AK Srivastava (SriAKS)

Eligibility Norms for IIT Admission Test (IITJEE) May Get Tougher To minimise competition and also to ensure non serious students for not applying for IIT JEE and to keep the IIT JEE Coaching industry in check, the four member committee, set up by the ministry of HRD, is working on possible ways. One such thing being considered by the committee is increasing weightage of board exam scores to tighten eligibility for JEE. The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) system for admission to IITs is most likely to be overhauled, as these premier educational institutions are keen to reduce the number of aspirants appearing for the test. The committee, headed by IIT-Kharagpur director professor Damodar Acharya, is working out the formula based on which competition could be limited to a smaller group of students that is really serious and has the potential. At present, about 4 lakh students apply for the JEE for admission to 15 IITs that have about 10,000 seats. This means about 40 students are...

. On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan is Shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by a deranged drifter named John Hinckley Jr. The president had just finished addressing a labor meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel and was walking with his entourage to his limousine when Hinckley, standing among a group of reporters, fired six shots at the president, hitting Reagan and three of his attendants. White House Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head and critically wounded, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy was shot in the side, and District of Columbia policeman Thomas Delahaney was shot in the neck. After firing the shots, Hinckley was  overpowered and pinned against a wall, and President Reagan, apparently unaware that he'd been shot, was shoved into his limousine by a Secret Service agent and rushed to the hospital. The president was shot in the left lung, and the .22 caliber bullet just missed his heart. In an impressive feat for a 70-yea...

. Indians better than British students, EVEN IN ENGLISH LONDON: It's official. Indian students are better than their British counterparts in schools, even in subjects like English. Government figures from the Department for Children, Schools and Families have revealed Indian and Chinese students get top grades than British children in every school subject at the secondary examination. Thirtyone per cent of Indian students and 55 per cent of Chinese pupils who took General Certificate of School Education exams last year achieved an A, according to the new figures released. Among white British pupils the figure was 16 per cent. For black African pupils it was 14 per cent, for Pakistani 13 per cent and black Caribbean 8 per cent, leading newspaper the 'Daily Mail' reported. The figures also show that, as well as forging ahead in maths, Indian and Chinese pupils outperform white British pupils in English. The Chinese pupils were most likely to get As, with 29 per ce...

. Have you ever met a man with such personal magnetism that he is always the center of attention? Possibly his personality or intelligence---but something about him is enigmatic. Well, that’s the way it was two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ. But it wasn’t merely Jesus’ personality that captivated his followers. Those who witnessed his words and life tell us that even though he was human, he was remarkably different from all other men. Eyewitnesses tell us that Jesus was a man who grew physically, ate, slept, felt pain, and eventually died. Their written accounts also describe Jesus as walking on water, calming storms, healing the blind and lame, and even raising the dead. Furthermore, they tell us that Jesus appeared alive to them after they watched him die on the cross. Jesus’ greatness was obvious to all those who saw and heard him. But, whereas most great people simply fade into history books, Jesus of Nazareth is still the focus of numerous books and media controversy. ...

. Initial Public offer – Issues, Pricing and Capital Market Indian Capital Market has matured with SEBI, the regulator playing an active and judicious role. The country has an investor base of about 1.4 per cent of its 130 Billion population. So there are about 2 Crore investors having exposure to the Indian capital market represented through the Stock Exchanges (SEs). What the SEs reflects is the activities of companies and the resultant factor which goes to test the performance is price. Price is the ultimate factor reflected on the SEs. Compared to the population size of the country, the investors’ family is small.  With household savings at over 35 per cent of the total income, Indian capital market is expected to experience a further quantum leap. Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is trying hard to regulate the securities market in an orderly manner so that economy can prosper and take on the might of advanced countries.  Indian stock market has ...

. A steady change is occurring in the US attitude towards Pakistan’s credentials on its nuclear front in order to seek latter’s cooperation on nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Obama administration is willing to consider offering a similar civilian nuclear deal to Pakistan akin to the one given to India. The shift in stance comes within less than a month of US saying no to any possibility of giving an atomic power plant or a civilian nuclear deal to Pakistan. The latest development is bound to raise diplomatic concerns within India and an even greater political commotion. However, does India really need to bother since there are so many factors which make the whole idea appear remotely impossible? Firstly, while the US may choose to forgive Pakistan for the A Q Khan episode by stating that the notorious scientist acted on his own, the international non-proliferation community including the 44-member Nuclear Suppliers Group through which such deal will have to get past; will str...

. Maharashtra: Third Among Below Poverty Line Aafter UP & Bihar Mumbai: Maharashtra's image as a progressive state has taken a beating with recent figures rating it third amongst major states, after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as regards the population below poverty line. An Economic survey released by the state government said the poverty estimates provided by the Planning Commission reveal poverty ratio in the state is 30.7%, 3.2% more than the all-India (27.5%) figure. "Maharashtra had 3.17 crore persons below poverty line after Uttar Pradesh (5.90 crore) and Bihar (3.69 crore) in 2004-05," the survey said. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal had the same level of poverty figures during 1993-94, but during 2004-05, poverty ratios of these states are much less than that of Maharashtra, it said. However, in absolute terms, the population below poverty line in the state increased by 12.2 lakh during the same period. This increase was mainly observed in urba...

. What is PIN Code System and How it is structured? Postal Index Number (PIN) is a 6 digit code. There are 8 PIN regions in the country. The first digit indicates one of the regions. The first 2 digits together indicate the sub region or one of the postal circles. The first 3 digits together indicate a sorting / revenue district. The last 3 digits refer to the delivery Post Office. The first digit of PIN indicates the following: Regions indicated by first digit of PIN First Digit Region States Covered 1 Northern Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir 2 Northern Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand> 3 Western Rajasthan and Gujarat 4 Western Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh 5 Southern Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka 6 Southern Kerala and Tamil Nadu 7 Eastern West Bengal, Orissa and North Eastern 8 Eastern Bihar & Jharkand The first 2 digits of PIN indicate the following: Sub regions indicated by first 2 digits of PIN First 2 Digits of...

. In a Natural Way - Eating Dark Chocolate Dark chocolate is not only delicious, but also good for health. However, this does not apply to other forms of chocolate such as milk chocolate or candy bars. The health benefits are only contained in dark chocolate that contains at least 65 percent of cocoa. They also aid in reducing LDL or bad cholesterol levels. Studies have shown that LDL cholesterol can be reduced by as much as 10 percent due to the effects of flavonoids. Dark chocolate also helps to improve the mood since it contains serotonin which has anti-depressant properties. Eating dark chocolate also triggers the production of endorphins which induces pleasurable feelings, making you feel good. The high flavonoid content in the cocoa also protects the skin from premature ageing and skin cancer. Blood pressure is lowered by eating healthy amounts of dark chocolate every day. Studies have also shown that intake of dark chocolate improves the body’s natural response to insulin,...

. 300 Crorepati Babus [CLERKS] in Bihar ! ! ! PATNA: A staggering 300 Bihar government employees earning modest government salaries are crorepatis. If this isn’t surprising enough, here’s more: All but two of the sleazy 300 continue to hold on to their secure as also, no doubt, lucrative - government jobs despite long stints in jails. According to official figures, 71 such corrupt babus were caught until November this year by the state vigilance bureau. In 2006, when chief minister Nitish Kumar cracked the whip on graft, 70-odd ‘trap’ cases led to the arrest of 76 employees. This figure shot up to 131 in 2007; while 97 others were caught with their hands in the till in 2008. Of these 365 arrested babus, Vigilance Bureau found 300 of them had assets and other valuables running into crores. In the last four years, charge sheets were submitted against 596 gazetted and 632 non-gazetted public servants apart from 302 others, including those arrested before 2006. With just one vigila...

Achieve a Healthier and Fit Body   Weight training is a type of strength training which reduces our mass to muscles, thus developing and increasing the muscle strength. It mainly uses the force of gravity as resistance and weights as the equipments in different form. Weight training is not basically bodybuilding but to achieve healthier and a fit body. Life is full of complexities and tensions resulting in a hectic lifestyle but one can take out time for being healthier or else why to continue working like machines resulting in flab's and poor body metabolism. A combination of regular strength training or weight training with a controlled and rich protein diet and a brisk walk will do wonders to your body structure and lifestyle. Reasons why weight training is important to your health are - 1.             Basal metabolism is the result of working out with weights. It lets you burn increased calories thus stabilizing to normal level and also burns when you are asleep....

  Get Ready for Earth Hour 2010   Millions of people across the world are getting ready to eradicate the global warming to some extent which is one of the biggest problems of today through the Earth hour 2010. Let us make you clear what exactly is Earth hour…   Earth hour is considered as a greatest act of global unity which is organized by WWF World Wide Fund for Nature (other wise called as World Wildlife Fund) and said to be a resolution to the problems of climate changes. In order to cope up from the effect of global warming to at least some extent the whole world is uniting together on March 27 th at 8.30 Pm (local time) to put off the lights for one hour.   The goal of the Earth hour is to maintain a low carbon economy in addressing the problem of global warming and also prove that we have every possible chance to take the action against climate changes. Cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore an...

. Mayawati's assets are worth Rs 52 crore Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati owns movable and immovable assets worth about Rs 52 crore, but does not have any vehicle or agricultural land in her name. As per an affidavit filed by Mayawati along with her nomination papers for the UP Legislative Council bypoll in Lucknow [ Images ] on Monday, Mayawati disclosed that she owns diamonds and jewellery worth Rs 51 lakh. According to the details of her movable and immovable assets, she has Rs 52.27 lakh in cash while Rs 12.88 crore is deposited in banks, financial institutions and non-banking financial companies. Mayawati said that she has Rs 50,87,529 in the form of gold, diamonds and silver. Of this, she has 1034.260 gm of gold, 76.040 gm of diamond and 18,500 kg of silver dinner set. She also has murals worth Rs 15 lakh. Mayawati declared that she has three commercial and two residential buildings in New Delhi [ Images ] worth Rs 37.82 cror...

Do Indian women have political will?   ACCORDING TO our Harvard-addressor RJD supremo, women are best left attending to household matters while the men move around in the corridors of power. Lalu Prasad Yadav has drawn the wrath of women all over the country not just by opposing the 33 per cent reservation Bill for women in Parliament tooth and nail, but also going ahead to say that women aren't even mature enough to have any political will of their own. To quote him, "If they think women vote independently without considering their husband's wishes, they are mistaken. If I ask Rabri (Devi) to vote for someone, do you think she will do otherwise?" But not everyone agrees with him. "I think it's high time Mr Yadav woke up from his slumber," says Kehkashan Khan, a marketing executive at a designer firm. "Although he might love to treat the women in his household as meek cows, we, 21st century women, are no longer willing to be just doo...

. Difference between Insolvency and Bankruptcy A reference to the “Twilight Zone” to many readers may evoke associations with the classic television series and film about strange and bizarre events. he general connotation, that of a transitional or ambiguous condition, has more serious implications in the business world – it is the Zone of Insolvency from which the companies emerge or perish. In colloquial parlance, though the terms are used interchangeably, insolvency and bankruptcy are not synonymous. Insolvency is a state of affairs in which the financial difficulties of a company are such it is unable to run its business at its current pace. Warning signs could be drop in sales, delay in payments, erosion of share capital and increasing reliance on credit. Tests of insolvency are two fold –“cash flow” test where it is unable to pay debts, and the “balance sheet” test where the liabilities, including contingent and prospective exceed the realisable assets. Very often a company ...

. Total Airports in INDIA The government owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) operates 125 airports and civil enclaves out of a total of 449 airports and airstrips located throughout India. The cities of Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi and Mumbai are served by privately (or joint-venture) operated airports. All operational airports handled a total of 108.9 million passengers (77.3 m domestic and 31.6 m international) in the year ended March 2009. The total number of aircraft movements amounted to 1.31 million and freight volumes were at 1.7 million tons. Mumbai and Delhi airports handled 23.4 million and 22.8 m passengers respectively in 2008-09 and were ranked the world's 55th and 61st busiest airports respectively for the year 2006. During the first half of 2009-10 Delhi airport handled 12.2 m passengers compared to Mumbai airport's 12.1 m passengers during the same period. The modernisation costs for the two airports has been estimated at Rs 89 bn (phase I) for...

Airways Indian Airlines – 1800 180 1407 Jet Airways – 1800 22 5522 SpiceJet – 1800 180 3333 Automobiles Mahindra Scorpio – 1800 22 6006 Maruti – 1800 111 515 Tata Motors – 1800 22 5552 Windshield Experts – 1800 11 3636 Banks ABN AMRO – 1800 11 2224 Canara Bank – 1800 44 6000 Citibank – 1800 44 2265 Corporatin Bank – 1800 443 555 Development Credit Bank – 1800 22 5769 HDFC Bank – 1800 227 227 ICICI Bank – 1800 333 499 ICICI Bank NRI – 1800 22 4848 IDBI Bank – 1800 11 6999 Indian Bank – 1800 425 1400 ING Vysya – 1800 44 9900 Kotak Mahindra Bank – 1800 22 6022 Lord Krishna Bank – 1800 11 2300 Punjab National Bank – 1800 122 222 State Bank of India – 1800 44 1955 Syndicate Bank – 1800 44 6655 Cell Phones BenQ – 1800 22 08 08 Bird CellPhones – 1800 11 7700 Motorola MotoAssist – 1800 11 1211 Nokia – 3030 3838 Sony Ericsson – 3901 1111 Computers/IT Adrenalin – 1800 444 445 AMD – 1800 425 6664 Apple Computers – 1800 444 683 Canon – 1800 333 366 C...

. Tax Saver Fixed Deposit (FD): Tax Benefits Tax Saver Fixed Deposit, Tax benefits first introduced in Budget 2006, have a tenure of five years with no premature withdrawals. So tax deduction u/s 80C is only allowable, if FD have a tenure of 5 years. The amount invested will be locked up to five years, this is the main condition. In march, at the end of the financial year, ‘tax investments’ in tax-saving schemes to avail more tax benefits on rise. Let’s discuss the features, benefits & important points of Tax Saver fixed deposits (FD). Tax Saver Fixed Deposit Features Amount of Investment: The minimum investment start from Rs. 100 and can be made in multiples of Rs.100 subject to maximum of Rs 1,00,000/- Interest Period: One can avail the option for monthly and quarterly payout of interest on the Fixed Deposit (FD) Rate of Interest: You can go to this link to check latest rates of Tax Saving fixed deposit rates.You can also compare the fixed deposit rate of various ba...

. Mobile Phones with High Radiation Do cell phones cause brain cancer, dementia or have other side effects? Though there have been numerous studies on this, the verdict remains unclear. For, some studies reveal long-term side effects of cell phone usage others term them as mere hype. However, it is largely certain that cell phones do emit radiation. In fact, some analysts are now of the view that all cell phones should compulsorily display their radiation levels. US-based environmental group EWG recently published a list of phones with high levels of RF radiation. The list includes some of the most popular smartphone models from companies like Apple, LG, HTC, Motorola, Blackberry and Samsung. The study is based on SAR or Specific Absorption Rate. SAR according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association is “a way of measuring the quantity of radio frequency (RF) energy that is absorbed by the body. Here's over to the EWG list.   Motorola Droid Maximum radia...

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. 30 US banks already collapsed this year ...         ... more expected to collapse in coming weeks The American banking sector continues to grapple with failures and on an average, ten banks are closing down every month. This year, 30 banks have already collapsed and the numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks. A staggering 184 banks have folded up since the bankruptcy of the then Wall Street major Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Going by the official data, four entities were shut down by the authorities last week. Park Avenue Bank, Statewide Bank and Old Southern Bank failed on March 12 while LibertyPointe Bank collapsed on March 11. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures deposits at over 8,000 American banks, said these four failures would cost the agency USD 208.2 million. Small and medium banks are hit the most, since high unemployment levels are resulting in rising defaults. Despite a shaky labou...

Budget Terms Simplified There are lots of terms in budget, which are difficult to understand like what is the meaning and what is the importance in budget. Below are the some important terms, one can understand easily. Budget Estimates : It is an estimation of income and expenses for the year. This is the first step of the government to prepare budget accordingly. Same as we make estimate for the month before taking our salaries. Budget Deficit : As it appears from its name just more expenses then income. It is a situation when government think for other sources to control over it. Same like as general saying ‘Chadar Dekh Kar Per Pasaro”. Consumer Price Index: A price index covering the prices of consumer goods. This is contrasted with a more general price index, such as the GDP, which also includes investment gods and goods purchased by the government. Finance Bill: Before become the fiance act it is a finance bill. Finance bill have proposals, but when it is ...