Dr M Khalid's global village blog

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/30/12994989-burned-out-nurses-linked-to-more-infections-in-patients?lite?ocid=twitter Heavy patient loads and chronic burnout have long been among the top complaints of nurses at the nation’s hospital bedsides. But a new study shows that those problems affect not only the nurses themselves, but also the number of infections in the people they care for. For every extra patient added to a nurse’s workload, there was roughly one additional hospital-acquired infection logged per 1,000 patients, according to researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

BANGALORE: When Gautam Munshi co-founded an analytics training institute in 2007, his only students were a handful of engineering graduates. Five years later, things have changed. Munshi's classes are now filled with vice-presidents and product managers from India's top information technology services firms trying to make sense of huge data-sets or so-called 'big data'. As India's software outsourcing firms look beyond their traditional software development and maintenance business, emerging technology areas such as cloud computing, analytics and big data, which are based on unstructured information coming from social networks, sensors and other such sources, are being identified as the new growth frontiers. But the skills required to execute business strategy in these   emerging areas   are in short supply. The Indian   IT   industry, which is projected to more than double in size to $225 billion by 2020, can count on cloud, mobility and big data to dominate grow...

Genpact signs MoU with Institute of Management Technology for analytics elective in Post graduate program Mahima Puri, ET Bureau   Jul 26, 2012, 05.11PM IST Business processing and technology management company   Genpact   has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad to develop and implement   analytics elective   for the two year Post graduate diploma in Management program. The term of the MoU is five years and students of the program will be eligible for employment in Genpact's analytics practice upon completion of the course. This course will give students both theoretical and practical work experience in analytics as applied in different industries. While the detailed courseware will be developed by IMT-G, Genpact will add industry perspective in the course conceptualisation, skills development and the training of faculty. From http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/...

In 1995 a New Zealand Environment Court (as the Planning Tribunal) decided to set a public exposure limit of 2 m   W/cm 2   for from a BellSouth GSM cell site. This was based on evidence of biological effects, including calcium ion efflux, enhanced ODC activity and EEG change down to 2.9 m   W/cm 2 . There was also epidemiological evidence of childhood leukaemia at 2.4 m   W/cm 2 . The primary expert witness for BellSouth was WHO staff member Dr Michael Repacholi from Australia. He stated that there was no evidence of adverse effects below the international guideline of SAR = 0.08W/kg because the only effect of RF/MW was tissue heating. The Court's decision rejected this position and set the exposure level of 1% of the standard. The decision also stated that this should be revised with new evidence. Subsequently two Australian studies were carried out to assure the public that both cell phones and cell sites were safe. Both of these studies, Hocking et al. (1...

From 1996 until he died in 2003, New Zealand physicist and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) meta-analyst, Dr Neil Cherry, studied over 600 researchers worldwide. He found that EMR caused DNA breakages, chromosome aberrations, increased oncogene activity in cells, altered brain activity, altered blood pressure and increased brain cancer at very low levels – much lower than those allowed by the Australian standard. He also found that it impacts on the pineal gland in the brain, resulting in a reduction of melatonin - a vital part of many of the body’s biochemical systems, including the mediation of many hormone functions (including the control of weight) and a major scavenger of damaging free radicals."3 These findings - in direct conflict with the interests of the multi-billion dollar telecommunications industry - have not only been replicated many times since, but have proved to be prophetic: cancer, leukaemia, cardiac disease, diabetes, sleep disturbances, dementia, weight g...

 Your stressful job is indeed aging you, study confirms Everybody knows too much stress and anxiety is bad for you. It dents the immune system, the cardiovascular system and may even contribute to cancer. Now it appears that one common source of stress -- our jobs -- could be having damaging effects on critical DNA in our cells. And that could lead to early aging, and the diseases and conditions that go along with it. A study led by Kirsi Ahola of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health measured the length of DNA sections called telomeres and how the lengths varied in association with job stress. It found that people with the most job stress tended to have shorter telomeres. That matters because telomeres, located at the ends of chromosomes, serve as a kind of protective cap to the ropy strands, helping assure that the genetic instructions carried by genes on the chromosomes are accurately translated so cells get the right messages. Telomeres become shorter with age, o...

Chandigarh, December 12 The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I has slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on ICICI Bank for illegally raising foreclosure charges, prepayment charges of Rs 5,00,825 from a resident of Sector 11, who foreclosed the loan in view of the higher rate of interest. The district forum-I comprising president PD Goel and members, Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota, also directed the respondents to pay Rs 25,000 as costs of litigation to complainants. The complainants, Yash Paul Singla and others, submitted that in August 2007, they availed a loan of Rs 1.70 crore from the opposite party against a shop-cum-office in Sector 26, Chandigarh, at an interest of 13.5 per cent per annum and paid Rs 95,506 as processing fee. A total of Rs 75 lakh were disbursed in September 2007, while the balance was disbursed in June 2008 due to which the installment was increased from Rs 1,38,487 to Rs 3,22,078 per month. They alleged that the opposite party without th...

A good EMI calculator http://www.bankbazaar.com/home-loan-emi-calculator.html Tax benefits: Tax benefit is only on the interest paid on the loan taken. Prohibition of Usury in Various Religions Hinduism The earliest such record derives from the   Vedic   texts of Ancient India (2,000-1,400 BC) in which the "usurer" ( kusidin ) is mentioned several times and interpreted as any lender at interest.  More frequent and detailed references to interest payment are to be found in the later   Sutra   texts (700-100 BC), as well as the Buddhist   Jatakas   (600-400 BC).  It is during this latter period that the first sentiments of contempt for usury are expressed.  For example, Vasishtha, a well known Hindu law-maker of that time, made a special law which forbade the higher castes of   Brahmanas   (priests) and   Kshatriyas   (warriors) from being usurers or lenders at interest.  Also, in the   J...

London, July 16 ( ANI ): More than 400  sex offenders , who have been set free in the past three years, have gone on to commit rape in the UK again. According to The Daily Mail, the shocking figures expose the staggering extent of re-offending by sexual predators across the country. The number of sex attackers, who go on to strike again has risen sharply in recent years, as a number of rapists have been released without serving even half of their jail term. The 'disturbing' revelations prompted concerns that dangerous serial criminals were being 'let off the hook'. Last year, nearly one in seven convicted rapists had a previous conviction  for a sex crime, the highest level for five years. Overall, more than nine out of ten had some form of previous conviction, including hundreds with criminal records  for violent crimes. The figures raised serious questions about whether the public is protected from serial sex offenders. Rape victims ' charities als...

https://sites.google.com/site/drkhalidmunir/pedindex432722

NEW DELHI: Global financial services firm Moody's on Thursday said  Indian economy  is facing  stagflation , where growth is slow and inflation high, and cautioned that the Reserve Bank cannot be too aggressive in cutting interest rates. "India's economy is in stagflation, with notably weaker growth but inflation still stubbornly high," said Glenn Levine, senior economist, Moody's Analytics.  Amid wholesale price-based inflation ticking up to 7.5% year-on-year in May due to supply-side factors, the agency said it will cause further 'headaches' at the RBI.  stagflation  is a situation in which the inflation rate is high, the economic growth rate slows down, and unemployment remains steadily high. From  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Indian-economy-is-facing-stagflation-Moodys-says/articleshow/14137278.cms

Diet for Ramadan for good energy levels and better health. https://health5000.blogspot.in/2013/07/diet-for-ramadan-for-good-energy-levels.html Precautions on Diabetes and Ramadan Fasting http://drkhalid.blogspot.in/2017/05/precautions-on-diabetes-and-ramadan.html

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/world/asia/fracking-in-us-lifts-guar-farmers-in-india.xml?single=1

It's Official: China Is Slowing Down It's not time to panic, but there is reason for concern. Don't take my word for it. Ask China's policymakers. They cut interest rates for the first time in four years in June, and then followed that up with a surprise second cut in July. And lately they've talked about ramping up  investment spending  to push up growth. This might be as bad as it gets -- or not. The good news was that bank loans grew more than expected in June. The bad news was that electricity usage was flat from the previous year. Both measures are supposed to be  more reliable  proxies for growth than the growth numbers themselves. The chart below from  Scotty Barber  of Reuters puts the electricity usage story in nice perspective. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/its-official-china-is-slowing-down/259822/

"A very high percentage of the people that bought it initially bought it because they thought it was going to go up the next day," said Buffett, whose firm's equity portfolio was valued at about $89.1 billion as of March 31. "I've never bought a  stock  in my life with that in mind."  Buffett built Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire over four decades by acquiring businesses including car insurer Geico Corp. and betting on stocks like Coca-Cola Co. Buffett oversees the largest stake in the Atlanta-based soft-drink maker and began acquiring the shares in 1988.  Buffett usually avoids investing in technology companies like Facebook because he isn't well-equipped to evaluate the businesses, he said. Investors should consider the long-term value of Facebook as they choose whether to buy stock, he said. "All kinds of stocks go down," Buffett said. "The question is whether Facebook is worth $100 billion or $50 billion or $200 billion." ht...

Nokia halves price of Lumia 900, investors see it as sign of desperation Nokia halved the price of the  Lumia 900  phone in the United States over the weekend to try and lure customers away from its rivals.  "They are stuck between a rock and a hard place - to drive sales of their devices they are going to have to spend money on marketing and promotions, but at the same time the stock market is demanding they do anything other than spend money," said Ovum analyst Nick Dillon.  Analysts expect Samsung to sell 50 million smartphones  in the second quarter, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, compared with Apple selling around 30 million iPhones and Nokia around 10 million smartphones.  Nokia shares were 2.33 per cent lower at 1.476 euros by 1116 GMT, after falling more than 3 per cent earlier in the session and still near a 16-year low of 1.434 euros reached last week.  The proportion of Nokia shares out on loan has risen to 13.2 per cent in the last month, Markit data s...

"One-fourth of my wealth will be enough for my family," declares Agarwal, whose net worth in 2011 was estimated at $3.5 billion. Four decades after leaving Patna for Mumbai at age 19, Agarwal says he will pledge three fourths of his wealth to educate and provide nutrition to underprivileged children.  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/vedanta-resources-founder-anil-agarwal-wants-to-pledge-three-fourths-of-his-wealth-to-philanthropy/articleshow/14912899.cms

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/betting-on-america-how-much-do-apple-and-google-invest-at-home/259807/ One of the more frustrating aspects of the thriving U.S. tech sector is that while its leading companies generate fabulous profits, they don't actually employ that many American workers -- especially compared to industrial titans of yore. At its 1970s peak, General Motors had more than 600,000 U.S. workers on its payroll. Apple, by comparison, claims   just 47,000 , most of whom are part of its retail operations. Google has about   18,500 . They've perfected the low-employment, high-profit business model.

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/12/12709312-medical-bills-drive-many-us-women-into-debt-report-finds?lite?ocid=twitter

Three simple rules?   McTiernan and colleagues tracked the habits of 123 women who were taking were part in the larger Nutrition and Exercise for Women study. At the study's start, the participants' average age was 58, and their average body mass index (BMI) was 31.3. (People with BMIs of 30 and higher are considered obese.) During the year-long study, the participants lost, on average, 10.7 percent of their body weight.   The researchers found that women who kept diligent food logs lost about six more pounds than those who did not keep a food diary.  "We found that the better women in our study were at consistently writing down everything they ate and drank, the more weight they were able to lose," McTiernan said.  The study also found that women who consistently ate three meals daily lost almost eight more pounds, compared with those who reported skipping meals. People who  skip meals are likely to be hungrier  by the next meal, and overeat, the resear...

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/05/19/the-homeless-billionaire/ After making his billions, Mr. Berggruen, 46, lost interest in acquiring things: They didn't satisfy him, and in fact had become something of a burden. So he started paring down his material life, selling off his condo in New York, his mansion in Florida and his only car. He hatched plans to leave his fortune to charity and his art collection to a new museum in Berlin. For him, wealth is about lasting impact, not stuff. "Everybody is different and I think that we live in a material world," he told me. "But for me, possessing things is not that interesting. Living in a grand environment to show myself and others that I have wealth has zero appeal. Whatever I own is temporary, since we're only here for a short period of time. It's what we do and produce, it's our actions, that will last forever. That's real value."

11 JUL, 2012, 11.35AM IST,  BLOOMBERG  Gloomy economy, underemployment making US graduates waiters, bartenders WASHINGTON: Michael Baum took every substitute teaching job he found and has sent out hundreds of resumes since graduating from college two years ago. He never got a full-time offer and works as a waiter in a pizza parlour in Chicago, earning $650 on a busy week. "It's discouraging," said Baum, 25, who is certified to teach in Texas and North Carolina as well as his native Michigan. His pay is just enough to cover basic living expenses. Baum has joined the growing number of underemployed graduates in the US, in an election year when both President  Barack Obama  and presumptive Republican challenger  Mitt Romney  are vying for young voters with promises to restore jobs. Underemployment  isn't debilitating only for individuals whose career and income opportunities are stunted. I...

From:  http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/indian-railway-introduces-new-tatkal-rules_728100.html The Indian Railway has introduced several measures to ensure Tatkal train tickets reach the common man. Booking counters will now open at 10 am instead of 8 am, the day before the journey from the originating station. "No normal ticket will be issued during this time unless there is no passenger for the Tatkal tickets," an Eastern Railway release said. ER spokesperson Samir Goswami said Tatkal tickets cannot be booked on internet reservation system during the special time of 10-10.30 am for next day trains. All travel agents including those of IRCTC will not be allowed to book Tatkal tickets between 10 am to 12 noon from counters as well as on the Internet. There will be separate queues and counters for Tatkal buyers. CCTVs are being installed at booking centres as well. One will have to carry self attested identity proofs for buying a Tatkal ticket. ...