Patsy makes us proud

From Kochi to Ontario, a 28-day voyage to the US in 1960! From a naive college student, to the honoured Order of Canada in 2007 -- an award for exemplary achievement and service. Such has been the meteoric rise of Patsy George, 66, a retired public servant and social worker who lives in British Columbia.

Parental pressure had made Patsy take a pre-med couse, only to drop it. "My professor asked me what I wanted to do after college. I told him I was interested in political activism, but not as an elected official." He suggested community development and that's what set her off on her long, eventful career in public assistance and social welfare. Closest to her heart is legislation for protection of rights for children. "I feel strongly for the orphans in Africa. It's not their fault that they were born to parents with Aids," says Patsy, who is also the president of the United Nations Association, Canada, Vancouver branch. She has one wish for India, equality for women, and a message for the youth, 'Think of yourself as a global citizen in a world that is so fragile.' » Continue reading

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Worthwhile Indian Podcasts

Podcasting might not have taken of in India like how blogging has but here is a short list of some really worthwhile Indian Podcasts.

Podmasti
Everything you wanted to know about India and Bollywood. Arguably the first India-based podcast site.
Author: Ruchita Gupta
URL: www.podmasti.com

Kamla Bhatt Show
A blog, radio site and podcast run by Chennaiite, Kamla Bhatt, since 2005, while shuttling between Bangalore and San Francisco. Kamla Bhatt studied at Madras Christian College and at Marquette University, Milwaukee, United States.
Author: Kamla Bhatt
URL: kamlabhattshow.com

Indicast
Mumbaikars Abhishek Kumar and Aditya Mhatre gave up jobs with major companies at home and in the US to create India's first podcast site focussed solely on news and views. The podcast focuses on topics, ranging from Sonia to Sania, with a view point of the common man (aam aadmi).
Authors: Abhishek Kumar and Aditya Mhatre
URL: www.theindicast.com

PodioIndia
Concentrates on a rich content of Indian music, served up by co-podsters Piya and Deb.
Authors: Piya and Deb.
URL: www.podioindia.com

Podbazaar
A great source for Tamil podcasts.
Author: US based Sujatha Jagannathan
URL: www.podbazaar.com

PodTech-India
One of the first podcasts for those interested in the achievements of Indian techies. A spin-off from the US based Podtech.
URL: www.podtech.net/indiatech

If you are a blogger or a podcaster don't forget to catch India's largest event on audio and video podcasting PodWorks, a workshop style unconference to be held at Tidel Park Auditorium, Chennai on the 9th and 10th of June 2007. » Continue reading

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Are you annoyed with unsolicited SMS (Texts) advertisements on your mobile phone?

If yes, you will no longer be annoyed as you can get paid for receiving such messages.

mGinger.com pays you to read ads on your cellphone! Moreover these ads will only be about your interests. Not only that, you get to decide what time you want to receive these ads.

mGinger pays 20 paise for every message you receive. It sends a maximum of 10 messages a day. However, you can further reduce this number if you like. But who would want to reduce ones earnings? You can further increase your earnings by referring others to mGinger so that when they sign up, you get 10 paise for every message they receive and when they refer others, you get 5 paise for every message your friend's friends receive.

TIP: If you want to increase the chances of receiving maximum number of messages in a day, select as many interests as possible and time slot as long as possible. Ofcourse, you need to select the Maximum Ads per day as 10 (or whatever the maximum number is available from time to time.)

This service is still in beta. That is you will not receive any ads as of now. But since this is going to be the next big boom, you can take the advantage of signing up right now and building up a network so that as soon as the service is rolled out of beta you start making the money. This is not a get rich quick scheme or something where you can earn at home but based on my calculations you can easily make enough money to free up your cell phone bill. The sky is the limit to earning more as it depends on how successful you are in building your own network of referrals. So get started now as it's still too early.

Have fun calculating how much you can make... and sign up. You're sure to like it.

NOTE: This service is currently available only to subscribers in India. » Continue reading

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India should be prime intermediary between Sri Lanka and LTTE

To do or not to do' is the dilemma that has been plaguing India's policies in Sri Lanka for 17 years, ever since Prime Minister V.P.Singh decided to call the Indian Peace Keeping Force back. We were nearing a solution to the ethnic problem and the negotiated devolution package would have given the Tamils everything, except independent statehood. But V.Prabhakaran could not see through the guiles of President Premadasa who cunningly supplied him arms to fight the IPKF. Prabhakaran assumed that with Indians out of the way, his position would become unassailable. Instead, the Sri Lankan military and hardliners have regained dominance.

The attack on Katunayake airport was more sensational than devastating, but the very fact that something like this could happen is worrying. Aircraft cannot be procured over the counter. They and those who fly them, are registered and licensed and their whereabouts well monitored. Clearly, the LTTE wanted to delivery a message. Unconventional incidents, more traumatic in their impact, cannot be ruled out.

Nevertheless, fears being expressed that points in southern Tamil Nadu are now vulnerable to LTTE air attacks do not carry conviction. The LTTE's military power has diminished and the Sea Tigers have suffered sever losses, too.

On its part, India neither wishes the LTTE to be able to threaten the integrity of Sri Lanka nor wants it so weakend that the Sri Lankans begin to feel that they can resolve the problem militarily. Our interests require that the Sri Lankan Tamils get their due rights within Sri Lanka. Therefore, any process in which India does not act as the prime intermediary can never succeed.

Sri Lanka is critically important in India's strategic concerns and even a partially hostile stance can be damaging to our interests. For example, the present Pakistan High Commissioner in Colombo is a former air force officer; his predecessor was an ISI officer. Even as we fight shy of providing military hardware to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and China have no such inhibition.

In short, it is time for India to awaken. A serious confrontation is imminent in Sri Lanka and we will be forced to take sides. It is in our interest that such a stage is not reached. We now stand at the crossroads, and as the Mad Hatter told Alice, the road to be taken depends on where we want to go. » Continue reading

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Easy Come, Ezeego

This new website is truly a first for India. While other travel portals like makemytrip.com also offer comparative options for flights and hotels, ezeego1.com expands the field by taking on international travel in a big way. You can search domestic and international alternatives for flights, sights and package tours, and even buy travel insurance. The biggest selling point is the web site's unique tie-up with Rail Europe -- next time you're planning a vacation in Europe, book your rail tickets right here. Or if you'd rather drive through your next trip abroad, the site offers international car rentals. And if you're not yet accustomed to making large payments online, the website enables you to pay offline through 2,200 EasyBill outlets across India. » Continue reading

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Indian Bloggers list v2.0 - a directory of Indian bloggers worldwide

Indian Bloggers list v2.0 is an online directory of bloggers worldwide who are Indian by nationality. A brainchild of Puneet, the blogs in the directory are categorized by industry, profession or field of work unlike the other Indian blog directory BlogStreet India which categorizes blogs on industry/profession/field of work, languages and cities. However, each entry is reviewed personally by people volunteering for the project before being added to the directory. Also you require to link back to the directory from your blog either through a post or a logo image on your sidebar or somewhere on the blog.

Do you know of a better alternative to Indiablogs.org or BlogStreet India? » Continue reading

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