Have you ever been scared by the idea of death? If the answer is negative then you may like to think again. Here is a list of top ten most hazardous diseases of the developing world which can affect any one if one doesn’t take enough precautions attached with them. These diseases have been ranked by their annual death toll which is updated annually. The list is as follows:

1. Respiratory Infections
Mostly these lower respiratory infections include pneumonia and  diseases of the lungs, tracheal tube etc. These diseases often spread by coughing, sneezing, laughing or exhaling. These diseases have an annual death toll of more than four million people.

2. HIV/AIDS
“Human immunodeficiency virus” also known as HIV, destroys the immune system of human body. It can spread by unprotected sex, unsafe blood transfusions or contaminated needles and from even mother to child during child birth. The death toll of this deadly disease stands at more than 3 million deaths annually

3. Malaria
Malaria is spread by mosquito bites and usually turns fatal if proper treatment is not meted out to the patient. The death toll for this disease stands between one million and five million annually and the number of people affected by it in the world stands around 300 million. The best prevention to this disease is the use insecticide-treated mosquito nets and spraying of indoor insecticide.

4. Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea is caused by cholera or dysentery and is a result of infection from bacteria and microscopic worms. Dehydration is the most common cause of death in deaths related with diarrhoea. The death toll for this disease stands at around two million deaths annually. Contaminated food or water usually leads to being infected by diarrhoea.

5. Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis or “TB” as it is commonly known is spread by coughing or sneezing and its common symptoms are weight loss, weakness and common chills. The annual death toll stands at two million. It’s most common treatment is DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy Short Course).

6. Measles
Measles is usually caused by coughing and sneezing as it is highly contagious and can cause damage to brain or blindness and can lead to death if proper medical treatment is not administered. The death toll stands at half million cases per year. Successful vaccination has been developed to fight this scourge and can be treated with drugs.

7. Whooping Cough
It is caused by coughing, sneezing or talking. It’s a highly communicable disease caused by bacterial infection in respiratory tract and the annual death toll stands between two to three million cases per year. It can be treated by antibiotics and vaccines.

8. Tetanus
Its also known as lockjaw. Tetanus is a disease caused in our central nervous system due to an untreated wound getting infected by bacteria. Annual death toll stands at around two million cases per year. This disease can be prevented by vaccines.

9. Meningitis
It is a highly fatal infectious disease that affects the brain and is caused by close contact or sharing of utensils. The annual death toll stands at around two million. It can be prevented by vaccines and antibiotics including penicillin but often five to ten percent patients die even after treatment.

10. Syphilis
It is caused by unprotected sexual intimacy and can even be passed by a mother to her child during birth. Many common antibiotics do not work against this disease and the annual death toll stands at one and a half million.

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Popularity: 25% [?]

Women have been at the helm of the affairs of their countries for many generations, but in the 20th Century the number of well known women leaders increased manifold. The 10 women listed below led their countries through times of turbulence and peace.

1. Indira Gandhi  – Prime Minister of India
Born into India’s politically influential  Nehru family, she was India’s first woman Prime Minister. A hard nosed pragmatic, she ruled the country with firmness and determination, taking hard and tough decisions when needed. She was assassinated by two of her own guards in 1984.

2. Margaret Thatcher – Prime Minister of United Kingdom
Nicknamed “Iron Lady” due to her tough stance against the erstwhile Soviet Union, she led her country through recession and high unemployment into a period of relative prosperity, and a rise in its stature among fellow nations. She was the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom.

3. Benazir Bhutto  – Prime Minister of Pakistan
The daughter Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, she ruled her country from 1988-1990, and 1993-1996. She was assassinated in 2007, during election campaigning. It was widely expected that she would go on to become Prime Minister for a record third term.

4. Corazon Aquino – President of Phillipines
Asia’s first female President, she was a novice when she was elected President sometime after her husband’s assassination. She was a strong advocate of women’s rights and of democracy as opposed to Ferdinand Marcos’s dictatorial rule.

5. Sonia Gandhi  -  Leader of India’s Congress Party
Believed by many to be the power behind the throne, she holds no political office, yet rules the country. An Italian by birth, she adopted India as her country after marrying Rajiv Gandhi. She has been nominated as the third most powerful woman in the world.

6. Eva Peron –  Wife of the President of Argentina
The second wife of President Juan Peron, she was a very powerful woman, due to her influence on her husband, and her fight for the rights of the poor and the women of Argentina. She ran the Ministries of health and Labour, and found the first large female political party in her country.

7. Golda Meir  – Prime Minister of Israel
Termed the “best man in the cabinet” by Daivd Ben Gurion, she was the fourth Prime Minister of the state of Israel. The greatest crisis during her term was the 1973 Yom Kippur War, during which she made the decision to avoid a pre-emptive strike, thereby gaining the approval of her greatest ally, the United States.

8. Sirimavo Bandarnaike - Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
The first woman worldwide to become the Prime Minister of a country, she rules Sri Lanka thrice, from 1960 to 1965, 1970 to 1977 and 1994 to 2000. She was the head of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party for 40 years until her death. Her terms saw the country see-saw through good times and bad times, and during her last term she was more popular abroad than she was in her own country.

9. Johanna Sigurdardottir  –  Prime Minister of Iceland
The first openly gay Prime Minister in the world, she is also Iceland’s first female Prime Minister. A very popular leader, she presides over a coalition of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left Green movement.

10. Mary McAleese  –  President of Ireland
Ruling over a country divided by years of conflict, she has surprised her critics by building bridges and attempting to diffuse tensions all around.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Most people put mysteries and thrillers into the same category or genre of films.  A mystery has a suspense aspect to it – who killed whom, who is planning to kill whom and who are the usual suspects. The mystery films are just a small section of the thriller genre – and here are ten of the best whodunit films.

1. Laura  – 1944
The classic whodunit of all times, the film, directed by Otto Preminger , has more twists and turns than any spiral staircase. Gene Tierney acts as the beautiful Laura, who everyone loves, including the detective Dana Andrews. A slick murder mystery, it is one of the best.

2. Rear Window – 1954
An Alfred Hitchcock classic, James Stewart plays a journalist, stuck at home due to a broken bone, spending his time spying on his neighbours. Anyone else but Hitchcock would have spoilt this film, but he manages to raise it to a flawless mystery level.

3. The Third Man – 1949
A genuine classic, this British film stars Orson Welles in one of his finest roles, as the seductive villain. Very fine acting, an extraordinary story and excellent direction made this into a timeless movie.

4. Maltese Falcon – 1941
An outstanding mystery, Humphrey Bogart is the irascible Sam Spade, a hard drinking private eye. Considered by many to be the best private eye film ever made, it is based on Dasheill Hammett’s 1930 book.

5. North by Northwest – 1959
Cary Grant in one of his finest roles, as an advertising executive mistaken for a spy, this film was one of Hitchcock’s most entertaining films. A fabulous plot it is a roller coaster ride through most of the film as we follow him and Eva Marie Saint through their travails. And of course the unforgettable scene of Cary Grant on an empty road being chased a small plane.

6. Chinatown – 1974
Roman Polanski’s inspired direction and Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson’s spellbinding performances made this into a great film. Set in the 1930s, it is murky and nasty, but it is a perfect film, and a definite edge-of–the-seat experience.

7. The Usual Suspects – 1995
A complicated crime drama, it keeps you hooked from the first scene of Gabriel Bryne’s shooting and the flashback leading up to this event. Kevin Spacey won an Oscar for his role as a crippled squealer in this film.

8. Murder on the Orient Express – 1974
One of Agatha Christie’s most enduring mysteries, it had a star cast consisting of Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot and Ingrid Bergman and Vanessa Redgrave and Lauren Bacall among others. Albert Finney’s knockout performance, and the usual enthralling tale from a master mystery writer made this one of the best mystery films.

9. Gosford Park – 2001
Two murders and both of the same person?  A confusing story – but then mysteries are made of this. With Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith in two Oscar nominated performances; this was one of Britain’s finest presentations in this century.

10. Sleuth – 1972
A film with only three characters, yet it remains an enthralling film. Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine are the actors in this film. We cannot really term it as a mystery, but it follows the intricacies of an elaborate plot, and the twists and turns make it a riveting film.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The last decade has seen an amazing number of corporate frauds, which have had a spiraling effect on the incomes and savings of common people. Most of these led to losses totaling billions of dollars, and have led to a clamor for more stringent rules against corporate and accounting practices.

1. Enron

Enron’s collapse in 2001 from a company worth $63.4 billion, to one seeking bankruptcy reorganization, came as a shock to the general public. Considered to be a major accounting failure, it led to the dissolution of Arthur Anderson, one of the world’s largest accounting farms also. Over 15,000 employees of the corporate had most of their savings in stock, which fell from $83.01 in early 2001 to $0.01 in October 2001.

2. Bernie Madoff

On June 29, 2009, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum sentence that could be given to anyone convicted of corporate fraud. He ran an amazing ‘Ponzi” scheme for his clients, showing falsified profits, and gains with the money that they had given him for investment. SEC authorities believe the actual net fraud will be between $ 14 & $17 billion.

3. Subprime Mortgage Crisis

This was not the crisis of a single corporate but it led to the demise of many other corporate. The  repercussions can still be felt throughout the US and even Europe. It has had an adverse effect on most of the banks and financial institutions, and has led to large scale reform in the financial sector rules and regulations.

4. Satyam Computers

India’s biggest corporate scam was disclosed when Ramalinga Raju, the CEO of Satyam Computers declared that the company’s profits had been overstated for many years. Inflated bank figures, understated liabilities and over 10,000 non-existent employees were among the many fraudulent practices being indulged in to cross 7000 crone rupees.

5. Worldcom

On July 21, 2002, when Worldcom filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, it was USA’s largest corporate failure. The accounting scandal covered $ 11 billion and it seems the workings of the company were masked by painting a false picture of growing profits and margins. In 2004, it emerged from the bankruptcy proceedings with $5.7 billion in debt and $ 6 billion in cash.

6. Barlow Clowes

One of England’s largest corporate scandals, it led to the collapse of the company, after it was disclosed that it’s co-owner Peter Clowes, had spent over $100 million of his clients money in items such as luxury yachts, private aircrafts and cars. A gilts management service, in the 1980s, it controlled millions of pounds of it’s clients funds.

7. Daewoo

Prior to is dismantling in 1999, Daewoo was the second largest corporate in Korea. It collapsed due to bad financial management, due to the worldwide financial crisis and due to growing labor unrest. The collapse led to losses in billions of dollars and became a political crisis.

8. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

Before their collapse in 2008, these two companies owned more than half of USA’s $ 12 trillion mortgages.  In September that year they had to be placed in conservatorship by Federal Housing Finance Agency, as “one of the most sweeping government interventions in private financial markets in decades”.

9. AIG

An American Insurance Company, AIG went into a crisis mode when in 2008, its credit rating were downgraded to below “AA’ levels and they were unable to access any funds to tide over their crisis. Once the 18th largest company in the world, it’s disclosure of financial losses and frauds, led to its downfall.

10. Phar-Mor

In 1992, Phar-Mor had over 300 stores and over 25,000 employees. It ran a successful chain of discount drugstores throughout America, and it ran on a policy of small profits, but large quantities of merchandise. However, the owners in 1992 were accused of large scale embezzlement, deceptive inventories and fudged data.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Top 10 List has no position about whether or not these are really greatest or most influential religious leaders of the 20th/21st Century List. If you have an alternative list of religious leaders which you would like included here, please feel free to comment below.

1.    Dalai Lama – He is the spiritual head of over 80,000 Tibetans living in exile, but he has influenced many more people all over the world. He spreads a message of non-violence, peaceful co-existence and humility based on his religion. His renowned charisma and oratorical skills have made him one of the world’s best known religious heads.

2.    Mother Teresa – Though she cannot really be termed as a religious leader but her iconic image of a nun working for the poorest of the poor, has done more for the Catholic Church than anyone else. Her simplicity and hard work and firm belief in her role as a missionary of Jesus made her into a reluctant world-wide religious figure.

3.    Pope John Paul II – His was the second-longest pontificate, and one of the most influential. He strengthened ties with Judaism, Anglican Communion, and with the Eastern Orthodox Church. He also beatified 1340 people from all over the world and was the most traveled Pope of all times.

4.    Billy Graham – America’s greatest revivalist, Billy Graham has preached to over 2.2 billion people. Anointed as “America’s Pastor”, he has influenced Presidents and common citizens alike. His sincerity and integrity are unquestionable and he is one of the most admired men of America.

5.    Mary Baker Eddy – Best known as the founder of the Christian Science Movement, her legacy continue 100 years after her death in the writings and in the magazine “Christian Science Monitor”. A spiritual teacher and a healer, she is believed to have influenced the social and religious movements of the early 20th century.

6.    Bishop Desmond Tutu – the emeritus Archbishop of Cape Town, he used his pre-eminent status to oppose Apartheid and help South Africa stand up as a unified nation after Mandela came into power. Even after retirement he works on issues concerning democracy and human rights.

7.    Master Li Hongzhi – He founded the spiritual discipline Falun Gong in China in 1992. Today it is believed that he has over 70 million followers. Presently based in the US, his “heavy emphasis on morality makes it appear to be a religion”.

8.    Archbishop Makarios – One of the few religious leaders who played dual roles as a religious leader and as an elected head of the Government. He was the Archbishop of the Cypriot Orthodox Church and also as the President of the Republic of Cyprus. Even though his reign was full of controversies, yet he remained one of the most notable religious and political figures of his time.

9.    Louis Farrakhan – A controversial religious leader, he commands a large following in the “Nation of Islam” and he is one Black America’s strongest advocates. His influence extends more due to his standing as an African American, rather than as a religious leader.

10.    Ayatullah Khomeini – Believed by many to be the greatest Islamic leader of the 20th Century, his defiance of the West, and his ability to preside over the overthrow of a brutal regime in Iran, made him a figure to revered and feared. A religious leader who was also a master strategist, he led a revolution and changed the course of history in the Middle East.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Ever since we have been able to keep records and take accurate measurements we have been fascinated by the heights of the unusually tall people of this world. Here are some short snippets about 9 men and 1 woman, who can easily be categorized as being the Top-10 in height, in the 20th/21st century.
Most of them achieved this height due to some abnormality in their growth hormones, and for many of them it was a drawback rather than a boon.

1.    Robert Pershing Wadlow – He has been confirmed as the tallest person in this world, ever since correct records have been maintained. He was 8.11”in height and 490m pounds in weight, when he passed away in 1940.Born a healthy 8 pound 6 ounces, in Alton Illinois, he grew at a rapid pace and at the age of eight he was a whopping 6.2’and 195 pounds. His extraordinary height was attributed to an overactive pituitary gland, which produced an excess of the growth hormone. Known as the “Gentle Giant”, he endeared himself to all those around him due to his peaceful manner and his endearing nature. He spent the few years of his youth traveling all over the country, representing the International Shoe company. When he passed away in July 1940, due to complications from a foot infection, it needed 12 pallbearers, assisted by 8 other men to carry his casket. 40,000 people from his hometown signed the visitor’s book, and in 1985 a statue was erected in his memory.

2.    John Rogan – One of the dozen people in recorded history to go beyond the 8 feet mark, John Rogan was 8.9”tall, but he weighed only 175 pounds. Due to his angular structure and a bone disease, he was unable to stand and could be measured only after he passed away in 1905 at the age of 37.Till date he has been the tallest African-American in history. Not much is known about his life, except for the fact that he lived in Tennessee.

3.    Leonid Stadnyk – He is the tallest living human being according to most records. There is some uncertainty regarding his exact measurements, since he has not let the official Guinness Book adjudicators measure him, but all records seem to state that he is 8.5”, though a lot of people feel that he appears to be 7’.6”. He weighs about 440 lbs. and is a practising veterinarian in Podolyantsi in Ukraine. Born in 1970, his extraordinary height is believed to be the result of a brain surgery when he was 12 years old, after which he developed an overactive pituitary gland, similar to that of Robert Wadlow.

4.    Don Koehler – From 1968 till his death in 1981, Don was recognized as the world’s tallest living man, a resplendent 8’.2”. He had a twin sister who was 5’.10”in height, his own amazing height being a result of an ailment known as acromegalic gigantism. He spent most of his later life unable to stand up straight due to a severe curvature of his spine.

5.    Zen Jinlian– the tallest woman who has lived in the 20th century – she grew to the height of 8’.1.5” before she died at the very young age of 17 in 1982. She lived in Hunan in China, and like most extraordinarily tall human beings, suffered from severe spinal problems. Like most other 8 footers, she was born to average height parents, but grew at a rapid pace from infancy.

6.    Zhao Liang – Living as a circus performer in Henan China, Zhao is believed by many to be the tallest man living today, surpassing Leonid Stadnyk, who has not really been accurately measured. He was originally a basketball player, but that career had to be cut short due to an injury to his foot. Presently he earns his living by the playing the saxophone and the flute in a circus in China.

7.    Vaino Myllyrinne – The tallest Finn ever, standing at 8’1”, he was an active soldier in the Finnish Army. At the age of 21 he stood at 7’.3.5”, but in his late thirties he had a second spurt of growth and grew to be over 8’ in height. When he died in 1963, he was recorded as the tallest soldier that ever lived.

8.    Gabriel Estevao Monjane – From the year 1988 till his death in 1990, Gabriel was officially the world’s tallest man at 8’1”. Born and brought up in Mozambique, he also earned his living by performing in a Portuguese circus. He is believed to be the tallest African ever.

9.    Suleiman Ali Nashnush – A Libyan by birth, at 8’.1/2’ he was the tallest man who ever played  basketball. One of the few very tall people who underwent surgery to check his exponential growth, he lived life as a player and as a bit actor in films. He had the unique privilege of doing a small role on one of Fredrico Fellini’s films. He died at the age of 1991 in Tripoli in Libya.

10.    Gogea Mitu – was a Rumanian Boxer and achieved a great deal of fame not only due to his extraordinary height of 7’9” but also due to his prowess as a boxer. Nicknamed then “Giant of Marsani”, he was trained by the famous scout Umberto Lucia, who also later became his manager. His enormous appetite was a matter of great interest to everyone, since he was known to consume 2 lbs of bread, two dozen eggs, 2 litres o9f milk and at least 2 lbs. Of chicken for lunch, not counting the sweets and half a litre of wine. His custom made bed was `11 feet long and 6.6”wide.

Popularity: 20% [?]