Unseen pictures of Konkana Sen

Konkona’s birth father, Mukul Sharma, is a science writer and journalist. Her stepfather, Kalyan Ray, is an author. Her elder sister’s name is Kamalini Chatterjee who has two children: a 10-year-old daughter named Krittika and a four-year-old son named Deepto.

. Konkona’s maternal grandfather Chidananda Dasgupta now 88 years old is a film critic, scholar, professor, writer and one of the co-founders of ‘Calcutta Film Society’ with Satyajit Ray and Harisadhan Dasgupta. Her grandmother Supriya Dasgupta is a cousin of legendary modern Bengali poet Jibanananda Das.

Konkona graduated in English from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi in 2001. She was a student of Modern High School for Girls, Calcutta as well as the Calcutta International School.

Hillary backs Obama!!

In a news , today Hillary Clinton appealed to vote for Barrack Obama in her officilial site and asked fellow Americans to help him writing new chapters of history.
The original content can be seen on Hillary Clinton’s officilal website
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/splash/june7/

Bihar Engineering College Entrance Exam

Bihar Engineering College Entrance Exam Instructions

1) Read each question carefully
2) Answer all questions.
3) Time Limit 3 weeks.
4) Begin immediately.

1. What language is spoken in France?

2. Give a dissertation on the ancient Babylonian Empire with particular reference to architecture, literature, law and social conditions OR Give the first name of Bill Clinton.

3. Would you ask William Shakespeare to (a) build a bridge (b) sail the ocean (c) lead an army (d) WRITE A PLAY.

4. What religion is the Pope? (check only one) (a) Jewish (b) Catholic (c) Hindu (d) Polish (e) Agnostic.

5. Metric conversion: how many feet are in 0.0 meters?

6. What time is it when the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 5?

7. How many commandments was Moses given? (approximately)

8. What are people in America’s far north called? (a) Westerners (b) Southerners (c) Northerners

9. Give the spellings of Bush, Carter and Clinton.

10. Six kings of England have been called George, the last one being George the Sixth. Name the previous five.

11. Where does rain come from? (a) Earth (b) Moon (c) Sun (d) Sky

12. Can you explain Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? (a) Yes (b) No

13. What are coat hangers used for?

14. The Star Spangled Banner is the American National Anthem for what country?

15. Explain Le Chateliers Principle of Dynamic Equilibrium OR spell your name in BLOCK LETTERS.

16. Where is the basement in a three-storey building located?

17. Which part of America produces the most Florida oranges? (a) New York (b) Florida (c) Canada (d) Wisconsin

18. Advanced math. If you have three apples how many apples do you have?

19. What does NBC (National Broadcasting Corp.) stand for?

Why Hillary Clinton Lost!!

The letter I am going to present here is a letter written to Hillary Clinton by one lady opposing her candidacy. The letter tells in detail why Hillary Clinton’s nomination was a threat to everybody and how she is responsible in the murder of thousands of farmers in India and worldwide. This letter was published on Feb. 3rd 2008.

Sunday, 03 February 2008
Submitted by a Truth To Power Subscriber From Yahoo News Groups
http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/310/

Dear Hillary,
By polling logic, I should be your supporter – Democrat, older woman, white, liberal. I was even in a dorm with you in college. I have pulled for you for years. But something this past summer fundamentally changed my responsibility to my children and grandchildren. In the time I have left in my life to protect them and others, I need to speak out.
I saw a News Hour piece on Maharastra, India, about farmers committing suicide. Monsanto, a US agricultural giant, hired Bollywood actors for ads telling illiterate farmers they could get rich (by their standards) from big yields with Monsanto’s Bt (genetically engineered) cotton seeds. The expensive seeds needed expensive fertilizer and pesticides (Monsanto, again) and irrigation.
There is no irrigation there. Crops failed. Farmers had larger debt than they’d ever experienced
And farmers couldn’t collect seeds from their own fields to try again (true since time immemorial). Monsanto “patents” their DNA-altered seeds as “intellectual property.” They have a $10 million budget and a staff of 75 devoted solely to prosecuting farmers.
http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2008/01/17./).
Since the late 1990s (about when industrial agriculture took hold in India),166,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and 8 million have left the land.
Farmers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Indonesia,South America, Central America and here, have protested Monsanto and genetic engineering for years.
What does this have to do with you?
You have connections to Monsanto through the Rose Law Firm where you worked and through Bill (Clinton)who hired Monsanto people for central food-related roles. Your Orwellian-named “Rural Americans for Hillary” was
planned with Troutman Sanders, Monsanto’s lobbyists.
Genetic engineering and industrialized food and animal production all come together at the Rose Law Firm, which represents the world’s largest GE corporation (Monsanto), GE’s most controversial project
(DP&L’s – now Monsanto’s – terminator genes), the world’s largest meat producer (Tyson), the world’s largest retailer and a dominant food retailer (Walmart).

The inbred-ness of Rose’s legal representation of corporations which own controlling interests in other corporations there and of corporate boards sharing members who are also shareholders of each other’s corporations there, is so thorough that it is hard to capture. Jon Jacoby, senior executive of the Stephens Group – one of the largest institutional shareholders of Tyson Foods, Walmart, DP&L -is also Chairman of the Board of DP&L and arranged the Wal-Mart deal. Jackson Stephens’ Stephens Group staked Sam Walton and financed Tyson Foods. Monsanto bought DP&L. All represented at Rose.
You didn’t just work there, you made friends. That shows in the flow of favors then and since. You were invited onto Walmart’s board, you were helped by a Tyson executive to make commodity trades (3 days
before Bill became governor), netting you $100,000, Jackson Stephens strongly backed Bill for Governor, and then for President (donating
$100,000).

Food and friends, in Clinton terms:
Bill’s appointed friend Mike Espy, Secretary of Agriculture, who immediately significantly weakened federal chicken waste and contamination standards, opening the door to major expansion of
Tyson’s chicken factory farms. Espy resigned, indicted for accepting bribes, illegal contributions, money laundering, illegal dispersal of USDA subsidies, …. Tyson Foods was the largest corporate offender.

But what Bill (Clinton) did for Monsanto “genetic engineering” goes beyond inadequate concepts of giving corporate friends influence: He unleashed genetic engineering into the world. And then he helped close off people’s escape from it.

Genetic engineering is many orders of magnitude different from “normal” (even polluting) business in its potential biologic ramifications. The warning myth of Pandora’a Box – letting irretrievable things rush out into nature – has become real. The harrowing change to the world from nuclear fission and fusion is the closest parallel.
What did Bill do?
1. Bill put Monsanto people in at the FDA, as US Agricultural Trade Representatives, on International Biotechnology Consultive Forums, and more … (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/072600-03.htm) or
http://www.monitor.net/monitor/9904b/monsantofda.html or
http://www.mindfully.org/GE/Revolving-Door.htm
2. Bill’s FDA gave Monsanto permission to market rBGH (a GE bovine growth hormone), the first genetically engineered product let loose on us (or did tomatoes with fish DNA get there first?).

3. Despite reports of bovine illness and death, Bill’s FDA did not recall it or put warnings on it. Even “a very angry, very vocal
nationwide consumer base” had no impact. “
4. Bill’s FDA wouldn’t even label rBGH as “present” in milk.
5. When dairy farmers tried to label their own milk rBGH-free so the public could choose, Bill’s USDA threatened all dairies that their products could be confiscated from stores. Michael Taylor, USFDA
Deputy Commissioner, was formerly Monsanto’s counsel.

6. How were consumers to protect their family, given Bill’s FDA enforced public blindness, except to buy only organic? But Bill’s FDA tried to close off that last escape, proposing to include in “organic” standards, “the dirty three” a : genetic engineering of plants and animals, use of irradiation in food processing and use of municipal sewage sludge as a fertilizer. (My emphasis.) The FDA
backed down.
Had this gone through, Monsanto could have finally labeled rBGH milk … as “organic.” And animal waste from factory farms, a pollution nightmare for Tyson and others, could have been sold as fertilizer.
USDA head Dan Glickman: “This is probably the largest public response to an rule in modern history.” In fact the
response was 20 times greater than anything ever before proposed by
the USDA.
Personally, I resent years of effort to protect my children and now grandchildren, from that crap.
Politically, Bill sided against small farmers and against the public’s right to know, and with Monsanto.
A snap shot of our food:
Oils: Sheep died in India after feeding on Bt cotton fields.
We feed our children Bt cotton, as cottonseed oil in peanut butter and cookies.
Grains: 49% of US corn acreage was planted in Bt corn in 2007. A French study proved Monsanto’s GMO corn causes kidney and liver
toxicity.
Soft drinks and candy have highly concentrated Bt corn, in the form of high fructose Bt corn syrup. The US food system depends most on two crops, soy (90% GMO, 90% of traits owned by Monsanto) and corn,
the largest crop (60% GMO, nearly 100% Monsanto traits). “essentially our entire food supply is genetically modified, to the benefit of one company.” The Grocery Manufacturers of America in 2000 estimated that 70 percent of US food contains GM traits.
Meat: Steroids bulk up atheletes. Monsanto steroids bulk up animals – more weight, more profit. We feed our children steroids in meats. Is this why our children are fattening, like Hansel and Gretel?
Poultry: Bill’s USDA weakened chicken waste and contamination standards and attempted to allow sewage sludge as fertilize crops. I will say more about disease from industrialized poultry farms waste, at the end of this letter.
Milk: Over 30 scientific publications have shown increased levels of IGF-1 in milk with rBGH increases risks of breast cancer by up to seven-fold, also increasing colon and prostate cancers risks. Canada,
29 European nations, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa ban U.S. rBGH dairy products. Bill’s USFDA put no restrictions, no warning labels (not allowing labels at all). (My emphasis.)
American children eat that food and drink that milk, Hillary.
Coincidentally, American children are increasingly fat and sick.
Here, Bill ignored pleas for labeling. Abroad, Bill ignored intense international objections over the same issue – unlabeled US food exports – badly straining trading relations. Monsanto’s “good ole boy,” he betrayed American families at the deepest levels conceivable – their family’s health and their democratic right to know. He betrayed our rural life and American family farmers – backing corporation deceit and control, over honesty and clean farming.
But, HIllary, it is one thing to not label a regular ole food product to sell it, and quite another to sell a suspected-dangerous food product (rBGH), but Bill’s administration didn’t label (or stop) a well-known, terrifying threat – Mad Cow Disease.
Bill’s FDA’s August, 1997 regulation permitted “known TSE-positive material to be used in pet food, pig, chicken and fish feed,” only requiring the label to read “Do not feed to cattle and other ruminants” in the US.

Monsanto added to the problem. “There is evidence that rbST use [Monsanto's GE bovine growth hormone] reduces the useful lifespan of a dairy cow. … Given that the incubation period for BSE is at least three to five years and perhaps longer, rbST-treated cows could harbor “hidden” BSE. That is, they might be infected but still asymptomatic when sent to slaughter.” (My emphasis.)
http://www.consumersunion.org/food/bgh-codex.htm
Bill let TSE into our entire food chain. And who owned the feed and slaughter and genetic engineering corporations whch benefitted?
Please, tell me, Hillary, what he could possibly have gotten in friendship or favors, that could ever justify his exposing millions of people to this?
With genetic engineering itself, Bill did something to the whole world, which tried to object. Words are inadequate to express how astoundingly immoral, beyond human bounds and conceit and power, that was.
“Even for the biggest “winners,” it is like winning at poker on the Titanic.” Jerry Mander: Facing the Rising Tide

He had no right.
Do you hear that?
Bill had sex from Monica Lewinsky. That’s “dinky immoral.” That’s chicken feed immoral – excuse the Tyson pun, excuse the TSE-laced pun. Bill let genetic engineering lose on NATURE itself.
“Our way of life is likely to be more fundamentally transformed in the next several decades than in the previous one thousand years…Tens of thousands of novel transgenic bacteria, viruses, plants and animals could be released into the Earth’s ecosystems…Some of those releases, however, could wreak havoc with the planet’s biospheres.” Jeremy Rifkin, Biotech Century
Bill did this to us, like it was some nothing and he, some big dumb ass Southern boy, just smiling and getting in good with the Big Boys, thinking about as much about the consequences of something this immense and about us human beings out here, as he thought about you, when he was unfaithful with Monica. Just one big fool getting off on the power and used to getting away with things.
Terminator genes, developed by DP&L, a Rose Firm client, prevent seeds from “working” after only one season. Farmers “must” repurchase (patents and suing not certain enough control, it seems). Those “killing” genes pose the apocalyptic risk of breaking out into nature. Natural seeds could fail, too. Nature could fail.
Far-fetched?
GMO fields are already contaminating normal species
Berkeley Professor of Microbiology, Ignacio Chapela, wrote an open letter, warning the Mexican government about just this breaking out phenomenon happening in maize
And it has already happened with weeds – pesticide resistant GMO seeds break lose and weeds become pesticide-resistant Superweeds.

But Bill’s USDA spokesman, Willard Phelps said the USDA wanted the technology to be `widely licensed and made expeditiously available to many seed companies.’
“Genetic Engineering is often justified as a human technology, one that feeds more people with better food. Nothing could be further from the truth. With very few exceptions, the whole point of genetic engineering is to increase sales of chemicals and bio-engineered products to dependent farmers.” David Ehrenfield: Professor of Biology, Rutgers University

Hillary, one third of the world’s bee colonies have collapsed. Gone.
Farmers in India are killing themselves. Farmers and bees. Since organic farmers in India are fine and organic farmers report no colony collapse, what does these farming catatrophes say about “industrial agriculture”?
Mad Cow Disease is another direct result of industrial agriculture.
And now ……. transnational poultry factories are implicated as the source of bird flu. … Small scale poultry farms and wild birds seem not to be the problem [just as small farmers are not the issue in Mad Cow Disease], and yet “initiatives are multiplying to ban outdoor poultry, squeeze out small producers and restock farms with genetically modified chickens. … http://www.ens-
newswire.com/ens/feb2006/2006-02-27-01.asp “Of the few outbreaks that did occur in , more than 90% broke out in commercial poultry
operations, not free-ranging flocks.”
Monsanto (and others) is currently working with the USDA
to force small farmers to tag every animal with a global tracking device (NAIS – National Animal Identification System). Allegedly related to food safety, Monsanto and others would be creating a vast corporate digital library on every move of small farmers’s livestock.
But small farmers do not create the contaminated environments, do not supply the feed, do not grind up diseased animals into feed (how Mad Cow began) and then sell it. In fact, their farming methods, free range and small scale, are significantly healthier and safer for animals and food than the massive concentration of animals by corporate industrial agriculture.
Monsanto is also aggressively pushing for state laws to limit farmers’ right to choose what to plant and the public’s right exclude
GE plants from their communities.
Cattle bloated by steroids, lapse and loss of 10,000 year old normal seeds, immense pollution from factory farms, deadly-disease-ridden feed, world-wide bee colony collapse, poisoned soil and depleted water supplies, Superweeds, lawsuits against farmers, loss of family farms, and … India farmers killing themselves in what may be the largest mass suicide in recorded human history (on average … one farmers’ suicide every 30 minutes since 2002 – The Hindu 1.30.0 – that is industrial agriculture.
Monsanto and Tyson are two of the largest industrial agricultural corporations in the world. Industrial agriculture is represented by your Rose Law Firm.
Your claim to care about food safety is terrifying double-speak given what Bill did and who you take donations from. Your idea of a Department of Food Safety would centralize control of food – in whose corporate connected hands? You talk tough about labeling food – ah, but “foreign” food – a sleight of hand tricking a public desperate for safe US food. You talk about food safety but Bill degraded food in every imaginable way and prevented minimally sane labeling.
I am a person before I am a woman. Your gender means nothing. It is a media distraction. Your policies on health and food and women and children, are meaningless in the face of connections that have threatened those groups profoundly, connections you have never denounced.
Monsanto uses child labor in India, primarily very young girls, exposing them to a lethal pesticide 13-14 hours a day, for pennies in pay. But you take donations from their lobbyists. You say you care about black people but as the poorest people in this country, they are least able to buy organic and are forced to eat the contaminated foods Bill let into our food system. The National Black Farmers Association has a boycott out on all Monsanto products.
Do you eat organic? (Good question!!)
So, who are you with, hapless black consumers and black farmers, or Monsanto? Mothers left to give their children rBGH milk, or Monsanto?
Women exposed to 7 times greater risk of breast cancer, or Monsanto?
Desperate farmers in India and young children forced into child labor in cottonseed factories there, or Monsanto? Animals suffering from lives in filthy cages and disgusting feedlots, shot up with steroids and hormones and antibiotics, or Monsanto? Our children who eat candy with high fructose Bt corn syrup associated with kidney and liver toxicity, or Monsanto?
Edwards was right about your corporate connections. I just didn’t understand until I saw that PBS show and read about Monsanto, how personally affected my children and grandchildren, and all people around the world, have been.
I will not vote for you. I will vote for someone who will commit themselves to work on behalf of small farmers and real food and decent treatment of animals and to end this industrialized agricultural nightmare that is taking us off a cliff.
Linn Cohen-Cole
Atlanta
Disclaimer. I am not a scientist. I have read for months on this subject, and am including only a tiny portion of the horrifying things I have learned. I am expressing my opinion as person and may be wrong. Perhaps things are swell out there and rBGH is fabulous and TSE-laced feed is great, and genetic engineering is the best thing
since manna. But I am scared for my family and I have not only a right to say so but an obligation to do so. I am angry that Monsanto was allowed the influence it had and has done the things it definitely seems to have. I am disgusted by industrialization of every tender and beautiful part of our world and hope, for all our
children’s sake, we are not too late to pull back.

Big Brother is back with Reality Sex

Big Brother- the most famous reality show is back with new sessions and with new spicy entertainment to offer for its viewers. The reality show which will hit the UK TV from 5th June onwards is going to show nudity content and live sex between its contestants.
According to the TV chiefs, the 16 new contestants of the show are “normal” but they have tried their level best to find out freaks, oddballs and stars. The show is being claimed as the spiciest and more entertaining than ever which is even ready to show housemates having sex if they happen to commit.
Telly chiefs reckon they have uncovered the randiest bunch of wannabes in the show’s history and plan to show all their X-rated antics.
The 16 wannabes entering the famous house tonight include a boob-flashing babe, a sex-crazed hunk and a kinky pervert who admits he is “desperate” for nookie.
A show insider revealed that there would be no hiding place for randy housemates. “Fans will get to see the housemates in all their mucky glory. If they have sex our cameras will record it and fans will get to see just how saucy these housemates can be,” The Daily Star quoted the source, as saying.

Cars of 2008

This article is about the cars of 2008 rated by yahoo. These cars are lavish, classic, expensive and beautiful. Even looking at them in pictures is a breath-taking experience. So enjoy the CARS To start off, here’s the car that you absolutely can’t own, no matter how much money you’re willing to spend. Only 20 of these fighter jet-inspired super-cars will be made, and they’ve already sold at over $1 million a piece. Still, it may be one of the most talked-about exotic cars of the past year, and is certainly worth keeping an eye out for on the roads.

2. Smart Fortwo
For the wannabe-European in all of us, the Smart Fortwo is the new American counterpart to those classic Euro smartcars. Small enough to fit in half a parking space, these zippy little cars can reach up to 90 miles an hour, all while getting 33 miles to the gallon, according to the company specs.With a base price of only $11,000, it’s the perfect replacement for that road-hogging SUV.

3. Bugatti Veyron
If the Fortwo is the cheap transportation alternative for the non-car enthusiast, then the Bugatti Veyron is the dream machine of every supercar fan on the planet. Its 1,001 horsepower will pin you to the seat at over 250 miles per hour, but only for a few minutes. At top speed a tank of gas will last just 12 minutes, so fuel economy is not something to think about when buying this beast.
Most of us regular drivers shouldn’t even worry about getting our hands on ne, because at just over $1.5 million, the Veyron is one of the most expensive (albeit fastest) cars on the planet.


http://photo.netcarshow.com/Bugatti-Veyron_Fbg_par_Hermes_2008_photo_02.jpg
4. Tesla Roadster
Somewhere between the Veyron and the Fortwo, there’s the new Tesla Roadster.
At first glance its Ferrari-like body, $98,000 price tag and sub-four-second zero-to-60 time look like any other high-performance supercar, but there’s a catch. The Tesla is actually the world’s first fully electric supercar.
Unlike previous electric cars, the Roadster has no backup gas tank whatsoever, just a rechargeable electric engine that the company claims will get you up to 220 miles on a single charge. Production has already started, so expect to see them hit the streets in the next few months.


5. International CXTenvironment
International CXTenvironment on this whole list, the International Truck and Engine Corporation recently released
the largest production pickup truck on the roads. Built on the same platform as a dump truck, it’s the everyday pickup on steroids. The perfect six-figure truck for the boy in all of us who still remembers playing with Tonka Toys when they were younger.

6. Hummer HX
The latest concept truck from Hummer moves even further away from its Army-styled road tanks of the past and into dune buggy territory. Designed as Hummer’s competition for the Jeep Wrangler, the HX takes some styling cues from its bigger brothers and adds a few tweaks. What you get is a small, off-road capable, convertible truck that will be a welcome addition for Hummer fans feeling the effects of high gas prices.

7. Scion Hako
Scion has never been accused of making plain cars, and its latest coupe concept is no different. Resembling an orange box with wraparound windows, the Hako will definitely turn heads and create a love it or hate it opinion similar to every Scion car before it. The younger generation is once again Scion’s market, as the Hako includes plenty of interior technology, such as Bluetooth phone capability and video cameras instead of side view mirrors, with the images shown on screens inside the doors.

8. Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe
Described as less eco-friendly and more ego-friendly, the newest offering from the classically opulent automaker is a two-door sporting car sure to get you noticed. Designed more to be driven and not driven in, in contrast to most previous Rolls models, the Phantom Coupe is sleek, fast and fun. The extravagance continues to the interior, where a “starlight” headliner entertains passengers with flickering lights resembling the night sky.

9. Jeep Renegade
Jeep’s newest concept debuted in auto shows earlier this year and was an immediate topic of conversation. The boldly styled Renegade is an open-air off-road 4×4, but with an electric motor. Jeep uses one of these motors (which get up to 40 miles on a charge) on each axle for true four-wheel drive.
Meanwhile, a backup diesel engine will get you where you need on longer drives. Jeep finishes off the unique design by covering the truck’s exterior with rubber accents, hidden storage compartments, and shortened windshield and doors.

10. Maybach 62 S
The newest model in the ultra-lavish Maybach lines solidifies the company’s understanding of the word “luxury.” Even though its turbocharged engine can get all 6,200 pounds accelerating at Ferrari-like speeds, if you’re the one driving this car then you’re doing it wrong. It’s better thought of as a high-powered limo, and the list of amenities for the passenger section in back is endless. A mini-fridge, wine cooler, leather armchairs for seats, automatic window curtains, auto-tinting glass roof, and personal video screens for every passenger are only the more normal options available. If you want to be driven around in speed and style, grab about $500,000 and give Maybach a call

Coolest Doubt Ever!!!

Ek bar ek Gaon me Masterji bachho ko Shree Krishna ki story suna rahe the. Masterji ne bachho ko us Akkashwani ke bare me bataya jisme Kans ko warn kiya gaya ki Devki aur Vasudev ka putra hi uska kal banega. Aur iske baad Kans ne Devki aur Vasudev ko karagar me dal diya. Per Jaisa Aaakashvani ne kaha, Waisa hi hua aur Shree Krishna ne janm lekar Kans ka vadh kar diya.

Beech me ek bachhe ne hath khada kiya aur kaha -” Masterji mujhe ek doubt hai”

Masterji ne poocha ki use kya doubt hai? Bachhe ne kaha -” Agar kans ko dar that ki Devki aur Vasudev ka putra hi uska kal banega to kans ne un dono ko ek sath rakha hi kyon?”

[:P]

fuel Efficient future cars.

16 Sweet Used Fuel Sippers

With this articles I am going to start category – Cars. I will write one article everyday or so. All car-lovers can find useful assorted information here on my blog. So all car-crazy ppl, stay tuned and be updated every day. Here goes the PILOT Blog. [:P]

Money-tight car buyers looking to save money on gas are turning to fuel-efficient used models. Consumer Reports says these are good bets.

2000 Honda Insight

MPG: 51

Estimated cost: $4,760 – $6,350

Consumer Reports selected these cars with very specific criteria in mind: None are more than 10 years old, and the decision was based entirely on fuel economy and reliability.

That doesn’t mean they’re all dream cars though.

The ultra-thrifty two-seat insight gets the best mileage of any car on this list. And Consumer Reports applauds its reliability. But the magazine does note some serious downsides.

“The interior is cramped, noisy, and uncomfortable, and the ride is hard. Among hybrids, both the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid are better cars,” Consumer Reports’ Web site notes.

2004 – ‘06 Toyota Prius

MPG: 44

Estimated cost: $15,000 – $20,775

The second-generation Prius can be much more expensive used bet than the older version, but it boasts a number of improvements.

“2004 brought a second-generation hatchback model with better mileage, less-touchy brakes, and more interior room,” the magazine writes on its Web site.

2001 – ‘03 Toyota Prius

MPG: 41

Estimated cost: $6,700 – $13,225

The first-generation Prius lacks the hatchback styling of the later version. Consumer Reports notes that “the cabin feels roomy inside, but the battery pack robs trunk space.”

A 2005 redesign also improved brakes that the magazine called “touchy.”

2000 – ‘05 Toyota Echo

MPG: 38

Estimated cost: $3,260 – $10,325

Consumer Reports was impressed with this predecessor to the Toyota Yaris.

“It provided sprightly acceleration, easy access, and a roomy rear seat. Handling was sound, and the ride was reasonably quiet and comfortable,” the magazine writes on its Web site.

2003 Honda Civic Hybrid

MPG: 37

Estimated cost: N/A

Pricing for this version of the Civic isn’t available because Consumer Reports doesn’t break out the hybrid version separately from the non-hybrid Civic.

“It has good crash-test results, handles well, and has outstanding reliability,” the magazine notes on its Web site.

2006 Honda Civic Hybrid/EX

MPG: 37/31

Estimated cost: $12,270 – $20,350

2006 was the fist model year for the Civic’s new cutting-edge look.

Consumer Reports points out the latest version’s quiet, roomy interior and improved ride quality.

2007 Honda Fit Sport (manual)

MPG: 34

Estimated cost: N/A

The Fit is a recently introduced model, so Consumer Reports doesn’t yet have pricing for it as a used car.

The magazine compliments the Fit for its roomy and versatile interior, however.

“While not overly powerful, the Fit feels responsive, with a smooth and willing engine and agile handling,” the magazine’s Web site also says.

2007 Toyota Yaris Liftback and Sedan

MPG: 34/33

Estimated cost: N/A

Generally speaking, Consumer Reports is not enthusiastic about the Yaris, but it is very reliable and fuel-efficient. The magazine’s test drivers complain of poor emergency handling, a noisy passenger compartment and long braking distances when not equipped with anti-lock brakes.

Consumer Reports doesn’t recommend the hatchback version (the “Liftback” is shown here) because it performed too poorly on its emergency handling tests.

Used pricing for this vehicle is not yet available.

1998 – 2002 Chevrolet Prizm

MPG: 32

Estimated cost: $2,475 – $2,475

The Prizm was basically a California-built Toyota Corolla with a Chevy bow-tie. Because of the Chevrolet brand, resale values for these cars deteriorated faster than Corollas’, but that’s good news for buyers.

Versions after the 1998 model year have improved suspension for better emergency handling, Consumer Reports notes.

“The Prizm’s exemplary reliability record is a major advantage,” the magazine’s Web site says, “but the interior isn’t as well trimmed as the Corolla’s.”

1998 Mazda Protege LX

MPG: 32

Estimated cost: $1,690 – $3,925

The LX has a 1.5-liter engine making it less powerful – but less thirsty – than the EX version with its slightly larger engine.

1998 – 2000 Toyota Corolla CE/LE

MPG: 32/31

Estimated cost: $2,245 – $5,900

The compact Corolla is Toyota’s most popular model worldwide. It’s proven to be very reliable. Models after 1999 share the suspension improvements with the closely related Chevrolet Prizm.

1991 – 2001 Acura Integra

MPG: 32

Estimated cost: $3,255 – $14,700

The Integra, from Honda’s Acura luxury division, “has been consistently named as one of the best used cars based on CR testing and our reliability survey,” the magazine’s Web site notes.

2005 – ‘06 Scion xB (manual/auto)

MPG: 32/30

Estimated cost: $8,250 – $14,175

“Its good visibility and compact dimensions make the xB a great city car,” Consumer Reports says.

For longer trips, drivers will find the early xB a noisy and twitchy car to drive, the magazine’s Web site says.

2004 – ‘05 Scion xA (auto/manual)

MPG: 31/30

Estimated cost: $7,725 – $11,200

The xA was a precursor to today’s Scion xD. It’s smaller than the even boxier xB.

“The high levels of wind noise and the choppy ride make the xA fatiguing on a long drive,” Consumer Reports writes on its Web site.

2004 – ‘07 Mazda3 (manual)

MPG: 30

Estimated cost: $10,085 – $20,025

The Mazda3 is a fun-to-drive successor to the Protege. Buyers should be careful to check the equipment list for optional side curtain airbags, Consumer Reports’ Web site notes.

“Without them the Mazda3 received a Poor rating in the [Insurance Institute for Highway Safety] side-crash test,” ConsumerReports.org says.

2006 Mini Cooper (manual)

MPG: 30

Estimated cost: $16,660 – $24,7500

The retro-cool Mini Cooper is also a fuel economy gem. Unfortunately for interested buyers, it also holds its value very well, making it pricey for a used compact car.

Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved.

True Ghost Encounters by my father-1

This series includes weird and ghostly encounters my father seemed to have sometimes ago ( in fact some of them are when he was a teenager). I am writing them down as my father told me. Authenticity of these claims can never be judged and I am writing them down purely for those who either want to read experiences or believe in ghosts and spirits.  Here goes the first of this series.

First encounter he had was when he was a 9th class student . My grandfather was building a new home at a very notorious location. There were already stories of ghostly experiences around that vicinity and there was a big Banyan tree just in-front of our home which was being constructed. The roof had not been laid yet. There were few acts of murder and suicide at that location. My father used to assist in construction work and sleep in that house alone.  One night he was sleeping on his small one -man cot. At the time of midnight, he realized uneasy on his bed, like someone else was there too. He woke up and saw what it was and he saw a figure, not tall but sturdy and strongly built, sitting on the cot at his leg-side. My father’s sisters were newly married then and the figure was almost like his sister-in-law type. My father thought that its his sister-in-law (it was dark and his face was not visible) who came late but out of hesitation, did not wake him up. He called that figure-” Jeejaji!! ( Jeejaji- Hindi word for sister-in-law).” The figure did not reply. My father started moving out of his bed and so did the figure who now has started towards the door. My father kept asking him but he swiftly moved out of the gate. My father followed him and this figure circled the Banyan tree and disappeared. My father kept searching around the tree but dint find any trace of him. He still had no thoughts of ghosts or spirit or any such thing. So he came back and slept.

Next day same thing happened but this time my father found him sleeping with him on the cot . He again followed him to the Banyan tree and again he got disappeared. This time horror struck my father and he rushed to his old house and narrated the incident to my grandfather. My grandpa made my father at ease and asked him to sleep with my grandmother. My father did not sleep alone for next 6 months. That figure never appeared again.

So this was one of the mysterious incidents, that happened with my father.

Give me your response, accordingly I will publish next experiences.

PJs Poor Jokes ; Marna Mat!!!( Date – 05 june, 2008)

Poppat and Donkey

Having lost his donkey, Poppat got down to his knees and started thanking God.

His friend Mungeri asked, “Your donkey is missing; what are you thanking God for?”

Poppat replied “I am thanking God for seeing to it that I wasn’t riding the donkey at that time, otherwise I would have been missing too !!”

JAI MATA DI

Teacher: ‘A’ for?
Student: Apple !!!
Teacher: Jor se bolo
Student: JAI MATA DI

Fire Brigade

Once Poppat rescued 6 people from a house burning on fire

But still Pandu was jailed !!!!!

Why????

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..

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Because all the rescued persons were fire fighters !!!