The World’s Youngest Self-Made Billionaires!!!

Billionaires are getting younger! These young billionaires stand out amongst hundreds of billionaires in their age group. They are different from those that inherited their billions, because they started their own businesses and built them from ground up to reach the peak.

Mark Zuckerberg – United States, Age: 23

Facebook has attracted more users than any other site can boast of. The founder is a young boy born on May 14, 1984 and named Mark Elliot Zuckerberg. This sky and reserved kid has an unparalleled brilliance. According to Forbes magazine, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in the world for 2008.

He was born in a Jewish family and his father is a dentist. From his early years, he loved hacking into computers and wrote his own programs. He studied at Harvard, and the idea that brought him fame and money, a social networking site, was born in his dorm at Harvard, and the rest is history. His idea took fruition as Facebook, gaining unprecedented fame. He and his friend Andrew McCollum along with two other roommates, Dustin Moskovits and Chris Hughes started Facebook. Mark is the CEO of Facebook and his net worth is said to be $1.5 billion.

He studied computer science at Harvard University and while he was there, he created a website called Facemash, that compared students’ dorm pictures kept side-by-side, to see which one is better looking (hot or not.) It was about a few months later that he launched Facebook. He also won the Crunchie Award in 2007 for the “Best Startup CEO.

John Arnold – United States. Age: 34

John Arnold was a go-getter from a young age. He is on the list of current self-made billionaires and his net work is estimated to be $2.5 bil.
His father was a lawyer and mom was an accountant. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and after his studies, went on to work for Enron.

He was 27 when he used Internet-based trading network to earn $750 million for Enron in 2001, when he was an oil trader for the company. He was rewarded $8 million in bonus. A year later, when Enron collapsed, he went into business himself and founded the hedge fund Centaurus Energy Advisors, LLC, based in Houston, Texas. For this, he is said to have used his $8 million bonus and other funds from selling his Enron stock just before its collapse.

Xiaofeng Peng – China. Age: 34

Xiaofeng Peng is a self-made billionaire with an estimated worth of $1.5 billion. Solar energy has been his ladder to success and wealth. When Peng was pondering the next move of his career, he realized that renewable energy is the future. Initially, he started out with a trading company in 2005, and it grew immensely to become one of the fastest growing suppliers of Chinese-made solar wafers in the world. These solar wafers are used in solar panels. His company, LDK Solar has also been listed on NASDAQ since 2007.

Sameer Gehlaut, India. Age: 34

Sameer Gehlaut whose net worth is calculated at 1.2 bil, is the youngest and the 45th richest in India, and one of the youngest billionaires in the world. He established Indiabulls in 2000.
His educated consisted of a Mechanical Engineering degree from IIT, Delhi in 1995. As a young boy, he worked for Halliburton in the United States. He returned to India and started an earth moving and mining business, which is now taken care of by his family.
He laid the foundation to his success when he started Indiabulls in 2000, when he was just 26 years old. He had help in the form of his two friends from IIT, Delhi; Rajiv Rattan Mittal and Saurabh Mittal, who are said to have a net worth of $500 million each. Indiabulls’ interests include consumer finance, mortgages, real estate, retail and power. The company’s market capitalization is a huge Rs. 25,000 crores

Larry Page, United States. Age: 35

Page is a self-made billionaire and there cannot be anyone on the internet who hasn’t heard of him. He is the founder of the largest search engine, Google. He is ranked high on the list of billionaires with an estimated net worth of $18.6 billion.

His background constituted of a computer engineering degree and a masters degree from Stanford University. Before completing this degree, he launched Google in 1998, along with his Russian born classmate, Sergey Brin, whose worth is said to be $18.5 billion. There is a small story that makes the rounds, saying that the two friends initially disliked each other until they eventually got closer due to their mutual interests. They even co-authored “The Anatomy of a Large Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” which is like a bestseller in the web world.

Google proved to be an extremely successful venture that has seen an increase in revenue exponentially. At Google, Page holds the title of the President for Products. Since Google went public in 2004, there was a huge increase in business. He is said to make a lot of money from the well-known online advertising program, Google AdSense and Adwords. Apart from Google, he also invested in Tesla Motors, which is in the process of developing a battery operated vehicle.

Sergey Brin (Net Worth : $12 Bil)

Sergey Brin is a Russian-born American computer scientist best known as the co-founder of Google, Inc., the world’s largest Internet company, based on its search engine and online advertising technology.He met partner Larry Page (a tad older and a tad poorer) while both were students in the computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford. The duo dropped out to start Google in a garage they sublet from the sister of Brin now wife, Anne Wojcicki, whom he married in 2007.

SOURCE: http://www.dirjournal.com/

TIME MAGAZINE'S PERSON OF THE YEAR...

Person of the Year 2010:

Mark Zuckerberg

For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year


Person of the Year 2009:

Ben Bernanke

The story of the year was a weak economy that could have been much, much weaker. How the mild-mannered man who runs the Federal Reserve prevented an economic catastrophe

Person of the Year 2008:

Barack Obama

In one of the craziest elections in American history, Barack Obama overcame a lack of experience, a funny name, two candidates who are political institutions and the racial divide to become the 44th President of the United States.

Person of the Year 2007:

Vladimir Putin


His final year as Russia's President has been his most successful yet. At home, he secured his political future. Abroad, he expanded his outsize—if not always benign—influence on global affairs.

SOURCE: http://www.time.com/time/

Highlights And Gains & Pains of Union Budget 2011-2012.

TAXES:

* Standard rate of excise duty held at 10 percent; no change in CENVAT rates
* Personal income tax exemption limit raised to Rs 180,000 from Rs 160,000 for individual tax payers
*For senior citizens, the qualifying age reduced to 60 years and exemption limit raised to Rs 2.50 lakh.
*Citizens over 80 years to have exemption limit of Rs 5 lakh.
* To reduce surcharge on domestic companies to 5 percent from 7.5 percent.
* A new revised income tax return form 'Sugam' to be introduced for small tax papers.
* To raise minimum alternate tax to 18.5 percent from 18 percent ( Read story )
* Direct tax proposals to cause 115 billion rupees in revenue loss
* Service tax rate kept at 10 percent
* Customs and excise proposals to result in net revenue gain of 73 billion rupees
* Iron ore export duty raised to 20 percent
*Nominal one per cent central excise duty on 130 items entering the tax net. Basic food and fuel and precious stones, gold and silver jewellery will be exempted.
*Peak rate of customs duty maintained at 10 per cent in view of the global economic situation.
*Basic customs duty on agricultural machinery reduced to 4.5 per cent from 5 per cent.
*Service tax widened to cover hotel accommodation above Rs 1,000 per day, A/C restaurants serving liquor, some category of hospitals, diagnostic tests.
*Service tax on air travel increased by Rs 50 for domestic travel and Rs 250 for international travel in economy class. On higher classes, it will be ten per cent flat.
* Electronic filing of TDS returns at source stabilised; simplified forms to be introduced for small taxpayers.
* Works of art exempt from customs when imported for exhibition in state-run institutions; this now extended to private institutions.


SUBSIDIES:

* Subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at 1.44 trillion rupees
* Food subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at 605.7 billion rupees
* Revised food subsidy bill for 2010-11 at 606 billion rupees
* Fertiliser subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at 500 billion rupees
* Revised fertiliser subsidy bill for 2010-11 at 550 billion rupees
* Petroleum subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at 236.4 billion rupees
* Revised petroleum subsidy bill in 2010-11 at 384 billion rupees
* State-run oil retailers to be provided with 200 billion rupee cash subsidy in 2011-12



FISCAL DEFICIT:

* Fiscal deficit seen at 5.1 percent of GDP in 2010-11
* Fiscal deficit seen at 4.6 percent of GDP in 2011-12
* Fiscal deficit seen at 3.5 percent of GDP in 2013-14

SPENDING:

* Total expenditure in 2011-12 seen at 12.58 trillion rupees
* Plan expenditure seen at 4.41 trillion rupees in 2011-12, up 18.3 percent

REVENUE:

* Gross tax receipts seen at 9.32 trillion rupees in 2011-12
* Non-tax revenue seen at 1.25 trillion rupees in 2011-12
* Corporate tax receipts seen at 3.6 trillion rupees in 2011-12
* Tax-to-GDP ratio seen at 10.4 percent in 2011-12; seen at 10.8 percent in 2012-13
* Customs revenue seen at 1.52 trillion rupees in 2011-12
* Factory gate duties seen at 1.64 trillion rupees in 2011-12
*Service tax receipts seen at 820 billion rupees in 2011-12
* Revenue gain from indirect tax proposals seen at 113 billion rupees in 2011-12
* Service tax proposals to result in net revenue gain of 40 billion rupees in 2011-12


GROWTH, INFLATION EXPECTATIONS:

* Economy expected to grow at 9 percent in 2012, plus or minus 0.25 percent
* Inflation seen lower in the financial year 2011-12

DISINVESTMENT:

* Disinvestment in 2011-12 seen at 400 billion rupees
* Government committed to retaining 51 percent stake in public sector enterprises.

BORROWING:

* Net market borrowing for 2011-12 seen at 3.43 trillion rupees, down from 3.45 trillion rupees in 2010-11
* Gross market borrowing for 2011-12 seen at 4.17 trillion rupees
* Revised gross market borrowing for 2010-11 at 4.47 trillion rupees


POLICY REFORMS:

* To create infrastructure debt funds
* FDI policy being liberalised.
* To boost infrastructure development with tax-free bonds of 300 billion rupees
* Food security bill to be introduced this year
* To permit SEBI registered mutual funds to access subscriptions from foreign investments
* Raised foreign institutional investor limit in 5-year corporate bonds for investment in infrastructure by $20 billion
* Setting up independent debt management office; Public debt bill to be introduced in parliament soon
* Bills on insurance, pension funds, banking to be introduced.
*Constitution Amendment Bill for introduction of GST regime in this session.
*New Companies Bill to be introduced in current session



SECTOR SPENDING:
* To allocate more than 1.64 trillion rupees to defence sector in 2011-12
* Corpus of rural infrastructure development fund raised to 180 billion rupees in 2011-12
* To provide 201.5 billion rupees capital infusion in state-run banks in 2011-12
* To allocate 520.5 billion rupees for the education sector. Rs.21,000 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
* To raise health sector allocation to 267.6 billion rupees * Rs.500 crore more for national skill development fund.
* Rs.54 crore each for AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) centres at Murshidabad and Mallapuram.
* Rs.58,000 crore for Bharat Nirman; increase of Rs.10,000 crore.
* Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme wage rates linked to consumer price index; will rise from existing Rs.100 per day.
* Increased outlay on social sector schemes.
* Infrastructure critical for development; 23 percent higher allocation in 2011-12.



AGRICULTURE:

* Removal of supply bottlenecks in the food sector will be in focus in 2011-12
* Agriculture growth key to development: Green Revolution waiting to happen in eastern region.
* To raise target of credit flow to agriculture sector to 4.75 trillion rupees
* Gives 3 percent interest subsidy to farmers in 2011-12
* Cold storage chains to be given infrastructure status
* Capitalisation of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) of 30 billion rupees in a phased manner
* To provide 3 billion rupees for 60,000 hectares under palm oil plantation
* Actively considering new fertiliser policy for urea
* Food storage capacity to be augmented - 15 more mega food parks to be set up in 2011-12; of 30 sanctioned in previous fiscal, 15 set up.
* Comprehensive policy on further developing PPP (public-private-partnership) model.
* Farmers need access to affordable credit.
* Moving to improve nutritional security.
* Necessary to accelerate production of fodder.


ON THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY:

* "Fiscal consolidation has been impressive. This year has also seen significant progress in those critical institutional reforms that will pave the way for double digit growth in the near future."
* "At times the biggest reforms are not the ones that make headlines, but the ones concerned with details of governance which affect the everyday life of aam aadmi (common man). In preparing this year's budget, I have been deeply conscious of this fact."
* Food inflation remains a concern
* Current account deficit situation poses some concern
* Must ensure that private investment is sustained
* "The economy has shown remarkable resilience."
* Setting tone for newer, vibrant economy.
* Economy back to pre-crisis trajectory.
* Development needs to be more inclusive.

ON GOVERNANCE:

* "Certain events in the past few months may have created an impression of drift in governance and a gap in public accountability ... such an impression is misplaced."
* Corruption is a problem, must fight it collectively

MORE:

*Govt to move towards direct transfer of cash subsidy for kerosene, LPG and fertilisers.
*Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, to be headed by former Supreme Court judge B Srikrishna, to complete its work in 24 months; to overhaul financial regulations.
* Five-fold strategy against black money; 13 new double taxation avoidance agreements; foreign tax division of CTBT strengthened; strength of Enforcement Directorate increased three-fold.
* Bill to be introduced to review Indian Stamp Act.
* New coins carrying new rupee symbol to be issued.
* Anganwadi workers salary raised from Rs.1,500 to Rs.3,000.
* Mortgage risk guarantee fund to be created for economically weaker sections.
* Housing loan limit for priority sector lending raised to Rs.25 lakh.

GAINS AND PAINS:

For taxpayers:
Gain | Income tax exemption limit raised from 1.6 lakh to 1.8 lakh For senior citizens, limit raised from 2.4 lakh to 2.5 lakh Age limit for senior citizens lowered from 65 to 60 years New category of 'very senior citizens' (80 & above) to be tax-free till 5 lakh No need to file returns if tax is deducted at source on income up to 5 lakh
Pain | Exemption limit for women unchanged

For investors:
Gain | Deduction of 20,000 for investment in infrastructure bonds extended 40,000-crore disinvestment target, though no PSU privatization 5-fold increase in limit on FII investment in corporate infrastructure bonds from $5 billion to $25 billion
Pain | Additional income tax at 30% on income distributed by debt funds to person other than an individual or HUF

For consumers:
Gain | Hybrid vehicles set to get cheaper Imported patent and proprietary medicines exempted from customs duty Excise duty on sanitary napkins, diapers cut to 1%
Pain | Service tax to cover AC restaurants with bar; rooms in hotels and guest houses AC hospitals, individual doctors etc liable to service tax; path labs also covered Service charge on lawyers' fees, except when both lawyer and client are individuals Service tax up by 50 and 250 on domestic & foreign economy air travel, levied at 10% on domestic business class 10% service tax to be levied on unrecognised courses in coaching centres

For businessmen:
Gain | Surcharge on Indian firms cut from 7.5% to 5% Tax on dividends received by Indian company from foreign subsidiary halved to 16.2% No service tax audits for individual and sole proprietor assessees with turnover up to 60 lakh Mutual funds can tap foreign investors
Pain | MAT up from 18% to 18.5%; to cover SEZ developers and units in SEZs Dividend distribution tax at 16.2% on SEZ developers from June 2011

UNION BUDGET 2011-2012

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Union Budget 2011-2012 in Parliament on 28-02-2011.



OVERVIEW: Budget estimates for 2011-12 projects Rs 9,32,440 crore - an increase of 24 per cent.

Expenditure in 2011-12 is estimated at Rs 12,57,729 crore, an increase of 13.4%.

Revenue deficit fixed at 2.3% in revised estimates of 2010-11 and 1.8% in 2011-12.

Tax reductions to result in revenue loss of Rs 11,500 crore

INFLATION:
The finance minister opened his speech with reference to inflation saying that food inflation came down from 20.2% last year to 9.3% in January 2011 but it was still a matter of concern. "Government's principle concern is high food prices... food prices were high for cereals, there was a spurt in prices of onions and milk," he said

AGRICULTURE:
In what may be a big relief for farmers, the FM said credit flows to farmers will be raised from Rs 3.75 lakh crore to Rs 4.75 lakh crores and the allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana will be raised from Rs 6755 crore in the current year to Rs 7860 crore.( Farm loans at 4%; credit target raised to Rs 4,75,000cr)


An additional Rs 300 cr will be provided to promote pulses cultivation in rain-fed areas and another Rs 300 cr to promote farm product cultivation.

In joy for anganwadi workers, their remuneration is being raised from Rs 1500 to Rs 3,000 per month. Anganwadi helpers will get Rs 1,500 from Rs 750, Pranab said. ( Social spending to be raised by 17% )

Old age pension to persons of over the age of 80 will be raised from Rs 200 to Rs 500.

HEALTH:
20 percent hike in health budget for 2011-2012. (Finance minister announces 20 per cent hike in health budget)


DEFENCE:
The finance minister has allotted Rs 1.64 lakh crore for defence saying that more will be given if required. (11% hike in defence allocation)
Rs 9 lakh compensation will be given to men of defence and central paramilitary forces for permanent disability and on being discharged from service. (Rs 9 lakh disability compensation for defence personnel)

INCOME TAX:
No change in tax slabs has been proposed. The tax exemption limit for general category has been raised from Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 1,80,000. ( Tax limit enhanced from Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 1,80,000)

No change in tax exemption limit for women.

For senior citizens, exemption age limit has been reduced from 65 to 60. Their tax exemption limit will be Rs 2,50,000.

Apart from this, a new exemption bracket has been created for those above 80 years of age. Their tax exemption limit will be Rs 5,00,000.

Surcharge for companies cut to 5 per cent, from 7.5 per cent. (Corporate Tax surcharge reduced to 5%)

A new revised income tax return form 'Sugam' to be introduced for small tax papers.


DIRECT TAX:
The FM announced that Direct Tax Code will be implemented from April, 2012 and the Goods and Services Tax Bill is to be introduced in Parliament this year. ( Direct Taxes Code to be implemented from April 1, 2012 )


SERVICE TAX:
Service tax widened to cover hotel accommodation above Rs 1,000 per day, A/C restaurants serving liquor, some category of hospitals, diagnostic tests.

Service tax on air travel increased by Rs 50 for domestic travel and Rs 250 for international travel in economy class. On higher classes, it will be 10% flat. ( Service tax on air travel increased )



EXCISE AND CUSTOMS DUTY:
There is a proposal to introduce self-assessment of customs duty wherein importers and exporters will themselves assess payment of duty.

There will be change in excise duty. The standard rate of central exercise duty will be maintained at 10%. A 1% central excise duty on 130 items entering the tax net. Basic food and fuel and precious stones, gold and silver jewellery will be exempted and there will be no change in CENVAT rates. (Excise duty retained at 10%, more items to be taxed)

A new scheme is to be introduced for refund of service tax on the lines of drawback of duties, he announced. Also, capital investment in fertiliser production will be considered as infrastructure sub-sector, Pranab said.

Tax-free bonds of Rs 30,000 cr will be issued for infrastructure development which will cover Warehousing Corporation, NHAI, IRFC and HUDCO.


EDUCATION:
A Rs50cr grant is being allocated to Aligarh Muslim University centres in Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala. Also, the government has decided to allot Rs 200 cr to IIT Kharagpur. ( 24% hike in allocation for education )


GROWTH:
Predicting growth patterns over the next fiscal, Pranab said the overall economic growth in the current fiscal was expected at 8.6 %, agriculture growth at 5.4 %, industry at 8.1 % and services 9.3 %. In the next fiscal, economic growth was likely to be 9%, he said. ( Economy grew 8.2% in last 2010 quarter ).

The government, he said, aims to provide Rs 201.5 billion capital infusion in state-run banks in 2011-12 and Rs 3 billion for 60,000 hectares under palm oil plantation.

He said that corruption continued to be deterrent in the country's development and had to be fought extensively.

Pranab Mukherjee said the government plans to create a Women Self Help Group development fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. There is also a proposal to increase rural housing fund to Rs 3,000 crore. ( Low-cost housing loans of Rs 15 lakh to get 1% interest sop )

Pranab announced the formation of Indian micro finance equity with SIDBI at Rs 100 crore. Another Rs 6,000 cr will be given to public sector banks to maintain capital-to-risk assets ratio norms, he said. ( Rs 500 cr for Regional Rural Banks )

TAX REBATE TO BUILDERS:
The government proposed full tax rebate on developing such projects under a notified scheme and raised the ceiling of one per cent interest subsidy on home loans upto Rs 15 lakh from the current Rs 10 lakh.

In the Budget for 2011-12, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed 100% tax deductions on capital expenditure to develop affordable houses under government scheme, thus promoting builders to focus more on such homes.

"Considering the importance of housing, I propose investment linked deduction to businesses, which develop affordable housing under a notified scheme," he said.

83rd Annual Academy Awards Winners.

BEST PICTURE:

The King's Speech
Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin.


ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Colin Firth (The King's Speech).

India at the Oscars.

Mother India (1957) — Nominated:

Almost three decades after the Academy Awards were instituted, Mehboob Khan's 1957 classic Mother India, set in post-Independence rural India, was chosen as India's first submission to the Oscars.

It went on to become the first Indian film to be chosen in the final shortlist in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Nargis's stellar performance as a gritty woman eking out a livelihood, unrelenting in the face of obstacles, won her accolades.

Mother India, however, lost out to Federico Fellini's Italian film Le Notti di Cabiria (The Nights of Cabiria).

Bhanu Athaiya for Gandhi (1982) — Won

Twenty-six years after Mother India made the shortlist at the Oscars, costume designer Bhanu Athaiya made history by becoming the first Indian to win an Oscar, in 1983.

She won the award for Best Costume Design for Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982). She had also won a BAFTA award for the same film in the same category.

The Ben Kingsley-starrer was a biographical film on Mahatma Gandhi and swept the Oscars in 1983, including for Best Film.

Kingsley, an Indian-origin actor, took home the golden statuette for Best Actor while Attenborough won the Best Director award.

Salaam Bombay! (1988) — Nominated

Six years later, India won another Oscar nomination when Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! (1988) was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

As the name suggests, the film explores and documents the extraordinary lives of ordinary street urchins in Bombay. Nair paid a graphic tribute to the city's contemporary street life and its frivolous spirit.

Satyajit Ray — An Honorary Award



In 1992, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed an Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement on Satyajit Ray, one of India's most distinguished filmmakers. Ray is the only Indian till date to have secured that distinction.

A genius, Ray was the brain behind examplar films like Pather Panchali, Charulata, Aranyer Din Ratri, Teen Kanya, and Devi. So widespread was his international esteem that Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa once declared, "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon."

Elizabeth (1998) — Won

Bandit Queen director Shekhar Kapur's 1998 biographical drama on England's seventeenth century queen, Elizabeth, with Cate Blanchett in the title role, won seven Oscar nominations in 1999, including for Best Film and Best Actress. It won an Oscar for Best Makeup.

The film's 2007 sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age, again earned Blanchett the Best Actress nomination and the Best Costume Design award for the film, but Kapur missed out again.

Lagaan (2001) — Nominated

Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan was the third Hindi film to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The Aamir Khan-starrer was the first among a string of Hindi films based on the theme of British colonialism that hit the screens in the early 2000s. The film offered Indian audiences an enchanting combination of its favourites — Bollywood and cricket.

Lagaan lost out to the Bosnian war film No Man's Land. But Khan got a lot of flak and was labelled a hypocrite for attending the Oscar ceremony after claiming that he hated attending award functions.

Little Terrorist (2004) — Nominated


In 2004, a short film called Little Terrorist, directed by Ashvin Kumar, was nominated in the Short Film Live Action category at the Oscars.

Screened at a number of international film festivals, Little Terrorist narrates the story a of a Pakistani boy who accidentally crosses the Indian border and lands in trouble with the Indian security forces.

Water (2006) — Nominated

Deepta Mehta's film was the last in her trilogy, with Fire (1996) and Earth (1998) preceding it. In 2007, Water was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

Starring Lisa Roy, John Abraham, Seema Biswas, and Waheeda Rehman, Water focused on some of the evils of Hindu society and the pathetic condition of widows in pre-Independence India.


Reviewing the film, The New York Times said, "Serene on the surface yet roiling underneath, the film neatly parallels the plight of widows under Hindu fundamentalism to that of India under British colonialism."

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008) was an international sensation and an Oscar powerhouse, winning eight awards after being nominated in 10 categories.

The film not only won the Best Picture and Best Director awards, but also got music maestro AR Rahman his first golden statuettes — for Best Original Score and Best Original Song 'Jai Ho!'.

Resul Pookutty won the award for Best Sound Mixing — India's first Oscar for technical excellence.

With an appealing dramatic romantic plot set in the heart of Mumbai, Slumdog Millionaire grabbed eyeballs all over the world and catapulted its lead actors Dev Patel and Freida Pinto to international stardom.

Smile Pinki (2008) — Won

American director Megan Mylan's 39-minute documentary Smile Pinki (2008) won the Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject).

The documentary tells the story of a little girl from rural Uttar Pradesh who was born with a cleft lip.

The film takes the viewer through the girl's life which is transformed when she gets a generous offer of free surgery.

What's Happening in Libya.

Why are Libyans unhappy?

Libya has been ruled for 42 years by a cunning, repressive, eccentric dictator who has frequently described his own people as "backwards." More than half of his 6.5 million subjects are under 18. Despite Libya's plentiful oil revenues, which represent most of the national budget, many children suffer from malnutrition and anemia. Corruption is rampant, dissidents are brutally suppressed, and many citizens are afraid to say Qaddafi’s name in public or in private for fear of attracting suspicion. Instead, Qaddafi is often referred to as "the leader" and his son Seif (until now heir-apparent) as "the principal." Discussing national policy with a foreigner is punishable with three years in prison. Reporters Without Borders describes press freedom in Libya as "virtually non-existent."


Oil is the economy in Libya and oil profits have bankrolled massive investments in education and infrastructure—yet Libya lags far behind other oil-rich Arab states. Unemployment stands at 30 percent. People who have jobs often work only part-time. Basic foods—including rice, sugar, flour, gasoline—are heavily subsidized by the government and sold for a fraction of their true cost. A 2006 New Yorker article described Libya's "prosperity without employment and large population of young people without a sense of purpose."

What are the implications of Libyan instability?

After decades of being reviled as a state sponsor of terrorism, Libya recently reversed course and joined the ranks of America's allies in the fight against Al Qaeda. In 2003, Qaddafi agreed to stop developing weapons of mass destruction and paid $2.7 billion to the families of the 270 victims of Pan Am 101—the plane bombed by Libyan agents over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. In return, the US and the United Nations lifted economic sanctions against Libya.

On the Arab street, however, Qaddafi is widely loathed. Most of his political victims have been members of banned Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which would likely gain stronger influence if he were overthrown. Qaddafi, once among the Palestinian movement's most vocal international supporters, outraged many Arabs by saying that Palestinians have no special claim to the land of Israel and calling for the creation of a bi-national "Isratine."

What's the latest?

On Sunday, February 20, protesters succeeded in overtaking all parts of Benghazi except for a government security compound. Qaddafi's son gave a long, rambling televised speech in which he blamed Islamic radicals and Libyan exiles for the uprising. He claimed civil war over the country's oil resources would set off starvation, cause public services including education to collapse, and could spark a Western invasion. He said, "We will fight until the last man, until the last woman, until the last bullet."
Protests have now spread to the capital, Tripoli, with thousands of demonstrators converging onto the city's main square and reportedly taking over state television headquarters. They faced well-armed pro-Qaddafi militias who fired into the crowds. The Libyan government has sought to impose an information blackout, blocking the internet and satellite television and forbidding foreign journalists from entering.


Al-Jazeera remains the most comprehensive source of coverage; you can follow its live blog  here

Obama: Gaddafi must leave Libya now:

US President Barack Obama has said that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has lost his legitimacy to rule and urged him to step down from power immediately.

Obama’s call came in a call on Saturday to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, sharpening US rhetoric after days of deadly violence - and criticism that Washington was slow to respond.

"When a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now," the White House said in a statement, summarising their telephone conversation.

"The president and the chancellor shared deep concerns about the Libyan government's continued violation of human rights and brutalisation of its people."

The White House has previously stopped short of calling for Gaddafi to leave, saying - just as in other countries affected by a wave of regional unrest - that only Libya's citizens had a say in choosing their rulers.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, echoed Obama's tougher stance, and said Libyans had made their preferences on the issue clear


US sanctions:

"We have always said that the [Gaddafi] government's future is a matter for the Libyan people to decide, and they have made themselves clear," Clinton said in a statement.

"[Gaddafi] has lost the confidence of his people and he should go, without further bloodshed and violence."

The Obama administration had been criticised for its relatively restrained response to Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on an uprising against his four-decade rule.

But White House officials said fears for the safety of US citizens in Libya had tempered Washington's response to the turmoil.

Washington announced a series of sanctions against Libya on Friday, after a chartered ferry and a plane carrying US citizens and other evacuees left Libya.

Clinton said she signed an order directing the State Department to revoke US visas held by senior Gaddafi government officials, their family members and others responsible for human rights violations in Libya.

"As a matter of policy, new visa applications will be denied," she said.


Support for protests:

The White House said Obama and Merkel reaffirmed their support for the Libyan people's demand for universal rights and agreed Gaddafi's government "must be held accountable".

"They discussed appropriate and effective ways for the international community to respond," the White House said.

"The president welcomed ongoing efforts by our allies and partners, including at the United Nations and by the European Union, to develop and implement strong measures."

Obama has been holding a series of discussions with world leaders about the unrest in Libya. The administration is hoping that the world "speaks with a single voice" against Gaddafi's violent crackdown, and the president is sending Clinton to Geneva on Sunday to coordinate with foreign policy chiefs from several countries.

Clinton will try to rally support against Gaddafi on Monday at the UN Human Rights Council, where she will to consult a range of foreign ministers on sanctions.

Washington is examining options including sanctions and a no-fly zone to try to stop Gaddafi's violent suppression of anti-government protests.

IT Companies Full Names...:D:D:D

1. NIIT: Not Interested in IT

2. WIPRO: Weak Input, Poor & Rubbish Output

3. HCL: Hidden Costs & Losses

4. TCS : Totally Confusing Solutions

5. INFOSYS : Inferior Offline Systems

6. HUGHES : Highly Useless Graduates Hired for Eating and Sleeping

7. BAAN : Beggars Association and Nerds

8. IBM : Implicitly Boring Machines

9. SATYAM: Sad and Tired Yelling Away Madly

10. PARAM: Puzzled and Ridiculous Array of Microprocessors

11. C-DOT : Coffee during Office Timings

12. AT&T : All Troubles & Terrible

13. CMC : Coffee, Meals and Comfort

14. DEC : Drifting & Exhausted Computers

15. BFL : Brainwash first and Let them go

16. TISL : Totally Inconsistent Systems Ltd.

17. PSI : Peculiar Symptoms of India

18. ORACLE : On-line Romance And Chatting with Lady Employees .

19. PATNI : Pathetic Appraisal Techniques, No Increments.

20. MASTEK : Mad and Stupid Technicians Enrooted to Kabaarkhana

21. MTNL : Mera Telephone Nahi Laga.

Blog.

A blog (a blend of the term web log)is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.

As of 16 February 2011,there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.
The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999.Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.

Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, commercial online services such as GEnie, BiX and the early CompuServe, e-mail lists and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software, created running conversations with "threads." Threads are topical connections between messages on a virtual "corkboard."
After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools:

Bruce Ableson launched Open Diary in October 1998, which soon grew to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries.

Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal in March 1999.
Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a Web site, followed by Diaryland in September 1999, focusing more on a personal diary community.Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) launched blogger.com in August 1999 (purchased by Google in February 2003.

There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written.<

Personal blogs:

The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life, or works of art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream, but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following. One type of personal blog, referred to as a microblog, is extremely detailed and seeks to capture a moment in time.
Some sites, such as Twitter, allow bloggers to share thoughts and feelings instantaneously with friends and family, and are much faster than emailing or writing.

Corporate and organizational blogs:

A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes. Blogs used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or public relations purposes are called corporate blogs. Similar blogs for clubs and societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform members and other interested parties of club and member activities

By Device:
Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog. One early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance. Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.

By media type:
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog. Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs. Blogs that are written on typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs; see typecasting (blogging).
A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a Phlog.

Top 10 Richest person in the world 2010.

No.1 Carlos Slim Helu.

$53.5 billion Telecom, Mexico.
Telecom tycoon who pounced on privatization of Mexico’s national telephone company in the 1990s becomes world’s richest person for first time after coming in third place last year. Net worth up $18.5 billion in a year. Recently received regulatory approval to merge his fixed-line assets into American Movil, Latin America’s biggest mobile phone company.


No.2 Bill Gates.

$53 billion Microsoft, U.S.
Software visionary is now the world’s second-richest man. Net worth still up $13 billion in a year as Microsoft shares rose 50% in 12 months, value of investment vehicle Cascade swelled. More than 60% of fortune held outside Microsoft; investments include Four Seasons hotels, Televisa, Auto Nation. Stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft in 2008 to focus on philanthropy.

No.3 Warren Buffett.

$47 billion – Investments, U.S.
America’s favorite investor up $10 billion in past 12 months on surging Berkshire Hathaway shares; says U.S. has survived economic "Pearl Harbor," but warns recovery will be slow. Shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs and $3 billion in General Electric amid 2008 market collapse. Recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion.

No.4 Mukesh Ambani.

$29 billion- Petrochemicals, oil and gas. India.
Global ambitions: His Reliance Industries, already India’s most valuable company, recently bid $2 billion for 65% stake in troubled Canadian oil sands outfit Value Creations. Firm’s $14.5 billion offer to buy bankrupt petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell was rejected. Since September company has sold Treasury shares worth $2 billion to be used for acquisitions. Late father, Dhirubhai, founded Reliance and built it into a massive conglomerate.

No.5 Lakshmi Mittal.

$28.7 billion – Steel, India.
London’s richest resident oversees ArcelorMittal, world’s largest steel maker. Net profits fell 75% in 2009. Mittal took 12% pay cut but improved outlook pushed stock up one-third in past year. Looking to expand in his native India; wants to build steel mills in Jharkhad and Orissa but has not received government approval. Earned $1.1 billion for selling his interest in a Kazakh refinery in December.

No.6 Lawrence Ellison.

$28 billion – Oracle, U.S.
Oracle founder’s fortune continues to soar; shares up 70% in past 12 months. Database giant has bought 57 companies in the past five years. Completed $7.4 billion buyout of Sun Microsystems in January; acquired BEA Systems for $8.5 billion in 2008. Studied physics at U. of Chicago; didn’t graduate. Started Oracle 1977; took public a day before Microsoft in 1986.
No.7 Bernard Arnault

$27.5 billion
Luxury goods, France.
Bling is back, helping fashion icon grab title of richest European as shares of his luxury goods outfit LVMH–maker of Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon–surge 57%. LVMH is developing upscale Shanghai commercial property, L’Avenue Shanghai, with Macau billionaire Stanley Ho.
No.8 Eike Batista.

$27 billion
Mining, oil. Brazil.
Vowing to become world’s richest man–and he may be on his way. This year’s biggest gainer added $19.5 billion to his personal balance sheet. Son of Brazil’s revered former mining minister who presided over mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce got his start in gold trading and mining.
No.9 Amancio Ortega.

$25 billion
Fashion retail, Spain.
Style maven lords over Inditex; fashion firm, which operates under several brand names including Zara, Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius, has 4,500 stores in 73 countries including new spots in Mexico and Syria. Set up joint venture with Tata Group subsidiary to enter India in 2010. Betting on Florida real estate: bought Coral Gables office tower that is currently home to Bacardi USA.
No.10 Karl Albrecht.

$23.5 billion
Supermarkets, Germany.
Owns discount supermarket giant Aldi Sud, one of Germany’s (and Europe’s) dominant grocers. Has 1,000 stores in U.S. across 29 states. Estimated sales: $37 billion. Plans to open New York City store this year. With younger brother, Theo, transformed mother’s corner grocery store into Aldi after World War II. Brothers split ownership in 1961; Karl took the stores in southern Germany, plus the rights to the brand in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got northern Germany and the rest of Europe.