'X' in Xmas...??

today while reading the dictionary.com word of the day I came across a widget in that about ..meaning of X in Xmas.. I found it interesting and thought it can be shared...

there was a myth that X mas is a non religious word and is offensive to many. 

It turns out, “Xmas” is not a non-religious version of “Christmas”. The “X” stands for the Greek letter “Chi”, which is short for the Greek Χριστος, meaning “Christ”. So “Xmas” and “Christmas” are equivalent in every way except their lettering.

In fact, although writing guides such as those issued by the New York Times; the BBC; The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style; and Oxford Press discourage the use of Xmas in formal writing, at one time, it was a very popular practice, particularly with religious scribes, who are thought to have started the whole “Xmas” thing in the first place. Indeed, the practice of using the symbol “X” in place of Christ’s name has been going on among religious scholars for at least 1000 years. *

Eventually, X replaced nearly everywhere the “Christ” part of a word. For example, in the 17th and 18th centuries, there are numerous non-religious documents containing instances of “Xine”, which was a common spelling for someone whose name was Christine. and other examples like Xtian, Xpian etc.

But surely not X-ray stands for christ-ray. here the X means something unknown as it was used extensively in scientist jargon.

in X-box it means plus and is not a very scientific base for this use here, it just was an modified version of the original DirectX box. Direct X is a group of micro-soft application interfaces.

Then in GenX the X stands for generation born after the baby boom ended.

X seems quite a versatile alphabet.

*courtesy:- http://www.todayifoundout.com/

World's largest capacity container ship embarks on maiden voyage....

worlds largest container ship...the CSCL globe is on its maiden voyage starting from Shanghai to Europe..  all you need to know about this journey ..

photo courtesy:- https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/worlds-largest-ship-maiden-voyage-001605795.html

here is a list of the 5 largest ships in terms of capacity.

Built	Name	Length overall (m)	Length overall (ft)	Beam (m)	Beam (ft)	Maximum TEU	GT	Owner
2014	CSCL Globe[1]	400	1,300	58.6	192	19000		CSCL (China)
2013	Magleby Maersk[2]	398	1,306	58	190	18270	174500	Maersk (Denmark)
2014	MSC Newyork[3]	399	1,309	54	177	18270	176490	MSC (Switzerland)
2013	Madison Maersk[4]	398	1,306	58	190	18270	174500	Maersk (Denmark)
2013	Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller[5]	398	1,306	58	190	18270	174500	Maersk (Denmark)

table courtesy:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_container_ships

how is capacity of  a container measured or what is TEU?

The twenty-foot equivalent unit (often TEU or teu) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals.^[1] It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1 m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks.

Length	Width	Height	Volume	TEU
20 ft (6.1 m)	8 ft (2.44 m)	8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)	1,360 cu ft (38.5 m3)	1

table courtesy:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-foot_equivalent_unit

my experience with deciding investment plan for the first time.....

It is time to submit the declaration form for the savings.The income tax to be paid this time is much more than the last year  as because of some uncertain situations, I faced, I couldn't invest in the last years... and I am already too late to wait anymore to start investing.

At this point, every year, I feel the need of a subject on money management in school curriculum. It is actually very important in this era to make a decision about where to invest your hard earned money.I don't know, if some other fellows are facing the same dilemma. I hope my experience will act as a little assistance in making this decision.

I was thinking of some Life insurance corporations (LIC) scheme, as I was not at all aware of the market and it was quite difficult to have faith in private sector. (you know those terms with small asterisk at the bottom of contracts,'oh my god..' stuff ! )

A LIC agent came in office with some reference, and it just seemed a very timely visit. After some discussion, I decided to go for a pack of 3 schemes with premium of around 4000/- pm for 20 years, the plane were ok, till I called policy bazaar.com, to just compare what I was going to invest in.

The simple question, from the other side, was if I am investing for money or insurance?? I said, obviously sounding, both. Then the fellow, named Arun Sharma, said it won't serve any of the two purposes. I was  a bit confused, as most of the people have a LIC scheme. I asked him if he could suggest something better. He explained the benefits of going for a dedicated life insurance plan and investment in mutual funds or some other investment plans.
The advice given was very satisfying. I just felt how useful it will be if I pay around Rs. 400000/- over a period of 40 years, comes to around 943 Rs. per month. this for covering the insurance only.
It was better than investing Rs 600000/- and getting back double and an insurance of 12 lacs in accidental death and 600000/- in case of normal death. The one suggested by this fellow, was with  a cover of Rs 1 Cr. (a scheme from HDFC). I think it not only will give some tax saving but also the sum insured is huge in case something happens. The family won't be stressed as far as finance is considered. It made me realize that the actual insurance scheme is this, which will cover my family after me, as a small covering is not something one shall go for as it won't be very helpful.

on the other hand, for making money, investment shall be targeted on that only, say mutual funds, real estate and other investment plans. The purpose of this will be to gain as much as possible and shall not at all be mixed up with the insurance.

So, I think if someone is about to start an investment, a detailed analysis is necessary and I found policybazaar.com a helpful link and would suggest it, at least for advice. Whoever you consult with but make a wise decision and not a traditional one.

thanks cheers :)

CLEANATHON... A KICK-START TOWARDS BETTERMENT :)

photo courtesy: http://swachhindia.ndtv.com/campaign-highlights/

just watched a show on NDTV India... "BANEGA SWACH INDIA"... I feel really grateful to all those involved in this humble beginning, to provide toilets to the underprivileged ones.
The data quoted was shocking, in 21st century India, around 49 percent of household do not have access to toilets. It is not only unhygienic and attack on dignity to those who face it, but is a sheer shame to our political system and a total failure of it. In 60 year, our government could not even provide toilets to the citizens of the country, as is rightly admitted by Sh. Rajiv Pratap Rudy (MP from a constituency in Bihar).

The initiation by DETTOL, supported by corporate houses and Amithabh Bachhan as Brand ambassador has managed over Rs 281 cr. The money will be used for building 25000 new toilets around the country in next 4 years. The issues raised by Priyanka Chopra, Bachan sir, and other speakers were disheartening, to know how millions are struggling for dignity and hygiene.

I feel great to be a part of it, by donating some money. I rushed to the site as if an on-line sale was about to end.

I hope the money collected goes at right place and in time, as we are already lagging, at least 60 years. ( hope that the tag line becomes a reality)

                                              photo courtesy:- http://swachhindia.ndtv.com/campaign-highlights/


Thanks Dettol, NDTV, corporate and individual donors, Supporters and Ambassadors ..  cheers :)

follow up of swach bharat abhiyan..

what about "swach bharat abhiyan"...??
It was a very humble beginning by our PM on 2nd October to follow the footsteps of the father of the nation... but I guess we are done with it, at least, in our office. The hottest gossip topic in the office, these days, is the reduction in retirement age of central govt. employees, and it should be, especially for those at the very border line. Out-of-the-way, someone in the office, said "what about the swachh bharat abhiyan..."?? it was supposed to be a movement, a continuous effort and a torch bearer actually for a larger thing, i.e. to raise awareness about cleanliness of surroundings.
It has lost its very spark as I see, which is very disheartening, as it will make the situation worse than it was before. The line, very common with us that " kuch nahi ho skta is desh ka" ( nothing can improve this country) will only be proving itself. This not only fails this positive effort, but also creates a stronger negative environment to bully such efforts in future.
There was a resistance to this mission at the beginning, as always there is to any change(specially the positive ones). On the first day we started well, mainly because of the orders from home ministry, for compliance. All gathered at around 11 AM, and worked hard to clean the office premises. Men for the grounds and ladies cleaned the interior of the office building.
There was a pledge taken on that day to devote 2 hrs per week to the cleanliness of the surroundings, but it seems totally forgotten. It was planned to be there on 2nd ( as it was the day off at office) and 4th Saturday of each month to clean the surroundings. Three months have passed Saturdays came but not in that sense. We had to send the pictures before and after, of the area worked on, and it ended on the very same day it started. I guess, this happened mainly because there is no mandatory 'order' from ministry to follow up the mission.

I personally feel that this is a great gesture of our PM and a tool to invoke a spark in younger generation to keep our home, city, country and world, at large, cleaner. We all have a responsibility to keep it going... and I hope we will have a 2nd and 4th Saturday soon in our office too.

Thanks.. Cheers :)

the city beautiful and ... its not so beautiful public transport ..

I have been thinking of writing something on the topic but i was lost for some years and i don't know where because no one else feels it, and they don't miss me but surely I do. This is my first post and I am not much aware of the rules here on blogger , if there is any, so kindly ignore it and enjoy the article which i hope u will.

It has been a long time when I last lived in Chandigarh city, and fortunately I got a chance to be here again. I noticed some positive and some negative changes in the city.

The positive is we have got the highest per capita income, so many cars and bikes, which has caused a hell lot of pollution and many other problems,  a very slow response of govt. to the challenges of the changing city( no this one is not a change it has been like that ever since), by that I don't want to offend anyone but i sincerely want to raise some eyebrows and some steps too out of the luxury cars on the road to the reality.
The space available in the city is limited and everyone in the city has equal right on this space, A car needs around 23 sq m of area to be parked comfortably, and a poorest resident have around 18-20 sq m of living space. So, it is govt. who is actually providing land for elites for free or Rs 10 per hour. This has been a debate to make urban space more accessible to pedestrians and non motorized traffic than cars and two wheelers. In this sense, ensuring a bus ride to most of the citizens, along with other measures will lead to a decrease in personal vehicles on road and thus more space for others.

Most of the citizens of the Chandigarh mainly youngsters are not much concerned about the unsustainable state we are going towards. I don't know if our present pre teens and teens have even played cricket or anything else in the streets, I think they won't believe it that the streets were visible once, which are now covered by cars, almost all sectors are facing it. By that I don't mean that road is for playing but it was available and safe because of lesser vehicles. I may feel it more ( having read about it ) others may not, but its a fact that the occupied roads around houses actually has a negative impact on our behavior, not only that quarrel on parking space and a bump into someone or by someone, but generally too.

The role of Govt. is important in improving bus ride in terms of ease of access, safety, comfort, dignity etc.  In other parts of the world many cities like Singapore, Jakarta have solved urban mobility problem by utilizing the bus system properly. The parking strategies in the city have to be improved to make most of the market area available for pedestrians. Two of the successful examples of such efforts are London city and Copenhagen. There must be provision along the main roads as planned in the original master plan of Chandigarh to accommodate the cyclists, pedestrians  safely.

That will be all for now. The foremost objective of this blog is to start a discussion on what can be done to take the city beautiful towards a sustainable future. Some of the problems have been stated here and many more are there, which are worth mentioning and need efforts beyond the papers.
This city has offered us such a good life and it is our duty to take care of it.

Thanks.