::::::::: Its My LifE :::::::::

great people have said that change is the only constant thing in life....and so very true it really is. yes change - change for the good, the bad or worse....change for whatever-is always good. it keeps the flavour in our lives going, otherwise life would be really boring.....imagine being in a constant state of grief or of pleasure, nothing to bother abt or always to bother about....

at college my favourite subject was economics, i loved it because of the easy way in which erratic and complicated things could be given shape and explanation....economics also stresses on the constant movement in the economy which affects the people in the economy....how inflation had to be followed by deflation, how development had to follow recession...



so change is what has happened with me too....i have changed masters, hsbc was a great place to learn and grow, it gave me opportunities which i could never imagine, i reached the highs and the lows of my career with hsbc....but then change being inevitable....i have moved to barclays technology, and hope i can have the same and many more opportunities to learn and grow with barclays too....i am not trying to be politically correct, cause i have already cleared my interviews and have joined the org, its actually what i am looking forward to.... :-))

India's economy, which has been hit harder than expected by the global recession, may be on the path to recovery, some recent data suggests.
Asia's third-largest economy is expected to have grown less than 7 percent in 2008/09, sharply lower than the expansion of 9 percent or in each of the previous three fiscal years, and is poised to expand at the same pace in the fiscal year ending March 2010.
Some analysts say the robust growth in steel and cement sales as well as in manufacturing in recent months showed the worst maybe over for the economy.
The following looks at the growth outlook for the South Asian economy and the pace of its economic recovery.
WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE THAT WORST MAY BE OVER FOR THE INDIAN ECONOMY?
A slew of data in recent weeks has shown that a tentative recovery is taking shape. The ABN AMRO Bank purchasing managers' index (PMI) based on a survey of 500 companies, rose to 53.3 in April from March's 49.5, climbing above the threshold of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
This was the first expansion in factory output in five months and showed demand in the economy is returning.
Data also signalled that demand in India's hinterland is firm and is supporting a vast expanse of the economy. Cement sales have grown at near double-digit rates since November, consumer goods sales have seen strong support from rural markets, while auto demand has firmed after a disastrous December quarter.
Wholesale price inflation shows demand has not fallen as anticipated and prices were holding firm.
Industrial output, which accounts for nearly a quarter of India's gross domestic product, has shown signs of revival after a dismal March quarter. January's initially reported fall was revised to a rise of 0.4 percent.
Economists said stimulus packages announced by the government since late last year, along with aggressive policy easing by the central bank, look to be making an impact given improved car sales and uptrend in cement and steel demand.
They also say robust performance of consumer goods and capital goods, a key barometer of activity, in the February industrial output report showed that there is demand.
Analyst say savings and investment rates, which have reached close to 40 percent due to the structural changes in the economy, would enable it to sustain an investment rate of 35 percent despite lower capital inflows.
The main stock index has rebounded more than half from its 2009 trough in early March. Foreigners bought $1.5 billion worth of shares in April and another $296 million on Monday, after heavy outflows in January and February.
WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR GDP GROWTH IN 2009/10?
Domestic ratings agency ICRA says the economy is likely to grow 6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2009/10 if the global economy comes out of the slump later this year and as government stimulus starts feeding into the broader economy.
The central bank has forecast 6 percent expansion in Asia's third-largest economy but private analysts have pegged growth lower than that. Any growth below 6 percent would increase unemployment.
WHAT ARE ANALYSTS SAYING ABOUT ECONOMIC RECOVERY?
Rajeev Malik, economist with Macquarie Securities says the largely domestically driven economy will begin to recover palpably from mid-year onwards. "The double-cyclinder fiscal and monetary response has been aggressive and already paying dividends."
Investment bank UBS said in a research note that its lead economic indicator had climbed for three months in a row which signalled a strong likelihood of an upturn in industrial activity by June.
Robert Prior-Wandesforde, economist at HSBC, wrote in a research report that there were a number of reasons to be positive about India's growth prospects.
"Individually, none of them are hugely powerful, but collectively they should drive a recovery later this year which is likely to gain momentum in 2010."
IS THERE DATA STILL SUGGESTING FURTHER DETERIORATION?
There is still some data which shows that the global slowdown has taken a heavy toll. Exports declined by a third in March to $11.5 billion, its sixth straight monthly fall and economists say the global economic slump would further dent Indian firms' foreign sales in the months ahead.
Consumer prices still remain elevated and the Reserve Bank of India said inflation based on various consumer price indices continues to be near double digits, reflecting a firm trend in food prices.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS AHEAD THAT MAY HURT GROWTH?
Political uncertainty remains a short-term risk.
Emergence of a weak coalition could lead to policy limbo, which in turn may hurt the economy.
The high fiscal deficit of central and state governments, which according to some observers has reached nearly 10 percent of gross domestic product, could prove to be an obstacle to growth and undermine the Reserve Bank's aggressive rate cuts.

i dont know whether 1 vote can make a difference or not but then i did cast my vote

my niece and me outside the polling booth, beating the torturous nagpur heat of 47 C

di, jiju and me....with the ink mark put on the middle finger, it just became a little awkward to show it to the camera

incomplete instructions written on a broken black-board

the names of the candidates who stood for contention, there were all kinds of symbols....tubelight, cake, taps...

the dilapitated state in which votes were being casted

**created by the nerd www.rajeshrana.com**

this morning i received an sms from my friend (sanjiv), wishing me "happy fools day"...ohh that was my reaction to it...so today is 1st april, and the first thought that crosses my mind is that another month has gone by and yes another financial year has started....i wished him back, changed the calander page and got on with my days work....

i later got a call from sanjiv, all excited and telling me how he had smsed to all his friends and the kind of reactions he had received from them....first i felt irritated from the call so early in the morning as i was busy with something, but then i realised what a real fool i really was....
*this guy had called me up from the other end of the country, so early in the morning, on his way to his office
*he wanted to share his childish excitment with me
*to let me part of his world - to know how people in his world reacted to a fools day wish - probably hoping that some of it may get rubbed on to me as well

and yes thanks sanjiv for letting me remember the child inside me - a person who used to plan her fools day prank days in advance, targetting everyone i knew, my family and friends and neighbours, everyone i could set my eyes on.....the 1st of april....my day....just how could i forget - have grown up i guess, just too many useless things have made their home in my head, things i cant get myself to get rid of....and in between all this i seem to have lost my true self....

but thanks again mr.roy for the reminder....after all this day solely belongs to people like me....and yes since u 2 r an important member of the fools paradise....wish u a Very Happy Fools Day 2 :-)) and to the major part of the worlds population....

The features:

Operating System : Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7300 (2.00 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Memory : 2GB DDR2 (2 Dimm)
Display : 15.4″ WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
Graphics Card : 383MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS with DirectX 10
Networking : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
Hard disk : 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
DVD Drive : LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
Battery : High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Other features :

HP Imprint (Radiance)
Fingerprint Reader,
Webcam,
Microphone ,
Remote Control.

Slots, Pins and other features on the Left Side:
Security cable Slot,
S-Video-out jack,
External Monitor Port,
Expansion Port 3,
RJ-45 (network) jack,
RJ-11 (modem) jack,
HDMI port,
2 USB port,
1394 port,
Digital Media Slot.

Slots, Pins and other features on the Right Side:
Express Card Slot,
Optical Drive,
USB Port,
Power Connector.

Slots, Pins and other features on the Front Side:
Power light,
Battery light,
Drive light,
Wireless Switch,
Wireless light,
Consumer infrared lens,
Audio-in (microphone) jack,
2 Audio-out (headphone) jack.

Windows Experience Index:
All the subscore including gaming graphics are above 4.3 but the graphics score for Windows Aero is only 3.2 and so the Base Score of Windows Experience Index is 3.2. Here is the list of subscore for all different parameters.
Processor (4.9) : Calculations per second
Memory RAM (4.8) : Memory operations per second
Graphics (3.2) : Desktop performance for Windows Aero
Gaming Graphics (4.3) : 3D business and gaming graphics performance
Primary Hard Disk (4.6) : Disk data rate transfer

in other words its just too good......

Chivalry - the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms....that's how the oxford dictionary describes it.

But then my guess is that the existence of this word is best left for usage in romantic novels or medieval age literature, cause today's male world has long back forgotten its meaning or usage.
Then some might argue about the new-age woman demanding equal rights, working hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder with her male counter-parts, not bowing against the age-old ideologies, making her own-way, leaving a mark in every field....why does she ask or look out for chivalry or valor from the other half or in case of India for the other 53% of the population.

Well valor is not something women look out for in all men, for she understands that she is the one who wanted to break out of those old shackles, she is the one who wanted to be brave enough to fight her own wars, to voice out her opinion about what she felt wrong, to understand the difference.....but then women will be women, she expects not all but only a few around her, with whom she spends or desires to spend her magnificent life with, to be kind, generous, understanding and caring....
she does not want her guy-friends (with whom she might have spent hours at the chai-adda, pulling each-others legs,laughing at stupid jokes,making plans for the next holiday trip) to be chivalric with her, nor does she expect her male colleagues (with whom she is at swords edge for the next promotion, the next project, the next presentation) to be chivalric with her.....though if they are then its good for then as it just goes to show good grooming and mannerisms :-))

So i write on this issue as i was witness to one such very rude, non-chivalric situation recently.....i had travelled 300km by road,with my family, to meet up with a guy as is so common in an arranged marriage scenario in India.....well as i am not a big rope-in on looks or money i shall leave all that aside, but what struck was the so non-chivalric behaviour of this guy(let me call him X), just to jot down a few....
*after the initial introduction X simply called up room-service and asked for 5 cups of tea, sorry, dude there r 4 other people whose drinking taste u don't know about, ever heard of asking people first, at this i asked X to cancel 1 tea as i do not drink tea, at this he tells me to take a sip and leave the rest, sorry again.....but then i forget about it....probably he is nervous
*we walk down to pizza-hut to catch a bite as their is no other eating joint in that area, we call for pizzas and when the bill arrives, X simply looks the other way, dude it is we who have travelled all the way and ideally we r your guests, ever heard of treating your guests out, OK i understand, Indian marriages where the girls family takes the bull-shit onus for meeting all expenses, but then at least pretend to try and pay the bill, pathetic.
*then my parents leave us alone in his hotel suite for the famous 5 min. chat after which u decide that whether u want to spend the rest of your life with the said person :-)), well i take a seat on the sofa, all dressed up in salwaar-kameez, heels, well-shampooed hair....all of it making me quite uncomfortable, X is sitting on the bed, my bro had left the door ajar....as soon i get settled down, X asks me to close the door, SORRY so sorry, did i hear u right, u r asking me to close the door, a woman who has come to meet her proposed groom...while u sit on the bed....dude i am through with u

...mmmmm if u think of it, it was not that big a deal, people may or may not want to drink tea, people eat out at pizza-hut and one of them pays the bill, whosoever might close the door to the room....who cares....true who cares, but then we care when the person doing such non-chivalric person is the person with whom u r expected to marry (marriage being the most loved, adored and cherished institution in this world)

I pray god to take away barbarism, terrorism, evil, cannibalism, etc from this world but never take away chivalry, valor, charisma....because then the world would become really not a great place to be.....women will be women, after all aren't we the extraordinary species from Venus :-))