Ashes-Fall of the Aussies

England beat Australia 2-1 to clinch the Ashes cup…

Looking back at the series, both the teams weren’t at their best…

Aussies were lacking form; they didn’t have the best of players.

On the other hand, the English were a normal team, with players suffering from injuries.

It was predicted that the Aussies will conquer England quite easily before the series.

1^st test:

The 1^st test was in favor of Australia… England lost wickets quickly in their 2^nd innings and were about to lose on the last day… The tail Enders along with Paul Collingwood fought gallantly… Particularly, Anderson and Monty Panesar stood for more than 10 overs for the last wicket and drew the match. According to me, this was the turning point of the series… This gave England lot of confidence.

2^nd test:

Before this test match, Andrew Flintoff announced his retirement from test cricket due to injuries… Andrew Strauss hit a beautiful century in the 1^st innings and helped England score above 400… Aussies batting next succumbed to Anderson’s bowling… They were trailing by more than 200 runs in the 1^st innings… England batting next set 1 score of more than 500 to chase… With brilliant century from Michael Clarke, Aussies fought back… But 500 was something huge… The English were leading 1-0 at the end…

3^rd test:

There is nothing to speak about this match… It was a rain curtailed match and it ended in a draw.

4^th test:

There was another twist in the story… England put into bat by Ricky Ponting, suffered huge blows from Stuart Clark… They collapsed for 102… Aussies put up a huge total on board… The English again failed to impress in 2^nd innings… The match ended in 3 days itself… Aussies leveled the series 1-1.

5^th test:

There were huge expectations for this match… England, batting 1^st scored well this time… This was the last test for Flintoff… Aussies, batting next, suffered to Stuart Broad at one end and Graeme Swann at the other end… England again scored well in 2^nd innings, with a magnificent century from debutant Jonathan Trott… Australia again tried to save the match… Michael Hussey hit a century under pressure… But finally, the English won by 197 runs to conquer the ashes 2-1…

Man of the Series:

Aussies man of the series was Michael Clarke (chosen by Andy Flower, the English Coach)

England’s man of the series was Andrew Strauss (chosen by Tim Nealson, the Aussie coach)

Aussies were pushed to 4^th spot in the rankings, following the defeat… It is true that they have become weak after retirement of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer and so on…

The English conquered Ashes in 2005 after 15 years… To me that was something very great… English beat the Aussies at its top… Then Australia player good, England player better… But this time, England player bad, Australia played worse.

Thanks Guys!

Hi guys,

Thank u for ur support. Within 10 days of starting my blog, I have received nearly 40 visitors to my blog. Many of my friends appreciated me for this blog. I’ll keep updating my blog, in the days ahead.

Keep reading my blog!

P.S: Thanks to Vijay Dinesh and Nataraj Gandhi, who gave me this wonderful idea of blogging. They encouraged me to start a blog and it has become a nice hobby…

Rs.855 crores wasted money

Recently, I received a SMS which had the following particulars

An Indian MP’s salary: Rs.42000.

Office expenses: Rs.14000.

Train ticket is free.

Flight to Delhi is free.

MP hostel is free.

50000 units of electricity free.

170000 local phone calls free.

Total Expenses: Rs.32 lakh per year.

Rs.1 crore 60 lakh for 5 years.

For 534 MPs it costs Rs.855 crores.

This is how all our tax moneys r swallowed and daily commodities price r raised.

So, we must carefully choose our MPs, so that they do good to our country.

P.S: Thanks to all the guys, who sent me this SMS.

Sleepy Technology Classes

In this semester we have a subject called ‘Manufacturing Technology’… It deals with many manufacturing processes such as welding, metal forming, molding, etc… The subject will be full of theory… i.e. there will be no problems in the subject…

The classes will be mostly sleepy in nature… As the portion is very less, our teacher too, will be telling a lot of stories… But that will become the problem… I will just narrate the incidents from the beginning…

The very 1^st day of this semester, we had our classes’ right after the lunch hour… He came to the class and started briefing about the subject… He continued it for the whole 50 minutes… He was just saying about the processes, which we couldn’t understand… At last he said, “I know that u can’t understand, what I said today. It is enough if u were able to grasp at least 5% and each time we can grasp 5%”… We were shocked… We were able to do nothing but murmur “enna koduma Sir idhu!”

Then the 2^nd day came… This time we had 2 periods continuously, that too was right after lunch… He came to the class… He told that we shall discuss about the syllabus, so that we will know whatever things r important in the subject… He started from I chapter, in between the topics, he used to tell a lot of stories saying the manufacturing processes were carried out there. In that way he went to all places around the state including Trichy, Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, etc…

At the end of the 2 periods, he finished the overview of just 1 and a half chapters… By the middle of the 1^st period itself, most of the boys went dreaming… The highlight was when a boy hit the desk unknowingly and produced large amount of noise… Finally, by the end of the next class (4^th class), he finished overview of 4 units… He skipped the overview of 5^th unit…

Then he started the I unit which deals with welding… He used to teach with an Over Head Projector always, since this subject deals with a lot of drawing… For each topic, he used to say some stories (some will be real, some will be unbelievable)… Finally, he will never finish that particular process… He will explain about the industry, say us to copy the drawing and the class will be over by then or he will skip to the next topic…

He gave away many classes to other staff members and didn’t come to the class for a week or so… He told that,”We unfortunately missed some classes due to many occurring.”The most amazing thing was that he finished the II unit within 3 classes (just before the day of internal exam)… Just took 4 or 5 topics and told us that lesson was over… We searched the book and shockingly found that those topics were only covering 3 pages of a 100 page unit…

The classes used to be so boring, that many boys will start sleeping just within 10 minutes of the period… They will be sent back and will be asked to stand and listen… Normally, we can see 4 or 5 faces, consistently standing in the back…

But, he has a lot of industrial experience… He will tell a lot about industry, market, economy… But the problem is his lecture used to be boring that we will sleep… If u can listen, u will be able to gather a lot from him…

During our industrial visit, he explained almost all the machines, parts of engine, everything beautifully… That day we gained a lot from him…

We were more shocked to know that we have a subject ‘Manufacturing Technology II’ in next semester… “Ippave Kanna Kattudhe!”

"5S" - The Japnese Principle

Each week we have a period called ‘Association Hour’. In that period we use to do some preplanned activities like aptitude test, seminar, group discussion, etc… This week we had seminar. Anyone can explain about any topic of their interest. I was fascinated when a boy took a seminar about “5S”.

5S is name of workplace organization methodology. It uses list of 5 Japanese words which starts with S. It has been translated into English such that they also start with S.

The 5S are

1. Seiri:

Its English equivalent is ‘sorting’… In this method, we have to differentiate between needed and unneeded objects or tools. We have to eliminate or clear the unwanted tools.

2. Seiton:

Its English counterpart is ‘Set in Order’… In this one, we have to set the needed items in order. We have to keep the tools in appropriate place so that we can easily identify them, when required.

3. Seiso:

Its English equivalent is ‘Shining’... We have to clean the workplace frequently, so that the place is neat and clean. For instance, we have to remove the waste pieces that are left after work from the place.

4. Seiketsu:

Its English counterpart is ‘Standardizing’… We have to standardize the 1^st three processes. Just doing it the 1^st time won’t be enough. We have to do it consistently. We should not take a tool and throw it away in some place after working. We have to restore the tool to the earlier spot.

5. Shitsuike:

It can be translated in English as ‘Sustaining’… Once we have established the 1^st ‘4S’, we have to maintain them. We have to settle in the new way of operation… We should not allow our self to decline back to the old ways. Of all the 5S this S is the most significant S.

Thus we have to adapt the 5S for the healthier working of an industry. Not only for an industry, for our day to day life also we can adapt this technique of 5S. We can attain regularity and success by following this method.

Industrial Visit to Railway Workshop, Ponmalai near Trichy

We went to Railway Workshop at Ponmalai, near Trichy on Aug 6, 2009, as an industrial visit.

We booked a bus named 'Balasakthi'.... Bus started by 6.45 from college... had our breakfast in a hotel on the highway between 8.15 and 9... Then we reached the workshop by 10.30....

Our teacher went inside to finish of the formalities... it took 45 minutes... when he came back, he told that they said it was lunch time by 11.30 and so they asked us to be back by 12.30... We went back to trichy and had our lunch... came back by 12.45...

Our visit started by 1pm... We were divided into 2 batches and 2 guides accompanied us... actually it is a maintenance sort of industry... they repair/maintain engines of train... they also manufacture wagons (goods coach) in small level... they were also manufacturing a new steam engine for Nilgiri Mountain Train... The construction of this steam engine was finished when we went... It was superb...

I'll lightly explain the places of industry... 1st we went thru' electrical section, where they explained, how motor is made to run using battery( motor is made to run initially alone) which is the prime mover for generator which produces electricity, which is used to run engine...

The main things were engine parts... we were explained about piston, cylinder, crank shaft, cam shaft... crank shaft was magnificent... there were 16 cylinders( 8 on each side) in the engine... normally a 2 wheeler has 1 cylinder...

Actually what happens is the piston moves thru' cylinder to and fro... fuel is compressed and burnt in there.... from which connecting rod rotates crank shaft, which is something like a rod(it used to be small for an automobile)... it was 12 feet or even more for a train engine...

Crank Shaft

It is connected to cam shaft( known as propeller shaft in an automobile)... it connects the crank shaft with wheel of train... it is nearly equal in length with crank shaft. Crank shaft is made up of single rod, whereas cam shaft is made up of a series of rods.

Cam Shaft

There are 6 sets of wheel in an engine, 3 on either ends(there will be 4 sets, 2 on either sides for a coach)...the wheel movement is controlled by cam shaft... the size of engine wheel is magnificent... it’s up to our chest level...

Steam engine is quite simple,,, coal is burnt in a container. Water from another tank is brought through pipes. It is converted to steam, which is used to produce energy, which drives the wheel...

We were shown every parts, every type of operations inside the workshop... sadly due to lack of time, we didn't see wagon manufacturing...

The workshop was big... it was just going on inside...

Also, an additional information... we call the chain used for speed changes as gear in an automobile... it is called as notch in locomotive... it is directly connected to wheel of engine... there r totally 8 notches... the crank shaft rotates at 1100 rpm in 8th notch... normally it rotates at 400 rpm...

Crank shaft, cam shaft, etc is manufactured by kirloskar or ELGI... The motor, generator is manufactured by BHEL, Bhopal... there is BHEL in trichy, where they manufacture boilers...

Totally it was very useful... we started back at 4.30 from industry and reached college by 8 pm.

Hi

Hi guys,

This is new blog... I'll be posting about my college life in this blog...

Occasionally i'll posting about other interesting topics too...