Smoking is Injurious to 'Wealth'

The picture of charred black lung on the cigarette pack is hardly a deterent when the smokers crave for some quick nicotine fix. But from now, the smokers will have to bear more than Rs. 10,000 a year excluding the cost of cigarettes! This is the amount added to Life Insurance Premium of smokers. Since it is a fact that nicotine addicts have higher chances of contracting pulmonary & heart diseases, it makes sense to charge more for the high risk. Now for instance a 40 year old smoker has to 'cough up' Rs. 25,670 (approx) a year for a Rs. 50 lakh cover under Kotak Preferred Term Plan while for non smokers it is just Rs. 15,000. So if health problems in future don't motivate smokers to give up smoking, definitely the 'cost' of smoking will help them kick the butt.

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National Library and The Secret Chamber

History used to be boring when i had to study those books and memorize the dates, back in school days. But after somehow getting over those days, i realized my mistake and believe that history can be pretty much interesting . . well at least some times like the following one.
A mysterious room has been discovered in the 250 year old Belvedere House (commonly known as National Library in Kolkata) during the renovation of the building. The secret chamber has no opening of any kind. The chamber has lain untouched for over 2 centuries. The archeologists have no clue of the secrets that this hidden chamber may hold. But a wide range of theories are being speculated such as a torture chamber, sealed tomb, or may be even a treasure room. Plenty of such possibilities exist because the same building has a very rich colonial history and was used as residence of Lt. Governors. .
So after this news piece, who still thinks history is boring?

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Paul the psychic octopus is no more!

Paul, the Octopus, the favorite sea creature during the last World Cup Soccer has died at the age of 2.5 yrs. Steffan Porwoll, a manger at Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany, where Paul lived and made his famous predictions said that Paul had passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes. Of course, the conspiracy theorists are speculating other reasons for his death.
Jiang Xiao, a Chinese Filmmaker, who is making a film titled "Kill Paul Octopus" about Paul's predictions, told Guardian that she was "60 - 70 percent sure that Paul was dead on 9th July and the Germans have been covering up his death. . . . Octopuses all look the same. It is impossible to tell the difference."
For the Paul lovers, a condolence section has been set up on his facebook page, and the Sea Life Centre has decided of honoring his life with a burial plot and a modest permanent shrine on their grounds.
[tags psychic, paul, octopus, world cup, soccer, football]

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Beetle Bailey Turned Sixty!

On this Sept. 4th, Beetle Bailey, one of the most loved comic strip characters and my idol turned sixty. The brainchild of cartoon artist Mort Walker, was first published on Sept. 4th , 1950. The story is set in a fictional US army camp 'Swampy' where Beetle joined after he left his college and got enrolled with the Army during the Korean War. In these sixty years, Beetle had not for once been in a war.
King Features, the syndicating service for Beetle Bailey is celebrating the 60 years of Beetle Bailey by running Sunday cartoons that feature Beetle in re-enactment of various events of US military history like end of World War-II, crossing of Delaware with George Washington. About Beetle, Walker says - "He is still pretty much lazy. . . He represents the little man in all of us". And this is so true. . Don't we just love this lazy fellow!!

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Get your Address Proof from Post Office

The Indian Postal Department is now issuing address cum identity proofs. To get the postal identity cards you have to make an application on prescribed form for Rs. 10/- and submit it with a fee of Rs. 240/- in the nearby Head Post office, as not all the post offices are providing this service. Once you have submitted the application form for Postal Address cum Identity Proof, a postman will visit your place to verify your address. Once the verification is complete, you will get the Postal Address cum Identity card. However the whole process may take upto a maximum of 2 months. The ID once issued will be valid for 3 years after which it has to be renewed for a fee of Rs. 140/-. In case you lose the Postal Address cum Residence Proof, the postal department will issue you a duplicate proof for a fee of Rs. 190/-.
Though the initiative by the Indian Postal Department is appreciable, i have noticed a few downsides -
1.) In some places like Bangalore, the postal department is demanding the Voter ID to issue the residence cum identity proof. At this moment i can not find a single reason as to why a person with Voter ID will need a Postal ID.
2.) The maximum time duration for the entire process is 2 months, which is kinda too much stretched in my opinion.
3.) Are these ids recognized by other Govt. Departments? Are these valid for opening a bank a/c, etc.
So did you apply for you Postal Residence cum Identity Proof? Did you face any problem? Share your thoughts with me.

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