unprecedented growth !!!!!!

Indian telecommunication industry is a giant in this field. It has the second largest telecommunication network with about 464.82 million mobile phones. I hope India will emerge as the first in this field soon and will remain first for long, as  India is such a potential nation.

In my childhood a land phone was considered luxury in our society. The only land phone available in my village was the one at our local postal office. Mobile phones were not even in our dreams I think. This is the picture of my village in 1980’s and in early 90’s. But now the whole scene is changed. I doubt that if there any family or even any person without a mobile phone now. Even the school going students too own new generation mobile handsets, and some do have multiple connections. My village is a typical example of the villages all over India. In short India is a surprising country; on the one hand It is known for great poverty and underfed children, on the other hand India surprises the Western world with its advanced information technology and highly respected scientists. I think India is going through a revolution in the field of telecommunication.

In 1990s the telecom sector in India was opened up by the Government for private investment as a part of Liberalization-Privatization-Globalization policy, up to then it was a monopoly of the government. Many private operators, such as Reliance India Mobile, Tata Telecom, Vodafone, Bharti, Idea etc., successfully entered the high potential Indian telecom market. Now there are three types of players in Indian telecom services: State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL); Private Indian owned companies (Reliance, Tata etc); Foreign invested companies (Hutchison-Essar, Vodafone etc). One of the attractive investment icons in the Indian share market is telecommunication shares.

The telecom reforms have allowed the foreign telecommunication companies to enter Indian market which has still got huge potential. In a recent study by a leading web site about the Indian telecommunication Industry it is said that, much of the growth in Asia Pacific Wireless Telecommunication Market is spurred by the growth in demand in countries like India and China and India ‘s mobile phone subscriber base is growing at a rate of 82.2%.

It is known that the total revenue in the telecom service sector was Rs. 86,720 crore in 2005-06 as against Rs. 71, 674 crore in 2004-2005, registering a growth of 21%. The total investment in the telecom services sector reached Rs. 200,660 crore in 2005-06, up from Rs. 178,831 crore in the previous fiscal. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has very aggressive plans to increase the pace of growth, targeting 500 million telephone subscribers by end-2010. Most of the expansion in subscribers is set to occur in rural India. India’s rural telephone density has been languishing at around 1.9%; since 70% of total population is rural, the scope for growth in this Industry is unprecedented.

Chocolates…. chocolates….

It’s commonly said that children like chocolates but i think most of the adults too like chocolates and if given a permit for “unlimited consumption, without obesity and other health risk”, many would consume lots and lots of chocolate daily. In a recent study it was found that 99% of all women love chocolate and that they may actually prefer chocolate more to than to sex. Well, in fact it is not just the women who love it  but almost everybody would love it too. It always feels so nice to have it melted in your mouth, delivering its wonderful taste right through your tongue …. whh !!!!!!

Chocolate candy does not raise the bad cholesterol (LDL) as other saturated fats do. It also contains antioxidants,  the same types of antioxidants found in a glass of red wine. Antioxidants improve & strengthen your immune system.  They are thought to help prevent stroke, heart disease and cancer. And if that wasn’t enough many more health benefits are contributed to antioxidants including slowing  the aging process & the visible signs of aging. The darker and more pure forms of chocolate contain the most antioxidants.

Chocolate candy does not contain as much caffeine  as you might think either. An average serving of chocolate candy has far less caffeine than a cup of coffee.chocolate is a rich source of phosphorus and magnesium too. The benefits of each are well documented. Magnesium helps to maintain muscle  and nerve function, is good for strong bones, and supports a healthy immune system and more. Phosphorus is important for bone and teeth formation in children and for works with calcium to keep bones strong and healthy for us throughout our lives.Some ingredients in chocolate can even trigger happy feelings in our brain.  A study reported by the BBC indicated that melting chocolate in one’s mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing, and also lasted four times as long after the activity had ended.

How chocolate is made?

The first step is the harvesting of the cocoa pods containing the cocoa beans.The Pods are crushed and the beans and surrounding pulp extracted and fermented naturally for about six days in either open heaps or boxes after which the beans are dried.The finest chocolate is produced when the drying process is done naturally by the sun for 7 days or more. Accelerated or artificial drying is quicker, but produces inferior quality chocolate, mainly used in mass produced products and cake coverings.The next process is shared with coffee in that the beans are first graded, then roasted. Roasting times depend on the type and size of the beans, like coffee this can also affect the final flavour of the chocolate. Light Crushing separates the kernel or ‘Nib’ from the shell or husk , the husk is then separated or ‘winnowed’ out and discarded. At this stage most manufacturers put the Cocoa Nibs through an alkalisation process to help develop flavour and colour.

However, some purists producing the finest chocolate prefer to rely on the quality of the beans and natural processing to produce the best colour and flavour. The nibs, which are very high in fat or cocoa butter, are then finely milled and liquefy in the heat produced by the milling process to produce cocoa liquor. When cocoa liquor, otherwise known as cocoa mass, is allowed to cool and solidify. At this point the manufacturing process splits according to the final product. If the end product is chocolate, some of the cocoa liquor is reserved, the rest is pressed to extract the cocoa butter leaving a solid residue called press cake. Press cake is usually kibbled or finely ground to produce the product known to consumers as Cocoa Powder.

Beautiful Birds from Kerala

It was my wife who made me the habit of watching and reading more on the birds found in Kerala. Actually I was least interested in these types of birds and  didn’t even know the local names of these birds.  My wife has helped me a lot to prepare this post . So let me dedicate this post to my loving wife. To make the post more precise I’ve  filtered the number of  birds to the minimum.

Thattekad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala is one of the world famous birds habitats. It is located in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, occupying an area of 25 sq km.Designed by a famous ornithologist, Dr Salim Ali, the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary is home to a large number of bird species like Bee-eater, Sunbird, Shrike, Black winged Kite, and the Night Heron. Also around 28 species of animals and nine species of reptile can also be spotted in this sanctuary.

The most common birds found around Kerala are Myna, Sandpiper, Blue Kingfisher, Darter, Cattle Egret, Hornbill, Little Green Heron, Spinetail Swift, Emerald Dove, Bluerock Pigeon, Shama, Magpie-Robin, Crow, Indian Treepie, Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo, Lesser Golden-Backed Woodpecker, Koel, Syke’s Crested Lark, Grey Jungle Fowl,  Brown Fish Owl, Pariah Kite, Indian Oriole, Orange Minivet, Weaver Bird, Nilgiri Wrenwarbler, Bulbul, Spotted Dove, Wood Owl, Babbler, Hoopoe.

Myna is one of the most common birds found around Kerala. It is also spelled as Mynah. It’s  scientific name is Acridotheres tristis. It is a species of bird native to Asia with its initial home range spanning from Iran, India and Kazakhstan to Malaysia and China.  The Myna has been introduced in many other parts of the world and its distribution range is on the increase to an extent that in 2000 the IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN) declared it as one of the just three birds among the World’s 100 worst invasive species.

The Common Kingfisher also known as Eurasian Kingfisher or River Kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies distributed across Eurasia and North Africa. One of this type is common in Kerala and it’s local name is ‘Ponman’.  This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptions to enable it to pursue its prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.  If another kingfisher enters its territory, both birds display from perches, and fights may occur, where a bird will grab the other’s beak and try to hold it under water.

‘Kokku’ or Cattle Egret is another common type of bird seen in kerala region. It is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species.   Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world.

Blue rock pigeon is a familiar slaty grey bird with glistening metallic green, purple and magenta sheen on neck and the upper breast. It has two dark bars on wings and a band across the end of tail. Both the sexes are alike. It can be see in flocks and colonies moving about cliffs and human inhabitations. It feeds on cereals, pulses, groundnuts etc. Their nesting season is undefined. Its nest is a flimsy collection of a few sticks on a ledge or in a fissure or cliff, or on rafters and ceilings of dwelling houses.

Indian Treepie is a common bird found in Kerala slightly smaller than the European Magpie (Pica pica) and has somewhat shorter, more rounded wings and a proportionately longer tail. The bill is shorter and thicker too, and slightly downcurved, and the legs are shorter. The head, neck and breast are a deep slate-grey colour, sometimes slightly brownish. It is extremely agile while searching for food, clinging and clambering through the branches and will sometimes travel in small mixed hunting parties with unrelated species such as drongos and babblers.

The Brahminy Kite also known as the Red-backed Sea-eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey . They are found primarily in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia.The Brahminy Kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The Brahminy Kite is about the same size as the Black Kite and has a typical kite flight, with wings angled, but its tail is rounded unlike the Milvus species, Red Kite and Black Kite, which have forked tails.

Another beautiful bird seen around Kerala is Magpie-Robin, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. They are distinctive black and white birds with a long tail that is held upright as they forage on the ground or perch conspicuously. Distributed in many parts of tropical South and Southeast Asia, they are common birds in urban gardens as well as forests. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cagebirds.This magpie-robin is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from Bangladesh, interior India, Sri Lanka and eastern Pakistan east to Indonesia, Thailand, south China and the Philippines.