The Maestro Sachin steps down from one-day cricket internationals

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely. On December 23rd 2012, the 39-year-old ended his world record 463-match ODI career in which he scored 18,426 runs at 44.83 by informing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he is through with the 50-overs format. His retirement from the ODIs was more or less on the cards, especially after he reached the milestone of 100 international centuries against Bangladesh in March this year at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Tendulkar has played six World Cups from the 1992 World Cup 

 

Youngest CEO in the world - Sindhuja

Ms Sindhuja is not worried about Board exams or class tests. Her worries are about her company.



Everyone has a dream of future. And among the few who have seen their dream come true is Sindhuja Rajaraman. A Std. IX student from Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, her dream came true when she entered in making a two-minute animation-film in 10 hours. This was a Guinness record challenge and Sindhuja handled to create a record. It was around this time that First Planet Technologies, a software company gave her a chance to become the CEO of seppan.com, (an animation company doing short films and 2D advertisements) and lead a team of six.

Article source: http://www.hindu.com/yw/2011/03/29/stories/2011032951020400.htm

Five People you Should Avoid Dating at Work

Things really can go mistaken when you become romantically involved with someone at your workplace - and what matters the most is who you're dating.

Eighteen percent said their workplace dalliance led them or their romantic partner to leave the company.

According to ABC News, here's a list of five people you should never date to ignore becoming one of these workplace-dating casualties.

1. The Intern

So much can go wrong when dating an intern, helper or any other underling that such temptations are best left alone.

2. The IT Guy or Gal

Nothing beats having your request for computer assistance increase to the top of the tech support queue. But fall out of grace with your technically inclined valentine and you'll have to endure the tech support call of digrace any time your computer has the hiccups.

3. The Boss

Throw sex, unrequited love and/or an ugly break-up into the collaboration and there's no telling how far your professional reputation could plummet.

4. The Boss's Spouse

Sleeping with a married co-worker is never a well idea. But sleeping with the boss's substantial other is nothing short of career suicide.

5. The Serial Dater

Cozy up to the office philanderer and you make yourself a prime direct for professional gossip and hostility.

Take care when online - Safer Internet Day 8th February

Safer Internet Day 2011 is on 8th February. With our real lives now being played out on the virtual plane thanks to online shopping, social networking, reading the news and so on it is time to get wise. As you surf the Net, a true information superhighway, it is requirement to use commonsense. In fact, just as much as you use it in the real world.

Let's build a safe and responsible cyber world.

Ten commonsense resolutions to stay safe online

SAY NO

* to Cyberbullying. On cyberspace, victim's trauma is 24x7, hence trauma is multiplied.

* to weak passwords and password info sharing. We don't share our toothbrush, do we?

* to clicking on strange links or opening files sent by strangers It could be virus, junk, phishing scam, etc. Remember your parents said, “Don't accept toffees from strangers?”

* to meeting alone with friends made online. More foreign danger!

* to adding unwanted to your Friends List. On the Net, people aren't always who they say they are.

* to posting photos of yourself or sharing personal identifying information on the internet without first checking with your parents. The net is a global audience; don't forget the voyeuristic trend of human nature!

* to posting photographs of your friends without first taking their accept. It's basic human courtesy to ask before splashing their photographs in public spaces.

* to thoughtlessly created or embarrassing screen names and IDs. Can be very embarrassing when applying for college admission or a job!

* to thoughtlessly over-sharing feelings. You have no control over who all will read your postings and take advantage of your emotional vulnerability.

* to silently tolerating abuse messages / happenings on the net. If anything uncomfortable happens, do share with / report it to your parents or a trusted adult).

Chennai: Continues Rain, Death Toll Reaches 150

Continuous 3 days rain in Chennai city. The people still inside of the house. More than 150 people were killed in heavy rains in the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, Dec 5, 2010.

The low pressure trough in the Bay of Bengal created heavy rains and flood like situation in Tamil Nadu. The weather department said that the rain will continue on Monday, Dec 6, 2010 as a fresh low pressure trough has formed in Bay of Bengal.

Government officials said that schools and educational institutions in Chennai, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Trichy and in some other affected areas will remain closed on Monday.

Fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea as heavy rain expected in coming hours. The death toll is expected to increase. Most of the death were due to electrocution, wall collapses, lightning and drowning in flood waters.

திருமணத்தில் பட்டுப்புடவைதான் உடுத்தவேண்டுமா?

திருமணத்தில் பட்டுப்புடவைதான் உடுத்தவேண்டுமா?

நமது இந்து திருமண முறைப்படி திருமணங்களில் திருமாங்கல்ய தாரணம் செய்யும் முன்பு மணமகன் வீட்டார் மணமகளுக்கு கூறைப்புடவை அளிக்கின்றனர்.அதை மணமகள் உடுத்திக்கொள்ள உதவும் உரிமை மணமகனின் சகோதரிக்கு தரப்படுகிறது.ஏனெனில் தன் சகோதரன்(மணமகன்)இல்லற சுகங்களைத் துய்த்து மகிழ இந்த மணமகள் ஏற்றவள்தான் என்பதை அவ்வேளையில் உறுதி செய்துகொள்ளவேண்டிய பொறுப்பை அவளுக்கு சாஸ்திரம் வழங்குகிறது.

இந்த முஹூர்த்தப்புடவை கூறைப்புடவை என்றும் அழைக்கப்படும்.அப்படிப்பட்ட இந்த முகூர்த்தப்புடவையை திருமணம் முடிந்த பின்,விவாஹ மந்திரத்தின் பொருளும் மகிமையும் அறிந்த ஒருவருக்கு தானமாக அளித்துவிட வேண்டும் என்று ஆபஸ்தம்ப முனிவர் சொல்லியுள்ளார் ஆனால் இது தமிழகத்தில் கடைபிடிக்கப்படுவதில்லை.

பட்டுப்புடவை தேவையா?

இன்றைய காலகட்டத்தில் மணமகன் வீட்டார் தங்கள் டாம்பீகத்தை வெளிப்படுத்த முகூர்த்தப் புடவையாக மிக விலை உயர்ந்த பட்டுப் புடவையை வாங்குவதால் அதை பின்னர் தானமாக வழங்க மனம் இல்லாமல் போகிறது.சரி இந்த பட்டுப் புடவை தேவையா?என்று நோக்கும்போது பட்டுத் துணிகள் உயிர்வதையால் உண்டாகிறது.மேலும் ரசாயன நூல்களாலான துணிகள் இயற்கைக்கு ஏற்றதல்ல.மேலும் புதிதாய இல்லறத்தில் இணையும் தம்பதியின் முதல் நாளே இப்படிப்பட்ட பல ஜீவன்களை இம்சித்த பட்டுப் புடவை தேவையில்லையே.இயற்கையான பருத்தி நூலினாலான புடவையே சாஸ்திர சம்மதம்.இப்படி சுத்தமான பருத்தி நூல் புடவையை மஞ்சள் நீரில் நனைத்து உலர்த்தி மங்கலமாக்கி,அதை முகூர்த்தப் புடவையாக பயன்படுத்தும் மரபு இன்றும் பல கிராமங்களில் காணப்படுகிறது.

புடவையை ஏன் தானம் செய்யவேண்டும்?

திருமண நிகழ்ச்சியின் போது பலரும் மணமகளை,அவளது சிறப்பை கண்ணுற்றவாறு
அமர்ந்திருப்பர்.அதனால் அவள் மீது கண்ணேறு(திருஷ்டி)படிந்திருக்கும்.பின்னர் கணவன்,தன் மனைவி அந்த முகூர்த்தப்புடவையை மீண்டும் உடுத்தி இருக்கும்போது பார்த்தால்,அது
அவனுக்கு குரூரமாக(கண்களுக்கு எரிச்சல் ஊட்டுவதாக)தெரிய வாய்ப்புண்டு.அந்த குரூர புடவையை, திருமண நாளுக்குப் பிறகு, கட்டப்படாமல் இருப்பதே நல்லது.ஏனெனில் அப்புடவையில் படிந்துள்ள பிறரின் தீய எண்ண அலையின் காரணமாக கணவன்,மனைவிக்குள் சண்டை,சச்சரவுகள்் வராமல் தடுக்க அப்புடவையை கட்டாமல் இருப்பதே நல்லது.எனவே தான் அது தானமாக வழங்கப்படுகிறது.மேலும் குரூர புடவை என்பதே திரிந்து கூறைப்புடவை ஆகியிருக்கலாம் என்பது எங்கள் கருத்து.எனவே அனைவரும் திருமணத்தில் முகூர்த்தப் புடவையாக பருத்தி புடவையையே பயன்படுத்தி,அதை திருமணத்திற்குப்பின் தானமும் செய்து, தம்பதிகளின் வாழ்வில் மேன்மையை அடையச்செய்வோம்.

Indian Rupee gets a New Symbol

India finally got a symbol for the Rupee on Thursday 15th july 2010, denoting the strength of its economy, and joined a select club of countries whose currencies have a unique identity. The cabinet approved the symbol - an amalgam of the Devnagiri 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' without the stem and two parallel lines running at the top. The parallel lines symbolise the equal to sign. "It denotes the robustness of the Indian economy," said Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, announcing the cabinet decision. With the gaining of the symbol, the Indian rupee joins the club of US dollar, British pound, European euro and Japanese yen that currently have their own symbols.

The Ten Richest person in the world - 2010

There are 1,011 billionaires in the world now, up from 793 a year ago.

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has emerged the richest men in the world with $53.5 billion in assets, while Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani, chief of Reliance Industries, ranks fourth with $29 billion in U.S. magazine Forbes' annual list of the world's top billionaires.


Mr. Slim is followed by William Gates III (popularly known as Bill Gates), with a net worth of $53 billion, and Warren Buffet in the third spot with assets worth $47 billion.

NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal ranks fifth with a net worth of $28.7 billion, while Mr. Ambani's younger brother Anil Ambani is at the 36th spot with $13.7 billion.

Mukesh Ambani has retained the title of being the world's richest Indian for the 2nd consecutive year.

The list of Indian billionaires include Mukesh Ambani and Mr. Mittal in the top two, along with Azim Premji ($17 billion), Anil Ambani ($13.7 billion), Shashi and Ravi Ruia ($13 billion), Savitri Jindal ($12.2 billion), Kushal Pal Singh ($9 billion), Kumar Birla ($7.9 billion), Sunil Mittal ($7.8 billion) and Anil Agarwal ($6.4 billion).

Leading the group of 50 Indians in the list, Mr. Ambani has added over $9.5 billion to his net worth in the past 12 months. Mr. Mittal, who ranks fifth, has gained over $9 billion in the last year.

Mr. Ambani's brother Anil, who was ranked at the 34th position in 2009, slipped two positions below to the 36th spot despite an increase of $3.6 billion in his net worth.

For more info http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/12/stories/2010031259252000.htm

Kollywood Song - Results Updated!

Song easy-aa tough-aa nnu naan ethuvum expect pannaama try panren!!

90s:

"பொன்மயில் ஆடுது வென்பனி தூவுது
பூமி வந்து சீராட்ட"



"ponmayil aaduthu venpani thoovuthu
bhoomi vanthu seeraatta"


80s:

"முகிலினங்கள் அலைகிறதே, முகவரிகள் தொலைந்தனவோ
முகவரிகள் தவறியதால் அழுதிடுமோ அது மழையோ ?"



"mugilinanghaL alaigiRathe, mugavarigaL tholainthanavo
mugavarigaL thavaRiyathaal azhuthidumo athu mazhaiyo ?"

00s:

"படபடக்கும் எனது விழி பார்த்து நடந்துக்கணும்
சொல்வது சரியா??"



"padapadakkum enathu vizhi paarthu nadanthukkaNum
solvathu sariyaa??"

as usual kalakki podunga!! comment moderation is ON!!

Stripping of Woman in Public to be Probed in Bihar

The Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ordered state police chief D.N. Gautam to undertake the probe on Thursday night even though the police headquarters had previously asked Inspector General (Patna zone) Sunil Kumar to look into the incident.

A group of men had allegedly abused, battered and then stripped a woman in her 20s in full public view at a busy road in the state capital on Thursday evening.

A police team was reportedly present at the site and watched the assault on the woman for nearly an hour before taking the culprits to the police station.

Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani said Assistant Sub-inspector Shiv Nath Singh, who was in charge of patrolling the area, has been suspended for not helping the woman in time.

The woman was known as resident of Jesidih, a town in the neighbouring state Jharkhand. Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Punaichak here, had lured her to Patna with a promise of providing a job to her.

Soon after she came here, Rakesh compulsory her to have sex with his friends. She ran away from the hotel where she had been staying with him for the last few days. However, Rakesh and his friends wedged up with her and attacked her.

Police have arrested Rakesh, who is said to be involved in the flesh trade.

"Police have lodged a case against Rakesh and others on the basis of the statement of the woman," an official said.

The state women's commission has asked Patna Senior Superintendent of Police R. Mallar Vizhi to submit a report on the incident.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad condemned the incident and said that it shows that no government existed in the state.

கொன்று தின்னும் கொலுசுகள்(anklet)

எனை கவனிக்காமல் கடந்துபோகிறாய் நீ
எனை கலைத்துப் போட்டு
கடந்து போகிறது
உன் கொலுசு
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
உன் காலில்
இருந்ததற்கே இசை மீட்டக்
கற்றுக்கொண்டது
உயிரற்ற கொலுசு
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
கொலுசை கொள்ளை
அடிப்பவரைப் பார்த்திருக்கிறேன்
கொலுசால் கொள்ளை அடிப்பவளை
இங்குதான் பார்க்கிறேன்
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
இதுநாள்வரை கொலுசின்
ஒலி பிடிக்கும்
இந்த நாள் முதல்
உன் கொலுசின் ஒலி
மட்டுமே பிடிக்கும்
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
உன்னை நான் கடக்கையிலும்
என்னை நீ கடக்கையில்
நமக்கு மட்டும் புரியும்
ஒரு மொழியில் பேசுகிறது
உன் கொலுசு
என் இருப்பை […]

வருத்தப்படாத வாலிபர்கள் சாப்ட்வேர் கம்பெனி..

"தல தல நம்ம பூச்சி பாண்டிய கிளயன்ட் (client) புடிச்சு திட்டிட்டு இருக்காறு தல... சீக்கிரம் வெளிய வா தல"...

"இந்த கிள்யன்ட்க்கு நம்ள திட்டுரதே வேலையா போச்சு. இன்ணைக்கு இதுக்கு ஒரு முடிவு கட்டிற வேண்டியது தான் .. எடுரா வண்டியே.. "

அங்கு கிளயன்ட் எக்கசக்க கோவத்துடன் இருக்க எக்குத்தப்பாக மாட்டி கொள்கிறார் கைபுள்ளை.. முகம் வேர்த்து விருவிருக்க கிளயன்ட் ரூமை விட்டு வெளியே வெளியே வருகிறார்

"என்ன தல.. இந்த ட்ரிப் திட்டு கொஞ்சம் ஓவரோ.."

"பேசாதே.. அசிங்க படுதிடிங்களே டா ... "

"தல உனக்கு சப்போர்ட் பண்றதுக்கு ஆள் கூட்டிட்டு வர போனோம்.."

"ஆள் எங்க?"

"நாம ப்ராஜெக்ட் ல ஒரு பய இல்ல.. எல்லாரும் டீம் ஔட்டிங் போய்டாய்ங்க.. நீ ஊம்னு சொல்லிறுந்தனா வெளி ப்ரொஜெக்ட்ல இருந்து ஆள் கூட்டிட்டு வந்துருபோம்.. "

"அது எனக்கு அவமானம்.."

"அத தான் நாங்களும் செஞ்சோம் .. என்ன தல இப்படி வேர்த்துருக்கு.. "

"டே கிளயன்ட் கேக்குறே ஒன்னு ரெண்டு கேள்விக்கு பதில் சொல்ல தெரியலனா இப்படி தான் வேர்க்கும்.. அதெல்லாம் கண்டுக்க கூடாது.. "

"அடடே மீட்டிங் போய்ட்டு வந்த கைபுள்ளைகே இப்டி வேர்க்குதுனா மீட்டிங்
எவ்ளோ பெருசா இருக்கும் யோசிச்சு பாரு. "

"ஏன்டா இன்னுமா இந்த கம்பெனி நம்ள நம்பிட்டு இருக்கு..."

"அது அவங்க விதி.. "

அங்கே காரில் ஷக்தி (பிரசாந்த்) வர..

"யாரு.. காரு.."

"டே அந்த கிளயன்ட் நம்ள அங்க திட்டுனது மட்டும் இல்லாம இங்க திட்டுறதுக்கும் ஆள் அனுப்பி வைசுருக்கான் டா.. ஒடுங்க டா.."

"ஹலோ ஹலோ.. எக்ஸ்கியூஸ் மீ.. "

"நீ ஒன்னும் சொல்ல வேணாம்.. டே சீக்கிரம் போங்க டா.."

"ஆஹா மடகிடான் யா மடகிடான் யா.."

"போதும் எல்லாத்தையும் நிறுத்திக்குவோம்.."

"லூசு.. நான் கம்பெனிக்கு புதுசு.."

"இங்க பாருடா புதுசாம்ல.. நல்லா கிளபுராய்ங்க டா பீதிய.. சரி யாரு மேனேஜர்..."

"வேலாயுதம் சார தான் பாக்கணும் ..."

"அந்த ப்ரொஜெக்ட்ல நீ என்னவா ஜாயின் பண்ண போரே..."

"டெஸ்டரா ஜாயின் பண்ண போறேன்.. "

"நானும் தான் டெஸ்டர்.. இதுல யாரு சீனியர் டெஸ்டர் .. "

"அத அங்க போய் முடிவு பன்னுவோம்.. "

அங்கு சென்றதும் மேனேஜர் வேலாயுதமும் சக்தியும் ஒன்னு கூடி விட..

"ஆகா ஒன்னு கூடிடாய்ங்கயா ஒன்னு கூடிடாய்ங்கயா.. ஆள் இல்லாது டெஸ்டர் குருப்க்கு டீம் லீடர் ஆய்டலாம்னு நினைச்சேனே.. இப்படி அந்த ஆசைல மன்ன அள்ளி போட்டிங்களே.. "

புதியதாய் வந்த சக்தியுடன் மேனேஜர் உள்ளே சென்று கதவை சாத்தி பேச ஆரம்பிக்க ..

"பாத்தியாடா மனகேற்கு கொழுப்ப.. இவளோ நாள் உளைச்சவன வெளிய தள்ளி கதவ பூட்டு உள்ள போய்டாய்ங்க.."

"தல நீ ஊம்னு ஒரு வார்த்தை சொல்லு.. மனேஜர போஸ்ட விட்டே தூக்கிடலாம்.."

"அங்க என்ன கிளயன்ட் அசிங்க அசிங்கமா திட்டிட்டு இருந்தான். அபோ எல்லாம் சும்மா இருந்துட்டு இன்னும் ஒரு மாசத்துல ரேடிறேது ஆகா போற மனேஜர துக்குரேன்னா சொல்றே.. ராஸ்கல்.."

Education Builds Students Think, Act on their Own

The private sector and social service organisations have to donate towards cutting-edge information technology available to all school students, said Director of School Education P. Perumalsamy.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a classroom block at Government Model Higher Secondary School, Lady Wellingdon campus under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, here on Monday, he said, “The Government has been focusing more on education through new initiatives. But the goal of education for all will be attained only with sustain of all stakeholders in the society.”

Member of Parliament Kanimozhi inaugurated the block of six classrooms. “The system of education should give the students an chance to think, and act on their own with creativity”. She advised the students to make proper use of the government contribution in education and health of the students.

Mr. Perumalsamy asked organisations such as the Madras Knights Round Table 181, which organized the function, to contribute for computerization of schools. He said mathematics lab would be set up in 100 schools this year. “We have established complaints against 116 schools for collecting capitation fee,” he said. “The Department of School Education has sent notices to the schools that have desecrated the rules,” he said. A free medical screening camp for school students was organized as part of the function.

Return of outsourced jobs not beneficial for US: Obama

In the midst of its worst recession in decades, President Barack Obama says it would be better to create new jobs that can't be outsourced instead of bringing back such low paying jobs from other countries.

"Not all of these jobs are going to come back," he told a questioner during an "Online Townhall" from the White House, who asked when would jobs outsourced to other countries come back and be made available to the unemployed workers in the US.

"And it probably wouldn't be good for our economy for a bunch of these jobs to come back because, frankly, there's no way that people could be getting paid a living wage on some of these jobs - at least in order to be competitive in an international setting."

The online meeting - a new take on President Franklin Roosevelt's fireside chats - was streamed on the Internet from WhiteHouse.gov.

Mr. Obama said a lot of the outsourcing has to do with the fact that "our economy - if it's dependent on low-wage, low-skill labour, it's very hard to hang on to those jobs because there's always a country out there that pays lower wages than the US.

"And so we've got to go after the high-skill, high-wage jobs of the future," he said. "That's why it's so important to train our folks more effectively and that's why it's so important for us to find new industries - building solar panels or wind turbines or the new biofuel -that involve these higher-value, higher-skill, higher-paying jobs.

"So what we've got to do is create new jobs that can't be outsourced," Mr. Obama said.

The president also asked Americans "to be patient and persistent about job creation because I don't think that we've lost all the jobs we're going to lose in this recession."

"I don't want people to think that in one or two months suddenly we're going to see net job increases," he said striking a note of caution. "It's going to take some time for the steps that we've taken to filter in."

Other questions - some of which came from the live audience - focused primarily on health care, job loss, mortgage payments and energy.

Night shifts working Women’s spark cancer pay-out

The Danish government has begun paying compensation to women who have developed breast cancer after long spells working nights. It follows a ruling by a United Nations agency that night shifts probably increase the risk of developing cancer. BBC Radio Scotland's The Investigation has been hearing from experts and union leaders in Scotland who said the UK government should be doing more to tackle the dangers. For years there has been growing evidence that night shifts are bad for you.

Among the symptoms: disturbed sleep, fatigue, digestive problems and a greater risk of accidents at work. But these are the first government payments to women who have developed breast cancer after long spells on the night shift. Ulla Mahnkopf is one of those who have been compensated. Long hours, She spent 30 years as a flight attendant for the big Scandinavian airline SAS. Long hours and disturbed working patterns came with the territory. Then she developed breast cancer.

"It was awful telling my kids that, telling them what we were facing," she told me. "It's not just the surgery but all the thoughts - do I survive this? I had bilateral cancer so not just one breast, two breasts." At first she did not make the connection between her cancer and night working. She said: "I had no idea.” But when you think back now I can see that when I stopped flying it was like coming out of a shell, I had been living in there because of jet lag and I can see now I had a totally different life."

So far almost 40 Danish women have won compensation. Not every case was successful: women who had a family history of breast cancer were among the ones whose claims were rejected. The Danish authorities acted following a finding by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the UN's World Health Organisation.

Night working now sits just one rung below that: a probable cause of cancer. Dr Vincent Cogliano of the IARC said they reached their conclusion after looking at a wide number of studies of both humans and animals. He said there was evidence to support the hypothesis that alterations in sleep patterns could suppress the production of melatonin in the body. "Melatonin has some beneficial effects in preventing some of the steps leading to cancer," he said. "The level of evidence is really no different than it might be for an industrial chemical." Here in the UK unions estimate about 20% of the national workforce is involved in night shifts.

Margaret Ann Hancock from Edinburgh was like many parents who take on the night shift: she needed the extra money and had a young family to care for. When she started work at the former Leith Hospital in the 1980s, her shift pattern allowed her to take her three children to nursery when she got home, sleeping just a few hours before picking them up again.

At the time, she said, tiredness and disrupted meals seemed a reasonable price to pay: "I felt like I battled time continually.” There’s only so much you can get done in a day. "And because I did split nights, I often wasn't sleeping until the following day. My sleeping patterns, even now, my eating patterns - that side of it is still with me." It was during her time at Leith hospital that she developed breast cancer, undergoing a lumpectomy, radium treatment and chemotherapy. At the time, she said she would never have dreamt that there could have been a connection between her disease and her night work.

But now that she knows it is a possibility, as a breast cancer survivor, she has a clear message for other women who may find themselves in her position: "You should have a choice whether or not to do nights.” If I knew then what I know now...you would be better, if there is an alternative. "Because if it's risking your health, there's nothing worth that." Professor Andrew Watterson, an occupational health specialist at Stirling University, said we are far behind Scandinavia in recognising the dangers. "I think we can say there is a big public health problem here," he said.

"The evidence has been good over a long period of time about cardiovascular disease and night work, gastro-intestinal problems and nights.” Work indicates there may be risks in terms of low birth-weight babies and longer pregnancies for women. "We don't tend to identify the damage being done where shift working is prevalent and I think that's an error. The damage is there but we don't see it and we don't count it."

"The HSE has been very on the ball in this area and has commissioned a very eminent epidemiologist to examine the risk of working at night and whether there is any link to breast cancer. This report will be completed in 2011." But assistant general secretary of the Scottish TUC, Ian Tasker, thinks the UK is lagging behind.

Greater awareness
"I don't think we have enough evidence to say they're not," he said. "But we have a feeling that perhaps employers are taking the opportunity to ensure these health checks are not carried out or, if they are, it's very much a tick-box approach to it." In the meantime unions are calling for a greater awareness of the dangers of night shifts. She said she would have given up her job if she had known the dangers."I wouldn't have been flying for that many years, definitely not. Because it's cancer you can die from. So I would like to stay alive."

More Indians find 'better' career options at home than in US

New York, Uncle Sam's land may not be as good-looking a destination as widely believed, as a survey shows that many Indian immigrants found professional and career prospects far better in their home country than in the US. Besides, in several cases, superior career avenues back home influenced their decision to return. The study conducted by Harvard professor Vivek Wadhwa surveyed highly-skilled immigrants, who had worked or received their education in the US and later returned to their home countries.

"Respondents strongly indicated that they felt that professional and career opportunities at home were greater to those in the US. Eighty four per cent of Chinese and 68.7 per cent of Indian respondents stated that better professional opportunities were strong factors in their decision to return home," the study titled 'America's loss is the world's gain: America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs. The survey, which covered 1,203 Indian and Chinese immigrants, exposed that better career opportunities was the reason for more than 63 per cent of the Indians to come back to India.

Malaysia intention 9 per cent increase in Indian visitors this year

Tourism Malaysia on Wednesday said it expects around nine per cent increase in the number of Indian tourist arrivals in the country this year, although the overall global tourist arrival in the Southeast Asian country could drop by two million.

"Due to the current financial crisis, the overall global tourism is not doing well. So, we have cut down our target of global tourist arrivals from 22 million to 20 million. However, this is a time to focus on neighbouring countries and other Asian countries, including India," Tourism Malaysia Director Manoharan said.

Manoharan said Malaysia is expecting around six lakh Indian visitors this year compared to over 5.5 lakh visitors last year. "People are finding more economical to spend their holiday within the Asian region than to fly to the West. Tourists are not favouring long haul destinations at this point of time.

Wipro Q3 net Increasing 8.7 per cent

Wipro (WIPRO.NS : 219.7 -8.45 down), India's No. 3 software services exporter, reported an 8.7 per cent rise in quarterly profit, meeting market expectations, helped by a weaker rupee and higher fees from its overseas clients.

Wipro, which counts Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Cisco among its clients, said on Wednesday net profit rose to 8.98 billion rupees ($183 million) in October-December under US accounting rules, up from 8.26 billion rupees a year ago.

A Reuters poll had forecast a net profit of 8.99 billion rupees for Wipro, which provides IT solutions and services such as system integration, software application development and maintenance and research services.

Revelations of overstated profits and fictitious assets at fourth-ranked Satyam Computer Services (SATYAM.BO : 27.75 +0.9 Up) have cast a shadow over India's outsourcing sector, which was already struggling with slowing growth due to global financial turmoil.

Wipro said last week the World Bank had barred the company from direct contracts until 2011, citing a conflict of interest, adding to the glum outlook.

Shares in Wipro, which has a market value of about $7 billion, fell 31 per cent in the December quarter, while the sector index slipped 28 per cent and the main Mumbai index dropped by 25 per cent.

US President Obama speech about American stories

The rise, rise and fall of Satyam IT Company

Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju, who shocked India by admitting massive fraud over several years, was the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007 and the company won the Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance given by the World Council for Corporate Governance.

Here is a brief history of the company, which was once a flagbearer of Cyberabad, as its headquarters and Andhra Pradesh capital Hyderabad were hailed in the early years of the IT boom in late 1990s.

Established: June 24, 1987

Global Headquarters: Hyderabad

Development Centres: Bangalore, Basingstoke, Beijing, Bhubaneswar, Budapest, California, Chennai, Chicago, Dalian, Georgia, Guangzhou, Gurgaon, Hartford, Hyderabad, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Mumbai, Munich, Mississauga, New Jersey, Ontario, Pune, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Wiesbaden

Employee strength: 52,865 (including employees in subsidiaries and joint ventures) as on Sep 30, 2008

1991: Debuts on Bombay Stock Exchage with an IPO oversubscribed 17 times

1999: Satyam Infoway (Sify) becomes the first Indian Internet company listed on Nasdaq; presence established in 30 countries

2001: Listed on the New York Stock Exchange with trading name SAY

2006: Revenue exceeds $1 billion; sets up the first 'Global Innovation Hub' in Singapore and operations in Guangzhou, China

2007: Becomes the official IT services provider for the FIFA World Cups, 2010 (South Africa) and 2014 (Brazil); Ramalinga Raju named the 'Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year'

2008: Revenue crosses the $2-billion mark

2008 Dec 16: Announces plan to buy two Maytas firms; calls off the deal within hours in the face of shareholders' opposition; share price tumbles

Dec 18: Announces board meeting on Dec. 29 to consider share buyback as markets hammer the shares

Dec 23: World Bank confirms blacklisting Satyam for eight years on grounds of data theft and bribing bank officials

Dec 26: The crisis takes its first toll - Mangalam Srinivasan, an independent director, quits

Dec 28: Puts off board meet to Jan 10

Dec 29: Three more directors quit

2009 Jan 2: Founder-promoters stake falls from 8.64 percent to 5.13 percent as financial institutions with whom the entire stake was pledged dump the shares

Jan 6: Promoters' stake falls further as lenders offload more pledged shares

Jan 7: Ramalinga Raju sends shockwaves by admitting fraud. Resigns as chairman.