In sweeping changes to existing post offices in the country, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has announced that as many as 1.5 lakh post offices spread across the country will be converted to full-fledged banks.
The landmark change will enable villagers access banking facilities. Through this move Sibal wants to give banking facilities to the rural masses and commented, "We want to commercialise the department. We will seek a license from the RBI to convert all our post offices into banks." The "postal banks" apart from giving access to modern banking facilities will reduce the dependence of villagers on informal lenders for their credit requirements. Sibal stated, "The State Bank of India can’t build branches all over India, but there are post offices across India. The branches are already there, so infrastructure expenditure is not required. So you can actually give banking facilities at relatively lower costs, which would be extremely beneficial to people."
The post offices although is seeing a decline in activity over the years, offer various financial services like savings bank, postal life insurance, pension payments and money transfer services. Post office' total corpus stood at Rs. 5,82,832.9 crore as on Mar 31, 2011.
The DoP’s revenue grew 11 per cent to Rs. 6,954.09 crore in 2010-2011 from Rs. 6,266.70 crore in the previous fiscal. But there has been slump in growth in some circles creating a deficit for the Department of Rs. 6,625 crore in FY’11 that is almost equal to the annual revenue of the Department.
While the world's most powerful government has just $73.76 billion in its reserves, the world's top technology company has a neat cash pile of $75.87 billion.
With its market capitalisation of $363.25 billion, Apple is the second largest company on the planet after American oil giant Exxon Mobil. The Cupertino-based Apple started rising suddenly in 2007 when it entered the smart phone market with the launch of its first version of the iPhone.
Within three years, Apple went on to overhaul BlackBerry company Research In Motion (RIM) which invented the smart phone and dominated the market.
But its fortunes skyrocketed last year with the launch of the iPad tablet which has sold in millions. In fact, the iPhone and the iPad have made Apple the czar of mobile computing technology as rivals play up catch-up.
The stock of the company, which doesn't pay dividends, has now touched $400.
After Apple, another non-financial company sitting on a huge cash reserve is Microsoft whose own pile is about $40 billion.
To catch a cheating wife, you must take some steps that sound underhanded, but if she is cheating, you have the right to know. Asking a woman if she is cheating does not always evoke an honest answer. A man who needs to know the truth can take some easy steps to find out if he has a cheating wife.
1. Check the wife's spending habits against credit cards and bank records.
2. Check all work paycheck stubs to see if any days are taken off that are not spent with the family members.
3. Enlist a friend's help to follow your wife for a few days.
4. Buy a voice-activated recorder to hook up to the home phone line in the basement.
5. Check email accounts for any disturbing emails from an unknown person.
Land speed records are always set to be broken. But here is one record that might stick to the record books for a long long time. Bill Warner, a resident of Florida, USA has set a new speed record while riding a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa. He has set a record top speed of 311.95mph (502km/h) at the Loring Air Force Base in Maine, USA.
The record is special for the one single reason of the Hayabusa being a conventional bike that has been tuned up rather than a bike specifically made to break a record. Bill Warner who set this record had also set the previous record in a Hayabusa when he had reached a speed of 278.6mph (448.36kmph).
In the battle of the cellphone cancer studies, now we can chalk one up for the scientists who say there is no relationship between cellphones and cancer in children.
A 1,000-participant study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute researched the effects of cellphones on children and adolescents, comparing cellphone usage of a group diagnosed with brain tumors against a control group of cellphone-using individuals who were in good health.
The result? “The absence of an exposure-response relationship either in terms of the amount of mobile phone use or by localization of the brain tumor argues against a causal association,” concludes the study abstract.
This is the latest in a long line of extensive research aimed at finding the truth about whether cellphones cause cancer or not. The three most recent studies:
The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced the results of its cellphones/cancer study in May of this year, calling cellphones “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
A study published in February found that cellphone use caused increased activity in certain parts of the brain, but couldn’t determine if those effects were causing any harm, or even if they were beneficial.
Last year, a less-credible study that was partially funded by the wireless industry found no evidence of increased risk of brain tumors associated with mobile phones. But the scientists behind that study acknowledged that the results weren’t definitive.
What’s a cellphone user to do? If you’re still worried about an unknown/unseen mechanism at work here, just join the teens of the world and text a lot more than you talk on your cellphone.
"Few people succeed in business without self-assurance. But everyone has bouts of insecurity from time to time. Here are three ways you can bolster your confidence:
1. Be honest. Know what you're good at and what you still need to learn. With an accurate assessment of your abilities you can tell the difference between self-doubt and lack of skill.
2. Practice. If there's a job or task that you're worried about, practice doing it. Preparation builds both skill and confidence.
3. Embrace new opportunities. Playing to your strengths is smart, but not if it means you don't try new things. Conquer fresh challenges to remind yourself what you are capable of."
-This management tip was adapted from "How to Build Confidence" by Amy Gallo.
Ford Motor Co plans to invest $1 billion to build a factory in Gujarat to gain a greater share of one of the fastest-growing car markets, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The U.S. automaker plans to announce its plans on Thursday, according to the report, which cited Ford's head of Asia-Pacific and Africa Joe Hinrichs.
The factory in Gujarat, expected to be up and running by 2014, will employ 5,000 people and is expected to have an initial annual capacity of 240,000 vehicles, the newspaper reported.
Ford's largest single investment in India follows the success of its India-built Figo model, which helped the group nearly triple its sales last year, the FT reported.
Hinrichs was quoted as saying that Gujarat had been selected over other states for its pro-business reputation and geographical location and ports from which to export cars to other emerging markets.
Ford's shares closed down 4.3 percent at $12.37 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
About 85 per cent of Kashmiris eat non-vegetarian fare - but exactly how much? Official statistics say Jammu and Kashmir annually consumes a whopping 51,000 tonnes of mutton worth Rs.12.06 billion (over Rs.1,200 crore), of which 21,000 tonnes is imported from outside.
"The 21,000 tonnes is in addition to 30,000 tonnes of mutton produced locally and costing Rs.7.02 billion (Rs.702 crore) which also goes into the local consumption each year," a senior official of the animal husbandry department here told IANS.
Despite having some of the best meadows and pastures in the world, all the mutton imported into Kashmir comes from Rajasthan, which has some of the most arid deserts in the country.
In addition to mutton, poultry and poultry products are also imported into the state from neighbouring Punjab and Haryana.
"Chicks, broilers, layers and eggs amounting to Rs.1.2 billion are imported each year for local consumption," said another official of the state animal husbandry department posted with the poultry production wing.
"This is in addition to the local poultry production worth Rs.1.8 billion that also goes into local consumption."
The officials say 84 per cent of the state's 10 million population is predominantly non-vegetarian.
TCS and Wipro are among three companies vying to bag the prestigious Sri Seva Project of theTirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) to provide IT solutions that will help devotees.
Currently TTD offers four main e-services such as e-seva, e-accommodation, e-sudarshanam and e-hundi to the devotees and the Sri Seva project would help the administration in offering services like providing rooms, 'laddus' as well as in tonsuring.
There are as many as 48 departments which need to be automated and brought under one platform for better services to pilgrims, TTD had said.
"TCS, Wipro andInfinite Computer Solutions have been shortlisted from the technical bids. Next step will be going for financial bids. By December, we want to implement the project," sources said.
Once the process of technical bids for the Sri Seva project gets over over in a span of ten days, the TTD may go for financial bids, they said.
The project is estimated to cost between Rs 30 crore to Rs 35 crore, with an additional maintenance cost of around Rs 12 crore every year in the first phase, a senior official earlier said.
Losing a job can be one of the most terrible things anyone can ever experience. The good news is that you can find a job... More importantly, You have been given the opportunity to finally find the job and career of your dreams.
It is natural to think "I just lost my job... now what? What should I do?" and to just want to jump on Monster.com or Naukri.com and start searching for new jobs. Yes, you can certainly however, before just jumping in, take a step back to reflect, sort through your emotions, and follow this recipe to job hunting success.
1) Grieve(You need to take some time off to rejuvenate yourself)
2) Understand that Everything Happens for a Reason
Google Plus was formally launched on June 28th with limited invitations. Initially most of us thought that Google will have a hard time convincing Facebook and Twitter users to migrate to this new network. Contrary to early fears, the budding social network has already reached a new milestone by crossing 20 million connections in less than a month. This is a commendable achievement given that the project is still in the beta stage and works on an invite-based system.
Well known research firm ComScore gave out these numbers, which clearly suggest that Google Plus has the potential to go a long way. Not so surprisingly, it has now become the fastest growing social network, a position which was previously held by Twitter for crossing a significant number of activations within just a few months. The main reason for the success of Google Plus would be the hype that it created when it was first shown off. Almost everybody wanted to get into the new social network by having a profile of their own. That being said, it still has room for improvement. Google has mentioned that once the project is up and raring to go, it will be made available to all.
However, the trend hasn't quite caught up in India, where users still favour Facebook and Twitter. The latter actually works as a social network for professionals because it doesn't have many complications. Google Plus is more of a social network to while your time away with, which is similar to Facebook. Therefore, it is generally thought that Google Plus is more of a competitor to Facebook than to Twitter. Facebook on the other hand, is still the top dog with the most number of members and it has been adding new features such as voice and video chat. However, many still feel that the Hangout group video chat feature of Google Plus is still cooler. It is difficult to predict at this point of time as to who will win the social networking war, we will just have to wait and watch
Everything old is new again for one Japanese manufacturer who has unveiled an electronic version of a rickshaw.
A regular driver’s license is required to take the vehicle on the road, but car registration is unnecessary. Devised as part of a project to revitalise small businesses facing economic hardship, the vehicle – which is 2.5 meters (8 ft 2 in) long, 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in) wide and 1.6 meters (5 ft 3 in) tall – also showcases traditional Japanese crafts.
The Fund for American Studies found that most people would not be willing to give up the Internet for $1 million.
In fact, some people say they wouldn't give it up for $1 billion. Southern Methodist University professor Michael Cox says he's asked his students how much it would cost for them to never go online again.
"When I ask my students this question they say, 'You couldn't pay me enough.'" We think that's a bit extreme. We could be bought for $10 million. That would take care of our salaries forever. Then we'd find a secluded beach and avoid Internet temptation.
How much money would it take for you to quit the Internet forever?
The Vijay Mallya-owned UB Group on Friday decided to withdraw the controversial advertisement which showed Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni ’mocking’ at Harbhajan Singh’s look-alike, which had prompted the spinner’s mother to slap a legal notice against the group.
The UB Group said that it has taken a decision to replace the ad ’in the interest of the game of cricket’ and fearing that the commercial could be misused by vested interests to further their own agenda.
"This gesture (to replace the ad) of Dr Mallya is based on the larger national cricketing interests, particularly at time when the Indian Team is engaged in a crucial cricket test series in the United Kingdom," a statement from the group said.
"Despite clear-cut legal opinion and the view of the management that there is no maintainable case, and further keeping in mind that the commercial can be used by vested interests to further their own agenda, in the interest of the game of cricket, Dr Mallya has graciously chosen to replace the current commercial.
"The UB Group and Dr Vijay Mallya are very closely involved with and have a significant stake in cricket and would never discourage any cricketer. Clearly, the letter received by us has been instigated by vested interests with mischievous intent," the statement said.
The UB group and Vijay Mallya through legal counsel responded to the notice received by them from the Advocates for Avtar Kaur, mother of Harbhajan Singh.
The response took the position that from the notice itself it was apparent that vested interests have found in Mrs Avtar Kaur a soft target to further their own agenda and the smear campaign against UB group of companies and Dr Vijay Mallya.(PTI)
I think everyone might have read about Mom's, Wife's and Girl's... Its time to learn something about Men...
Who is a boy / man ?
A boy/man is one of the most beautiful creations of God.
He starts compromising at very tender age. He sacrifices his chocolates for his sister.
Image source: fotolia
Later he sacrifices his love for just a smile on his parents face. He sacrifices his love for his wife and children by working late nights.
He builds their future by taking loans from banks and then repaying them for the life time. Thus he sacrifices full youth for his wife and children without any complain.
Believe me he struggles a lot but still has to hear the music (scolding) of Mother, wife and his boss. Yet every mother, wife and boss tries to have control over him.
Finally his life ends up by compromising for others happiness. He is that creature of God who no one can compete with.
Respect every boy/man in your life. You will never know what he has sacrificed for you.
What are the physiological differences between someone who gets by on 5 hours vs. 7 hours of sleep a night? I’ve heard that some people are “just fine” on only 5 hours.
Sleep research has found significant health issues related to differences in sleep duration. Mortality studies suggest that those who get less than seven hours have a shorter life span, as well as an elevated risk of coronary artery disease, stroke and hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. On the cognitive side, those who sleep five hours or less have shorter attention spans, more negative emotions and less memory recall.
Every person has a unique relationship to sleep and health, and the most important goal in learning more about your sleep patterns is to find what works for you. The goal with sleep health is finding the factors that lead to you feeling refreshed after sleep and invigorated throughout the day.
In this photo taken Tuesday, July 19, 2011, a leopard runs to escape after attacking a forest guard at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara, on the outskirts of Siliguri, India. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several villagers, including three guards, before being caught by forest officials, according to news reports. The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in the evening at a veterinary center. (AP Photo) INDIA OUT.
Since the dawn of time women have been declared as problems. If you believe in the design explained in the bible, where a God created man and then woman, then woman sinned and caused a lifetime of damnation by eating the apple, then you can certainly understand why women are designed to be a lifetime of problems for the male specie.
In front of the trial room take your mobile and make sure that mobile can make calls........
Then enter into the trail room, take your mobile and make a call.....
If u can't make a call......!!!!
There is a hidden camera......
This is due to the interference of fiber optic cable during the signal transfer......
HOW TO DETECT A 2-WAY MIRROR?
When we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc., How many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror I.e., they can see you, but you can't see them. There have been many cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms or bathroom or bedrooms.
It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by just looking at it. So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of Mirror we are looking at?
CONDUCT THIS SIMPLE TEST:
Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror.
However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE, IT IS A 2-WAY MIRROR! (There may be someone seeing you from the other side). So remember, every time you see a mirror, do the "fingernail test." It doesn't cost you anything. It is simple to do.
This is a really good thing to do. The reason there is a gap on a real mirror, is because the silver is on the back of the mirror UNDER the glass. Whereas with a two-way mirror, the silver is on the surface. Keep it in mind! Make sure and check every time you enter in hotel rooms.
Share this with your sisters, wife, daughters, friends, colleagues, etc.
Can someone love his friend even though he didn't use to love him in the beginning? In fact, one of the best ways ever to make someone fall in love with you is to become friends with him first.
So what does this has to do with lovers becoming friends?
This is why friends can become lovers
When you become friends with a person you will know more about his background, values and past experiences and thus you can make him love you by matching the criteria he is looking for in a future partner.
This means that if you became friends with someone then you are already half way to make him love you.
