Sunday, 13 November 2011

Monday, 17 October 2011

Alibag or Alibaug (Marathi: अलिबाग) or Alibagh (Hindi: अलीबाग़) is a coastal town and a municipal council in Raigad District in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is also the headquarters of the Raigad district. The town and its surrounding villages are the historic hinterland of Bene Israeli Jews. There is a synagogue in the "Israel Ali" area of the town.

History

Alibag was developed in 17th Century by Sarkhel Kanhoji Aangre the naval chief of King Shivaji's Kingdom. Alibag is a costal town and municipal council in Raigad district in Kokan region of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarter of the Raigad district. Raigad's first name was "Kulaba". Today's Ramnath was the main village at that time. Bene Israelite Ali was a rich man in the city based on Ali's gardens was named as "Alibagh". Ali owned many plantations of mangoes, coconuts in his gardens. So the local people called the place Alichi bagh(Gardens of Ali)which became in due course, Alibag.
Just 3 kilometers away from Alibag on Alibag-Mumbai highway you will find one small village Khandale having population of around 5000 people,which is also heading Gram Panchayats. Khandale is surrounded by wonderful Shiva temples such as Sidheshwar , Kankeshwar. During Shrawan month the beauty on these hillocks is breathtaking and on each Shrawani Somwars thousands of Alibagkars visit this place for worship and enjoying nature beauty. Also on the same highway goddess Patrudevi Mandir is located in small Ghat calles Karle Khind. Khandale is also very famous for white onions, which are sold all over Maharashtra as "Khandale Kande". This unique breed of onions are having very rich contributions in Ayurvedik medicines and very useful during summer heat which is having unique sweeter taste. Rewdanda, Chaul, Nagon, Aakshi, Varsoli,Thal, Kihim and Aawas villages were known as "Ashtagare" at that time. During those times there were some naval battles out of which one was fought at Varsoli between Kanhoji Aangre and Siddi of Janjira in the year 1706. In 1722 English and Portuguese jointly attacked on Kulaba fort and they lost this war. At Chaul there was a battle between the English and Sakhoji in 1730. Sakhoji won this war and brought down the losing party along with their captain at Kulaba. Kanhoji even issued his own currency in the form of a silver coin called the Alibagi rupaiya.

Geography

Alibag is located about 30 km south of Mumbai, at 18°38′29″N 72°52′20″E / 18.64139°N 72.87222°E. The average elevation is 0 metres (0 feet).

Education

After the British took over old Colaba and this region, they established four Anglo - Vernacular medium school and 30 government schools in the year 1865-66. In the year 1861 the first school for girls was started in Alibag. The Mission Church started the first English school in Alibag in 1879. Nowadays many computer institutes like Aptech, SSi and local computer institutes have come up in Alibag along with many cyber cafes. J.S.M. College Alibag,formerly known as Topiwala Industrial High school was renamed General Arunkumar Vaidya High School after General Arunkumar Vaidya who studied there. Other notable schools include Saint Mary's Convent School, Chandrakant Hari Keluskar Homeopathic Medical College and J. R. H. Kanyashala Alibag.

Economy

Tourism is the mainstay of the town's economy. Since the late 1990s the town and municipality have seen development of industrial sites. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) was the first industrial unit set up near Alibag. Other companies include Ispat industries Ltd (Mittal Group), Welspun Maxsteel Ltd (Welspun Group), Gas Authority Of India Limited (GAIL), HP LPG and Reliance Petrochemicals (RPCL) are also located near the town.

Politics

MLA-Minakshi Patil from 2009 - Shetkari Kamgar Paksha(SHEKAP)(PEASANTS AND WORKERS PARTY OF INDIA) ZP - Sena- SKP Municipal - MRS. PARVATI MENGAL, Shetkari Kamgar Paksha(SHEKAP)(PEASANTS AND WORKERS PARTY OF INDIA)

Transport

Road: One can reach Alibag via Pen (30 km away), which is on the Mumbai (78 km away) - Goa road. From Mumbai, one can reach Alibag by traveling on the Mumbai-Goa highway (NH-17)till Wadkhal (or Vadkhal) and taking the right fork from Wadkhal - the left fork being the road to Goa. The distance is approximately 108 km from Mumbai

Railways: The nearest rail railway station are Pen, India. Through Pen, India, it is connected to Khopoli.

Catamaran/Ferry: The nearest jetty is Mandwa From where catamaran/ferry services are available to Gateway of India, Mumbai. Another port in the vicinity is Rewas, from where a ferry service is available to Ferry Wharf(Bhau cha Dhakka). There is also a jetty at Custom Bandar from where fishermen in Alibag set sail.

One can reach Alibag by catamaran(sea) through "Gateway of India" to Mandwa or from "Bhaucha Dhakka" to Rewas and from Mandwa/Rewas to Alibag by bus.^[1] Ticket includes journey from Gateway to Mandwa and bus journey from Mandwa to Alibag bus stop. From Rewas to Alibag one needs to take State Transport bus or a Rickshaw. Take the ferry from Gateway to Mandwa. Services available from 6:00am till 6:00pm. Ferry Journey time: 40 to 55 minutes depending on the type of boats. From Mandwa operator carries passengers to Alibag in their own chartered buses. Bus Journey time: 45 minutes. Alibag beach is walking distance from the bus-stop.
Another option is to take a ferry from "Bhaucha Dhkka" to Rewas. Timings are same but schedule may change depending on the tide. From Rewas take State Transport Bus or Rickshaw to Alibag. Bus Journey time: 1 hour to reach Alibag. You can go to Alibag by S.T. bus from Mumbai. From Mumbai to Alibag having daily 35-40 S.T. buses, also Borivali, Thane, Kalyan, Pune, Kolhapur, Miraj, Nashik having buses to alibag for journey.
Getting There (At Alibag) By Air : Nearest airport is Mumbai, 140 km. By Railway : Nearest railway station is Panvel, By Road : Mumbai - Panvel - Pen -Wadkhal- Alibag. 130 km, Mumbai - Panvel - Pen -Wadkhal- Karle Khind. 125 km, Pune - Alibag. 150 km

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Alibag had a population of 19,491. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Alibag has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of females literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Beaches

http://alibagbeach.com The following are the main beaches in and around Alibag:

Alibag beach: This is the main beach of the town.
Alibag Fort: Alibag is the seat of District Administration of Raigad (formerly Kolaba) district since 1852. The name Kolaba is attributed to a Sea Fort Kolaba built by Shivaji the great, in 1680 to fight the mighty naval prowess of the Siddis' (Abyssenians) of Janjira and the British of Mumbai. Kolaba fort is famous for many battles, between Siddis and Kanhoji Angre, the British and the Portugese.
THAL beach: Isolated Beach 5 km from Alibag.
Varsoli Beach:Located about a mile from the main beach, home to a very large naval base.It is situated just on the outskirts of Alibag. It is relatively less visited site and as a result is a quiet beach with sparkling white sand and cleaner seawater. Varsoli is a small satellite village across Alibag, complete with thick vegetation of coconut and Casuarina.
Akshi Beach: It is situated 8 km away from Alibag.The famous Kashid beach is located 18 km from Murud. The specialty of this beach is the beautiful slivery white sand. literally dazzling silvery on this clean beach. It is a favourite spot for advertising, TV serial and film shoots. The beach is complete with small-food stalls. This beach is well suited for the children and ladies as the sea is flat for a long distance. One can walk through to a considerable distance towards the sea.
Nagaon beach: It is situated about 10 km away from Alibag and is famous for coconuts and betel nuts.
Kihim-Navgaon Beach: Kihim is a secluded place at a distance of 12 km from Alibag. The Kihim beach is famous for dense cover of Coconut trees. It is also famous^{[citation needed]} for woods which are home to rare butterflies, birds and flowers.
Awas: It is situated about 16 km away from Alibag.
Saswane: It is situated about 18 km away from Alibag.
Rewas: It is situated about 24 km away from Alibag.
Chaul Revdanda: It is situated about 17 km away from Alibag.
Kaneshwar Mandir: It is situated about 17 km away from Alibag to Karlekhind - Chondi road.13 km from Alibag in Northeast direction is this very famous Shiv temple on a 900 ft. high hill. It is a 5000 ft. long climb on well paved stairs, which takes around one hour. Landmarks along the route are tombs of MohanGiri and Balgiri, Nagoba Rest, Jambhali Plateau, God's stair, Gaymandi etc. The fatigue of the uphill climb vanishes the moment one enters the scenic temple premises . It comprises various small temples of Sri Paleshwar, Sri Hanuman, Sri Balram Krishna and Lord Shiv. The special attraction is an ancient sweet water tank enclosed in traditional structure of black stone. The ancient temple was built by Raja Ramdeorai yadav. The height of the Shiv temple is 54 ft. The front gate has Lion sculpture on both sides with traditional lamp-pillar(deepmaal) in front. The 4 ft. long 'Pindi' of Lord Shiv is silver plated. The premises also include Nagaar-khana, Bheem Kunda, a garden for flowers to be offered to the Lord, Sri Ram Ganesh temple and Gomukha. Every year, there is a fair on Kartik Poornima in Hindu calender. On this hill, a variety of herbs are found.
Mandawa: It is situated about 20 km north of Alibag. The catamaran/ferry services are available from Mumbai to the Mandawa jetty. Many Bollywood celebrities own bungalows here.
Kashid Beach: It is 36 km away from Alibag, on the Alibag-Murud highway, also this beach is possibly one of the cleanest and most beautiful beaches in the region with almost 'white' sand. There are many cottages and resorts available ranging from around RS:1500 to RS:20,000. Prakruti resort is the luxury and the costliest of all. This village does not have any wine shops. One has to go around 6 km towards Murud to buy alcohol. Kashid is the perfect place to calm down and relax for the urban people. One can find water sports facility and number of small shops for snacks. BEWARE: Take care of your self in the water (particularly at the high tides) as there were many incidents which cost the life. There is a danger board warning the people.^{[citation needed]}
Korlai Beach: A quiet serene beach with alternate white and black sands, along a serene stretch of the Arabian coastine, adjacent to a village of Korlai Creole Portuguese speaking Indians.Just across the bridge, to the right there is Korlai fort within the sea and attached to the mainland by a narrow land strip through the Korlao fort through the Korlai Village. It is supposed to have been built by the Portuguese in 1521. The main gate has an inscription which means 'no entry without a fight'. The fort has seven gates, a sweet water well, a church in disuse, a Hindu timple and a Lighthouse

Some Photos

Sunset at Thal Beach Alibag
Walk to the Fort
Evening at Thal beach
Alibag Fort
Isolated Thal Beach

http://Alibagbeach.com

Celebrities in Alibag

In the last 2 decades many celebrities have bought weekend homes in Alibag, skyrocketing the property rates in the area. Vijay Mallya, Shahrukh Khan, Godrej Family, Aftab Shivdasani, Yana Gupta, Juhi Chawla, Tata, Birla, Azim Premji, Ravi Shastri,Alisha Chinoy,Gautam Singhania etc. have sea facing houses there.
CONFERENCE FACILITY & TRAINING CENTRE
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOUNTAINHEAD LEADERSHIP TRAINING CENTRE : The state-of-the-art facilities combined with easy accessibility from Mumbai makes Fountainhead Leadership Centre one of the most coveted destinations for training workshops, clasroom learning and development facilitation, team off-sites, conferences, outbound motivational or breakthrough interventions and executive/senior management get-away meetings.
FOUNTAINHEAD LEADERSHIP TRAINING CENTRE is spread over 6 acres at Kihim, Alibaug, and is built on the philosophy of Learn Inside, Think Outside - essentially encouraging participants to make what has been learnt inside a classroom come alive in the fresher, greener and calmer environs of Nature. You will therefore see many interesting breakaway areas created exactly for this purpose.
56 rooms (includes 4 villas), 6 conferencing spaces (including a 300 capacity open-air amphitheatre) linked to breakout areas, restaurant-cum-Lounge area and a leisure zone complete with fully equipped gym, steam room, infinity swimming pool and jacuzzi.
For more details, visit: www.fountainheadindia.in

Hotels and Resorts

'KARPE WADI'- Agro Tourism center approved by ITDC. Must visit for good local food and Great Ambience.

“Kill nothing but Time, Carry nothing but Memories, Leave nothing but Footprints.”

Karpewadi Agro-Eco tourism hub practises sustainable management and encourages you to do so too. Located just 100 km from Mumbai and 155 km from Pune, Karpewadi is an ‘agrotel' where proximity to Nature is the central theme. For those who crave for action, there is private beach access, a range of activities to choose from onsite and a number of sightseeing destinations nearby. Professionally managed services, a no- compromise approach to providing basic creature comforts and the best quality home- cooked cuisine ensure that you are well taken care of.

'AQUA SPLASHH..' - Maharashtra Maritime Board Approved Water Sports. They have certified lifeguards and well trained staff.

A vacation is all about fun. Adrenalin racing, heart thumping and amusement. At Aqua Splashh you get all that and a bit more --- Memories. Come have the fun and tell the world what you did this vacation at Aqua Splashh. Enjoy shooting your loved ones or friends with Paint Ball. Celebrate the water waves in Jet Ski, Bumpy Rides, Banana Rides & Boat Rides. Enjoy the sea shore on All Terrain Vehicle ( ATV ) and Beach Buggy. Come make your vacation an unforgettable fun.

Samudra manthan'- An ideal resort for groups
Prasanna'- Economical resort right next to the beach

Other attractions

Kolaba (or Kulaba) fort (Not to be confused with Colaba in Mumbai) is situated in the sea at a distance of 1–2 km from the Alibag shores. During low tide one can walk to the fort. This was built by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and is assumed to be the last one that he built before his death. The fort used to have a sweet water well.
Kanakeshwar temple is situated on a hill near Mapgaon village, about 12 km away from Alibag and falls on the way to Mandawa.

Kankneshwar Temple

Tower of St. Barbara.
Chaul iIs a historic town situated about 15 km away from Alibag. It is famous for its Portuguese ruins, an old church, a synagogue, Buddhist caves, the Hamam Khana and a temple.
Vikram Vinayak Temple or Birla Temple, Salav is situated about 20 km away from Alibag. On the way to Janjira, take the right fork to reach the Vikram Ispat industry. Going a bit ahead will lead one to the temple.
Sagargarh
Kanhoji Angre Samadhi
Uma-Maheshwar temple
Balaji temple
Murud-Janjira: Janjira is a fort situated not very far from Alibag. It was built by Siddi traders. Shivaji Maharaj failed to capture the fort from the Siddis. One can find fresh water pounds inside the fort even today.
Datta Mandir: situated at bhowale,2 km away from chaul.
Hingulja Mandir: Situated near datta mandir, historic temple built by pandwas.
Magnetic Observatory: Established in 1904 by the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism.
Korlai Fort and Korlai Creole Portuguese of Korlai village: Situated between Chaul and Kashid, a village of Indians born of Indo-Portuguese ancestors, speaking a unique creole of Portuguese and a fort lost in the sands of history.

Thursday, 13 October 2011

My friendssssssssssss

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

HOW 2 MAKE WEBSITE

How To Make A Website – In 5 Easy Steps

So – you’ve finally decided to make a website, but aren’t really sure how to proceed?
No worries – you will find all your questions answered in this friendly and easy to understand, step-by-step website creation tutorial!
By the time you’re finished reading this tutorial, you’ll be able to have your site up & running in less than an hour.
Before you can create a website you have to make sure you find an appropriate domain name and a reliable web hosting service. You have to be very careful when deciding what services to choose, as this can play a big role on the overall performance of your website (stability, speed, up-time…). We will show you exactly where to find the best deals as we go along.
In case you are not familiar with the terms above, a domain name is the primary address of your website, also known as the URL (www.example.com). It is essential to understand that the domain itself (although an important part of the website) does not represent the actual website. Instead, it only serves as a pointer as to where your site is currently located.
This is where the hosting service comes in. Hosting service provides you with the web-space necessary to support your content. It serves as a skeleton for your site.
After you’ve successfully set up your domain name and web hosting service (takes about 15 minutes), it all comes down to configuring your website. We will be using a free CMS platform called WordPress. It is a very simple platform that enables users to build professional looking websites within minutes!
Are you ready? Alright – let’s get started!

Step 1 – Register A Domain Name

We’ve already mentioned that you have to be careful when registering a domain name. Why? Well… many visitors get their first impression about the website based on your domain name. This is why you want to make sure your domain name:
a) Is relevant to the content of your website,
b) Is simple & easy to remember (preferably a catchy phrase),
c) Is short and descriptive
d) Has the right extension (.com, .org, or .net)
Your domain name also plays a big role in the search engines. For example, when someone uses Google to search for ‘dog training tips’, a website whose domain contains these exact words has a much bigger chance of appearing in the search results for that particular term. Also, users are more likely to click through to a website that has its URL relevant to the phrase they were searching for.
Hope this makes sense, now let’s get rolling!
1) The first thing you will need to do is to decide who to use as your domain registrar. Personally I use and recommend Godaddy.com the worlds #1 domain registrar. So to get started, click on this link: http://www.godaddy.com
You should land at a page offering you to search for available domains and purchase them. That’s exactly what we’re here to do.
The domain name search box should look something like this:

2) Type in the desired URL and hit GO to check if it is available! You will most likely end up with plenty of different URLs available for purchase, as shown below:

This is good, however, we are only interested in the ones with .com, .org or .net extensions, as these have been proven to rank best in the search engines.
3) If your domain is available, check the small box next to it, and click continue to registration. You will be asked if you wish to purchase additional extensions for your domain, just click – No, Thanks! (unless you feel an irresistible urge to do so…)
4) You will then be taken through a registration process that is quite simple to follow. You’ll be offered few different payment methods, as well as an option to choose how long you wish to purchase the domain for. We recommend you select 1 year registration length, as it can be easily renewed at any time in the future.
Important: You will also be offered to choose between multiple privacy protection services, as well as web hosting services – we suggest you decline all of these for now, especially the web hosting option!
Godaddy is a powerful domain register, and although they do offer web hosting, I prefer to use a separate company for hosting. (explained in the next step).
Once you’re done purchasing, you will be sent a receipt with all the important information in it. It is a good idea to save this receipt, you might need it later.
Your domain will be ready for use within 24 hours, usually much sooner.
5) You are now a proud owner of your brand new domain! Congratulations!

Step 2 – Set Up A Web Host Account

Alright, now that you have your domain ready, it is time to put it in use!
How to choose the best hosting provider? There are two simple rules you want follow when making this decision:
1) Avoid cheap offers,
2) Choose an established host!
If you look around a little, you will find tons of hosts offering incredibly low pricing, but is it really worth it? Simply put – if you want your website to run smoothly and not to have large periods of down-times, then no – it’s definitely not worth it.
We would like to suggest a reasonably priced, well established hosting service called Hostgator.
Hostgator has been around for quite some time now and has a reputation of being fast, reliant and a very customer-friendly host. It also offers unlimited bandwidth (very large traffic support) and unlimited disk space (no limit on the upload capacity).

- Here’s how to set up a web hosting account with Hostgator:
1) First you need to visit the hostgator website by clicking this link: http://www.hostgator.com
When you land at their site, you will notice a big ‘View Web Hosting Plans’ button right in front of you. See it? Go ahead and click that.
Since you only have 1 domain you wish to host, select a ‘Hatchling plan’

Choose how long you wish to use their service for, and then hit Order Now!
2) You will be asked if you wish to register a new domain name, or use an existing one. Since we have already registered a domain name, choose an existing one:

Enter the domain name you’ve purchased and press Continue to Step 2
3) Fill in the account and billing information, and hit Create Account!
Your hosting plan will become active and ready for use as soon as it is processed and configured (this usually takes up to 1 hour).
You will also be sent an e-mail containing vital information such as your login info and name servers (which you will need later to link up your domain), so remember to store it somewhere safe.
It’s as simple as that! Was this hard? It literally took you 5 minutes to do it…

Now that you have these two pieces of the puzzle (the domain name and the hosting service), it is time to link them together!

Step 3 – Point Your Domain To Your Web Host

his is a really simple thing to do, but most people freak out when they hear about messing around with their domain, changing stuff like DNS, name servers, etc.
Don’t worry – it is easier than you think. We will guide you every step of the way!
1) Go back to your domain provider, type in: http://www.godaddy.com
If you are not already logged in, go ahead and do it at the top of the site:

2) Put your mouse over the Domains tab and select GO TO… My account… Domain Management:

3) Click on your domain name and you will be taken to a new page where you can configure everything about your domain, including the scary name servers!
Look for something like this:

4) Click on Set NameServers and this little window should pop up:

Select ‘I have specific nameservers for my domains’ and type in the information you were given upon registering your web hosting plan for both Nameserver1 and Nameserver2. Leave the other two blank.
You can find this information enclosed in the e-mail you received from Hostgator when you ordered the hosting service.
Click OK to confirm. Changes will usually take 2 hours to take effect.
5) You’re done!
Congratulations – you have just successfully linked a GoDaddy domain to a Hostgator hosting account! Note that the change might take some time to become effective.
If you experience any further problems regarding this issue, feel free to contact the Godaddy help staff and ask for assistance. They will be glad to help you out.

Step 4 – Install WordPress On Your Site

First of all, what is WordPress and why should you install it on your website?
WordPress is a free platform that has been commonly used by bloggers for many years. It basically allows you to build websites with very little effort on your side. It is a highly customizable, user-friendly and above all – very powerful tool when it comes to the website creation process.
WordPress allows you to use free pre-designed themes so you don’t have to spend a nickel on hiring expensive web designers to make your site look professional. It is also very friendly in terms of search engine optimization. You can install various 3rd party plugins such as the famous ‘All in one SEO’, which greatly increases the search visibility of your website, and so forth.
However, manually installing WordPress can be a hard and time-consuming work, especially if you’re new to this concept…
This is one more reason why we recommend Hostgator!
Hostgator has a built-in, automatic WordPress installer. All it takes is one click, and it is set and ready for use! It’s really that simple.
This is a free feature that comes included with every Hostgator hosting plan.
Steps for installing WordPress via Hostgator auto-installer:
1) Assuming your Godaddy domain is already pointing to the Hostgator nameservers (as covered in the step 3 of this tutorial), go and type in this URL:
www.yourwebsite.com/cpanel
2) Use the login information for Hostgator cpanel provided in the e-mail received upon purchasing the Hostgator web hosting plan.
Once you’re successfully logged in, you should be able to see the Hostgator cpanel. This is definitely a place worth exploring, as it offers tons of great features…
3) Scroll down, under the Software/Services category, click on Fantastico De Luxe (the blue smiley guy).

4) Pay attention to the left sidebar, under the Blogs column, there should be a WordPress link:

5) Click on New Installation and follow the instructions provided.
You will be asked to fill in certain information such as your e-mail address, desired wordpress username & password, and some other base configuration stuff.
Warning! – There will also be a field called Install in Directory – Make sure you leave this field blank!
Once you’re done, click Install WordPress!
On the next page, you will provided with the Mysql user name and an access URL. You typically won’t need this stuff at the moment, but you can save it for future reference if you wish.
Click Finish Installation
6) Voilà – You’re done!
WordPress is now successfully installed on your website, along with the default ‘twenty-ten’ theme which you’ll be able change easily, as soon as you regain access to the site (due to the WP installation process).

Step 5 – Configuring Your Website

Once you can access your site and you can see the default theme, just add /wp-login to your main URL and log in using the information you’ve just set up. Another option is to simply follow the login link located in the right sidebar of your homepage.

www.yourwebsite.com/wp-login

You should come up with a page that looks like this:

This page is called the WordPress (WP) Dashboard.
Get familiar with this interface – you will be using it a lot. It is the matrix of your website. Every single change on your website will be made using this dashboard.

The first thing you will notice are the quick-links to posts, pages, category, tags and comments, as well as a quick link that you can use to change your WP theme.
On the left hand side, you can see a lot of sub-menus that all serve their purpose, but for now let’s only focus on the most important ones:
1) Posts – These most commonly used when you are running your website as a blog. When you create posts within WP, you can decide what page they will show up on, along with the exact date of publishing, the publishers name and an option for visitors to comment on each post. You can also set up different post categories.
2) Media – This menu is used for managing pictures and videos you add to your website.
3) Links – Here you can create different links and link categories that you can later use to form customized sidebar widgets!
4) Pages – Used for adding new, fresh pages to your website. You can also browse the options for choosing the page slug, enabling/disabling comments, changing the page order, modifying the page template, etc.
5) Appearance – Allows you to completely customize your website’s appearance, starting from the theme you’re using, all the way to sidebar widgets and menus. There are a million ways to customize your website. Knock yourself out!
6) Plugins – These can be a very useful tool if applied properly. There are tons of 3rd party plugins that enable you to speed up your website’s performance, enhance the search engine visibility, improve visual styling & appearance and much more!
7) Users – This section is for adding new or modifying existing user settings, such as user passwords, profiles, e-mails, etc.

Settings – A place where you can set up stuff like your blog’s name, description, date format, front page display, monitor comments and media settings, etc. You will also be able to access and re-configure your 3rd party plugins from this menu.

Sea Food

Seafood

Seafood includes any form of food taken from the sea

See also: Fish as food. For the UK band, see Seafood (band).

Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs (octopus and shellfish), crustaceans (shrimp and lobster), echinoderms (sea cucumber and sea urchins). Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia (see the category of sea vegetables). In North America although not generally in the United Kingdom, the term seafood applies also to any fresh water life eaten by humans, so all edible aquatic life can be referred to as seafood.
The harvesting of wild seafood is known as fishing and the cultivation and farming of seafood is known as aquaculture, mariculture, or in the case of fish, fish farming. Seafood is often distinguished from meat, although it is still animal and is excluded in a strict vegetarian diet. Seafood is an important source of protein in many diets around the world, especially in coastal areas.

Types of seafood

Demersal fish output in 2005

Main article: List of types of seafood

There are over 32,000 species of fish, making them the most diverse group of vertebrates. However, only a small number of species are commonly eaten as food fish.
The principal food fish species groups are:

Perishability

Fish is a highly perishable product. The fishy smell of dead fish is due to the breakdown of amino acids into biogenic amines and ammonia.^[1]
Live food fish are often transported in tanks at high expense for an international market that prefers its seafood killed immediately before it is cooked. This process originally was started by Lindeye. Delivery of live fish without water is also being explored.^[2] While some seafood restaurants keep live fish in aquaria for display purposes or for cultural beliefs, the majority of live fish are kept for dining customers. The live food fish trade in Hong Kong, for example, is estimated to have driven imports of live food fish to more than 15,000 tonnes in 2000. Worldwide sales that year were estimated at US$400 million, according to the World Resources Institute.^[3]
If the cool chain has not been adhered to correctly, food products generally decay and become harmful before the validity date printed on the package. As the potential harm for a consumer when eating rotten fish is much larger than for example with dairy products, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has introduced regulation in the USA requiring the use of a time temperature indicator on certain fresh chilled seafood products.^[4]
Preservation

Main article: Fish preservation

Fish at an Asian supermarket in Virginia, USA.

Fresh fish is a highly perishable food product, so it must be eaten promptly or discarded; it can be kept for only a short time. In many countries, fresh fish are filleted and displayed for sale on a bed of crushed ice or refrigerated. Fresh fish is most commonly found near bodies of water, but the advent of refrigerated train and truck transportation has made fresh fish more widely available inland.
Long term preservation of fish is accomplished in a variety of ways. The oldest and still most widely used techniques are drying and salting. Desiccation (complete drying) is commonly used to preserve fish such as cod. Partial drying and salting is popular for the preservation of fish like herring and mackerel. Fish such as salmon, tuna, and herring are cooked and canned. Most fish are filleted prior to canning, but some small fish (e.g. sardines) are only decapitated and gutted prior to canning.

Consumption

Main article: Fish as food

Seafood in France (Étretat)

Seafood is consumed all over the world; it provides the world's prime source of high-quality protein: 14–16% of the animal protein consumed world-wide; over one billion people rely on seafood as their primary source of animal protein.^[5]^[6] Fish is among the most common food allergens.^[7]
Iceland, Japan, and Portugal are the greatest consumers of seafood per capita in the world.^[8]
The UK Food Standards Agency recommends that at least two portions of seafood should be consumed each week, one of which should be oil-rich. There are over 100 different types of seafood available around the coast of the UK.
Oil-rich fish such as mackerel or herring are rich in long chain Omega-3 oils. These oils are found in every cell of the human body, and are required for human biological functions such as brain functionality.
Whitefish such as haddock and cod are very low in fat and calories which, combined with oily fish rich in Omega-3 such as mackerel, sardines, fresh tuna, salmon and trout, can help to protect against coronary heart disease, as well as helping to develop strong bones and teeth.
Shellfish are particularly rich in zinc, which is essential for healthy skin and muscles as well as fertility. Casanova reputedly ate 50 oysters a day.^{[citation needed]}

Health benefits

Research over the past few decades has shown that the nutrients and minerals in seafood can make improvements in brain development and reproduction and has highlighted the role for seafood in the functionality of the human body.^[9]

Heart

Doctors have known of strong links between fish and healthy hearts ever since they noticed that fish-eating Inuit populations in the Arctic had low levels of heart disease. One study has suggested that adding one portion of fish a week to your diet can cut your chances of suffering a heart attack by half.
Fish is thought to protect the heart because eating less saturated fat and more Omega-3 can help to lower the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood – two fats that, in excess, increase the risk of heart disease. Omega-3 fats also have natural built-in anti-oxidants, which are thought to stop the thickening and damaging of artery walls.
Regularly eating fish oils is also thought to reduce the risk of arrhythmia – irregular electrical activity in the heart which increases the risk of sudden heart attacks.^[10]

Brain

10-12% of the human brain is composed of lipids,^[11] including the Omega-3 fat DHA. Recent studies suggest that older people can boost their brain power by eating more oily fish, what with regular consumers being able to remember better and think faster than those who don't consume at all. Other research has also suggested that adding more DHA to the diet of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder can reduce their behavioural problems and improve their reading skills, while there have also been links suggested between DHA and better concentration. Separate studies have suggested that older people who eat fish at least once a week could also have a lower chance of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease.^[10]

Joints

Including fish as a regular part of a balanced diet has been shown to help the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis – a painful condition that causes joints to swell up, reducing strength and mobility. Studies also show that sufferers feel less stiff and sore in the morning if they keep their fish oil intake topped up.^[12]
Recent research has also found a link between Omega-3 fats and a slowing down in the wearing of cartilage that leads to osteoarthritis, opening the door for more research into whether eating more fish could help prevent the disease.

Minerals

Fish is high in minerals such as zinc, iodine and selenium, which keep the body running smoothly. Iodine is essential for the thyroid gland, which controls growth and metabolism, while selenium is used to make enzymes that protect cell walls from cancer-causing free radicals, and helps prevent DNA damage caused by radiation and some chemicals.

Vitamins

Fish is also a source of vitamin A, which is needed for healthy skin and eyes, and vitamin D, which is needed to help the body absorb calcium to strengthen teeth and bones.

Mercury content

Main article: Mercury in fish

Fish and shellfish have a natural tendency to concentrate mercury in their bodies, often in the form of methylmercury, a highly toxic organic compound of mercury. Species of fish that are high on the food chain, such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel, albacore tuna, and tilefish contain higher concentrations of mercury than others. This is because mercury is stored in the muscle tissues of fish, and when a predatory fish eats another fish, it assumes the entire body burden of mercury in the consumed fish. Since fish are less efficient at depurating than accumulating methylmercury, fish-tissue concentrations increase over time. Thus species that are high on the food chain amass body burdens of mercury that can be ten times higher than the species they consume. This process is called biomagnification. The first occurrence of widespread mercury poisoning in humans occurred this way in Minamata, Japan, now called Minamata disease.
Overfishing

Main article: Overfishing

Fish for sale in a market in Hong Kong

Research into population trends of various species of seafood is pointing to a global collapse of seafood species by 2048. Such a collapse would occur due to pollution and overfishing, threatening oceanic ecosystems, according to some researchers.^[13]
A major international scientific study released in November 2006 in the journal Science found that about one-third of all fishing stocks worldwide have collapsed (with a collapse being defined as a decline to less than 10% of their maximum observed abundance), and that if current trends continue all fish stocks worldwide will collapse within fifty years.^[14] In July 2009, Boris Worm of Dalhousie University, the author of the November 2006 study in Science, co-authored an update on the state of the world's fisheries with one of the original study's critics, Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington at Seattle. The new study found that through good fisheries management techniques even depleted fish stocks can be revived and made commercially viable again.^[15]
The FAO State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 report estimates that in 2003, of the main fish stocks or groups of resources for which assessment information is available, "approximately one-quarter were overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion (16%, 7% and 1% respectively) and needed rebuilding."^[16]
The National Fisheries Institute, a trade advocacy group representing the United States seafood industry, disagree. They claim that currently observed declines in fish population are due to natural fluctuations and that enhanced technologies will eventually alleviate whatever impact humanity is having on oceanic life.^[17

Software companies in INDIA

The software industry in India is the world’s leading exporter of software services and among the world’s fastest growing software industries.^[1]^[2] This list contains notable companies developing software in India, either based there or having development centers.