Action Against Om Puri

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said Monday that she was considering a privilege motion against actor Om Puri for his 'derogatory and defamatory' remarks against MPs during a rally in Ramlila Maidan last week.

'The matter is under my consideration. I have received notices on the question of privilege,' the speaker said in the Lok Sabha as the actor apologised for his comments in which called politicians 'uneducated' and 'incompetent'.
Congress MPs Praveen Singh Aron, Jagdambika Pal, Vinay Pandey, Harsh Vardhan, P.L. Punia and Kamal Kishor, as also Mirza Mehboob Beg (National Conference) and Ramashankar Rajbhar (Bahujan Samaj Party) have given notices against Puri for using 'derogatory and defamatory words against members of parliament and also casting reflections on the house'.
The Samajwadi Party's Premdas Katheria and Shailendra Kumar have also given notices against the Bollywood actor, known for his roles in films as varied as 'Ardh Satya', 'West is West' and 'Chachi 420'.
Puri apologised and said he wasn't drunk as some people had said, just emotionally charged.
'I respect the parliament and the costitutional body. I am very proud to be an Indian. It was wrong on my part to use such terms. I wasn't drunk, I was just emotionally charged, such things do come from mouth.....even our politicians at times, in a fit of anger, use such things,' Om told CNN-IBN.
'I would love to be there (in the parliament) to explain my emotions... the forum which leaders like Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru have been a part of. If they (parliament) are still angry with me I will take whatever punishment they give me,' the actor added.
The 60-year-old actor created a stir Friday with his speech attacking politicians. He told the thousands gathered that he feels 'ashamed when an IAS or IPS officer salutes a ganwar (illiterate) who is a neta (political leader)'.
'Yeh anpadh hain, inka kya background hai? Aadhe se zyaada MP ganwaar hain...,' the well known actor said.

Pandit says Citigroup now 'a different company

Aug 10 (IANS) Citigroup's Indian American CEO Vikram Pandit has reassured employees that notwithstanding the decline in its stock price, the bank was healthier than it was before the 2008 meltdown and its fundamentals were in good shape.

'Although the decline is difficult to watch and naturally reminds all of us of what happened several years ago, there is little similarity between now and then in both drivers and implications,' Pandit told senior managers in a voice mail.
Similar comments came from the Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan as shares of the two giants and other US financial firms bounced back Tuesday from their biggest single-day drop in two years.
Citigroup plunged 16 percent Monday to trade at half its book value, but gained back nearly 14 percent Tuesday. BofA shares too jumped 17 percent after Monday's 20 percent drop.
'Not only is it a fundamentally different time, but we are a fundamentally different company,' Pandit said in his message, adding that the bank has been profitable for six quarters, is making investments in every region, has derisked its balance sheet and shed $519 billion in non-core assets.
'These actions have contributed to the unquestionable financial strength Citi has built over the past several years,' he said, noting the bank's strong capital ratios and liquidity base.
Pandit said what has changed this time around is that investors are looking for 'return of capital' and not 'increased capital levels.'
'The companies which have fared better relatively are the ones who have announced plans to return capital to shareholders and our goal is still to return capital next year,' said Pandit.
Pandit told staff that the recent sell off was a call to action. 'Call on your clients. Let them know about the unparalleled resources we have to help them navigate through these challenging times. This is the time to remind them that we have been with them for 200 years and will be there for them day in and day out.'
'The most important point to remember is that our company remains financially strong,' Moynihan wrote in his memo to employees. 'We do not know how long this period of uncertainty will continue,' he wrote, 'but we have weathered challenging times before and we will now.'

The Importance of Physical Education

Physical activity offers a broad range of benefits, including the prevention of obesity, improved self confidence, and an overall sense of well-being. Physical education programs within the school setting can set the stage for how children view physical fitness, activity levels, and future health. Physical education programs also include general health and safety information in addition to providing opportunities for students to learn how to cooperate with one another in a team setting. A Lifetime of Health The school setting provides a structured atmosphere in which to incorporate physical health activities and ideally develop healthy habits for life. Studies indicate that promotion of a healthy lifestyle taught in physical education classes can influence long-term health benefits such as reduced rates of obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Perhaps just as importantly, physical education programs can teach students that physical activity can be fun. With a broad range of games and activities, children are exposed to forms of exercise that don't simply involve running around a track. Games and other activities incorporate teamwork, strategy, skill-building exercises, and fun. Nutritional Information Physical education classes are ideal for introducing basic nutritional concepts to children. Poor eating habits are common among many children and adolescents; however, a solid foundation in healthy eating choices can help lay the groundwork for improved food choices. Children who eat regular, healthy meals consisting of a wide range of food choices concentrate better in school and are less disruptive. Healthy eating also decreases the chances of children developing serious health problems early in life and reduces obesity rates among youth and into adulthood. Life Skills Physical education also provides an opportunity for children to develop critical life skills, such as problem solving, strategy, and working together. Many team sports require participants to work together to achieve a goal. Children also learn the basics of good sportsmanship and that there is much more to sports and physical activities than simply winning or losing. Sports require training, mental and physical preparation, and help build self-confidence. Mental Health Regular physical activity has shown to have many psychological and mental benefits in addition to the physical ones. For example, regular exercise can reduce feelings of depression and anxiety and promote an overall sense of well-being. The increased blood flow during exercise transports oxygen to all parts of the body, including the brain, which can help improve memory and reasoning skills. Conversely, a lack of oxygen, which can result from not enough deep breathing, can lead to disorientation, confusion, fatigue, and memory and concentration difficulties.

India's Top 50 Engineering Colleges 2011

Ranking the top colleges is a very difficult task. While it is relatively easy to create clusters of colleges, it is differentiating within clusters that became the most difficult exercise. So for the first time in the country we have used balanced scorecard methodology to arrive at the ranking of the top 50 colleges. Ranking methodology: We scanned the last five year rankings of about 241 colleges and normalised their ranks, by assigning differential weights to subjective and objective ranking. Such a process is used to develop clusters of institutions. The research standing of individual institutions were further used to refine the clusters and remove the odd men out. Individual clusters were ranked serially. In each of these clusters the differences in cut-off marks, wherever possible (like in case of IITs and AIEEE institutes and some States) were used to arrive at individual ranks. Heavily dominated by public institutions, the top-50 listing is a roll call of excellence India’s top 50 engineering institutions 2011

Indian Services Growth

India's services sector expanded at its slowest pace in 20 months in May as soaring prices and interest rate hikes gnawed at new business growth and reduced the level of optimism, a survey showed on Friday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC Markit Business Activity Index, based on a survey of over 400 firms, slipped to 55.0 in May from 59.2 in April, marking its twenty-fifth successive month above the 50 level that divides growth from contraction. While the latest reading underlines a reasonably solid pace of growth in the services sector, its decline is an indication that continuous rate rises aimed at containing inflation are putting the brakes on India's rapid expansion. All sub-indexes saw a fall when compared to April, with the exception of input costs and employment. New business received by service companies remained strong but the pace of expansion slowed with the sub-index falling to its lowest level since October last year. Among the sub-indexes, business expectations saw the steepest fall to 67.8 in May from 72.8 in April, as respondents, though confident of the sector's performance over the next 12 months, slightly tempered expectations as economic uncertainty loomed. Data released earlier this week showed Asia's third-largest economy grew at its slowest annual pace in five quarters in January to March as consecutive interest rate hikes, aimed at reigning in soaring inflation, began to take effect. Gross domestic product rose 7.8 percent from a year earlier, lower than 8.3 percent in the previous quarter and below the median 8.2 percent forecast in a Reuters poll. While weaker-than-expected growth might cause the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise rates in smaller increments, the survey showed price pressures will persist. Input costs increased markedly in May due to rising wage bills and raw material costs. Further inflation pressures are expected as the economy braces for an increase in government-controlled prices of diesel and cooking fuels.

Build Work Experience For A Great First Job

It is rare that you have a choice to make regarding your work assignments or not. However, if you really do, you must be on the lookout for a part-time job or work project on the lines of the career you want to pursue in the future. For example, if you wish to become a corporate communications professional, you could find job work or assignments with the Department of Communication Studies or any other related discipline. Build Work Experience You must also work on developing adequate work experience. This will be a kick start to surviving in the increasing cut-throat competition, when you are really on the look out in the industry searching for your first ever full-time job. Internships, Summer Trainings and Volunteering Opportunities Another good way to develop quality work experience is to look out for internships or summer trainings or even opportunities for volunteering in varied projects and events. If these trainings are paid, good for you, but even if they are not, they add tonnes about you to your resume. If you aspire to be a journalist or a writer, you could opt as a volunteer for your resident campus magazine, newspaper or even your college's or department's journal or newsletter. If you aim to be a social worker, you could be a regular visitor to old age homes, poverty stricken areas and homeless shelters. Similarly, if you aspire to get into stocks as a broker, you could look for summer training or an internship at a firm dealing in stocks and securities. Become a tutor if you specialize in a particular art or science Working for somebody is not the only channel these days to make some money. You might be a champ in a particular subject, say computer dynamics. So you could just gather some students who require assistance with the subject and tutor them. Similarly, if you are fond of children, you could approach professors or other personnel in your college and offer to baby-sit their children. You just need to channelize your energies, get your talent in action and be a successful young entrepreneur.

Telemarketing Is Best Option

Pesky calls from telemarketers may continue to nag customers for some more time as the telecom regulator TRAI is likely to extend its March 21 deadline again. "We have not received the landline number series yet from the Department of Telecom (DoT). Unless that is given, it will be difficult for telemarketers to operate from mobile network. We have not decided the next date but actual date will be soon," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J S Sarma told reporters here. The deadline has already been extended three times. The regulation was to be initially implemented on January 1, 2011. It was later extended to February 1 and then a second extension to March 1 was made for implementing the regulation. DoT has issued mobile numbers starting with "140" to help subscribers identify telemarketing calls. Similarly, a series is to be allocated for landline numbers. DoT sources say the delay in issuing the landline series is because there could be a security breach at telecom exchange level. "Most of the work in case of landlines is done manually. Fixed line network is not automatic as mobile network is. Identification in case of fixed line is done through manual process, a DoT official said. At present, if any call from landline comes, then it can be identified based on STD code - the initial digits - and then levels (digits following STD codes) which differ from exchange to exchange within a city. In case identifiable series of ''140'' is used, it will impact the numbering system being used at present for allocating new connections. Also, it will be difficult for security agencies to track calls as it will display uniform code instead of STD code for connections across the country, the official said.

Market Awaits Bold Strategy

Nokia's wisdom in picking outsider Stephen Elop to return it to its former glory will be tested on Friday when the new chief executive reveals his plans to transform the world's biggest cellphone maker. Following a leaked memo in which Elop candidly described the need to leap from Nokia's "burning platform", speculation has intensified that he will announce a radical switch to use software from rivals Microsoft or Google. The world's biggest cellphone maker warned on Jan. 27 of a grim start to 2011, sending its shares plunging, but the stock swiftly recovered after Elop flagged the possible change of software strategy. Ahead of Friday's strategy update in London, Nokia shares traded down 1.8 percent at 1055 GMT on Thursday, underperforming a 0.8 percent-weaker European technology index but still up 16 percent from their Jan. 27 low. Nokia has rapidly lost share in the higher-margin smartphone market to the likes of Apple's iPhone , and products based on Google's Android platform claimed the top spot from the company last quarter. In a bid to stem the losses, Chairman Jorma Ollila brought in Elop from Microsoft last September , the first non-Finn to head the company. The 47-year-old Canadian knows he faces major challenges: in the leaked memo he compared Nokia's position to a man on a burning oil platform, wondering whether he dares to jump. Nokia's MeeGo platform, its would-be answer to the high-end competition, is as yet unproven, and its workhorse Symbian software has little appeal among developers. Sources have told Reuters the company has ditched its first MeeGo smartphone project, and Elop himself said in the memo the company might get only one MeeGo device to the market this year. After Elop raised the possibility of a change in smartphone software, many market followers expect Nokia to adopt either Google's Android or go for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. However, picking Android would cede some control to key rival Google, while success in the wireless industry has so far eluded Microsoft. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Microsoft and Nokia were in talks about Windows Phone 7. Microsoft and Nokia declined to comment. "Two turkeys do not make an eagle," Google's Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra tweeted this week, in a reference to ex-Nokia executive Anssi Vanjoki's comment on the ill-fated 2005 merger of Siemens and BenQ's cellphone operations. Elop is also set to unveil longer-term forecasts, after limiting financial forecasts on Jan. 27 to the first quarter. He could also unveil a major management shake-up, with some reports suggesting four top managers would be sacked. "If we hear tomorrow anything negative at all, the share might react very strongly," said one Helsinki-based analyst.