2011: The Year of Ibn Al-Haytham

The year 2011 will be The Year of Ibn Al-Haytham. A series of high profile international events and activities are being planned to pay tribute to Ibn Al-Haytham and his contributions to science.
According to historical accounts, in the year 1011, Ibn Al-Haytham was retained under house arrest. It is during this period that Ibn al-Haytham composed his most original scientific achievements that represented a turning point in the history of science.
Ibn Al-Haytham was an Arab polymath. He made significant contributions to the principles of optics, as well as to anatomy, astronomy, engineering, mathematics, medicine, ophthalmology, philosophy, physics, psychology, visual perception, and to science in general with his introduction of the scientific method. He is sometimes called al-Basri after his birthplace in the city of Basra.
Born around 965, in Basra, Iraq and part of Buyid Persia at that time, he lived mainly in Cairo, Egypt, dying there at age 76. Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the "father of modern optics" for his influential Book of Optics (written while he was under house arrest). He is also recognized so for his experiments on optics, including experiments on lenses, mirrors, refraction, reflection, and the dispersion of light into its constituent colours.
His Book of Optics has been ranked with Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica as one of the most influential books in the history of physics, for starting a revolution in optics and visual perception.

Turn off your lights on Global Earth Hour

Over 4,000 cities from 131 countries will turn off their lights during the Global Earth Hour on 26-03-2011(Saturday)-8:30 pm. Earth Hour is organised annually on the last Saturday of March by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The WWF website says: "Earth Hour is your chance to vote for Earth by shutting down your lights between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. your local time,". Actually the origin of such a campaign can be traced back to Australia in 2007 when businesses and residents in Sydney turned off their lights for one hour to make a statement about energy use and global warming.
Moscow, Geneva, Budapest, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Helsinki, Oslo, Madrid, Paris, London, Amsterdam and Vienna are some European cities that will turn off in the name of sustainability all non-essential lights.  In Asia, cities like Bangkok, Singapore , Mumbai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong , Seoul, New Delhi, Auckland and Shanghai will support the WWF initiative.
In North America, Toronto, Vancouver, New York and Chicago are among those that will go dark. In the South, cities including Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Valparaiso will take part. Even the Davis research station in Antarctica will turn off its lights. Cities participating in the global initiative will not just switch off their electricity, but will also plant greenery and install LED street lamps.
Join this global initiative.

Don't refuse a kiss, you may get bullets!!!

Helen B. Staudinger allegedly admitted that she told her neighbor she
would not leave until  he gave her a kiss, even though she
 knew he had a girlfriend

Helen Staudinger, 92, wanted nothing but a kiss. The other person didn,t show any interest. Then what would have happened?! ...Don’t go away, just read...
The woman who resides at central Florida fired a semi-automatic pistol four times at her 53-year-old neighbor's house after he refused to kiss her. The woman named Staudinger is now in jail after being arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and shooting into a dwelling.
According to a police report, Staudinger told deputies she went to Bettner's house in Fort McCoy, Florida, and refused to leave until he gave her a kiss.
When he said no, they argued and she left angry. Bettner said he was on the phone with his father moments later when he heard gunshots. One bullet went through a window, spraying him with glass. The former law enforcement officer said his elderly neighbor had seemed attracted to him since he moved in six months ago.
Look, always don’t hesitate to do something which may take your life!, Beware!

Gujarat ready for online voting!!!

Gujarat is once again creating news, not at all negative this time.

In November this year, when Gujarat holds municipal polls, the country will have its first initiative with online voting. So the State Election Commission is working overtime, thinking of scenarios, countering threats, both cyber and logistic, to take the first step towards the next big step.

Counter-measures are being put in place against hacking, virus attacks and possible parallel websites to misguide voters. A Vadodara-based cyber security agency has been tasked with protection of the SEC website and the Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) through which e-voting will be done. It will be the first attempt at online polling though it will involve voters in only six municipal corporation areas.

Saina Nehwal Wins Swiss Open!

Know Saina In Encyclopedia

Indian badminton superstar Saina Nehwal bagged her first title of the year in style. Saina won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold trophy with a straight-game victory against Ji Hyun Sung of Korea in Switzerland.

Second seed Saina beat Ji Hyun 21-13 21-14 in forty three minutes to create amends for her quarterfinal exit from the All England Super Series in Birmingham last week.

The Swiss Open triumph was Nehwal’s third Grand Prix Gold title win after Chinese Taipei (2008) and Indian Open (2010). Now 21, Saina has also come trumps in four Super Series finals at Indonesia (twice), Singapore and Hong Kong over the last two years.