Younger generation is more practical than older generation.

With the advancement of technology, luxury and a palette of options available, the younger generation are naturally practical. They need not take extra efforts to a practical approach.

For

• They are optimistic and ambitious.
• Earlier on, people fell easily for emotions whether it was for family or friends. Today’s youth can equally balance emotions.
• Science has made life very easy for the generation today. Accessing someone today isn’t as difficult as it was earlier, when people relied on telegrams!
• Even though the younger lot is considered to be impatient, their impatience is because they don’t want to waste time.
• The young generation wishes to explore all possible horizons.
• Thanks to the social networking sites, younger generation is more enterprising. Their ides are practical.
• Due to the adverse competition, their practical perspective leaves with no time for ethical issues like ego, arrogance, emotions etc.

Against

• Most of the times over smartness shown by youngsters put them in trouble.
• Older generation has seen life and hence they know the pros and cons of every situation. They have a natural ability to do so.
• Older generation can better judge people since they have met so many in their life.
• Due to their over practical nature, it puts them more in depression and hence suicide rates are more.
• It is seen that most of the crimes are committed by the younger generation who get influences from TV and cinema.
• At times the greed of money and publicity makes them do something they are not supposed to.
• Older generation being more practical and intelligent can easily point out the difference between wrong and right.
• All said and done, a generation gap will always persist. Youngsters of today will drive the world tomorrow. With the advancement of technology and ease of living, generation to come will be even more practical!

Why did Israel attack Syria?

Israel’s air strike on northern Syria earlier this month should be understood in the context of events unfolding since its assault last summer on neighboring Lebanon. Although little more than rumors have been offered about what took place, one strategic forecasting group, Stratfor, still concluded: “Something important happened.”

From the leaks so far, it seems that more than half a dozen Israeli warplanes violated Syrian airspace to drop munitions on a site close to the border with Turkey. We also know from the US media that the “something” occurred in close coordination with the White House. But what was the purpose and significance of the attack?

It is worth recalling that, in the wake of Israel’s month-long war against Lebanon a year ago, a prominent American neoconservative, Meyrav Wurmser, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney’s recently departed Middle East adviser, explained that the war had dragged on because the White House delayed in imposing a ceasefire. The neocons, she said, wanted to give Israel the time and space to expand the attack to Damascus.

The reasoning was simple: before an attack on Iran could be countenanced, Hizballah in Lebanon had to be destroyed and Syria at the very least cowed. The plan was to isolate Tehran on these two other hostile fronts before going in for the kill.

But faced with constant rocket fire from Hizballah last summer, Israel’s public and military nerves frayed at the first hurdle. Instead Israel and the US were forced to settle for a Security Council resolution rather than a decisive military victory.

The immediate fallout of the failed attack was an apparent waning of neocon influence. The group’s program of “creative destruction” in the Middle East — the encouragement of regional civil war and the partition of large states that threaten Israel — was at risk of being shunted aside.

Instead the “pragmatists” in the Bush Administration, led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the new Defense Secretary Robert Gates, demanded a change of tack. The standoff reached a head in late 2006 when oilman James Baker and his Iraq Study Group began lobbying for a gradual withdrawal from Iraq — presumably only after a dictator, this one more reliable, had again been installed in Baghdad. It looked as if the neocons’ day in the sun had finally passed.

Israel’s leadership understood the gravity of the moment. In January 2007 the Herzliya conference, an annual festival of strategy-making, invited no less than 40 Washington opinion-formers to join the usual throng of Israeli politicians, generals, journalists and academics. For a week the Israeli and American delegates spoke as one: Iran and its presumed proxy, Hizballah, were bent on the genocidal destruction of Israel. Tehran’s development of a nuclear program — whether for civilian use, as Iran argues, or for military use, as the US and Israel claim — had to be stopped at all costs.

While the White House turned uncharacteristically quiet all spring and summer about what it planned to do next, rumors that Israel was pondering a go-it-alone strike against Iran grew noisier by the day. Ex-Mossad officers warned of an inevitable third world war, Israeli military intelligence advised that Iran was only months away from the point of no return on developing a nuclear warhead, prominent leaks in sympathetic media revealed bombing runs to Gibraltar, and Israel started upping the pressure on several tens of thousands of Jews in Tehran to flee their homes and come to Israel.

While Western analysts opined that an attack on Iran was growing unlikely, Israel’s neighbors watched nervously through the first half of the year as the vague impression of a regional war came ever more sharply into focus. In particular Syria, after witnessing the whirlwind of savagery unleashed against Lebanon last summer, feared it was next in line in the US-Israeli campaign to break Tehran’s network of regional alliances. It deduced, probably correctly, that neither the US nor Israel would dare attack Iran without first clobbering Hizballah and Damascus.

For some time Syria had been left in no doubt of the mood in Washington. It failed to end its pariah status in the post-9/11 period, despite helping the CIA with intelligence on al-Qaeda and secretly trying to make peace with Israel over the running sore of the occupied Golan Heights. It was rebuffed at every turn.

English should be made the Official Language

The first question that may arise in anyone’s mind whose mother tongue is not English – Why should it be the official language? The most certain reason would be its acceptance and use. English is the most common language used throughout the world. The other more convincing points could be:-

For

• The WWW has 80% of it’s content in English.
• Almost all countries in this world are aware of the language.
• English is being followed for years. It is used as the most common medium of communication.
• In this era of globalization, we need to follow what most of the world does. English, being the most common and widely used language is one of them.
• Competition is what drives the world and economy. In order to survive and be defensive, English is a must.
• Money drives the economy, to grow as an individual English is a must.

Against

• Due to severe competition, youngsters tend to concentrate more on English and forget their national language.
It is indeed shameful to not be aware of your own mother tongue fluently and know English well.
• All of us aware of freedom of speech and hence making any language official defy this.
• Having multiple languages helps to maintain diversity, respect and know about different communities.
• People can’t be forced to do anything today. At home, they will anyways speak the language they are most comfortable.

here can be innumerable reasons for making English as the official language. What’s more? – This is being in communicated in English as well! Last but not the least, even though English may be declared as the official language, the essence of the mother tongue should never be forgotten.

Low Interest Rates: What They Mean for Retirees.

The Fed may have officially raised the prime rate last year, but overall, interest rates remain pretty low. That's great for car or home buyers (4% for a 30-year mortgage, baby!), but it’s not such a blessing for retirees, or anyone relying heavily on investment income (rather than earned income) to get by. The recent buzz about negative interest rates, which haven't hit the U.S. yet (read How Negative Interest Rates Work), makes all this even more unnerving.

If you are living off the interest your assets generate, a low-interest rate environment obviously means less income to live on. What's the plan, then, if you're shopping for income-oriented instruments?

Techniques for Treasuries

The traditional go-to for many retirees are Treasury bonds and Treasury notes, which provide a steady, reliable income stream at a low risk (see Is a treasury bond a good investment for retirement?). But there's a price to pay for the security of an instrument "backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government": T-Bonds and T-notes don't offer the sexiest of yields, and in a low-interest-rate climate, they may not provide much income at all.

What to do? You could try to cash in any bonds you have now, and live off the principal (which precludes any interest income earnings in the future, of course), or opt to invest in slightly higher-risk debt instruments, like corporate or municipal bonds. Another idea: bond-laddering, in which a investor purchases separate securities with different maturities, instead of putting money into a single, long-term bond. So if rates are falling when it's time to reinvest, less of the portfolio has to go into the lower-yielding bonds; if rates are rising, you can get in on the improved yields faster. Read more in Bond Ladders: A Bad Idea for Retirees?

Annuities Angles

Laddering can also be done with annuities, another standby for retirees. Annuities are a type of insurance product that guarantee regular payments (at a either fixed or variable rate) for a designated period or until your death, even if you turn out to be a centenarian.Annuities can provide peace of mind, but they often come with a hefty price tag, in the form of high fees and stiff surrender charges, should you change your mind. Given that, the income they offer in a low-interest-rate environment may not be worth the cost.

Rather than going all in on annuities right now, you could try the ladder technique; or opt for a variable-rate product, which would allow you to benefit when rates start rising again. See How to Buy Annuities When Interest Rates Are Low.

Pension Plan Puzzles

Although they are getting less common, especially in the private sector, employer-based pension plans (officially defined-benefit plans) still exist: Similar to annuities, they can provide a regular monthly income, based on the retired worker's salary history and length of career. These pension funds are invested on the idea that their assets will generate the amount needed to cover their obligations to their pensioners. When interest rates drop, there is always the risk that pension funds may not be able to make their "payroll" – though if that happens, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which guarantees benefits up to a legally defined limit (sort of like an FDIC for the pension industry), could cover a portion of your monthly stipend.

Since pension plans of this type are pretty much controlled by the employer, individuals' options are limited. Certainly, you shouldn't rely on a pension as the sole source of your retirement income (Grandpa may have been able to, but not you, in today's financial world). Those who are expecting a pension imminently might consider taking it in a lump sum, instead of annuitized payments, and investing it in instruments that offer a better payout (or holding onto the bulk of it, until interest rates improve). See also How Does a Pension Plan Work After Retirement?

Stodgy but Safe Savings

By the time you hit retirement age, you should have some funds put aside in a savings account for that proverbial rainy day. While the current low-interest climate might seem pretty wet, it is important not to move those funds around to try to earn more income. Sure, it's tempting: After all, the interest earned on savings accounts seems even lower than the rates earned on T-Bonds. But emergency funds aren’t designed to dole out a high return on investment, they exist to ensure you don’t go into debt (or worse) should the unexpected happen. If your strategy is to reinvest the savings-account assets, and then use a credit card to cover big emergency costs, consider this: Paying those high APRs on purchases made with plastic is significantly worse than earning even the lowest of rates in your savings account.

The Bottom Line

Low interest rates are generally not great for retirees: No matter how you strategize, your income-oriented investments will feel the pain. But hang on, and try not to decimate savings or dip too much into capital. With luck, interest rates will recover at some point. The plan in the meantime is to do yourself as little damage as possible.

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4 Reasons To Sell TripAdvisor (TRIP).

There is a bearish case to be made for TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP). It rests on increased competition, a business model reliant on advertising, faltering results and a high valuation for its stock

What Is TripAdvisor?

TripAdvisor is an online travel company that aggregates reviews about destinations, accommodations, activities, attractions and restaurants throughout the world. This allows the site's users to access advice, and compare real-time pricing and availability.

Its main brand is TripAdvisor, although there are 23 other websites under the company's umbrella. The business is organized into two segments: hotel and other. Despite efforts to diversify into other areas, the hotel segment still generated about 85% of the first nine months of 2015's revenue and virtually all of the operating income.

Competition Abounds

There are not significant barriers to entry to the industry. The company works to attract users through efforts that include TV advertising, email and online search. However, none of these are unique to TripAdvisor.

Competition is intensifying, by management's own admission. A number of companies aggregate travel information, including well-established and well-financed companies such as Alphabet, Baidu.com, Bing Travel and Yahoo. There are also large online travel agencies such as Expedia and Priceline that host reviews from users who book travel on their websites.

Advertising Model

The majority of TripAdvisor's revenue is derived from advertising; specifically, click-based advertising. The company receives money from clients, primarily online travel agencies, when site users click on the ads. It is structured on a per-click basis. This accounted for 66% of TripAdvisor's revenue in the first nine months of 2015. Other sources of revenue are display-based advertising, subscription advertising and transaction-based revenue.

Who Does Cheap Oil Benefit? See This Stock (DG, COST).

There is a common perception that cheap oil will lead to stronger consumer spending, which will then benefit stocks. In most economic situations, this would be logical. The reason this isn’t logical thinking right now is because cheap oil is partially a result of a weakening consumer. What you want to know is this: Which companies and their stocks will actually benefit from cheap oil? Answering that question with absolute certainty is impossible, but we can see if one or more companies have a better chance than others.

Airlines

The logic here is that airline stocks will perform well because fuel costs have plummeted. This trade made sense for a while, but it’s not going to be nearly as pretty going forward. Fuel costs should continue to go down, which is a clear positive and can potentially prevent disaster for airline stocks. On the other hand, as business cut costs, business travel will be reduced. And as investment incomes sour, leisure travelers will no longer be as quick to buy airline tickets. What happens then? At that point airlines must reduce their pricing, which then impacts sales and earnings, followed by their stock prices. (For more, see: Top 3 Transportation Stocks of 2016.)

If you look at JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) and American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL), all four have suffered double-digit stock depreciation over the past three months. This tells you that these stocks will not hold up in an approaching bear market. While airline stocks might hold up a little better than the broader market, they’re still not where you want to be.

Package Delivery

You might be thinking about United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) and FedEx Corporation (FDX), but the same concept applies. As the consumer slows, demand for products will decline leading to fewer deliveries and offsetting fuel cost savings. On the results side, UPS and FDX have slid 7.19% and 19.33% over the past three months, respectively. UPS hasn’t done too badly, especially with a 3.06% dividend yield, but that’s still a loss. In addition to the aforementioned concern, you have to consider a potential Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) threat. 

Google is shutting down Picasa.

Google on Friday said it will be shuttering Picasa to shift its focus to the new Google Photos service launched less than a year ago.

"We believe we can create a much better experience by focusing on one service that provides more functionality and works across mobile and desktop, rather than divide our efforts across two different products," Google Photos chief Anil Sabharwal said in a blog post.

Inside Amazon’s decision to make a video game engine.

Amazon launched its Lumberyard video game engine this week, showing its intentions to become a much bigger platform company in the games business. To date, Amazon has shown it wants to compete against the likes of Apple and Google with its own game app store, and it has its own game studios making mobile games and material for the Fire TV settop box. It also bought Twitch for $970 million to enter the gameplay livestreaming business in competition with the likes of YouTube.

But now Amazon is going further into the fabric of the game business with the Lumberyard game engine, competing against Unity, Epic Games’Unreal Engine,Autodesk’s Stingray, and others. The Lumberyard engine shows that the company has been thinking about this for some time. It already runs its Amazon Web Services backend infrastructure for a huge game developer community. It also bought engine technology when it acquired the Double Helix game studio in 2014. Then last year, 

Amazon secretly paid $50 million to get a license for Crytek’s CryEngine technology. That latter move gave Amazon access to high-end 3D game engine technology that’s suitable for building blockbuster games (what the industry refers to as “triple-A” development). Twitch services are also being tied into Lumberyard. It’s a big chess move in the platform wars, and not all of it is clear yet.

We wondered why Amazon made this move, where there’s already a lot of choice among game engines. So we asked Eric Schenk, the general manager of the Amazon Lumberyard engine. Here’s an edited transcript of our conversation.

Gamesbeat: Which division of Amazon oversees this? Is it Amazon Web Services, or is it part of the game group?

Eric Schenk: It’s run out of Amazon Games, but it’s an Amazon web service. Lumberyard, because it’s a cloud-connected game engine, has direct plumbing to AWS. We launched it as an AWS service. You can really only use it by using AWS. [Note: An Amazon spokesperson said you can use it as a stand-alone service, without AWS]. When we looked at it, it’s designed for game developers, but the technology itself is mainly AWS. It made sense to launch it as a branded AWS service.

Bank of Baroda reports Rs3,342 crore loss in Dec quarter.!!

Mumbai: Bank of Baroda, the country’s second largest public sector bank, on Saturday reported a loss of Rs.3342 crore as bad loans and provisions against such loans surged. The reported loss would have been higher if it wasn’t for a tax write back of Rs.1,118 crore taken during the quarter.

The surge in reported gross non performing assets (NPAs) and provisions followed an asset quality review conducted by the Reserve Bank of India across the banking sector. Following the review, the RBI has asked banks to provide for visible stressed assets and classify them as NPAs rather than delaying recognition. The RBI wants banks to clean up their books by March 2017.

At Bank of Baroda, Net loss for the quarter was at Rs.3342 crore compared to a net profit of Rs.334 crore in the same quarter last year. In the September ended quarter, the bank had reported a net profit of Rs.124.48 crore.

In absolute terms, gross NPAs at Bank of Baroda surged 64% over the previous quarter to Rs.38,934 crore compared to Rs.23, 710 crore at the end of the September quarter. The gross NPA ratio, as a percentage of total loans, jumped to 9.68% from 5.56% in the previous quarter and 3.85% in the year ago quarter.

Provisions against bad load in the December ended quarter stood at Rs.6164.55 crore compared to Rs.1891.70 crore in the September quarter.

Post provisioning, net NPAs were at 5.67% at the end of the December quarter compared to 3.08% in the September quarter and 2.11% in the year ago quarter.

Net interest income, or the core income a bank earns from the lending business, also fell sharply by 17.6% to Rs2706 crore in the December ended quarter compared to Rs 3286 crore in the year ago quarter.

Internet to Influence $35 Bn of FMCG Sales in India by 2020: Report

Internet would influence $35 billion of total sales in India in the FMCG sector by 2020, and beauty and hygiene products sales will account for $11 billion, says a report.

The report, released jointly by Google and Bain & Co, projected that an estimated 130 million Indians will shop online by 2020 making internet a prominent sales channel forming 20% of total sales estimated to be $35 billion.

"While the total influence of Internet will impact $35 billion worth of FMCG sales, which is one-third of total sales in India, beauty and hygiene will see two times higher impact as more and more users get online to research in this category. Internet would influence $11 million of the total sales in the FMCG sector for beauty and hygiene products by 2020," the report said.

As per the report, online users in India will continue to see rapid adoption reaching approximately 650 millon by 2020.

"Over 200 million women will be online with internet reaching over 250 million rural users in India by 2020," it added.

Google India Industry Director Vikas Agnihotri said: "FMCG companies in India need to start thinking of digital as a more strategic medium and chart out a digital growth path for their products."

Beauty & hygiene related searches on Google makes it the third largest vertical for shopping related searches -- behind apparels & accessories and mobile phones.

With growing penetration of Internet beyond urban India and online shopping growing, there is a huge opportunity waiting to be unlocked by FMCG players in the country, report said.

Sun Pharma to ask FDA in Q1 FY17 for Halol re-inspection

Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries may ask the US health regulator in the first quarter of next fiscal for re-inspection of its Halol facility as it undertakes remediation measures to make the plant compliant to good manufacturing practice norms. "We hope to able to request USFDA in the first quarter of FY17 for re-inspection of the Halol facility," Sun Pharma Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi said during an investor conference call today. The company is undertaking remediation efforts at the facility, he added. On being asked if the company was considering production of some products manufactured at Halol facility at some other plant, Shanghvi said: "We are currently not considering site transfer for the Halol products". The warning letter sent by the USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) over the Halol facility in December last year had mentioned that its inspectors had "identified significant violations of current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations for finished pharmaceuticals." Besides, the US health regulator found that Sun Pharma "failed to establish appropriate controls over computers and related systems to assure that changes in master production and control records or other records are instituted only by authorised personnel". The significant violations included the company's failure "to maintain floors, walls, and ceilings of smooth, hard surfaces that are easily cleanable in aseptic processing areas". "Our investigator documented the presence of leaks in the form of water stains and ceiling damage in the parenteral manufacturing area personnel corridor", the letter had said. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries today posted an over three-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,416.60 crore for the December quarter, driven by robust sales in domestic as well as international markets. The drug major, which had posted a net profit of Rs 395.33 crore during the same period last fiscal, also said that it will 'mutually wind down' its joint venture with MSD Pharma's wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Nestle Q4 Net Down 44% at Rs. 183 Crore.

New Delhi: Hit by the Maggi ban, Nestle India today reported 43.87 per cent decline in profit at Rs. 183.19 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2015. 

The company, which follows January-December financial year, had posted a net profit of Rs. 326.38 crore during the October-December quarter of 2014-15. 

Net sales of the company during the quarter under review rose to Rs. 1,946.44 crore, down 22.64 per cent compared to Rs.2,516.1 crore in the same period of previous year, Nestle said in a BSE filing. 

For the year ended December 2015, Nestle India's net profit stood at Rs. 563.27 crore and net sales at Rs. 8,123.27 crore. 

Nestle India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan said: "...Despite the exceptional toll that the Maggi noodles crisis took on our financials, our optimism about the future helps us with a healthy dividend payout. The high point of the quarter has been the return of MAGGI Noodles to the market and the consumers to whom it rightfully belongs." 

The company said it faced an unusual situation with Maggi noodles that impacted its operations during the second, third and fourth quarters. 

Net sales of Rs. 303.4 crore have been reversed during the full year ended December 31, 2015 in relation to Maggi Noodles stock being withdrawn from trade partners and market, the company said. 

Meanwhile, in a separate filing Nestle India said its board has recommended a final dividend for the year 2015 of Rs.18.50 per equity shares of Rs. 10 each. 

In November last year, Nestle India relaunched Maggi noodles in the Indian market, five months after it was banned by the FSSAI following a Bombay High Court order. 

Shares of Nestle India closed at Rs. 5,056.85 apiece at BSE, down 3.21 cent from previous close.

Vodafone India CEO Sees Market Shake-Up With Reliance Jio Entry.

With Reliance Jio preparing to launch its 4G service, Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood Thursday said the entry of a new player will shake-up the industry, but added that this will also give a chance to existing operators to innovate.

"Any new player gives a chance to other industry players to re-examine themselves and get more innovative, which ultimately benefits the customers.

"Any new player will shake up Indian telecom industry," Sood told PTI in Bengaluru on the sidelines of the launch of Vodafone's 4G service in the city.

Sood was responding to a query on what kind of impact the entry of Reliance Jio will have on the telecom sector.

The commercial launch of Reliance Jio is expected by March-April.

(Also see:  Reliance Jio 4G Services Launched for Reliance Employees)

Industry watchers are speculating that Jio's entry will usher in intense competition and lower rates.

Asked whether Vodafone expects Reliance to go for a tariff war, Sood said, "I don't want to make any comment on this...but my company has kept in place its defence plans to protect itself. We have given a fabulous package of the right price with great content."

When Reliance had made its foray into the telecom sector in 2002, it provided incentives like cheap handsets, free incoming calls and lower call rates.

The situation today is different as there are well entrenched incumbents and deep mobile penetration, Sood said.

"After all, we have the customers for 20 years in various markets. They have experienced us, trust us, they pay bills, they are happy with what we provide to them in terms of brand experience and cost.

"We have launched 4G with no increase in price. If the customer is happy why should he opt other mobile operators?" he asked.

The 4G service will benefit consumers the most as the coming hyper-competition will expand range of services and improve quality, Sood said.

Facebook India's managing director Kirthiga Reddy steps down..

NEW DELHI: Facebook India's managing director Kirthiga Reddy has stepped down from her post. In a Facebook post, Reddy says she will exit in 6-12 months and go back to the US.

"When my family relocated to India, we knew that we would move back to the US some day. It's a bittersweet moment to share that the return timeframe is coming up in the next 6-12 months. Our two daughters start high school and middle school this coming year - which serves as a natural transition point to make this move back," Reddy says in the post.

She also describes her future plans in the post and says she has "begun to explore new opportunities at Facebook back at Menlo Park". "Over the last six years, starting as the first employee for Facebook in India, I have had the privilege to be part of our amazing growth journey," Reddy says.

She ends her post saying, "I'm grateful to have two countries to call "home," have had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and look forward to the next one, and have the opportunity to partner with each of you."

When my family relocated to India, we knew that we would move back to the US some day. It’s a bittersweet moment to...

Posted by Kirthiga Reddy on Friday, 12 February 2016

Reddy's stepping down comes a day after Facebook shut down 'Free Basics' in India following an order by telecom regulator Trai barring operators from charging discriminatory rates for Internet access based on content.

Free Basics was offered in India in partnership with Reliance Communications and was earlier known as Internet.org.

While Facebook had promoted Free Basics as a programme aimed at providing basic Internet access to people in partnership with telecom operators, critics slammed the service saying it violated the principle of net neutrality.