Varun Kumar

SCIENTISTS have always believed that phosphorus is essential to life. But a recent finding, which was reported in Science Express , the early online version of the reputed journal Science , has claimed evidence that would demolish this long-held view. A team of U.S. scientists, led by Felisa Wolfe-Simon of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (and which includes Paul Davies, well-known for his popular science books), has isolated a strain of bacteria called GFAJ-1 from Mono Lake located in eastern California that seems to be able to grow on arsenic – a well-known poison – by incorporating it in its DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and other important biomolecules instead of phosphorus. However, the evidence so far is not absolutely conclusive and some scientists have expressed reservations as well.

With the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests approving “in principle” the status of a tiger reserve for the BRT sanctuary, the endangered cat has taken centre stage in all future plans for this uniquely diverse forest in southern Karnataka. Many conservationists see the Ministry's move as vital for the future of the estimated 35 tigers that inhabit the sanctuary. Ironically, as recently as in September, almost all Soliga families here had received land rights under the Forest Act. But with the declaration of a tiger reserve, many of them may well have to barter their land rights for a monetary compensation of Rs.10 lakh per family or a rehabilitation package worth the same amount (this includes the cost of building new homes and infrastructure at the rehabilitation site). If they opt for the latter, they will most likely have to move to Gumballi village outside the protected area, where they will be given a house, five acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare) of gomala (degraded) lan...

THE Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific began its peaceable transition from an absolute monarchy to a democratic government with the general election on November 25. The common people voted to elect 17 People's Representatives, and the nobles elected, from among themselves, nine members to the 26-member National Assembly. The new government, which is to be in place by December 26, will take over the executive powers once exercised by the King and his appointed Cabinet. King George Tupou V described the election day as “the greatest and most historic day for our kingdom”. The Oxford-educated King will remain the head of state but will no longer exercise executive powers, nor will he appoint the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. He, however, retains the power to dismiss the government in certain circumstances. The winds of change blowing over the tiny island kingdom of Tonga have been a bit harsh for the group of islands known as the “Friendly Islands”. From a King-appointed governm...

Source: DPA | IANS India Private Limited San Francisco , Dec 31 (DPA) Facebook passed Google as the most visited website in the US in 2010, according to a survey by the web tracking firm Experian Hitwise. The social networking site also claimed the top search term of the year, with variations on its name filling four of the 10 most popular searches, the survey found. In all, Facebook searches accounted for 3.48 percent of all web searches in the US in 2010, a 207-percent increase over 2009. The study found that Facebook accounted for 8.93 cent of all US website visits in the year, ahead of Google.com's 7.19 percent and third-placed Yahoo Mail with 3.85 percent. However if all Google's various properties are taken into account, the web search giant did overtake Facebook with 9.85 percent of all website visits. Microsoft's msn.com and bing.com also made it into the list of top ten websites, as did myspace.com.Other terms in the top 10 searches included 'youtube'...

Cultivate Big Ideas Neither respected management skills nor the company’s ability to make acquisitions is enough to lead the gargantuan companies like GE sail throughout its next century of business. One can be Six Sigma. Once can do great delivery. One can be great in China. One can do everything else well, but if one doesn’t have a good product, sale is not going to be much. So, GE came out with the concept "Fund Product Leadership". The concept emanates from Immelt’s initiative of organic growth, the concept of business expansion relating to increased output and sales from within without relying upon mergers and acquisitions. GE built an on-site lodge for visitors and expanded conference and research facilities which were dated and unable to serve large company gatherings. He also funded global research expansion, boosting centres around the world in places like Shanghai, Bangalore and Munich. HE put a seasoned business executive in charge who values technology but also un...

The plan may include seeking a new business that in a downturn sounds like a terrible time to diversify. But if one has strong financial base diversification gives more stability because a down market in one product may be compensated for by another product. Acquisition for organic growth is also an option that could result in rewards. In a downturn, valuations are pretty attractive for acquisitions that in future result in generating better rate of return on the capital employed. Corporations may also consider hiving off its non-core business in time of a downturn in order to streamline core competencies. This will defintely improve its financial efficiency by effective use of capital.

1.       Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) A NBFC is a company registered under the companies Act, 1956 and is engaged in the business of ·          Loans & Advances ·          Acquisition of shares/ stock/ bonds/ debentures/ securities issued by government or local authority or other securities of like marketable in nature ·          Leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit business However, a NBFC doesn’t include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity, industrial activity, sale/ purchase/ construction of immovable property. 2.       Principal Business It is defined as Financial Assets + Income arising there from >= 50% of its total assets (netted off by intangible assets) and total income respectively. 3.       Classification of NBFCs NBFCs ...

Attracting talent is a challenge for multinationals, lucrative pay packages and the work environment are big draws. In a poll conducted by Nielsen, 860 students graduating next year from 30 universities chose Google India as their preferred company to work for. The same poll in 2009, placed Google as number two behind McKinsey. The annual Nielsen Campus Track B-School Survey found 54% of the polled students eyed the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) segment followed by investment banks, management consulting for their careers. Talent incubator from the Tata group – Tata Administrative Services (TAS) moved from eight to the second most preferred employer. According to the Nielson report, the top 10 preferred recruiters for 2010 are: Google TAS Hindustan Lever Procter & Gamble McKinsey BCG Bain & Company Goldman Sachs Accenture Aditya Birla Group The first five are in order of preference. Regarding pay packages, the students expect: 16 lacs (~$36000) for a placemen...

Source: HBR The finding: People who are prone to guilt tend to work harder and perform better than people who are not guilt-prone, and are perceived to be more capable leaders. The research: Francis Flynn gave a standard psychological test, which measured the tendency to feel guilt, to about 150 workers in the finance department of a Fortune 500 firm and then compared their test results with their performance reviews. People who were more prone to guilt, he found, received higher performance ratings from their bosses. Related studies showed that they also were more committed to their organizations and were seen as stronger leaders by their peers. The challenge: Is guilt good? Would companies benefit from putting more neurotic people, and fewer ultrarational types, into leadership roles? Flynn: From a researcher’s perspective, the correlation is stunning. There’s a lot of “distance” between the TOSCA [Test of Self-Conscious Affect, which assesses guilt-proneness] and the p...

One of the most thrilling moments of my life was the day I got my first cycle,” reminisces Anil Agarwal, founder, chairman and, with his family, majority stakeholder of Vedanta Resources Plc. , the London Stock Exchange-listed mining and metals conglomerate with a market cap of $10 billion (Rs39,400 crore). The cycle was a gift from his father, a fabricator of grills and gates in small-town Patna in the 1960s. It meant the youngster could ride to his municipal school in style, instead of making the daily 10km hike on foot. Much later, Agarwal graduated to a Vespa scooter, but never made it to college. His friend, Shishir Kumar and he often caught the overnight train from Patna to Varanasi, where they would take in two shows, back-to-back, of the latest Bollywood releases. Sipping hot milk from a matka at the station, they would then catch the train home. A fellow cyclist and family friend, Kiran Gupta, became Agarwal’s bride when she was just 16 and he, 21. The couple still occasional...

While magnetic and semiconductor based information storage devices have been in use since the middle 1950's, today's computers and volumes of information require increasingly more efficient and faster methods of storing data. While the speed of integrated circuit random access memory (RAM) has increased steadily over the past ten to fifteen years, the limits of these systems are rapidly approaching. In response to the rapidly changing face of computing and demand for physically smaller, greater capacity, bandwidth, a number of alternative methods to integrated circuit information storage have surfaced recently. Bacteriorhodopsin, a light harvesting bacterial protein, is the basic unit of protein memory and is the key protein in halo bacterial photosynthesis. It functions like a light-driven photo pump. Under exposure to light it transports photons from the hollow bacterial cell to another medium, changes its mode of operation from photosynthesis to respiration, and converts lig...

The Indian telecom industry can be primarily divided into basic, cellular and internet services. It also has smaller segments such as radio paging services, Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs), Public Mobile Radio Trunked Services (PMRTS) and Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS). GSM & CDMA are the two most prevalent technologies in India. At the end of January 2010, the overall tele-density was recorded at 49.5 per cent with a total telephone subscriber base of 581.81 million. Currently, the tele-density is over 54%. The key players in the Indian telecom market are Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Bharti Airtel Limited, Reliance Communication, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Aircel and Tata Teleservices.   Smart   Phone Usage It currently stands at 200 minutes/day in India (Informate Mobile Meter).   However, 60% of the time is spent on browsing & entertainment thus roughly only 55 minutes is spent on ...