Sunita Williams to Space Again!

Click here for Sunitha's space walk
Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams would travel to space for the second time in June 2012. Born of Gujarati parents in Euclid, Ohio, Williams, 44, holds the longest space flight of 195 days for space women. Williams would be joined by flight engineers Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide on Soyuz 31 flight to the space station.

The announcement in this regard was made by - NASA and its international partners, the Russia Federal Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which have assigned four new International Space Station crews. NASA said William would become the commander of the International Space Station in October 2012.
Selected by NASA in June 1998, Williams served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station. She launched with the crew of STS-116 on December 9, 2006, docking with the station on December 11, 2006.
As a member of the Expedition-14 crew Williams established a world record for females with four spacewalks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes of EVA. Astronaut Peggy Whitson subsequently broke the record in 2008 with her five total spacewalks.
Williams concluded her tour of duty as a member of the Expedition-15 crew returning to Earth with the STS-117 crew to land at Edwards Air Force Base on June 22, 2007. During her increment in space, Williams broke the existing record by Shannon Lucid, setting a new record for females of 195 days in space.

New Avatar to Indian Rupee!!!

Evoking national spirit and international attention the Indian rupee attained a new avatar in its new symbol. A distinct identity with a blend of the Devanagri ‘Ra' and Roman ‘R', the Indian currency will be joining the elite club of the U.S. dollar, the European euro, the British pound sterling and the Japanese yen.

This would distinguish the Indian currency from its neighbouring countries' — Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia — similarly known rupee or rupiah.

Udayakumar, an IIT graduate who designed the symbol

While declaring the intention of the government to have a symbol for the Indian rupee, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had stated in his last budget presentation that: “We intend to formalise a symbol for the Indian rupee, which reflects and captures the Indian ethos and culture.
“With this, Indian rupee will join the select club of currencies such as the U.S. dollar, British pound sterling, euro and the Japanese yen that have a clear distinguishing identity.”
The growth story of India is intact and many would be interested in correlating the new symbol with its economic growth and ambition to become an economic super power.

How to Wear a Tie ( Tie Kettan Ariyumo?)

Do you know how to wear a tie?

 If not please click here to know

Let us see Origami

Click here to see Numerous Origami Activities

Origami

Do you want to learn origami? Here is origami pictures with diagrams and animation

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Spain, on Top of the world

Spanish newspapers on Monday hailed the country’s victory in the FIFA World Cup as the crowning glory for a nation which has developed an insatiable appetite for sporting success.


“Champions of the world,” top-selling daily El Pais said on its front page above a photo of Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas holding the golden trophy above his head as he stood surrounded by his teammates. The newspaper described the 1-0 extra-time win over the Netherlands as the “epic which was missing from Spanish sports, which has lived in glory following a cascade of successes”. The victory came exactly a week after the Spaniard Rafael Nadal lifted the Wimbledon tennis trophy and caps a series of major sporting achievements, including a European title for the nation’s basketball team.

“It is the biggest success in the history of Spanish football, a title which when added to other no less relevant titles, places Spain in the leadership of the major world sports like basketball, tennis, cycling or motorcycle racing,” the ABC newspaper said in an editorial.

“From here to eternity,” wrote centre-right daily El Mundo on its front page. With four minutes from the final whistle, Andres Iniesta collected a pass from Cesc Fabregas to fire home from close range and win the FIFA World Cup, sparking all-night celebrations across Spain. “There aren’t the words to describe what I am feeling. After my goal, I thought about my family and all the people who I love. But the victory is the fruit of a lot of work,” the Barcelona midfielder said after the match.

Sports daily AS said on its front page that Iniesta “scored the most important goal in our history in the 116th minute”. Rival sports daily Marca said his goal “lifted Spanish football to the highest possible level”. Before Iniesta’s winning contribution, goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas had made two vital interventions to deny Arjen Robben in normal time in one-on-one situations.

Remarkably for a country whose domestic league has long been considered one of the strongest in the world, Spain, winners of the 2008 UEFA European Championship, have only once before been in touching distance of sport’s biggest prize. That was in 1950 in Brazil where they reached the final four of a tournament which, in the aftermath of the Second World War, was only able to attract 13 participants.

Mani, the new Paul predicts Holland!!!

Paul the Psychic Octopus was left in the starting blocks as Singapore's Mani the Parakeet drew first blood of the battle of the World Cup tipsters. While Weymouth-born Paul has correctly predicted the outcome of 

every Germany game in South Africa, 13-year old Mani has become popular in the Far East after picking the winners. Mani's owner M. Muniyappan places two cards in front of the bird's cage and his feathered friend turns over who he thinks will win. Its good news for Holland against Spain on Sunday as Mani predicts like that. Wait and watch!.

Watch Paul live

Do You Want a Family Tree of Yours?!

Make Your Family Tree

Irumban Puli

Click to See many tropical fruits

Mango Festival !!!

The 22nd edition of Annual Mango Festival is inaugurated on May 2 at Delhi by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The festival showcased around 400 varieties of the fruit. This festival will help people from all over Delhi to come here and have a taste of different varieties of mangoes.

Mango cultivators from states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Punjab are taking part in the festival. Complimenting the farmers for making mangoes popular across the world, Chief Minister said: "With names like Aishwarya, Sachin and Bapu, the farmers have made the fruit even more attractive." The chief minister also appealed to the farmers to use least pesticides for their crops.

The mango festival also had competition among mango growers in 10 varieties of mangoes like Dussehri, Langra, Chausa, Mallika, Husnara, Rataul, Ramkela and Fazli. Dikshit gave away awards to the winners.