Japanese Ama Divers

Japanese tradition holds that the practice of ama may be 2,000 years old. Traditionally, and even as recently as the 1960s, ama dived wearing only a loincloth. Even in modern times, ama dive without scuba gear or air tanks, making them a traditional sort of free-diver.

They are topless because they stay down for two minutes at a time without modern diving gear. It's much easier to swim deep for hours with less clothes than more clothes. It's also traditional. This isn't like western topless beaches. Going topless here is for practical work efficiency. These days the Ama use wetsuits and masks. Virtually all Ama are very old now and few remain. 

90 Ganapati specials on Konkan Railway

Central Railway has decided to run 52 Reserved Special Trains and 38 Unreserved Special Trains during the ensuing Ganpati Festival to clear the extra rush of Passengers. The details are as under –

A) RESERVED SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN MUMBAI – MADGAON (28 Services)

01033 Special will leave Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai at 00.20 hrs for Six days (except Thursday) from 26.8.2014 to 10.9.2014 (14 trips) and will reach Madgaon at 14.10 hrs same day.

01034 Special will leave Madgaon at 14.40 hrs (Except Thursday) from 26.8.2014 to 10.9.2014 (14 trips) and will arrive Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai at 04.35 hrs next day.

HALTS: Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Veer, Khed, Chiplun, Savarde, Aravali Road, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Adavali, Vilawade, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Nandgaon Road, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal, Zarap, Sawantwadi Road, Madure, Pernem, Thivim and Karmali.

COMPOSITION: One AC-2 Tier, Two AC-3 Tier, 10 Sleeper class, 3 General Second Class and 2 General Second Class cum Guard’s Brake Vans

B) RESERVED SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS – KARMALI (Goa) (6 SERVICES)

01039 Special will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 13.00 hrs o­n 25.8.2014, 1.9.2014 and 8.9.2014 (3 Trips) and will arrive Karmali at 01.40 hrs next day.

01040 Special will leave Karmali at 10.00 hrs o­n 26.8.2014, 2.9.2014 and 9.9.2014 (3 Trips) and will arrive Lokmanya Tilak Temrinus at 23.15 hrs same day.

HALTS: Thane, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Veer, Khed, Chiplun, Savarde, Aravali Road, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Adavali, Vilawade, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Nandgaon Road, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal, Zarap, Sawantwadi Road, Madure, Pernem and Thivim.

COMPOSITION: One AC-2 Tier, o­ne AC-3 Tier, 13 Sleeper class, 5 General Second Class and 2 General Second Class cum Guard’s Brake Vanss.

C) RESERVED SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN MUMBAI AND KARMALI (Goa) (10 SERVICES)

01041 Bi-weekly Special will leave Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai at 12.50 hrs o­n every Tuesday & Saturday o­n 26th , 30th August, 2nd, 6th and 9th September 2014 (5 Trips) and will arrive Karmali at 01.40 hrs next day.

01042 Bi-weekly Special will leave Karmali at 10.00 hrs o­n every Wednesday& Sunday o­n 27th, 31st August, 3rd, 7th and 10th September 2014 (5 Trips) and will arrive Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai at 23.20 hrs same day.

HALTS: Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Roha (for 01041 o­nly), Mangaon, Veer, Khed, Chiplun, Savarde, Aravali Road, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Adavali, Vilawade, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Nandgaon Road, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal, Zarap, Sawantwadi Road, Madure, Pernem and Thivim.

COMPOSITION: One First AC cum AC-2 Tier, o­ne AC-2 Tier, Two AC-3 Tier, 12 Sleeper class, 5 General Second Class and 2 General Second Class cum Guard’s Brake Vanss

D) RESERVED WEEKLY SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS AND KARMALI (6 SERVICES)

01043 Weekly Special will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 13.00 hrs o­n o­n 28.8.2014, 4.9.2014 and 11.9.2014 (3 Trips) and will arrive Karmali at 01.40 hrs next day.

01044 Weekly Special will leave Karmali at 10.00 hrs o­n 29.8.2014, 5.9.2014 and 12.9.2014 (3 Trips) and will arrive Lokmanya Tilak Temrinus at 23.15 hrs same day.

HALTS: Thane, Panvel, Roha (for 01043 o­nly), Mangaon, Veer, Khed, Chiplun, Savarde, Aravali Road, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Adavali, Vilawade, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Nandgaon Road, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal, Zarap, Sawantwadi Road, Madure, Pernem and Thivim.

COMPOSITION: One AC-2 Tier, Two AC-3 Tier, 7 Sleeper class, 6 General Second Class and 2 General Second Class cum Guard’s Brake Vanss.

E) UNRESERVED SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS AND RATNAGIRI (20 Services)

01037 Unreserved Special will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 01.00 hrs o­n 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31.8.2014 & 2, 5, 7, 9 and 12.9.2014 (10 trips) and will arrive Ratnagiri at 09.05 hrs same day.

01038 Unreserved Special will leave Ratnagiri at 11.30 hrs o­n 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31.8.2014 & 2, 5, 7, 9 and 12.9.2014 (10 trips) and will arrive Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 19.20 hrs Same day.

HALTS: Thane, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Veer, Khed, Chiplun, Savarde, Aravali Road and Sangameshwar.

COMPOSITION: 12 Unreserved Second Seating, 4 General Second Class and 2 General Second Class cum Guard’s brake Vanss.

F) UNRESERVED SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN DADAR AND SAWANTWADI ROAD (TRI-WEEKLY) (18 Services)

01003 Unreserved Tri-Weekly Special will leave Dadar at 07.50 hrs (Sunday, Tuesday and Friday) from 24.8.2014 to 12.9.2014 (9 trips) and will arrive Sawantwadi Road at 20.30 hrs same day.

01004 Unreserved Tri-weekly Special will leave Sawantwadi Road at 04.50 hrs (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday) from 25.8.2014 to 13.9.2014 (9 trips) and will arrive Dadar at 16.10 hrs same day.

HALTS: Thane, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Veer, Khed, Chiplun, Savarde, Aravali Road, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Adavali, Vilawade, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Nandgaon Road, Kankavli, Sindhudurg, Kudal and Zarap

COMPOSITION: 7 Unreserved Second Class Seating, 4 General Second Class and 2 General Second Class cum Guard’s brake Vans

G) RESERVED SPECIALS BETWEEN MUMBAI AND KOLHAPUR (2 Services)

01205 Special will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 16.40 hrs o­n 28.8.2014 and arrive Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (Kolhapur) at 04.35 hrs next day.

01206 Special will leave Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (Kolhapur) at 09.05 hrs o­n 29.8.2014 and arrive Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 23.55 hrs same day.

HALTS: Thane, Kalyan, Lonavala, Pune, Satara, Karad, Sangli and Miraj.

COMPOSITION: o­ne AC-2 Tier, Two AC-3 Tier, 13 Sleeper Class, 3 General Second Class, 2 General Second Class cum Guard’s Brake van.

RESERVATION: Booking Opening Date for all Reserved Special Trains will be announced later.

10 Electric Bikes made by car companies

Here is a list of 10 electric bikes made by car companies, placed in the order in which they are likely to come to market. The higher they are on this list, the more of a chance they have of being shelved, never to be ridden by the masses.

http://www.electricbike.com/auto/

AAP ki khatir

The one successful strategy seems working for AAP is using the media to hog the limelight and keep the screen presence, which is very important for urban Indian folks.  All their protests and agitations are targeted at electronic media, and here the former journalists in their think tank seems playing a important role.

But the social media, which is very much dependent upon electronic media is dual edged sword, as it makes images it breaks them very fast.  It is working against them in this regard, as the congregation of political left outs join AAP, they bring in different characters and amalgamation of which makes AAP loose its character.

Utter lack of vision and ideology in Arvind Kejriwal, makes the AAP vulnerable to anarchist ideas spawn by various leaders of the party. Already the civil society has lost faith in AAP and which will cascade to common man which the party targets to make its future.

कोकण रेल्वे मार्गावर धावणार डबल डेकर

कोकण रेल्वे मार्गावर बहुचर्चित डबल डेकर ट्रेन काही कालावधीत धावण्याची शक्‍यता निर्माण झाली आहे. या ट्रेनला भायखळा येथील बोगद्याचा अडथळा ठरण्याची शक्‍यता होती; पण सुरक्षा तपासणीत तो अडसर दूर झाला आहे. आता ही गाडी प्रत्यक्ष रेल्वे मार्गावर धावण्याला रेल्वे बोर्डाच्या ग्रीन सिग्नलची प्रतीक्षा आहे.

भारतीय रेल्वेमध्ये मुंबई ते बडोदा अशी डबल डेकर ट्रेन गेली काही वर्षे धावत आहे. या मार्गावर ही गाडी फारशी फायदेशीर ठरत नसल्याने ती मुंबई ते मडगाव अशी सोडण्याचा निर्णय रेल्वे प्रशासनाने घेतला होता. सीएसटी ते मडगाव आणि मडगाव ते सीएसटी अशा पूर्णत: वातानुकूलित गाडीचा मार्ग निश्‍चित करण्यात आला; मात्र सुरक्षा चाचणीत ही गाडी कितपत यशस्वी होईल याबाबत साशंकता होती. त्याबाबत अनेक प्रश्‍नही निर्माण झाले होते. कोकण रेल्वे मार्गावर अनेक बोगदे असल्यामुळे त्या बोगद्यांतून ही डबल डेकर एसी एक्‍स्प्रेस जाऊ शकेल की नाही याबाबतही साशंकता होती. याखेरीज ठाण्याजवळील पारसिक आणि भायखळा येथील बोगद्यातून डबल डेकर सुटण्यात तांत्रिक अडचणींचा सामना करावा लागण्याची शक्‍यता होती; परंतु याबाबतच्या चाचण्या पूर्ण झाल्या असून सुरक्षाविषयक कोणतेच मुद्दे शिल्लक राहिले नसल्याची माहिती रेल्वे अधिकाऱ्यांकडून देण्यात आली. आता तांत्रिक अडचणी सुटल्याने ही गाडी प्रत्यक्षात धावण्यासाठी रेल्वे बोर्डाच्या मंजुरीची प्रतीक्षा आहे.

देशात गोवा राज्यात पर्यटकांचा सर्वाधिक ओघ असतो. यात देशभरातील पर्यटक थेट मुंबईत येतात आणि तेथून गोव्यात उतरतात. या प्रवाशांसाठी डबल डेकर गाडी सोडण्याचा प्रस्ताव रेल्वे प्रशासनाने बोर्डाकडे ठेवला होता. त्यानुसार गेले दोन महिने या डबल डेकर एसी गाडीची चाचणी सीएसटी ते पनवेल अशी केली जात होती. या सर्व चाचण्यांत ही गाडी यशस्वी ठरल्याने कोकण रेल्वे मार्गावर डबल डेकर एसी ट्रेन धावण्याची शक्‍यता निर्माण झाली आहे.
सीएसटी ऐवजी लोकमान्य टिळक मुंबईतील सीएसटी स्थानकावर वाहतुकीचा मोठा ताण आहे. दादर आणि ठाणे टर्मिनसवरही तशीच परिस्थिती असल्याने एसी डबल डेकर ट्रेन सीएसटी ऐवजी लोकमान्य टिळक टर्मिनस ते मडगाव अशी सोडण्याचा विचार केला जात आहे.

via esakal.com

Holi special trains on konkan railway

Good news for passengers !! To cater to the rush of passengers going to Konkan region for Holi festival, it has been decided to run following special trains via Konkan Railway route.

Train no. 01001 / 01002 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) – Karmali – LTT (AC) Reserved special train :

Train no. 01001 will depart from LTT on 13/3/2014 and on 20/3/2014 at 0055 hrs and reach Karmali at 1100 hrs on same day.

Train no. 01002 will depart from Karmali on 13/3/2014 and 20/3/2014 at 1400 hrs and reach LTT at 0020 hrs next day.The train will halt at Thane, Panvel, Roha, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Kankavali, and Kudal. It will have 15 coaches.

Train no. 01005 / 01006 CSTM – Madgaon - CSTM Reserved special train :

Train no. 01005 will depart from CSTM on 14/3/2014 at 0020 hrs and reach Madgaon at 1240 hrs on same day. Train no. 01006 will depart from Madgaon on 14/3/2014 at 1330 hrs and reach CSTM at 2355 hrs same day. The train will halt at Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Roha, Khed, Chiplun, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Rajapur, Kankavali, Kudal, Sawantwadi, and Thivim. It will have 23 coaches.

Train no. 01003 / 01004 Dadar – Sawantwadi – Dadar Unreserved special train :

Train no. 01003 will depart from Dadar on 14th, 16th, and 18th March, 2014 at 0750 hrs and reach Sawantwadi at 1920 hrs on same day. Train no. 01004 will depart from Sawantwadi on 15th, 17th, and 19th March, 2014 at 0610 hrs and reach Dadar at 1610 hrs same day. The train will halt at Thane, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Khed, Chiplun, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Adavali, Rajapur, Vaibhavwadi, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, and Kudal. It will have 12 coaches.

Via Konkanrailway.com

Summer specials on konkan railway

उन्हाळी सुट्ट्यांमध्ये होणारी गर्दी लक्षात घेऊन कोकणवासीयांना जादा 'एसी' एक्स्प्रेस गाड्यांचा फायदा घेता येणार आहे. उन्हाळी सुट्ट्यांमध्ये ३ एप्रिल ते ५ जून कालावधीत मुंबई ते करमाळी एसी एक्स्प्रेसच्या जादा २० गाड्या सोडण्यात येणार आहेत. त्यासह मुंबई-जनशताब्दी एक्स्प्रेसवर जादा डबे जोडण्यात येणार आहेत.
उन्हाळी सुट्ट्यांमधील गर्दीवर तोडगा काढण्यासाठी कोकण रेल्वेवर २० जादा 'एसी' स्पेशल एक्स्प्रेस सोडण्यात येणार आहे. ही एसी स्पेशल एक्स्प्रेस ३ एप्रिल ते ५ जूनपर्यंत दर गुरुवारी लोकमान्य टिळक टर्मिनस (एलटीटी)वरून सुटणार आहे. ही गाडी मध्यरात्री १२.५५ वाजता सुटणार असून करमाळीस सकाळी ११ वाजता पोहोचेल.
परतीच्या मार्गावर दर गुरुवारी दुपारी २ वाजता सुटणार असून एलटीटीला मध्यरात्री १२.२० वाजता पोहोचणार आहे. या गाडीस ठाणे, पनवेल, रोहा, चिपळूण, रत्नागिरी, कणकवली, कुडाळ असे थांबे देण्यात आले आहेत. या गाडीला एक एसी फर्स्ट क्लास, तीन एसी-टू टायर, आठ एसी थ्री टायर, पँट्री कार डबे असतील.
जनशताब्दीस जादा डबे
दादर-मडगाव-दादर जनशताब्दी एक्स्प्रेसला १ मार्च ते ३१ मार्च या कालावधीत जादा डबे जोडण्यात येणार आहेत. त्यात दोन अतिरिक्त सेकंड क्लास चेअर कार आणि एक अतिरिक्त एसी चेअर कारचा समावेश आहे.

via Maharashtra Times

In future, batteries may run on sugar ...

Scientists have developed a new biodegradable battery that runs on sugar and can work for long hours without charging.

In as soon as three years, the new battery could be running some of the cell phones, tablets, video games, and the myriad other electronic gadgets that require power, researchers said.

The battery developed by a Virginia Tech research team has an unmatched energy density, a development that could replace conventional batteries with ones that are cheaper, refillable, and biodegradable.

While other sugar batteries have been developed, this one has an energy density an order of magnitude higher than others, allowing it to run longer before needing to be refuelled, YH Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, said.   More from Times of India - Tech        

Epic 27 year war that saved Hinduism in India

Good analytical observations about post Shivaji-Sambhaji Maratha-Mogul war for supremacy in south India.

"In this war, Aurangzeb’s army totaled more than 500,000 in number (compared to total Maratha army in the ballpark of 150,000). With him he carried huge artillery, cavalry, muskettes, ammunition and giant wealth from royal treasuries to support this quest. This war by no means a fair game when numbers are considered.

The main features of Aurangzeb’s strategy were :-
Use of overwhelming force to demoralize the enemy -
This tactic had proved successful in Aurangzeb’s other missions. Thus he used this even in Maharashtra. On several occasions giant Mughal contigents were used to lay siege to a fort or capture a town.

Meticulously planned sieges to the forts -
Aurangzeb knew that the forts in Sahyadri formed backbone of Maratha defense. His calculation was to simply lay tight siege to the fort, demoralizing and starving the people inside and finally making them surrender the fort.

Fork or pincer movements using large columns of infantry and cavalry -
With large number of infantry and cavalry, pincer could have proved effective and almost fatal against Marathas.

Marathas had one advantage on their side, geography. They milked this advantage to the last bit. Their military activities were planned considering the terrain and the weather.
The main features of Maratha strategy were :-
 
Combined offensive-defensive strategy -
Throughout the war, Marathas never stopped their offensive. This served two purposes. The facts that Maratha army was carrying out offensive attacks in Mughal land suddenly made them psychologically equals to Mughals launching attack in Maratha land, even though Mughals were a much bigger force. This took negative toll on Mughal morale and boosted morale of their own men. Secondly, these offensive attacks in terms of quick raids often heavily damaged enemy supply chains taking toll on Mughal army. The forts formed backbone of Maratha defense. Thanks to Shivaji, the every fort had provision of fresh water. The total forts numbered almost 300 and this large number proved major headache to Aurangzeb.

Strategic fort defense -
Marathas had one big advantage on their side. They were the expert in fort warfare. The game of defense using forts had two components.

First component was the right play of the strategic forts . In modern warfare, you have some strategic assets like aircraft carrier, presence of which needs a substantial change of plans on your enemy side.  And then there are tactical assets, like tanks and large guns, which matter from battle to battle, but can be effectively countered by your enemy without making big plan changes. Similarly there are strategic forts, like Raigad, Janjira, Panhala and Jinji. Then there are number of tactical forts like Vishalgad, Sinhgad, Rajgad, etc."

read more here ...

Lost and gain of 2013

Year 2013 saw fall of some personalities and rise of some.  The always falling image of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can not find any breaks, so does the quintessential appeal of Congress party. It seems baggage of corruption loot become impossible to carry forward the fortune of both the entities.  The Rahul Gandhi's so called inherited charisma seems to be faded away before blossoming. The failure after failure, has very aptly justified the bollywood song 'Pappu can't dance sala...'.

Laloo Prasad Yadav is finally in jail, thanks to fodder scam, seems to shattered man, he may have never though about a politician going to jail for corruption charges.

Nitish Kumar the savior of down trodden, and messiah of minorities lost the sheen since shifting to congress fold, 'Ab topi pehenke bhi koi faayada nahi...'.

Biggest rise of during the year is of Narendra Modi, despite the cacophony of congress, paid media, and sec-liberals about his so-called role in Gujarat riots, which the legal system of india has quashed time and again.  Another rise, a la comet, is Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party, Kiran Bedi once said of his achievements as a formula to become Chief Minister in two years, which get Gandhi like pure soul, in this case Anna Hazare, build a social cause, spin of a party from it and win elections to become CM.