World NEWS

S witzerland comes eighth in the list of most admired nations. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world. Zurich and Geneva have been ranked as having the second and third highest quality of life in the world. GDP (PPP): $315.768 billion Population : 7,739,100 Image: A man cycles during snowfall in Zurich. Photographs: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters.

C anada took the biggest hit in the survey, falling to seventh from fourth place. Canada is one of the world's richest nations, with a high per capita income. It is one of the world's top ten trading nations. GDP (PPP): $342.682 billion Population : 9,263,872 Image: Canada slips to 7th rank.

The United Kingdom is ranked fourth among the world's most admired nations. It was ranked third last year. The UK has the world's sixth largest economy by nominal GDP and the seventh largest by purchasing power parity. The world's first industrialised country, it is major power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. GDP (PPP): $2.228 trillion Population : 61,113,205 Image: United Kingdom is ranked fourth.

G ermany, which was ranked first last year has moved to the third position this year. It is a major economic power with the world's fourth largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth largest in purchasing power parity. Germany allocates the second biggest annual budget of development aid in the world. The country has a high standard of living. The global survey, conducted by GFK Roper Public Affairs & Media, involved 20,000 people in 20 rich and developing countries around the globe. They were asked to rate 50 nations in categories such as culture, governance, people, exports, tourism, landscape and education. GDP (PPP): $2.910 trillion Population : 82,060,000 Image: Germany slips to third position.

F rance is the second most admired country according to the survey. France is the largest country in the European Union. It is the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP and eighth largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is the most visited country in the world, with 82 million foreign tourists visiting the country annually. While most nations' reputation does not undergo major change from year to year, the US has clearly bucked the trend. What's key for the US and other world's leading nations is to strike while the iron is hot and develop focused policies and communication that draw businesses, financial investors and tourists -- in order to help lift their national economies and their global credibility, the report states. GDP (PPP): $2.130 trillion Population : 65,073,482

T he United States has been ranked as the world's most admired country. With the best overall brand ranking, the US has moved up to the top slot, up from seventh last year, states a survey by GFK Roper Public Affairs & Media. While India has been ranked at 30, China's position has risen to 22 among the 50 nations surveyed. The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index measures the power and quality of each country's 'brand image' by combining the following six dimensions: Exports: Determines the public's image of products and services from each country and the extent to which consumers proactively seek or avoid products from each country-of-origin. Investment and Immigration: Determines the power to attract people to live, work or study in each country and reveals how people perceive a country's economic and social Tourism: Captures the level of interest in visiting a country and the draw of natural and man-made tourist attractions. People: Measures the popul

ngelo R Mozilo was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial until July 1, 2008. The 70-year old Mozilo started the company in 1969. The company soon grew to become one of the biggest mortgage lenders in the US. Countrywide was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1984. They granted huge loans to borrowers without verifying their repayment abilities. Promoting risky loans, the company played a crucial role in huge subprime mortgage crisis. Finally, this led to the collapse of the company. The company was subsequently taken over by the Bank of America. CNN named Mozilo as one of the 'Ten Most Wanted: Culprits' of the 2008 financial collapse in the United States. The Securities and Exchange Commission in June filed civil-fraud charges for 'deliberately misleading investors about the significant credit risks being taken in efforts to build and maintain the company's market share.' Mozilo's compensation during the housing bubble from 20

"When you're a self-made man you start very early in life. In my case it was at nine years old when I started bringing income into the family. You get a drive that's a little different, maybe a little stronger, than somebody who inherited." Kirk Kerkorian Billionaire Kerkorian owns Tracinda Corporation. He is also known as one of the key figures in shaping the city of Las Vegas. Kerkorian, however likes to keep a low profile. His charitable foundation has granted more than $200 million but has not allowed anything to bear his name. His father was an illiterate immigrant. But Kerkorian had made up his mind to make it big. However, he was expelled from Foshay Junior High for fighting. He joined another school but dropped out in the eighth grade. He worked hard, taking up many odd jobs to help his poor parents. He became an amateur boxer under the tutelage of his older brother Nish, a boxer. At 17, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. When he was 25 he joined the M

The high profile chairman of Bank of America, Ken Lewis worked his way through Georgia State University as an accountant and an airline ticket-agent, graduating with a finance degree in 1969. He worked as a credit analyst at North Carolina National Bank. The bank was eventually taken over by Bank of America. He became Bank of America's chief operating officer in 1999 and chairman in 2005. In April, the Bank of America shareholders voted to separate the positions of Chairman of the Board and CEO, effectively removing CEO 61-year old Lewis from his position as Chairman of the Board of BofA, though he remained both the bank's president and its CEO due to the shareholders' resentment over the takeover of Merril Lynch for $50 billion. Lewis has announced his retirement from Bank of America effective as of December 31, 2009. The Securities and Exchange Commission and New York's Attorney General are investigating whether Lewis misled Bank of America shareholders before the Mer

U rsula M. Burns became the first black lady to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company in July 2009. The 57-year old Burns started her career as an engineering intern in 1980. Burns led several business teams including the office color and fax business and office network printing business. In April 2007, Burns was named president of Xerox, expanding her leadership to include the company's IT organisation, corporate strategy, human resources, corporate marketing and global accounts. Burns ranked 10th in the Fortune list of '50 Most Powerful Women in America'. Her salary package for 2008 stood at $887,500, but total compensation stood at a whopping $6,003,126. In an interview with the New York Times , she described growing up poor with "lots of Jewish immigrants, fewer Hispanics and African-Americans, but the great equaliser was poverty." Burns' mother used to run a home day care centre.

Howard Schultz A successful entrepreneur, 56-year old Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO Starbucks in his younger days was determined to win the battle over poverty. He became the first person to graduate in his family. Schultz's inspiring journey started when he went to Seattle to check out a popular coffee bean store called Starbucks, which was buying many of the Hammarplast Swedish drip coffeemakers he sold. He finally joined the company and was promoted as head of marketing and operations in 1982. But he parted ways as the owners refused to accept his plans of offering coffee in stores or diversifying into restaurants. Schultz went ahead and started his own coffee-bar business, called Il Giornale. Interestingly, a year later Schultz bought Starbucks for $3.8 million. As CEO of Starbucks in 2008, Schultz earned a total compensation of $9,740,471, which included a base salary of $1,190,000.

Ed Liddy, former chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG ) had to face lot of hardships before he rose to great heights. Ed Liddy's father died when he was just 12 years old. According to a BusinessWeek report, he had a poverty-stricken childhood. Liddy graduated from Catholic University of America in 1968 and received a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University in 1972. He worked with Ford Motor before joining G D Searle & Co in 1981. The 63-year old Liddy earned about $130 million during his eight-year tenure at Allstate. In the wake of the financial crisis, Ed Liddy came to rescue the ailing AIG, worked for a salary of $1. But the act turned disastrous when the company handed out employee bonuses totally $165 million after it had accepted $170 billion in government bailout funds. This forced him to quit AIG.

M eet the inspiring people who struggled against all odds to make it big. They turned adversities into advantages. From being without food, to taking up all kinds of odd jobs, they have proved that nothing is impossible! Their success stories reflect passion, hard work and excellence. "I have had all of the disadvantages required for success." Larry Ellison He was adopted by a middle class family in Chicago nine months after he was born to an unwed Jewish lady. Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation was a bright student, showed a good aptitude for maths and science. But he left the University of Illinois at the end of his second year, after his mother died. He later studied computer designing. He moved to California where he did several odd jobs for about 8 years. Finally, as a programmer at Ampex, he participated in building the first IBM-compatible mainframe system. In 1977, Ellison and two of his Ampex colleagues, Robert Miner and Ed Oates, founded their

National Mall & Memorial Parks contains some of the oldest protected park lands in the National Park Service. Many of the nation’s iconic public landmarks are found in the 1,000-plus acres of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, including the Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Memorials, and the Korean and Vietnam War Veterans Memorials.

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment. Enticing over 31 million visitors,about 80 percent of the city’s total (39.2 million) visitors, a year with its million-gigawatt smile and globetrotting attractions, Las Vegas Strip is more than glitz and gambling. – [Source: National Scenic Byways Program]

Times Square, the most bustling square of New York, is known for its many Broadway theatres, cinemas and super signs. Times Square has all sorts of fun, exciting and informative tours to explore other parts of the city. You can Choose from walking, bike, bus, food, limo, TV, landmark, ethnic or water tours. Times Square Alliance estimates an average of more than 2,000 pedestrians traversing a block of 7th Avenue during a 15-minute weekday period.

We Have researched amusement park camp grounds around the country to come up with the 3 best amusement park camp grounds for you and your family. We have compiled a list of clean, easily accessible and affordable camp grounds at 3 different locations in the United States. Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun Kansas City, Missouri. There are two separate camp grounds on the campus of Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. One camp ground is made exclusively for RVs with complete hook-ups and the other is for tents. Holiday World and Splashin Safari and Lake Rudolph Camp ground and RV resort in Santa Claus, Indiana. This camp ground is overflowing with amenities from golf carts to get around the large campus to paddleboats, fishing and free wifi. Hersheypark and Dutch Wonderland at Highmeadow Campground in Hershey Pennsylvania. This camp ground attached to the Dutch Wonderland and Hersheypark is complete with nearly 300 camp sites and 22 cabins. The park also offers free

Stress can play havoc with your blood sugar levels. The ability to cope with stress requires a change in the individual’s mindset. Photo: K.R. Deepak Take control: Sweets are not the only cause of diabetes. A, a successful businessman aged 45 years, came to us recently with very high blood sugar level of nearly 600 mg/dl. On further evaluation, it was found that A had been under a lot of stress recently. He had lost money in the stock market and his business had been badly hit by the recession. Since his blood sugar was very high, he was started on insulin along with small dose of oral anti-diabetic tablets. In a couple of weeks his blood sugar came down and he was able to stop insulin and move to tablets. When we saw him recently, his blood sugars were normal and he was able to stop all his diabetes medication. The secret of this miracle “cure”: Stock market has rebounded and the recession is over! B, a bank officer, was a diabetes patient for seven years. His blood sugar was under c

ZIYA US SALAM This winter, warm up to a volley of French films. We want to project a different impression of French cinema to Indians. On show (Clockwise from left) Stills from “The First Day of the Rest of your Life”, “Paris” and “The Regrets”. Not long ago, Select CityWalk multiplex in South Delhi wore a distinctly busy look, quite unusual for the opening of an animation film. In a country that regards animation to be a substitute for a children’s film, it was a different experience to watch a black and white film with little to cheer, lots to ponder. The film was Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s “Persepolis”, alternately evocative and provocative. A rare French film to find a commercial release in India, “Persepolis” found favour with discerning cinemagoers in the country. On another scale came “Asterix”. Riding on hype and hope in equal measure, this animation film too made a little dent at the box office. “We have new, emerging talent in animation. We are the third largest

USDA, FDA, DHS AND FBI JOIN STATES AND PRIVATE INDUSTRY TO PROTECT NATION'S FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SUPPLY FROM AGROTERRORISM WASHINGTON, July 26, 2005 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Health and Human Services' Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today announced a new collaboration with states and private industry to protect the nation's food supply from terrorist threats. "Ensuring the safety of our nation's food supply is a top priority for President Bush and USDA," said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. "This partnership demonstrates our commitment as government and the private sector work together to protect our agricultural commodities from terrorism. We look forward to working with our partners." The Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism (SPPA) Initiative supports President Bush's requirements directing the government to work

USDA supports the safe and appropriate use of science and technology, including biotechnology, to help meet agricultural challenges and consumer needs of the 21st century. USDA plays a key role in assuring that products produced using biotechnology are safe to be grown and used in the United States. Once these products enter commerce, USDA supports bringing these and other products to the worldwide marketplace. For the USDA Agricultural Biotechnology website click here for information on: Agency Descriptions in Biotechnology The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is responsible for administering plant variety and seed laws in the U.S., which also cover biotechnology-derived seeds, and for government activities regarding certification and labeling of agricultural seed for varietal purity for international trade. AMS also offers laboratory testing services for genetically engineered food and fiber products and voluntary process verification services to assure segregation of conventio

PHOTOS: K. K. NAJEEB TOOLS OF HER TRADE Dhanya Menon at workin her office in Thrissur You have won two-and a half million euros, says an email from. who cares who when your mind is reeling counting the zeros in such a huge amount. The only thing that's keeping you from the said amount is `a measly nine lakh' rupees as processing fee, after all you ARE getting the `internet cheque' that will land you the two and a half million euros. At `internet cheque' most of us would see through the con (that is if you have read this far) and hit delete and then there are some who succumb. I say, Internet cheque? That's too much of a cock and bull story. No, says Pattathil Dhanya Menon, cyber crime investigator. "That kind of money is an extremely huge amount for a person to be able to resist. People fall for such lottery scams all the time, all over the world," she says. Dhanya is probably the country's only woman cyber crime investigator, working in tandem with se

Expertspeak: Speakers giving their views on developing skills among students. The words like “entrepreneur” and “entrepreneurship” have been considerably debated in recent years among managers, policy makers and bureaucrats with the academic circles and institutions being no exception. Management schools lay special emphasis on various activities that serve to foster this creative spirit among the young aspirants. An entrepreneurship development cell (EDC) was started at the Gudlavalleru Engineering College, Gudlavalleru, with the approval of the All India Council of Technical Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. The expert speakers dwelt on various aspects of entrepreneurship and why it is all the more relevant in the present day scenario where individuals have plenty of opportunities. Y. Harish Chandra Prasad, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry AP chapter, Efftronics managing director D. Ramakrishna and other industrialists were present at the inaugural o

Basic guideline: The basic tenet of radiation protection that radiation doses to workers should remain As Low As Reasonably Achievable remains. Researchers at the Imperial College, London predict a link between low dose radiation exposure and heart disease ( PLoS Computational Biology , October 2009). Their mathematical model suggests that the risk would increase as the dose increases. Cardiovascular effect of high levels of radiation has been known in patients who underwent radiotherapy. Specialists found higher risk for cardiovascular disease among women treated for left-sided breast cancer when compared with women treated for right-sided breast cancer, during the period more than 10 years after diagnosis. Emerging evidence There is emerging evidence of excess risk of heart disease at much lower doses occurring after a long time after exposure among the A-bomb survivors included in the Life Span Study project and in some groups of radiation workers. The likely mechanism to explain th

GLITTERING LIKE A JEWEL: Sri Sankeshwar Paraswanath temple. Photos: S. Siva Saravanan Sri Sankeshwar Paraswanath temple, in R. S. Puram, Coimbatore, is a magnificent specimen of Rajasthan's intricate architecture. Dedicated to Sri Sankeshwar, the 23rd teerthankara, this 25-year old temple is a well-known Jain pilgrim centre. Acharya Vikram Suriswarji performed the `Anjan Shalaka Pran Pratishta' (Kumbhabhishekam) of this temple in 1981. He was the inspiration behind the Coimbatore Jain Swetambar Murthipujak Sangh which has sponsored this temple. The temple has three garbhagrahas — Sri Sankeshwar (at the centre), flanked by Sri Shanthinath and Sri Mahavir. Separate niches There are also separate niches for Sri Munishwar, Sri Adinath and Sri Sumathinath. This temple, situated on the busy Ponnurangam road, glitters like a jewel. All people, irrespective of their faith, are welcome inside. However it is expected that only vegetarians enter the precincts. The temple, built on the li