IIT Madras’ social networking site for engg students - TOI Article

Chennai: A social-networking portal created by alumni of IIT-M, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Delhi for engineering students has grown from an ambitious startup to a popular tool that helps and guides students in engineering education, according to a press release from IIT. Btechguru.com is a free online portal that was incubated in the department of management studies of IIT Madras and consists of free and open source content and also provides students an opportunity to collaborate with their peers through blogs, bookmarks and videos. Several students have benefited from the portal, as it contains links to open courseware of different universities, a huge collection of free e-books for engineering and competitive examinations, interview tips and information about civil services. Btechguru also provides formats and samples of Bank statement copies, statement for purpose for all engineering branches, recommendation letter and other legal documents which are essentials for higher studies abroad.

Places in & around ECR

More places on ECR @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_Road

Eager to watch Raavanan & Raavan

The D-day had arrived. Raavanan & Raavan is releasing across the world today. The dubbed version of the film in Telugu as Villain is also hitting the theatres. I am very much eager to watch this ManiRatnam multi starrer movie for visuals and the music. I would like to watch the movie both in Tamil & Hindi versions. Rating of the movie - 3.5/5 - Source - TOI Visit for the review @ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-reviews/hindi/Raavan/moviereview/6058139.cms

Govt drops plan to tax PF withdrawals - Source - TOI

In a major relief to the middle class, the government on Tuesday proposed to drop its earlier suggestions of taxing withdrawals from provident funds, pension funds and pure life insurance schemes and of imposing tax on retirement and in-service perks given by employers. DTC[Direct Tax Code] Gets Less Taxing Change: Provident fund, pension funds, life insurance to continue under EEE (exemptexempt-exempt) system instead of EET (exempt-exempt-taxation) Implication: Withdrawals from these schemes will remain tax-exempt as at present. Earlier draft of Direct Tax Code (DTC) had proposed to tax them C: Interest payments on home loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh per annum to be tax-exempt for self-occupied homes I: Concession that earlier draft had proposed to remove will continue to be available C: Long-term capital gains to be imposed on graded basis I: Currently, zero tax on such gains. Earlier draft had proposed to add the gains fully to income. Revisions means only a part of the gains will be added, depending on how long the asset has been held C: Employer’s contribution to retirement benefits to be tax-exempt I: Earlier draft would have added these as perks to your income and hence raised tax liability. That won’t happen now C: MAT to be on book profits I: Earlier draft proposed minimum alternate tax (MAT) on basis of company’s gross assets, meaning even loss-making firms may have had to pay the tax. That won’t happen now. More information @ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-drops-plan-to-tax-PF-pension-funds-withdrawals/articleshow/6052092.cms Source - TOI

TN explores 'dual degree in 3 yrs' for Arts & Science courses - Source TOI

TN govt set up a committee to look the feasibility of dual degree in undergraduate courses in ARTS & Science colleges. *** Students may get two degrees in three years by simultaneously pursuing dual undergraduate courses in arts and science colleges. *** The concept would not only enhance their employability potential but also widen the choice for postgraduate education. *** A five-member high level panel of academics has been constituted to study in-depth the concept. More info on http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/TN-explores-dual-degree-in-3-yrs-concept/articleshow/6048733.cms Source - Times of India

ECR & Mahabhalipuram

Went to following places in ECR and Mahabhalipuram yesterday with parents and relatives. 1) Prathyangira Devi Temple, Shollinganallur: Details @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholinganallur_Prathyangira_Devi_Temple, 2) DakshinaChitra - http://www.dakshinachitra.net/ Ticket cost was Rs.75 per person, but it was worth giving. This contains cultural things [be it old houses, crafts] related to South India. We can get down @ MGM Dizzee world Bus stop and DakshinaChitra is 300 metres away from there. 3) Muttukadu Boat House 4) Kovalam Beach 5) Mahabhalipuram - Sea shore temple, Scluptures made of single stone like five rathas, elephant, etc. Only thing which was not good was the weather. Day before yesterday the weather was good but yesterday it was too hot that roaming around these places was difficult one.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy Verdict

Climate in Chennai for the past one week is pretty good. Its been cloudy and raining. Request Varuna Bhagavan to be there for few more days in Chennai:-). And verdict in Bhopal tragedy is shocking. Just 2 years of imprisonment for killing more than 20000 people and making above 6 lakhs [still counting - the aftermath of effect is still there] people life miserable wasn't really an appreciable verdict. These kind of incidents make me feel if there is really a person called God. But on the other hand, my mind is telling "If you believe in something, believe truly". That tend me to believe God is there. I truly believe in Him. I do hope maximum punishment to those involved in the tragedy will happen soon. Hoping for a better future.

Paa - Seen on Star Gold

Got a chance to see 'Paa' movie on Star Gold. Eventhough not able to see the whole movie because of power cut, I enjoyed the portions seen. It is about a rare genetic disease 'Progeria' and father - son relationship. Amitabh plays the kid with Progeria and Abhishek his father. Vidya Balan as mother of Amitabh. Story is all about how Amitabh unites Vidya and Abhishek together as they got separated as Abhishek wanted her to have an abortion when they first found out she was pregnant. After uniting them, at 13th birthday Amitabh dies due to Progeria. I dont know Hindi, but I quiet enjoyed the movie because a meaningful cinema doesnt need language to understand. Its all about human emotions. Music by Ilayaraja and he had remixed 2 of his earlier songs. Director of Photography is P C Sriram. You can see more details about the movie at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paa_(film)

Singam - Want to see one more time

Here I come with "Singam" Review. I watched the movie @ Bangalore in a local theatre. Though the film was commercial masala flick, I enjoyed it. Its been long since I had seen a Tamil movie [for that case a movie in theater]. Now, coming to Singam, cast includes Surya, Anushka, Prakashraj, Vivek, Radha Ravi, Sumithra, Nasser, Vijayakumar, Manorama, Bose Venkat & others. Except for Surya & Prakashraj, no other roles are well crafted eventhough other supporting cast just supports the story. Even Surya and PrakashRaj's roles are having only shades of normal Tamil Hero and Villain, but it is that both of them pull off their roles very well. I dont want to go much into Story. Its a normal hero and villain story and finally good wins over the bad. But the screenplay makes it watchable. Director Hari is known for his commercial flicks like Sami, Aaru, Vel, Kovil, etc. where the story wont be much new but screenplay does the trick. Ofcourse, there are logical loopholes in Singam but you cant see logics in a masala movie. There is a ensemble cast as I already mentioned and their screen presence does help the film and screen presence is complete. Vivek does a comic relief and few scenes of him come out really well. Music is by Devi Sri Prasad and most of the songs are fine. Especially the melodious 'En Idhayam', rocking 'Stole my heart' and 'Kadhal Vandhale' [which starts with Everybody listen samba pamba rumba thumba]. Action sequences were more heroic [nothing can be expected because its a commercial movie] I dont have much knowledge on other departments of the film like Cinematography, editing, etc. As always, heroines doesnt have a role in these kind of movies. What surprised me was "Bose Venkat" who is well known for his acting, does nothing or not having substantial role here. Singam was released by BIG Pictures and Sun Pictures. Having said all this, I am eager to watch the movie once again.