Honeybee's

Got this article from a friend and found it very interesting, hence putting it here. It simply puts forth the effects of Global warming on a simple specie and how this can lead to a major disaster for others.

Honeybee's are simple creatures, which work whole day and collect pollen from flowers. You must be wondering what damage can this specie cause. Yes, even I thought the same way before reading this article.

WHY BEES MATTER
Flowering plants require insects for pollination. The most effective is the honeybee, which pollinates 90 commercial crops worldwide. As well as most fruits and vegetables – including apples, oranges, strawberries, onions and carrots – they pollinate nuts, sunflowers and oil-seed rape. Coffee, soya beans, clovers – like alfafa, which is used for cattle feed – and even cotton are all dependent on honeybee pollination to increase yields.In the UK alone, honeybee pollination is valued at £200m. Mankind has been managing and transporting bees for centuries to pollinate food and produce honey, nature's natural sweetener and antiseptic. Their extinction would mean not only a colorless, meatless diet of cereals and rice, and cotton less clothes, but a landscape without orchards, allotments and meadows of wildflowers – and the collapse of the food chain that sustains wild birds and animals.

The world may be on the brink of biological disaster after news that a third of US bee colonies did not survive the winter. Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter. The decline of the country's estimated 2.4 million beehives began in 2006, when a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies. Since then more than three million colonies in the US and billions of honeybees worldwide have died and scientists are no nearer to knowing what is causing the catastrophic fall in numbers. The number of managed honeybee colonies in the US fell by 33.8% last winter, according to the annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the US government's Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The collapse in the global honeybee population is a major threat to crops. It is estimated that a third of everything we eat depends upon honeybee pollination, which means that bees contribute some £26bn to the global economy. Potential causes range from parasites, such as the bloodsucking varroa mite, to viral and bacterial infections, pesticides and poor nutrition stemming from intensive farming methods. The disappearance of so many colonies has also been dubbed "Mary Celeste syndrome" due to the absence of dead bees in many of the empty hives. US scientists have found 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax and pollen, lending credence to the notion that pesticides are a key problem. "We believe that some subtle interactions between nutrition, pesticide exposure and other stressors are converging to kill colonies," said Jeffery Pettis, of the ARS's bee research laboratory.

I feel preserving some of these simple species should be aim if not for them but at least for our own survival.

Rise of T20 cricket

Recently went through a talk by Harsha Bhogle on Ted, “The rise of cricket, the rise of India”. It spoke about the advent of T20 cricket in India. As have been his talks previously, this too was very insightful as well as intuitive. It gave example of a test match which was played on 3rd of March 1939 and ended on 14th of March, and it only ended because English cricketers had to move from Durban to Capetown to catch a ship. An English cricketer later said that another ½ an hour and we would have won. If anyone spoke of such a thing to todays generation, the immediate response could be are they insane to go on playing and who will watch such a game, but this was how cricket was played till of late.

The game moved on after few years and India started playing 50 over’s cricket. Accident happened and we won the world cup, so more 50 over’s cricket. Then the first T20 world Cup took place in South Africa and again an accident happened and India won the cup, so obviously the next things is more T20 cricket. Companies/ individual started getting interested too, they had money, but just needed something to convert billions to trillions, and gave rise to fast paced league cricket in India. So, this gave birth to the IPL. This had the feel of a movie which Indian population loves. 3 hour entertainment, Lots of music, dance, animosity, unfaithfulness, passion, stunning and lots and lots of drama, these proved a lot useful for the organizers to attract the population to this new baby.

Recently read in the paper that the IPL would be taxed something 300 crore. This billion dollar baby has risen as one of the fastest growing company and it has not only pulled up itself but also has fostered the growth of the country too. In forst season of IPL, an MI cricketer wanted to fly to West Indies to attend to his national cricketing duties. So, as most cricketers do they fly a couple of days in advance to reach the country and get acclimatized to the team. The MI management said no way this is going to happen, in two days you would play two matches and then a private jet flew him in the evening as soon as the match was over to West Indies. Next day this player was playing test for his country. The amount of money involved in this game and the things at stake can be understood from these simple things, yet not so common for a common man to assimilate.

Is this going to change the Indian culture or is it going to run into political benefits, as anything that has money in it attracts attention? I guess it would be difficult to talk about it or make any judgment so soon, but it has definitely changed the way of thinking and making money.

Value Friendship

We take many things for granted in our life. We take it for granted that the sun will rise again. Similarly we take it for granted that the friendship will never suffer. But that is false. If we don't water the plant of our friendship regularly, our friendship will suffer and we may create distance with our close friend. We need to value it and value his/her friendship.

An eternal question arises; do I really need a friend? I mean I have work; I enjoy spending time with my family and also have malls and theaters available for entertainment. Then why I need a friend? It is important to sit down sometime and ponder on this thought to really understand friendship. No relation in this world can stay long if it is one sided. Same is true about friendship, you need your friend to call you and talk to you. You need it when you are down; you need it when you want to sip some coffee. You don’t expect your friend to really think more about what others would feel; as if you do that then you care more about others than the person who is close to you as your friend.

I would leave it to an individual to understand the value their friends bring to them in their life. Yes, but it is important to value them else you would lose them soon. Never hurt anyone once you call him/her your good friend or best friend.

Mixed Feelings

Too many things are happening in life nowadays. One day you suddenly get up and find the heaven's opening and the downpour starts. It has been like a boon as the rains were anticipated since a long time now. Makes me delighted with all the greenary around and the atmosphere around you suddenly dazzles up.

Today I was dazed to read about Flintoff’s retirement from test cricket in the tabloid. Now here we go many people would argue about Freddie, as to if he really was a test cricketer. But on a serious note, that really does not matter to me much, as I have grown up watching him play and too me he was an excellent sportsman. He really was a good all-rounder and his quick boisterous bowling and destructive batting abilities, made him a formidable opponent. If I go down my memory lane, I can still remember his latest test century which he got against Australia in 2005. It was the first innings and he went on to score a 102 runs, thrashing the aussie’s all across the park. Finally England won the match and they took a lead of 2-1 in the 4th test. It feels sad to hear about his retirement, but the good news is he will continue to entertain us in one-days and may be T20's.

Things are not as bad as they feel, the nice things are the markets have bounced back, yippee!!!

Money has no memory

Surprised right !!! Yes have not been blogging since a long time. Today came across a very stirring article so thought about putting it on the blog for all of you to read :

Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has.Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come... life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full... sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support... The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed... The first cry... the first steps... the first word... the first kiss... all of your child... The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you... The first award... the first public appreciation. .. the first stage performance. .. And the list is endless... Experiences, with timeless memory... No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never.So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.Time will pass... economy will revive... currency will soon be in current.... and in all this; I don't want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences. .. If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.Make a statement with the way you live your life: How I feel has nothing to do with how much I have.

1983 verdict gets bail

I really do not have any reason why I have not penned down since a year. Would like to apologize to all my readers for it though and will definately try to be better this time.

One thing has been boggling my mind. "1983 verdict may help Sanjay Dutt get bail" I read this article again yesterday. I don't know since now many days it is going on. Since the whole era about Sanjay Dutt's case is being going on. With this case starting many questions starting emerging in my mind as the things started to progress.

• Is this not a simple case of a person violating law?
• Isn't the law the same for a beggar and also for the king?
• Why are people supporting a crime?

What I personally have failed to understand is the answer to this last question. I can somehow come to terms with the first two questions, with only the fact that there can never be a perfect system and people will always find way about it. But the last question I can never understand. Has human mind too started deceiving itself?

It is such a preposterous thing a largest democracy and people of that country are standing outside the prison and chanting slogans to free the verdict. Come on guys have failed to understand that he is just a prisoner in front of the law who has committed a crime and he needs to get punished for it. I really do not know if this continues then we would find influential people dominating and the sole purpose of democracy getting violated.

Budget Airlines

Defying all the rules of gravity, an aircraft flies high in the thin air with a simple resemblance to a soaring bird. It has been an amazing experience to fly in an aircraft, till you decide to fly with these budget airlines. These airlines are horrible in all sectors ticketing, scheduling of aircraft, seating, hospitality and all sectors of an airline industry one can think of. Sometimes you are stuck with no option when you have a meeting next day and the only flight from Pune to Hyderabad daily is an ATR aircraft of Air Deccan. The ATR aircraft is the low body capsule airplane with the stairs integral part of the body and they open to allow people to walk in, the aircraft is propeller driven so it is not a jet aircraft. The propeller aircrafts are known for huge vibrations and noise during their flights. These features come complementary with your ticket!!!

The theory is simple enough. Sell the tickets at low prices and more people will fly, even if they're herded into an all-economy aircraft cabin, without any food. But who cares? not the teeming thousands of ex-first class rail travelers who now jostle each other to grab unnumbered window and aisle seats having paid 30 per cent less than regular airline fares. These aircraft do not provide seat numbers so the act of grabbing a seat makes the entire scene a fish market.

The flight does not even care to serve the passengers with water. They claim "Despite many people telling us that water should be given free, we did not. If we did, there would be a lot of wastage with those not wanting it asking for it. And that costs money." Yes, probably they seem to be right the equation boils down to money, passenger safety and convenience; they seem to not have ever heard of such a thing, they do not exist in the list. The entire aircraft stinks of some smell, typically phenol as soon as you entire the aircraft. Do not get surprised if you see your fellow passenger asking for a mosquito coil. Yes, you are greeted by the mosquitoes while you board the plane as there is no airhostess to receive you. The complete aircraft has only one airhostess and she tries to yell at her highest decibel level to make the safety announcement as the concept of PA system does not exist. Politeness is absolutely unfamiliar concept with the airhostess as she never requests you but orders you, quite naturally though you are at her mercy. There are no landing instructions by the captain nor does the crew inform you to sit upright or buckle seat belts, all of a sudden the aircraft decides to make a step descent on the landing strip.

The overall experience of flying is really a dull journey. The passengers long till they reach the destination. The fun of enjoying the flight with nice ambience is far lost in these airlines. These budget aircrafts operate on tight margins so the maintenance of these planes is done in a shabby manner. So, think twice before you plan a trip in these aircrafts, but do not forget to keep on praying till you get out of these planes.