HUMAN PLAY-NET

“WHERE there’s will, there’s a way” will perhaps be the best way to say it all. It was a wonder of sorts as investor and philanthropist  Paul G. Allen , in association with  Scaled Composites , flew in the first-ever private manned vehicle beyond the Earth’s orbit. Apart from being an individual rare achievement, this historic event is sure to throw open a whole new world of opportunities for private  space tourism , a term virtually unheard of until a few years ago. The spacecraft— SpaceShipOne —test-piloted by Mike Melvill on the 21st June 2004, reached a record-breaking altitude of 328,491 feet (approximately 62 miles or 100 km), thereby making him the first civilian to fly a spaceship out of the atmosphere as also the first private pilot to earn an astronaut’s wings. On the successful completion of the mission, Scaled Composites founder and CEO  Burt Rutan  said: “Today’s flight marks a critical turning point in the history of aerospace,” adding that “we have redefined space travel...

"THOSE who live by guns, die by guns" is an age-old belief, which may be true in letter but not always in sprit as well. The extent of appeal of the cliche depends on who are "those" being referred to and what prompted this "those" to take up arms. A cold-blooded killer, a hardcore criminal, a roadside robber or somebody akin to a freedom fighter? They may all use arms, but their mens rea - the real intent - may just not have any similarity. No, you got it wrong if you thought that I am here to defend the slain chief of LTTE Vellupillai Prabhakaran and what he stood for. Violence in any form must be condemned, as violence becoming the means of expression can only guide a situation to more violence. But at the moment, the twin crucial questions raising their heads are: "Has the death of Prabhakaran also laid to rest the cause he had been fighting for over 25 years?" and "If he was a terrorist, what should the Sri Lankan army be termed as?...

A revelation: “All developing and underdeveloped countries have a large number of illiterates!” You are neither surprised nor amused...I bet! “Revelation? Joking or what...!” you might say. And one won't dispute you. It’s been a Third World truth since ages. But what if you were to hear that 11 million Americans can’t read English? You might say again, “Joking or what?” But now it's your turn to be truely surprised...that's another piece of TRUTH. However incredible it may sound, the fact remains that one out of every 20 American adults can’t make out the head and tail of English language, leave apart English literature, according to a federal study conducted some time back. This means that no less than 11 million Americans are unfit for performing even everyday tasks. The survey studied a varied sample of 19,000 adults, who are living in homes, college hostels and even those behind the bar. As many as 30 million adults have ‘below basic’ skills in English language. Their ...

INDIAN netizens have scored over their global counterparts. A recent study by the US-based ACNielsen says that a consistently increasing number of Indians is going for online shopping, and that the average percentage of Indians doing shopping through the Net is better than that of the rest of the world. The study, conducted in 38 markets and over 21,000 respondents, said that one-tenth of the global population does online shopping. However, while the most-preferred online shopping item worldwide is books, in India, it’s booking air tickets , with as much as one-third of the netizens buying air tickets online. Next to follow are electronic items, like CDs and DVDs, and apparel, at 24% and 20%, respectively. Given the fact that India houses a minimal 4% or 40 million of the internet-savvy people, the study’s findings are a revelation in true sense. Also See: Financial Express

AS one traverses through the serpentine, lush-green, 20-km stretch along the Hazaribagh Wildlife National Park , one discovers slogans like “Jungle is God’s temple!” and “Shoot, but don’t shoot!” — invoking a sense of conservation for flora and fauna. Although these oneliners are mostly seen, read and forgotten, their essence seems to have been well-preserved by the aboriginal inhabitants of the region. And it is for this reason perhaps that Jharkhand today is what it looks like:  “Mother Nature’s Own State” — original and pure! Having come into being as recently as November 2000, the state’s mineral riches — iron, coal, copper, mica and uranium, among others — account for 40 per cent of the total mineral wealth of the country. It has a good industrial base as well. However, with 29 per cent of its total area under forest cover, the state boasts of great eco-tourism potential. Evergreen forests, wildlife, lakes, waterfalls, scenic beauty, health and holiday resorts coupled with a temp...

RAJASTHAN is already one of the most favoured tourism hubs, both among domestic travellers and visitors from abroad. But we will not stop at just that,” says an upbeat Rajasthan Minister for Tourism, Usha Punia, enlisting her priorities. “We want tourism in the state to scale new heights, and that is why the state government has accorded due importance to this sector. Budgetary allocation in the current financial year for tourism-related projects has doubled,” she says, with determination in her voice. A clear-cut approach by the government towards the development of tourism infrastructure is also reflected in its decision to facilitate the progress of some projects through public-private partnership basis. Some of the major projects identified for this arrangement in the current year include the Jal Mahal Tourism Project, the construction of an International Convention Centre and an International Golf Course Project (all at Jaipur), developing the Tejara Fort as a heritage resort and...