CnbcAustralia | World of information

India has been revelling in the Oscar night glory, with the success of Slumdog Millionaire, its composer AR Rahman and the documentary Smile Pinki.

Rahman won two Oscars, best original score and best original song - Jai Ho, with fellow Indian Gulzar.

Resul Pookotty bagged another award for sound mixing of the rags-to-riches Mumbai movie, which also won the best director and the best picture.

Smile Pinki, about an Indian cleft-lip girl, won best short documentary.

The successof Slumdog sparked massive celebrations back in the Mumbai slum, where two of the film’s child actors still live.

Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail were both in Hollywood for the ceremony.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “They have done India proud”.

India’s biggest winner of the night was Rahman, 43.

He said as he accepted the award, “I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially Danny Boyle, for giving me such a great opportunity.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

US shares have fallen sharply on concerns about the government’s latest attempts to shore up the banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed down 251.4 points or 3.41% at 7,114.3, it’s lowest since October 1997.

In fact, the shares in the banks rose sharply, with Citigroup up more than 11% and Bank of America rising over 5%.

The US government reiterated its determination to keep banks operating, but added it wants the banks themselves to stay in private hands.

There had earlier been reports that the government was planning to take a bigger stake in Citigroup and could even nationalize it.

“People left and right are throwing in the towel”, said Keith Springer from Capital Financial Advisory Services.

“The biggest thing i see here is the incredible pessimism - the government is doing a lousy job of alleviating fears”.

Technology shares also fell on reports that a reorganization is planned at Yahoo!

The technology based Nasdiq index fell 53.5 points or 3.71% to close at 1,387.8

These falls pick up from a tough last week, when all the major indices fell by more than 6%.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

Addiction to alcohol is referred to as Alcoholism. It is a chronic disorder, in which a person is unable to refrain from frequent and excessive consumption of alcohol for physical or psychological reasons. The Wolrd Health Organisation( WHO ) has listed alcoholism as one of the three most deadly killer diseases of the 20th century.

Alcoholism is also one of the most serious social problems. It often brings povery and certain amount of crime and results in marital unhappiness and broken homes. It also leads to numerous traffic accidents.

Alcohol is not a product found in nature. It results from decomposition and as such belongs to a family of poisons. Ethyl alcohol, the main intoxicating ingredient in wine, beer and distilled liquor is a toxic drug which depresses the brain and nervous system. Alcohol cannot be called a food for it enters the alimentary canal and is not changed or digested in any way. It is quickly absorbed in the bloodstream and then travels to every part of the body, adversely affecting vital organs like brain and liver.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

Telecoms equipment giant Nortel has said it plans to shed a further 3,200 jobs from its 31,000 staff worldwide.

Nortel’s UK Operation entered administration last month after its parent firm filed for US Bankruptcy protection.

The firm employs about 1,200 staff at its European, Middle East and Africa Headquarters in Maiden Head, Berkshire.

About 800 staff are also employed in London, Harlow in Wssex, north Lanarkshire and NewTownabbey.

The Canadian-based firm, which is a major sponsor of the 2012 Olympics, said the cuts were in addition to 1,800 reductions still to be implemented from previous plans.

It would not specify where the losses would take place but said they were part of a “business and financial restructuring plan”.

Mike Zafirovski, Nortel’s President and Chief Executive said, “There is nothing more difficulty than notifying employees and Nortel is extremely conscious of the personal financial burden this will cause affected employees and their families”.

Nortel said that these job losses would be made over “several months”.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

The term “Yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word “yug” which means to “join”. It signifies union between the individual soul and the universal soul. It aims at obtaining relief from pain and suffering. Basically, human evolution takes place on three different planes, namely physical, mental and spiritual. Yoga is a means of attaining perfect health by maintaining harmony and achieving optimum functioning on all three levels through complete self-control.

All yogic exercises should be performed on a clean mat, a carpet or a blanket covered with a cotton sheet. Clothing should be light and loose-fitting to allow free movement of the limbs. The mind should be kept off all disturbances and tensions. Regularity and punctuality in practising yogic exercises is essential.

Pranayama is the most effective yogic exercise. Prana means “vital force” and Ayama means “control” in Sanskrit. Thus, Pranayama means the control of the vital force through concentration and regulated breathing. By means of controlled breathing that is, inhaling and exhaling by holding the breath for a fixed time and changing the rhythm of inspiration and expiration, it is possible to influence the life-force in the body. Pranayama is the process by which such conscious control is achieved through controlled and rhythmical breathing.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

Yahoo! has reported a loss in the last three months of 2008 as the economic downturn hit sales of online ads.

Its figures showed a loss of $303.4m compared with a profit of $205.7m a year earlier.

But analysts had said that the company had weathered the downturn better than expected, with the loss mainly due to one-off costs.

The result come as Carol Bartz take over from Jerry Yang as the firm’s new chief executive.

Mr Yang stepped down following his rejection of a $47.5bn takeover offer from Microsoft last year, which rankled the company’s shareholders.

“The company made important investments while aggressively managing costs, leaving us better positioned to weather the economic downturn and emerge stronger when advertiser spending improves”, said Ms Bartz.

However, she gave a cautious outlook for the beginning of the year 2009. The company said its first quarter revenue will range from $1.53bn to $1.73bn, a decline from $1.82bn at the same time last year.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

Constipation is a common disturbance of the digestive tract. The most common symptoms of constipation are infrequency, irregularity or difficulty of elimination due to hard faecal matter. Among the other symptoms are a coated tongue, foul breath, loss of appetite, headache, dizziness, dark circles under the eyes, depression, nausea, pimples on the face, ulcer in the mouth, constant fullness in the abdomen, diarrhoea alternating with constipation, varicose veins, pain in the lumber region, acidity, heart burn and insomnia.

The most important cause for chronic constipation are wrong diet and a faulty style of living. All foods in their natural state contain a good percentage of “roughage” which is most essential in preserving natural balance of foods and also in helping peristalsis - the natural rhythmic action by means of which the food is passed down the alimentary canal. Most of the food we eat in recent times is very deficient in natural bulk or roughage and this results in chronic constipation.

The most important factor in curing constipation is a natural and simple diet. This should consist of unrefined food such as whole grain cereals, honey, molasses and lentils, green and leafy vegetables, french beans, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, cabbage, cauliflower, grapes, figs, papayas, gauva, oranges and milk products.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

Dandruff refers to the flaking scalp which falls like snow flakes and settles on one’s brows, shoulders and clothes, but assumes an unpleasant, irritating condition associated with bacteria, in the case of excessive formation of scales on the scalp. These scales are formed from the horny layer of the skin.

The scaliness increases whenever the hair is brushed or rubbed. It may also appear as lumps or crusts on the scalp. Often there is itching as well, and the scalp may become red from scratching. The main causes of dandruff are - impairment of general health, toxic condition of the system brought on mainly by wrong feeding, constipation and lowered vitality due to infectious diseases. Other factors contributing to dandruff are emotional tension, harsh shampoos, exposure to cold and general exhaustion.

Numerous medicated shampoos are available in the market for the treatment of dandruff. Most of these, however, in the process of curing the disorder, cause irreparable damage to the hair roots because of the synthetic ingredients contained in them. The treatment of dandruff has to be largely constitutional, if a permanent cure is desired.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites

The term “minerals” refers to elements in their simple inorganic form. In nutrition they are commonly referred to as mineral elements or inorganic nutrients.

Minerals are vital to health. Like vitamins and amino acids, minerals are essential for regulating and building the trillions of living cells which make up the body. Body cells receive the essential food elements through the bloodstream. They must, therefore, be properly nourished with an adequate supply of all the essential minerals for the efficient functioning of the body.

Minerals help to maintain the volume of water necessary to life processes in the body. They help draw chemical substances in to and out of the cells and they keep the blood and tissue fluid from becoming either too acidic or too alkaline.

The mineral elements which are needed by the body in substantial amounts are calcium, phosphorous, iron, sulphur, magnesium, sodium, potassium and chlorine. In addition, the body needs minute amounts of iodine, copper, cobalt, manganese, zinc, selemium, silicon, flourine and some others.

Bookmark this post now!

Hide Sites