Posts

Showing posts from January 3, 2010

Your guide to fitness

New Delhi, Jan. 2 -- As we settle into the new year, here are some simple, sustainable methods that will bring you a year of health and happiness: Other changes * Aim to be positive - by being in the company of cheerful people; by reading books that force us to introspect; by getting away from people, objects or habits that bring you down. * Accept your flaws with grace and stop the blame game. Sometimes only the deepest portion of your subconscious mind is aware of the games you play, but the ego refuses to accept that it may not be healthy for us to indulge in such actions or behaviours * Accept yourself. Being aware about your shortcomings does not give you the right to think negatively about yourself. It is very important to respect yourself and have value for your own self. * Make small healthy changes that are sustainable. We make large promises to ourselves, which even with the best of intentions we cannot logically achieve. The promises we make to ourselves should com...

The game changers

What a way to begin! The Y2K bug did not eat up computer data after all but the dotcom bubble bursts and the information technology and services industry take the world stage. Then, an Indian company acquires a global player. The closing years were no less dramatic: A truck-maker-turnedcarmaker unveils the world's cheapest car shortly after it acquires a foreign major. The global financial system collapses but India's banking system remains unscathed. As a recession sets in, India's largest social spending scheme, based on a guarantee of work, begins to show that such things work if they are backed by law. BT profiles a handful of leaders and visionaries who defined the decade. Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons Trailblazer He has sprung one surprise after another from mega acquisitions like that of Corus to prestige ones like Jaguar-Land Rover, to engineering dreams like the world's cheapest car. He showed Indian industry that it can buy global companies, manage them ...

India readying weapon to destroy enemy satellites: Saraswat

Indian defence scientists are readying a weapons system to neutralise enemy satellites operating in low-earth orbit, a top defence scientist said here on Sunday. "India is putting together building blocks of technology that could be used to neutralise enemy satellites," Defence Research and Development Organisation Director General V K Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress. However, he added that the defence scientists have not planned any tests but have started planning such technology which could be used to leapfrog to build a weapon in case the country needed it. Saraswat, who is also the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, said the scientists were planning to build the weapon which would have the capacity to hit and destroy satellites in low-earth orbit and polar orbit. Usually, satellites in such orbits are used for network centric warfare and neutralising such spacecraft would deny enemy access to its space assets. ...

Tata Motors eye launching Nano car in U.S

New Delhi, Jan 6 (ANI): Tata Motors  may consider launching its ultra-cheap Nano car in the United States in three years, Group chairman Ratan Tata has said, following possible sales in Europe by the end of 2011. "We also recognise there is a market (for the Nano) not only in developing countries, but possibly in the developed countries," Ratan Tata told reporters at the New Delhi auto expo show. "For the United States we need a car which has a larger engine and we need some additional crash test modifications and we are in the process of doing it," he added.he United States is the world's largest auto market, but data this week should show China surpassed it with about 13 million vehicles sold in the Asian economic powerhouse this year. The Nano, whose billing as the world's cheapest car gained it significant attention from across the globe, was showcased by Ratan Tata at the previous edition of the New Delhi autoshow two years ago. Tata has said his co...

Burj Dubai: The world's tallest tower

Image
Thousands of people craned their necks Monday evening in Dubai to watch fireworks shoot from the sides of the world's tallest building, now called the Burj Khalifa, after United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan . Like so much in Dubai, the tower was designed by a Briton, in this case architect Adrian Smith. And like so much in Dubai, the tower was built by migrant workers, many of them from South Asia. Sheikh Khalifa, the ruler of the neighbouring city-state of Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, stayed close by Sheikh Mohammed's side throughout the ceremony. Seated next to his cousin, Sheikh Mohammed at one point appeared to have a tear in his eye as he watched what should have been an unqualified testament to his city-state's rise as a world financial centre. They toiled 22 million hours over the course of 1,325 days, pouring 330,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete and fitting 103,000 sq metres of sheet glass nearly a kilometer off ...

Now, a train for unemployed youth

Mumbai, Jan. 2 -- It's a special train for unemployed youth. 'Yuva Train', an air-conditioned train will ply from Mumbai Central to Delhi from January 12. The Railway ministry will start the low-cost train (Rs 299 a ticket), which is targeted at unemployed youth. It will only have seating but no sleepers. The brainchild of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, Yuva train fares can be availed of by unemployed people in the age group of 15 to 45 years, provided they have a certificate issued under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or a registration card issued by a government employment exchange. Tickets will be issued on production of original of any of the above certificates at the counter, a photocopy of which should be retained with reservation requisition as in the case with other concessions. Tatkal scheme will not be applicable in 'Yuva Trains'. Initially, 60 per cent of coaches on such trains will be earmarked for the youth. The remaining will be set...

World's tallest tower ready

Image
Started at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 labourers, the world's tallest building will open on Monday in Dubai as the glitzy emirate seeks to rekindle optimism after its financial crisis. Burj Dubai, whose opening has been delayed twice since construction began in 2004, will mark another milestone for the deeply indebted emirate with a penchant for seeking new records. Dubai, one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates, gained a reputation for excess with the creation of man-made islands shaped like palms and an indoor ski slope in the desert. With investor confidence in Dubai badly bruised by the emirate's announcement in November that it would seek a debt standstill for one of its largest conglomerates, the Burj Dubai is seen as a positive start to the year after a bleak 2009. The project has been scrutinised by human rights groups, who have objected to its treatment of labourers, as well as by environmentalists who said the tower would...

Intel announces new Atom processors

Santa Clara (California), Jan 3 (DPA) Intel, the world's biggest manufacturer of computer chips, has announced a new line of powerful, energy-saving processors for popular mini-notebooks and starter computers. The first devices with the new Atom platform should be available starting Jan 4, announced the company, or just before the industry-standard-setting Consumer Electronics Show, which runs Jan 7-10. Several leading companies are already working with the new processor, though no prices were announced. The new processors are smaller than their predecessors. Additionally, an integrated graphics processor means those functions are handled directly in the chip. That means manufacturers can make computers with smaller housings. Additionally, the new Atom uses an average of 20 percent less energy, boosting the computer's running time. It can reach frequencies of 1.66 Gigahertz. The original Atom was announced in mid-2008. The chips aren't the most powerful out t...

It's boom time again

With slowdown now history, companies line up for campus recruitment Unlike last year, when placement was a big worry for city colleges and institutes, this year they are making their own rules. With companies lining up for recruitment, several institutes have put a cap on minimum annual packages. This, when the annual packages have been increased. Annual pay packagesAt University Business School (UBS), Panjab University, the highest package has been Rs 10.4 lakh per annum this year � average package has been Rs 6.8 lakh per annum. UBS officials say as many companies are lining up for recruitment, "the highest pay package may rise further". Prof Sanjay Kaushik, training and placement officer at UBS, said, "Placements are definitely better than last year. Also, compared to last year, a few companies have increased their annual pay packages. There is a boom like situation again." Cap on pay packagesUBS has put a cap of Rs 4.5 lakh on pay packages � compa...