The Fourth Estate Foyer

Goodbye Microsoft…

2008-06-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates calls it a day. The world’s richest man leaves the Microsoft office at the age of 52.As a teenager he dreamt of making most of the computers in the world to run on Microsoft window which is very well true now. He steps aside leaving Steve to take his chair. He now plans to devote his time for charity works. But a man like him could never be forgotten for all he has done. Till Microsoft exists, he will co-exist.

A Great Indian Soldier Passes away

2008-06-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Sam Manekshaw popularly known as "Sam the Brave" was given the Final salute with military honors on June 27th.He died due to his lung disease and was 94. He is one of the most respected militarily men of India and was the mastermind behind the creation of Bangladesh. His contribution to the Indian Army and to the 1971 war against Pakistan can never be forgotten. Born in Amirstar in 1914, he made to the Indian army in the year 1932 when it was setup by the British. He became the chief of Indian Army in the year 1964.He was handsome, self-assured and had courage and determination along with what you call a “sharp military mind”. Some people never die and he is one among them.

India launches E-Passport

2008-06-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

India is planning to launch “e-passport scheme”. The external affair minister of India Mr.Pranab Mukarjee recently presented one to the president of India Ms.Patil. The E-Passport consists of an electronic chip which consists of the personal details of the holder. This will be of great help to reduce the procedures at immigration. The government is planning to launch it in a phased manner. All the government employees will be provided with one sooner. E-Passport will be available for the public around September 2009 by the latest.

About A B-School (I)…

2008-06-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Many of us have a wish to become a manager someday.There are many Institutions that offer MBA programme in India.First and the most important B-school of the Indian subcontinent is IIM-A.The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (popularly known as IIMA) is said to be the most prestigious B-School in AISA .It is also considered to be the toughest college to get in with more than 600 competing for a single seat at IIM-A. It was established in the year 1961.Initially it had collabration with Harvard.The institute is atonomous and is run by Govt of Gujarat along with Indian Government.Prof. Samir Barua is the present director of IIMA.IIM-A takes in students based on their performance in CAT exam conducted on third Sunday of November every year.For further info logon to http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/.

For all those who want to be in IIMs…

2008-06-08T02:25:00.000-07:00

CAT’09 is going to be online is the latest news which has left many of the CAT’08 aspirants surprised. The fear of “what if we couldn't make it this time..” have taken over them as in the case of many online competitive exams like GMAT,GRE etc.. Your score depends entirely on how you perform your first 5 questions. This purely depends on your luck. As in the case of GRE if you get an RC question in first 5 of the lot then you are almost finished. But cat is entirely different from GRE. Being called as “The world toughest exam” any aspirant will not be n a mind set to attend all the questions in a CAT paper. You have the liberty to choose which questions you are going to attend and which you are going to discard at any minute in the entire 2.5 hours which is likely to be stripped off in case of online pattern. However it is too difficult to study the situation now with minimum amount of information available. Let’s wait and watch.

Grand Finale

2008-06-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

A nail biting match that last till the last ball was witnessed last night. As the super kings roared the royals took the title of winner in the debut IPL making history. The two best teams met in the final and one cannot ask something better than this. Raina played his part with bat in style but was not as usual in the field as he missed a stunning and difficult catch. An easier one was missed by Gony. But the best thing is that the skipper said that they lost as a team. Two teams with great team spirit came together to win the “Winners” and “Runners” title! Can’t wait for next season…

A Helping Hand for the elderly

2008-05-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

A programme to provide necessary help for the elderly was launched in the city (Chennai).The elderly people could access this facility through a helpline number 1253.A separate control room is set up for this purpose consisting of 9 police personnel including a woman sub-inspector and a woman constable. A petrol car is also provided ready to go and help the elderly immediately when needed. This has received a huge welcome from the chennaities. Plans to extend this service to other major cities of the state are under progress.

Another Big Blow

2008-05-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Democracy encountered another big blow about twenty hours ago. One of the greatest leader of all times Ms.Suu kyi's house arrest period was extended for another full year after she underwent a 18 full years of the same. Myanmar Law states that no one could be held for more than five years without being released or put on trail. But despite this fact, one of the most fascinating women of the world faces this condition in the same country. This act of the Myanmar’s military junta is strongly condemnable.

The Prisoner of Archer

2008-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Archer in our city’s Landmark! No news could be better for his fans(like me).One of the best known story teller of our times. One of my favorite! I was first introduced to his novel “Sons of Fortune” by my cousin and was impressed a lot. I started to read a lot of his works. His first novel “Not a penny more, Not a Penny less “made me to like him more. I have read 9 of his 13 novels and few of the short stories. Just can’t wait to get my hands on “The Prisoner of Birth”.

Auctioneers

2008-05-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Auctioneers are those agents who sell goods through auction. The goods are sold to the highest bidder. The auctioneer becomes the agent for the buyer and seller after when the highest bid is accepted. His remuneration or income is in the form of Commission. There are two types of auction. They are “with reserve” and “without reserve”. In the case of WITH RESERVE the auctioneer is to sells the goods to the highest bidder. In case of WITHOUT RESERVE the goods may not be sold below the reserve price.

Indian Premier League

2008-04-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

The IPL fever is on! Eight cities are fighting in what is defined as “Karmayudh”, geared up ready to play some good cricket in its short cute format. The participants are

Chennai Super Kings owned by India cements
Rajasthan Royals owned by Emerging Media
Royal Challengers owned by Vijay
Deccan Chargers owned by Deccan Chronicle
Kings XI Punjab owned by Preethi Zintha
Knight Riders owned by Sharuk Khan
Dare Devils owned by GMR holdings
Mumbai Indians owned by Mukesh Ambani.
Do catch up for regular updates…..

Hillary vs. Obama

2008-04-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

The battle to become“The most important person in the world” has begun. As far as the democrats are concerned, the answer would be the survival of Hillary vs. Obama. Hillary Clinton, a former U.S first lady, is now fighting to get back into the Whitehouse. But this time to make her husband the first gentleman ever in the history of America. One of the best things about her campaign is that she makes herself independent from her husband. She never mentions about the Mr. President Clinton in any of her addresses. She has been in politics for more than a decade and could certainly have experienced the feel of being a President. But will it become reality?

Obama-The face of young Americans!. Wherever he goes this magic man makes the people feel that he is striving hard to do something for their welfare. Three years ago most of the Americans don’t know that he existed, but now the popularity he earned in this short period of time is amazing. Recently in a meeting while reading a report instead of saying “Osama bin laden” his fellow American read “Obama bin laden” by mistake. Once the speaker finished he got up and said “I think that was Osama” and started to drink water coolly. The crowed went on cheers. This attitude of him shows how efficiently he could handle things. In either case, if democrats win this time, irrespective of their candidate, it would turn out to be historic because America never had a lady or a black leading it.So who do u think will be the winner in the battle Hillary vs.Obama? Do express your views ....

IDENTIFICATION OF REAL SEBC FROM OBCs

2008-04-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court has come out with a historic the verdict that 27% of the seats are reserved in IITs and IIMs. This again along with existing one makes a total of 49.23%.But it has also clear that it is not applicable for OBCs but to SEBC(i.e.) Socially and Educationally Backward Class. The point is how efficiently the imbued SEBCs could be identified from the group of OBCs. As per the norms of Supremecourt this cream layer forms those who get an annual income of more than 1lakh, off-springs of Ex and present MPs and MLAs, huge land owners etc..
Out of the states in India, the state of Tamil Nadu is one which has produced huge positive records by offering reservations around 65% of the U.G programme for the needy. But in reality this is not going to the real needy. The idea of the government is highly appreciative but the fruit is enjoyed mostly by the CREAMY LAYER as far as states like TN is concerned. To make the fullest use of these privileges it must atleast be based on the range of the standards and the zone of the educational institution they come from.It is very obvious that a student from a school located near a village like “MANJINAYAKKAMPATTI” will have a very less exposure when compared to a student from a city like Chennai or Kovai how ever rich she may be. So it must be seen that she is given a preference which is lacking in the present system. It is also obvious that with the city itself a student coming from schools like DAV, PSBB etc are very well privileged both socially and educationally than an ordinary Government school student. These are some of the methods to identify the real SEBC among the population. Do suggest some of your ideas.

SOME SOULS THAT CHANGED ME IN THESE FOUR YEARS…

2008-04-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Four years ago I entered the campus of sairam engineering college as vasu and am now vasu-BE.. There are many souls responsible to add that last two letter to my name. It would be crime on my part not to mention about them…

Mahendran Sir…

He is one of the most important person who made a gr8 impact in me. He handled us DBMS and we gained a lot from him. We as a class would never allow any staff to take class. We would shout whenever they try to take. That would happen in his class too. But when he takes the chalk piece and goes near the board, all of us would automatically become silent. That much of control he had on us and we a sort of passion towards him
.
JEGI sir…

Jegan sir from the Dept of ICE handled us Microprocessors. We usually call him JEGI…
One of the friendliest sir I’ve ever known. In a short period of time he moved with us very nicely. He is presently not in Sairam and we miss him a lot. He thought us many difficult concepts in microprocessors and micro-controllers easily and the exam was a cake-walk for us. Thank u very much sir.. where ever u are.. We miss u a lot!

Our Placement dean..

Our placement dean come our HOD Ms.PM.Beulah Devamalar is the magic woman behind my placement. I personally was very carefree about these interviews n stuff. But for her motivational speech I would not have taken things as seriously as I took them and be in the place where I am today.

Manikandan sir…

One of the gem of sairam group of institution. A down to earth person, who is ready to do anything for his student, with high degree of sincerity. He handled us PQT and most of the questions in the paper seem to be very familiar. In case of any problem we could approach him at any time. He would see to us that we get a solution to it. Personality like mani sir could never be forgotten where ever we are.

Caleb sir…

Caleb sir handled physics for one of the sections. For those who missed him, u have surely missed something really big at sairam .A person who is more than a staff. A great friend! His style of taking class is absolutely stunning. In first year we used to wait for the acoustics class done by him. A wonderful teacher & gr8 a person to move with.

Chandramohan sir…

We call him C.M. He handled us only lab sessions. He never behaved to like a teacher, but as a very good friend. He is not in sairam now. We miss him a lot!

Each one of them has contributed some5thing for my growth. I extend my sincere prayers to the almighty that I must never forget them in my life.

IS STUDIES IN INDIA RESERVED FOR RICH?

2008-04-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

One of the most expensive and money making field in India as of now is education. Especially Fee for the courses like B.E, MBA etc… has hiked enormously in the past two years. I’m a B.E final year student and four years ago the fee structure was fixed around 45000 to 60000 per annum depending on the college we get in. But now a student getting into a self-financing Engineering College need to pay nearly 1 lack as FEE (If management seat, then additional charges apply*).This does not restricts to the self financing colleges alone. The recent hike in the fees of IIMs would serve as a best example. IIM-B doubled its fee while IIM-A increased nearly two and a half times. A massive hike from 4.5lacks to 11.5 lacks has made many of the middle class IIM aspirants of this country think twice. Though Education loans are offered, its interest rate is around 11 to 12%. What could be the possible reason for education turning “difficult” to middle class and a “dream” to poor? Do express your view.

Superb movie

2008-01-18T02:19:00.000-08:00

Recently I saw the film “Jab we met”. Awesome! The characters are so realistic. The chemistry between Karina and Shahid is superb. The story goes this way. A rich guy looses his father, his business and is in great trouble. Out of frustration he just runs away from his city. On his way he meets a care free girl Geet and they make their journey towards Geet’s house. Geet’s parents make arrangement for her wedding and she runs away from her home to meet her lover with the help of this guy. After leaving her in the place of her lover, he returns to his job and with the help of the things he learned from her he turns out very successful. In the mean time Geet’s parents comes in search of her. He is shocked to learn that geet has not turned home for a long time and goes in search of her.
Rest of the story in next post!

GPS

2008-01-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

GPS, the talk of the town, means Global positioning system. It helps to identify a person uniquely around the globe. GPS consist of about 24 satellites. These satellites scan the globe around the clock. What we are more worried about is the GPS receiver. GPS receiver will be like our cell phone .It can communicate with the satellite any time. The whole architecture is designed in such a way that at any given point of time the receiver will be able to communicate to at lest 3 satellites. This process is known as Trilation. Thus the accuracy of locating a person heavily depends upon the no: of satellites that it can communicate with.

Can we make a Mobile phone for deaf?

2008-01-08T08:25:00.001-08:00

Yesterday i met my doctor and he was telling me about his experience with his neighbour... His neighbour never uses a mobile because for a simple reason that he is could not speak or hear... One fine day he did not return home on time... His family members were terrified.They waited ..(as they could do only that for the time being) with lots of hope and prayers... At last my doctor took his car and went in search of him... luckily he found him.. When asked about the reason for his delay he told that his bus broke down on the way and he was looted.. so with no money in hand the only option he could think at that moment was to walk... and he did that...

That really made me think... Being Engineers, are we not responsible to bring the technology available down to the public and needy? Of course many ideas come up, but almost all of them end up in our labs when the project exhibition gets over...

Big companies who manufacture mobile phones and who provide networks for communication must join hands to make things possible and feasible..A mobile phone with simple speech to text conversion software and image to voice conversion software is sufficient to achieve this...
To my knowledge there are two possibilities to do it...

A Special Person communicating with an ordinary person..

In this case the ordinary person speaks with his phone. It must been seen that a special line is dedicated... The speech signal is converted into text and is transmitted to the person.The reply from the person (obviously in sign language)is captured with a camera and is sent.This video is processed and is converted into speech signal and could be transmitted to the person on the other end of the line...

2. A Special Person communicating with another special person.

In this case ,the video is converted into text on both sides.

Now that seems so simple isn't it?.. and if the conversion process are taken up by the big boys like BSNL,AIRTEL,AIRCEL etc.. then the investment that the person have to make is just a camera mobile that is capable of sending videos which is very economical...

now tel me..Can we make a mobile phone for deaf? do give yr comments..