Current World Economics - Crisis or time for change?

  I learned about Socialism, Capitalism and Mixed Economy in my school days. It was difficult to understand the depth in those days. But I managed to understand very basic concepts about these economic principles. USA and USSR became two countries with ideal capitalism and socialism respectively while India remains a mixed economy which adopts economic principles from Capitalism and Socialism. Capitalism upgraded itself by adopting free market economic principles and socialism gradually started fading by the end of 20th Century. In 21st century capitalism get the upper hand and majority of countries started accepting capitalism and free market economic principles.

 As capitalism focused more in wealth creation and it helped some people to create more wealth and pushed some others to adverse poverty. It widened the gap between rich and poor as it never helped to keep the financial equality of citizens. But capitalism created lots of opportunities for their citizens and encouraged all to work hard, grab opportunities and improve their quality of life. Capitalism evolved or widened more by adopting globalization and free market principles to face challenges in 20th Century. In 21st century Capitalism started facing new challenges like credit growth,low growth rate,Collapse of Banks etc. It widened further and lead to the collapse of some economic systems in countries and negative growth rate.

  All economic systems have a life-cycle which will have phases like growth,steady state and fading. Capitalism started  fading in 21st century as an economic system. It dominates in the world as an economic system because no other system evolved to replace this fading system.

A Never Ending Book - Series - 2

  In every week on Fridays Don was asking about our weekend plans and we don't want to say there is no plan for a weekend. Don was a Subject Matter Expert from him we were getting the information about an IT application. Everyday we had a meeting with him to get the knowledge from him. Arvind was a good trip planner and he planned our weekend trips in every Thursdays. But it seems there is no plan in his book for next weekend because we have already visited almost every attractions near Phoenix.

  Thursday morning Arvind came with an information about a camping trip planned by another group. I have no idea what is camping all about. Arvind started explaining about camping. He said "We will go to a forest make a small camp and stay in that camp for whole night". "Oh it will be a great experience" I exclaimed. After a brief discussion we decided to go for camping in that weekend.

  Camping will not be like other trips it requires lots of preparation before the trip. We started buying required commodities on Friday which includes Food Items, Sweater/Thermals, Tent etc. Arvind checked the weather forecast and said "There is a 60% chance of rain on Saturday".  Usually temperature in camping ground is less than 4 degree.In case of rain it may go down below 0 degrees. We started for camping on Saturday morning and a 2-3 hours drive will take us to our destination "Rim Lakes Vista Trail"

  We reached the destination by 9:30 am. It was a slightly elevated location with lakes and full of green trees. We went to see  Woods Canyon Lake first and it was a calm place with moderate wind. It was raining outside but it did not refrain us from move around and took some photos.

  We went for a small hiking to view the place more closely and it was refreshing and realized that nature is giving always views which Rejuvenate our senses. We walked for more than 2 hours in that forest to enjoy the nature. We saw some trees were down and started decaying after its long service to the nature. Nature is smart in recycling and renew anything organic.

 It was afternoon at 2:00 pm and all of us were hungry and need to take some food to revive ourselves. We went back to camping ground and took our lunch. "We should set up our camp in camping ground before sunlight fades". Abey said. Abey was our trip leader. Tent materials have been taken from our car and we started building our tents. I can hear different sounds of birds now. It was a wonderful experience to listen sounds from nature. It always has a natural rhythm and help us to soothe our mind. I saw a crow sitting on a tree and making sound in its own rhythm. "Oh American crow has different accent" I said. Abey laughed loudly and repeated that to everyone. Everyone joined the laughter.We have completed our tents in 1 hour and now it is ready for a 1 night stay.

It was becoming more colder and we should make some fire to become warm and make our dinner. We took some charcoal and lighted fire in it using a lighter and grilled some meat for dinner.After dinner we want to go to our tents for sleeping. But rain was becoming more stronger. Our tent has not the capability to withstand heavy rain. We saw that water started to drain into our tents. We closed the draining passage and decided to sleep inside the tent. It was too cold inside the tent and there was no signs of reduction in rain. I spend 2-3 hours in tent and decided to move to car and switch on heater to escape from the cold weather.

 It was a different experience all together eventhough I could not spend full night inside the tent. Early morning we checked the condition of our tent and it was wet with some water inside it. We should break up our tent and leave the camping ground by 9:30 am to reach back phoenix before lunch. So we decided to dismantle the tent as early as possible. We managed to dismantle  and pack everything by 9:00 and returned from camping ground by 9:15 am.

Experiences always helped us to grow and improve our personality. Camping trip helped me to reconnect with the nature and find myself as a creature which is part of this nature.

A Never Ending Book - Series - 1

 Eureka was a monthly magazine we get in our school and I used to buy and read it during my Lower Primary School days. There was a yearly competition conducted by Eureka which include all topics they published in that year's issues. When I was in 3rd standard a question in Eureka Yearly Exam puzzled me. The question was "Which is the book you can not read completely"(A never ending book). I read this question and the only book in my mind was a 1000 page book in my Father's book shelf. But my intellect told me it is not the right answer. With growing eagerness I read the question a little louder which was audible for my friend sitting near and he answered it spontaneously. Eventhough it was not my intention to get answer from my neighbour the answer he gave initiated a thought process in my mind.

 The answer was "Nature". Initially I thought he was wrong but after a second thought realized that his answer was right. I just recalled a rainy day and scenery through my bedroom window. I started observing nature more closely and frequently after that incident, nature gave many new views to read everyday. It may be sunrise,sunset or a view of rain. As time pass by I wish to see more places to read various scenes offered by nature.

Grand Canyon - A Masterpiece by Nature

"Arizona’s Grand Canyon is a natural formation distinguished by its layered bands of red rock and its vast scale, averaging 10 miles across and a mile deep along its 277-mile length" 


 I read this in google result page when I searched about Grand Canyon. I really want to see this nature's formation. In a long weekend of 2008 we decided to visit Grand Canyon National Park.

 A plan for 2 days have been prepared and we included Grand Canyon National Park as the first place to visit. Approximately 230 miles from Phoenix to Grand Canyon can be covered in 3.5 Hours. We started at 5:00 am and reached Grand Canyon National Park by 8:45 am. 

 It was an amazing visual treat to view Grand Canyon. A special formation of rocks which spreads miles and colarado river flowing within its flat land. It seems the flowing river and depth of canyon inviting me inside.

There was no restrictions to climb cliffs of Grant Canyon. We managed to climb some cliffs and felt that we are in the topmost point in the world. Wherever I stand for a photo the background was ideal for a beautiful photo. 

After outdoor activities we moved in for some indoor shows and buy souvenirs. Grand Canyon movie in IMAX was a special experience. In 30 minute show we will discover a Grand Canyon that would take a lifetime to experience.We wish to stay there to see sunset but to reach next destination ontime we should leave Canyon before 5:00 pm. So we started from Canyon by 3:15 pm to our next destination.

A Drive from Trivandrum to Bangalore

  After transferred from Trivandrum to Bangalore I was checking different options to take my car to Bangalore and finally decided to take it by road. I liked to go with a route with quality road so selected Trivandrum-Tirunelveli-Madurai-Bangalore route.It will be a 733 KM drive which can be covered in approximately 12 hours. FIlled full tank petrol and checked air in tyres on previous day to make sure that all set for a long journey. As the car was only 6 months old I did not go for a general vehicle check up before the journey.

 Started the journey at 4:15 am from Trivandrum because I wanted to reach Tirunelveli before heavy traffic starts. From Karamana road was not good due to widening work till Nemam but after that road was good eventhough it is only a 2 line road. As it was around 4:30 am number of vehicles were less and could not find any problems in driving.  Heading towards Tirunelveli through Kaliyakkavilai,Marthandam,Thuckalay and Nagercoil through NH-47 road and traffic was in favour to my plan to reach Tirunelveli by 7 or 7:30 am.

 Reached Tirunelveli by 7:30 am and it seems a different world with lots of windmills around. From Thirunelveli it is very good road with 4 lines well divided by divider. Road quality is good till Hosur eventhough we need to pay Rs.600 Approximately for toll.

  Reached Madurai by 9:00 am and took breakfast from a Restaurant after Madurai. Took 20 minutes break there and started from there at 9:20 am. Driving speed was more than 100 KM/HR from Tirunelveli to Madurai. According to my initial plan I will enter Bangalore only by 4 PM but after seeing the road conditions I have recalculated my estimate and I realized that I can enter Bangalore by 2:00 PM. 384 KM from Madurai to Hosur can be covered in 4.5 hours.

  The only place I faced a little traffic block was in Salem and it was a little confusing to take the right road from Salem to Bangalore. The surrounding scenery was very nice and it was not what I expect in Tamilnadu. You can see very less dry places in this route.

 When  I am nearing Hosur it was becoming more and more green and nice. Another advantage I found in this route is lots of Petrol Bunks and restaurants to take small breaks. By 2:15 PM I have reached Bangalore. Eventhough it may take 1 Hour to reach Whitefield Bangalore due to traffic in Bangalore city I was happy that I reached the destination well ahead of schedule.

 Finally I reached the destination by 3:15 PM and excited to complete a 700 KM journey in 11 hours.

Control your Blood Pressure before it controls you - DASH Diet

  What you choose to eat affects your chances of developing high blood pressure, or hypertension (the medical term). Recent studies show that blood pressure can be lowered by following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan—and by eating less salt, also called sodium. The lower your salt intake is, the lower your blood pressure. Studies have found that the DASH menus containing 2,300 milligrams of sodium can lower blood pressure and that an even lower level of sodium, 1,500 milligrams, can further reduce blood pressure.

  Blood pressure can be unhealthy even if it stays only slightly above the normal level of less than 120/80 mmHg. The more your blood pressure rises above normal, the greater the health risk.

  Scientists supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) conducted two key studies. Their findings showed that blood pressures were reduced with an eating plan that is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat and that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products. This eating plan—known as the DASH eating plan—also includes whole grain products, fish, poultry, and nuts. It is reduced in lean red meat, sweets, added sugars, and sugar-containing beverages.

  The DASH eating plan also emphasizes potassium from food,especially fruits and vegetables, to help keep blood pressure levels healthy. A potassium-rich diet may help to reduce elevated or high blood pressure, but be sure to get your potassium from food sources, not from supplements. DASH diet with moderate physical activity will reduce/prevent High Blood Pressure.

Thirty minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each day can help.

● If your blood pressure is moderately elevated, 30 minutes of brisk walking on most days a week may be enough to keep you off medication.

● If you take medication for high blood pressure, 30 minutes of moderate physical activity can make your medication work more effectively and make you feel better.

● If you don’t have high blood pressure, being physically active can help keep it that way. If you have normal blood pressure—but are not active—your chances of developing high blood pressure increase, especially as you get older or if you become overweight or obese or develop diabetes

  In Indian conditions to follow DASH diet you need to have more drumstick, bitter gourd, Tomato, Pottato, Fruits, Fish, Soya, Olive Oil and eat less Salt, Cheese, Oily Food, Chips, Souce and Pickle.

WE SNEAK WHILE YOU SURF.

     Everyone use internet to browse different websites to get information, pay bills, check e-mails, check Facebook etc. But did you ever realized that someone is sneaking in your activities to get more information about you. Yes it is happening without your knowledge in the background. The trackers come in the shape of cookies, Javascript, 1-pixel beacons, and Iframes. For example, cookies are tiny bits of software that web pages drop onto your device that identify you anonymously and signal useful behavior about your background interests to advertisers who might want to target you. Critics call this spying. Advertisers call it targeting. 

   We trust Facbook, Google etc because they did not or will not use all these information for a wrong purpose. But how can we trust a website in google search result page. Many cyber attacks are arriving via "Drive-By-Download". It may seems to be a good website but in the background it can redirect you to different sites that sends you an attack. Any hacker can do this to a normal website without the knowledge of site owner. To avoid this type of attack make sure that you install all available updates to your browser or use a browser that automatically updates. Research shows that Internet Explorer users are most vulnerable to these attacks.

   

3 Yoga Asanas which will cure your Neck Pain

      It is common to suffer from Back Pain and Neck Pain due to the modern lifestyle and excessive use of computer. Most of the IT Professionals face this issue early in their career. Effective medicines are not available for this in English Medicines increases the degree of this problem. Here I want to show some helpful Yoga Asanas to get rid of this problem(Especially for Neck Pain).


Bhujangasana

1. Lie on the floor face downwards.Extend the legs,keeping the feet together. Keep the knees tight and the toes pointing.

2. Rest the palms by the side of the pelvic region

3. Inhale press the palms firmly on the floor and pull the trunk up. Take 2 breaths.

 

 

4. Inhale lift the body up from the trunk until the pubis is in contact with the floor and stay in this position with the weight on legs and palms.                                                          

 

 5. Maintain the pose for about 20 seconds.Breath  normally.               

 

6. Exhale bend the elbows and rest trunk on the floor.

 

7. Repeat the pose 2 or 3 times and then relax.                         

 

                                                                       

Trikonasana:


1. Stand straight.
2. Take deep inhalation and with a jump spread the legs apart sideways. Raise the arms sideways.
3. Turn right foot sideways 90 degrees to the right. Turn the left foot 60 degrees to the right.
4. Exhale, bend towards right to keep the right palm near right foot.
5. Stretch the left palm up and gaze at the left thumb.

6. Stay in this pose for 20 seconds. and then relax
7. Repeat the pose towards left.


Vrikshasana:

1. Stand straight.
2. Bend the right leg at the knee and place the right heel at the root of the left thigh. toes pointing downwards.
3. Balance the left leg join the palms and raise the arms straight over the head.
4. Stay for a few seconds in the pose breathing deeply. Then lower the arms and separate the palms straighten the right leg.

5. Repeat the pose standing in the right leg.

  Make sure that you are not stretching too much when you do these asanas. Initially it may be difficult to stretch or balance but you can do it comfortably after 2 or 3 days of practise.