Dr M Khalid's global village blog

“Fiscal cliff” is the popular shorthand term used to describe the conundrum that the U.S. government will face at the end of 2012, when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are scheduled to go into effect. Among the laws set to change at midnight on December 31, 2012, are the end of last year’s temporary payroll tax cuts (resulting in a 2% tax increase for workers), the end of certain tax breaks for businesses, shifts in the alternative minimum tax that would take a larger bite, the end of the tax cuts from 2001-2003, and the beginning of taxes related to President Obama’s health care law. At the same time, the spending cuts agreed upon as part of the debt ceiling deal of 2011 will begin to go into effect. According to   Barron's , over 1,000 government programs - including the defense budget and Medicare are in line for "deep, automatic cuts." In dealing with the fiscal cliff, U.S. lawmakers have a choice among three options, none of which are particularly a

The USD 100 billion house of the   Tatas   is perceived as India's best known global brands not only within the country but also overseas About 77% of those who participated in the survey, conducted in the first fortnight of December, said they are confident that Tata's successor Cyrus Mistry will be able to steer the group well. Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Mahindra and Mahindra and Aditya Birla Group were the other major Indian corporate house brands, listed to have made their mark on the global business landscape, the survey pointed out. However, the brand Tata stood out among all the top Indian corporate, perceived as the truly international brand, it said.    However, the biggest challenge for Mistry would be to ensure that the Tata companies are able to sail through the global slowdown, since the group operates in some 80 countries, several of which are in the grip of difficult times.   Read full at:   http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/storyShow.php?fileR=

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Doctors say they have used a genetically engineered herpes virus to treat successfully patients with head and neck cancer. A London hospital trial of 17 patients found that use of the virus alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy helped kill the tumours in most patients. It works by getting into cancer cells, killing them from the inside, and also boosting the patient's immune system. Further trials are planned for later in the year. Head and neck cancer, which includes cancer of the mouth, tongue and throat, affects up to 8,000 people every year in the UK. Study leader Dr Kevin Harrington, who is based at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said current treatments were effective if the cancer was picked up early but that many patients were not diagnosed until it was more advanced. The herpes virus, which is also being tested in patients with skin cancer, is genetically manipulated so that it grows inside tumour cells but cannot infect normal healthy cells.

The government is battling crisis on several fronts, a sputtering economy, soaring crude oil prices and inflation amongst others. One of the biggest concerns is the spiraling fiscal deficit. The central government has found it tough to rein in the deficit given the high spending on fuel subsidies and social welfare programmes, coupled with heavy borrowing and low collection through taxes. Though the government believed that its disinvestment programme would help tide over the cash crunch to an extent, the plan has not panned out as per expectations. In order to get the fiscal situation under control, the government is using Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and other public sector undertakings (PSUs) to fill its cash kitty. LIC of India has come to the Government's rescue repeatedly in the recent past. It bought shares in state-owned banks in 2009. In 2010, it bought the government's stake in a mining firm. This time, it is injecting a billion dollars into some state banks.

The three untended child-sized graves, a few minutes’ walk from the village of Paltupur, bear witness to what happened when the trucks loaded with nutritional powder stopped coming to this desolate corner of eastern   India . Great Value Foods Ltd.’s deliveries of the tasteless yellow substance, funded by a $2 billion program for India’s youngest and poorest, were cut off in August. All 2-year-old Jialal’s mother had left to give her son was boiled rice, the only food she could   afford   on a yearly income of about $75. As the days stretched into weeks, the boy kept losing weight. His crying grew feeble. He ran fevers. He’d fall as soon as his mother, Kalavati, let go of his hand. On Sept. 23, Jialal died, strapped to his mother’s chest as she searched the countryside for help. He wasn’t the first victim in the village, nor the last. On Aug. 20, Archna died. She was two. On Oct. 2, Anjali died. She was two. In a neighboring village, graves also were dug for Karishma, who di

NEW DELHI: Around 1 lakh fewer white-collar jobs were created in India's top seven urban centres in 2012 compared with the previous year, if leasing or renting of new office space is considered a proxy for employment generation. According to real estate consulting firm CBRE, the office space absorption or leasing of new space in these cities has come down from 35 million sq ft in 2011 to about 26 million sq ft in 2012. Data from Cushman & Wakefield, another international real estate consultancy, shows leasing is down from 37 million sq ft to 27 million sq ft while Jones Lang LaSalle says new office occupancy has fallen from 36 million sq ft to 28 million sq ft. In India, the thumb rule is that a white-collar worker occupies an average space of 70 sq ft. An 8-10 million sq ft reduction in new office space occupancy during the year means 1-1.30 lakh fewer jobs have been created this year compared with 2011. The seven towns and cities covered by these consulting fi

Emily's parents say they took their daughter out of the hospital after she contracted a bacterial infection in her right arm, which had to be amputated, and that they were pressured over health insurance and mounting medical bills, according to TODAY. Officials at the hospital said they couldn't discuss Emily's medical treatment, but released a statement saying: "We steadfastly disagree with the assertions brought forth regarding the quality of care Emily received. ... Emily's health and well-being continues to be our primary concern." Two weeks after a woman sneaked her 11-year-old daughter with leukemia out of a Phoenix hospital, the girl's parents say she is safe and under the care of doctors in Mexico. "She's happy," Norma Bracamontes told TODAY. "She's getting better." The girl, Emily Bracamontes, says she supports her mother's actions. "My mom's only trying to save my life," she said. "She do

original from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323339704578171114155456982.html?mod=WSJINDIA_hpp_MIDDLEThirdNews BY IAN TALLEY WASHINGTON—China will be the world's largest economy as Asia surpasses North America and Europe by 2030, according to a new U.S. National Intelligence Council report published Monday. Overturning more than two centuries of Western global dominance, the U.S. and European nations likely will share power with dynamic emerging economies, See supporting posts by clicking the label ' Asia to lead the world'

New York:  With an aim to save costs in troubled economic times, just 10 companies together have announced nearly one lakh job cuts worldwide since start of 2012 and they include giants like HP, Google and Citigroup. While these companies come from a wide array of businesses, the reason behind layoffs has mostly been cost-cutting efforts in their respective operations. Others who have announced major layoffs in 2012 so far are AMR Corporation, PepsiCo, MetLife, Hostess Brands, JC Penney Co, Procter & Gamble and Morgan Stanley. Collectively, these 10 companies have announced layoffs affecting at least 95,500 jobs in their operations globally. The technology giant Hewlett-Packard tops the chart of corporate job cuts for the year with its announcement in May to axe 27,000 jobs to save up to $3.5 billion. HP is followed by the Hostess Brands, the bankrupt maker of Wonder bread and Twinkie, which announced last month that it would eliminate 18,500 jobs as it liquidates the compan

See under ' More signs of a housing bottom ' From  http://scottgrannis.blogspot.in/2010_04_01_archive.html

A documentary about the health and longevity of Okinawa - and a warning of the health dangers posed by modern 'Western lifestyles'. The island of Okinawa, in Japan, is the best place on earth for healthy aging. The Okinawans have: more people over 100 years old per 100,000 population than anywhere else in the world the lowest death rates from cancer, heart disease and stroke (the   top three killers   in the US) the highest life expectancy for both males and females over 65 females in Okinawa have the highest life expectancy in all age groups What are the Okinawans Doing Right? This is a question that has been studied by researchers since 1976. Over the years, the lifestyle and genetics of over 800 Okinawan centenarians have been well-documented. Here are some of the findings: It’s True:   Great attention has been paid to validating the claims of Okinawan centenarians. Luckily, Japan instituted a strict record keeping system and census policy in the 1870s. The c

A priceless clip of Bruce Lee… This is a short clip done in the late 60's of Mr. Bruce Lee using Nun chucks to defeat a Ping Pong game opponent. Even with two opponents. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151111632195718