Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today presented a Rs 5,639 billion national budget for 2006-07 that pushes the country’s annual economic growth rate to 10 percent.

Fm provided more finances to rural areas, education, job creation, health and infrastructure.

The sensex scaling an all-time high of 10,422.65 points before ending slightly lower to register an overall gain for the day of some 0.85 percent.

He was confident that India will attract more foreign direct investment, especially in infrastructure, as also shall become a manufacturing hub for textiles, auto, steel, metals and petroleum products for the world market.

He quoted “Growth will be our mount, equity will be our companion and social justice will be our destination.”

He also promised to rein in the fiscal deficit in the budget at 3.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2006-07, as against revised estimate of 4.1 percent this fiscal.

The personal and corporate tax rates unchanged, hike in outlays for rural areas, brings down the peak customs duties on farm products and the best of all abolished 1 by 6 scheme on compulsory filing of returns. But minimum alternate tax has been increased from 7.5 percent of book profits to 10 percent.

More services have been brought under the service tax net. & has been hiked to 12 percent from 10 percent and will contribute significantly to the tax kitty, since the sector now accounts for 54 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

FM also proposed a whopping outlay of Rs.89,000 crore for defense. With Rs.37,458 crore specifically for new arms purchases.

Small cars, aerated drinks, meats, instant and ready-to-eat food like pasta, idli-dosa mixes, ice-cream, electronic items such as DVDs will be cheaper.

Smoking, foreign travel in business class except economy class will be dearer.

Reduction in the peak rate for non-farm products from 15 percent to 12.5 percent and bringing down the duties for several items like alloy steel, mineral products, chemicals and some life-saving drugs.

The PM Manmohan Singh called it an “outstanding” one that will spur development.

Tarun Das, chief mentor of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), quoted “Industry will be happy as there are no major negatives. The budget has cut down customs duty and has covered lot of industries as well”.

A day after the completion of culling of birds, the government would today begin burning of feathers and removal of all material from the affected poultries in the three km radius area of the bird flu-hit Navapur.

The government is burning the feathers, removing all the faecal material, plastic sheeting from the poultries in Navapur in the affected three km radius area. They are also planning be uncovering the burial done by the farmers prior to government machinery began its work and disinfect the area in a scientific manner and all these operations will be completed in the next two days.

Till last night, about 2.51 lakh birds were culled, 5 lakh eggs and 50 metric tonnes of bird feed were destroyed.

I am happy with what the government is doing but I am not happy with the fact that so many birds are being killed. I am sure this would prevent the virus from spreading but am wondering if there could be a way out. There should be some test that would differentiate between an infected bird and a health one so that the poultry farmer, the transporter and ever one directly or indirectly attached to the industry is not hit.

I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that this menace gets over as soon as possible so that I can savor my favorite “Butter Chicken”.

Enron, a fraud which shocked the entire corporate world and took along with itself one of the leading audit firm of the world. Proceeding are going against the founder Mr Lay and Ms Paula H Reiker was testified yesterday and I thought of investigating the course of events that led to this disaster and this is what I could find out.

According to a former investor relations manager and a board secretary, the former Chief Executive of Enron Mr Kenneth L. Lay had vital roles in preparing misleading and conflicting statements about the financial conditions at the company. In the most damaging testimony given by Paula H. Rieker, she said that Mr. Lay, Enron’s founder, misled employees and investors about Enron finances in the five months after he took over as chief executive in August 2001.

At the time, Ms. Rieker, 51, was Enron’s manager for investor relations and the corporate secretary. As corporate secretary, she maintained board meeting minutes and answered to Mr. Lay.

Ms. Rieker also said that another former chief executive, Jeffrey K. Skilling, ordered last-minute changes to at least two quarterly earnings reports so that Enron could meet or beat analysts’ expectations. She also said that Mr. Skilling directed her to misrepresent in a news release the source of most of the revenue at the struggling broadband unit.

Mr. Lay, 63, and Mr. Skilling, 52, are accused of conspiring to defraud Enron, the former energy-trading giant that filed for bankruptcy in December 2001. Mr. Skilling, who abruptly quit the company in August 2001, is charged with conspiracy, fraud and insider trading. Mr. Lay is accused of fraud and conspiracy.

Ms. Rieker’s testimony supported and in some cases strengthened that of Mark E. Koenig, the former head of investor relations and her boss, who said Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling made statements intended to mislead Wall Street about the true condition of Enron’s finances.

Ms. Rieker is among 16 former Enron executives, including Mr. Koenig, who have pleaded guilty to charges and are cooperating with prosecutors. She pleaded guilty in May 2004 to insider trading for selling stock based on information that Enron’s broadband unit lost more money than anticipated.

What is Bird Flu?

Bird Flu Bird Flu…we have been hearing so much about it but what is it supposed to be? Bird Flu is also referred to as Avian Flu, this is a type of influenza virus. These viruses can infect a number of animal species, including pigs, horses, and several species of mammals. The ones that infect birds are called ‘avian influenza viruses.’ Wild birds are often the natural hosts, but avian influenza viruses do not usually infect humans directly.

Avian influenza is caused by the Influenza A virus, first identified in the early 1900s in Italy and now present worldwide. If you’re wondering about the names often given to these viruses, avian flu virus subtypes are labelled according to an H number (for hemagglutinin) and an N number (for neuraminidase).

What are the symptoms, in birds and humans?

In humans, avian flu viruses cause similar symptoms to other types of flu, including fever, cough, a sore throat, muscle aches and, in severe cases, severe breathing problems and pneumonia that may be fatal. The severity of the infection will depend on an individual’s immune system.

As for affected birds, these display symptoms like tremors, diarrhoea, staggering and paralysis. Human beings, especially children, who come in contact with live infected birds, their mucus, droppings or even feathers risk getting infected.

Is chicken and eggs still safe?

Yes, it is safe to eat poultry and eggs, provided it is not undercooked. Runny eggs and sunny sideups, are strictly no no… Avoiding unnecessary contact with live poultry is important, so you might want to avoid the live markets if the number of cases rises. For the moment, however, the government says the situation is well under control. Cook chicken and egg.

Last week, an IITian committed suicide. People who commit suicide do it when they feel there’s no future. But wait, isn’t IIT the one place where a bright and shining future is a foregone conclusion? It just doesn’t add up, does it? Why would a young, hardworking, bright student who has the world ahead of him do something like this? But the answer is this-in our constant reverence for the great institution (and I do believe IITians’ are great), we forget the dark side. And the dark side is that the IITians’ are afflicted by the quintessential Indian phenomenon of academic pressure, probably the highest in the world.

I can rant about the educational system and how it requires serious fixing, or I can address the immediate-try my best to prevent such suicides. For this column I have chosen the latter, and I do so with a personal story.

News of a suicide always brings back one particular childhood memory. I was 14 years old when I first seriously contemplated suicide. I had done badly in chemistry in the Class X half yearly exam. I was an IIT aspirant, and 68% was nowhere near what an IIT candidate should be getting. I don’t know what had made me screw up the exam, but I did know this, I was going to kill myself. The only debate was about method.

Ironically, chemistry offered a way. I had read about copper sulphate, and that it was both cheap and poisonous. Copper sulphate was available at the krishna store. I had it all worked out.

My rationale for killing myself was simple-nobody loved me, my chemistry score was awful, I had no future and what difference would it make to the world if I was not there. I bought the copper sulphate for two rupees-probably the cheapest exit strategy in the world.

I didn’t do it for two reasons. One, I had a casual chat with the aunty next door about copper sulphate, and my knowledgeable aunty knew about a woman who had died that way. She said it was the most painful death possible, all your veins burst and you suffer for hours. This tale made my insides shudder. Second, on the day I was to do it, I noticed a street dog outside my house being teased by the neighborhood kids as he hunted for scraps of food.

Nobody loved him. It would make no difference to the world if the dog wasn’t there. And I was pretty sure that its chemistry score would be awful. Yet, the dog wasn’t trotting off to the krishna store. He was only interested in figuring out a strategy for his next meal. And when he was full, he merely cu\rled up in a corner with one eye open, clearly content and not giving a damn about the world. If he wasn’t planning to die anytime soon what the hell was I ranting about? I threw the copper sulphate in the bin. It was the best two bucks I ever wasted.

So why did I tell you this story? Because sometimes the pressure gets too much; like it did for the IITian who couldn’t take it no more. On the day he took that dreadful decision, his family and friends were shattered, and India lost a wonderful, bright child. And as the silly but true copper sulphate story tells you-it could happen to any of us or those around us. So please be on the lookout, if you see a distressed young soul, lend a supportive, non-judgmental ear. When I look back, I thank that aunt and that dog for unwittingly saving my life. If God wanted us to take our own life, he would have provided a power off button. He didn’t, so have faith and let his plan for you unfold. Because no matter how tough life gets and how much it hurts, if street dogs don’t give up, there is no reason why we, the smart species, should. Makes sense right?

Tata Teleservices has scripted a new chapter in the BPO world. Tata Teleservices has employed visually challenged employees to make telemarketing calls.

A new technology is now allowing visually challenged to work shoulder to shoulder with people who have normal eyesight in the BPO industry.

The technology NEIL (Navigation and Expert Interaction Logic) offers visually challenged a “talking companion”, Shyam Kedare, who heads Softnet Interactive Private Limited that has conceptualized the new technique, told the media.

The technology was utilized by the employment department of the National Association for the Blind (NAB) to impart call center training to the visually impaired who were trained in marketing skills and later absorbed as telemarketing executives by Tata Teleservices, M Srinivas, Chief Employment Officer, NAB said.

“Out of the 18 who were given training, eight were chosen for product training and use of software and six are finally working under Tata Teleservices’ Drishti project. Isn’t this figure amazing and eye opening? Well Tata’s have been doing great things for people of and India and this is an addition to the golden page to there contribution towards the society.

The technology used is simple. A software is used to transform coded data into voice format through a landline telephone instrument. The caller first listens to the information and then makes a call to the customer.

The technology allows companies to map mainstream job workflows through a remote voice server and help the visually impaired person to access the information needed using the touchstone phone.

This is for the first time in the country; the visually challenged have been employed to make outbound calls and not just telemarketer product. On an average a visually challenged person makes about 150 to 200 calls to Tata Teleservices’ customers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

“Tata Teleservices is happy with their performance and productivity and so am I.

So far, 60 visually challenged people have benefited from this program.

The United States has warned Iran against pulling out of the Non Proliferation Treaty reminding Tehran of the “robust” international coalition, including India, against the country in referring its controversial nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council.

“If they do so, it would only deepen their own isolation. The really remarkable thing over the last several months is that there is really now a tremendous coalition of countries that are saying exactly the same thing to Iran,” Rice told ABC News Sunday.

How correct is it for Iran to give a deaf ear to all the international comments against the Nuclear Testing? Do you think it is right on the part of Iran to go against all the other nations? Or is this the best way to challenge the supremacy of the countries that have nuclear capability?

I personally believe that Iran has all the right to have peaceful nuclear power but it should not make this a scapegoat to use technologies that might lead to a nuclear weapon. As the price of natural fuel is increasing there is an ever increasing need of cleaner alternate fuel.

Energy generation using nuclear material is something that does work on this line. However, any misuse of this freedom to create nuclear weapon is wrong. The world is already saturated with countries that have nuclear capability and the slightest mismatch of power might lead to a very big catastrophe.

However, Iran¡¯s thinking on this topic is very different. The Iranians believe that American wants to deprive them of their right to nuclear technology, and then sell us nuclear energy at a very high price. Further, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday said his country will not abandon its disputed nuclear drive under any condition.

He added that Iran will continue on ultra-sensitive uranium enrichment work too.

Air Sahara’s services continued to be affected on Monday with the cancellation of at least five flights from here as a section of its pilots went on leave protesting ‘reduced’ pay packets following the airline’s takeover by Jet Airways. Good job done, but did they care about the passenger who were stranded at the airport with the lost expression on there face?

Talks between the Air Sahara management and the pilots continued today but there was no official word on its outcome. Jet Airways is however quite on the whole issue and pretending as nothing has really happened.
As a contingency measure, the airline combined some flights today and pressed into service the executive pilots, who are on managerial positions, to minimize cancellations.

Air Sahara, which was sold to Jet Airways last month for Rs 2300 crore, had to accommodate its passengers in Jet Airways and the public sector Indian.

The sources said that the airline has stopped its booking of passengers in its flights from Mumbai and Kolkata for the next two days. Air Sahara vice president Alok Sharma has not taken any action against the pilots as all the pilots called in sick. However, the major question is should the pilots get the same benefits after the merger or not?

In my opinion the pilots should get the same benefits and pay. However, I believe that a decision on all these sensitive issue should have had been taken before the takeover was done. As, these issue are bound to hurt the new owner as no one would be willing to step down on the benefits and pay package that they were getting for the same amount of work that they do in a new scenario.

Kingfisher Airlines, the first Indian carrier to win the prestigious ¡°New Airline of the Year 2005¡å award in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region from Centre for AsiaPacific Aviation (CAPA) today announced, the launch of its new service between Mumbai and Mangalore.

The new route will provide convenient service for business and leisure travelers alike at inaugural True Value fare of Rs. 1,999/- onwards for travel between Mumbai and Mangalore. With the launch of this new route, the number of daily flights offered by Kingfisher Airlines has gone up to 58 connecting 14 key Indian cities.

Kingfisher Airlines commenced operations on May 9th, with a brand new fleet of aircraft. The airlines offer world-class in-flight entertainment with personal video screens for every seat. The best part is the fact that the airline is pitched as a budget airline with all the features of a world class airline.

Let¡¯s keep our fingers crossed and hope that the level of service keeps on improving with increasing competition.

Protest against Denmark has come to India too. A Danish Flag was laid on the steps of Jama Masjid, New Delhi to protest the publication of cartoons in a Danish News paper. Our Government called the act done by Danish news paper as offencive and linked with controversial paintings of Hussein, which offended Hindu religious sentiments.

Do you think this is a healthy sign? This issue can be very much sensitive in India and it’s time to show our tolerance and keep communal harmony.

Many Arab Governments, Muslim religious leaders across the globe are calling for calm in protest, as they fear the violence of the past week has only reinforced the negative image of Islam across the world. Islam never advocates violence and there are ways to mark the protest.

India is country where communal harmony is important. Indians are known for their tolerance and a true secular society. There were demonstrations all over India and Congress called the caricatures as offensives similar to M.F. Hussein’s paintings of Nude Hindu Deities.

This episode will have an impact on social life of people as religious sensibilities of two major communities of India are offended. Why this has been linked to old news of M.F. Hussein’s Paintings. We are not bothered what Hussein does, as we know our beliefs are much above the thoughts of Hussein. All he does to gain popularity and cheap publicity. People like Hussein can never do harm to an age old religion.

Same has been done by a Danish newspaper which published an offensive cartoon on Prophet Mohammad. This is called “freedom of Speech�. Criticizing a religion is become a fashion for few, but religions are greater than those. No one should criticize other religion neither it will be made an issue of debate. It is true that religious sensibilities of Muslims are offended, but violence is not an answer. Almighty God is greater than all.

Instead of triggering the violence across the globe why not we fight against growing terrorism across the globe. Why not all religions issue a “Fatwa� against terrorists so that they will be eliminated and world live in Peace. Triggering protests in India will have a greater impact on India’s communal harmony and it will definitely affect the image of the country.

Even news papers in Pakistan are maintaining the tolerance; you can see the Headlines of Pakistan’s daily news paper’s online editions which give importance to other news and protests are not at all the headlines. Click here to see online edition of Daily Jung a leading news paper of Pakistan.

Below are some reactions and articles from other countries for references.

1. We all are Danes now, an article by By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist.

2. Danish Imams Propose to End Cartoon Dispute

3. Denmark urges Kenyan Muslims against violent protests

4. News Images from Yahoo.

5. Huge protest against Bush visit to Denmark, News by Daily Jung a News paper in Pakistan.

6. Muslim cartoon fury claims lives News at BBC UK edition

7. Please eat Danish by Democracy Project