inter-bank ATMs

For some time now avoid using inter-bank ATM’s wherever possible since it is not yet full proof yet & could cause problems.Read the article for details or go the url : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Banking-Finance-/ATM-trouble-leaves-users-fuming/articleshow/4554105.cms Hundreds of customers who used their debit and credit cards in ATMs of other banks have complained that funds were debited from their accounts even though transactions failed and no money was actually withdrawn at these ATMs. All of these complaints have been made since April 1, when Reserve Bank of India made withdrawals from inter-bank ATMs free of charge. Experts blamed a glitch in the National Financial Switch (NFS), which handles inter-bank funds transfer for ATM operations, for these faulty transactions and debits. Banking industry sources said the problem was more acute in smaller banks like IDBI and Apex but even larger banks like SBI, ICICI and HDFC were not immune to it. While SBI, which has the largest number of ATMs - over 11,000 - across the country, had some connectivity problems initially, it was sorted out in a few days. But a more nagging problem has since emerged in ATMs with 'void transactions' getting recorded as successful ones. A void transaction takes place when an ATM is unable to complete the customer's transaction and dispense cash. However, in several cases, particularly with outstation customers who used ATMs of banks other than their own and encountered void transactions, they have later discovered that the amount has been debited from their account. Though such funds have been credited to respective accounts after complaints and cross-examination, it has become a major irritant for customers. So much so that many have stopped using the facility and are back to using dedicated ATMs of banks in which they have accounts. Industry officials said that though NFS had managed to seamlessly synchronize ATMs of all banks, a glitch in the system surfaced time and again, causing void transactions that were incorrectly recorded. The NFS network covers 16,891 ATMs and is the largest-single network in the country covering ATMs of 27 banks. The daily average transaction volume of NFS network is around 75,000. Officials at SBI and ICICI said the bank branches had been flooded with customer complaints of accounts being debited without successful transaction at ATMs of other banks. "There is a problem that is happening now and again when customers from Kolkata use ATMs of other banks in Siliguri, Durgapur, Asansol or other towns. We follow up each case, verify the transaction details with the other bank and try to credit the amount within two-three working days," an ICICI Bank official said. Customers of HDFC Bank, too, have faced the problem, particularly when using ATMs of IDBI and UTI in other cities. "There's a glitch in the system that has temporarily inconvenienced customers. But no one has lost money on account of void transactions," an HDFC Bank official said.

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Fingers Crossed For "Glee"

As someone who has a habit of liking critically-acclaimed shows that get canceled, I'm wary of getting too attached to "Glee." It's a funny, quirky show about geeks, one that assumes (correctly) that high school mostly blows. And when has that ever panned out?

But if the pilot episode is indicative of what's to come, I hope "Glee" makes it. Maybe it doesn't achieve the greatness of "Freaks and Geeks," but it's got loads of potential.

When a high school glee club loses its director in a scandal, teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) steps in to keep it going and to reconnect with his passion for song. But even the principal thinks glee club is for losers, refusing to pony up the $40 a month required to run it. But Schuester isn't dissuaded, and once word gets out, the school's aspiring songbirds come forward.

These kids are my people — ambitious nerds who have that "One day you losers will know how awesome I am" gleam in their eye. Rachel (Lea Michele), who is talented but delusional, uploads new performance video daily on her MySpace page. Diva-in-training Mercedes (Amber Riley) declares that she shouldn't be singing backup because "I'm Beyonce, not Kelly Rowland." The only member with any social standing is quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith), a Troy Bolton type who wants to throw footballs and sing show tunes.

But my favorite glee club member, by far, is Kurt (Chris Colfer), who is clearly a friend of Dorothy. He begs the jocks to remove his Marc Jacobs jacket before they toss him into the dumpster, and when he belts out "Cellophane Man" during his audition, he does so with a hand on his hip and an I-do-this-in-my-sleep stroke of his bangs.

Perhaps best of all, "Glee" has the wonderful Jane Lynch, playing a ball-busting cheerleading coach who sees the new club as a threat. No one delivers a put-down quite like Lynch, who, upon seeing one of her cheerleaders flub a move, says, "You think this is hard? Being water-boarded is hard."

My only quibble is that Schuester's Pottery Barn-obsessed wife is a shade too unlikable to be believed. Otherwise, "Glee" has captured my attention in a way network television hasn't for years. When it returns in the fall, I'll be there with my jazz hands ready.

Oranges Need To Get Over Themselves

With apologies to the genius blog that is F*ck You, Penguin

I'm over you, orange. You're clinging to your glory days as Florida's official fruit and a semi-exotic foodstuff, but I know what you really are. Common. Cheap. At $1.99 a bag, you aren't fooling anyone.

So the fact that you're so freaking difficult to peel pisses me off. Do you think playing hard to get makes me value you more highly? Look, you're just the pit stop between breakfast and lunch, not some carefully considered purchase from the farmer's market or New Leaf. You're not even organic.

I only bought you because I got bored with apples and grapes, and tangerines weren't available. Tangerines are sweet and easy. They don't put on airs or act like they're too good to be sectioned. You, on the other hand, expect to be labored over and earned. Please. You're not a lychee.

If you think I'm going to waste my time delicately peeling away your layers of so-called complexity, you are sadly mistaken. Say hello to my little friend the sharp knife.

Jerk.

I Knew Craig Ferguson Was Awesome ...

But not THIS awesome!

Following Darth

Among the many things that sucked about the "Star Wars" prequels was George Lucas' explanation for Darth Vader's evil. The idea is that Anakin's losses (his mom, his babies' mama) combined with his anger led him to become his galaxy's Josef Stalin.

That seemed kinda lame. I think evil is more disturbing when its reason for being is essentially unknowable. It challenges our hope that human beings are basically good unless circumstances damage them in some way. Learning that Vader was once a whiny teenager with girl problems takes away from the mystery and the menace. Why does fantasy need a backstory anyway?

Someone on Twitter clearly shares my preference for the iron-fisted James Earl Jones model, and I am hooked. Among the many highlights of "Darth Vader's" tweets:

Mad Sith props to Dick Cheney for his recent whirl-wind media tour. I gain 100+ followers every time he opens his evil maw.

I am altering the oatmeal. Pray I don't alter it further.

Just be glad I don't celebrate Earth Day the way I celebrated Alderaan Day.

If you're stinging from the BSG spoilers on Twitter, maybe this will take some of the edge off — I am Luke's father.

Tony Danza is not the boss. I am.

Genius. To follow Darth — and you will if you know what's good for you — click here.

لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله ... وفاة حفيد الرئيس محمد حسني مبارك

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File picture taken on November 19, 1999 shows an Egyptian man holding a book on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's life at one of Cairo's bookshops with a picture of him with his grandson Mohammed Alaa Mubarak. The 12-year-old grandson of the Egyptian president has died, the official MENA news agency reported on May 19, 2009. The son of Mubarak's eldest son Alaa, who had been taken to Paris for treatment, "died yesterday after health complications suffered during the last two days, 

 Getty Images 

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 عن عمر يناهز 12 سنة تقريباً اختـار الله فـي جـواره محمد علاء مبارك حفيد الرئيس محمد حسني مبارك رئيس جمهورية مصر العربية

رحم الله الفقيد وكل من توفى من أطفال مصر ورجالها ونساءها والهم أسرته الصبر على مصابهم الأليم

وخالص العزاء للسيد الرئيس  وأسرته

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Links :

بالصور.. حياة حفيد الرئيس حسنى مبارك
BBC Arabic News
Mohamed Mubarak JR in Photos

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Dick Grayson: An Appreciation (Of Sorts)

I know Dick Grayson isn't real and that if he were, he'd be plenty legal by now. But it used to make me feel a tad queasy whenever comics made reference to Grayson's (aka Nightwing) hotness or sex life. I mentioned this to my friend Shag a year or two ago, because I was beginning to get the feeling that Nightwing had either hooked up with every young woman in the D.C. universe or figured prominently in their fantasies. His reply was along the lines of, "Heck, yes. This is why he is a hero among male D.C. readers."

Grayson hasn't been Batman's teen sidekick for years, but being confronted with this is a little like running into the kid you used to babysit and realizing that he's not only a college senior but also incredibly good-looking. And ripped. It seems wrong, if not illegal, to notice.

Oh, well. Artist Nicola Stewart kicked that door down with a fabulously glute-tastic panel of Nightwing in the latest issue of "Secret Six." Dang. I guess fighting crime with circus-honed acrobatics is a hell of a workout. My friend V. confessed that she stared at that particular panel for 10 minutes. A Facebook friend, also female, virtually high-fived my mention of this particular rendering.

I am now of the opinion that Stewart should draw Nightwing, like, all the time.