Podcast Mania it is !

Podcast Mania; from the time I wake up in the morning, I put on the latest pod-casts on my phone and listen to these whenever possible. So, am like listening while sitting in front of the computer, while working, sometimes while am eating and almost for an hour before sleeping. It has become a big part of my daily routine, I can't imagine early mornings without the news updates from my favorite podcasts.

My current favorites are the Global News,  BBC World Update, NPR hourly news and Front Page; all these are the regular podcasts, I listen to, in the mornings. And these are really good, as you can stay updated with the all the news while working and you don't have to take out time for it separately. 

Not just the news, there are some great podcasts on health and nutrition like Beyond Diet, The Jillian Michaels Show, Get-Fit Guy's tips to slim down, The Health Show and many-many more. And these are very informative and give you an insight into the diet trends, workout regimes and tips on leading a healthy life. 

Apart from these, there are some amazing pod-casts on Business and Industry as well, some of my favorites are Wall Street Journal this morning, NPR Planet Money, NPR Business story of the Day. These are so interesting to listen to and keep you well-informed about the current trends in the world.

Well, there's a plethora of pod-casts on various topics like Comedy, Games, Music and Sports. So, there's a lot more to explore in the world of Pod-casts and I can very well say that, we are spoilt for choices when it comes to Pod-casts.

25 Paise coin: A collector's dream now

RBI signs 25 paise 'death' warrant - Indian Express, this is how a post on the newspaper's website looked like on May 18, 2011. Yes, RBI has decided to do away with the coins of 25 paise and less with effect from June 30, this year. And it has also asked the public to exchange these coins at the banks. Once all coins are collected, the central bank is expected to melt them and use the metal for something else.

Well, am not shocked to hear that, as I haven't been using 25 paise coins, let alone these, I haven't even used a 50 paise coin for so long now. As I remember, i once gave an auto guy two 50 paise coins instead of giving one rupee and the auto guy didn't take it as he said, he won't be able to use it; so I had to give him a rupee coin instead. And I think, I gave him those coins as I was also not able to use these. So, finally those coins went to my coin collection and I don't recall, using 50 paise coins ever again.

These coins were anyways out of use and the government can very well do away with these; but yes, there will always be people who might have their reasons against it.

Not just coins, even one and two rupee notes are also extinct now; and even the five rupee note seems to have disappeared; since the coin came out; but i do have a crumbled five rupee note.

But am sad about one thing, as am not able to find any 25 paise coins for my collection, I hope there are some back home in India. And i also need to get my hands on to some one and two rupee notes, if those are somehow available.

Link : http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/notification/PDFs/UPC160311F.pdf  

GM Diet: Works Well

Am following the one-week GM Diet plan and today is the fifth day. I have lost almost two kgs by now. 

GM Diet - A diet program for employees of General Motors , it was approved in 1985. According to the program: 

Day 1 : Only fruits except Bananas.

Day 2 : Potatoes for Breakfast + Vegetables.

Day 3 : Fruits + Vegetables.

Day 4 : Milk + Bananas.
Day 5 : Meat + Tomatoes.
Day 6 : Meat + Vegetables
Day 7 : Brown Rice + Fruit Juices + Vegetables.

Am done with the first four days of the program, with almost no difficulty. And the day five is moving smoothly too. But ya, the wonder soup provided with the diet plan was of huge help, as it was filling and very easy to make. 

For details,  regarding the exact amount of food intake and other specifications of the diet program, please refer to the webpage - http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~jajoo/gmdiet.html

May 14th - Starting the sixth day with the same weight loss. And ya, had all the six tomatoes yesterday, as according to the diet  plan. This day won't be difficult as well, as I can have all the veggies.

May 16th - Day 8, completed the one-week diet plan with the total weight loss of one kg. The weight loss is not that significant but still losing one kg is also good enough and moreover, it was a very healthy break for the body. 

So, the plan does work but one needs to continue eating well along with exercising to maintain the weight.

Royal Wedding Hysteria

The live coverage of the Royal Wedding was suppose to start at 4 a.m. in the U.S. on the 29th of April, 2011 and I was also suppose to watch it. But the idea of waking up early in the morning was so depressing, that I made myself happy by watching a repeat telecast at 9 a.m. @ CNN.

The Royal Wedding Hysteria, as it is called; started right from the day when Prince William announced his engagement with Kate Middleton on the 16th of November, 2010. And since that day on, I kept myself updated with all the news related to their wedding and of-course, their pictures together. I read uncountable articles about them, right from finding out where they met, how long they dated to what Kate will wear for the wedding. It has been a long learning curve, as i can say. So, if am asked to summarize this whole thing, I would say; it was, 'A meeting in St. Andrews led to eight years of on & off dating which further led to marriage with her Prince Charming and they lived happily ever after'.

Well, it definitely sounds short, but it took awful long time of eight years for them to decide to get married. And finally, when they did, they did in style. The whole world was glued to their seats to watch the telecast of the wedding which lasted for three hours. It was surely, the most awaited event this year.

It was a fairytale wedding, with the handsome Prince William and the Beautiful Bride Catherine walking hand in hand down the aisle, with the music playing. Kate looked stunning in her wedding gown and William looked like a gentleman waiting for his bride. And when they came out of the church as 'Man & Wife', the crowd went crazy. The second appearance on the balcony was greeted with even more cheer and the kisses sealed the show.

The pictures came out right away, and I must have seen those fifty times by now. And especially, the official portraits which looked perfect.

Well, now that the wedding is over, as its been almost a week; things have come back to normalcy. There are no more new pictures or updates on the Royal couple and the latest news of 'Osama's death' has taken over all the media space for a while now, more-so in the States.

Though the news has died out, the images of the grand wedding will forever stay etched in our minds. It was, no doubt, the wedding of the century.

p.s. I bought the Special Collector's Issue of People Magazine featuring a 72 page Royal Wedding Album.