Nokia posts $1.72 billion loss in second quarter

Finnish mobile phone company Nokia's net loss nearly quadrupled in the second quarter on sagging sales of smart phones, a market in which the company is struggling to regain ground lost to rivals including Apple and Samsung.

Shares in the company jumped, however, as sales of low-end phones buoyed revenue and shipments of the new Lumia phones, which run on Windows software and will replace the older smartphone models, were not as bad as feared.

Nokia posted Thursday a net loss of $1.72 billion, compared with a loss of about $451 million in the same period last year.

Overall sales were down 19 percent.

This marks a fifth straight quarter of losses for Nokia.

After 14 years as the leading mobile-phone manufacturer, a position it lost earlier this year, its value has dropped 64 percent this year to its lowest value since 1994.

Since Apple’s introduction of the iPhone in 2007, Nokia has lost $117 billion of value.

It now has a market cap of 6 billion Euros.

CEO Stephen Elop hopes the companies line of powerful Lumia smart phone will stem that loss. Nokia has shipped 4 million Lumias phones, which runs on the Microsoft Windows Phone OS.

Boy with massive tumour growing from his neck

A nine-year-old boy with a massive tumor was whisked from a dangerous neighborhood in Mexico in an armored vehicle by U.S. federal agents and taken across the border for treatment in New Mexico, his family said.

The boy and his parents were snatched on Thursday from the gang-infested neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez — one of the deadliest cities in the world — after members of a New Mexico Baptist church saw him near an orphanage and sought help.

The parents of the child, identified by officials only as Jose to protect his family, said the tumor on his shoulder and neck has grown so large that it affects his eyesight and could move into his heart.

With no money for medical care, the family sought treatment in Juarez and El Paso, but did not receive any help removing the tumor, which has afflicted Jose since birth.

Si Budagher, pastor of First Baptist Church of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, said the church members spotted the boy while doing missionary work and felt compelled to do something to help him.

Church members only recently resumed missionary work in the border city after suspending visits there due to the deadly violence between competing drug cartels. The violence has claimed thousands of lives.

Denise Gutierrez, a victim assistance coordinator for Homeland Security Investigations, said she felt compelled to help as soon as she saw photos of Jose.

Gutierrez said the boy and his parents were granted a 45-day humanitarian visa for treatment in New Mexico, and a coalition of U.S. federal agencies began working to get them into the United States.

The U.S. Border Patrol helped the family enter the country.

Budagher said the church has set up a fund for private donations and is helping with the cost of the family's stay in the U.S. The church is also seeking help from doctors to examine Jose.

It's still unclear, however, what treatment is needed or if he'll need to return for follow-up visits.

Billa 2 Movie Review

Ajith sizzles as don

The suspense is finally over. The hype and hoopla has receded as the first show of Billa 2 is done and dusted. The question that immediately pops up in one's mind is whether the movie is worth a watch? Does it match its first part? The answer could be a yes, but partially.

Billa 2 is a prequel to Ajith's 2007 film Billa which was directed by Vishnuvardhan. The new edition is directed by Chakri Toleti who has wielded the megaphone for Unnaipol Oruvan.The film traces the history of a dreaded gangster David Billa and finds out the reasons behind his transformation from an ordinary man to a warlord.

Pravathy Omnakuttan and Bruna Abdullah play female leads while Bollywood stars Sudhanshu Pandey and Vidyuth Jamwal are cast as baddies. Music is by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by R D Rajasekar.The movie relies heavily on Ajith. With a wafer-thin storyline, at places events unfold quickly to sustain our interest. Produced by Sunir Khetarpal, George Pius and Suresh Balajee, Billa 2 is strictly for Ajith fans

Story

David Billa (Ajith) a Lankan refugee comes to a camp in Rameshwaram.He fights against injustice in the refugee camp.Now he comes across a few mafias and tries to become one. Slowly he moves towards achieving his mission and meets Abbasi (Sudhanshu Pandey) in Goa. Abbasi is a dreaded mafia don. Billa manages to win his patronage and makes trip to Georgia to meet an international don Dmitri (Vidyut Jamwal). As it happens, the rise of Billa creates a rift in between him Billa and Abbasi. Now Billa decides to announce his arrival.Several hurdles come his way including Dmitri himself. How he accomplished the task is the rest.

Performance

Ajith shoulders the burden as he did in the first part. He is at ease playing a baddie. It is no easy task to do such a character, but he does it well. Especially the climax stunt sequence is a treat for Ajith fans.Parvathy Omanakuttan and Bruna Abdullah seem to play cameos. They come and disappear.Sudhanshu and Vidyut are majestic and have terrific screen presence. Also the film has Ilavarasu, Manoj K Jayan and Rahman.

Technicalities

Rajasekhar's camera speaks a lot in Billa 2. Be it Goa, Chennai or Georgia, he captures them well. Yuvan's music is a letdown. He manages to bring solace with his background score. Dialogues by Era Murugan are worth to listen. 'Mathavanoda Bayam dan nambaloda Balam is one of the highlights.Selva's art works are authentic.

Analysis

It is a triucky tale for the story is wafer-thin. But Chakri has ensured that events unfold at quick pace. Sadly more brawny and less brainy, Billa 2 sparkles in moments. It is a thorough entertainer for Ajith fans.

Plus

Ajith's performance

Era Murugan's dialogues

RD Rajasekar's camera

Minus

No logic

Average music by Yuvan

Too much action

Beautiful PINK lake in real life will give you a big WOW

No photo-shopping here folks...that water is pink! It's Lake Retba, aka Lac Rose, in the Cap Vert peninsula of Senegal. The pink is caused by a harmless Dunaliella salina halophile algae. The color is especially vibrant during the dry season. It also has a super-high salt content, 1.5 times higher than the Dead Sea.

POMEGRANATE WHICH GOES IN YOUR STOMACH IS A SEED OF LIFE FOR YOUR HEART

EVERY SEED OF POMEGRANATE WHICH GOES IN YOUR STOMACH IS A SEED OF LIFE FOR YOUR HEART!!!

Two things are full of benefits for the human being, lukewarm water and pomegranate.

Pomegranate is a seasonal fruit in Pakistan so I tried an experiment with dried pomegranate seeds.

I prepared a decoction boiling the fistful of dried seeds in half litre of water for 10 minutes, squeezed the seeds, strained the decoction and advised those patients suffering from painful angina to use a glass of lukewarm decoction on an empty stomach in the morning.

Amazing result was observed, the decoction of dried pomegranate seeds worked like a magic, the feelings of tightness and heaviness of chest and the pain had gone.

It encouraged me to try more experiments on all types of cardiac patients so I tried other experiments on patients who were suffering from painful angina, coronary arterial blockage, cardiac ischemia (insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle) etc, waiting for a bypass surgery. The same lukewarm decoction was used on an empty stomach in the morning. The patients experienced quick relief in all symptoms including painful condition.

In another case of coronary arterial blockage the patient started using half glass of fresh pomegranate juice everyday for one year, although all symptoms were completely relieved within a week but he continued taking it for a whole year, it completely reversed the plaque build-up and unblocked his arteries to normal, the angiography report confirmed the evidence.

Thus decoction of dried pomegranate seeds, fresh pomegranate juice or eating a whole pomegranate on empty stomach in the morning proved to be a miracle cure for cardiac patients. But the lukewarm dried seeds decoction proved to be more effective compared to eating a whole pomegranate or fresh pomegranate juice.
Use of pomegranate in any way has demonstrated even more dramatic effects as blood thinner, pain killing properties for cardiac patients, lowers LDL (low-density lipoprotein or bad cholesterol) and raises the HDL (high-density lipoprotein or good cholesterol). There are more than 50 different types of heart diseases, the most common being coronary artery disease (CAD), which is the number one killer of both women and men in some countries, and there has been no medicinal cure for this disease.

Many cardiac patients have reversed their heart diseases on my advice using one glass of lukewarm decoction of pomegranate dried seeds, half glass of fresh pomegranate juice or eating a whole pomegranate on empty stomach in the morning. It was the very first real breakthrough in the history of cardiology to successfully treat the cardiac diseases by a fruit.

The more super foods to obtain the even faster results for cardiac patients which are most promising curative and protective agents like fresh raisins, quince, guava, prunes (dried plums), natural vinegar, mixture of grape fruit juice and honey in the morning (empty stomach), basil leaves, chicory leaves, powder of oregano leaves and rock salt in equal quantity (in case the patient is not hypertensive) and sesame oil as cooking oil for cardiac patients.

It is regretted to say that treating the heart patients and bypass surgery has become far more profitable business around the world which has failed to help avert life threatening heart attacks and life time cardiac complications resulting in almost paralyzed life. A regular use of pomegranate in any way ensures a healthy cardiac life, thinning your blood, dissolving the blood clots and obstruction inside the coronary arteries, maintains an optimal blood flow, supports a healthy blood pressure, prevents and reverses atherosclerosis. (Thickening of the internal lining of the blood vessels) from whatever I experienced and observed in last several years, I can say:

“A pomegranate a day keeps the cardiologist away” you can try and see the wonder

Kumbakonam filter coffee in London!

In a land where you wake up to English tea and remember to eat burger on the move, who cares for a filter coffee? Well, the Tamil community of London does! For an English person to get a feel of the Tamil culture and to enjoy authentic Tamil food, one need not travel all the way to Tamil Nadu! London's East Ham is comparable to Ranganathan Street of T Nagar in Chennai where a dozen of restaurants are located with English and Tamil sign boards. The Taste of India restaurant is a 'must to visit' place if you wish to rejuvenate yourself with a typical filter coffee. This restaurant has a branch in Kumbakonam, London and Paris. To an Indian, East Ham is a heaven to enjoy Tamil cusines. At the same time, get ready to brush up your Tamil skills as to your surprise, in the heart of England, the business transaction in this area takes place typically in Tamil! To all Tamil tourists, East Ham in London is a home away from Tamil Nadu.

Mandatory Tamil signs across Chennai: TCC

Members of the Tamils cultural centre are hopeful to see mandatory Tamil sign as per Tamil Nadu rules on every single establishment across the Tamil capital, Chennai. Tamil Nadu follows a bi-lingual (Tamil and English) formula however signs in English, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi are gaining prominence in the city. The sign boards such as this one clearly violates the Government rule and this is a very common sight across Chennai and urban Tamil Nadu. The Tamils Cultural Centre members submitted their plea to the Mayor of Chennai Corporation in the last week of June. The members of TCC are expecting that a favourable order would be passed sometime in July 2012.