11.11.2007

• Companies are looking at virtualization to cut IT costs and cope with increasing workloads
• Increasing workloads are a phenomenon witnessed typically by web sites like www.cricinfo.com which see tremendous increase in traffic on specific days – say when a cricket match is going on. But such traffic is transient and will not be there in the following days. It doesn’t make sense to invest in a permanent increase in IT infrastructure to meet such transient jumps in traffic. So what do they do? Go virtual.
• But what is virtualization? It refers to the techniques that help extract the most out of the computing resources. It does this by making a single physical resource like a server, an operating system appear to function as multiple logical resources.
• Highest polling stations in India
• Ladakh (J&K) is the country’s highest polling station (17000 ft above sea level). It is followed by Hikkem in the Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh at about 15,000 feet from the sea level.
• Mr. Noriaki Kano
• He is a Professor Emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science. He is the 1997 recipient of the Individual Deming prize.
• He is best known for the product development model he developed in the 1980’s, popularly known as the Kano Model. It classifies customer preferences into five categories and offers insights into the product attributes perceived to be important to customers.
• Private airlines not happy with the proposed ground handling policy
• The proposed policy allows only three agencies in ground handling at the airports – the airport operator, subsidiary companies of Air India, Indian or their joint ventures, and any other ground handling service provider selected through competitive bidding on a revenue sharing basis. This will be effective January 1, 2009.
• Ground handling work includes two basic activities – passenger handling at the land side and ramp, including loading and unloading of aircraft and aircraft handling.
• The airlines want to handle all the activities involving customer interface to be within their hands instead of hiving to off to third parties.
• About Polo
• India is considered the cradle of modern Polo. Babar the Mughal emperor of the 15^th century has established the sport’s popularity.
• But the sport saw a decline following the death of Sawai Man Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur who died while playing in England in 1970. By the mid-eighties it has seen its nadir.
• The turning point came in 1987 with the arrival on the scene of Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur, who promoted it.
• A thoroughbred horse costs about Rs. 4 lakhs to own and another Rs. 2 lakhs per annum to maintain. Each player needs to maintain about 6 or more horses!!
• Bungee jumping
• This sport originated in New Zealand and was made commercially successful by A.J. Hackett. His was the original bungee jump from Greenhithe, Auckland.
• The first modern bungee jump was made on April 1, 1979 from the 250 ft Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol by four members of the Dangerous Sports Club. The jumpers were arrested shortly after. But by 1982 they were jumping from cranes and hot air balloons and putting on commercial displays.
• Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper
• This famous painting was painted from 1494 to 1498 in Milan’s Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. It depicts a key moment in the Gospel narrative: Jesus’ last meal with the 12 Apostles before his arrest and crucifixion, and the shock of Christ’s followers as they learn that one of them is about to betray him.
• World Bank to replicate Bhutan’s GNH model
• Bhutan’s unique concept of Gross National Happiness to measure a country’s wealth is now being adopted by World Bank as opposed to the measure of GDP alone.
• The policy of GNH was decreed by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck to try and reflect the true quality of life in a more holistic manner.
• Norman Mailer, the two-time Pulitzer winner dies at 84
• Hailed as the macho prince of American letters and author of such books as “The Naked and the Dead”, he was credited for insight, passion and originality.
• Difference between a tortoise and a turtle?
• Tortoise’s body is enclosed in a hard shell. Turtles are fresh water or marine reptiles whose body is protected by a shell. When in danger, a tortoise withdraws its head and limbs into the shell. Turtles cannot retract their head into their shells. Tortoises are herbivores and do not have teeth. Turtles are omnivorous. Tortoises lay eggs in warm earth and are not incubated by the mother. Turtles lay eggs often on beaches where they are born. Turtles are excellent swimmers, having legs that resemble oar-like flippers. Tortoises do not swim.
• 2^nd Asian Ministerial meet on Disaster Risk Reduction
• Held in Delhi, it has adopted 26 action points.
• The declaration called for taking action along the Hyogo framework.
• The biennial conference which started in Beijing in 2005 is to be expanded into a regional platform for disaster risk reduction.
• The conference will be held once in two years by rotation in different Asian countries to review the action taken by the national governments and other stakeholders for implementing the Hyogo framework.
• The next conference will be held in Kuala Lumpur.
• This is the best place to know about the Darfur crisis in Sudan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3496731.stm