China's 56 Ethnic Groups

The vast majority (>90%) of Chinese are Han Chinese. The remainder are distributed among 55 other ethnic groups. This diversity was awkwardly displayed during the opening ceremonies of the last Olympic games, when a parade of 56 children representing those groups was later revealed to have been comprised of 56 Han Chinese children wearing the ethnic clothing of the other groups.

Now there is a photoessay which appears to correct that gaffe. All of the ethnic groups are portrayed in professionally composed group portraits, with the subjects wearing traditional dress and often carrying traditional instruments or tools. Pictured above as an example are the ethnic Kazak; the others are at the link. It’s an impressive photo gallery.

Sarwan Singh - The men with the Longest beard in the world

His beard alone is taller than you are!

At 7 feet, 8-plus inches, Sarwan Singh's beard is quite a sight to behold. He holds the Guinness Book of World records for the length of his beard.

But any emotions the Sikh man holds about the hairs flowing from his face are of gratitude and respect rather than pride. Singh credits God for blessing him with such lengthy wisps, and in accordance with his religion, has not disfigured his body by cutting them.

"God has given a beard to everybody, but he has given him a special gift," said Yuba city resident Sukhcharan Singh.

Sarwan Singh, 43, lives in Surrey, Canada, but has spent the last three weeks at the Gurdwara Sahib on South George Washington Boulevard in Yuba City. Sukhcharan Singh is videotaping the religion and music teacher while he reads the holy scriptures of the Guru Granth Sahib aloud in Punjabi.

The tapes will create a recording for other Sikhs who may not have access or time to practice themselves. To read the Guru Granth Sahib in its entirety would take 80 hours, so the men have broken it down into 2 1/2 hour chunks.

Twice daily, Sarwan Singh prepares for the recording session with a cup of tea to warm his vocal cords, taking care to keep his beard clean while doing so.

It was not until about 10 years ago, when he moved from India to Canada, that Singh realized a knee-length beard was a bit of an oddity. His friends finally urged him to contact Guinness World Records.

The record-keepers measured Singh's strands at 7 feet, 8 inches in November. The previous record was held by Shamsher Singh of Punjab, India, whose beard measured 6 feet long in 1997. The men do not know one another.

Sarwan Singh's recorded length is from chin to tip, but his longest hair sprouts from just above the throat. The beard has since grown a few more inches.

"He might beat his own record!" Sukhcharan Singh said with a laugh.

Previous record-holders, before Guinness changed its standards, boasted beard lengths in the double digits, but bottom hairs were not actually attached and instead clung to matted knots.

A bright white smile peeks out amid Singh's bushy black, silver and gray strands that start around his jaw. The number of hairs gradually dwindle as they near his feet, tapering off at less than 10 wisps for the bottom few inches.

He estimates he spends about half an hour a day shampooing, conditioning and supplementing the hair with natural oils to keep it silky smooth. Speaking through Sukhcharan Singh as translator, he said he occasionally brushes the beard to keep it free from tangling.

Despite all the care and maintenance they demand, Sarwan Singh treats his hairs with patience.

As he talks, reads or simply stands, he gently fingers the tips of silver, gray and black wisps or drapes them over his hands. When a clean surface is available, Singh allows the strands to coil onto the floor; otherwise he wraps the beard into a loose knot below his chin.

The hair on his head, hidden by the traditional Sikh wrap, grows at a normal rate and length, he said.

Singh urges Sikh children to take pride in their religion and be proud to grow their hair. If he can take care of an almost-8-foot- long beard, they can respect God and their bodies, he said.

The beard is somewhat of a fascination among children.

During Singh's first days in Yuba City, Sikh youngsters were clambering around him, eager for photo opportunities. He stood atop an upturned milk crate so his beard could flow nearly all the way to the ground, although never touching the actual floor or dirt.

Every aspect of living with his world-record beard is in honor of and respectful of his religion and his creator, Singh said.

"We have to live this way, with whatever he has given us," he said.

Schumacher to race for Mercedes in 2010

After weeks of speculation Mercedes confirmed on Wednesday that Michael Schumacher will make a comeback to race for the team next season alongside fellow German Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher, who retired at the end of 2006, has signed a deal that will see him return to the Formula One grid at the age of 41, bidding to add to his record tally of 91 wins and seven world titles.

It follows a planned comeback earlier this year for Ferrari - the team with which he won his last five drivers’ championships - to replace the injured Felipe Massa. Those plans had to be abandoned because of a neck injury from a motorbike accident.

Now fully fit, Schumacher will revive his relationship with Mercedes, a company with whom he had close ties earlier in his career. The German carmaker recently purchased the 2009 title-winning Brawn GP team, retaining team principal Ross Brawn, who previously helped lead Schumacher to title glory at Benetton and Ferrari.

India's most influential women - Sonia Gandhi

It's only fitting that we start with the president of the ruling Indian National Congress party and arguably the most influential woman in India today; in fact, according to Forbes Magazine's list of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women of 2008, Sonia is the 21st most powerful woman in the world.

An Italian by birth and widow of the late PM Rajiv Gandhi, a grieving Sonia cut herself off from public life after the assassination of her husband in 1991. She rebuffed repeated entreaties from Congress officials to enter the political arena until 1997, a year after the party lost the national elections and was in a state of utter chaos. In a bid to preserve the crumbling legacy of the Gandhi family, she finally became a primary member of the Indian National Congress and within three months of joining, was party president. Having steered her way into Indian public and political life, there was no looking back -- Sonia led her party to victory in the national polls in 2004. And when controversy arose over the country having a prime minister of non-Indian origin, she stepped aside and recommended renowned economist and present PM Manmohan Singh, who is known to defer to her in all matters.

India gains the top spot in Test Rankings

Cricket India's long wait of 78 years has come to an end. Yes! India is the no.1 test team in the world pushing the mighty South Africans to the 2nd spot. The Australians are in 3rd and Srilankans are in the 4th spot according to the latest ICC Test rankings. Defeating the srilankans with an innings victory in the third test, indian team gained the top spot. India won the series 2-0. Virender Sehwag who hit 293 in the 1st innings was selected the man of the match and man of the series. The Twenty20 matches starts on dec 9th.

World's youngest IT whizz

Marko Casalan, 8, is officially world's youngest IT whizz. Marko as deemed the Mozart of Computers by the Macedonian press after passing Microsoft's exams for IT professionals

While the other elementary school pupils skim through their comics in the break between classes, Marko Calasan takes out his copy of Implementing and Administering Security in a Microsoft Windows Server Network for a light read.

At the age of 8, Marko has become the world’s youngest certified computer system administrator and was deemed the Mozart of Computers by the press after passing exams for IT professionals with the computer giant Microsoft.

In theory, he could now get a job maintaining complex office computer networks, even though he has not yet completed the third grade in his native town Skopje, in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

“The Microsoft officials gave me computer games and DVDs with cartoons when I passed the exams because I am a child. That was nice, but I’m not really interested in those things,” young Marko told The Times.
The interior defense dines under the sabotage.
A trial brigade fumes above the load.

The highest position in the world

Babu Sassi, a fearless young man from southern India, is the cult hero of Dubai's army of construction workers.

Known as the "Indian on the top of the world", Babu is the crane operator at the world's tallest building, the 819-meter Burj Dubai.

His office, the cramped crane cab perched on top of the Burj, is also his home. It takes too long to come down to the ground each day to make it worthwhile - although, when the building is completed, its elevators will be the world's fastest.

Stories about his daily dalliance with death are discussed in revered terms by Dubai's workers. Some say he has been up there for more than a year, others whisper that he's paid 30,000 dirhams ($8,168) a month compared with the average wage of 800 dirhams a month.

But everyone agrees, he's worth it - because nobody else would have the courage to do the job!

Lionel Messi wins Ballon d'Or

Barcelona's Lionel Messi has won the prestigious Ballon d'Or.
The talented Argentinian forward beat last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo into second place in the poll for Europe's footballer of the year, organised by France Football magazine.
Messi, who becomes the sixth Barcelona player to take the award, told France Football: "For me it's a big honour to win - but also to become the first Argentinian in history to receive the trophy."
Messi polled 473 votes, more than double the number Real Madrid's Ronaldo totalled (233) and 27 more than the impressive number the Portuguese international managed in winning last year's award.
Ronaldo was the only non-Barcelona player in the top four, with Xavi (170) and Andres Iniesta (149) next in the list.
Former Barca striker Samuel Eto'o - now with Inter Milan, was fifth on 75, 17 votes clear of Real's former AC Milan playmaker Kaka.
Barcelona's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who moved in the opposite direction to Eto'o, polled 50 - before a quintet of English-based players.
Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney and Chelsea forward Didier Drogba were eighth and ninth, with Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard completing the top 10.
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was 11th, Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas 12th, with Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs - who netted his 100th Premier League goal at Portsmouth on Saturday, finishing 14th.
Barcelona's Thierry Henry, heavily criticised for his handball in France's World Cup play-off win over Republic, completed the top 15.

Didier Drogba secures win for Chelsea against Arsenal

Didier Drogba scored twice as Chelsea maintained a five-point Premier League lead with a 3-0 victory at Arsenal on Sunday. Drogba has scored 10 goals in his last 9 matches against Arsenal. Drogba scored his 1st goal in the 41st minute.

The team manager now thinks that Chelsea will remain on top of the Barclays Premier League until the end of the season. His confidence boosted by a stunning show from Didier Drogba and an own goal by Thomas Vermaelen that gave the leaders a comprehensive 3-0 victory over their London rivals.

Chelsea now leads the Championship points table with 36 Points, 5 pts ahead of Manchester United's 31. Tottenham is in 3rd place with 26 Points. Arsenal's lost made them 4th with 25 Points and Liverpool is in 5th spot with 23 points.

Nikolay Davydenko wins ATP World Tour

ATP World Tour No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko had a dream come true on Sunday when he defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 to capture the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals trophy at The O2 in south-east London.

Davydenko, who finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the season finale in Shanghai last year, is the first Russian to win the year-end title in tournament history (since 1970). His efforts this week see him rewarded with $1,510,000 in prize money; he will also overtake Andy Roddick at No. 6 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings on Monday.

Tiger Woods injured in car accident

Tiger Woods was injured when he lost control of his car outside his Florida mansion, and a local police chief said Woods’ wife used a golf club to smash out the back window to help get him out early Friday.

The world’s No. 1 golfer was treated and released from a hospital in good condition, his spokesman said. The Florida Highway Patrol said Woods’ vehicle hit a fire hydrant and a tree in his neighbor’s yard after he pulled out of his driveway at 2:25 a.m.

Windermere Police Chief Daniel Saylor told The Associated Press that officers found the 33-year-old Woods laying in the street with his wife, Elin, hovering over him.

She told officers she was in the house when she heard the accident and “came out and broke the back window with a golf club,” he said. “She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground. He was in and out of consciousness when my guys got there.”

Saylor said Woods had lacerations to his lips, and blood in his mouth; officers treated Woods for about 10 minutes until an ambulance arrived. Woods was conscious enough to speak, he said.

“He was mumbling, but didn’t say anything coherent,” Saylor said. The Florida Highway Patrol said Woods was alone in his 2009 Cadillac SUV when he pulled out of his driveway from his mansion at Isleworth, a gated waterfront community just outside Orlando.

The patrol reported Woods’ injuries as serious, although Woods spokesman Glenn Greenspan issued a statement that Woods was treated and released. The patrol said alcohol was not involved, although the accident remains under investigation and charges could be filed.

Left unanswered was where Woods was going at that hour. Greenspan and agent Mark Steinberg said there would be no comment beyond the short statement of the accident on Woods’ Web site.

Saylor said his responding officers did not hear anything about an alleged argument between Woods and his wife. “Right now we believe this is a traffic crash. We don’t believe it is a domestic issue,” patrol spokesman Sergeant Kim Montes said.

Woods, coming off a two-week trip to China and Australia this month, is host of the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California, which starts on Thursday. He is scheduled to have his press conference on Tuesday at Sherwood Country Club. Steinberg said he did not know if Woods planned to play next week.

The accident report was not released until nearly 12 hours after Woods was injured. Patrol spokesman Kim Montes said the accident did not meet the criteria of a serious crash, and the FHP put out a press release only because of inquiries from local media.

Montes said the patrol reports injuries as serious if they require more than minor medical attention. Air bags in the SUV did not deploy.

Two troopers tried to talk to Woods late Friday, but his wife said he was sleeping and they agreed to come back on Saturday, Montes said.

She said charges could be filed if there was a clear traffic violation, although troopers still do not know what caused Woods’ SUV to hit the hydrant and the tree.

Woods rarely faces such private scrutiny, even as perhaps the most famous active athlete in the world.

He usually made news only because of what he can do with a golf club. Few other athletes have managed to keep their private lives so guarded, or have a circle of friends so airtight when it comes to life off the course.

Woods’ $2.4 million home is part of an exclusive subdivision set on an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and a chain of small lakes. The neighborhood, which is fortified with high brick walls and has its own security force, is home to CEOs and other sports stars such as the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal.

Woods has won 14 majors and 82 times around the world, most recently at the Australian Masters on Nov. 15.

He won six times this year after missing eight months recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee. Even though he failed to win a major, Woods said he considered this a successful year because he did not know how his knee would respond.

Inflation - Time to think

A man eats two eggs each morning for breakfast. When he goes to the Kirana store he pays Rs. 12 a dozen. Since a dozen eggs won't last a week he normally buys two dozens at a time. One day while buying eggs he notices that the price has risen to Rs. 16. The next time he buys groceries, eggs are Rs. 22 a dozen.

When asked to explain the price of eggs the store owner says, "The price has gone up and I have to raise my price accordingly" . This store buys 100 dozen eggs a day. He checked around for a better price and all the distributors have raised their prices. The distributors have begun to buy from the huge egg farms. The small egg farms have been driven out of business. The huge egg farms sell 100,000 dozen eggs a day to distributors. With no competition, they can set the price as they see fit. The distributors then have to raise their prices to the grocery stores. And on and on and on.

As the man kept buying eggs the price kept going up. He saw the big egg trucks delivering 100 dozen eggs each day. Nothing changed there. He checked out the huge egg farms and found they were selling 100,000 dozen eggs to the distributors daily. Nothing had changed but the price of eggs.

Then week before Diwali the price of eggs shot up to Rs. 40 a dozen. Again he asked the grocery owner why and was told, "Cakes and baking for the holiday". The huge egg farmers know there will be a lot of baking going on and more eggs will be used. Hence, the price of eggs goes up. Expect the same thing at Christmas and other times when family cooking, baking, etc. happen.

This pattern continues until the price of eggs is Rs. 60 a dozen. The man says, " There must be something we can do about the price of eggs". He starts talking to all the people in his town and they decide to stop buying eggs. This didn't work because everyone needed eggs.

Finally, the man suggested only buying what you need. He ate 2 eggs a day. On the way home from work he would stop at the grocery and buy two eggs. Everyone in town started buying 2 or 3 eggs a day.

The grocery store owner began complaining that he had too many eggs in his cooler. He told the distributor that he didn't need any eggs. Maybe wouldn't need any all week. The distributor had eggs piling up at his warehouse. He told the huge egg farms that he didn't have any room for eggs would not need any for at least two weeks.

At the egg farm, the chickens just kept on laying eggs. To relieve the pressure, the huge egg farm told the distributor that they could buy the eggs at a lower price. The distributor said, " I don't have the room for eggs even if they were free". The distributor told the grocery store owner that he would lower the price of the eggs if the store would start buying
again.

The grocery store owner said, "I don't have room for more eggs. The customers are only buying 2 or 3 eggs at a time. Now if you were to drop the price of eggs back down to the original price, the customers would start buying by the dozen again".

The distributors sent that proposal to the huge egg farmers but the egg farmers liked the price they were getting for their eggs but, those chickens just kept on laying. Finally, the egg farmers lowered the price of their eggs. But only a few paisa.

The customers still bought 2 or 3 eggs at a time. They said, "when the price of eggs gets down to where it was before, we will start buying by the dozen." Slowly the price of eggs started dropping. The distributors had to slash their prices to make room for the eggs coming from the egg farmers.

The egg farmers cut their prices because the distributors wouldn't buy at a higher price than they were selling eggs for. Anyway, they had full warehouses and wouldn't need eggs for quite a while. And those chickens kept on laying.

Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell. The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the stores could afford to sell them at the lower price. And the customers starting buying by the dozen again. Now, transpose this analogy to the gasoline industry.

What if everyone only bought Rs 200.00 worth of Petrol each time they pulled to the pump? The dealer's tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tanks. The tank farms wouldn't have room for the petrol coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers coming from the oil fiends.

Just Rs 200.00 each time you buy gas. Don't fill up the tank of your car. You may have to stop for gas twice a week, but the price should come down. Think about it. Also, don't buy anything else at the fuel station; don't give them any more of your hard earned money than what you spend on gas, until the prices come down..."

...just think of this concept for a while. Nice Logic - It May Work !!!

Coincidence

Interesting Year 1981
1. Prince Charles got married.
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe.
3. Australia lost the Ashes tournament.
4. Pope Died.

Interesting Year 2005
1. Prince Charles got married.
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe.
3. Australia lost the Ashes tournament.
4. Pope Died.

Lesson Learned

The next time Charles gets married...

Someone should warn the Pope. :) :) :)

World's Youngest Mother - A Bulgarian Girl

Bulgarian girl, 11, gives birth to her daughter... on her wedding day.
An 11-year-old girl became one of the world's youngest mothers - and went into labour on the way to her wedding. Kordeza Zhelyazkova, from Sliven in Bulgaria , was still wearing her wedding dress and tiara as she was rushed to hospital, where she gave birth to 5lb 8oz Violeta.
Proudly displaying her baby, she told reporters: 'I'm not going to play with toys any more - I have a new toy now.'
Pre-teen mother Korteza, 11, with her newborn baby Violeta. Kordeza - who fell pregnant within two weeks of her 11th birthday - spent the night in hospital with Violeta and then headed back to church for her wedding with 19-year-old Jeliazko Dimitrov.

Kordeza told the News of the World:
'It feels strange to be a mum and have a baby. 'I used to play with my toys but now she is my new toy. She is so beautiful, I love her. Violeta is the child and I must grow up. I am not going back to school - I am a mother now.' The couple met when Jeliazko rescued Kordeza from bullies in the playground. However he now faces six years in jail for having sex with a minor, telling the paper his fears when he found out Kordeza was pregnant. He said: 'I was really scared. 'We didn't plan to have sex or a baby although I fell in love with Kordeza the moment I saw her. He added: 'I was walking past the school when I saw some boys mocking her and I told them to leave her alone. 'Then she arranged to meet me and asked me out on our first date. I thought she was 15. She didn't tell me she was 11.'

Lose Weight just by Drinking Water

Make A Successful Weight Loss Just By Drinking Water - Maybe The Easiest Weight Loss Method

Well, you may have heard it before - you can lose weight just by drinking pure plain water. Do you think it is like that? Yes, it is, you can lose weight just by drinking water. I will explain why it is so.

There are studies that show that just by drinking water your metabolism will increase with up to 30 percentages. That is quite impressive, isn't it? To make your weight loss possible you need to drink eight glasses of water every day, and if you have lots of overweight you need to drink a few glasses more. If you live in a warm climate or if you exercise very intensive you need to drink more than the eight glasses. You maybe think that eight glasses is much water to drink, but you shouldn't drink it at the same time; instead you need to spread it out throughout the day.

Drinking water is not only great for your weight loss. Just by drinking lots of water you will look better because and your skin will become more glowing. Your muscles will work more effective when you exercise which will lead to a better shaped body.

A few tips about how you should act when you decide to lose weight just by drinking water:

* Start every morning with a glass of water.
* Drink a glass of water before every meal.
* Drink lukewarm water, it may be easier to drink lots of water when it isn't cold.
* Add a slice of lemon if you don't like the taste of the water.
* Avoid drinking just before you go to bed.

Drinking water is a cheap and very effective way to lose weight, but often you need to add some diet and exercise to make your weight loss effective.

Barclays ATP World Tour

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is the tennis season ending finale, guaranteeing the ultimate competitive showdown, to determine the official ATP World Tour Champion Player of the year. Only the best eight singles players and best eight doubles teams of the year will qualify to be play in the O2 arena in London from 22 to 29 November 2009.

Best Of The Best
Only the best eight singles players and best eight doubles teams of the year will qualify for the prestigious Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be played for the first time in 2009 at The O2 arena in London. Final standings in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings will be determined and the ATP World Tour Champion will be crowned.

Who Is Playing
* Roger Federer
* Rafael Nadal
* Novak Djokovic
* Andy Murray
* Juan Martin Del Potro
* Nikolay Davydenko
* Fernando Verdasco
* Robin Soderling

Is Micheal Schumacher to drive for Brawn?

Schumi fans around the world have some reason to cheer. Seven time Formula one world champion Micheal Schumacher is all set to return to F1 action for the 2010 season and he will be driving for Brawn GP Team. Rumours is that the 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button may have been forced out of Brawn GP to make way for the legend. Schumacher who has been in the news of possible return to F1 replacing Felippe Massa has now got an end. Schumacher met his fellow old friend Ross Brawn at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Aishwarya Rai's new role - The Boss of ABCL

Once in doldrums Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL) has a reason to rejoice.

And the reason is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the daughter in-law of Bachchan family who has taken up the responsibility to revive the destiny of the family banner.

If sources are to be believed, Bachchans’ are extremely confident about Paa made under ABCL after series of flops, which literally bombed at the box-office. Aishwarya has played a pivotal role in planning the marketing strategies of the current film Paa under ABCL.

So, to continue with some good projects they have chosen Aishwarya to head the banner for the re-establishment.

World's Richest Person - Billionaires

William Gates III, $40 billion, Microsoft/U.S

Warren Buffett, $37 billion, Investments/U.S.

Carlos Slim Helú, $35 billion, Telecom/Mexico

Lawrence Ellison, $22.5 billion, Oracle/U.S.

Ingvar Kamprad, $22 billion, Ikea/Sweden

Karl Albrecht, $21.5 billion, Supermarkets/Germany

Mukesh Ambani, $19.5 billion, Petrochemicals/India

Lakshmi Mittal, $19.3 billion, Steel/India