Ugadi is the Telegu New Year's Day for the people of the Deccan region of India

Happy Ugadi Festival is celebrated every year and this year Ugadi  2015 2015 is celebrated on Saturday, 21 March 2015. You can get the best ugadi 2015 greetings, images, wishes and pachadi recipe, which you might like to view and share with your online and offline friends.

This Festival having three names, ugadi/yugadi and gudi padwa. In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh it’s called ugadi/yugadi and in Maharashtra it’s called gudi padwa.

When is Ugadi?
Year	Day	Date
2016	Friday	April 8th
2015	Saturday	March 21st
2014	Monday	March 31st
2013	Thursday	April 11th
2012	Friday	March 23rd

Ugadi is the Telegu New Year's Day for the people of the Deccan region of India.

It is a public holiday in the following regions: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh

In Maharashtra it is known as Gudipadawa.

The name Yugadi or Ugadi is derived from the Sanskrit words yuga (age) and ādi (starting) - 'the beginning of a new age'.

The legend behind this festival is that Lord Brahma created the universe on Ugadi.

The date of Ugadi is based on calculations of the position of the moon dating back to 12th century. Ugadi begins on the first new moon after the Spring Equinox. Ugadi is celebrated the next morning as an Indian day starts from sunrise.

This date usually falls in late march or early April in the western calendar and this date moon signifies a change in the seasons and essentially means Ugadi is a spring festival.

The nine day long spring festival of Vasanta Navratri (Chaitra Navratri) begins on this day and concludes on Ram Navami. It is believed that the creator of the Hindu pantheon Lord Brahma started creation on this day - 'Chaitra Suddha Padhyami' or the Ugadi day. The famed Indian Mathematician Bhaskaracharya's astronomical calculations in the 12th century determined the date of Ugadi from the sunrise on as the beginning of the New Year, new month and new day.

Preparations for Ugadi begin a week in advance and include customs common to many spring festivals such as house cleaning and buying new clothes. On the day of Ugadi, a tradition is to get up before dawn for an Abhyang - a head bath an after massaging with sesame oil.

Ugadi heralds the arrival of Spring and warmer weather. As such it is a joyus festival signifying growth and properity and as with all New Year festivals it is a chance to put the errors of the past behind, make predictions and a good time to start new ventures.

A customary food prepared during Ugadi is Bevu Bella, a paste made from jaggery (sugar), neem buds, tamarind juice and raw mango. The paste combines several sweet and sour tastes. These different tastes are intended to remind anyone tasting the paste that life is a mixture of happy and sad events.

Will next week's partial solar eclipse turn off the lights in Germany?

Will next week's partial solar eclipse turn off the lights in Germany?

Experts say the country's electricity grid, which relies increasingly on renewable energy, faces a crucial test on the morning of March 20, when the moon will pass in front of the sun and block up to 82 percent of its light across Germany.

This partial eclipse will cause a sudden drop and then a surge in solar-generated power that will have to be balanced out to avoid instability in the grid, Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems said Friday.

Scientists at the Freiburg-based institute ran simulations showing that conventional power plants and hydroelectricity pump-storage facilities should be able to cushion the impact of the eclipse. They found that the strain on the grid would be greatest on a sunny day — such as March 20, 2014 — when the drop and subsequent rebound would be strongest. Grid operators have likened the effect to 12 large power plants being switched off and 19 being switched on in a short space of time.

If the weather is overcast, the impact should be negligible, the Fraunhofer institute found. Solar power from some 1.4 million installations contributed almost 6 percent to Germany's energy mix last year, but is set to rise steadily as Europe's biggest economy strives to meet 80 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2050. Germany currently gets almost 26 percent of its electricity from renewables, including solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric plants.

The upcoming eclipse will help grid operators plan for the next comparable event in 2026, when Germany expects to have shuttered its nuclear power stations.

Solar-powered plane: Welcome to India

A Swiss solar-powered plane lands in Muscat, Oman, after it took off from Abu Dhabi early Monday, marking the start of the first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fuel. Solar Impulse founder Andre Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seater when it took off from the Al Bateen Executive Airport.

Solar Impulse 2 prepares to land in the Omani capital Muscat on March 9, 2015. The aircraft touched down in Muscat after nightfall, 13 hours and two minutes after taking off from Abu Dhabi. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED MAHJOUB

Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, both wearing traditional Omani turbans, smile during a welcome ceremony after Solar Impulse 2 landed in the Omani capital. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED MAHJOUB

The trip from Oman to India is a long one for such a slow-moving aircraft and it will be interesting to see what route it takes. It sounds like its going to be mainly over water. The destination in India is Ahmedabad (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, AMD/VAAH).

Solar Impulse 2 Plane pilot Bertrand Piccard poses after landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Air Port in Ahmedabad, the main city of western India's Gujarat state, late March 10, 2015. AFP PHOTO / Sam PANTHAKY

This graphic shows the route of Solar Impulse 2 at 20:00 last night as it made its approach to Ahmedabad.

 The Solar Impulse 2 Plane is stationed after landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Air Port in Ahmedabad. AFP PHOTO / Sam PANTHAKY

Solar-powered plane: Welcome to India (UPDATED)

Solar Impulse 2 is now safely in India after making its first sea crossing from Oman. This is the first attempt to fly a plane around the world. On March 16 it will fly to Myanmar, the closest the aircraft will come to Thailand.

There is much more information on the main Solar Impulse website:http://www.solarimpulse.com  Here's another live-tracking site that is very easy to use. Just wait a few seconds for the moving map to appear:http://solarimpulse2.airlive.net/

International Women's Day 2015

International Women's Day is celebrated globally on 8 March to reflect on the progress made in gender equality, to celebrate the inspirational work of women, and to recognise the challenges.

This year’s theme is 'Empowering women, Empowering humanity: Picture it!'. It envisions a world where each woman and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating in politics, getting an education, having an income, and living in societies free from violence and discrimination.

In the run up to International Women's Day 2015, we are showcasing the stories of some of our inspiring peacebuilders – both men and women – from around the world, and their views on gender equality and peace.

Read the stories as they are published by clicking on the names below:

Batool, Pakistan

"Working for peacebuilding gives me inner satisfaction and contentment."

Amjad, Sri Lanka

"If we do not include gender equality within our peacebuilding work, we would be hypocritical in our approaches."

Rabina, Nepal

"The moment when I saw the smiles and happiness on both father and son’s faces, I felt very happy."

Joe, UK

"International Women's Day is an opportunity to highlight women’s valuable, but often unrecognised, contributions to the non-violent resolution of conflict."

Shahribonu and Farzona, Tajikistan

"There are many examples of women becoming peacebuilding champions, and making an enormous contribution to end violence and bring peace."

Fatmawati, Philippines

"The Tausug women have been transformed into agents of change and from victims of conflict to empowered women and peacebuilders in their communities."

Enack, DRC

"My work as a peacebuilder is a commitment to build a society where men and women work together to achieve equality."

Nathalie, Lebanon

"Gender equality opens the door for better power dynamics, less abuse, less trauma, and healthier, happier individuals and societies."

Bertin, DRC

"Gender equality in peacebuilding is important because peacebuilding concerns and should include everyone."

Gulru, Caucasus

"Women’s Day should not be only one day – it should be every day, so that women are recognised for who they are and the difference they make."

Richard, Uganda

"Gender equality is important in peacebuilding because of the different experiences of women and men in conflict."

Alba, Colombia

"By achieving equality in power relations, our differences and conflicts can be transformed to bring about positive and constructive outcomes."

Gender and peacebuilding – our approach

International Alert supports the equal participation of all members of society, including men, women, girls, boys and gender minorities. We do this by researching the role that gender plays in peace and conflict around the world, and advocating for the integration of gender issues in peacebuilding and security processes locally and internationally.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone strategy is as directionless as it’s ever been

One of two new Samsung phone, Galaxy S6 Edge, is shown on a wireless charger at a special press preview, Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, in New York.

Two new Samsung phones, Galaxy S6, left, and Galaxy S6 Edge, right, are shown at a special press preview in New York. Samsung officially unveiled the stylish new phones on Sunday, March 1, 2015, the eve of this week's Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain.

Samsung, locked in a tight race with Apple to be the world's biggest smartphone maker, has unveiled an important new phone that ditches its signature plastic design for more stylish metal and glass.

The South Korean phone manufacturer also unveiled a premium model with a display that curves around the left and right edges so that information can be glanced at on the side. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will both include technology for mobile payments, though Samsung isn't unveiling a service to rival the iPhone's Apple Pay until this summer.

Samsung and Apple have gone back and forth as the world's top smartphone maker in recent years. Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, released last year, have helped the Cupertino, California, company catch up. Both of Apple's new phones are larger than previous versions and their size was heavily marketed, in part to appeal to customers who liked Samsung's large phones.

Now Samsung's S6 phones will have a metal frame — like the iPhone. The phones also have a glass back, which Apple abandoned in favor of metal in recent iPhones. Although the resolution of the phones' rear camera remains at 16 megapixels, cameras on both sides will have wider openings to let in more light and make for sharper photos. The phones also promise better focus and color accuracy — achieved in part by using the infrared capabilities on the phones' heart-rate sensor to detect lighting conditions.

Earlier Sunday, HTC announced a new HTC One smartphone that also sports a better camera, while keeping such previously lauded elements as a metal design and polished finish. HTC Corp. also unveiled a fitness tracker, the Grip. Unlike trackers from Jawbone and Fitbit, the Grip isn't meant for couch potatoes looking to motivate themselves by counting steps. Rather, HTC is partnering with sports clothing maker Under Armour to offer features for those with active lifestyles.

The announcements come on the eve of this week's Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain. Samsung Electronics Co. said its new design took years to develop. As phones got thinner, the company inevitably ended up "with a device that's very cold and very industrial," said Hong Yeo, a senior designer at Samsung. The company's "Project Zero" team "was given the freedom to design our dream device," he said.

The new models use glass on both sides, encased in a metal frame. The software will also be simplified. Many of the icons, for instance, will be replaced with text to reduce guesswork. Previous Samsung phones had removable plastic backs, so the battery could be swapped with a spare. Samsung now joins Apple, HTC and others in favoring a better design over that replacement capability. Samsung is promoting the new phones' ability to charge quickly — in 30 minutes they can reach 50 percent.

The screen remains 5.1 inches, but the display resolution increases to 577 pixels per inch, up from 432 in last year's Galaxy S5. By comparison, Apple's 4.7-inch iPhone 6 has 326. The fingerprint sensor is also improved. Instead of swiping down on the home button, you simply touch it, much the way you already do on iPhones. Both the S6 and the S6 Edge are slightly lighter, thinner and narrower than the S5, though they are a tad taller.

Samsung's new phones will incorporate technology from LoopPay, a startup that Samsung is buying. LoopPay's technology reproduces the signals from a credit card's magnetic swipe, so it can work with existing retail equipment. Most rivals, including Apple Pay, require newer equipment.

The Samsung phones will debut overseas on April 10, at prices to be announced. A U.S. launch date wasn't given. Samsung is also making an S6 version of its Gear VR virtual-reality headset, which currently works only with the Galaxy Note 4.

HTC's Grip fitness tracker will cost $199 when it goes on sale in North America this spring. The new HTC One phone, dubbed M9, is expected to come out in March in some overseas markets. A U.S. debut is likely in April. Prices weren't immediately announced.

For years, HTC has kept its phone's main camera at 4 megapixels and made sensors for each of those pixels larger to capture more light. That's great for low-light situations, but it results in dull shots otherwise. The camera's low resolution is particularly noticeable when cropping photos. Customers "love the great low-light performance, but wanted more pixels for editing," HTC executive Luis Sanchez told The Associated Press.

The new phone will have a 20-megapixel rear camera, on par with other leading Android phones. The lens will be made of sapphire to protect from scratches. The 4-megapixel rear camera from previous models will move to the front, where low-light capabilities are more important because the front doesn't have a flash.

The new HTC phone also will offer home screens customized to your location. At home, for instance, you might get easy access to Netflix and Facebook. At the train station, you might get suggestions for transit apps. Like last year's model, the screen will measure 5 inches diagonally.