Monday, July 30, 2012

Persuasive Manager: Rajesh Khanna’s (un)lucky home

Persuasive Manager: Rajesh Khanna’s (un)lucky home


Dear Dr. Monippally,

Let me share my views on this topic. People who believe that fate and chance control their lives are more likely to be superstitious -- but when faced with death they are likely to abandon superstition altogether. The word 'superstition' has a Latin origin, which means 'standing in awe'. People and cultures around the world assign different meaning or importance to events, actions and things. They feel that one can affect the situation, to reflect their own interest. The answer lies within the power of the Subconscious Mind and The Law of Attraction.

The same case was happened with Rajesh Khanna and his home. Plain and simple - whatever we believe to be true is true. So if we believe that the number 13 is "unlucky” or that by failing to form a specific action or ritual some negative experience will arise, then so shall it be.
As per Dimple Kapadia’s statement in 2003, she said that “a person without Love is a person without foundation; it will just collapse like a pack of card”. And that secret card I found in Rajesh. He was a person and he is selfish which lead him to a lack of self-confidence which leads to fear. He often think of oneself's first; a lack of confidence makes him depend on external power/circumstance instead of using the power within; He was a person in fear without Love within.
Rajesh Khanna's most horrible enemies were the sycophants in his lifetime. They created the destructive genie which lurks within but is kept in leash by most of us. Not so with 'Kaka', as the actor was commonly known. He allowed his ego full play and, at a later date, even rued his lifestyle; but, by then, it was too late. He had estranged his well-meaning lady friends, his old schoolmates, his aides, servants and relatives.
Rajesh Khanna's worst enemies were his arrogance and self-indulgence. He was a poor listener, always bent upon dominating the lives of his dear and loved ones. He had mood swings and could be very kind to someone at one moment and an utter miser in the next moment. The constant refrain around him touting his superstar image had turned his head and he could no longer lead a proper private life. He became consumed by an overpowering need to be surrounded by fawning flatterers at all times.
In March 30, 2012 The Economic Times published a story on “Why businessmen around the world are so superstitious” and it was written by Prof. V Raghunathan (Ex. Prof. at IIM Ahmedabad and now at present CEO of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation). He has mentioned that “Businessmen have reasons to be more superstitious than the average. This is because given the very high stakes and the tremendous amount of uncertainties in the market, superstitions offer an illusion of gaining control over these uncertainties and give them an impression as if they have done all that is possible to ensure the best possible outcome.
Businessmen in India are frequently given to such superstitions as numerology, visits to temples before big business deals, avoiding any important initiatives around eclipses, designing offices according to Vaastu, and so forth. Worldwide, the number 13 is considered spooky, but GD Birla was said to be uncomfortable with the number 12 because it reminded him of baarvi, or the 12th day of mourning, considered inauspicious by the Hindus. Post-independence, when GD Birla built the group's global headquarters in Kolkata, he chose not to have a 12th floor. Superstition is a worldwide phenomenon. Some 80% of the buildings worldwide are known to skip floor 13.
Larry Ellison is said to have tweeted that there may not be an Oracle version 13. Superstition is known to impact businesses. It is said that marriage insurance in India is doomed to failure, because people don't want to think about marriages failing, because thinking it could make it happen. In Taiwan, consumers are willing to pay more for a package of three tennis balls than four, because in Mandarin, number four is considered ill-fated, as it has the same sound as 'dead'. Even in the US, 'paraskevidekatriaphobia' - the fear of Friday the 13th - is known to pull down revenues.”

Male Students to wear Skirts at Oxford University


World's renowned educational institution Oxford University has introduced a new academic dress code for its students. As per the new regulations, male students will wear skirts and women will be in suits or white bow ties during formal occasions and examinations. 

The new dress code will certainly please the transgender student community at the University. Under the revised guidelines, female students will wear a dark skirt or trousers, a white blouse, a black ribbon tied in a bow at the neck, black stockings and shoes, while male students will have to wear skirts or stockings for formal occasion and exams. 

The students will be punished by the University authorities for breaching the rules. The disobedient students might be rusticated or suspended for a period of time if found violating the strict laws of the varsity.

The authorities made it clear that students are required to dress appropriately under the revised dress code. The new rule will be applicable from next month. 

Earlier, under the old regulations, the male students were wearing a dark suit with dark socks, black shoes, a white bow tie, and a plain white shirt and collar beneath their black gowns when attending formal occasions such as examinations. 

However, with the new and distinct dress code, there will be no more confusion to know boys and girls. The reforms were made following a campaign by the student union, which demanded appropriate dress code for men and women at the premises as the old regulations did not serve the interests of transgender students. 

According to a report by the 'Daily Mail', Jess Pumphrey, the union's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer executive officer, said "there was 'an active transgender community' in Oxford, and every member she had spoken to "had found sub-fusc, under the old regulations, to be stressful".

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Oprah Winfrey draws Flak for Comments on Indians


American popular talk show host and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey has recently landed in trouble for her comments on the TV talk show “Oprah’s Next Chapter” India Special. The show was premiered on Discovery Channel India recently, which has been criticized for being ‘snobbish’ and ‘ignorant.’
Oprah Winfrey visited India to film an India special episode for her popular talk show ‘Oprah's Next Chapter’. The show was aired on Discovery Channel and its affiliate TLC over the weekend, but her point of View towards India as presented in the show earned flak from top Indian media houses. Out of the incidents during her visit to India early this year Winfrey’s visit to a Mumbai slum, and her spending time with Bollywood biggies was exhibited in the show. In that party she asked “I heard some Indian people eat with their hands still?” 
This statement of Winfrey has been hugely criticized and she has been tagged for being snobbish and ignorant. Criticizing Oprah’s perspective for India while leading news channel CNN-IBN posted an “open letter to Oprah Winfrey from an Indian who eats with her hand”, online news site Firstpost.com described the two-episode series as “myopic, unaware, ignorant and gauche. This was Middle America at its best worst.” Also Dainik Bhaskar posted the headline “Snobbish Oprah Mocks India.”

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Court bans Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Europe


A Duesseldorf court of Germany has recently banned the Galaxy Tab 7.7 of Samsung in Germany, which has been extended to the entire European Union. A patent dispute between Apple and Samsung is going on for the Galaxy tabs since a while. The Samsung Galaxy 7.7-inch slate was officially unveiled at the IFA in Berlin last year. After the ban issued by the Court this is the latest casualty in the ongoing patent dispute between Apple and Samsung.
Samsung has showed his disappointment with the ban which stated that it was "disappointed with the court's ruling" and that it "will continue to protect the intellectual property rights and defend against Apple's claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European Union".
Besides legal hassle, the Galaxy 7.7 tab is also slightly costly, for which users on many occasions prefer the more affordable the Tab 27.0 or the new one Nexus 7 to 7.7. Hence the sales ban would have not any significant impact on Samsung.
Merely one week before this ruling in the U.K. Samsung had won the case as a Court in the U.K had cleared in its verdict that none of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab slates, which includes the Tab 7.7, Tab 8.9 and Tab 10.1, infringes any patent right of Apple.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Hackers steal Yahoo Users Passwords


Yahoo has confirmed that hackers have stolen around 400,000 user names and passwords in unencrypted form from its computer system. The search engine firm is on its way to fix the vulnerability that led to the theft. The firm asked its victims users to change their passwords and notified the companies, whose user accounts may have been misused.
As per reports, Last Wednesday, a hacking group, who introduced them as D33Ds Company, posted 453,492 account credentials in plain text on a public website. They further mentioned there that it has been done to exhibit the poor cyber security system of Yahoo and is not a threat. They tagged it to be a "wake-up call" rather than a threat to Yahoo.
A security firm Rapid7 said about the online publication of a data file that contains login credentials in unencrypted text for Yahoo as well as several other Internet services, including Google Inc’s Gmail and AOL as well as Microsoft Corp’s Hotmail, MSN and Live sites. "There have been many security holes exploited in web servers belonging to Yahoo! Inc. that have caused far greater damage than our disclosure. Please do not take them lightly," pointed out the group at the end of the post.  The hackers further said there that they have also earned some other sensitive information which has not been posted to shun further damage. While Yahoo is of the opinion that an older file, from Yahoo Contributor Network had been stolen, Security firm TrustedSec guessed the hacked service to be Yahoo Voices. It is also a matter of concern and negligence in part of Yahoo that, those credentials were kept unencrypted.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Facebook App Centre launched in India


Social networking giant Facebook has recently launched its App centre in India and six other countries to make convenient the users to find games, music services and media content easily. Facebook Software Engineer Drew Hoskins has written in the Facebook blog,"The App Center is now available to everyone in the US, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK," App Centre will also be launched in Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey in the coming weeks.
Facebook is the mostly used social networking site that has more than900 million monthly active users across the world. It also added a localization tool to the App Dashboard that would allow developers to translate the names and descriptions of their apps into other languages.
The App Center icon is located on the left side of the home page on Facebook and is also available on Apple and Android mobile devices. Actually, the centre does not host apps, but sends users to the appropriate app store for their device.
Interestingly, some of Facebook’s most popular apps, including Spotify (Sweden), Diamond Dash (Wooga, Germany), Bubble Witch Saga (King.com, U.K.), Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick, Australia), Angry Birds Friends (Rovio, Finland), Ninja Showdown (Noritown, South Korea), Soundcloud (Germany) and Deezer (France) have been developed by personnel out of the North American countries

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Common Childhood Illness claims 52 Lives in Cambodia


A virus caused disease that emerges out of common childhood illness has believed to have claimed at least 52 lives in Cambodia. The mysterious disease called EV- 71 causes strains of hand, foot and mouth.

As per the Health Officials, around 59 cases since April were found to be related to EV-71, including 52 deaths. WHO and Cambodian Health Ministry have also endorsed the report.

EV-71 is a virus which can cause paralysis, brain swelling and death. In case of the 52 deaths, the children were younger than 3 who experienced fever, respiratory problems that finally led to neurological symptoms and then death.

However, Epidemiologists are still trying to find whether the actual cause of death of those children is EV -71 or not. They are quizzing parents to get complete detail about the symptom as it might be possible that some details might have been omitted or missing from medical charts.

Also specimens were not taken from most of the children before they died, said Dr. Nima Asgari, who is leading the WHO investigation. Out of the 24 samples, 15 got confirmed to be positive for EV-71 – she also said.

Common Childhood Illness claims 52 Lives in Cambodia


A virus caused disease that emerges out of common childhood illness has believed to have claimed at least 52 lives in Cambodia. The mysterious disease called EV- 71 causes strains of hand, foot and mouth.

As per the Health Officials, around 59 cases since April were found to be related to EV-71, including 52 deaths. WHO and Cambodian Health Ministry have also endorsed the report.

EV-71 is a virus which can cause paralysis, brain swelling and death. In case of the 52 deaths, the children were younger than 3 who experienced fever, respiratory problems that finally led to neurological symptoms and then death.

However, Epidemiologists are still trying to find whether the actual cause of death of those children is EV -71 or not. They are quizzing parents to get complete detail about the symptom as it might be possible that some details might have been omitted or missing from medical charts.

Also specimens were not taken from most of the children before they died, said Dr. Nima Asgari, who is leading the WHO investigation. Out of the 24 samples, 15 got confirmed to be positive for EV-71 – she also said.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Academic Session of BBSR AIIMS to begin in September


The first academic session of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhubaneswar is expected to begin from September 15 this year, official confirmed it on Sunday. 

The construction work is carried out on a war footing to begin the much awaited academic session of Bhubaneswar AIIMS, Union Health Secretary PK Pradhan said during his visit to the state capital on Sunday. 

He said that the construction work will be completed soon and the faculties for the medical college have been appointed. The staffs will join the college next month. 

Initially, the number of seats for the MBBS course will be 50 this year. The seats will be increased to 150 next year 2013. 

Earlier, Union health minister Gulam Nabi Azad had said that the first academic session of Bhubaneswar AIIMS will begin by end of September this year. 

Previous reports suggested that the construction work of the hospital will be completed by next year so that the students, who will pursue the MBBS this year, would be able to get facility. 

The director and the faculties for the AIIMS have already been selected. Ashok Mohapatra, now head of Neurosurgery department of AIIMS, New Delhi, has been appointed as the director of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. 

Odisha health minister Prasanna Acharya said that initially the MBBS students of AIIMS will do their practical at Unit-6 Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.

AI Flight makes Emergency Landing in Pakistan


A flight of Air India made an emergency landing in a Pakistan airport due to technical glitches on Monday. The Airbus 319 was on its way from Abu Dhabi to New Delhi. 

Around 130 passengers were on board the flight and all were safe. The flight made an emergency landing at Nawabshah airport in Sindh in Pakistan at 3:30 am after all its three hydraulic systems failed.

The plane landed after getting permission from the Pakistan authorities. The passengers will have to sit inside the plane till another carrier reaches from India. 

A relief plane will reach the Pakistan airport from Delhi carrying a team of technical experts to repair the aircraft. 

India's External Affairs minister is monitoring the situation closely. Sources said that the foreign secretary is in touch with the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan for safe departure of passengers.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Nokia Lumia 610 - A Review


The long awaited Nokia Lumia 610 is the low-cost Windows Phone-powered Smartphone from Nokia that the company has recently launched in India. The phone is priced at Rs 12,999.

The device features a 3.7-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels and a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash. It weighs 131.5g and offers 8 GB memory with 256 MB RAM and SkyDrive cloud storage. However, it does not have a micro-SD card slot.

In connectivity the Lumia 610 uses WiFi Hotspot for up to 5 WiFi-enabled devices and runs on Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. It does not have Skype. Also it seems to have been equipped with less-capable hardware inside but as it's an entry-level Smartphone one should not expect everything here.

Features:

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support

Quad-band 3G with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA support

3.7" 65K-color LCD capacitive touchscreen of WVGA resolution

5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, VGA video @30fps

Windows Phone 7.5 OS (Refresh)

800MHz ARM Cortex-A5 CPU, Adreno 200 GPU, 256MB of RAM, Qualcomm MSM7227A 
chipset

Wi-Fi 802.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Warrant against Ramadoss in Medical College Scam


A Delhi court on Saturday issued a bailable warrant against former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss for not making his appearance before the court in connection with the medical college scam. 

The court directed the CBI to ensure Ramadoss' presence before it on July 20. 

The Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh issued bailable warrant of Rs 10,000 against Ramadoss after the CBI said that the summon notice has not been served to the leader as he is not in Chennai and he is undergoing a medical treatment in Bangalore. 

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against the leader on April 27 for abusing his position as minister. He had allegedly allowed an Indore-based medical college to go ahead with admissions in 2008 despite the college was lacking sufficient faculty and clinical material, which are required as per the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms.

Friday, July 6, 2012

MoD sends back Sri Lankan Air Force Personnel


Under fire from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to send back the Sri Lankan Air Force personnel who were on training at the Tambaram Airbase.

Earlier, Jayalalithaa had lodged strong objections to the training of Sri Lankan Air Force personnel in Chennai, saying it would hurt the sentiments of people in Tamil Nadu.

Union shipping minister G K Vasan and MDMK had also raised objections to the training of Sri Lanka Air Force officials. The government took immediate action to prevent the issue from snowballing into a major political controversy.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Airtel, HP to offer Cloud Services for Small Firms


Airtel has announced about the launch of the customized cloud computing services for small and medium business enterprises. The company is partnering with Hewlett Packard (HP) for the new offerings – it informed on Monday.

The basic cloud service will offer cloud-based e-mail, accounting packages, and business software and storage services to small firms.

This is a five year deal when HP will get the market access for its cloud computing technologies without having to spend on marketing to SMBs as presently Airtel has 30,000 SMB customers for internet and mobile services. Airtel currently earns 12% of its revenue from SMBs.

The offer will start initially to include the basic services as mentioned earlier but later it will expand to more specialized offerings like healthcare and education applications on the cloud.

So far none of the two companies have intimated anything regarding the value of the contract or the revenue implications.

As revenues from the voice have declined considerably, telecom companies are coming up with new sources of revenues. HP has a similar tie-up in the US with Verizon and others.

Under the partnership, while Hp will implement and manage the cloud infrastructure that includes data centers, storage software and hardware and ensure scalability, security, Airtel will deal the customer chapter. Also, Bharti Airtel has hired a cloud expert from Wipro Technologies.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Petition against Pranab for holding Office of Profit


UPA's Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee landed in a trouble ahead of the president poll as his rival PA Sangma filed a petition seeking cancellation of his nomination on grounds of holding an office of profit. 

Sangama claimed that the UPA candidate Paranb was holding an office of profit as the Chairman of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata and has not yet resigned from the post. 

He raised objection to Pranab's nomination for the top constitutional post on the major ground. Former BJP MP Satyapal Jain also objected to Pranab's candidature, alleging he should be barred from contesting the President poll as he is holding an office of profit. 

Pranab would give a written reply to the Returning Officer by 3 PM tomorrow.

However, the ISI denied the claim saying Pranab had resigned as the chairman of the institute on June 20. Even he did not take any remuneration after he quit the honourary post, it added. 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal told PTI that Pranab had resigned as ISI chairman on June 20, a week before he filed his nominations for President Election. 

He termed Sangma's claim as "factually incorrect, legally ill-conceived and untenable".

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Tata Photon Plus Tariff Reduced by 60%


The Tata Docomo brought cheers to millions of Internet users by reducing its Tata Photon Plus tariff by up to 60 per cent for both prepaid and postpaid customers.

The postpaid customers will now have two plans - 6GB Unlimited at Rs 950 per month and 11GB at Rs 1,200. These plans also offer cash back of Rs 100 per month for 12 months from date of purchase.

Entry-level packs now cost Rs 250 that offers 1GB of data download compared to Rs 650 earlier. The Rs 450 pack, which earlier cost 750 will offer 2GB now.

The prepaid customers also have reasons to smile, as they can now get 2GB usage for a recharge of Rs 700 instead of Rs 1000.