Keep the love alive!

Love works in bizarre ways. Least expected can do wonders, while the tried and tested tricks can end up in dud! Here come some handy tips to tickle the love button...

Reach into his pocket for the keys
Well, more than just the keys. The lesson is: Never underestimate the power of an unexpected touch. Just by stimulating your partner’s nerve endings when they’re not prepared for it, you create a positive physical connection that leaves your lover wanting more.

Keep him out of the loop
Remember, the less you tell him, the more interested he’ll become in you. So to hook him in, when you’re chatting, give him the conclusion of the conversation first. For instance, “I got the job,” and then stop and wait. You’ve gotten his attention, now let them draw out the details.

Make small changes for big results
The trick to activate desire is to depart from your everyday look. Maybe take a break from your trousers routine and move around in an evening gown.

Compliment your lover the right way
There’s a trick to buttering up your lover right. Make the compliment obscure and exclusive and it will sound more genuine. He may dismiss your flattery with a wave of the hand, but deep down, he’ll be loving every second of it.

Give your lover a sensory flashback
Think about when you first fell for your partner. What reminds you both of that time. Figure it out and you’ve found the secret to conjuring up that new-love rush. Your lover will experience something that they associate with falling in love with you; those intense, sensual memories will trigger a positive physical reaction and generate instant longing.

Check out competition
Love works in bizarre ways. If you want to renew your partner’s passion for you, slyly capture the eye of someone attractive. It adds a bit of jealousy and a lot of attention.

To stoke your lover’s interest, trail someone with your gaze or flash a flirty smile at one of his friends when you know you’re being watched. And it never hurts to make an extra bit of effort with your looks when you know you’ll be in a situation where others will admire you. Just the possibility of others eyeing you all night will definitely make them appreciate that they’re lucky to have you.

Reliance refinery test runs by Sept - source

Reliance Industries plans to test-run its huge new refinery by September, a little later than expected, and has started filling its tanks with extra Saudi crude oil, a top company official told Reuters.

Oil traders are counting down the days to the commissioning of the 580,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) plant, which will soak up excess heavy Middle East crude supplies and export high-quality gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to markets around the world.

Industry sources said in April that Reliance had initially hoped to begin test runs in July, still months ahead of its official December target, but even a September start would show remarkable speed for a $6 billion project that will make its Jamnagar site the world’s biggest refining complex.

"Trial runs will begin in August-September as we started filling tankages this month only," the official, who did not want to be named, said on Wednesday.

He said the additional Saudi crude would feed the new plant, run by subsidiary Reliance Petroleum adjacent to an existing 660,000 bpd plant on the west Indian coast.

"We will continue to buy extra barrels from Saudi Arabia in August as the new refinery start-up is ready. We started filling in the tank and started filling the lines and storages," he said.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, pledged to boost production to 9.7 million bpd this month, the highest in more than 30 years and an increase of 550,000 bpd versus May.

Reliance Industries has said it had signed up to take 30 percent of any incremental Saudi supply, but most Asian refiners turned down offers of extra barrels in June and July amid weaker demand in Japan and loss-making margins in China.

Last week, Reliance Petroleum said the new unit was 94 percent complete and pre-commissioning activities were proceeding at a hectic pace, reiterating that the refinery was on course to be completed ahead of its initial target of December.

The refinery, in which Chevron Corp holds a 5 percent stake, will have the ability to process cheap, low-grade crude into gasoline and diesel that meet strict Western standards.

Like its existing refinery, which turned India from being Asia’s largest diesel importer to a net exporter nine years ago, the new plant is expected to make waves in the oil market.

"It will change the market structure for sure, both on the crude and products side," said an Asian trader.

Reliance has been more active on the Middle East crude market in the past two months, buying at least one cargo of heavy sour Qatari Al Shaheen crude for August loading, and some lighter Abu Dhabi Murban crude, which traders said may feed to the new plant.

Mind set: Heart of forgiveness

There is a lot of darkness , disharmony and suffering in our world today, a lot of injustice, and violence. And what we must realise is that we are the reason behind all this. Indeed , the state of much of our outer world is created by the fact that many of us live very split and disconbobulated inner lives; many of us are stuck in very unhealthy conflicts, fixated in great sadness, despair and anger, all of which is continually seeping out of us and contaminating our society. I therefore believe that if we wish to move forward and create a better world, we need a lot of healing of our past.

And here, a very integral part of this process of letting go of the past, lies in our ability to forgive. Indeed, we must never underestimate just how many conflicts and how much suffering still persists, because so many of us are so rigid and unyielding and not only have very little idea about how to forgive but also wholly fail to recognise the importance of it.

Evidence of the importance of forgiveness lies in the fact that all spiritual traditions give it a central place. One of the main reasons why it is not easy to is because deep wounding can bind us in a perverse way to the source of our pain, resulting in our remaining very fixated in and therefore attached to, our suffering. And essentially , what forgiveness asks of us, is that we learn to let go. Let us imagine that something terrible will have happened to us, say, that we will have been betrayed, abused or tortured in some way, or that those we love are stolen from us. What we will tend to feel is great outrage, the sense that something very precious and sacred to us and that gives our lives meaning, will have been stolen from us. And here the outrage, together with all the suffering accompanying it, can become the new meaning to fill our void! Forgetting that we turn into what we hate, the sense of having been wronged can create in us the illusion of our own purity.

In our minds, we become all good, and those whom we feel will have hurt or betrayed us, all bad. Thus we may feel justified in giving vent to our destructive tendencies we are now allowed, in return, to rape , pillage, torture, abuse and try to destroy those we perceive as our destroyers . To forgive them would deny us this luxury! Such scenarios can be further exacerbated by the fact that many of us can carry deep wounds that seem unconnected with anything that would appear to have happened to us personally. Many report carrying deep cellular memories of ancestral, racial or religious violence relating to incidents they have no personal knowledge of. And many of these old enmities are surfacing powerfully at this moment because we are living at a very special time i believe a new culture of love is currently wanting to emerge and is doing its very best to break through into our awareness.

Put another way, we are all living at a time of great spiritual awakening, where much spiritual light is now emerging on our planet. And one of the effects of spiritual light is to expose or illumine for us, the dark and cobwebby areas that obscure it, not only inside each of us personally, but also within humanity collectively and within our world globally. So, given these many challenges, how then, do we forgive? Here, the first thing to bear in mind is that situations requiring forgiveness always involve conflict and that conflict can never be solved at the level that it exists at. It can only be solved at a higher level of consciousness, at a level where oppositions begin to converge as opposed to fight.

To forgive, then, whether it be ourselves, another person, another race or a nation, or whatever, what is essential is that we be in a place of being able to raise our awareness to a level higher than that in which the original perceived wounding occurred. So long as we still remain caught in our old dramas, no resolution is possible. The bigger our egos, the harder it is to forgive and the less we will be motivated to want to do so! I maintain, then, that in order to forgive, we have to be able to open our hearts, for it is essentially only with our hearts that we can experience our true self worth. I believe that the more open our hearts are, the more we are able to access the kind of wisdom that enables us to understand what lies behind why certain painful things will have taken place.

It is only inside our hearts that we discover the wherewithal to let bygones be bygones, the humility to give up our self righteousness, the compassion and the generosity of spirit to love those who have hurt us, together with the spiritual intelligence to understand how forgiveness brings freedom. When our hearts begin to open, we only want justice and truth; everyone increasingly becomes our brother and sister and less and less is there the space to have enemies , for we are no longer interested in exacting revenge.

The more open our hearts are, therefore, the stronger we are and therefore, the greater are our possibilities for forgiveness. Indeed, inside our inner hearts exists a veritable alchemical laboratory whose fire not only allows us to transmute and burn up our grief, but also empowers us recognize the deeper purpose behind why certain things happen as they do, even if those things are painful and terrible. I believe all these perspectives are necessary if genuine forgiveness is to take place. One might say at this stage: “It is all very well saying all this. but how can our hearts open in such circumstances?” Surely, the effect of our wounding is to keep them crushed and closed. Surely, to experience courage and strength and self esteem in such instances, is not possible! While I agree that this can sometimes be the case, it is not always so with everyone.

We remember that in the act of forgiving those who may have hurt us, we not only help re-humanise them, but we also do the same for ourselves. To forgive, then, is an important part of our own transformational process. It is also a significant form of service. And one powerful way of helping activate this space is to make a daily practice of seeking to behave in a loving and generous-spirited way towards everyone we encounter. I have met people who were so practiced at this, that one could say of them that their very presence radiated the spirit of forgiveness. However, please remember that the cultivation of such presence cannot and does not, happen overnight and we must be patient and learn to live gradually into our forgiveness. While we will begin our journey calling out to it, searching for it, we may end it by the spirit of forgiveness drawing us ever closer into its own heart.

Tax returns: Some don't need to panic

If you have deposited all your tax, or your due taxes have been deducted by your employer or you are not claiming a major amount as refund, you need not rush to the income tax office. In fact, if you have no losses to be carried forward too, you need not worry about meeting the July 31 deadline.

You have the option to file your returns by March 31, 2009, without any penalty. Many aren’t aware of this. Software engineer Sidharth Masaldaan’s company had already deducted his taxes, but he didn’t know he could file his returns by March 31, 2009.

"It was only a day before I filed my returns that I saw a blog posting that talks about this. I feel our companies should create more awareness about filing returns," says Masaldaan. "They just distribute our Form 16 and sometimes, hold a session with a financial consultant. But one can’t always make the time."

However, if the return is filed by July 31, 2008, then the assessee can revise the return by March 31, 2010. "Such revision is not possible if you file after July 31," says Sanjay Dhariwal, director of tax firm DNS Consulting.

Divya Chatterjee (26), a media professional, had to cough up nearly Rs 40,000 besides the normal tax deduction from her salary.

"I joined a new company mid year and the new company did not take into account my income for the first six months. Companies should realise that when employees join them in the middle of the year, they have to show income from other sources in the Form 16," says Chatterjee.

Prenatal mobile exposure dangerous

Children whose mothers used cellphones frequently during pregnancy and who are themselves cellphone users are more likely to have behavior problems, new research shows.

The finding “certainly shouldn’t be over interpreted, but nevertheless points in a direction where further research is needed,” Leeka Kheifets of the UCLA School of Public Health, who helped conduct the study, said.

Kheifets and her team looked at a group of 13,159 children whose mothers had been recruited to participate in the Danish National Birth Cohort study. When the kids reached age 7, mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their children’s behavior and health, as well as the mother’s own mobile use in pregnancy and the child’s use of mobiles.

After the researchers adjusted for factors that could influence the results, such as a mother’s psychiatric problems and socioeconomic factors, children with both prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposure were 80% more likely to have abnormal or borderline scores on tests evaluating emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, or problems with peers.

Risks were higher for children exposed prenatally only, compared with those exposed only postnatally, but were lower than for children exposed at both time points.

Kheifets and her colleagues note that a foetus’s exposure to radiofrequency fields by a mother’s cellphone use is likely very small. However, they add, research has shown that children using cell phones are exposed to more radiofrequency energy than adults, because their ears and brains are smaller.

India fund firms face post-boom profit crunch

India’s fund management industry, in boom mode for the better part of the decade, is facing a major slump in profitability as investment flows shrink, competition mounts and operating costs stay stubbornly high.The downturn, triggered by a near one-third plunge in Indian stocks this year, will be particularly painful for smaller firms which have already been suffering losses and global fund houses who recently paid top dollar to enter what was viewed as a high growth market.

"There probably are firms thinking this was a bloody big mistake. We thought this was going to make us money. We had no idea this was going to be a drain on our resources’," said Shiv Taneja, managing director with Cerulli Associates in Singapore.

Some foreign fund houses have longtime roots in India. Prudential Plc’s ICICI Prudential Asset Management venture with ICICI Bank is second in size only Reliance Capital Ltd’s fund arm. Franklin Resources Inc, which set up its India office in 1996, is the country’s No. 6 fund house.

But more recent arrivals include Pioneer Global, the fund arm of Italy’s bank UniCredit, insurer American International Group Inc, U.S. investment bank JPMorgan and South Korea’s Mirae Asset.

Mesmerised by a five-year bull run in which stocks rose 500 percent, Indian investors poured into equity funds. The industry grew more than four-fold over the period to manage 5.5 trillion Indian rupees ($129.8 billion) by the end of 2007.

Assets have shrunk about 5 percent since then. But fund executives said the underlying situation is much worse than that suggests because of the drop in assets invested in stocks.

Equity funds, which typically carry fees of about 1 percent, are the industry’s most profitable products. Many bond and cash funds, by comparison, charge from 5 to 25 basis points.

Industry data showed equity assets have shrunk by nearly a third on back of the stock market decline.

More ominously for future growth, equity fund inflows fell to their lowest in June since August, 2006 and new stock funds have collected just 18.3 billion rupees so far in fiscal 2009, compared to 63.35 billion rupees in the year-earlier period.

RENTS AND SALARIES UP

Naveen Tahilyani, a partner with consultancy McKinsey & Company, estimated the profitability of large and medium-sized players in India was about 23 basis points (bps) of assets under management last year.

Factoring in the shift to lower-margin products, he said profitability for the industry could drop to below 15 bps this year. This means a firm managing $100 million in assets would earn a profit of just $150,000 on that money.

By comparison, the industry’s operating profit as a percentage of average assets was 12 bps in the UK and 18 bps in the United States, McKinsey said in a report early this year.

"It is going to be tough, for sure ... if people have spent a lot of money in building their business and they were looking for a payback this year, they are not going to get it," said Sanjay Prakash, who recently stepped down as CEO of HSBC’s India fund unit to take another role with the bank.

India’s fund industry has also found operating margins squeezed by spiralling real estate and staff costs.

"You’re essentially talking about an emerging market with first world prices, in some cases even more than first world prices," said Cerulli’s Taneja.

Nearly all of India’s 34 fund houses operate out of Mumbai, which is one of the five most expensive office markets in the world, according to consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.

And salary costs have remained high as firms compete to hire and retain the fast growing industry’s limited talent pool. Industry sources said paycheques for some star managers have topped $1 million, moving toward levels seen in London and Tokyo.

The bear market has only moderated the pace of pay increases.

"Earlier, anybody would have expected that if you are jumping from one (fund manager) to the another you have to double your salary. At least now there must be a modicum of sanity," said Sanjay Santhanam, a director with Canara Robeco Asset Management.

Salaries look unlikely to fall because the number of fund houses is still on the rise, with some 20 firms said to be looking to break into the industry.

MASSIVE POTENTAL LURES

A market rebound could turn the situation around. But a resumption in the bull run seems far from certain given the hawkish stance of India’s central bank, which recently hiked interest rates to curb high inflation, and ongoing worries about the global economic slowdown and credit crunch.

Still, with one in every six human beings on earth, a 32-percent-plus savings rate and economic growth of more than 8 percent, India’s long-term prospects present a powerful lure. Many global fund houses view the near-certainty of short-term losses as the price of admission to tap that massive potential.

Cerulli forecast in May that assets of Indian mutual funds will more than double to $302 billion) by 2012, powered by strong economic growth and better distribution.

But Cerulli’s Taneja said fund houses must be prepared for the prospect that profits could be some time off.

"If you don’t have the stomach for the long fight, then markets like India are not the ones you should be looking at

POLL - Annual inflation seen at 12.03 pct on July 19

Annual inflation rate is expected to have risen to 12 percent in mid July, driven by higher costs of commodities and strong demand in the economy, a Reuters poll of 12 economists showed.

The wholesale price index is forecast to have risen 12.03 percent in the 12 months to July 19, which would be the highest since annual numbers in the current series became available in April 1995. It rose an annual 11.89 percent a week earlier.

The data is due after 5.30 p.m. on Thursday.

It would be the 23rd consecutive week that the inflation rate has been above 5.5 percent, the Reserve Bank of India’s original target for inflation at end of the fiscal year ending in March 2009.

At a policy review on Tuesday where it raised its key lending rate by 50 basis points to 9 percent and also increased banks’ reserve requirements, the RBI said it was now aiming to bring inflation down to 7 percent by end March.

The double strike against inflation jolted financial markets, and analysts said the RBI was clearly prepared to sacrifice some growth for tamer prices with more tightening expected.

The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer price index (CPI) because it includes more products and is also published weekly. The CPI is released monthly.

Russians reach 'bottom of the abyss'

A Russian mini-submarine on Tuesday reached the bottom of Lake Baikal in Siberia, setting a world record for the deepest dive in a lake, the crew told organisers from the vessel. “Mir-1 is at 1,680 metres”, a crew member could be heard saying in a radio link-up with a special barge near Olkhon Island that had lowered the Mir-1 and Mir-2 submarines into the waters of the world’s deepest lake.

Lake Baikal was previously believed to be a maximum of 1,637 metres deep and scientists say they could find new life-forms in its unexplored depths. “This is a world record for a submarine diving in fresh water,” an expedition organiser was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

The scientific expedition was organised by Artur Chilingarov, a pro-Kremlin member of parliament and an Arctic explorer who led the submarine team that planted a Russian flag at the bottom of the North Pole last August.

Scientists plan to collect samples at different depths and hope to document the effects of global warming on the pristine lake, as well as to draw the attention of the government to the need for greater environmental protection. “We want to study and observe Baikal, preserve it,” Chilingarov said on Monday ahead of the dive as he inspected the mini-submarines in the small fishing port of Turka on the mountainous eastern shore of the lake.

The expedition also has a political dimension. Chilingarov said he had “full support” from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and a flag for the ruling United Russia party could be seen flying proudly from the expedition’s barge.
Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, although not the largest in terms of surface area.

Environmental groups warn that increased pollution is threatening the lake, which has more than 800 unique wildlife species.

The lake contains around a fifth of the world’s freshwater reserves.

On Sunday and on Monday morning, what locals affectionately call “the sea” actually looked more like a raging ocean, such were the high winds. Intense water pressure means that previous expeditions have never gone below a quarter of its presumed depth. Chilingarov’s deputy Anatoly Sagalevich said the lake has “perhaps not been properly studied” given past measurements had to rely on pure mathematics alone.

“We will drop at a rate of 30 metres per minute,” Sagalevich had said before the dive. “Practically vertical. It will take in total between one hour and an hour and a quarter to complete the mission.

“The most important aspect will be visual observation,” he said, highlighting three special windows located at the front of the craft and a series of video and stills cameras attached to the pods. They may not match the find of the crew in the fictional movie ’The Abyss’,but Sagalevich expects the mission to uncover previously unidentified species.

When he says ''no to sex"

Most women blame themselves when their partner loses interest in sex. They feel that that their man doesn’t fancy them anymore. But the real culprit is someone, or something else altogether...

The number of times he says ‘no’ only leads you to think that he’s found someone else. But that is often not the case. Usually, there is something going on ‘upstairs’ that’s freezing activities ‘downstairs’. Your job is to find out what that something is, and work together to sort it out.

If your man denies you sex, it is not uncommon to be left worrying about whether he is having an affair or wants to end the relationship. The truth is that although you may experience these feelings and thoughts, it’s unlikely that his loss of desire, or ability to maintain an erection, is caused by a loss of interest in you, your looks or your relationship.

Most men suffer from other sexual problems when they are stressed out, tired or under pressure to perform in some way. In fact, the problem is more likely to originate from a demanding boss or a heavy workload, than from you...

Tiredness and overindulgence

If your partner has been working hard and trying to meet deadlines, the tiredness and worry can cause problems in focusing on lovemaking. Other causes of temporary erection loss can be overindulgence in alcohol, or a heavy meal. When this happens, stimulation during love play will not cause or sustain the act. At this stage, it is crucial to comfort him and avoid making accusations about his loss of interest in you, or imply an affair. This will only increase the pressure on him and make things worse. Sometimes, just resting for sometime will solve the problem.

Discussing feelings

It is also important to explain your feelings about what has happened and to ask for his help in coping with the emotions you may be experiencing. Explain that you are worried – it may be connected to your relationship and how he feels about you, and encourage him to open up about what’s going on with him too. Start by saying something like ‘I know this probably sounds silly but... ’ continuing with your own concerns about his loss of desire. Encourage him to do the same with you, as he is just as likely to be as concerned as you are, if not more so. In this way, you can act as a team and solve the problem together , rather than both avoiding the issue through fear of probably losing each othe

Oil prices could fall to $80: OPEC

OPEC should not consider cutting production after oil’s steep two-week decline as markets are now balanced, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said on Tuesday, adding that prices could yet fall another $50 a barrel. Khelil, who is also Algeria’s oil minister, said oil prices could fall to $70 to $80 in the long-term, if the US dollar continued to strengthen and geopolitical anxieties eased.

"The price today is abnormal at $123 a barrel," said Khelil, speaking to reporters on a visit to Jakarta to meet Indonesia’s energy minister.

He did not elaborate, but OPEC ministers have said repeatedly that they believe the surge in oil prices is not being driven by a shortage of supply.

Asked if OPEC members should cut supply if oil prices continue to decline, he said: "No, I don’t think so, why should they cut production? They always want to make sure there is good supply and demand and to satisfy the demand."

US oil prices have fallen by $22 from a record high above $147 a barrel earlier this month amid growing concerns that high prices and slowing economic growth are causing a decline in demand, but prices are still up 30 per cent on the year. "We are not worried about any price, because we don’t decide the price. We just meet the demand," he said.

Khelil said he did not see any signs of demand destruction from high prices.

"I think there is a good supply, there is a balance in the market."

Asked if there was an option to cut production at OPEC’s September meeting, he said: "It is up to the conference in light of the market at that time. The market changes so much."

Khelil said later on Tuesday after giving a lecture to energy officials that recent price moves did not reflect supply issues.

"And I think it is obvious to you that in the last week for example, you could not expect the price to come down by $25 because of a lack of supply or oversupply in one day," he said.

Khelil also said that biofuel mandates in Europe and the United States had aided the run-up in prices.

"I strongly believe bioethanol, because it’s very expensive, it had an effect on the price per barrel of products," he said.

Indonesia is Asia-Pacific’s only OPEC member but it has seen oil production slump since the 1990s and said in May that it planned to quit the cartel because it was unhappy with high oil prices after becoming a net importer.

Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that Indonesia had not yet officially submitted documents to withdraw from OPEC, but said the country’s interests were no longer in line with the cartel.

"President (Yudhoyono) has explained that we are a net oil importer. That means there is a difference in objectives from OPEC as producer countries," said Yusgiantoro.

India developing $10 laptop

After displaying its prowess in developing the world’s cheapest car, India is on track to roll out the world’s cheapest laptop computer that could cost as low as $10, a top official said. Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeswari said research was being conducted to develop the laptop, especially for use by students, which will cost all of $10.

"Research in this direction is being already carried out at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras," she told the e-India annual summit on information and communication technologies.

The laptop, when produced, will prove to be a breakthrough device that could solve the problems of low computer literacy and e-learning not only in India, but also the world over, she added.

Earlier this year, India’s Tata Group had unveiled the “Nano” that was touted as the world’s cheapest car costing all of $2,500 and the announcement had grabbed global headlines.

The cheapest laptop available today is at least 10 times costlier. The “Xo” sold by the Massachusetts-based non-government organization ’One Laptop Per Child Foundation’ sells for $188.

The foundation, started by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumnus Nicholas Negroponte, aims to supply the low cost machines to the governments of developing countries for them to source it to school children.

But the Indian government rejected the offer in 2006, calling it an experimental model.

"India must not allow itself to be used for experimentation with children in this area," the human resource ministry had stated then.

However the project was taken up by the Reliance Anil Dhirubahi Group to be implemented as a pilot in Maharashtra’s Khairat village.

Under this initiative, Reliance Communications will provide Net connectivity, backbone, logistics, and support to the OLPC initiative. “The initiative aims at covering over 25,000 towns, and 6,00,000 villages in the country by 2008."

Do men prefer working wives?

With the dimension of family economics going through a sea change, a majority of men today prefer a working wife. Apart from contributing financially to a marriage, working women can relate to their husband in a better way as they also have to go through similar grilling at their workplace. A recent survey also claims that majority of men have no issues in sharing the title of breadwinner with their better half.

Amit Bajpai, sales and marketing manager says, “Especially in metros, where the standard of living is so high, a man would like to have a helping hand. Moreover, a working wife would understand the work pressure you are facing; you can talk to her about your work related problems. I think the working population has become more smart and sharp with the passage of time, as they have to deal with unique situations everyday.”

Model Manpreet Brar also thinks that metrosexual men prefer a working partner. “Generally, the mindset of a working woman is completely different from a house wife and she shares a better understanding with her man. Double income is another advantage. Obviously, with more earnings, you can have a better quality of life. In a situation where a guy decides to set up his own business or plans to study further post marriage, having an earning partner is a great help as she can take over the role of the primary earner in the family,” Manpreet added.

Changing economic realities have changed the attitude of masses. Men are no longer bothered with the fact that their partner has a heftier pay packet than their own.

Television actor Manish Goel says, “I really respect those women who are primary earners in their families and their husbands should be proud of them. Family is a vehicle with two wheels, one on both sides and its great if a couple can strike a balance. My wife is working for past 15 years. In our industry, we have hectic schedules and strange timings. As Poonam and I are in the same profession she understands the situation completely and does not crib about it. And the best part is that you get expensive gifts. Poonam always gives me something pricey on my birthday, which she knows I am planning to buy from long!”

New age couples do not think that the spouse who makes more money has more say in family, financial and other matters. Today men are not seeking somebody to dominate; they need a partner who can help them in making better decisions.

Anjali Sharama, a public relation executive says, “Right from our day to day expenses to long term investments my husband discusses everything with me as we have same priorities and understands the situation completely. He acknowledges my opinion and I really appreciate it. Marriage is certainly not about exercising the power; it’s about taking the right decision that is beneficial for the family. It is always better to seek advice from your partner because your spouse is the only one who can give you an unbiased suggestion.”

At the same time, we can’t forget that this lifestyle has increased the pressure on women. They really have to work in double shifts to strike a balance between work and home. Though it does affect one’s married life but there is always a way out.

Ajay Raina, lawyer says, “I got married last year and after a few months of our marriage, my wife started working. I think our relationship has enhanced since then. As both of us stay in office for eight-ten hours in a day, we value the time that we get to spend with each other. I don’t mind stepping into her shoes and cooking or cleaning sometimes. Moreover, I always try to make weekends very special for her.”

It is not only about spending time, it’s about spending quality time together. A relationship doesn’t depend on seeing each other but on the understanding, love and the bond you share.

Actor Rahul Dev discloses, “I spend half of my day with my make up man but I don’t have that zing with him. I have to travel a lot because of my work; still we try to keep that spark alive. I do several things at a time just to take out time for my family. If I am working till ten in night, I call up my wife and tell her that I will have dinner with her.”

Smoking raises spouse's stroke risk

Nonsmokers married to smokers have a greatly increased chance of having strokes, according to a US study published on Tuesday showing yet another hazard from secondhand smoke.Being married to a smoker raised the stroke risk by 42% in people who have never smoked compared to those married to someone who never smoked, the researchers said.

This jumped to 72% for former smokers married to a current smoker, according to the study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Former smokers who were married to smokers had a stroke risk similar to people who themselves were smokers.
“Quitting smoking helps your own health and also the health of the people living with you,” Maria Glymour of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and Columbia University in New York, who led the study, said in a telephonic interview. The study involved 16,225 people aged 50 and up who had never had a stroke. They were followed for an average of nine years.

Glymour said there is accumulating evidence about the number of health problems linked to secondhand smoke.

Previous research had suggested that secondhand smoke increases the risk of stroke, but Glymour said stroke risk has been studied more extensively in smokers than in people exposed to secondhand smoke.

People who breathe in secondhand smoke also have a higher risk of lung cancer, nasal sinus cancer, respiratory tract infections and heart disease, among other conditions.

A 2006 US surgeon general’s report said secondhand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or cancer-causing. These include formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide.

For this study, smoking involved cigarettes and not pipes or cigars. It looked at health consequences for the spouses of smokers, but not at the long-term stroke risk in children of smokers due to secondhand smoke. “We know that there are a lot of undesirable health consequences for kids, especially asthma and breathing problems that are exacerbated by secondhand smoke,” Glymour said.

The advice by Glymour was echoed by the Stroke Association, which said that passive smokers were nearly twice as likely to have a stroke compared with those not living in a smoky environment.

Joe Korner, from the association, said: “Smoking is a significant risk factor for stroke with a quarter of all strokes being linked to smoking and it can also contribute to high blood pressure which is the single biggest risk factor for stroke.”

“We urge people to consider the effects that smoking has on their health and others around them and do all they can to reduce their risk of stroke.”

'Sun-eating dragon' returns to China

Earth, the Sun and the Moon will align in a celestial ballet on Friday, rewarding China, where the first record of an eclipse was made more than 4,000 years ago, with a dazzling show.

Longingly awaited, the first total solar eclipse since March 2006 kicks off at 0923 GMT, when the lunar shadow touches down on the fringes of Nunavut province in northern Canada.

The dark, narrow disc, known as the umbra, then races across the roof of the world before alighting in northern Siberia, where it will skip across central Russia and central Asia and head into Mongolia and northwestern China.

It then curves to the southeast before expiring near the city of Xian at 1120 GMT, after a trek of some 10,200 kilometres.

Most of Asia, northern Europe and northern Canada will see a partial eclipse, weather permitting, according to Nasa’s veteran eclipse expert, Fred Espenak.

“More than a billion people will be in the shadow of the Moon on August 1st,” says the US publication Sky & Telescope, which is backing a trip aboard a Russian icebreaker by US amateur astronomers, who will view the eclipse from the Arctic Ocean.

Eclipses of the Sun — the bringer of light, and thus life — have long held a tenacious grip on the human mind. To the ancient Chinese, the eclipse was a sun-eating dragon which had to be chased away with clashing cymbals and pans. For Vikings, two chasing wolves, Skoll and Hati, were to blame. In Hindu mythology, a spiteful demon called Rahu takes a bite out of the sun from time to time.

The first known record of an eclipse was made in the reign of Zhong Kang, the fourth emperor of China’s Xia dynasty.

Because we know that several solar eclipses took place around that time, astronomers are uncertain of the exact date when this event took place — it could be 2128 or 2134 BC.

But even then, the brief text shows that the eclipse was clearly mind-blasting. “In the fifth year of Zhong Kang, in the autumn, in the ninth month, on the first day of the month, there was an eclipse of the Sun, when he ordered the Prince of Yin to lead the imperial forces to punish Hsi and Ho,” says the record.

Hsi and Ho, according to legend, are two astrologers of the imperial court who were beheaded because they had failed to warn the boss that the sun would be blotted out.

Is the pull-back rally over?

Constraining economic factors and fall of equities from all-time highs of 21,200 to recent lows of 12,514 leaves us in no doubt that we are in the midst of a bear market. The recent rally in the market is being seen as a typical bull-run in the bear market. In just five days, the Sensex has rallied 2,366 points after which profit booking set in.

So is the short-term rally over? Economictimes.com spoke to marketmen to find out.

Chief Technical Analyst, Sandeep Waghle of Angel Stock Broking:

“Today’s (July 29) correction was event based which got discounted. It can’t be said that the rally is over. Buying can still emerge at these levels, the trend is still bullish. Top has been formed for some time at 15,200. The bottom of 12,500, which was formed some two weeks backs, will not be violated. We may see buying at 13,200-13,300 levels.”

Manas Jaiswal, Senior Technical analyst, Emkay Global Financial Services

“Nifty has already corrected 50 per cent of its recent rally from 3,790 to 4,539. If it remains below 50 per cent retracement level of 4,164, it can touch the recent low of 3,790. At a higher level, if it trades above 4,220 then the uptrend will continue and it can again come in the range of 4,350-4,400. Wednesday would be a critical day as it will decide the market trend.”

Arun Mewawalla, AVP-Alternative Research, ULJK Securities

“The recent short-term rally is over, as it was based on short-covering. We expect the market to be in consolidation phase between 4,000 and 4,500. Until July series expiry settlement, we could see volatility in the range of 4,100-4,250.”

Ram Chandran Iyer, head of institutional sales, at Kantilal Chhaganlal Securities

“The entire pull-back rally from 12,600 to 15,100 was event based, as traders covered shorts on expectations of UPA winning the vote of confidence in parliament. Soon after the survival of the government, selling emerged at 15,000 levels. Despite the fact that crude is around $123-125 per barrel, inflation is at an acceptable two-digit mark and earnings of most companies were not bad. However, investor confidence is missing. Unless foreign funds cease selling and there is renewed buying interest from domestic institutions, every rally will be sold off. Liquidity will be the main driving force for the market. We expect the market to consolidate near term. 12,600 will be a good buying opportunity to enter quality stocks with a two-three year perspective.”

Get ready to pay more for bank loans

Commercial, home, personal and car loans are sure to cost more with the Reserve Bank, under pressure to fight high inflation, announcing stringent steps including raising mandatory cash reserves of banks to suck up over Rs 8,000 crore.

Aimed at bringing down inflation from the present around 12 per cent to 7 per cent by March 2009, the central bank increased the Cash Reserve Ratio for the fourth time and raised short term lending rate to banks third time this fiscal.

In the quarterly monetary policy review, RBI increased CRR by 0.25 per cent to 9 per cent and short term lending rate to banks or repo rate by 0.50 per cent to 9 per cent.

Lowering the growth projections for the economy to 8 per cent from the earlier 8-8.5 per cent, it targeted to bring down the rate of price rise to 7 per cent by March, making a clear case for prioritising inflation management over the GDP. Earlier, RBI had set a goal of limiting inflation to 5-5.5 per cent.

The new policy, which is sure to disappoint the industry that urged the RBI not to take steps that would make cost of credit higher, said that "the liquidity management will continue to receive priority in policy objectives."

Banking sources said that the RBI with its tight policy, being pursued since April this year, would have sucked up about Rs 50,000 crore of liquidity and there appears no let up in its hawkish stand during the rest of the year as it has forecast that hardening global crude prices would continue to exert pressure on the economy.

Besides the pressures from global commodity markets, the economy may also have to bear the burden of higher subsidies, loan waivers and increased salaries of government employees once the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations are implemented.

RBI ups lending rate, cash ratio aggressively

The Reserve Bank of India raised its key lending rate by half a percentage point on Tuesday to its highest in seven years and combined it with a reserve hike in an unexpectedly aggressive bid to quash double-digit inflation.

The RBI raised the short-term repo rate as expected, but the size of the move, which brought the benchmark to 9.0 percent, surprised markets.

Most economists polled by Reuters had forecast a smaller step after last month’s two increases totalling 75 basis points.

The RBI also raised the cash reserve ratio, the amount of funds banks must keep on deposit with it, by 25 basis points to 9.0 percent to absorb surplus cash in the banking system. The increase will take effect on Aug. 30.

"Bringing down inflation from the current high levels and stabilising inflation expectations assumes the highest priority in the stance of monetary policy," the central bank said in its quarterly review.

Analysts, most of whom had expected the reserve ratio to stay unchanged, saw the double-punch as a sign the central bank was ready to accept slower growth as a price for dragging inflation down from its heady levels.

GROWTH ON BACKBURNER

"These are big strides taken to cool down the economy by reducing demand pressures," said Indranil Pan, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank.

"Given the recent spate of tightening, the central bank has more or less aligned itself to the curve and it clearly highlights the central bank has moved to an inflation fighting mode and growth is now on the backburner."

India’s inflation, as measured by wholesale prices, stood at almost 12 percent in mid-July and has more than doubled since late February, reaching its highest level since 1995.

It accelerated into double digits after a sharp increase in government-set retail fuel prices in June, prompting the central bank to resume interest rate increases after a pause of more than a year.

Indian federal bonds yields rose sharply and the rupee strengthened after the news of the interest rate and reserve ratio rise.

The risk of slowing growth is rising up the agenda of the world’s central banks, diverting policy makers away from a battle to prevent food and fuel costs from spilling into wages and other prices. Expectations of rate rises this year have faded across much of the industrialised world including the United States and Japan.

In China, which like India raised subsidised fuel prices last month, financial markets scaled back expectations for the pace of yuan appreciation and interest rate increases after the ruling Communist Party and the central bank flagged a policy shift.

But India’s central bank has been criticised in the past for not acting quickly enough to counter mounting price pressures.

Analysts said Tuesday’s move would buy it some time to assess the results of its recent steps. They were divided, however, on whether and when the central bank would tighten policy again.

The central bank left the reverse repo rate at which it absorbs excess cash from banks and the bank rate, used by banks to price long-term loans, steady. Both remain at 6.0 percent.

Keep your heart young. Exercise!

Here’s yet another reason why you should exercise: It makes your heart stay young, says a new research on adults. The study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, showed that older people who did endurance exercise training for about a year ended up with metabolically much younger hearts.

Women benefit more

The researchers also showed that by one metabolic measure, women benefited more than men from the training. “Past research has suggested that exercise can reverse some effects of aging, and we wanted to see what effect it would have specifically on the heart,” said first author Pablo F Soto, MD, instructor in medicine in the Cardiovascular Division. The participants in the study were men and women who were not obese but who had been living an inactive lifestyle. They were put on an eleven-month program of endurance exercise under the guidance of a trainer.

The secret’s exercise

To reach the conclusions, the research team measured heart metabolism in sedentary older people both at rest and during administration of dobutamine, a drug that makes the heart race as if a person were exercising vigorously.

For the first three months, the participants were required to exercise to about 65 per cent of their maximum capacity. After that, the program was stepped up so they reached about 75 per cent of maximum. At the start, they found that in response to the increased energy demands produced by dobutamine, the hearts of the study subjects didn’t increase their uptake of energy in the form of glucose (blood sugar).

But after endurance exercise training – which involved walking, running or cycling exercises three to five days a week for about an hour per session – the participants’ hearts doubled their glucose uptake during high-energy demand, just as younger hearts do.

Young at heart!

Soto explains that if heart muscle doesn’t take in glucose in response to increased energy needs, it goes into an energy-deprived state, which may raise the risk of heart attack. But if it can increase glucose uptake, the heart is better protected against ischemia (low oxygen) and heart attack.

Based on heart glucose metabolism, both the men and women in the study had the same rejuvenating benefit from their exercise programs. But the heart uses both glucose and fatty acids for energy. And when the researchers looked at fatty acid metabolism, they found a striking difference in the results of exercise training between women and men.

In the men, the heart’s fatty acid metabolism dropped in response to increased energy demand, but it went up in women. The study has been published in the American Journal of Physiology.

Family time linked to teens' sex life

Parents who don’t want their teens to engage in risky sexual behavior should make family time a priority, a new study suggests. Adolescents who took part in family activities more often had sex less frequently, less unprotected sex, and fewer sex partners, Dr. Rebekah Levine Coley of Boston College and her colleagues found.

Most research on parenting and teen sexual behavior has simply looked at whether or not a teen has had sex, not the degree of sexual risk he or she takes, Coley noted in an interview with Reuters Health . But given that two out of three U.S. teens have sex before they turn 19, more specific information would provide a better understanding of the risks involved, Coley and her team point out in the Journal of Adolescent Health .

To investigate, as well as to better define whether parental qualities influence a child’s sexual behavior rather than vice versa, Coley and her team used increasingly stringent statistical techniques to analyze the results of a survey of 4,950 U.S. teens, 1,058 of whom were siblings. The adolescents were 12 to 16 years old when the study began, and completed the survey every year for 3 years.

By comparing parenting quality and sexual behavior for siblings raised in the same household, Coley noted, it is possible to tease out potential cause-and-effect relationships.

The more times a week that an adolescent reported having dinner with their family, "doing something religious" as a family, or having fun with their family, the less likely he or she was to engage in risky sexual behavior, the researchers found.

However, having a parent who used "negative and psychologically controlling" behavior increased the likelihood that a teen would be having risky sex. This includes "criticizing the ideas of the adolescents, controlling and directing what they think and how they feel," Coley explained.

"Negative and psychologically controlling parenting behaviors may inhibit adolescents’ development of self-efficacy and identity, interfere with mature and responsible decision making skills, and affect the development of healthy relationships, in turn leading to an elevated likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors," the researchers suggest.

On the other hand, they add, family activities are "centrally important supports for children, providing opportunities for emotional warmth, communication, and transmission of values and beliefs."

The findings make it clear, Coley said, that "what parents do with their adolescents really matters."

Thank God it's Friday?

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ - is a saying we are all familiar with. And if you can instantly relate to Jack you know you have been working too hard and need to take a break.

A break? Are you kidding? Ask those working in a 24x7 setup – which is practically everywhere – and all you’ll get in response is a look of disbelief. Alarmingly, the fastest rising economy in the world doesn’t have time to sit back and relax. Unrealistic targets, enhanced matrices and tempting incentives coupled with never-ending quest for perfection is pushing us into working round-the-clock – with no time for leisure.

Agrees Soumi Dutta, senior manager for media operations: “The duration of a weekend has declined from two complete days to just one or maybe half a day now, which usually starts as late as Saturday night and doesn’t even continue till Sunday evening because your phone keeps ringing due to some or the other office urgency.”

Snehal Sharma, production assistant with a private firm, adds, “A holiday (people may define it variably) is a break from the regularities; so in that conventional sense, there is nothing like a weekend or ’leave’. Though thanks to the MNC’s & BPO’s, a large chunk of junta work for five days a week but that doesn’t actually mean there is a weekend, or rather work’end’.”

Further adding, he says, “Before the TGIF feeling can sink in, there is a fleeting sensation of the arriving Monday blues. The work, the environment and the week, which in most of the cases is an ordeal, is too prominent in the minds of people to let go for these two days.”

Occasional official urgencies are accepted and understood by all. However, the problem occurs when working beyond regular hours becomes an everyday affair. With time, stress starts taking a toll on your health, productivity falls, and your grey cells run the risk of being short-circuited! In such situations, you seriously can’t underestimate the importance of weekends. In the west especially, no wonder weekends are considered sacrosanct.

Manika Datta, principal consultant with a private firm, who stayed and studied in Australia, shares, “The way of living and working in Australia is very systemised and organised; therefore, people do spend quality time with family and friends. The weekend mood starts from Friday afternoon and even the shops shut earlier than usual on that day. People there are living happy and contended lives without the luxury of having housemaids, cooks, cleaners, drivers etc.”

Udita Dhanda, presently residing in Dubai, agrees “Weekends here are meant to be Fridays and Saturdays and as soon as the weekend arrives, people switch off their mobiles, Blackberry’s, laptops and do not work unless absolutely necessary.”

Relates Garima Misra, senior associate in a PR consultancy: “Despite today’s youth being quite clear about their working hours, they end up stretching everyday and even on weekends. Regardless of how much we love (or hate) our work or how much the 24x7 work culture has sink into us Indians, everyone does need some ‘me time’.”

Talking of work efficiency, experts believe that a human body needs the right amount of sleep, proper meal intake and the right kind of mind rejuvenation. Dr. Sanjay Chugh explains, “Just like machines, human beings have a certain capacity. If we try and push ourselves beyond this, we might be able to continue working but soon there will be problems such as stress, anxiety, skin problems, reduced energy levels, lowered stamina, reduced sex drive, smoking, alcohol dependence...the list is endless. Hence, it is imperative that we give the right kind of rest and maintenance to our system and strike a balance between work and personal life.”

Says Priya Talwar, currently pursuing MBA in UK: “Its not that people abroad are achieving the impossible. They work hard from Monday through Friday, Monday and Tuesday being the days with maximum work, but work timings in most sectors are fixed and then one can relax and rejuvenate over the weekend.”

Manika adds, “There is definitely no laidback attitude when it comes to work - no procrastination at work. Everybody takes pleasure and recreational activities as seriously as they take their work. There is a clear demarcation vis-a-vis time, for both things.”

Just like there is a time for everything in life, there is a time for leisure and recreation. Recreational activities provide that much-needed balance and positive energy to our lives without which we would burn out in no time.

Ratan Tata to play an active role after retirement

Ratan Tata may continue to hold a non-executive post on the board of the Tata group following his official retirement in 2012.

Answering shareholders at the 63rd annual general meeting of Tata Motors, Mr Tata said he will continue to play an active role to guide the group’s operations. Mr Tata is now chairman of Tata Motors and has been closely associated with Tata Motors, be it the Indica project or the ultra low cost car, the Nano. He is also keen to get the two iconic brands, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), back on track.

Mr Tata refused to comment on an issue raised by some shareholders that his counterparts in other major groups, such as BK Birla of the Aditya Birla group and Keshub Mahindra of the Mahindra group, continue to hold the top posts even in their 80’s. “I don’t have to be on the board to be active,” said Mr Tata at the AGM.

Until 2005, non-executive directors of the group retired at the age of 70. Under the revised guidelines, the retirement age for executive and whole-time directors is 65, while the retirement age for non-executive directors is 75. This revision in the age has helped some of the directors in the group like JJ Irani, RK Krishna Kumar and NA Soonawala to stay on and give direction and value to the Tata group companies.

The succession issues have also been to put to rest till 2012 unless Mr Tata decides to retire at an earlier date, sources said. Mr Tata, who is now 71-year-old, is in the process of finding a successor and is open to looking for candidates outside the Tata group too. “I am committed to finding a successor before I retire,” Mr Tata said.

Mr Tata has been chairman of group holding company Tata Sons since 1991. He is also the chairman of other major Tata companies including Tata Steel, TCS, Tata Power, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, Tata Teleservices and Tata AutoComp.

During his tenure, the group’s revenues have grown over nine-fold to annualised group revenues of over $55 billion. Mr Tata joined the Tata group in December 1962. In 1981, he was named chairman of Tata Industries where he was responsible for transforming it into a group strategy think-tank.

Obese workers not lazy

Obese workers are not lazier, emotionally unstable and harder to get along with than their thinner colleagues, says a new study that demolishes some of the stereotypes about such people.Overweight and obese adults were not found to be significantly less conscientious, less agreeable, less extraverted or less emotionally stable.

Mark Roehling, associate professor in Michigan State University, and two of his colleagues based the study on the relationship between body weight and personality traits of 3,500 adults.

"Previous research has demonstrated that many employers hold negative stereotypes about obese workers, and those beliefs contribute to discrimination against overweight workers at virtually. . . from hiring to promotion to firing," Roehling said.

"This study goes a step further by examining whether there is empirical support for these commonly held negative stereotypes. Are they based on fact or fiction? Our results suggest that the answer is fiction."

The findings are based on two separate but convergent national studies. Roehling, who’s also a lawyer, said the practical implication of the research is that employers should take steps to prevent managers from using weight as a predicator of personality traits when it comes to hiring, promoting or firing.

"Employers concerned about the fair and effective management of their work force," Roehling said, "should be proactive in preventing negative stereotypes about overweight workers from influencing employment decisions.

Can't find a job? Groom your looks!

Forget polishing resume to find a suitable job, for your looks are more than enough to do the trick, suggests a new study, which has found that a majority of jobseekers are not hired because of their "bad dress sense" and "poor appearance".

Experts have called for style makeovers to get the long-term unemployed into work.

The Scottish Centre for Employment Research believes that image problems are a very real barrier to interview success.

Their conclusions are based on a survey of 500 high-street retailers in which they found that the vast majority had not hired staff because of the way they looked.

They also found that more than four-fifths of employers had an appearance policy, with set standards on personal hygiene, tidiness and dress.

The majority of firms also frowned upon visible tattoos, piercings and excessive make-up and jewellery. "Our findings show that you could have the right qualifications and yet fail to be employed because you don’’t look ’’right’’,” the Scotsman quoted Professor Chris Warhurst of Strathclyde University, eth study’s lead researcher, as saying.

"Retail jobs are being targeted by Government as appropriate work for the long-term unemployed so it is essential that this group are not excluded from the labour market because they lack the appropriate presentation skills."

"Many potential employees might ask why they can’’t have streaks in their hair, a tattoo or a body piercing, things which are a personal expression. But many employers won’’t accept that and the likelihood is they won’’t be able to express themselves in that way in the workplace,” he added.

The research showed that for most employers the appearance of potential employers was considered more important than their knowledge of the products they sold.

Soon, vaccine against bio weapons

Experts at the Society for General Microbiology have made a significant advance towards making a vaccine against an organism that may be used to produce biological weapons.

Writing about their achievement in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, the researchers have revealed that they have made a rapid progress in understanding how the pathogen Francisella tularensis causes disease.

"Only very few bacteria are needed to cause serious disease," said Prof Petra Oyston from Dstl, Porton Down.

"Because of this and the fact that tularemia can be contracted by inhalation, Francisella tularensis has been designated a potential biological weapon. Since the events of September 2001 and the subsequent anthrax attacks on the USA, concern about the potential misuse of dangerous pathogens including F. tularensis has increased. As a result, more funding has been made available for research on these organisms and has accelerated progress on developing medical countermeasures," the researchers added.

Tularemia circulates in rodents and animals like rabbits and hares, and outbreaks in humans often happen at the same time as outbreaks in these animals.

The disease is probably transmitted by insects like mosquitoes, ticks, and deer flies.

People can also become infected by contact with contaminated food or water and by breathing in particles containing the bacteria.

Farmers, hunters, walkers and forest workers are most at risk of contracting tularemia.

The researchers say that research into F. tularensis’s pathogenesis attains significance in view of the fact that various nations have developed it as a biological weapon, and also because some are said to have produced antibiotic-resistant strains.

"Progress is being made. Since the genome of F. tularensis was sequenced, researchers have taken great strides in understanding the molecular basis for its pathogenesis. This is essential information for developing a vaccine and getting it licensed," said Prof. Oyston.

The researchers, however, concede that they are still unsure about the function of most F. tularensis genes.

"Recently genes needed by F. tularensis for growth and survival have been identified. These could be targets for novel antimicrobial development or could be used in the production of a vaccine," said Prof. Oyston.

"Although we are getting closer to addressing key issues such as the need for an effective vaccine, it appears we are still some way from understanding the pathogenesis of F. tularensis. More research is needed in this area," Prof. Oyston added.

'Indian food market set to double by 2025'

The Indian food market is set to more than double by 2025 on the back of growing economy and changing lifestyles of people, says a US report.Citing a study by McKinsey&Co, a report by the US Department of Agriculture says: "The market size for the food consumption category in India is expected to grow from $155 billion in 2005 to $344 billion in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 4.1%."

The market holds enormous potential for snackfood. The urban India consumes commercial savoury snacks 10 times more than its rural counterpart, with people in the western parts topping the chart of snack lovers followed by the northern region, the report said. Around 1,000 snack items and 300 types of savouries are sold in India.

Potato chips and potato-based products are the largest product category with over 85% share of the salty snack market, it pointed out. Pepsi and Haldiram’s are some of the major players in the organised potato chips market.

India’s snacks market is estimated to be worth $3 billion, with the organised segment accounting for half the market share and growing at a rate of 15-20% a year. The unorganised snack food market is worth $1.56 billion and is growing at 7-8%, the report said.
"Consumers are willing to pay a premium for both value-added private and branded products, creating immense opportunities for manufacturers and retailers, it said, adding "there is a widespread recognition in India that consumers are likely to replace light meals with snacks".

Anil may join 'One Laptop Per Child' project

Is Anil Ambani planning to tie up with the legendary Nicholas Negroponte, founder of ’One Laptop Per Child’ (OLPC), to make laptop ownership a reality for millions of underprivileged children in India for meeting their education needs?

Negroponte, along with OLPC India head Satish Jha, are likely to meet the ADAG chairman next week to discuss how OLPC can work together with the Indian corporate giant on extending the coverage of OLPC’s work to more states within this country.

While the specifics of the likely arrangement are unclear at this stage, OLPC is banking on ADAG’s interests in the communications (through Reliance Communications) and IT (through Tech Reliance) segments to work out a partnership that draws on the strengths of both parties. Informal discussions have already been held between OLPC and ADAG in the past.

Currently, OLPC - whose mission is to make its ’XO laptop’ (a children’s machine) widely available to disadvantaged kids in underdeveloped countries - runs a pilot project at Khairat village in Maharashtra where 500 children in the 6-12 age bracket have been provided laptops for individual learning.

"We hope to be in most, if not all, Indian states in the course of time," Jha told TOI on Sunday.

OLPC, incidentally, has plans to create an organisational structure in India to support its initiatives. OLPC officials Matt Keller and Manusheel Gupta recently even met Bengal IT minister Debesh Das to examine ways in which OLPC could roll out its programs in the state.

"We recognise that school education is a state subject and those who need most help are part of that system. We will be glad if the government plans to use XO in its school systems. India’s corporate sector can also make a huge difference to bridge this divide and we will appeal to them as well. We have made some progress on each front. However, given the sheer scale of what needs to be done, we have a long way to go," Jha said.

OLPC was founded by Negroponte with a core of Media Lab veterans, but quickly expanded to include a wide range of exceptionally talented and dedicated people from academia, industry, the arts, business, and the open-source community.

Seduce your girl with humour

When it comes to seducing a woman, nothing, as it turns out, works better than a man with a self-depreciating sense of humour. What’s more is that this finding is based on a two-year scientific research which found that men who can poke fun at themselves are most the ones that are sexual magnets for women.

As a part of the study lead author Gil Greengross, of the University of New Mexico in the US and her colleagues asked female students to listen to tape recordings of men talking about themselves.

The women were then asked to score the men on sexual attractiveness.

Greengross revealed that when it comes to the type of humour that works best at getting a woman into bed, the self-deprecating kind comes in at the top of the pack.

"Many studies show that a sense of humour is sexually attractive to women but we’ve found that self-deprecating humour is the most attractive of all," the Telegraph quoted Greengross, as saying.

"People who used this humour were considered to be far more desirable as mates."

He added a note of caution however, saying that it can also draw attention to a man’s real faults, thus turning women off.

"It is a risky form of humour because it can draw attention to one’s real faults, thereby diminishing the self-deprecator’s status in the eyes of others," he said.

"Think about the secondary school child whom nobody liked, who makes fun of his shortcomings.

"His peers mocked him and he was considered more pathetic than he was previously. This is high-risk seduction. It is not for everyone."

The study, ’Dissing Oneself: The Sexual Attractiveness of Self-Deprecating Humour,’ will be published in Journal of Evolutionary Psycholog

Frozen whiskey to beat the heat!

Summers will certainly be cooler for Scotch lovers this year, as a leading brand has now come up with a cool scotch solution to beat the heat for boozy Brits — frozen whiskey.

Served straight from the freezer, the Snow Grouse will be launched by the Famous Grouse.

The frozen spirit will soon be available in duty-free shops around the world for a six-month trial period. And if it turns out to be a hit with parched travellers, it would be seen on shelves in UK supermarkets next year.

The makers of this icy dram have described it as "gloopy and sweet" with a delicate, slightly vanilla taste, and they hope that it will certainly entice many more people to discover Scotch.

Anil Ambani becomes richer by Rs 27,000 cr after SP-UPA realignment

The new political combination at the Centre seems to be favouring Anil Ambani group companies more than that of his elder brother Mukesh, if one goes by the stock price movements of the two group companies.

Since July 7, when it became clear that Amar Singh, who is considered to be close to Anil Ambani, and his Samajwadi Party (SP) would support the government, the market capitalisation of Anil’s holdings in six companies increased by 24% to Rs 1,41,415 crore. That means, he became richer by almost Rs 27,000 crore.

During the same period, however, the market capitalisation of Mukesh Ambani’s holdings in the three companies increased by 7% to Rs 2,25,758 crore, making him richer by only Rs 14,000 crore.

From July 4 to July 24, the benchmark sensex increased by 9.8% as the stock market was betting on the government’s survival, without support of the Left parties. Since July 17, the bull run was much sharper as there was clearer indication of government sailing through trust vote in Parliament with new coalition, mainly with SP. During this time, share prices of ADAG (Anil Dhrirubhai Ambani Group) companies rose much higher than the rise in Sensex

Earlier, when the market was in a bearish mode, ADAG suffered one of the worst drubbing. From January 10 to July 4, while sensex fell 35%, market capitalisation of the ADAG companies declined by 57%. Market value of Anil’s holdings in the listed companies came down to Rs 1,14,120 crore from Rs 2,64,053 crore. He suffered a loss of almost Rs 1,50,000 crore during this period.

During the same time, market value of Mukesh’s holdings in the group’s listed companies declined by only 29% to Rs 2,11,417 crore from Rs 2,96,723 crore. This means, his market value declined by only Rs 85,000 crore

A senior fund manager said earlier investors apprehended that Anil’s companies will suffer because of his close affiliation with Amar Singh, who was rubbing shoulders with both Uttar Pradesh and the central government. As Anil has large business interest in UP, it was felt that his business interest might suffer. So ADAG stock prices were getting hammered with this negative sentiment. But, after the formation of new combination in the Centre, investors changed their perception and ADAG stocks boomed.

At the same time, Amar Singh’s demand to slap windfall tax on refineries, which are benefited because of the rise in crude prices, was being seen as a move to penalize RIL. Singh’s another demand to make RIL refineries, which are in export promotion zone, to sell their products in the domestic market, also affected Mukesh Ambani companies adversely.

A senior fund manager argued that the present political development does not affect the fate of large companies like RIL and RCOM. He said as Mukesh group companies did not fall much when the market was falling, it did not also gain much when the trend was reversed. As ADAG companies fell sharply in the market downturn, it also gained when market moved up. So, it was just a market movement, he added.

It's raining money in Bollywood!

One-film-old Imran Khan — hero of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na — comes with a price tag of Rs 7 crore for his next film, according to the latest Bollywood trade buzz. Jaane Tu..., which has collected Rs 30 crore approximately in just one week, has taken the nation by storm and catapulted its hero to super-stardom .

Shahid Kapoor, after the super-success of Vivaah and Jab We Met, which he has followed up with the “safe’ ’ Kismet Konnection , is now a bankable star with a Rs-8-crore tag.

Even one-film-old Ranbir Kapoor — who started with a not-too-successful Saawariya — now comes with a price tag of Rs 6 crore and is currently riding a wave, having bagged films with Prakash Jha, Raj Kumar Santoshi, Mani Ratnam , Yashraj Films and Karan Johar.

Big money is back in Bollywood, with stars — and even those who are only starting off on the long journey that may or may not end in stardom — jacking up their rates.

“Money is the new obsession that has taken over Bollywood,’’ says director Mahesh Bhatt. “It wasn’t as if our predecessors were not materialistic but they did not drool over money the way the current generation does every time you mention the word,’’ he adds.

So, at a time when one-film successes (and failures) are charging eight-digit figures , it is only natural that the established are going to charge a bomb. The latest rumour to take Bollywood by storm has it that Akshay Kumar has been signed by Studio 18 for a figure that is more than Rs 50 crore (this figure includes a 30 per cent share in profits and a stake in the film’s intellectual property rights) and Aneez Bazmee has been paid Rs 15 crore.

This follows the excitement generated by the Akshay-Anees Bazmee combination in Singh Is Kingg, the worldwide rights of which have been picked up by Studio 18 for Rs 62 crore.

Singh Is Kingg producer Vipul Shah says: “Akshay Kumar is generating mass hysteria right now and even his television show, Khatron Ke Khiladi, has got a huge start. But I wouldn’t like to comment on the price issue because some really crazy price talk has been doing the rounds.’’

Trade insiders say Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, despite the debacle of Tashan, have been picked up at a price of Rs 27 crore by Ashtavinayak Films (though Aashtavinayak spokesperson Parag Desai has refused to confirm the amount). The industry is abuzz with talk that Saif and Kareena, who are marketing themselves as a package, have already been paid the signing amount of Rs 7.5 crore and will give dates to the Ashtavinayak project in the summer of 2009.

The Bhatt camp’s stars — Mallika Sherawat, Emran Hashmi and Shiney Ahuja — are also riding on the good times. Sherawat is asking for Rs 1.5 crore because her Ugly Aur Pagli — made on a modest budget of Rs 5 crore — has been sold to Percept Picture Company for Rs 6 crore. “PPC will make a killing with this film,’’ says a Bollywood insider.

“It has reportedly paid Rs 6 crore to Pritish Nandy Communications. And, even before the film has released, it is being offered Rs 5 crore for the film’s satellite rights. PPC is expected to push the satellite price to Rs 9 crore. So they’ve already made a profit even before the film hits theatres this August,’’ the industry experts adds.

Emraan Hashmi, post-Jannat , has reportedly been paid Rs 5.5 crore by Percept Picture Company; Shiney Ahuja is demanding Rs 7 crore post-Gangster and Bhool Bhuliya (in which he plays second fiddle to Akshay Kumar); and Bobby Deol will not even read a script unless he is paid a signing amount of Rs 2 crore (his price, according to industry grapevine, is Rs 5 crore a film).

N-deal spin-off - 100,000 new jobs, more research opportunities

One of the spin offs of the India-US civil nuclear deal coming through will be the creation of 100,000 new jobs for the 30-odd reactors that India hopes to set up to meet its nuclear power deadline of 20,000 MW by 2020, experts say.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi highlighted the fillip the deal is expected to give to employment generation and the energy sector. Interacting with students of Ravindra Bharati in Hyderabad on Saturday, Gandhi said: "The nuclear deal means millions and millions of jobs, and lights in the houses of the poor in this country."

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh, visiting the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)’s Kalpakkam campus in Tamil Nadu, said: "Nearly 10,000 MW of nuclear power would be generated from indigenous reactors, 8,000 MW from light water reactors and 2,000 MW from Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR)."

Thousands of engineers, technicians and scientists would be needed to run these establishments, he underlined.

"India’s 17 nuclear reactors have the capacity to generate 4,120 MW, but in 2007 they could produce only 1,800 MW due to lack of fuel," Ramesh said.

By 2020, India is likely to import six light water reactors while six nuclear plants are under construction to beef up generation capacity, said Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd Technical Director S.A. Bhardwaj.

The total expansion is valued at nearly $300 billion.

"India’s Department of Atomic Energy employs about 70,000 experts today," M.R. Srinivasan, former chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission, told the media at a function in Kalpakkam.

The new nuclear power plants on the cards are expected to create at least a 100,000 new jobs in India, experts say.

Not just in India, the nuclear deal is expected to give a fillip to the industry in the US also.

In 2007, Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council, supporting the Indo-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, said: "The deal would create 27,000 high-quality jobs a year for the next 10 years in the US nuclear industry."

To strengthen research at universities, the DAE is providing grants for projects through the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences. The DAE Graduate Fellowship Scheme for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has been in place since 2002 to promote collaborative research through postgraduate students.

IIT-Kanpur offers a course in nuclear engineering and technology, now IIT-Madras has also decided to offer a similar course from the 2009 academic session. The country’s premier institute for nuclear studies and research - The Homi Bhabha National Institute - will provide the necessary guides and teaching staff.

India has two hubs for advanced studies in nuclear technology - Mumbai and Kalpakkam. The Mumbai-based Bhabha Institute unifies 10 institutions, four premier centres and six autonomous institutes, each with a research-driven framework.

Bhabha Institute also includes DAE’s top research institute, The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre where old horses of the ’80s, the Cirus and Dhruva reactors, are still kept going. DAE’s other research institute is the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), which was set up in 1971.

"The IGCAR has an open door policy for any student keen on science," says institute director Baldev Raj.

"The IGCAR has tried to strike a balance between networking with institutions with expertise and collaborating with academia for harvesting fresh thoughts," he added.

According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, 30 countries worldwide are operating 439 reactors for electricity generation and 34 new nuclear plants were under construction in 14 countries.