Bastobota without reality chara

Things I read recently:

 
UK universities own £15 million in arms shares

The UK's universities own shares in the arms trade worth over £15 million, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. 45 universities and university colleges have admitted that they own shares in at least one top arms company. Three institutions - UCL, Trinity College Cambridge and the University of Liverpool - each hold arms shares worth over £1 million.

Myanmar, the world's landmine capital

Myanmar contains along its insurgent-contested international borders some of the most heavily landmined areas in the world. Russia, Nepal and Myanmar are the only three governments that admit to still using anti-personnel mines, of which Myanmar's military is the most extensive user. Casualties from landmines average about 1,500 per year in Myanmar, most of them civilians.  

Learn from the big Apple

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

China and India: Room for Reform by Diana Farrell

Mention Asia's economic powerhouses, and the first names that jump to mind are China and India. The two countries have made immense strides in recent years, but they can't sit back and enjoy their success just yet. New research by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) highlights the shortcomings of their financial systems. To address these, Beijing and New Delhi need to keep up the good work and continue to introduce rapid reforms.

In China's case, must-do reforms include deregulating interest rates, boosting competition in banking, and improving lending and risk management. Beijing also needs to develop its corporate bond and equity markets and speed the setup of an electronic payments system. Together, these changes could boost gross domestic product by $321 billion a year. In India, financial system reform, coupled with further economic liberalization, could add $48 billion a year to gross domestic. This would increase per capita income levels by a third and raise the country's annual growth rate from the 6.5% forecast now to 9.4% over the next 10 years—thus matching China's rate of expansion.

Study: Office Bullies Create Workplace 'Warzone'

Bigger Brains Make Smarter People

Why is a Credit card expensive?

854 million still go hungry

St. Louis named most dangerous US city

Muhammad Yunus makes no apologies for giving nothing to beggars. But Yunus's philosophy is to help the poor to help themselves: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but only by teaching him how to fish, you feed him for life. This man, Bangladesh's 'banker to the poor' w0n the Nobel Peace Prize this year. He is sharing the prize with his founded organization Grameen Bank

The Nobel committee says Mr Yunus, 66, and Grameen Bank have been chosen "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below".

The economics professor set up Grameen in 1976 to give credit to poor people in Bangladesh, especially women, enabling them to start up small businesses without collateral. The success of Grameen, which means village and Mr Yunus' banking concept has been emulated in more than 40 countries by now. The prize of $US1.36 million will be handed out in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on December 10.

The economics professor is seen as one of the main developers of the concept of "microcredit," which gives entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans very small sums to start up their own enterprises. Borrowers used the loans to buy their own tools and equipment, cutting out the middlemen and transforming their lives through self-employment. Grameen Bank recovers nearly 99 percent of its loans even though borrowers need put up no collateral and pay a 20 percent interest rate on income-generating loans, which are always for one year.

Borrowers from Grameen Bank own 94 percent of the equity of the bank. The remaining six percent is owned by the Bangladeshi government. Yunus defies critics who say his bank makes loans that are too small and too expensive, and insists he is not waging war on the rich, just helping the poor.

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river."

The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?"

Asked the puzzled father. "There's a big difference," replied the little girl.

"If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond.

So hold the hand of the person whom you love rather than expecting them to hold urs...

Kendrapara, September 30: The British might have left India long ago, but one of its establishments managed to thrive till recently on official records at least, in this coastal Orissa district.

A warehouse owned by the erstwhile East India Company at Danpur village on the outskirts of this town that continued to be on the list of the local power distribution company, CESU, and was marked a ‘chronic defaulter’.

"The British warehouse was probably drawing electricity more than few decades before the country's independence," N K Mishra, Sub-Divisional Officer (Commerce) of CESU said. "It is one of the few structures which was electrified by the Britishers much before others enjoyed the luxury of electricity," Mishra said.

Kendrapara, September 30: The British might have left India long ago, but one of its establishments managed to thrive till recently on official records at least, in this coastal Orissa district.

Now officials ask for the due bills to thier previous ruler. GOOD MOVE.Now officials ask for the due bills to thier previous ruler. GOOD MOVE.