What is PIN Code or Postal Index Number?

The PIN Code or Postal Index Number Code system was introduced on 15-August-1972 in India. The purpose of PIN Code system is for identifying different places uniquely and easily that will help in transmission of Mails, letters, couriers timely and accurately. Through PIN Code, the confusion of name duplication of different places is solved.

The Indian Post and all Courier Companies use PIN codes to deliver mails to various places. If the PIN code is mentioned properly and the address is not 100% accurate(contains minor spelling mistake), the mail can reach the appropriate person most of the time. Hence, never forget to put PIN code in all your mails/couriers/letters.

Details of the PIN Code number:
Postal Index Number (PIN) is a 6 digit code.
There are 8 PIN regions in India.
The first digit indicates one of the regions.
The first 2 digits together indicate the sub-region or one of the postal circles.
The first 3 digits together indicate a sorting / revenue district.
The last 3 digits refer to the delivery Post Office.

Credit Card

A Credit Card is a plastic Card with a magnetic tape that contains electronic information about the Credit Card holders authentication and about the Credit Card issuing Bank / Company.

How Credit card works?

Credit Card Approval:

The Credit card is issued to the Customer/user by the Bank or Credit Union after proper verification and with documentation. If someone holds a decent regular job, the approval process is very simple. For others, verification and documentation depends on the customer's existing reputation with the bank. Again, for all the applicants, Credit History check is a must. A good Credit History is an advantage for fast approval of a Credit card.

Credit card usage:

Once the Credit card is issued to the customer, they can use it in various ways.
1. Credit card can be used to shop at various merchant shops, eat food at hotels, book ticket at railway counters, pay tuition fees in training institutes etc. (It doesn't mean that Credit card are acceptable at all merchants or hotels etc)
2. A lot of internet Websites accept Credit card for online shopping or e-ticket booking. A customer can use the Credit card to purchase goods or services online. For online shopping, Credit card is a great tool.

Payment Back to the Credit card issuer:

Credit card payment works in a cycle. Generally Credit card issuers give a free credit for certain days. It varies issuer to issuer. Approximately 50 to 52 days. The customer has to pay the entire amount billed for their Credit card within this period.
Also, there is a Partial payment option for Credit card. But, it is not advisable as the entire amount will be charged with interest in case of partial payment.
Non-payment will attract late payment fee as well as interest.
The interest rates are too high for Credit card. But again it varies from issuer to issuer and from plan to plan.

Credit card Types:

1. Cash back Credit card
2. Rewards Credit card
3. Travel Credit card
4. Business Credit card
5. Other Credit card

Credit card Issuers:

Here is a list of few major Credit card issuers in India:
1. State bank of India
2. ICICI Bank
3. HSBC Bank
4. HDFC Bank
5. Citibank
6. Standard Chartered Bank
7. ABN Amro
8. American Express
9. Axis Bank
10. Bank of Baroda
11. Deutsche Bank
12. Barclays Bank
13. Canara Bank
14. Amex
15. Kotak Mahindra
etc

HDFC Standard Life Spell Bee Contest- India Spells 2009 CHAMPION

Ragvendra Kuppuswamy from ITI Central School, Bangalore is the HDFC Standard Life Spell Bee contest - India Spells 2009 Champion and Lavanya Krishna from Presidency School, Bangalore is the Runner Up. The contest was the toughest Spelling contest in India. The HDFC Standard Life Spell Bee contest - India Spells 2009 Champion program was broadcasted in National Geographic Channel. The grand finale was on Sunday, March 29. The teams in finale were from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Jaipur. The Bangalore came as the Spell Bee Champion.

Ragvendra Kuppuswamy received Rs 1,00,000 cheque from HDFC Standard Life plus 3 return tickets to Washington plus 3 nights hotel stay for himself and his parents to witness the Scripps National Spelling Bee, courtesy Make My Trip and a Cello Pens gift hamper.

Lavanya Krishna received Rs. 50,000 cheque from HDFC Standard Life along with 2 return tickets to London, courtesy Kingfisher Airlines and a Cello Pens gift hamper.

HDFC Standard Life also gave gift cheques of Rs 25,000 to each of the semi-final winners.

Sourcs: http://specials.msn.co.in/sp08/bee/

What is the national anthem of India?

Jana Gana Mana - National Anthem

The national anthem of India is written by Rabindranath Tagore. Here it is:



Jana gaṇa mana adhināyaka jaya he
Bhārata bhāgya vidhātā
Punjāba Sindha Gujarāta Marāṭhā
Drāviḍa Utkala Banga
Vindhya Himāchala Yamunā Gangā
Ucchala jaladhi taranga
Tava śubha nāme jāge
Tava śubha āśiṣa māge
Gāhe tava jaya gāthā
Jana gaṇa mangala dāyaka jaya he
Bhārata bhāgya vidhāta
Jaya he jaya he jaya he
Jaya jaya jaya jaya he!

Translation into English

The following translation, attributed to Tagore, is provided by the Government of India's national portal:



Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

Play the video and listen to the national Anthem of India. Proud to be Indian.

Who are the women Governors in INDIA?

Here is a list of Women Governors in INDIA

Name	Period	State
Sarojini Naidu	15/08/1947 - 02/03/1949	Uttar Pradesh
Padmaja Naidu	03/11/1956 - 01/06/1967	West Bengal
Vijayalakshmi Pandit	27/11/1962 - 05/09/1963 & 18/12/1963 - 08/10/1964	Maharashtra
Sharada Mukerjee	05/05/1977 - 14/08/1978 & 14/08/1978 - 06/08/1983	Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat
Jyothi Venkatachalam	14/10/1977 - 27/10/1982	Kerala
Kumudhen Joshi	26/11/1985 - 07/02/1990	Andhra Pradesh
Ram Dulari Sinha	23/02/1988 - 12/02/1990	Kerala
Serla Grewal	31/03/1989 - 06/02/1990	Madhya Pradesh
Chandrawati	19/02/1990 - 19/12/1990	Pondicherry
Rajendrakumari Bajpai	02/05/1995 - 23/04/1998	Pondicherry
Sheila Kaul	17/11/1995 - 23/04/1996	Himachal Pradesh
Justice M.Fathima Beevi	25/01/1997 - 01/07/2001	Tamil Nadu
V.S.Rama Devi	26/07/1997 - 02/12/1999 & 02/12/1999 - 10/08/2002	Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka
Rajani Rai	23/04/1998 - 31/07/2002	Pondicherry
Pratibha Patil	08/11/2004 - 21/06/2007	Rajasthan

Top ten Telecom service providers in India

Here is a list of top ten Telecom service providers in India as per May 2009 data.

1. BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigama Ltd)
2. Bharti Airtel
3. Vodafone Essar
4. Idea Cellular
5. Aircel
6. MTNL
7. BPL
8. Spice Telecom
9. Reliance Communications
10. Tata Teleservices

Mobile number change to 11 digits with a prefix of 9 in India

11 Digit mobile numbers in India from 1st Jan 2010

As the mobile phone users are increasing day by day, as per DoT (Department of Telecom), there will be a mobile number change from current 10 digit system to 11 digits mobile numbers with a prefix of 9 on 1st January 2010. Currently the indian market has close to 500 million subscribers and it expects the mobile phone user base to reach 1 billion by 2014. So, to accomodate such a huge customer base, DoT decided to increase all the mobile numbers to 11 digits by adding a prefix of 9.

Who all will be affected by this move?

1. The telecom service providers have to change the switching to accomodate 11 digit numbers. As per TOI, the telecom service providers in India use sofisticated switching system. So, there won't be much difficulty in doing that.

2. The users need to update their address book by appending a prefix 9 to all mobile numbers.

Caution!!

If you are using software to update your address book, make sure all landline numbers don't append the prefix 9 as land line numbers are not changed.

Child Immunization Schedule / Vaccination schedule in India

Here is a list of Immunization Schedule recommended by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. All the Indian babies should follow the following immunization chart so that they will not miss out vaccination for any critical disease.

AGE	VACCINES
Birth	BCG, OPV, Hepatitis B
6 weeks	DTP, OPV+IPV, Hepatitis B, Hib, PCV
10 weeks	DTP, OPV+IPV, Hib, PCV
14 weeks	DTP, OPV+IPV, Hepatitis B, Hib, PCV
9 months	Measles
1 year	Varicella
15 months	MMR, PCV Booster
16 months	Hib Booster
18 months	DTP Booster, OPV+IPV Booster
2 years	Typhoid
2 years 1 month	Hepatitis A
2 years 7 months	Hepatitis A
5 years	DTP Booster, OPV Booster, Typhoid
10 years	Tdap, HPV

The following table contains the Vaccine Names and the disease for which it is used.

VACCINE	DISEASE(S)
BCG	Tuberculosis (Bacillus Calmette Guerin)
OPV	Oral Polio Vaccine
Hepatitis B	Hepatitis B
DTP	Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis
Hib	Pneumonia, Meningitis, Bacteremia (Haemophilus Influenzae Type B)
Measles	Measles
MMR	Measles, Mumps, Rubella
Typhoid	Typhoid
Td	Tetanus
PCV	Bacterial diseases causing pneumonia, meningitis etc., (Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine)
Varicella	Chicken Pox
Hepatitis A	Hepatitis A
HPV	Human Papilloma Virus causing cervical cancer
Rotavirus	Rotavirus

Sources: http://www.parentree.in/

You can refer to Immunization schedule in other countries by clicking appropriate links in the above page.