HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome. With most countries using the Gregorian calendar as their main calendar, New Year's Day is the closest thing to being the world's only truly global public holiday, often celebrated with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts. January 1 on the Julian calendar currently corresponds to January 14 on the Gregorian calendar.

The Romans dedicated this day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings. After Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 46 BC and was subsequently murdered, the Roman Senate voted to deify him on the 1st January 42 BC  in honour of his life and his institution of the new rationalised calendar.

The month originally owes its name to the deity Janus, who had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking backward. Some have suggested this occurred in 153 BC, when it was stipulated that the two annual consuls (after whose names the years were identified) entered into office on that day.

Among the 7th century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands, it was the custom to exchange gifts at the New Year. 

Most countries in Western Europe officially adopted January 1 as New Year's Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian calendar.

 In England, the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25, was the first day of the new year until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752.

 The March 25 date was known as Annunciation Style; the January 1 date was known as Circumcision Style, because this was the date of the Feast of the Circumcision, being the eighth day counting from December 25 when Christ was believed to be born. 

This day was christened as the beginning of the New Year by Pope Gregory as he designed the Liturgical Calendar.

are you happy ?

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; 
They just make the best of everything they have. 

- ( found this one in the form of a beautiful ppt. in my mail attachment sent by a friend. It was very inspiring to me, so decided to share it here....)

double headed animals

The oldest two-headed animal is a good 120 million years old. The fossil of this ancient lizard discovered in 2007 proves that animals with multiple heads are an ancient phenomenon. There are two variants – animals with two heads (bi/dicephalus) and animals with two faces on one head (diprosopus). These are all instances of congenital cephalic disorders, i.e. genetic disorders that lead to anomalies in embryos. Is pollution of natural resources playing a key role in increasing the number of such cases? There is yet no conclusive answer to the debate.

Frank and Louie, a gray feline with two mouths, two noses and three eyes, turned 12 years old and is the world's oldest, living two-faced cat.

a two-headed albino rat snake. The eight-year-old oddity of nature was known affectionately by fans worldwide as "We" died of natural causes in 2007.

a two-headed albino Honduran milk snake is shown in Ridge Manor, Fla. Parker, a University of Central Florida biologist, says that most two-headed snakes have typical coloration. Albino snakes don't have dark pigmentation in their skin. Albino milk snakes appear in bright shades of red, orange and white. The biologist says two-headed snakes have been documented to live as long as 20 years in captivity. But with two brains giving commands to a single body, Parker says the snake would have a difficult time surviving in the wild.

An unnamed two headed bobtail lizard, a type of skink, is seen at its new reptile park home at Henley Brook on April 22, 2010 in Perth, Australia. The two-headed reptile was rescued from Coogee by the Park and appears to be doing well, despite the life expectancy of such mutated births to be short. It eats from both heads but the larger head has also tried to attack the smaller one, and its movement is difficult as both heads control its back legs. It also has a healthy sibling without any mutation. Bobtails give birth to live offspring, rather than laying eggs. 

Janus, the Geneva Museum of Natural History’s two-headed Greek tortoise, is presented to the press and the public during the official celebration of its 10th birthday on 05 September 2007.

Australian scientists discovered a two headed blue tongue lizard in Sydney on 17th January 2001.The lizard named Trixie has one eye on the far side of each of her heads, as well as a third eye where the two heads connect, and one blue tongue

A HEART Touching Story

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call asap, changed his clothes & went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy's father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor. On seeing him, the dad yelled:
"Why did U take all this time to come? Don't U know that my son's life is in danger? Don't U have any sense of responsibility?"

Th...e doctor smiled & said:
"I am sorry, I wasn't in the hospital & I came as fast as I could after receiving the call...... And now, I wish you'd calm down so that I can do my work"

"Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would U calm down? If your own son dies now what will U do??" said the father angrily

The doctor smiled again & replied: "I will say what Job said in the Holy Book "From dust we came & to dust we return, blessed be the name of God". Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go & intercede for your son, we will do our best by God's grace"

"Giving advises when we're not concerned is so easy" Murmured the father.

The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy,
"Thank goodness!, your son is saved!" And without waiting for the father's reply he carried on his way running. "If U have any question, ask the nurse!!"

"Why is he so arrogant? He couldn't wait some minutes so that I ask about my son's state" Commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

The nurse answered, tears coming down her face: "His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son's surgery. And now that he saved your son's life, he left running to finish his son's burial."

Moral-Never judge anyone..... because U never know how their life is & what they're going through"

(found this beautiful story on facebook - Somewhere There is a Pain in My Heart)

Castrated by Lobsters!!!

A daring thief who stuffed a pair of live lobsters in his pants learned that crime doesn't pay when the frisky creatures gave him a vasec­tomy!

Police say that the 24-year-old shoplifter was leaving a Bristol. Eng­land. supermarket when he removed the lobsters from their tank and shoved them in his trousers. The man sprinted past stunned check-out girls, but came to a screeching halt when he felt the lobsters clutching on his MAN­HOOD!!!

The thorny creatures were finally removed when emergency medics pried them loose with pliers. Doctors say the thief will fully recover from his frightening tangle with the lob­sters, but he will never be a daddy

"Basically it was a do-it-yourself vasectomy," said the doctor. The patient’s sexual abilities will be restored in time, but he will not be able to fa­ther children."

The thief’s painful prank landed him in the hospital, where he is ex­pected to remain for three or four weeks. But thanks to a kindhearted supermarket manager, he will not be charged with any crime.

"The guy's gone through enough pain," said the store tanager. "I think he has learned his lesson. I doubt if he'll ever steal again."

round like a shot!!!

merry christmas

Christmas is the annual commemoration of the birth of JesusChrist, celebrated generally on December 25 as a religious and cultural holiday by billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide. Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians also, and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season.

The precise day of Jesus's birth, which historians place between 7 and 2 BC, is unknown. In the early-to-mid 4th century, the Western Christian Church first placed Christmas on December 25, a date later adopted also in the East. Theories advanced to explain that choice include that it falls exactly nine months after the Christian celebration of the conception of Jesus, or that it was selected to coincide with either the date of the Roman winter solstice or of some ancient pagan winter festival.

The original date of the celebration in Eastern Christianity was January 6, in connection with Epiphany, and that is still the date of the celebration for the Armenian Apostolic Church and in Armenia, where it is a public holiday. As of 2011, there is a difference of 13 days between the modern Gregorian calendar and the older Julian calendar. Those who continue to use the Julian calendar or its equivalents thus celebrate December 25 and January 6 on what for the majority of the world is January 7 and January 19. For this reason, Ethiopia, Russia, Ukraine and Macedonia celebrate Christmas, both as a Christian feast and as a public holiday, on what in the Gregorian calendar is January 7.

The popular celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian and secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving, Christmas music and caroling, an exchange of Christmas cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations, including Christmas trees, lights, and nativity scenes.

 In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas and Kris Kringle among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore.

 Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.

strange medicine : Maggot therapy

Maggot therapy (also known as maggot debridement therapy (MDT) or biosurgery) is a type of biotherapy involving the intentional introduction of

 live, disinfected maggots (fly larvae) 

into the non-healing skin and soft tissue wound(s) 

of a human or animal 

for the purpose of cleaning out the necrotic tissue within a wound (debridement) and disinfection.

Maggots have been used since antiquity. There are reports of the successful use of maggots for wound healing by Maya Indians andAboriginal tribes in Australia. During warfare, many military physicians observed that soldiers whose wounds had become colonized with maggots experienced significantly less morbidity and mortality than soldiers whose wounds had not become colonized. 

During World War I, Dr. William S. Baer observed that one soldier was left for several days on the battlefield with compound fractures of the femur and large flesh wounds of the abdomen and scrotum. When the soldier arrived at the hospital, he had no signs of fever despite the serious nature of his injuries. When his clothes were removed, it was seen that "thousands and thousands of maggots filled the entire wounded area." To Dr. Baer's surprise, when these maggots were removed "there was practically no bare bone to be seen and the internal structure of the wounded bone as well as the surrounding parts was entirely covered with most beautiful pink tissue that one could imagine." 

Later at Johns Hopkins University in 1929, Dr. Baer introduced maggots into 21 patients with intractable chronic osteomyelitis. He observed rapid debridement, reductions in the number of pathogenic organisms, reduced odor levels, alkalinization of wound beds, and ideal rates of healing. All 21 patients' open lesions were completely healed and they were released from the hospital after two months of maggot therapy.

After the publication of Dr. Baer's results in 1931, maggot therapy for wound care became very common, particularly in the United States.More than 300 American hospitals employed maggot therapy during the 1940s. 

The extensive use of maggot therapy prior to World War II was curtailed when the discovery and growing use of penicillin caused it to be deemed outdated. But with the advent of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Dr. Ronald Sherman sought to re-introduce maggot therapy into modern medical care.The therapeutic maggot used by Sherman is a strain of the green bottle fly (Phaenicia sericata) and was marketed under the brand name Medical Maggots.

In January 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted permission to produce and market maggots for use in humans or animals as a prescription-only medical device for the following indications: "For debriding non-healing necrotic skin and soft tissue wounds, including pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, neuropathic foot ulcers, and non-healing traumatic or post-surgical wounds." 

strange medicinal practices of Africa

amateur astronomer captures breathtaking image of the sun..

An amateur astronomer has captured a breathtaking image of the sun, tracking its progress between the summer and winter solstices using a pinhole camera made from and old tin tea caddy. Professor Greg Parker set the camera up in his garden and exposed the film from longest day to shortest day to get the maximum spread of the sun's path.

Over six months the 57-year-old captured the black and white image using an observatory he built at the end of his garden, in the New Forest.The professor of electronics at Southampton University set the camera up on June 21 to December 21 at his home in Brockenhurst, Hants.The pinhole image 'burns' itself into the paper over the six months of exposure time meaning you don't need to develop the photographic paper.After removing the photographic paper from the pinhole camera it's essential to quickly get it into a digital scanner to 'lift' the image off the paper.

Review 2011

It was a turbulent and tumultuous year and as it comes to a close, Christiane Amanpour looks back on the stories that defined 2011.

Whether in a helicopter flying high above Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami, interviewing President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt or Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, Christiane Amanpour was a firsthand witness to the news breaking around the world.

From the instability of the European financial markets to the worldwide protests that began in the Middle East and to Wall Street and Moscow, much of the tension from 2011 will reverberate into the New Year.

With mixed emotions the United States mourned the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 and celebrated the elimination of Osama Bin Laden. And as the American war in Iraq came to an unceremonious end, soldiers continue to fight in Afghanistan....

why the world will end in 2012 ?

There has been a lot of speculation on the supposed end of the world in 2012.

But why??

Some of the reasons could be:-
Global Warming

Scientists have been telling us about the ill-effects of global warming and Al Gore and Leo Di Caprioalso sent us constant reminders of how we should try and use less water and use eco-friendly substances etc. But did we try to effectively follow their advice ?

Constant Catastrophes - (God's Revenge?)

Well, with over a hundred earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, terror attacks, hailstorms, floods, volcanic eruptions, landslides, etc we have a "titanic" reason to worry...

Worldwide Mess

This translates to the major social, political and economic mess that's going on all over the world. Some of the major events that have shook the world and also claimed lives are the Egyptian Revolution, the Libyan Civil War, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, London Riots etc, apart from many other revolutionary movements in various other countries all of which are  indicative of something larger that might be in store for us.

Astrological Predictions
( What! Your doubt our Jyotish Shastra !)

 The world is indeed going to end according to the predictions made by Mayan astrologers, Hindu mythology, the Bible and Nostradamus. All of them suggest the same fate for 2012 i.e. the beginning of the end of the world. The predictions of Nostradamus were accurate with respect to the London Fire of 1966, the II World War and 9/11.

Legendary Deaths - Everybody Important is Dead

2011 is already ending on a mournful note since it has seen the death of a lot of influential personalities. A number of our loved celebs left this world. Steve Jobs died, so did Tiger Pataudi and Amy Winehouse and Dev Anand and Jagjit Singh and Elizabeth Taylor and many others. 

NASA Findings

A few years back leaks had been found in the earth's magnetic poles giving rise to speculations that it would lead to some massive upheaval on the planet. This year again, reports have flown about the shift in the earth poles which gives some reason to believe in the theory. 

-( compiled from MensXP.com and other internet references)

Conjoined Twins ( Siamese twins )

(A painting of Chang and Eng Bunker, circa 1836)

Conjoined twins  are identical twins whose bodies are joined together since birth. It is a rare phenomenon. The occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births.

Two contradicting theories exist to explain the origins of conjoined twins. The older theory is fission, in which the fertilized egg splits partially. The second theory is of fusion, in which a fertilized egg completely separates, but stem cells (which search for similar cells) find like-stem cells on the other twin and fuse the twins together. 

The most famous pair of conjoined twins was Chang and Eng Bunker(1811–1874) shown in the picture above. They were born in Siam, now Thailand. They traveled with P.T. Barnum's circus for many years and were billed as the Siamese Twins. Due to the brothers' fame and the rarity of the condition, the term "Siamese twins" came to be used as a synonym for conjoined twins.

The earliest known documented case of conjoined twins dates from the year 942, when a pair of conjoined twin brothers from Armenia were brought to Constantinople for medical evaluation.

Conjoined twins are typically classified by the point at which their bodies are joined. The most common types of conjoined twins are:

• Thoraco-omphalopagus : Two bodies fused from the upper chest to the lower chest. These twins usually share a heart, and may also share the liver or part of the digestive system.
• Thoracopagus :Two bodies fused from the upper thorax to lower belly. The heart is always involved in these cases.
• Omphalopagus : Two bodies fused at the lower chest. Unlike thoracopagus, the heart is never involved in these cases; however, the twins often share a liver, digestive system, diaphragmand other organs.
• Parasitic twins : Twins that are asymmetrically conjoined, resulting in one twin that is small, less formed, and dependent on the larger twin for survival.
• Craniopagus : Fused skulls, but separate bodies. These twins can be conjoined at the back of the head, the front of the head, or the side of the head, but not on the face or the base of the skull.

Surgery can be tried to separate conjoined twins which may range from relatively simple to extremely complex, depending on the point of attachment and the internal parts that are shared. In many cases, the surgery results in the death of one or both of the twins, particularly if they are joined at the head. 

Recent successful separations of conjoined twins include that of the separation of Ganga & Jamuna Shreshta in 2001, who were born in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2000. The 97 hour surgery on the pair of craniopagus twins was a landmark one which took place in Singapore; the team was led by neurosurgeons, Dr. Chumpon Chan and Dr. Keith Goh. Ganga Shrestha died at the Model Hospital in Katmandu in July 2009, at the age of 8, three days after being admitted for treatment of a severe chest infection.

In 2003 two women from Iran, Ladan and Laleh Bijani, who were joined at the head but had separate brains (craniopagus) were surgically separated in Singapore, despite surgeons' warnings that the operation could be fatal to one or both. Both women died during surgery on July 8, 2003.

A case of particular interest was that of Rosie and Gracie Attard, two conjoined twins from Malta who were separated by court order in Great Britain over the religious objections of their parents, Michaelangelo and Rina Attard. The surgery took place in November, 2000, at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester. The operation was controversial because Rosie, the weaker twin, would die as a result of the procedure as her heart and lungs were dependent upon Gracie's.However, if the operation had not taken place, it was certain that both twins would die.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

was browsing through youtube when i stumbled upon this song. reminded me of my own childhood days and all those innocent dreams.
oh! those childhood days.....
miss them so much. sometimes wish, if i could just go back just even for a few moments....

the song:
Star Light, Star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Catch a falling star tonight.
Try and catch a shooting star
make a wish with all your heart
The stars shine brightly for you
And may all your wishes come true

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are

Try and catch a shooting star
Make a wish with all your heart
The stars shine brightly for you
and may all your wishes come true
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world you shine,
Like a night light in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are

Star Light, Star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Catch a falling star tonight.
Try and catch a shooting star
make a wish with all your heart
The stars shine brightly for you
And may all your wishes come true

Google Easter Egg: Snow on Google

Simply search for "Let it Snow" and watch snowing live on Google.com. Write on the frost then defrost.

facebook vs orkut

found this funny picture depicting the rise and fall of the two very popular social networking sites....

Girl run over by SUV escapes

A girl, who had stopped in the middle of a street, is run over by a car in Wenzhou, eastern China.

In these pictures made from the video footage released on December 13, 2011 you can see the five-year-old girl as she is run over by the vehicle.

She was later taken to the hospital where it was declared that she suffered only minor injuries.

:-)

-(REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV)

exams and authors....:)

Poonam Pandey latest (Double Treat 219)

Poonam Pandey, born 11 March 1991, is an Indian model and a self-proclaimed cricket fan.

Poonam Pandey is the Kingfisher Calendar girl for year 2011.

when she offered to strip naked in front of the stadium crowd if India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup. A complaint of obscenity was lodged against her at Kotwali Dehat police station on the direction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Balrampur, India. The Bharatiya Janata Party Women's Wing also filed a police complaint against her in Mumbai.

She didn't go through with her offer of stripping citing lack of permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. She is quoted in an IANS interview stating that the stripping comment worked for her and helped her in getting famous.

It is reported that she also posted a hoax video on Twitter and Facebook - which she later clarified was from a photo shoot for a magazine.

During the India v/s England series in September 2011, Poonam Pandey gained further media attention when she posted bikini clad photographs on Twitter. She was tweeted that "“The world will see that I lived up to my inspiration. now, I am sure my team will beat England."

Recently, she announced the launch of her own website with a claim that people from all over the world could see her live 24x7. She claims to have this kind of website as one of a kind in India.

She is also quoted as saying that a "bikini is not vulgar".