationship with her hubby..... today she

was so happy and wanted to call him. Just then she got a call.

 "Your husband met with an accident and died on the spot". 

She banged the phone down. She broke. She did not call her 

friend.....She somehow started feeling guilty. She has never tried

to talk to him properly when he was alive or moved close with

him.... She felt that she had been a bad wife........A couple of years

passed and one day her son brought home a Bengali girl and said 

they wanted to get married. She got them married as she did not

want her son to go through what she did.She decided to give her

son his father's room and started clearing it. There was a phone

book. She gently opened it to find, "Wrong No Sweety -26579785"

God always puts the right numbers together. Its we who interpret it wrong!!!!!