Why Soups are Good for Working Women

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Your typical day starts with you rushing to prepare your husband's lunch, and then getting your child ready for school. You just about manage to have them ready in time, when you realise you're late and neglect your own breakfast, rushing to work!

It's no big news that our hectic lifestyle makes us compromise on our health, is it? And that's exactly why you need to include some nutritious meals in your diet, like soups!

We tell you why soups are good especially for working women.

Skip office canteen snacks

You are conscious about what you eat for lunch but what happens when the canteen boy takes his evening walk around the office loaded with chips, bhajiyas and samosas? Instead of giving in to the temptation, carry a healthy evening snack to work. Soups not only serve as nutritious snacks but also help you avoid those fatty foods.

Prepare your soup early in the day and carry it with you to work, or have a bowl of nutritious soup as a pre-dinner snack when you get home.

Knorr's range of soups gives you a variety to choose from. Thick Tomato, Hot and Sour, Chicken Delite... all you have to do is take your pick!

Eat healthy in between meals

When your brain is hard at work, you feel hungry much faster. That's why it's important to eat small meals through the day. The question is what can you eat? Well, we recommend avoiding those vending machines and pamper your taste buds with soup instead. Soups can really satisfy a growling stomach.

What's more, soups refresh you and de-stress you too. They hydrate you while satisfying your hunger, so you won't feel the need for aerated drinks, coffee etc.

Stay nourished on-the-go

Does your work require you to be outdoors very often? When you're on-the-go, soups are your best bet. Simply refrigerate your soup and carry it to work in a flask the following day.

Now if you're thinking that you can't be bothered to prepare a pot of soup. Simply try a packet of Knorr soup. Just empty the contents of the soup packet into the water, stir till it starts boiling, simmer for a few minutes and it's ready to be served! Sweet Corn Veg or Creamy Mushroom soups make for really tasty on-the-go snacks.

Keep fit while you work

As a working woman, you tend to eat out more than you'd like to, isn't it? Add to that, you're too tired to head to the gym after work. Well, soups are an easy way to alter your eating habits. They have been longed linked to weight loss and diets. Not only are they low in calories and fats but their ability to satiate, helps you eat less.

Include two bowls of Knorr soup in your day and see yourself shed those extra pounds!

Give the kids a nourishing snack

After a long day at work, it's hard dealing with hungry kids. But packets of wafers are really not the solution! We suggest you stock up on packets of soup that are easy to prepare even for a tired mom like you.

Cabinet approves 6% DA hike for central government employees

NEW DELHI: Nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 38 lakh pensioners can look forward to a 6% increase in their dearness allowance with the Union Cabinet approved the proposal on Tuesday.

If the move is approved, the dearness allowance, which is linked to the consumer price index, will rise from 45% currently to 51%, triggering a further change in the allowance structure. For instance, payments like conveyance allowance and children's education allowance will also increase by 25%.

Further, special compensatory allowance for those posted in remote areas such as the north-east and Jammu & Kashmir as central government employees in these areas are entitled to a Special Compensatory Allowance. Their special allowance goes up by 25% the moment the 50% trigger is breached.

While the move will provide some relief to government employees and pensioners whose salaries and pension are usually revised once a decade, the increase will cost the exchequer Rs 1,500 crore annually. Households have been combating high inflation, which in recent weeks was led by rising fruit and vegetable prices. Wholesale price index-based inflation is expected to be around 8% at the end of March.

Sources said the additional installment of DA will be released with effect from January this year. Typically, the increase takes place in two installments effective January 1 and July 1.

TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL see 5% rise in pricing on higher salary costs

BANGALORE: For the first time since the Lehman crisis that forced customers to shelve projects and bargain for lower billing rates, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro and HCL are beginning to see an uptick of up to 5% in pricing, driven by higher salary costs and improved business environment.

Rising wages, inflation, and attrition of key staff are some of the reasons driving up billing rates for outsourcing contracts. Most new contracts now come with clauses that address the risks of future salary hikes, foreign currency fluctuations, and inflation in countries such as India.

Some portions of larger contracts outsourced by customers, including Citibank , JPMorgan , Telstra, Wal-Mart and American Express, have come at least at 1-3% higher rates than three years ago, senior executives at vendor organisations serving these clients told ET.

"When you are linking work to business outcomes, the risks and rewards are higher," said a senior executive at one of the top five Indian tech firms. "Though still at lower rates than IBM or Accenture, we are now able to charge more for consulting projects, and all this is helping us get better rates," he added.

Though it has taken more than a year of improving demand for prices to start going up, companies are now being able to raise rates by 1-2%, brokerage firm CLSA said in a report earlier this month. According to CLSA analysts, new contracts were being signed at the peak rates that services providers were able to command in 2007-08. Pricing, usually calculated depending on the number of hours put in by each employee involved in the project, is expected to have gone up at least 8-10% for new projects.

"Pricing has been an elusive variable for Indian technology firms over the last 3 years. In the slowdown, it took just a few months for pricing to drop 3-5%, but it has taken over 18 months of strong volume growth for a shift in vendor outlook on pricing. Infosys had reported a 1.4% quarter-on-quarter increase in offshore pricing in the December quarter and there were doubts on sustainability of this pricing trajectory. However, discussions indicate that there are more legs to the pricing uptick," Nimish Joshi, Bhavtosh Vajpayee and Arati Mishra from CLSA said in a report.

IT contracts come with a clause that allows for fluctuations in pricing depending on the inflation and cost of living in the vendor's economy and buyers of IT services have also been taking India's high inflation into account to give price increase. According to CLSA, with 4-6% revenues in any year coming from new business, it should add 40-50 basis points year-on-year to portfolio pricing. Overall, IT players would be able to get a 1.5-2% year-on-year pricing increase in the next financial year.

Improving employment scenario and shortage of trained manpower is leading to higher wages in the technology sector in the US. As wage hikes lead to IT costs for companies rising internally they are more likely to increase prices for vendors.

In the past few years, Indian IT players have been striving to move away from the per employee, per hour billing model to a non-linear one where pricing is outcome based or fixed. This helps companies provide more high-end services like consulting and analysts say this is also helping companies command better prices.

"There has been a move away from the full time equivalent model to more transformational work and fixed cost pricing. All these moves will help pricing. In the coming financial year it is difficult to say how pricing will be but there is a much deeper pipeline and that should help," Siddharth Pai, MD of TPI India , said.

As momentum returns in the world economy and companies gear up for growth once again, the return of discretionary spends is also likely to lead to new contracts at higher prices. The top ten players are better positioned to take advantage of higher rates as they would have greater bargaining power due to the breadth of services and end-to-end capabilities.

Not so lucky, Superchor Bunty sent back to Tihar by brother

NEW DELHI: Out of jail only in June last year, Devender Singh alias Superchor Bunty seems to have done it again. The thief, who shot to fame after a Bollywood film " Oye Lucky Lucky Oye" based on his life was released, has been sent to jail again. This time, he has been booked under the Arms Act.

The criminal-turned-detective - who even figured in a reality show - allegedly barged into the house of his brother, Balwinder Singh, in Vikaspuri on Saturday evening. He was apprehended from the house and a button-actuated knife was recovered from him. Bunty has been booked under sections 25, 54 and 59 of Arms Act. He was produced in Tis Hazari Court and sent to Tihar Jail for 14-day judicial custody.

Deputy commissioner of police (west) V Renganathan said, "No bail application has been received yet and Bunty is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. His brother, Balwinder, had called police following which we arrested him." Sources said that an arrest under these sections usually invites three years' imprisonment.

Bunty had allegedly barged into Balwinder's house demanding money. "He had been repeatedly calling us ever since he was kicked out of Bigg Boss in October last year, claiming he wanted to start a new business. He told us that after being kicked out of the reality show he went to Nepalwhere he, along with his partner, wanted to start a business. He demanded Rs 1 crore for his business, saying he would leave us alone if we acceded to his request. He would keep calling us from different numbers and insist we give in to his demands. We even tried explaining that we don't have that kind of money," Balwinder told TOI.

Bunty's family members claimed that about a fortnight back, he again started calling them for money. "We had already barred three of his numbers but he started calling from other numbers and threatened us with dire consequences. On Saturday, he came to our house when my wife was alone. He came with three bags and refused to budge. My wife panicked and called me and my father. I tried to reason out with him, but when we were left with no option I called police," alleged Balwinder, who is an electronic engineer.

Bunty has been making waves since he came out from Tihar in June last year. At first, he had said he wanted to become a spiritual leader. Claiming that he was penning his first book, Bunty believed that he would become a good detective using his powers of "divya gyan". He claimed he had already approached Iskcon temple priests for the same and even trained for three months at a detective agency in July.

The superchor in October had jumped at the opportunity to participate in a reality show. Though the well-known smooth-talker was nominated as the 'Captain' in the show, he was kicked out following allegations of using foul and abusive language and being disrespectful to the 'rules' of the show.

Source --- Times of India

Ponting could be dumped as captain: Report

SYDNEY: Ricky Ponting could be in the final week of his nine-year reign as captain after a troubled build-up to the World Cup, a report said on Tuesday, citing a Cricket Australia official.

The Sydney Morning Herald said there was stiff opposition at boardroom level to the 36-year-old retaining the job for next month's tour ofBangladesh, although his position as a player was not in jeopardy.

"We need to be looking at the future. It's time for us to make a change," the newspaper quoted the official as saying.

Ahead of the World Cup, Ponting earned the dubious distinction of becoming the only Australian skipper to fail to win the Ashes three times, putting him under enormous pressure.

He has also done himself no favours in India, taking a reprimand from the International Cricket Council after smashing a dressing-room TV in a fit of fury after being run out during Australia's World Cup win over Zimbabwe.

He was also criticised for angrily throwing the ball to the ground after colliding with teammateSteven Smith during their victory over Canada.

Then his sportsmanship was questioned when he failed to walk in Saturday's defeat to Pakistan.

"We're waiting for the next thing to blow up," the official said. "We don't go a game without there being some issues with him."

Michael Clarke, who led Australia to an emphatic 6-1 one-day series victory over England to give them a boost after the post-Ashes despondency, is seen as favourite to take his job.

Source-- Times of India

India are bookies' favourite to lift World Cup

MUMBAI: India might face the monumental task of overcoming four-time champions Australia in the quarterfinal at Ahmedabad on March 24, but for bookies, MS Dhoni & Co are the runaway favourites to win the 2011 World Cup.

Top betting site Ladbrokes is offering odds at 3/1 for India to lift the trophy on April 2 in Mumbai. In other words, a bet of Rs 1,000 on India will earn you a profit of Rs 3,000 if Team India justifies its billing. Another leading betting website, Williamhill, also tips the hosts to win the Cup. While India get top billing at 3/1, South Africa, at 10/3, are the next close favourites. Another betting site, www.bet365.com, gives South Africa, at 3/1, the top billing, with India only slightly behind at 10/3.

At Ladbrokes, India gets favourable odds at 8/13 to beat Australia on Thursday night, while for the Aussies, the figure is 5/4. Williamhill too tips India, at 4/6, to vanquish the Oz (6/5). South Africa, who topped Group B, the pool in which India were placed, and Sri Lanka are the other teams favoured to win the crown, says Ladbrokes. The Proteas enjoy odds of 7/2, while the Lankans are tipped at 9/2.

If Ladbrokes' estimation comes true, India are likely to meet Lanka or South Africa in the final. For both eventualities, the odds are at 5/1.

As for the other quarterfinals, Shahid Afridi's Pakistan are tipped to beat the West Indies at Mirpur. South Africa, the bettors think, should not have a problem against the Kiwis at Mirpur, while Lanka are expected to have it easy against England at Colombo.

If the Cup goes the bookies' way from here, it should be an India versus Pakistan semifinal at Mohali, with Dhoni's boys making it to the summit clash.

Drones 'winning' war against al-Qaeda, says ex-CIA head

By Peter TaylorBBC Two's The Secret War On Terror

The use of the remote-controlled craft has stirred anti-American feelings in Pakistan

Continue reading the main story

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More than 40 people were killed in Pakistan last week in a US drone attack near the Afghan border. The use of unmanned drones have always been controversial, but ex-CIA director Michael Hayden says they are winning the war.

Ten years on from 9/11, al-Qaeda appears to be on the back foot. One of the main reasons is that its leadership no longer enjoys untouchable sanctuary in the tribal areas of Pakistan where for many years it has been able to plot and train its recruits.

The reason? Pilotless American drone aircraft with a payload of deadly Hellfire missiles, guided to their targets by remote control from thousands of miles away in the American desert.

Not for nothing are the drones known as "Predators".

Former CIA director, Gen Michael Hayden, could not sing their praises loudly enough - although ironically the word "drone" cannot pass his lips, so sensitive and allegedly secret is the CIA's programme of targeted killings.

How can a programme be secret when its results are plain for all to see?

Gen Hayden said the use of drones was an "inherent right"

Gen Michael Hayden believed the results had been spectacular.

"A significant fraction of al-Qaeda senior leadership in the tribal region has been 'taken off the battlefield'," he said.

"That used to mean 'killed or captured'. In the last couple of years it simply means killed. We just aren't doing any capturing."

Ironically the CIA's drone programme was greatly accelerated under President Obama who has authorised more than 160 Predator missions - four times as many as his predecessor, President George W Bush, targeting not just al-Qaeda but Taliban leaders also hiding in the border areas.

The programme has been highly contentious and controversial.

Gen Hayden denied the attacks were state-authorised assassinations. He said the US was at war with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and was simply acting in self-defence.

When I pointed out that legally the war was in Afghanistan not Pakistan, he said that was not how the American administration looked at it.

"No they're not assassinations. This is a war, this is action against opposing armed enemy force. This is an inherent right of America to self-defence.

"I can only fulfil my moral and legal responsibilities to the citizens of my republic by taking this war to this enemy wherever they may be."

Judge, jury and executioner

There is another side to the equation.

However effective the CIA may believe its programme to be, it has damaged America's reputation in Pakistan still further, fuelling anti-American propaganda and bringing yet more recruits to the militants' cause.

Continue reading the main story

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Start Quote

I think we'd be naive to believe the propaganda that says that firing these fantastic weapons is killing the right people”

Clive Stafford SmithReprieve

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the attacks, although it is impossible to put a precise figure on the number of innocent victims.

It is estimated by the New America Foundation that between 2004 and 2010 they may have been responsible for around 25% of those killed.

Human rights lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic have grown increasingly concerned about the US government appearing to act as judge, jury and executioner.

Jameel Jaffer of the American Council for Civil Liberties said: "This is quite an awesome power, the power to label somebody as an enemy [then] wipe them out without judicial process of any kind."

His sentiments are echoed by the director of Reprieve, Clive Stafford Smith.

"Who does get killed? Are these really Taliban people and al-Qaeda or are they random civilians who had nothing to do with it?" he said.

"I think we'd be naive to believe the propaganda that says that firing these fantastic weapons is killing the right people."

Gen Hayden has not been phased by such arguments.

"It has been a very strong significant force in making the al-Qaeda senior leadership spend most of their waking moments worrying about their survival, rather than threatening yours or mine. And that is a war-winning effort," he told me.

But other highly-respected and experienced voices in the intelligence community do not share Gen Hayden's view about winning the war.

In her first television interview, I asked the former director general of MI5, Baroness Manningham-Buller, if she thought the war was winnable. She has spent 40 years fighting terrorism.

"Not in a military sense. There won't be a Waterloo or an al-Alamein," she said.

"The terminology about winning the war on terror was not something that I ever subscribed to.

"If we can get to a state where there are fewer attacks, less lethal attacks, fewer young people being drawn in, less causes, resolution of the Palestinian question, I think we can get to a stage where the threat is thus reduced."

At the end of the interview, given her long experience in fighting terrorism in Northern Ireland and her intimate knowledge of the secret talks between MI5 and the IRA, I asked her if we should talk to al-Qaeda as we had once talked to the IRA.

Her reply took me by surprise. "I would hope that people are trying to do so," she said.

"It's always better to talk to the people who are attacking you than attacking them, if you can.

"I don't know whether they are, but I would hope that people are trying to reach out to the Taliban, to people on the edges of al-Qaeda to talk to them."

I then asked her if she thought that al-Qaeda would listen.

"I don't know," she said. "Doesn't mean to say it's not worth trying."