Interesting Facts About ATMs Around the World

Interesting Facts About ATMs Around the World

A few lesser-known uses for ATMs.

• In India, you can make devotional contributions or religious donations through ATMs that large banks have installed in many temples. "People want to start their business with good graces" and one way of doing that faster and more conveniently is by using ATMs to offer such donations, notes Bob Tramontano, vice president, marketing, financial line of business at NCR.

• In Singapore, you can apply for an IPO at an ATM.

• In Romania, 84% of the populace don't have bank accounts. Citi has installed ATMs that let people pay their bills by depositing cash at the ATMs; merchants pay a fee for the service.

• In Brazil, some ATMs use palm and wrist vein biometrics to identify users.

• In Qatar, the nation's largest wireless service provider uses drive-up ATMs for customer bill pay. The machines do not do withdrawals, they are designed only to accept cash and checks for customers to pay their mobile phone bill.

• There are several highly contested claims as to who originally invented the Automatic Teller Machine.

• One version is that the ATM machine was invented by Luther George Simijan, a US inventor with many patents, back in 1939. The mechanical (not electronic) cash-dispensing machine was opened by the City Bank of New York.

• However, Simijan, the inventor, soon remarked, “The only people using the machines were a small number of prostitutes and gamblers who didn’t want to deal with tellers face to face.” It was removed 6 months later for lack of customer approval.

• John Shepher-Barron, a Scottish inventor, reportedly was in the bathtub when he had his “eureka!” moment, coming up with the idea of a vending machine that dispenses money, not chocolate bars. He pitched the idea to the British bank Barclays and they adopted it by 1967. The machine used PIN codes but not magnetic stripes – it relied on a radioactive isotope carbon to initiate a withdrawal!

• The first automated, electronic banking machine was introduced by Donald Wetzel, a former pro baseball player. Wetzel’s ATM was installed in 1969 by Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York. It was the first machine to read and use the magnetic stripe on plastic bankcards.

• The use of ATMs really started to take hold around 1973, when 2,000 machines were sold and installed in the United States. The original price tag was $145,000!

• These days, an ATM machine costs less than $3,000!

• ATMs became ubiquitously accepted in 1977, when the chairman of Citibank took a huge gamble and spent $100 million to install the machines all over New York City. The following January, a huge blizzard hit the city, closing roads and banks, but the ATM machines were still open and use increased by 20%. After the blizzard, Citibank introduced its “Citi never sleeps,” campaign that depicted a customer plodding through the snow to get to an ATM, and they quickly grew to household acceptance. 

• When ATMs first gained widespread popularity, it was predicted the number of bank tellers would decline. In fact, in 1985 there were 484,000 tellers in the U.S. and today there are about 550,000.

• The U.S. has more ATMs than any other nation, but the number declined. We maxed out around 2005 with 396,000 machines but by 2007, there were only around 360,000.

• Now, it’s estimated there are approximately 371,000 ATMs in the United States.

• There’s a new ATM installed somewhere every five minutes.

• It’s not just big banks but ISO’s – Independent Sales Organizations – that are adding new ATMs. In fact, ISO’s represent about 60% in the marketplace today!

• It’s estimated there are around 2 million ATMs around the globe.

• There are even two ATMs in Antarctica!

• Japan has the most ATMs per capita. After that it’s Spain, South Korea, the United States, and Canada.

• ATMs have different names in different countries. In Australia and Canada they’re called “bank machines, “or “money machines,” in New Zealand they’re called “Cash Points,” “Hole-in-the-walls,” in the United Kingdom, and “Bancomats,” in Europe.

• It took China until 1987 to catch on and install their first ATM.

• 60% of Americans ages 35-34 and 51% of Americans 25-49 use an ATM at least 8 times per month.

• Customers who use ATM machines spend an average of 20-25% more than customers who don’t use them. (Why is that?)

• ATM’s are most popular on Fridays.

• On average, ATM customers use it about once a week.

• A bank’s ATM averages 7,000 transactions per month.

• 78% of the transactions on those machines are withdrawals. 

• ATM usage is actually declining slightly for two reasons: 1) The popularity of increased online banking and, 2) People use cash less as debit and credit cards are accepted everywhere nowadays.

• The average ATM withdrawal is $60.

• When retail locations have ATMs that dispense $20 bills, their sales rise by 8%. When they dispense $10 bills, they rise by 14%.

• When bars and nightclubs have ATM machines, they retain up to 80% of the money dispensed!

• Cash retention by retailers ranges from 30-40%.

• Most ATM machines hold around $20,000 in cash at any given time, but in high-traffic areas (casinos, airports, etc.) they can hold as much as $100,000!

• Before 1988, there were no surcharges for using ATMs. Valley Bank of Nevada, operating in Las Vegas casinos, first started charging customers who did not belong to their bank.

• From 1988 until 1996, foreign ATM fees averaged about $1.01 USD.

• As banks and third parties realized the profits they could make they started raising ATM fees. By 2003, they averaged $2 and now they can be as high as $6. This is not based on an increased expense or cost of doing business – it’s pure profit.

• Banks are required by law to disclose their surcharges and fees at the point of transaction. However, this could be on the screen or even a sticker on the ATM. But that won’t disclose if your bank has a foreign “ATM network fee,” which may add to the transaction cost.

• If all of those fees weren’t enough, some banks are starting to charge a “Denial Fee,” if your transaction is denied because of insufficient funds or you exceed your daily limit.

• In response to the barrage of ATM fees, some independent and online banks, such as USAA, Capital One, and Ally, do not charge ATM surcharges when you use another bank.

• A good way to avoid ATM fees is to make a cash back purchase at a retail store when you’re buying something – most retailers allow this now up to a certain dollar limit.

• In 1996, an Englishman named Andrew Stone was convicted of stealing more than one million dollars (US equivalent) by aiming a high-definition video camera at an ATM from down the street. He recorded names, pin numbers, etc. and used those to create his own clone cards and withdraw up to $10,000 an hour!

• The first fake ATM was installed at the Buckland Mall in Manchester, Connecticut in 1993. A local gang called the Buckland Boys modified an out-of-service ATM, allowing them to steal customers’ financial data and rack up over $100,000 before being caught.

• Over the next three years, almost all of the ATMs in existence will be replaced by models with updated technology. They’ll have a favorite withdrawal button, communication in 6 foreign languages, and have expanded security hardware and software protocols to protect against skimming.

• About 30% of ATMs are equipped to serve people with visual impairments. By 2015, they all will.

• New ATM technology includes biometric functions that allow customers to be identified by their fingerprints, eyes, face, or voice!

• Expect modern ATM’s to sell a lot more than just banking services – they’re expected to dispense everything from financial products to movie tickets to flight reservations!

• Virtual currency services like PayPal and BitCoin are looking to change the game and push innovation when it comes to financial transactions.

Another death in Cricket on Same week - Israel umpire Hillel Oscar died after being hit by a ball

What is happening..?

Another person [an Umpire] died in(by) cricket in a week.

Is the Cricket becoming an unsafe sport . ?

An umpire at a cricket match in the Israeli city of Ashdod has died after being hit by a ball.

A batsman's shot struck Hillel Oscar in the neck, possibly after a ricochet from the stumps at his end of the pitch.

The incident comes just two days after Australian batsman Phillip Hughes died of a head injury caused by being struck by a ball at a match in Sydney.

Umpires in cricket, unlike some players, do not wear helmets.

However, such incidents are extremely rare.

An umpire at a match in Wales died five years ago after a ball thrown by a fielder hit him on the head.

Mr. Oscar was the former captain of the Israeli national cricket team.

He was taken to a city hospital, but medics were unable to revive him.

Saturday's match was the last in Israel's league season.

Correspondents say cricket is not a popular sport in Israel, though there is an amateur league largely populated by players from countries such as India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The incident took place amid sorrow and shock in the cricketing world.

On Thursday, Australian Test cricketer Hughes died of his injuries, two days after being struck on the neck by a bouncer in an Australian league game.

His funeral is due to be held on Wednesday.

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Players Died in Cricket

Phil Hughes Thursday joined the list of cricket players who died of the injuries sustained while playing the game. So far, there have been 12 deaths due to on-field injuries/incidents in the sport.

Here's a list of the players who died after getting injured while playing.

1. Phil Hughes (Australia, 25) - 2014 The Australia batsman was struck on the head by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales. He fractured his skull and suffered massive bleeding in his brain and was operated upon in a Sydney hospital. Hughes died of his injuries two days later.

2. Darryn Randall (South Africa, 32) - 2013 Randall was hit on the side of the head when attempting a pull shot in a South African domestic match. The wicketkeeper-batsman collapsed and was immediately rushed to hospital, but he died from the blow.

3. Zulfiqar Bhatti (Pakistan, 22) - 2013 The Pakistani player was struck in the chest by the ball while batting during a domestic game and fell to the ground. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

4. Richard Beaumont (England, 33) - 2012 Beaumont collapsed on the field after suffering a suspected heart attack and was declared dead after his arrival to hospital.

5. Alcwyn Jenkins (England, 72) - 2009 English umpire Jenkins was officiating a league match when he was struck on the head by a ball thrown by a fielder that hit him accidentally. Jenkins could not recover from his injuries.

6. Wasim Raja (Pakistan, 54) - 2006 Pakistan cricketer Wasim Raja died of a heart attack when playing for Surrey Over 50s in Buckinghamshire.

7. Raman Lamba (India, 38) - 1998 Lamba, a former India international, was hit on the head while fielding during a club match in Dhaka. He went into a coma three days later, before being pronounced dead.

8. Ian Folley (England, 30) - 1993 Folley was hit by the ball below the eye accidentally while batting in a domestic match for Derbyshire against Workington and suffered a fatal heart attack in the hospital.

9. Wilf Slack (England, 34) - 1989 Slack collapsed and died during a domestic match in Banjul, Gambia. He had suffered four blackouts in previous matches, but despite carrying out tests, doctors were unable to diagnose the cause of his death.

10. Abdul Aziz (Pakistan, 18) - 1959 Aziz was hit on the chest while batting in a domestic match in Karachi and was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

11. Andy Ducat (England, 56) - 1942 Ducat suffered a heart attack during a game at Lord's, where he collapses and died.

12. George Summers (England, 25) - 1870 Summers was struck on the head while batting for Nottinghamshire against the MCC at Lord's. He didn't treat his injury and returned home only to die from its effects four days later.

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Video of Cricketer Phillip Hughes Death

Australia Test batsman Phillip Hughes has died aged 25, two days after being struck on the top of the neck by a ball during a domestic match in Sydney.

Phillip Joel Hughes was an Australian Test and One-Day International cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Worcestershire.

Interesting Facts of Eiffel Tower

Learn about one of the most famous structures in the world with our fun Eiffel Tower facts.

Learn how tall the Eiffel Tower is, how much it weighs, why it was built, who it is named after, how much is sways in the wind and much more. Read on and enjoy a range of trivia and interesting information about the Eiffel Tower.

• Located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most well known structures in the world.

• The Eiffel Tower was originally built as the entrance arch for the World's Fair in 1889.

• It is named after Gustave Eiffel, whose company was in charge of the project.

• The Eiffel Tower is 320 metres (1050 feet) in height and was the tallest man made structure in the world for 41 years before being surpassed by the Chrysler Building in New York.

• The Eiffel Tower is made of iron and weighs around 10000 tonnes.

• Around 50 tonnes of paint are added to the Eiffel Tower every 7 years to protect it from rust.

• Despite its height, the Eiffel Tower was designed to be wind resistant, swaying only a few inches in the wind. It actually moves further when the iron on the sun facing side heats and expands, moving the top up to 7 inches (18 centimetres) away from the sun.

• Temperature also alters the height of the Eiffel Tower by up to 6 inches (15 centimetres).

• Millions of people climb the Eiffel Tower every year and it has had over 250 million visitors since its opening.

• Visitors can climb up stairs to the first two levels or take a lift which also has access to the third and highest level.

• Being so popular, the Eiffel Tower design has been recreated around the world, including the half scale replica at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in Nevada, USA and the full scale Tokyo Tower in Japan.

• Not everyone liked the Eiffel Tower when it was first built, with many criticizing its bold design.

• The French name for the Eiffel Tower is La Tour Eiffel, it also has the nickname La dame de fer which means the iron lady.

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Basic Banking Terms - A Glance

Basic Banking Terms

1) RBI – The Reserve Bank of India is the apex bank of the country, which was constituted under the RBI Act, 1934 to regulate the other banks, issue of bank notes and maintenance of reserves with a view to securing the monetary stability in India.

2) Demand Deposit – A Demand deposit is the one which can be withdrawn at any time, without any notice or penalty; e.g. money deposited in a checking account or savings account in a bank.

3) Time Deposit – Time deposit is a money deposit at a banking institution that cannot be withdrawn for a certain "term" or period of time. When the term is over it can be withdrawn or it can be held for another term.

4) Fixed Deposits – FDs are the deposits that are repayable on fixed maturity date along with the principal and agreed interest rate for the period. Banks pay higher interest rates on FDs than the savings bank account.

5) Recurring Deposits – These are also called cumulative deposits and in recurring deposit accounts, a certain amounts of savings are required to be compulsorily deposited at specific intervals for a specified period.

6) Savings Account – Savings account is an account generally maintained by retail customers that deposit money (i.e. their savings) and can withdraw them whenever they need. Funds in these accounts are subjected to low rates of interest.

7) Current Accounts – These accounts are maintained by the corporate clients that may be operated any number of times in a day. There is a maintenance charge for the current accounts for which the holders enjoy facilities of easy handling, overdraft facility etc.

8) FCNR Accounts – Foreign Currency Non-Resident accounts are the ones that are maintained by the NRIs in foreign currencies like USD, DM, and GBP etc. The account is a term deposit with interest rates linked to the international rates of interest of the respective currencies.

9) NRE Accounts – Non-Resident External accounts are the ones in which NRIs remit money in any permitted foreign currency and the remittance is converted to Indian rupees for credit to NRE accounts. The accounts can be in the form of current, saving, FDs, recurring deposits. The interest rates and other terms of these accounts are as per the RBI directives.

10) Cheque Book - A small, bound booklet of cheques. A cheque is a piece of paper produced by your bank with your account number, sort-code and cheque number printed on it. The account number distinguishes your account from other accounts; the sort-code is your bank's special code which distinguishes it from any other bank.

11) Cheque Clearing - This is the process of getting the money from the cheque-writer's account into the cheque receiver's account.

12) Clearing Bank - This is a bank that can clear funds between banks. For general purposes, this is any institution which we know of as a bank or as a provider of banking services.

13) Bounced Cheque - when the bank has not enough funds in the relevant account or the account holder requests that the cheque is bounced (under exceptional circumstances) then the bank will return the cheque to the account holder.

14) Credit Rating - This is the rating which an individual (or company) gets from the credit industry. This is obtained by the individual's credit history, the details of which are available from specialist organisations like CRISIL in India.

15) Credit-Worthiness - This is the judgement of an organization which is assessing whether or not to take a particular individual on as a customer. An individual might be considered credit-worthy by one organisation but not by another. Much depends on whether an organization is involved with high risk customers or not.

16) Interest - The amount paid or charged on money over time. If you borrow money interest will be charged on the loan. If you invest money, interest will be paid (where appropriate to the investment).

17) Overdraft - This is when a person has a minus figure in their account. It can be authorized (agreed to in advance or retrospect) or unauthorized (where the bank has not agreed to the overdraft either because the account holder represents too great a risk to lend to in this way or because the account holder has not asked for an overdraft facility).

18) Payee - The person who receives a payment. This often applies to cheques. If you receive a cheque you are the payee and the person or company who wrote the cheque is the payer.

19) Payer - The person who makes a payment. This often applies to cheques. If you write a cheque you are the payer and the recipient of the cheque is the payee.

20) Security for Loans - Where large loans are required the lending institution often needs to have a guarantee that the loan will be paid back. This takes the form of a large item of capital outlay (typically a house) which is owned or partly owned and the amount owned is at least equivalent to the loan required.

21) Internet Banking - Online banking (or Internet banking) allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by the bank.

22) Credit Card - A credit card is one of the systems of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services.

23) Debit Card – Debit card allows for direct withdrawal of funds from customers bank accounts. The spending limit is determined by the available balance in the account.

24) Loan - A loan is a type of debt. In a loan, the borrower initially receives or borrows an amount of money, called the principal, from the lender, and is obligated to pay back or repay an equal amount of money to the lender at a later time. There are different kinds of loan such as the house loan, auto loan etc.

25) Bank Rate - This is the rate at which central bank (RBI) lends money to other banks or financial institutions. If the bank rate goes up, long-term interest rates also tend to move up, and vice-versa.

26) CRR - Cash reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with RBI. If RBI decides to increase the percent of this, the available amount with the banks comes down. RBI is using this method (increase of CRR rate), to drain out the excessive money from the banks.

27) SLR - SLR stands for Statutory Liquidity Ratio. This term is used by bankers and indicates the minimum percentage of deposits that the bank has to maintain in form of gold, cash or other approved securities. Thus, we can say that it is ratio of cash and some other approved to liabilities (deposits). It regulates the credit growth in India.

28) ATM - An automated teller machine (ATM) is a computerized telecommunications device that provides the clients with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller. On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smart card with a chip, that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an expiration date or CVV. Authentication is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN)

29) REPO RATE: - Under repo transaction the borrower places with the lender certain acceptable securities against funds received and agree to reverse this transaction on a predetermined future date at agreed interest cost. Repo rate is also called (repurchase agreement or repurchase option).

30) REVERSE REPO RATE: is the interest rate earned by the bank for lending money tothe RBI in exchange of govt. securities or "lender buys securities with agreement to sell them back at a predetermined rate".

31) CASH RESERVE RATIO: specifies the percentage of their total deposits the commercial bank must keep with central bank or RBI. Higher the CRR lower will be the capacity of bank to create credit.

32) SLR: known as Statutorily Liquidity Ratio. Each bank is required statutorily maintain a prescribed minimum proportion of its demand and time liabilities in the form of designated liquid asset.
OR
"Every bank has to maintain a percentage of its demand and time liabilities by way of cash, gold etc".

33) BANK RATE: is the rate of interest which is charged by RBI on its advances to commercial banks. When reserve bank desires to restrict expansion of credit it raises the bank rate there by making the credit costlier to commercial bank.

34) OVERDRAFT: It is the loan facility on customer current account at a bank permitting him to overdraw up to a certain agreed limit for a agreed period ,interest is payable only on the amount of loan taken up.

35) PRIME LENDING RATE: It is the rate at which commercial banks give loan to its prime customers.

36) IFSC: IFSC stands for Indian Financial System Code. It is an alpha-numeric code that uniquely identifies a bank-branch participating in the NEFT system.
ii. This is an 11 digit code with the first 4 alpha characters representing the bank, The 5th character is 0 (zero) and the last 6 characters representing the bank branch.
iii. IFSC is used by the NEFT system to identify the originating / destination banks / branches and also to route the messages appropriately to the concerned banks / branches.

For ex: SBIN0015986 :
(a) First 4 character SBIN – refers to State Bank of India.
(b) 0 is a control number.
(c) Last six characters (015986) represents the SBI branch name.

37) MICR : MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. MICR Code is a 9 numeric digit code which uniquely identifies a bank branch participating in the ECS Credit scheme. MICR code consists of 9 digits e.g 400229128
i. First 3 digits represent the city (400)
ii. Next 3 digits represent the bank (229)
iii. Last 3 digits represent the branch (128)

The MICR Code allotted to a bank branch is printed on the MICR band of cheque leaves issued by bank branches.

38) Cheque Truncation:
i. Truncation is the process of stopping the flow of the physical cheque issued by a drawer at some point with the presenting bank en-route to the drawee bank branch.
ii. In its place an electronic image of the cheque is transmitted to the drawee branch by the clearing house, along with relevant information like data on the MICR band, date of presentation, presenting bank, etc.
iii. Cheque Truncation speeds up the process of collection of cheques resulting in better service to customers, reduces the scope for clearing-related frauds or loss of instruments in transit, lowers the cost of collection of cheques, and removes reconciliation-related and logistics-related problems, thus benefiting the system as a whole.

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First in the World

1. Chairman of Peoples Republic of China Mao-Tse-Tung

2. President of the Chinese Republic Dr. Sun Yat Sen

3. President of U.S.A George Washington

4. Chinese Traveller to India Fahein

5. Foreign Invader to India Alexander the Great

6. Person to reach South Pole Amundsen

7. Person to reach North Pole Robert Pearey

8. Person in Space Yuri Gagarin

9. Person on Moon Neil Armstrong

10. Lady to climb Mount Everest Junko Taibei

11. European to visit China Marco Polo

12. Place where atom bomb was dropped Hiroshima

13. Man to walk in Space Alexei Leonov

14. Woman cosmonaut in Space Valentina Tereshkova

15. Woman Prime Minister of a country Mrs. Srimavo Bhandarnaike

16. Woman President of a country Maria Estela Peron

17. Woman to Command a Space Mission Colonel Eileen Collins (U.S.A.)

18. The first residents of International Space station Bill Shepherd (USA), Yuri Gidzanko and Sergei Krikalev (Russia)

19. The first blind man to scale Mt. Everest Erik Weihenmayer (USA, May 25, 2001)

20. The first Muslim woman to become the Secretary General of Amnesty International lrine Zubeida Khan

21. The first space astronaut to go into space seven times till date Jerry Ross (U.S.A.)

22. The first South African to become the second space tourist Mark Shuttleworth

23. The first woman Prime Minister of South Korea Ms. Chang Sang

24. The first youngest grandmaster of the world in chess Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine)

25. The first adventurer flying successfully across the English Channel without aircraft Felix Baumgartner (July 2003)

26. China's first man in space Yang Liwei

27. The first Muslim woman to receive Nobel Prize Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Peace Prize 2003)

28. The woman with the highest individual Test score making a new world record Kiran Baloch (Pakistani cricketer, scoring 242 runs playing women's cricket test against West Indies in Karachi in March, 2004)

29. The first woman of the world to climb Mt. Everest four times Lakpa Sherpa (Nepali)

30. The first woman to cross seven important seas of the world by swimming Bula Chaudhury (India)

31. The first aircraft pilot to round the entire world non-stop by his 2 engine aircraft in 67 hours Steve Fossett (March 2005)

32. The first woman to be appointed as a Governor of a province in Afghanistan Habiba Sorabhi

33. The first woman of the world to swim across five continents Bula Chaudhury (India) (April 2005)

34. The first woman athlete to touch 5.0 meter mark in pole vault Ms. Yelena Isinbayeva (Russian, July 2005)

35. The first Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistani Supreme Court Justice Rana Bhagwan Das Took over on Sept. 2, 2005 as Acting Chief Justice

36. The first duly elected woman President of an African country Allen Johnson Sirleaf (elected President of Liberia in Nov. 2005)

37. The first woman Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Shanshad Akhtar (Appointed in Dec. 2005)

38. The first woman Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel (Took over in Nov. 2005)

39. The first woman President of Chile Dr. Michelle Bachelet

40. The first woman Prime Minister of Jamaica Portia Simpson Miller (Feb. 2006)

41. The first woman foreign Secretary of England Margaret Backett (May 2006)

42. The first double amputee to scale Mt. Everest Mark Inglis (May 15, 2006)

43. First Cricketer scores two Double centuries in ODI - Rohit Sharma (India, 2013 & 2014)

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7 World Wonders - Pictures

7 World Wonders - Pictures

Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, is the spectacular mausoleum built by Muslim Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to honor the memory of his beloved late wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

Construction began in 1632 and took about 15 years to complete. The opulent, domed mausoleum, which stands in formal walled gardens, is generally regarded as finest example of Mughal art and architecture. It includes four minarets, each more than 13 stories tall.

Shah Jahan was deposed and put under house arrest by one of his sons soon after the Taj Mahal's completion. It's said that he spent the rest of his days gazing at the Taj Mahal from a window.

Chichén Itzá, Mexico

Chichén Itzá is possibly the most famous temple city of the Mayas, a pre-Columbian civilization that lived in present day Central America. It was the political and religious center of Maya civilization during the period from A.D. 750 to 1200.

At the city's heart lies the Temple of Kukulkan (pictured)—which rises to a height of 79 feet (24 meters). Each of its four sides has 91 steps—one step for each day of the year, with the 365th day represented by the platform on the top.

The New7Wonders competition was launched in 1999, and the voting process beginning in 2005. Nearly 200 nominations that came in from around the world were narrowed down to 21.

Unsuccessful finalists included the giant statues of Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean; the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia; and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Machu Picchu, Peru

One of three successful candidates from Latin America, Machu Picchu is a 15th-century mountain settlement in the Amazon region of Peru.

The ruined city is among the best known remnants of the Inca civilization, which flourished in the Andes region of western South America. The city is thought to have been abandoned following an outbreak of deadly smallpox, a disease introduced in the 1500s by invading Spanish forces.

Hundreds of people gathered at the remote, 7,970-foot-high (2,430-meter-high) site on Saturday to celebrate Machu Picchu's new "seven wonders" status.

The winners were revealed at a soccer stadium in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, where Machu Picchu reportedly got one of the biggest cheers.

The other two Latin American selections were Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Chichén Itzá, Mexico.

Petra, Jordan

Perched on the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to A.D. 40).

Petra is famous for its many stone structures such as a 138-foot-tall (42-meter-tall) temple carved with classical facades into rose-colored rock. The ancient city also included tunnels, water chambers, and an amphitheater, which held 4,000 people.

The desert site wasn't known to the West until Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt came across it in 1812.

Jordan has taken the New 7 Wonders competition seriously. Petra is an important attraction in a country where tourism has recently suffered due to troubles in the Middle East region, particularly in neighboring Iraq.

The Jordanian royal family backed a campaign promoting Petra's selection.

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy

The only finalist from Europe to make it into the top seven—the Colosseum in Rome, Italy—once held up to 50,000 spectators who came to watch gory games involving gladiators, wild animals, and prisoners.

Construction began around A.D. 70 under Emperor Vespasian. Modern sports stadiums still resemble the Colosseum's famous design.

European sites that didn't make the cut include Stonehenge in the United Kingdom, the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

The Vatican in Rome accused the competition's organizers of ignoring Christian monuments, none of which was featured among the 20 finalists. Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, head of culture and archaeology at the Vatican, called the omission of sites such as the Sistine Chapel "inexplicable."

Great Wall of China

This newly elected world wonder was built along China's northern border over many centuries to keep out invading Mongol tribes.

Constructed between the fifth century B.C. and the 16th century, the Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching some 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers). The best known section was built around 200 B.C. by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang Di.

The wall was among the winners of the New7Wonders poll announced during a televised ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal. However the Chinese state broadcaster chose not to broadcast the event, and Chinese state heritage officials refused to endorse the competition.

It was a different story for some of the other candidates. In Brazil, for example, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva encouraged his compatriots to vote for Rio de Janeiro's mountaintop statue of Jesus Christ.

Christ the Redeemer Statue

The 105-foot-tall (38-meter-tall) "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was among the "new seven wonders of the world" announced July 7 following a global poll to decide a new list of human-made marvels.

The winners were voted for by Internet and phone, American Idol style. The other six new wonders are the Colosseum in Rome, India's Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Jordan's ancient city of Petra, the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, and the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico.

The contest was organized by the New7Wonders Foundation—the brainchild of Swiss filmmaker and museum curator Bernard Weber—in order to "protect humankind's heritage across the globe." The foundation says the poll attracted almost a hundred million votes.

Abbreviation of Banking Terms

[1] REER: Real Effective Exchange Rate

[2] NEER: Nominal Effective Exchange Rate

[3] LIBOR: London Inter Bank Offer Rate

[4] MIBOR: Mumbai Inter Bank Offer Rate

[5] EFT: Electronic Fund Transfer

[6] NEFT: National Electronic Funds Transfer

[7] RTGS: Real Time Gross Settlement

[8] ATM: Automated Teller Machine

[9] CBS: Core Banking Solution

[10] NEFT: National Electronic Fund Transfer

[11] CAR: Capital Adequacy Ratio

[12] NPA: Non-Performing Asset

[13] IMPS: Inter-bank Mobile Payment Service

[14] BCBS: Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

[15] RSI: Relative Strength Index

[16] IFSC: Indian Financial System Code

[17] MSME: Micro Small and Medium Enterprises

[18] LIBOR: London Inter Bank Offered Rate

[19] LIBID: London Inter Bank Bid Rate

[20] ECGC: Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India

[21] SWIFT: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

[22] STRIPS: Separate Trading for Registered Interest & Principal Securities

[23] CIBIL: Credit Information Bureau of India Limited

[24] CRISIL: Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited

[25] AMFI: Association of Mutual Funds of India

[26] FCCB: Foreign Currency Convertible Bond

[27] CAC: Capital Account Convertibility

[28] CRR: Cash Reserve Ratio

[29] SLR: Statutory Liquidity Ratio

[30] LAF: Liquidity Adjustment Facility

[31] OMO: Open Market Operations

[32] MSS: Market Stabilisation Scheme

[33] EPS: Earning Per Share

[34] ABS: Asset Backed Securities

[35] APR: Annual Percentage Rate

[36] IPO: Initial Public Offerings

[37] FPO: Follow-on Public Offerings

[38] CHAPS: Clearing House Automated Payment System

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**********Indian Nationalized Banks Name--Head Office--Punchline***********

**********Name of the Bank--Head Office--Punchline***********

1. Allahabad Bank--Kolkata--A Tradition of Trust
2. Andhra Bank--Hyderabad--Much more to do with you in focus
3. Bank of Baroda--Baroda--India’s international Bank
4. Bank of India--Mumbai--Relationship beyond Banking
5. Bank of Maharashtra--Pune--One Family, One Bank
6. Canara Bank--Bengaluru--We are Changing for you
7. Central Bank of India--Mumbai--Central to you Since 1911
8. Corporation Bank--Mangalore--Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavantu(Prosperity to All)
9. Dena Bank--Mumbai--Trusted Family Bank
10. Indian Bank--Chennai--Taking Banking Technology to the Common Man
11. Indian Overseas Bank--Chennai--Good People to Grow with
12. Oriental Bank of Commerce--New Delhi--Where Every Individual is Committed
13. Punjab and Sindh Bank--New Delhi--Where Service is a way of Life
14. Punjab National Bank--New Delhi--The name you can bank upon
15. Syndicate Bank--Manipal--Faithful, Friendly
16. Union Bank of India--Mumbai--Good People to bank with
17. UCO Bank--Kolkata--Honours yours trust
18. Vijaya Bank--Bangalore--A friend you can bank upon

Did You Know...???

DID YOU KNOW ??

1. Mentally talking to yourself during tasks is the best way to keep you focused.

2. 99% people backspaces their whole password when they just mess up one letter.

3. 99% people feel uncomfortable when the TV volume is an odd number.

4. A tiger's tongue is so rough that it can lick the paint off of a building!

5. Babies start dreaming even before they're born.

Unknown Abbreviations

Unknown Abbreviations

There could be some abbreviations which are unknown to many of the people for long time. Those may be used often on your daily activities. Here you can find answers for some of them.

1.) GOOGLE : Global Organization Of Oriented Group Language Of Earth .
2.) YAHOO : Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle .
3.) WINDOW : Wide Interactive Network Development for Office work Solution.
4.) COMPUTER : Common Oriented Machine Particularly United and used under Technical and Educational Research.
5.) VIRUS : Vital Information Resources Under Siege .
6.) UMTS : Universal Mobile Telecommunications System .
7.) AMOLED : Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode.
8.) OLED : Organic light-emitting diode.
9.) IMEI: International Mobile Equipment Identity .
10.) ESN: Electronic Serial Number .
11.) UPS: uninterruptiblepower supply .
12. HDMI: High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface.
13.) VPN: virtual private network
14.) APN: Access Point Name
15.) SIM: Subscriber Identity Module
16.) LED: Light emitting diode.
17.) DLNA: Digital Living Network Alliance.
18.) RAM: Random access memory.
19.) ROM: Read only memory.
20.) VGA: Video Graphics Array.

will be continued...

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Are you Genius, Answer it Fast...

Calculate in your mind, Don't use calculator :

Do the following steps :

1. Take 2000

2. Now Add 40

3. Now Add 1000

4. Add 30

5. Again Add 1000

6. Now Add 20

7. Add 1000 again.

8. Add 10.

9. What will u get ???

Countries and their Currency List

All of you may aware of that currencies of all countries will be vary depending upon their value.

Each country having it's own currency. Lets see the currencies of various countries.

Afghanistan            --Afghani

Algeria                   --Dinar
Andorra                 --Euro
Argentina               --Austral
Australia                --Australian dollar
Austria                   --Euro
Bahamas                --Dollar
Bahrain                  --Dinar
Barbados               --Dollar
Belgium                 --Euro
Belize                    --Dollar
Benin                    --Franc
Bolivia                   --Boliviano
Brazil                    --Real
Brunei                   --Dollar
Bulgaria                 --Leva
Cameroon              --Franc
Canada                  --Dollar
Cayman Islands      --Dollar
Central African Rep.--Franc
Chad                     --Franc
Chile                     --Peso
China                    --Yuan
Columbia               --Peso
Congo                   --Franc
Costa Rica             --Colon
Cuba                     --Peso
Cyprus (Greek)      --Euro
Cyprus (Turkish)    --Lira
Czechoslovakia      --Koruna
Denmark               --Krone
Djibouti                 --Franc
Dominican Rep      .--Peso
Ecuador                 --Dollar
Egypt                    --Pound
El Salvador            --Colon
Ethiopia                 --Birr
Fiji                        --Dollar
Finland                  --Euro
France                   --Euro
Gabon                   --Franc
Gambia                  --Dalasi
Germany               --Euro
Ghana                    --Cedi
Greece                  --Euro
Guatemala              --Quetzal
Guinea                   --Franc
Guyana                  --Dollar
Haiti                      --Gourde
Honduras               --Lempira
Hong Kong            --Dollar
Hungary                --Forint
Iceland                  --Krona
India                      --Rupee
Indonesia               --Rupiah
Iraq                       --Dinar
Ireland                   --Euro
Israel                     --Shekel
Italy                      --Euro
Ivory Coast           --Franc
Jamaica                 --Dollar
Japan                     --Yen
Jordan                   --Dinar
Kenya                   --Shilling
Kuwait                  --Dinar
Lebanon                --Pound
Luxembourg           --Euro
Malawi                  --Kwacha
Malaysia                --Ringgit
Maldives                --Rufiyaa
Malta                     --Euro
Mauritania             --Ouguiya
Mauritius               --Rupee
Mexico                  --Peso
Mongolia               --Tugrik
Montenegro           --Euro
Morocco                --Dirham
Nepal                    --Rupee
Netherlands            --Euro
New Zealand          --Dollar
Nicaragua              --Cordoba
Niger                     --Franc
Norway                 --Krone
Oman                    --riyal-Omani
Pakistan                 --Rupee
Papua New Guinea --Kina
Paraguay               --Guarani
Peru                      --Inti
Philippines             --Peso
Poland                   --Zloty
Portugal                 --Euro
Qatar                     --Riyal
Romania                --Leu
Saudi Arabia          --Riyal
Senegal                  --Franc
Serbia                    --Dinar
Seychelles              --Rupee
Sierra Leone          --Leone
Singapore               --Dollar
Slovakia                 --Koruna
Slovenia                 --Euro
Solomon Islands     --Dollar
Somalia                 --Shilling
South Africa           --Rand
South Korea           --Won
Spain                     --Euro
Sri Lanka               --Rupee
Sudan                    --Dinar
Suriname               --Guilder
Sweden                 --Krona
Switzerland            --Franc
Syria                     --Pound
Taiwan                  --Dollar
Tanzania                --Shilling
Thailand                 --Baht
Togo                     --Franc
Trinidad & Tobago --Dollar
Tunisia                   --Dinar
Turkey                   --Lira
Uganda                  --Shilling
United Arab Emir.  --Dirham
United Kingdom     --Pound
United States          --Dollar
Uruguay                --Peso
Venezuela              --Bolivar
Vietnam                 --Dong
Western Samoa      --Tala
Zambia                  --Kwacha
Zimbabwe              --Dollar

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Nations and It's Parliment

Afghanistan — Shoora
Andorra — General Council
Albania — People's Assembly
Azerbaijan — Melli Majlis
Algeria — National People's Assembly
Angola — National People's Assembly
Argentina — National Congress
Australia — Federal Parliament
Austria — National Assembly
Bahamas — General Assembly
Bahrain — Consultative Council
Bangladesh — Jatiya Sansad
Belize — National Assembly
Bhutan — Tshogdu
Bolivia — National Congress
Brazil — National Congress
Brunei — National Assembly
Botswana — National Assembly
Britain — Parliment (House of Common's & House of Lords)
Bulgaria — Narodno Subranie.
Cambodia — National Assembly
Congo Democratic — Rep. of National Legislative Council
Colombia — Congress
Canada — Parliament
China — National People's Congress
Chile — Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Comoros — Legislative Council and Senate
Costa Rice — Legislative Council and Senate
Crotia — Sabor
Cuba — National Assembly of People's Power
Czech Republic — Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Denmark — Folketing
Ecuador — Natinal Congress
El Salvador — Legislative Assembly
East Timor — Constituent Assembly
Ethiopia — Federal Council and House of Representative
Egypt — People's Assembly
Fiji Islands — Senate & House of Representative
France — National Assembly
Finland — Eduskusta (Parliament)
Germany — Bundestag(LowerHouse),Bundesrat(UpperHouse)
Guyana — National Assembly
Greece — Chamber of Deputies
Hungary — National Assembly
Iceland — Althing
India — Parliament
Indonesia — People's Consultative Assembly
Iran — Majlis
Iraq — National Assembly
Israel — Knesset
Italy — Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Japan — Diet
Jordan — National Assembly
Korea(North) — Supreme People's Assembly
Korea(South) — National Assembly
Kuwait — National Assembly
Kenya — National Assembly
Laos — People's Supreme Assembly
Labanon — National Assembly
Lesotho — National Assembly and Senate
Lithuania — Seimas
Luxembourg — Chamber of Deputies
Liberia — National Assembly
Libya — General People's Congress
Malaysia — Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara
Maldives — Majlis
Madagascar — National People's Assembly
Mongolia — Great People's Khural
Montenegro — Federal Assembly
Mozambique — People's Assembly
Myanmar — Pyithu Hluttaw
Nepal — National Panchayat
Netherlands — The State General
Norway — Storting
New Zealand — Parliament (House of Representative)
Oman — Monarchy
Pakistan — National Assembly & Senate
Paraguay — Senate & Chamber of Deputies
Philippines — The Congress
Papua New Guinea — National Parliament
Poland — Sejm
Romania — Great National Assembly
Russia — Duma & Federal Council
Serbia — Federal Assembly
Senegal — National Assembly
Seychelles — People's Assembly
Somalia — People's Assembly
South Africa — Rep. House of Assembly
Spain — Cortes
Sweden — Riksdag
Saudi Arabia — Majlis Al Shura
Sudan — National Assembly
Switzerland — Federal Assembly
Syria — People's Council
Turkey — Grand National Assembly
Tunisia — National Assembly
USA — Congress
Vietnam — National Assembly
Venezuela — National Congress
Zaire — National Legislative Council
Zambia — National Assembly