ASRS : WC07 Predictions : Your Current Scores

Name	SL BER	ZIM IRE	SA NL	ENG NZ	IND BAN	PAK IRE	AUS HOL	ENG CAN	IND BER	WI ZIM	SA SCO	NZ KEN	SL BAN	PAK ZIM	NZ CAN	SC HL	IND SL	WI IR	AUS SA	ENG KEN	BER BAN	Total
Anand	3	0	3	2	4	1	3	3	2	3	4	2	3	2	2	0	1	4	2	3	2	49
Tarun	1	1	3	3	2	1	3	2	4	2	4	2	5	1	4	0	1	4	1	1	4	49
Bala	2	1	2	3	3	2	3	2	3	2	2	2	4	2	1	3	2	2	1	4	1	47
Divya	3	0	2	2	2	4	3	3	2	2	3	2	3	2	5	2	0	2	0	2	3	47
Harish	3	1	2	4	2	1	3	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	0	3	2	2	2	46
Apurva	3	0	2	3	1	1	3	3	2	2	1	3	4	3	3	2	1	2	3	1	2	45
Swati			2	2	4	1	2	2	3	3	4	3	1	3	2	1	2	3	2	2	2	44
Neeraj	2	0	2	3	2	1	3	2	2	1	4	2	5	1	3	1	1	2	1	3	1	42
Gagan	2	2	5	2	2	1	3	2	3	1	1	3	1	1	2	0	1	2	3	2	2	41
Arun	1	1	2	1	3	2	3	3	3	1	1	3	1	1	3	3	2	2	2	2	0	40
Chandra	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	4	5	3	3	3	0	1	2	2	0	40
Neelima	3	0	2	3	1	2	2	2	2	2	5	2	2	1	3	0	1	1	1	3	2	40
Venkata V	2	1	2	0	1	1	3	2	2	2	2	2	5	2	2	1	2	1	3	2	2	40
Vinod	1	1	3	1	1	1	3	2	3	2	3	2	3	1	2	1	2	3	2	2	1	40
Debasish	3	1	2	3	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	3	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	38
Rajesh	1	1		1	2	1	2	2	5	1	1	5	5	2	5	1	1	2	0	0	0	38
Satish	1	1	4	0	1	1	2	3	4	3	2	2	5	3	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	37
Nikunj	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	3	1	2	2	3	2	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	29
Gopi	2	0			0	1	1	0	5	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	2	5	0	0	0	25
Sanket													3	1	2	3	2	4	0	0	0	15
Noaman	1	1			0	1	1	2	1								0	2	0	0	0	10

Las Vegas Attractions

Fountains at Bellagio Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/bellagiofountains.html

• Hours of operation: Monday - Friday, 3 p.m. - midnight. Saturday and Sunday, noon - midnight. The fountains run every half-hour until 7 p.m. and every 15 minutes after that until midnight. Fountains are occasionally closed during high winds.
• Cost: Free.
• Payment options: Not applicable.
• Reservations: Not applicable.
• Location: Located outside the Bellagio hotel-casino at the intersection of Flamingo Road and the Vegas Strip.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: No restrictions.

Exotic Cars at Caesars Forum Shops Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/exoticcars.html

• Hours of operation: Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 11 p.m., Friday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - midnight.
• Cost: $5 general admission.
• Payment options: Cash, credit card.
• Reservations: Not applicable.
• Location: Located inside Caesars Palace Forum Shops at the intersection of the Strip and Flamingo Road.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: Not applicable.

Wildlife Habitat at the Flamingo Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/wildlifehabitat.html

• Hours of operation: Open daily, 24 hours.
• Cost: Free.
• Payment options: Not applicable.
• Reservations: Not applicable.
• Location: Located at the Flamingo hotel-casino near the intersection of the Strip and Flamingo Road.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: Not applicable.

Fall of Atlantis and Festival Fountain shows at Caesars Forum Shops Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/fountainshow.html

• Hours of operation: Fall of Atlantis and Festival Fountain: Every hour on the hour Sunday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. - midnight.
• Cost: Free.
• Payment options: Not applicable.
• Reservations: Not applicable.
• Location: Located inside Caesars Palace Forum Shops at the intersection of the Strip and Flamingo Road.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: Not applicable.

Fremont Street Experience Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/off_the_strip/fremontstreet.html

• Hours of operation: The show plays from dusk to midnight nightly. Neon Museum is open 24 hours.
• Cost: Free.
• Payment options: Not applicable.
• Reservations: Not applicable.
• Location: Located in downtown Vegas, near the Plaza hotel-casino.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: Not applicable.

Las Vegas Preview Studios at the Venetian Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/lvpreview.html

• Hours of operation: Open daily, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
• Cost: Free.
• Payment options: Not applicable.
• Reservations: Not applicable.
• Location: Located inside the Venetian hotel-casino at the intersection of the Vegas Strip and Spring Mountain Road.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: Varies based on type of show.

MGM Grand Lion Habitat Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/lionhabitat.html

• Hours of operation: Open daily, 11 a.m - 10 p.m.
• Cost: Free.
• Payment options: Not applicable.
• Reservations: Not applicable.
• Location: Located inside the MGM Grand hotel-casino at the south end of the Strip where Las Vegas Boulevard meets Tropicana Avenue.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: Not applicable.

Mirage volcano Details

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/volcano.html

• Hours of operation: Beginning at 6 p.m., the volcano erupts every hour on the hour until midnight.
• Cost: Free.
• Payment options: Not applicable.
• Reservations: Not necessary.
• Location: Outside the Mirage hotel-casino located on the Strip between Flamingo and Spring Mountain Road.
• Age/Height/Weight restrictions: None.

Lake Mead Details

http://www.vegas.com/sports/recreation/lakemead.html

• Hours of operation: Recreation area open daily, 24 hours. Visitor Center is open 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• Cost: Entrance fee (1-5 days): $5 per vehicle; $3 per individual (motorcycle, bicycles, hikers) $20 for annual passes; $10 for Golden Age Passport (62 or older) $50 for National Parks Pass. Lake use (1-5 days): $10 first vessel; $5 each additional vessel.
• Payment options: Cash, check, Mastercard, Visa and Discover.
• Location / Distance from Las Vegas: Take U.S. 93 south through Boulder City toward Phoenix, approximately 30 miles.
• Travel options: Private vehicle, tour bus.
• On the way: Enjoy the desert scenery.
• Amenities:

There is lodging available at Lake Mead Lodge, Temple Bar and Echo Bay Resort. Food is available at Lake Mead Marina, Las Vegas Boat Harbor, Callville Bay, Echo Bay, Overton Beach and Temple Bar. Groceries, sundries and fishing equipment are available at marinas.

Self-service laundry facilities are available at Callville Bay and Lake Mead RV Village (RV tenants only). Shower facilities are available at Callville Bay.

Service Stations and Fuel are available at all marinas.

• Annual visitors/busy season: Over seven million people a year visit Lake Mead. Spring and summer are the most popular seasons.

Maverick Helicopters Inc.

http://www.mylasvegasrooms.com/attractions.cfm

Take a spectacular night flight over the Las Vegas Strip and downtown Glitter Gulch aboard a luxurious, state-of-the-art helicopter! Maverick Helicopters, Inc. boasts a modern fleet of ASTAR Jet Helicopters, which feature climate-controlled cabins, forward-facing seats, multi-camera video recording, surround sound stereo & personalized narration from highly experienced pilots. Complimentary beverages are served during the flight, which provides breathtaking views of The Strip. In addition, you can take home a personalized video of your unforgettable adventure. Maverick Helicopters, Inc. also offers tours to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.

Lake Pleasant Really is (Pleasant)

http://www.desertusa.com/mag02/jan/main/lakep.html

The Lake Pleasant Regional Park offers the following information:
Lake Pleasant is located 15 miles west of I-17 (Black Canyon Freeway) on Carefree Highway (State Route 74) 30 miles north of Phoenix, within the city limits of Peoria. The park’s 23,662 acres offer an ideal destination for boating and camping enthusiasts. With 10,000 acres of crystal clear water, visitors can enjoy water skiing, jet skiing, sailing, or fishing. Lake Pleasant offers over 140 developed sites for RV and tent camping.

The IIT story: IIESTs, 3 new IITs on way

I was just going through The IIT story: IIESTs, 3 new IITs on way on rediff.

Any good step in the field of Technical education in india is a welcome step and deserves big applaud. This step is one of them. But I have a few points of concerns:

Why do we need to abolish all the existing 4 year B. Tech. courses and convert them into 5 year dual degree M.Tech?

On paper it seems like a good decision as we may boast of introducing technical platform for students who opt for higher education. But reality is something different. Reality story says that in India, most of the students opts for an M. Tech course only when they don't land up with a job during their 4 year B. techs or B.Es. This is a very straight forward fact. Those who can not fetch a job during their bachelors opt for masters from reputed engg colleges like IITs, BITs and IT-BHU. A majority of them end up doing what graduate student does after 4th year, a software job and in rarity a job in his field of specialization.

For a majority of School kids when they take various entrance exams, their first choice happens to be a 4 year course. Only when they DO NOT get one, they go for a 5 year course. It becomes a makeshift arrangement. Towards the end of 4th year, most of them start getting frastrated because their friends who were lucky to get into 4 year courses, get into job a little earlier while they would be landing up into similar kind of jobs a year later. Well, their frastration is natural.

IT-BHUs case will be more complicated than the others in consideration. IT-BHU has been admitting students through IIT-JEE and as it seems from the article, it may not be the same if it is given the status of IIEST. Another point of concern is, it has been famous to produce undergraduates of high quality untill now and this brand name will be in jeopardy for a few years when all the B Tech courses will be converted into M.Techs. To be straight-forward, they would be second to the 4 year courses in most of the cases for the reasons mentioned above. So IT-BHU will be in some kind of loss initially and I am not sure enough to predict about the future.

What could be done?
1. The Govt should make sure that a master course results in a master benefits as well. Where are the jobs in India for all these masters? What is the point in being a master if a graduate and a master, both are joining in a company as freshers?

2. If we are so enthusiastic about having these technical courses of 5 years, are we also ready to support them with enough opportunities at the end of their 5 long years in colleges? Or will they end up joining softwares? Then what was the need of having these special technical streams? Create opportunities first, please.

3. Why do we need to eliminate all 4 year courses? Don't we need them too? Yes we do. By eliminating them, are we forcing students to have Masters degree? They can surely co-exist and flourish more. This way the brand build by institutes like IT-BHU would also not be impacted and it would rather add to it.

The govt committe has definitely done a very good analysis and it deserve an encouragement. But given the above points, a few concerns could be easily eliminated and the plan can be made much better to suit indian conditions and indian mindsets :-)

7/11 Mumbai Blasts and Politicians: What can we do?

Following the recent Mumbai Bomb blasts which will be known as 7/11 on the line of 9/11, most of us must have shown our anger in some form or the other against the government (read politicians) blaming them for what happened which at best could be called the worst form of something in the name of JIHAD. Politicians are busy and would largely be busy in the stuffs related to Mandir-Masjid and OBC Reservations because this might be there ONLY way to roti, kapda aur makaan. Fair enough as they say anything is legal in love and war. So every action could be justified in one way or the other. This is perhaps the best form of democracy!!!

Most of us can't do anything about all this because we are normal human beings and we have our own reasons for not doing anything. But what purpose is solved when we blame the system, politicians and a particular section of the people for such kind of atrocity? I guess nothing.

I had an argument with some of my close friends on whether we have a right to blame the government? Most of us believed that we don't have because we were not a part of the election process followed to elect the government in the first place and this was per our WILL. We find pride in not being a participant here. Some of us feel we anyway are not meant to vote and this is a right way to stamp our superiority and modernism over those who wait on long queues to cast their “useless” vote. The people for whom government vows now and then to make reservations and erect Temples best do this job. Fair enough, if we neither elected them nor did we try to oppose them, we don't have a right to get pissed off now. If we thought this government is not for us, why would any action or inaction on their part at this time would irritate and frustrate us?

But one of my friends put up a very strong point which all of us must agree. According to him " Whom should we Vote for? All are the same. If we do decide to cast our so called precious vote, what is the choice before us?”

Well he has a valid point and all of us must agree. But as elderly people say, inaction only aggravates the problem. So its action time albeit in passive form.

What can we do?

Some or most of you might be already knowing about this but even then, I would like to introduce you to something called "Lok Paritran” (http://www.lokparitran.org/ ) in this regard. This is a political group comprising of some of the young enthusiasts like us in some senses yet very unlike to us. They have been very courageous till now but have been struggling for the lack of support from the so-called educated and uneducated lots. To have some impact on a vast democratic country like ours, they need the support of its democratic people. Since this is going to be a tough battle against the well-set players on the pitch of Political affairs, this is not an easy task. This is no daydreaming. This is neither a Maniratnam movie “Yuva” nor another superhit from bollywood “Rang De Basanti”. Most of us can't help them directly for the reasons well known to us and not so well when discussed in public. But I am sure, even if we support them in some way or the other or at least make people aware about them, so that they are recognized and gradually supported, we would help them a great deal.

Then who knows, tomorrow we have something good coming up and some good reasons compelling us to vote and be a part of the process we always criticize and end up being frustrated? At least, a small effort towards this won't kill us.

Please find some time to know about them at http://www.lokparitran.org. Spread the news about them in all manners possible making people aware about them.

Join their yahoo group (paritranaites: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paritranaites/?yguid=262829209 ) today and be an active part of their message forum.

If you already knew about this group, please spread this message to all your near and dear ones.

We might agree that in a country like ours, where its tough to be optimistic, its very difficult for ourselves to be encouraged for doing something like this which has no prompt or direct benefits but remember, there will not be another Rama or Krishna avatar to solve these problems. Let us believe our good small acts will sum up to give the final solution towards this.

Hail Mumbai.

"It is the tragic outcome of the civilised world's struggle with terrorism that the world's largest democracy should be subjected to such attacks"