March 14, 2009

HDFC meritus scholarship programme sample questions and answers

Sample Questions for 4th & 5th Standard

1. Which ruler is referred to as ‘The Mad Monarch’?
Akbar
Mohammad bin Tughlaq
Ashoka

2. During the 1857 mutiny who was the queen of Jhansi’s trusted general?
Tantia Tope
Bhagat Singh
Hyder Ali

3. On which empire did the emperor Krishnadeva Raya rule over?
Kakatiya
Chola
Vijayanagar

4. Who founded Sikhism?
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Nanak
Tegh Bahadur
Shivaji

5. Which of the following materials will be attracted to a magnet?
Plastic
Iron
Cotton

What are the answers to these MCQ objective questions ?

Do you have a solution ?

HDFC bank meritus scholarship program has problems

HDFC bank India has rolled out a nationwide scholarship programme for schoolkids from class 4th to 9th standards.

HDFC Bank has always been considered as a safe and secure bank with financial prudence. Now they have started the program for brightening the life of even young ones. HDFC Bank has come up with a scholarship program for Indian kids from class 4th to Class 9th. This scholarship is not just based on academics but looks at all round performance of participants.

You can register your kids, your younger brother/sister, your cousins or even your friends. Registration is free and was closed on March 10th. So register now. To start the registration process, visit here: http://www.hdfcbank.com/meritus/register_now.asp

What is more, the first rounds can be taken on the phone itself and you need not travel with younger ones. So it is simple to even appear for test. So don’t worry and just let your kids try.

Here is what the HDFC site says :

The HDFC Bank Meritus Scholarships is an initiative by which we intend to bring more opportunities to talented and deserving students.

We plan to give out over 5000 Scholarships ranging from Rs.2,500 to Rs.10 Lakh amounting to Rs.1.5 crore, to students from the 4th to the 9th standard.

A special panel of judges will evaluate the final shortlisted participants and decide the winners.

Evaluation will be based on the following parameters:
a. Academics: Last 2 years performance in school
b. Extracurricular activities and Sports: Competitions won in intra-school, inter-school, state level and national level
c. Final written tests

But here is a problem !!!!!!!


Erratic Call charges on IVR No.505101012, Complaint from ******* Regn No. **********, HDFC Meritus Scholarship
Dear Sir / Madam,
With Reference to the HDFC Meritus Scholarship Test – My Daughter ******* Thasneem – Registration Number – **********
I regret to bring to your kind attention that the disappointment experience what we had faced now,
1. I have already forwarded Two mails on the connectivity for the IVR Test as we did not get connected at all Every time it says Tray Later.
2.My Daughter has continously tried the number early morning / midnight / holidays but of no use, Not connected to the IVR Test only says “Try Later”
3. We have tried so far 276 times but no use.
4. The problem what we face now is ” We have been Charged Rs. 6/- for every attempt we made to the number 505101012.
5. We have been charged Rs. 1656 ( 276 * 6 ) One thousand six hundred and fifty Six Rupees for not having connected to the number you have mentioned. We agree that Rs.6 will be charged for taking the IVR test and the test may go also 10 to 15 mints provided there should be connectivity between the two lines.
6. Whereas If the Phone is charged Rs.6 for every attempt and not connected, then how do you expect us to try whether we will get connected to test or we would be just paying Rs. 6 for every attempt.
7. In what way it is Justifyable?? Pls let me know it clearly from your management.
8. I am attaching the detail summary of calls are being charged for the every attempt of your IVR number 505101012. Pls Go though the same and come to conclusion. Pls see the Trailing Mail.
9. How the People will try and deleberately knowing that Rs.6 will be charged for every attempt with out knowing that this call will get connected or not.
10. Now we have decided not to try further this IVR Number as we do not know whether this will get connected and we have to pay Rs. 6 for every attempt and so far we have been already charged Rs.1656 for dialing this number and to hear “Try Later”. The Call get cut at 23 seconds.
I would like to get the suitable remedial action from your side and I would like to know what would be your further necessary action to solve my problem.
Based on the above I would initiate the further necessary interest.
Regards,
*******
Did you have any similar bad experience ?

February 24, 2009

Google’s Gmail is down now atleast for some people – me included

Gmail does not load, nor do the email part of Google partnerpages which use gmail.

www.gmail.com has crashed and is not loading

Hope Google fixes this soon. A similar thing has happened earlier too and Google apologized for it.

We feel your pain, and we’re sorry

Monday, August 11, 2008 6:05 PM

Status Update

2/24/2009

We’re aware of a problem with Gmail affecting a number of users. This problem occurred at approximately 1.30AM Pacific Time. We’re working hard to resolve this problem and will post updates as we have them. We apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused.
Google has recently been crashing in a few other places like search too.
Is this the end of Google ?
Meanwhile get a few free Gmail stickers .
Here is an article about the search problem.

“This site may harm your computer” – Google says for every website

Google breaks the internet ! – all sites may harm your computer

Google  better get better real soon, or this is gonna get bitter.

(There is a much better tongue twister – about butter, bitter and better, but that is not what I’m talking about there)

Slumdog Millionaire wins 8 Oscars (source:time)

(source:time)

India has clearly been the flavor of this Oscar season. While Slumdog Millionaire predictably won eight of the 10 golden statuettes it was in the running for — including the Best Picture — even the low-profile Smile Pinki, a documentary about a girl from a village in India with a cleft lip, surprised with its win in the Short Documentary category. Indian TV anchors have been wildly ecstatic, but reactions outside newsroom are decidedly mixed. Some feel happy for Slumdog’s Indian connection — especially for the awards for A.R. Rahman (best original score and for theme song Jai Ho) and Resul Pookutty (best sound mixing) — yet many feel the film was overrated. Critics opine the awards signal a belated acceptance of Bollywood’s song-and-dance formula, but point out that this is a win for a western film, made by a westerner (British director Danny Boyle), for a western audience.

“What is significant for us in India is that Rahman won two Oscars, and Pookutty won, too,” says New Delhi-based film critic Vinayak Chakraborty, “This officially recognizes the power of the songs and dances of Bollywood cinema. It is debatable whether Slumdog is Rahman’s best work, but it does give cognizance to Indian talent.” In addition to Rahman and Pookutty, many of the film’s cast are already celebrated, respected names in Indian cinema. Gulzar, who won the Oscar for best original song along with Rahman for Jai Ho, is a venerated writer, poet and lyricist; actors Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan are among the best in the trade. “I’m super-happy for Rasool [Pookutty], but Rahman and Gulzar are already well-known. They don’t need an Oscar to validate their talent,” says Mumbai-based assistant film director Tony Deol. Nevertheless, Deol says that alone, all the first-rate Indian talent in the film put together would not have garnered an Oscar nomination. “If you take out the director and producer, it wouldn’t even have got a nomination. This film won due to all the Danny Boyle hype.” Harjot Singh, an IT expert with a Noida-based BPO, adds: “Smile Pinki, which won in the Best Short Documentary category, is also made by a U.S.-based filmmaker. I’m happy this has been India’s season at the Oscars, but it is certainly not Indian cinema’s.” (See the 10 Indian films to treasure.)

Since its release here in late January, not everyone in India warmed to Slumdog the way western viewers did. “Initially when I saw the film I didn’t like the parts where people spoke English and cracked American jokes,” says Tony Deol, a Mumbai-based assistant film director. “For someone in India, living in Mumbai, it rang false.” Those who liked the film, however, say they hope the Academy’s accolades will help mainstream good Indian cinema. “By recognizing Indian talent, I hope people in the west will realize there’s more to Indian cinema than just song and dance,” says Priya Khanna, a general manager with Pepsico, “I hope good Indian cinema will be able to break the Bollywood stereotype and reach audiences within India and abroad.”

But film critic Vinayak Chakraborty says that is highly unlikely; Bollywood’s vocabulary, he says, is entirely different than western cinema’s. “The Oscars are unlikely to change anything for Bollywood. The Oscars have their own cinematic idiom that tells stories in a particular way. It’s different from the Indian idiom which is larger than life and melodramatic.” Film director Deol adds, “At the end of the day, [India's] big studios and big filmmakers know their market well, they know where the revenues like. They will continue to make films for India and for the NRI [non-resident Indian] market, but not for the non-Indian market.”

February 23, 2009

Slumdog Oscars now at 4- Best Video Editing

Soon after Malayali Rasul Pookutty won the Oscar for sound mixing in the Danny Boyle movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, i started the previous post.

Before i could even hit Publish, the next Oscar for the same movie was announced.

On a winning spree here, this movie.

Video editing. Sorry, i don’t recall the name.

Oscar count 4 and counting.