Age no bar for Learning-C.Aravindhavalli(age 73) finished PhD

Dr.C. Aravindhavalli

Ms.C. Aravindhavalli’s  has just finished her PhD when she is 73 years old.

Her research is on the music of Thirumangai Alvar, the last of the 12 Alvar saints of south India, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism.

Ms. Aravindhavalli, a resident of Triplicane, said, “I married when I was in class IX, and was part of a large, joint family. For many years, I was completely immersed in daily chores.”

Six years ago, when she began to think about re-entering the world of academia, it was not easy. She had completed B.A. in music then. “I had grandchildren to look after and I did not know how it would seem if I attended classes at that age. But then my granddaughter sent me notebooks from Mumbai to encourage me, and I decided to go ahead,” she said.

The septuagenarian attended classes regularly at Queen Mary’s College and finished her M.A. in Vaishnavism. Her guide, K. R. Seethalakshmi, principal, Quaid-E- Millath College for Women recalls, “Her husband came and requested me to convince her to start studying again. But it was easy to get her started as she knew she wanted to focus on the music aspect of the Alvars.”

But then in 2008, Ms. Aravindhavalli’s husband, an LIC agent, passed away, just as she was thinking about beginning her PhD. “It was very difficult convincing her to focus on clearing her registration exam — important because she didn’t have an M.Phil. But she is very hardworking and sincere,” said Prof. Seethalakshmi.

“This has not only helped me overcome my husband’s death but has also made me feel closer to god,” she said.

Aravindhavalli had to give veena recitals as practical performances to finish her PhD. “When I was very young, my mother told me once, never to stop playing the Veena. I am glad I listened to her.”

Her PhD, she said, was a tribute to her father who was a Tamil professor. “This year is his 101st birth anniversary. He has guided many students into finishing their studies. He would be proud of me today.”

“He was a very learned person who also had a very interesting, colourful life. Knowing about the Bhakti cult of that time was like meditation as our family believes follows all vaishnavite traditions, and it made me understand my daily rituals better,” she adds.

She is all set to celebrate it with her grandchildren who are in their twenties.

“They are studying in the US. They are coming here to be with me, to celebrate the fact that their paati has a doctorate now,” she laughed.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/73-yearold-to-get-phd-from-madras-university/article5029862.ece?homepage=true

Dumbest Financial Blunders

 There are many incidents where losses in Financial transactions happen due to some blunders which could have been avoided.

Here are 8 such interesting cases where Financial blunders have occurred due to avoidable mistakes, negligence and ignorance:

1. Banker Falls Asleep on His Keyboard - Transfers $293M

 

Instead of catching some Zs, he lost some $. An unnamed German employee of an unnamed German bank made worldwide headlines when he accidentally transferred 222,222,222.22 Euros ($293 Million) instead of 62.40. What was his reason? He claims that he fell asleep for an instant†while typing the number 2, resulting in the colossal blunder. But it was his supervisor who was reprimanded and sacked. However, the error was quickly corrected, the supervisor eventually got her job back, and hopefully the employee got some rest.

 

2. Woman Throws Away $1 Million Lottery Ticket

 

This is Sharon Jones, who "found" the ticket.

 

Here's a strange story for our Financial Blunder list, and one that has a happy ending. Sharon Duncan purchased a Diamond Dazzler lottery ticket at the Super 1 Stop in the tiny town of Beeb, Arkansas in July 2011. When she scanned it, it did not come up as a winner, and she tossed it in the bin below. Along came Sharon Jones, who combed through the trash, found the discarded ticket, and discovered that it was indeed a $1 million dollar winner. Elated, Jones spent a lot of the money on herself and her children, only to be brought to court by the convenience store manager, who claimed Jones took the ticket from the bin that had a sign saying 'Do Not Take' When Duncan got wind of it, she joined the suit, claiming that she was misled by the scanner reading and deserved the winnings. A judge and jury debated the matter and returned the decision in Duncan's favor, meaning that Jones would have to return the money she spent. Jones appealed, but before the case could go back to the courts the parties settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

 

3. PayPal Accidentally Puts $92 Quadrillion in a Man's Account

 

"We regret to inform you of our grievous error."

 

Pennsylvania resident Chris Reynolds opened his monthly PayPal statement in his email to find a balance of $92,233,720,368,547,800. He was stunned, and posted a photo of the document for his friends to see on Facebook. But before he could go on a spending spree, PayPal recognized their error and took back the gargantuan sum. As a kind gesture, the company made a modest donation to an undisclosed charity of Reynolds' choice.

 

4. Fed Spends $120 Million Due to a Printing Glitch

 

Talk about a printer jam; It turns out there was a problem with the new $100 bills that were being printed by the US Treasury... a $120 million dollar problem. Originally scheduled to be issued in 2011, these new high-security C-Notes were announced with big fanfare. However, as the the first billion notes rolled off the presses, it was discovered that sporadic creasing of the paper had caused a small sliver on some of the bills to be printed incorrectly. This glitch caused a 2-year delay in the release of the new bills as they sorted the good from the bad, costing $120 million extra... at the US taxpayers' expense, of course!

 

5. 12-Year-Old Misspells a Word on Jeopardy! and Loses $3000

 

Alex Trebek said it was "badly misspelled."

 

It seems like a pretty innocent mistake, given the age and the circumstances. Nonetheless, Thomas Hurley III's misspelled answer for Final Jeopardy! cost him the $3000 wager. The correct written response to the answer was What is the Emancipation Proclamation? (Jeopardy! contestants must guess the correct question), but Hurley spelled it Emanciptation Proclamation [sic] and host Alex Trebek and the show judges deemed it incorrect. ABC producers responded to the decision by saying, "If Jeopardy! were to give credit for an incorrect response (however minor), the show would effectively penalize the other players. Still, that doesn't sit well with a lot of people who felt Trebek and company cheated a little boy out of his hard-earned cash.

 

6. Bank of America Glitch Allows a Gambler to Withdraw (and Lose) $1.5 Million

 

In a situation similar to a drug addict being allowed unlimited access to crack cocaine, retired Flint Michigan autoworker Ronald Paige discovered that he was able to withdraw vast sums of money from Bank of America ATMs. For 14 days, Paige was able to withdraw - and subsequently gamble away - the bank's money due to a glitch in their ATMs at several casinos in the area. During his almost non-stop spree (he went 36 hours without sleep) he had withdrawn $1,543,100. Paige was completely apologetic. Nonetheless, he was sentenced to 15 days in prison and ordered to repay the $1.5 million in installments from his $2000 monthly pension.

 

7. Woman Sells a $20 Jacket with $18,000 Diamond Earrings in the Pocket

 

This is Dori Rhodes before her $18k mistake.

 

Talk about regrets... Huntington Beach resident Dori Rhodes donated items to a community yard sale on May 18, 2013, thinking she was getting rid of things she no longer used or needed. Well, it turns out that one of the items she gave them - a denim jacket that sold for $20 - had a couple of extra surprises in the pockets. She forgot that she used the old denim jacket, which hung in the back of her closet, as a de-facto safe to keep valuables and money. Not only was there a pair of $18,000 diamond earrings, but there was also a $1500 ring that her husband had given her. Of course, she is devastated by the error, and is hoping that the stranger who purchased the jacket returns the valuable items. So far, she's had no luck.

 

8. Woman Loses 1400 British Pounds by Entering the Wrong Digit

 

It may seem like a small amount of money (@$2200 US), but it underscores a common problem in the banking industry. Inadvertent mistakes by people using online banking can lead to financial pain. In this particular case, a woman from South Wales attempted to move 100,000 Pounds from one Nationwide Bank account to another, and mistakenly typed in one wrong digit of her 8-digit account. When the money didn't show up a few days later, she contacted the bank and was eventually able to recover 98,600 of it, but 1,400 was deemed irretrievable because it would push the other customer into their overdraft, according to the Mail UK. The larger problem is exposed and discussed in a lengthy article, which estimates that millions of pounds are lost every year in similar mishaps. 

Bottom line: 

Be careful what you type when transferring your money.

Benefits of eating Yogurt

Yogurt or yoghurt or yoghourt (/ˈjoʊɡərt/ or /ˈjɒɡərt/; other spellings listed below) is a fermented milk product (soy milk, nut milks such as almond milk, andcoconut milk can also be used) produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as "yogurt cultures". Fermentation oflactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and its characteristic tang

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt

How Yogurt and Curd are prepared?

Yogurt:

Yogurt is a dairy product commonly used in the Americas, UK and Europe. Typically, yoghurt refers to culture of live bacteria – Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus – in liquid milk to metabolize the lactose or milk sugar present in the milk. This leads to production of lactic acid in the milk , the end product being yogurt.

Curd:

This is pretty much a homemade version of yogurt. There is no major nutritional difference between curd and yogurt except for the fat. In our country curd and yogurt are used interchangeably. However, this version of yogurt is made at home by allowing milk to naturally ferment using a starter culture of left over curd.

Differences between Yogurt and Curd:

• Yogurt is an industrial product whereas curd can be prepared at home.
• Fat free yogurts are available nowadays but curds which we get in Indian market are not fat free but can be low fat.
• One can find flavored yogurts in stores whereas curd is generally not flavored.
• Also, curds are made from buffalo and cow’s milk whereas yogurt can be made from different kinds of milk.
• Yogurt can be stored for 15 days without spoilage but curd may spoil within 3-4 days as it will get sour if stored for longer duration.
• It has a different texture & taste. Curd has a clean buttery flavor as its not completely fat free.
• The most important difference between curd and yogurt is the cost at which they are available in the stores. Yogurt is much expensive as compared to curd and is not something which is affordable to all on daily bases. Instead people may have homemade curd from cows or buffalo’s milk as its nutritive value is almost similar.

- See more at: http://www.justforhearts.org/yogurt-vs- curd/#sthash.gwdI81gU.dpuf

This article would sure convince us to make the habit of eating yogurt every day. It is worth to share this article to your loved ones. 

"A cup of yoghurt a day... is a way of keeping the doctor away."

Research proves that yogurt is not just a food Accompaniment, a dessert, or merely a diet food. There is growing Evidence to show that it is packed with microscopic warriors - Beneficial bacteria that are essential for good health. It is also a nutritional goldmine.

According to the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, a cup of yoghurt (250 mg) contains 370 mg of calcium (compare that with 300 mg in 250 ml of milk). This is 30-40 per cent of most adults' daily needs. 

Besides, at eight grams of protein per cup, yoghurt meets 20-25 per cent of an adult's average daily needs. It is also a good source of Vitamin B (including folacin) and phosphorus. And, a cup of yoghurt contains 250 mg of potassium - almost as much as a banana does.

"If you want to have your own stockpile of B vitamins without having to buy them, eat yoghurt.  By a strange chemistry, it sets up an efficient little factory in the intestinal tract and manufactures B vitamins for you," says Pratima Kaushik, chief dietician at the Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Delhi.  

Yoghurt also provides lactic acid, which aids protein, calcium, and iron assimilation. For those on a low-calorie diet, yoghurt is a boon in any case. "Easily available anywhere, it is a snack that tastes great at any time of the day; it is low in calories and can be sufficiently filling when combined with a high-fibre vegetable or fruit," says Dr Shikha Sharma of Clinic de Rejuvenation, Delhi.  The benefits of yoghurt go beyond its nutritional value and low-calorie appeal.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in an article published in 2000, says, "Increased yoghurt consumption may enhance the immune response, which would in turn increase resistance to immune-related diseases."  

In addition, yoghurt plays an important role in restoring the digestive tract to its normal condition after a course of antibiotics. "The drugs often wipe out every bacterium in their path, good and bad, altering the natural balance of the digestive tract. When harmful bacteria dominate the intestine, essential nutrients are not produced and the levels of damaging substances like carcinogens and toxins rise. By killing the harmful `bugs', Yoghurt helps maintain a healthy balance of intestinal bacteria," Says Dr Mridula Chichra, a Delhi-based gynaecologist. In the Indian context particularly, doctors and practitioners of alternative medicine often recommend yoghurt to patients recovering from diarrhea, and help ease other intestinal tract ailments.

 Elixir for women

Women stand to benefit immensely from yoghurt. For instance, women are often prone to vaginal candidosis, which causes itching and possibly a thick, white discharge.  The risk of this infection increases during pregnancy, diabetes or when a woman is on birth control pills. "Eating yoghurt that contains natural bacteria and yeasts helps re-establish the Equilibrium," says Pratima.   A study conducted by E. Hilton et al (Annals of Internal Medicine) in 1992 found that yoghurt consumption decreased vaginal infections three-fold. "A particular feature of vaginal infection is the reduction or absence of lactobacilli in the vaginal flora. Yoghurt is full of lactobacilli, hence the logic in its use," explains Dr Mridula.

Then of course, there is osteoporosis, especially in women. Studies have shown that most people consume far less calcium than the recommended daily levels, which could cause osteoporosis. While there are many calcium supplements that are not readily or effectively absorbed, yoghurt provides an excellent source of easily absorbed calcium. That's not all. Daily consumption of yoghurt also helps improve complexion, making it more radiant.

A word of caution, though. The fruited varieties of yoghurt are high in calories, even though it has a low-fat profile. "The jams and fruit   concoctions added for flavour can dump in as much as seven teaspoons of sugar per cup and more than double the calories. So go easy on these, particularly when calories are a concern," says Dr Shikha. If you want a fruit flavour but do not want to lose out on calcium or gain calories, mix chopped fruit with yoghurt. You'll get all the calcium, and also the extra vitamins and fibre from the fruit.

However, to be effective, yoghurt must contain sufficient amount of`live' lactic cultures, meaning it must be `fresh'.

Make it at home, is Dr Shikha's advice. Or, when buying it, look for packing as close to the date of manufacture as possible to get maximum beneficial bacteria. She adds, "Always keep it cold, as the helpful bacteria in yoghurt cannot withstand high temperatures.