Fruits, veggies cut cancer risk
Fruits, veggies cut cancer risk
10 Dec 2007, 0050 hrs IST,REUTERS
WASHINGTON: Just three servings a month of raw broccoli or cabbage can reduce the risk of bladder cancer by as much as 40%, researchers reported this week. Other studies show dark-coloured berries can reduce the risk of cancer too — adding more evidence to a growing body of research that shows fruits and vegetables, especially richly coloured varieties, can reduce the risk of cancer.
Researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, surveyed 275 people who had bladder cancer and 825 people without cancer. They asked especially about cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage. These foods are rich in compounds called isothiocyanates, which are known to lower cancer risk. The effects were most striking in non-smokers, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research. Compared to smokers who ate fewer than three servings of raw cruciferous vegetables, non-smokers who ate at least three servings a month were almost 73% less likely to be in the bladder cancer group, they found.
A second team of researchers from Roswell Park tested broccoli sprouts in rats. They used rats engineered to develop bladder cancer and fed some of them a freeze-dried extract of broccoli sprouts. The more they ate, the less likely they were to develop bladder cancer, said Yuesheng Zhang, who led the research. They found the compounds were processed and excreted within 12 hours of feeding. That suggests the idea that compounds are protecting the bladder from the inside, said Zhang.
Toshiba to make 128GB flash drive
Toshiba to make 128GB flash drive
REUTERS[ MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007 04:18:01 PM]
TOKYO: Japanese memory chip maker Toshiba Corp said that it would make flash-based solid state drives for notebook PCs, as it seeks to create new sources of demand for flash memory chips.
The world’s No. 2 maker of NAND-type flash memory said its solid state drives would range in capacity from 32 GB to 128 GB, and that it will mass produce the 1.8-inch and 2.5 inch drives in May 2008.
Zippy, quiet, and boasting a faster boot time than hard disk drives, solid state drives are used in portable devices like tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs. But their high price has prevented them from going mainstream in the PC market.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world’s biggest memory chip maker, and Toshiba’s partner SanDisk Corp already make solid-state drives.
Boise, Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc has also said it would enter the solid state drive market, with mass production to start next quarter.
Dual SIM mobile phone
Dual SIM mobile phone
My work entails frequent travel across the country. I carry two mobiles, one personal and the other, official. Is there any mobile phone that supports two SIM cards, so I can be spared the hassle of carrying two mobile chargers and handling two systems?
Ranjith K Dual SIM mobile phones have now been introduced in India. These support two SIM cards in a single handset, so users can switch between two numbers or networks. Depending on the mobile model, you may use a combination of one CDMA sim card and one GSM sim card, use either both CDMA sim cards or both GSM sim cards.
In India, Spice Mobile launched the first dual-mode mobile phones. It offers two variants, D-88 and D-80. The D-88 Supports both GSM and CDMA, on the other hand the D-80 can support two GSM connections. The D-88 supports 1.3 megapixels camera, with 262K color TFT display, MP3 playback, etc.
Samsung and Tata Indicom have introduced India’s first touch-screen based Dual SIM card phones named “Samsung Duo”. According to Samsung’s Web site, you can use two CDMA numbers or two GSM numbers or one CDMA and one GSM numbers. Duo is a quad band device supporting CDMA 800 & 1900 MHz bands and GSM 900 &1800 MHz band. The handset operates on the Tata Indicom network as well as GSM networks in India and internationally. You can switch between the two networks easily without the need for restarting the handset. Samsung Duo supports two SIM card slots that allow operation of two numbers on Duo non-simultaneously. It, however, supports call forwarding facility on both GSM and CDMA, which facilitates incoming calls from both the numbers. Call forwarding is, however, network-dependent. The specifications are 262K TFT display – 2.2 inch TFT Touch Screen, 1.3 megapixels camera with 10X digital zoom, video recording, MP3 player, Micro SD card slot, support up to 1 GB of external memory, Bluetooth support, handwriting recognition, etc.
For more information about Samsung Duo, please look up the following URL:
M. Sampath
Five skills of creativity
Five skills of creativity
The Smart Crow Never Goes Thirsty by Moid Siddiqui Wisdom Tree
Creativity is the input, and innovation, the output, says Moid Siddiqui in The Smart Crow Never Goes Thirsty ( http://www.wisdomtreeindia.com). “Creativity is non-linear, numberless, and follows no set pattern,” he describes.
It is a tragedy, says the author, that we don’t provide our people with the ‘creativity toolkit’ even as we expect them to be creative. He faults the education system that emphasises the so-called scientific approach.
“More damage is caused, and disservice to creativity is done, by urging students and managers ‘not to be vague’. What they don’t understand is that ‘reality’ is always ‘vague’ at its ends. We encourage our people to be precisely wrong than vaguely correct.”
Siddiqui lists the five skills of creativity, as follows:
Divergent thinking (to move from the focused to the blurred, for obtaining a wider range and a broader perspective).
Lateral thinking (by creating a forced relationship between remote objects, which seem to be unrelated, and thus forging a fusion).
Intuitive thinking (through which you can know the truth, though not know how you know).
Angel’s advocate (by focusing on the positive side of every idea).
Dissection of ideas (the application aspect of creativity to get something done).
The last skill requires the sieving of ideas for attractiveness and compatibility. The criteria of attractiveness include originality, simplicity, ease of implementation and copy protection. Aligning with company objectives and resource availability ensures compatibility.
An appetising guide to creativity!
D. Murali
The first impression
The first impression
Young managers should resist the tendency to get carried away by appearances.
Sidin Vadukut
I recently received an e-mail from a reader of this column who is distraught with her current career situation: “Dear Sidin, I am a big fan of your column and I would like to say that it is clear from your writing that you are an extremely attractive man with a Greek god body and the intelligence to match. I hope the editors don’t think you fabricated that line in my letter. Because it is completely genuine.
I recently interviewed with a company in Mumbai and then accepted their offer. At the time of the interview, I was very impressed with the office and the facilities that I observed during my interaction with their top management. However, after joining I discovered that the company is run by the most miserly people I have ever met. They reuse old fax paper once the printing fades away. Also, the photocopy machine is coin operated. I got duped. Please write a column about this fraud that was committed on me.
Love , Natasha”
If I had a rupee for every time I have heard this story, there would be private wealth management people instead of bank collection agents clamouring outside my door right now. For the truth is that many, many young managers are duped by the spit and polish that they see in offices and office buildings. They are mesmerised by swanky furniture, fragrant restrooms and marble-floored lobbies. Only to find, post-employment, that they have been recruited by the slimiest recruiters possible.
Recently, a friend was puzzled to find out that his offer letter had his name filled in with pencil. After he signed it (in pencil), the HR people immediately photocopied it and then erased it clean to use with the next recruit. And all this in a company which had a three-floor atrium and potted plants and a slowly revolving sculpture of a water nymph in the lobby and so on. Currently, he reuses visiting cards.
Despite our advanced degrees in business and management we are, at the end of the day, human beings who are easily impressed by things like mugs with logos and shiny metal paperweights. Such are the frailties of the human spirit.
Thankfully, for all of you, you have me. I will now quickly guide you on how to measure your potential recruiter, client or business associate based purely on the easily observable items you may spot in their premises. Follow me for a life-changing set of tips.
Item : Shiny lobby with squeaky clean marble floors.
Alert: Why would the cleaners spend so much time soaping and rinsing and polishing? Simple. The boss comes to work every single day. No outstation trips or golfing holidays for him. Which means you will never be able to leave early or come in late. Proceed only if you deeply loathe work-life balance. Caution: Wet Floor.
Item: HR posters everywhere. In the lift. On the walls.
Alert: Looks like a great people-friendly place to work does it? Pshaw! You have walked into a place where HR not only has too much free time, but also copious amounts of money to spend. Expect to go for extensive leadership change programmes and team building exercises, which will normally be scheduled around wedding anniversary time.
Item: Outstanding catering with extensive cuisine choices. Lobby café.
Alert: ‘Go home for dinner with the family? When we have spaghetti bolognese and tiramisu in the canteen? And inch-thick wads of meal coupons? Impossible. You have sold your soul to us. Guahahaha…’
Item: State-of-the-art laptops for everyone along with features-rich Blackberries.
Alert: Wow! They invest so much on infrastructure for the employees, no? No! Instead you will soon begin to loathe both devices and will find yourself leaving them around unattended at cafes and airports hoping that someone would steal them. Also, changing the ringtone (set on Barbie Girl by the cheeky fellows in IT) is against company policy.
Item: Expensive champagne and Cuban cigars adorn the CEO’s lavish office.
Alert: What a sophisticated man! Must be enriching to work under him. Or so you think. In reality, you will soon be reporting to a semi-conscious gentleman who is on a slightly high all day:
You: “So from your perspective, as CEO, I really think that this is an acquisition that will add value to our overall product portfolio, long-term strategy and international expansion plans…”
CEO: “… I am the CEO? Hic!”
So as you can see, first impressions can be pretty risky things to go by. First impressions can be a minefield of career maladies for the gullible young manager. Thankfully, by using these tips you should be able to tiptoe past many of them.
Now, before we close the topic I know there is a burning question in your mind. What sort of recruiter is ideal? How do you know when a job is perfect? When do you know you’ve found the recruiter who will satisfy you for years and years?
Ideally, the interview takes place at a swanky restaurant over dinner. That way, you can knock back a few drinks too. (If the guy offers booze during lunch ask for the offer letter right away. Start work next morning.) You should be able to work from home. This omits the need for an office altogether. It also means that the dress code is a lungi and white banian. Lunch break is as and when you wish. Also, your remuneration should have nothing at all to do with the actual effort you put in. And whenever you need to send in reports to the office, they could send the receptionist to pick it up.
When you come to think of it, that’s a lot like freelance writing. Except for the receptionist. And the money.
Sigh.
See you all next fortnight. Till then you taking the care, wokay?
(The writer, an alumnus of IIM-A, was a management consultant before quitting to work as a freelance writer, author and general handyman. He blogs at http://www.whatay.com)
Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry
Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry
Drilling rig moved to Krishna-Godavari asset
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Digging for oil
In the Cauvery asset, RIL has no further drilling commitment.
The company struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block
The second well was abandoned due to a technical snag.
——————————————————————————–
Richa Mishra
New Delhi, Dec. 9 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) seems to have run out of luck in its deepwater Cauvery asset. The company has been able to strike hydrocarbon in only one of the three wells drilled in CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-D5). In October, RIL had re-entered the asset to carve out the third well.
Sources told Business Line that drilling activity in the third well which started in October had been completed and the company had not done any hydrocarbon testing. RIL had earlier this year struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block and had to abandon the second well due to a technical snag.
As on date, RIL has 34 oil and gas blocks in its kitty, and has made about 34 discoveries (both commercial and non-commercial) in India with a success ratio of 60 per cent. The company has drilled over 30 dry wells till now.
Rig moved to KG basin
RIL has now moved the drilling rig to its Krishna Godavari asset KG-OSN-2001/1, the shallow water block where it has already made a discovery. In the Cauvery asset, RIL has no further drilling commitment. Sources said that in these kinds of blocks (CY-D5), called ‘wild cat blocks’, the success ratio is one in 10. Therefore, the company’s strike rate of one in three is not below the international average. The wild cat blocks are new frontier areas.
The financial implications of hitting a dry well would largely depend on the results of the first find, industry analysts say. “If size of the discovery is not very big in the first well, it would not be economically very viable.
Further, if two-three dry wells are drilled in the region, then the accumulated area is limited, thus making the success largely dependent on the size of the first discovery. Besides, the company may be required to rethink its exploration model,” analysts said.
The find in the first well showed there were two zones. In the first zone, as per the initial tests, RIL has found 550 barrels per day of oil and one million cubic ft per day of gas, while in the second zone, it found 31 million cubic ft per day of gas and 1,200 barrels per day of condensate.
RIL has already informed the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons about it. The block is 14,325 sq km in size.
RIL had deployed its rig Actinia to undertake the activity. The third well was altogether a separate geological structure, quite different from what has been discovered in the block.
When it re-entered the NELP-III block, RIL had the option of resuming activity in the abandoned second well.
However, the company decided against it and, based on seismic surveys, decided to carve out another area in the block, sources said. RIL holds 100 per cent interest in the block.
A story of determination
A story of determination
H.S. Narasimha Kumar
DAVANGERE: He is from a barber’s family and helps his father in his profession. But helping his father did not make him slack in his studies.
B.S. Vijay Kumar scored 93 per cent in the second Pre-University Course exam held this year and stood first in his college, DRM Science College in Davangere. He secured the 3035th and 4922nd ranks respectively for medical and engineering seats in the Common Entrance Test.
Vijay, who has been performing well all through his academic life, wants to become an electronics engineer. He continues to assist his father in his profession, as he is yet to be admitted to an engineering college. Vijay does not want to pursue his studies elsewhere as he wants to continue assisting his father till he completes his education and gets a job to take care of the family. He hopes to do his engineering at the Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET) or at Brahamappa Devendrappa Thavannappanavar (BDT) Engineering College in Davangere.
Father proud
Despite concentrating on his studies, Vijay did never failed to attend to customers at his father’s shop. “In spite of telling him to concentrate on his studies instead of assisting me at the shop, Vijay used to continue to do both with ease. He has scored very good marks right from his childhood,” recalled Somashekarappa, his father. Despite having studied in a Kannada-medium school from the beginning, Vijay has a good vocabulary in English.
That Vijay is an extraordinary boy can be seen, and he has indeed set an example for other children.
Kerala gives all its schools Internet connections
Kerala gives all its schools Internet connections
IANS
Kerala’s Education Minister M.A. Baby Sunday inaugurated the first phase of Internet broadband connections to 1,200 schools in the state.
The initiative is part of the IT@School project launched by the state government in 2003 for imparting IT education to high school children across the state.
“All the 2,800 high schools in Kerala will be connected through broadband Internet by June as part of the project,” the minister said while inaugurating the first phase from the State Secretariat.
“We are planning to extend the services to upper primary schools (between 5th-7th classes) as well. In the first phase, we will start with 38 schools in this academic secession,” said Baby.
“This is an exciting phase for the schools, since for the first time in the country schools will be connected through broadband Internet. Students from 8th, 9th & 10th classes will have the opportunity to surf Internet,” he added.
Since the launch of the project, students have been learning the theoretical aspects of Internet. Now, they will start using the technology.
The project is implemented in collaboration with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), which has endeavoured to give special tariff rates for the 2800 schools in the state.
“The security deposit, modem rental and installation charges has been waived. Each school has also been offered a nominal rate Rs. 5000 per year to avail the services,” said K.S. Sreenivasan, chief general manager of BSNL.
The project aims to improve the conventional learning system by equipping the teachers with computers as an educational tool.
“The project has brought computers closer to children. We will start an impact study to find out the areas for improvement,” said director of public instruction M. Sivasankar.
Currently, as part of the project, about 40,000 computers have been put into use at the high schools. More than 60,000 teachers have been trained in IT and nearly 1.6 million students have benefited.
Saved from folly, vanity and vice
Saved from folly, vanity and vice
10 Dec, 2007, 0301 hrs IST,K VIJAYARAGHAVAN, TNN
A very striking and brilliant piece is this portion from Poems of Thomson (as reproduced in Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography): “Save me from folly, vanity and vice”. Of these three afflictions, folly is to be dreaded most because this often is the source of most problems.
Even vanity and vice as also other distressing characteristics are often chastened, if not eliminated, through hard rubs of life and exposures. But folly and also obstinacy, which often goes with this, rarely are visited by refinements. The Bible aptly notes (Proverbs: 26,11), “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly”.
No doubt, idiocy or folly, when it monopolises a person’s thinking or actions, can hardly be eliminated. However, fortunately in most persons, this malignancy constitutes only a small portion of their personality and character, which otherwise are marked by clarity, wisdom and common sense. The tragedy, nevertheless is that this small portion often serves to suppress the noble and evolved virtues within.
For a seeker, therefore, it is necessary to observe and analyse those manifestations, suggestive of this folly — misplaced priorities, feeling complacent in a fool’s paradise, romantic fantasies running amuck, building castles in the air, day dreaming, scheming and uncontrolled forays into wishful thinking.
Harmful and undesirable though such aberrations could be, these could also finally prove to be manifestations of an abiding creativity and power within. When channelled well, these could finally serve to make and shape the seeker, instead of damaging him.
This process is verily the practical application of the injunction to set for oneself a vision in life, through becoming passionately involved in meaningful avenues, depending on one’s truest interests and capabilities. These could also include particular physical activities or exercises, which would further contribute to his intellectual pursuits.
Only an idle mind is a devil’s workshop, whereas the soul that yearns for vibrant activity, in the spirit of the prayer, mrityorma amritam gamaya, (in Bruhadaranyaka Upanishad) learns instinctively to eliminate the tendencies to folly, vanity and vice for replacement with, what Thomson himself terms as, “knowledge, conscious peace and virtue pure”.
The thrill of breaking rules!
The thrill of breaking rules!
6 Dec, 2007, 0119 hrs IST,Pramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, TNN
This is a true incident. A young man was addicted to smoking cigarettes. He asked for my help. “Master, please help me to quit smoking. I don’t know how I became addicted. Please help me.”
I asked him, “How did you start smoking?”
“Master, I never wanted to smoke. In fact, I hated that smell,” he said.
“One day, I was talking to my friend on the street. My friend was smoking a cigarette. My father saw this from a distance. He thought I was smoking. When I went home, he started yelling and shouting at me. He did not listen to me. Then I decided, how does it matter if I smoke now? I have already been punished for it. I then started to smoke.”
We all get a thrill, a feeling of adventure, satisfaction in doing what we are not allowed to do. When we are asked not to do something, we feel a strong urge to do it; we feel provoked to do it. We feel a kind of joy and satisfaction in doing it. This is the basic tendency of every human being.
When there is a strict rule, we always try to work around it, go beyond it. How many of us drive fast until we see a cop? We say no to our parents to prove that we are now grownups. We think that we become adults only when we say no. Adults have the power and authority to veto anything by saying no. By saying no, we assume that we also have become adults.
We feel that as long as we say yes we are only children. We feel that we are not mature. When we say no, we think, we assume, that we have become adults. We think that we have become mature. This is the basic tendency of every human being. We feel that we have matured into adulthood, become men or women, simply by saying no to our parents.
In western countries, that is why there are so many rebellious groups, gangs, and other problems. These people develop a deep satisfaction in and taste for saying no. Saying no is almost like an addiction. When we say no, we try to prove that we are someone special. We feel by saying no we become someone different.
Breaking rules will not make you an adult. To be an adult you need an understanding of what you do and why. Only then, even if you break a rule, will you do it without guilt.
ClicksandWrites 
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