Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

October 19, 2007 (Karachi): Two massive blasts rocked former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's motorcade in Karachi early on Friday morning, killing at least 135 people and injuring over 545 others .The blasts, which reports indicate were suicide attacks, took place a few feet away from Bhutto's convoy.Witnesses said they heard an explosion that was followed by another one that occurred just to the left of Bhutto's armoured truck. Bhutto had left the unprotected, open-air perch of the truck and gone below just before the explosions took place. The first bomb exploded from the left side of the truck, causing party workers to fall on each other; then the second blast struck when people were trying to get up and many were injured as they leapt off the truck when it caught fire.Pakistan People's Party spokesperson Farhatullah Babar has confirmed that Bhutto is safe and has reached her home Bilawal House in a police car. However, Rehman Malik, one of Bhutto's adv

Rahul Dravid being dropped from the Mumbai match is a clear signal that the former captain's place in the one day side is once again under scrutiny. Dravid is the first to admit that the shorter format of the game is not his forte, yet so far he has managed to adapt and create spaces for himself. Now time seems to be running out. He has scored 51 runs from five innings at an average of 10. Is that deemed as a big enough failure to drop a player like Rahul Dravid. Well certainly not, is what the cricketing fraternity has to say including the Australian captain Ricky Ponting. "I was quite surprised (at Rahul being dropped). He's done very well for India," Ponting said. "It's shocking you cannot treat a player like this," said Vinod Kambli, former India captain. Recent stats show that Dravid is in the worst slump of his one day career, and he stands alone amongst India's 'Big 3' in his failure to perform over the last 10 innings. He averages a m

Sony Ericsson takes its design chops to the limit with this Portable Bluetooth Speaker MBS-100, a softball-sized orb that reminds us of something we saw in a microscope when we put some soap scum on the slide. With its rechargeable battery that's said to last five hours, it's just about small enough to take with you, and hooks up to any Bluetooth device via A2DP. Apparently the various positions of these speaker holes will spread that sound far and wide, but this design reminds us of the underwater mine, and it still has a scratching our heads. Sony Ericsson says the MBS-100 will ship in Q1 of '08. If it's cheap, it might be good for a few laughs Powerful Sound The Portable Bluetooth™ Speaker MBS-100 has been created for music lovers who want to enjoy and share their music anywhere. Your favourite music deserves crystal clear powerful sound, and the MBS-100 provides just that using the latest A2DP streaming technology to deliver the very best in sound quality.

Shashankasana (The Moon Pose) Method: Sit with legs folded backwards, heels apart, knees and toes together. Stretch your toes on the ground. Adjust your hips between the heels ( Vajrasana posture ). Slowly raise your arms over the head. While exhaling, slowly bend forward and stretch your palms on the floor with pulling in your abdomen and pressing it against the thighs. Then bring your face downwards and touch the floor with the fore head without raising the butt ocks. When you are in the pose, re member to continue breathing normally. Make sure that you are comfort able; otherwise you will be unable to relax properly. Be in position for at least 15 seconds. Inhale slowly, return to an upright position, reversing the process. Benefits : In Shashankasana, the head is bent downwards, it allows better circulation towards the brain. This has numerous benefits, such as improved concentration and memory. There are a numerous physical benefits of Shashankasana. For example, headaches and sin

West Bengal's singing sensation Aneek Dhar emerged the winner of Zee TV'S popular talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, beating Raja Hasan of Rajasthan and Amanat Ali from Pakistan at a star-studded event here. Aneek walked away with a Rs 5-million contract with Universal Music and a Chevrolet Spark car at the grand finale of the show Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge - Sangeet ka Pratham Vishwayudh on Saturday night. After his win, an overwhelmed Aneek hugged his mentor musician Himesh Reshammiya and said, "Sir I love you." Bollywood star Akshay Kumar announced the much-awaited results and General Motors' Ankush Arora handed over the car keys to Aneek, while Puneet Goenka of Zee TV gave him the trophy. Aneek received over 36 million votes from over 100 countries. The final show at the Andheri sports complex here was a starry affair as actors Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, singers Udit Narayan and Sudesh Bhosle along with the five judges Vishal-Shek

If you’re in the market for a home but nothing seems to satisfy your taste, then perhaps the homes listed below will fire your creative urges. Or, maybe you’ll just be satisfied with an office space inside a building built like a basket. From small buildings to constructions shaped like flying saucers, you’ll be amazed at what some architects and builders have created. Many of the homes listed below are for rent or for sale, so you may have a chance to wow your friends with these Wonders. Click here for 25 real incredible abodes .

KUALA LUMPUR: Agencies that supply foreign maids in Malaysia on Wednesday welcomed a government plan to allow recruitment from India, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam to fill a shortage caused by low wages and reports of abuse. "We were waiting" for this decision, said Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, president of the Malaysian Association of Foreign Housemaids Agencies . "Of course we support this." He said Malaysia would need to hire at least 1,000 maids every month to alleviate the shortage. "We have a problem now, 94.8 per cent of the maids are from Indonesia. We cannot depend so much on one source," he said. He said fewer Indonesian maids are applying to work in Malaysia because salaries here are lower than in other countries, and also because many are scared away by media reports that maids are physically abused by Malaysian employers. Reports have highlighted several abuse cases in past months. In the most publicized case, a maid escaped her