The effects of social networking

Today’s is a HiTech era…and era which belongs to Technology and Internet. Internet has become a fast growing technology which almost all citizens are aware of and are using it in abundance. Life has now started to become impossible without internet.
Most widely used reason of Internet is Communication, and the most targeted audiences for this are the young youth of today.

There was a time when the only way to communicate through Internet is by sending emails, but now we have grown 2 steps ahead and there are Messengers the instant chat rooms, video calls, quick-easy way to call someone sitting far away, and networking sites.

If you talk about networking sites, then the first such site that comes to anyone’s mind today is the very famous for not such famous activities ORKUT. Orkut.com as they call is a site where you can know new people, and meet old lost buddies. You can absolutely exchange scraps with people whom you just do not know, you can upload you photos and videos for others to see, there are communities which are build for all those with common interest can come and share their view etc..

Though there are good points of this site, there are many more bad points because of which it is in news almost every week in Indian newspaper. People are using this site to awaken the communal activists because of which there were riots in few cities, apart from this murderers are using this site to catch their victims, recently there was this murder case of Adnan Patrawala who was yet another victim of being friends with strangers through ORKUT.

I think though we have become HITECH in this era we should be careful enough of whom to trust and whom not. If everyone uses Internet only as a media of communication it will become much safer than it is now.

Are you in favor of such social networking sites? Please give your comments.

Let's Celebrate the Festival of Rakhi

The Festive season has arrived. Yesterday was Parsi New Year. Ganpati and Raksha Bandhan will follow soon.
Today let me tell you something about Raksha Bandhan. I know most of you are aware ot it but this is for some of my international friends.

This festival is celebrated with much joy and excitement in many parts of India. Rakhi as they commonly call is the thread which is entwined with beads, precious stones, artificial flowers and colorful silk threads which is tied on the wrist of brothers by their sisters.

On tying the Rakhi sisters pray to god to for their good health, to give them more happiness and make them wealthier. At the same time, brothers promise to take care of their sisters for their entire life and to be with them whenever they are in need and to support them in all possible way (if needed). In return the brothers also give gifts to their sisters and wish them good luck.

This festival symbolizes love and bonding between the siblings, apart from this it also brings out the sense of Brotherhood in all the brothers.

This festival originated in the olden days God Idrani was preparing for a war against the demons, while he was leaving for the war, his wife Idrani tied a silk cloth on his wrist and told him that this cloth will protect him from all demons. And this is what exactly happened.

Since then whenever there were such wars all the women of the family tied the silk cloth on their wrists of their men. After which the men won all the battles and brought back home victory.

This ritual of tying the silk cloth has been carried forward since then by all the Indians.

Money, Money and more Money for you!

The best that could happen to any young entrepreneurs is having the right amount of money at the right time. Money is the basic necessity of life now. We all need that extra money at some point of time in our life to invest in business, further studies, to buy home; some may need it for buying cars etc.

You need extra money but who will give you that until unless you have some rich friends or relatives to lend you money for some time. Not many people though have such friends/relatives. So it’s here that the banks/finance institution comes to our help.

These days they give you loan that you can use for sometime and then pay back on installment. The bank charges some interest and service charge for their money. I guess paying little extra is not a problem for many of us if we get the money at right time.

There are various types of loan you can get from bank depending upon your need. Various types of loans are;

1. Home loan: - These are mainly of two types a) Floating b) Fixed
a) Floating is where you take loan and pay interest depending upon the interest rate. The interest rate may rise or fall depending upon the economy, whereas
b) Fixed is very simple. The interest rate is fixed at the time of taking loan. It doesn’t changes at all.

2. Personal Loan: - This type of loan is very simple to and easy to get from your bank though the amount varies from person to person. You do not have to provide much of documents to avail personal loan. The interest rates on such loan are very high.

3. Vehicle loan: - Need to buy a car/two wheeler then vehicle loan is the one you need. The interest rate here remains constant for your loan period.

4. Loan against property:- Such loans are very helpful in financing your child marriage or higher studies of your children. The interest rates are very reasonable on such types of loan and time period is also decent.

5. Loans against securities: - In such type of loans you do not have to sell your stock/shares but just need pledge your securities in favor of your banks.

In addition to above mention loans you may also go for medical loans, farming loans, consumer loans to finance your needs.

So what are you waiting for? You are just few steps away in getting money to realize your dreams. Apply for suitable type of loan.

Country Is Proud Of You! Jai Hind!

Today as I write this, the country is celebrating 60 years of freedom from the colonial rule. It was at this day that we called our self the citizen of free India. Sixty years is long time in history of country.

In these sixty years the country has produce hundreds of human being who have made us proud. These are people who have put India into the path of recognition and prosperity. It is because of these individuals that we are looked in admiration by others.

In my own small capacity I will try to put some names that we are proud of. I might miss many names so please forgive me as I cannot include each and everyone due to post limitations.

a) Mahatma Gandhi: – Even after 60 years the man continues to inspire millions of people not only in India but across the globe. Gandhi was the pioneer of Independence fight against British. Mahatma gave us freedom by means of non violence that was so rare. We are proud to belong to land of Gandhi. Salute him!

b) Pandit Nehru: - The first Prime Minister of free India. The man who gave vision and dream to millions of people of this country. The basis of everything that exists today was laid down by Nehru. Till today Nehru-Gandhi family is serving the nation. Their sacrifice for the nation cannot be match in Indian history ever.

c) APJ Kalam: - They call him the missile man. Some prefer to call him as people’s president. If someone has right to say that he has vision of progressive India with a definite plan then it has to be APJ Kalam. The former president of the country has powered the wings of free India to next level.

d) Dhirubhai Ambani: - Will there ever be a man like Dhirubhai? Will there be a business man with the acumen that this man had? The country needs more of such people. He gave a dream to common man of India and then fulfilled them. There are millions of people in this country who made fortune thanks to Dhirubhai and his Reliance group.

e) Kapil Dev: - Without argument he is the first International superstar of modern India. The man from Haryana has managed to accomplish something that is still not match by billions of people of this country. In that summer of 83 Kapil Dev not only gave us World Cup victory but along with it he made other sporting nation to stand up and take note of our immense talent.

There are many others who have made us proud and whose contribution is on par with the names mention above but as you know listing all of them is not possible here.

Some names that need mention here are; Dr. Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, The Tatas, Amitabh Bachchan, Rakesh Sharma, Rajnikant, MGR, C V Raman, Dhyan Chand, Anna Hazare, Arundhati Roy and many more.

Friends, I would like to know about some more personalities that you think has made difference to free India.

-Stella Roy

Chak De India, we are the best!

Chak De India…means “Buck Up India or Come On India” - a movie full of inspiration, a movie which makes you feel proud of the company, a movie which teaches you how to fight and win everyone’s heart, a movie which forces you to believe in yourself.

Chak De has shades of failure, anger, hatred, love, passion, leadership, innocence, eagerness to fight back and finally of sportsman spirit. The story of Chak De is of a real-life Indian goal keeper Mir Ranjan Negi.

The Story line starts with a slow pace but then picks up immediately in 30 mins of the start of the movie. Shah Rukh is the coach of a team which consists of 16 girls belonging to different states of the country and who believe that hockey is an individual game and they actually play for their own vestige interests, but Shah Rukh makes them believe that the game is not merely an individuals game but a national game, and that they can win only if they play with the full team spirit and not against each other in rivalry. One by one he starts breaking the ice between the girls and finally reaches his goal to win the world cup.

Second half of Chak De has some excellent locations and sceneries of Australia. You really get the feel of Olympics being held.

This is not much of a song movie, it hardly has any songs. Just the title track is enough for this movie to rock. Dialogue writer of this movie should really win an award; each dialogue is worth listening, and following.

Shah Rukh Khan the lead actor in this movie has done a brilliant job and given an awesome performance. He has played the role of a coach of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team who is preparing to enter the World Cup to compete with other countries.

Through Chak De the producers/director have shown that CRICKET is not the only sport INDIA can do well at, there are other sports too, which no one is interested in and not many citizens are aware of, but if given a try we can really make a difference and win many more gold medals in OLYMPICS for the country and make the country proud.

Chak De is 2.30 minutes long, and is really worth every penny. It is a must watch movie, and do not miss it for anything.

Please comment if you have seen the movie and would like to add more points to it.

-Stella Roy

Get ready to get high salary for your job

Your salary hike or appraisals are done, but you are not happy with your raise? Your boss/manager did not recognize your work well and hence the raise was very low? Your salary hike was not done as per your expectations?

You feel that your hard work is not fully recognizes, you start to feel cheated. There comes a thought in your mind to shift your job. Hold on before you take such steps. Do you think you will get better salary hike in your next job? Do you feel they will offer you better opportunity then your current employer? Answer all this question before taking any drastic step to change your job.

Well, Salary negotiations can be cumbersome and the most difficult part yet the very important part in ones life. If not handled with care it has many adverse side effects which then will be difficult to bear. First an analyze yourself. Your salary hike is totally dependent on how you present your work in front of your manger.

Here are a few tips on how to tackle this situation:

Go out and research the market pay scale for your kind of job profile. See where you stand, and accordingly decide what you want. If you are already being paid above the market pay scale then negotiating for more raise could be little difficult.

It’s always a good habit to make a list of all the work that you have done at your job, which in some way or the other has helped the company grow or win more clients, this list might just help you get the pay raise that you are expecting.

Try to bring to your manager’s attention the extra effort you might have put in to complete task/project. Reason with him the value you bring to the organization with you.

Be ready with the research proof and let your manager know that you are asking for the pay raise according to your accomplishments and contributions in the past year towards the company.

Make sure that you go with full preparation because there is no second chance given and your manager wont tell you ok come again we will discuss again, remember you are in need and you know that you really deserve it, go with the positive attitude and win your boss and get a pay hike.

Best of luck at your job!

-Stella Roy

Justice or Injustice

The recent Judgement on Sanjay Dutt has opened a pandora’s box and there is nation wide debate on it.The judgment has left some critical question to be answered by the judiciary in this country. Their job is not yet complete.

a) If Mr. Kode found Sanjay’s crime so immoral, then why was he taken out of strict TADA act?
b) Why other accomplices of Sanjay Dutt were charged under TADA?
c) Why was Abu Salem confession and statement not recorded in connection to his visit at the Dutt residence to deliver the AK-56? And why his case will be heard separately?

With due respect to his highness Judge P D Kode the nation feels that at various times in this case; be it discharging him of TADA or giving him six years of imprisonment Sanjay’s celebrity status did came into consideration. It feels that even Judge P D Kode could not keep himself totally immune from the celebrity status of deadly Dutt in giving out his judgement on the convict number 117 of Mummbai blast case. Justice was done, no question about it, but sadly it was a not a consistent justice.

The Beginning
It all started one bright afternoon. Every thing was going smoothly for Mumbaikars. Businesses were just starting to recover after December – January communal riots. Students were appearing for their examination across various schools in the city. Families were busy making vacation plans for summer. People wwere marching towards mosque for their Friday prayers and as the clock tick to 1:00 PM Mumbai was rocked with series of bomb blasts killing several hundreds of people and destroying property worth millions of rupees. The whole world was shocked. No place looked safe. The fear factor came back to haunt the Mumbaikar once again.

The Players
What followed next was a massive hunt to track down the culprits. Several hundred people were arrested and among them was high profile superstar of Bollywood movies – Sanjay Dutt. He was arrested for having got the AK-56 gun from the people who were involved in the Mumbai blasts. The actor was booked under TADA act then got bail twice and now again he is back in jail for 6 years till he gets reprieve from the supreme court. Some main players like Memon brothers, the fugitive DON Dawood Ibrahim, Dosa Brothers left the country on the D-day.

The Government and the Judiciary
Was the Judge fair enough to the verdict given, or was he pressurized to give him strict verdicts because of Sanjay’s background? Did he give such a strong verdict only to show the nation that no person can get away from law? If this is the case then what about all those politicians who are involved into similar act of crime? Who will keep an account for them? They get away from anything and everything, why are they not given such strong verdicts? Why are they always released on bail?

Government knows how to trouble an innocent citizen, how to harass him from time to time, how to loot him with all the money, etc. but what about the politicians? The real culprit, the real thieves? The real DON? Why is the government not using their brains and energy in catching hold of them? And putting them behind the bars?
One thing that the citizens of INDIA should really ponder upon is “Will the nation gain anything if Sanjay Dutt is behind the bars?” OR “Will the nation gain if the real DON/thieves/smugglers/bomb shooters etc are put behind the bars?”

Sanjay Dutt had done some crime of which he has got enough in the last 13 years, and now still they are behind him and have put him behind bars, but on the other hand if the real smugglers are caught, nation will really gain and who knows by catching them the idea of an awaited bomb blast will be dead?

You may have your opinion on this and I would love to hear it.

-Stella Roy