25.11.2007

• What is Seigniorage?
• When one of you asked me this question, at first I mistook it for the royalty on sand. When I Googled for an answer, this is what I found on Wikipedia:
• Seigniorage, also spelled seignorage or seigneurage, is the net revenue derived from the issuing of currency. Seigniorage derived from coins arises from the difference between the face value of a coin and the cost of producing, distributing and eventually retiring it from circulation. Seigniorage is an important source of revenue for some national banks. Seigniorage derived from notes is the difference between the interest earned on the government's securities portfolio, and the costs of producing and distributing bank notes.
• Very interesting; know? This was simple in enough in language. Hence I didn’t bother to elaborate it further.
• Kamlesh Sharma is Commonwealth Secretary General
• India’s High Commissioner to UK, was selected to this post by the Commonwealth.
• Tea production
• Just yesterday we noted something about tea production. Today it is reported that we produced about 965 mn kgs of tea and exported 219 mn kgs last year.
• Ever heard about Magitti?
• This is a software being made for mobile phones. This will enable your phone to be aware of your position, preference, time of day and schedule to produce a location specific help, to find out just about whatever you are looking for.
• Sounds like a dream or something out of a sci-fi movie? Well that is what would be staring at us possibly in the year 2009.
• Indian highways and accidents
• An average of 365 accidents happen a day on Indian highways.
• We have a network of 66,590 km of national highways.
• About medical tourism potential and investments
• Our government is making a total investment of about $6.5 bn to encourage the medical tourism industry in the country. This will be used for setting up affordable hospitals and budget hotels for patients’ relatives in the country.
• The size of this industry stands at Rs. 1200 to 1500 crores.
• Some extreme sports
• Are you a sports-loving person? If so one of the following is sure to thrill you; just to know. Imagine the kick when you actually indulge in them!!!
• Pocket bikes
• These are available with 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines with capacities ranging between 47 cc to 100 cc. The power varies between 5 hp to 14 hp.
• These are pint sized variants of the normal bikes; but are used for sport.
• Pocket bike racing is known as Mini-moto or Mini GP racing.
• Cliff jumping
• Jumping from a high cliff into a water body down below.
• Zorbing
• Originated in New Zealand in the early 90’s.
• A zorb is a translucent PVC sphere about 7 feet in radius, inside which two persons are strapped and then rolled downhill.
• Quad bike safari
• Traversing through a desert or mountains on a four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
• Abseiling
• Descending a cliff with a rope.
• Tobogganing or sledging
• Sliding down snowy hillsides on a toboggan, a flat wooden sledge curried up at the front end.
• Kite surfing
• A large power kite propels a rider through the water on a small surfboard.
• Sand boarding
• Like snowboarding, but done on sand. The rider stands on a board and cascades down a sand dune.
• Potholing
• Also called caving, spelunking or speleology, this is essentially exploring caves.
• Shark diving
• Done under expert supervision, this is a real thriller. The diver goes into the sea inside a top open cage while the sharks take a close look.
• What is Black Friday shopping?
• Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season.
• This is when consumers do lot of festive shopping and the stores announce big deals for consumers.
• Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks for the things that one has at the conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada.
• A bit about Timbuktu
• Few places in the world have an air of mystery as alluring as Timbuktu. The name of this city in the West African country of Mali is so wrapped in legend that many people think of Timbuktu as a mythical, timeless land rather than a city with a real history.
• In many cultures, Timbuktu is used in phrases to express great distance and to suggest something beyond a person's experience. Popular sayings such as "I'll knock you clear to Timbuktu" suggest that, for many people, Timbuktu has existed more as an idea of the remote and mysterious than as an actual place.
• Two British environmentalists have started an adventurous journey to this place in a lorry powered by biofuel made from renewable sources, including recycled chocolate.