KEEP UP GOOD WORK FRIENDS IN 2018

A man was asked to paint a boat.

He brought with him paint and brushes and began to paint the boat a bright red, as the owner asked him.

While painting, he noticed that there was a small hole in the hull, and quietly repaired it.

When finished painting, he received his money and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat came to the painter and presented him with a nice cheque, much higher than the payment for painting.

The painter was surprised and said "You've already paid me for painting the boat Sir!"

"But this is not for the paint job. It's for having repaired the hole in the boat."

"Ah! But it was such a small service... certainly it's not worth paying me such a high amount for something so insignificant."

"My dear friend, you do not understand. Let me tell you what happened.

When I asked you to paint the boat, I forgot to mention about the hole.

When the boat dried, my kids took the boat and went on a fishing trip.

They did not know that there was a hole. I was not at home at that time.

When I returned and noticed they had taken the boat, I was desperate because I remembered that the boat had a hole.

Imagine my relief and joy when I saw them returning from fishing.

Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole! You see, now, what you did? You saved the life of my children! I do not have enough money to pay your 'small' good deed."

_So, no matter who, when or how. Just continue to help, sustain, wipe tears, listen attentively and carefully repair all the 'leaks' you find, because you never know when one is in need of us or when God holds a pleasant surprise for us to be helpful and important to someone_.

_You may have repaired numerous 'boat holes' along the way... of several people without realizing how many lives you've saved_.

*✨So Keep up Good work ...✨💐*

🙏 😊

I want to thank Everyone who Repaired my boat this year 2017 in every way like Good Wishes, thoughts, love, care & prayers... 🙏🏻 😊

*Blast & cheers 2018* 👍😁 🎉

Navneet Singhal thru FB

Update your software today. Seriously.

Chances are you own a smartphone or computer that contains a chip hackers could potentially exploit to get access to sensitive information.

That's because billions of devices are affected by two major security flaws revealed by cybersecurity researchers on Wednesday. The flaws -- dubbed Meltdown and Spectre -- affect processing chips made by Intel (INTC), AMD(AMD) and ARM Holdings. That means if you use a desktop, laptop, smartphone or cloud service from Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN) or Microsoft (MSFT) you might be vulnerable.

Don't panic. Here's what you should do.

1. Update your software!

Spectre is the main threat because it is present in billions of devices. Meltdown appears to affect only Intel chips.The U.S. government-funded Software Engineering Institute initially said vulnerable chips may eventually have to be replaced altogether. It subsequently updated its guidance to say that software updates can provide a partial fix for now."Because chip replacements are not going to happen tomorrow, realistically, software is being updated," Sitaram Chamarty, a security researcher at Tata Consultancy Services, told CNNMoney.

Chamarty says that while Spectre may be tougher to combat, the threat from Meltdown can be mitigated through the software updates."It has to kind of trickle down, hopefully in another few days it will all be done," he added.Intel says it is working with AMD and ARM to fix the problem, and many tech firms have already released -- or are about to release -- software updates to secure their devices.

Microsoft has already released security updates for Windows users, and is taking steps to protect users of its cloud computing services. Google and Amazon are also updating their cloud services.Apple said Thursday that it had already issued fixes for Meltdown for its various operating systems, and added that it plans to release similar fixes in its Safari browser "to help defend against Spectre" in the coming days.

"We continue to develop and test further mitigations for these issues and will release them in upcoming updates of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS," Apple said.

Dell (DVMT) said it was "working with Intel and others in the industry to investigate and address the issue." It directed customers to Intel's statement, and said it would post "a list of affected platforms and remediation" soon.

2. Brace yourself for slower devices

An unfortunate downside of the software updates is that they might slow your computers and smartphones.

Patches deployed to combat the flaws could slow computers by as much as 30% depending on what you're trying to do, according to estimates posted on Linux message boards.

Intel said it does not expect users to experience any performance issues. Experts disagree.

"Processor slowdowns trickle down from data centers to everyone using the internet," said Bryce Boland, chief technology officer for Asia at cybersecurity firm FireEye. "People will feel many of their mobile devices taking a performance hit."

Related: Intel CEO's massive stock dump raises eyebrows

Chamarty says removing the vulnerability requires a fundamental change in the way modern processors operate -- a function called "speculative execution" -- a change that could drastically reduce speeds.

"If you're going to disable this, then you're back to ... many, many years ago, we're talking 10 years," he added. "Imagine running at those speeds now."

3. Wait, watch and hope

The good news: The vulnerabilities provide new avenues for hackers to mount attacks, but analysts say doing so is not straightforward.

"The effort to mount this attack is quite significant," Chamarty said.

The heavy lifting could dissuade hackers from targeting anyone but "big fish" such as heads of government agencies, he added. But the downside is that there isn't really a permanent solution at the moment, meaning hackers could have plenty of time to figure out a way in.

"Resolving this issue will take time and incur costs," Boland said. "Vulnerable systems will likely remain in operation for decades." Chamarty warned that even the mass replacement of computer chips may not necessarily help. "It seems to be a cost of the way processors are currently designed, there's no true solution currently in sight," he said.

"If somebody finds an ingenious method by which [attacks] can be made more generic, less cumbersome to mount... then we have real problems."

-- Selena Larson, Yazhou Sun and Vinayak Dewan contributed to this report

by Rishi Iyengar   @IyengarishJanuary 5, 2018: 7:52 AM ET

CNNMoney (New Delhi)First published January 4, 2018: 10:16 AM ET

THOUGHT OF THE WEEKEND:-IMPERFECTION IS BEAUTIFUL TOO

A beautiful short story

*A man found a beautiful pearl. It was very beautiful but a small flaw in it.The man thought, if he can remove the flaw, it would be the biggest and most beautiful pearl ever in his possession. He peeled off a layer to correct the flaw. The flaw was still there. He peeled off another layer, the flaw was still there. He kept on peeling off the layers until all the layers were gone. Now there was no flaw, but there was no pearl too.*

*In this life, no one is PERFECT. Each person you meet would have some FLAW or the other. You will end up losing the person completely while trying to correct his/her flaws. So try to learn by accepting people with their flaws and you will be surrounded by beautiful people all around you...

Imperfection is beautiful too !*

Why knowing a building's nearest exit point is a must

When you visit a restaurant next time and the waiter asks, "What will you have?", you must pose a counter question. Where's the fire exit of the building? Similarly, when the bellboy takes you to the your hotel room and shows you the AC switch and the TV remote, don't forget to ask him where the nearest exit point is. Remember, fire services will arrive only after an incident. It's your duty to ensure that you know how to exit a building you are in. 

In my 21 years of service in the Delhi Fire Services, I have noticed the maximum number of deaths near exit points. The exit door is often found locked, mainly for security reasons. During a fire, people often manage to reach the exit door, but can't unlock it. 

In the recent Kamala Mills fire in Mumbai, 14 people died. The increase of population density in cities is turning out to be a big challenge from fire safety point of view. But if you compare the buildings of Delhi and Mumbai, the building rules in Delhi are more stringent, thereby making them far more safer. The Delhi buildings that were constructed in the last two decades are building code-compliant, and most of them have fire safety standards comparable to those in developed nations. 

A fire-compliant building does not necessarily mean there won't be a fire accident in that building. Fire is caused by a different set of factors, including short circuits and growing fire loads. What a code-compliant, and most of them have fire safety standards comparable to those in developed nations. 

A fire-compliant building does not necessarily mean there won't be a fire accident in that building. Fire is caused by a different set of factors, including short circuits and growing fire loads. What a code-complaint building does is to minimise the losses in case of an accident. 

Till 1983, fire safety was not factored in while constructing a building in India. After the 1983 Gopala Towers fire (a 14-storey building at Rajendra Place in Delhi), building bylaws were notified under which fire safety arrangements became mandatory in Delhi for buildings with a height of 15 m and more. At that time there were 220 such buildings in Delhi, constructed mostly between 1970 and 1983. The first major law on fire safety — the Delhi Fire Safety and Fire Prevention Act — was enacted in 1986. Then there were new building bylaws in 2009, which were revised in 2016. The new code complaint buildings must have more open spaces; there has to be a better smoke management and sprinkler system; and the law also mentions the kind of construction materials to be used. 

In the first three decades of post-Independence, Delhi had buildings with ground plus one or two floors. Now, we have buildings of 150 metres of height. So, the challenges for fire services have been changing over time. It increased after 1991 when India opened up its economy, and more investments started pouring in. 

Delhi is still better off in fire-compliance because of stringent rules and strict enforcement. For example, we refused to grant no objection certificate to Hotel Hans Plaza in the late 1990s, as it had just one staircase. The case finally went to the high court, which first asked for an additional staircase. When the engineers and architects said it woni¦t be possible to add a new staircase, a sprinkler system was put in place as an alternative. In some of the tall buildings in Delhi, steel staircases were added to be used during fire emergency. 

I have been associated with firefighting since 1978. I feel satisfied that I belonged to the first batch of engineers from the National Fire Service College, Nagpur, where I later taught. Till 1996, when I joined the Delhi Fire Service as a divisional officer, I was more a fire theorist. But in the last two decades, I have attended no less than a thousand fire calls. And I find nothing wrong in fire theories except that we must apply the right theory at the right time. 

When I joined the service, we were always very defensive. Till some years ago, we used two or three jets on the fire grounds so that we could continue firefighting for longer hours with less quantity of water. But now we are much more aggressive. Today, we have 250 vehicles with 12 lakh litres of water on wheels. This means, we can mobilise that much water to the fire ground upon receiving a wireless message. Also, we now discharge more water— 170 litres per minute— with an effective striking power. We now use six-seven jets, thereby reducing the firefighting time. Today, we extinguish a serious fire in six to seven hours, down from 16 to 18 hours some years ago. 

The most critical issue in firefighting is the ever-growing response time. The standard response time, as accepted internationally, is three to five minutes. But the worsening traffic conditions in Indian cities have slowed down the speed of our vehicles. The average speed of fire tenders in Delhi is 10-15 km per hour. So, the 3-to-5-minute response time is a distant dream in an Indian city. The reality is, we can attend only 40% calls in 10 minutes, another 30% in 15 minutes, but in certain cases, our response time is as big as 25 minutes. 

In developed nations, there are emergency lanes; we doni¦t have it here. During the Commonwealth Games in 2010, dedicated lanes were created for moving players from one venue to another. We also use those lanes, and our response time has reduced to a minute a kilometre. 

Citizens must remember that the job of a fire service is only to react. The effort must be in not having the fire incident in the first place. In our own flats, for example, we keep on piling up electricity loads without upgrading the aged circuit. This leads to short circuit. Second, many builders adhere to fire safety rules only to receive the no objection certificate. Once it is received, we store old furniture on exit staircases. Third, we keep the terrace locked, mainly due to security reasons. Fourth, we tend to hide firefighting equipment and give undue prominence to decorations. And, finally, we keep on storing books, clothes, old furniture and what not, without realising that we are actually increasing the fire load in our apartment. 

(As told to Shantanu Nandan Sharma by G C Mishra, director at Delhi .. 

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Saudi King orders new allowances to offset rising cost of living

Saudi Arabia announced today it had boosted stipends and benefits for citizens to cushion the impact of economic reforms including the kingdom's first ever taxes after an oil price slump. 

Most working Saudi Arabians are employed by the state and, like nationals in other energy-flush Gulf monarchies, have long benefited from a generous welfare system. 

After the 2014 oil market crash, Saudi Arabia as well as the neighbouring United Arab Emirates announced a five percent value-added tax on most goods and services which took effect at the start of this year. 

In a move that aims to "soften the impact of economic reforms on Saudi households," King Salman issued a royal decree late Friday ordering a 1,000 riyal ($267, 222 euros) living allowance for military personnel and public servants. 

Student stipends will be increased by 10 percent, an official statement said. The oil-rich Gulf has long been a tax-free haven for both high-income households and migrant labourers, who frequently rely on remittances to support their families back home. 

But countries in the region have introduced a series of austerity measures over the past two years to boost revenues and cut spending as the slump in world oil prices led to ballooning budget deficits. 

Saudi Arabia has also intensified efforts to boost employment of its own citizens. 

The jobless rate among Saudis aged 15 to 24 stood at 32.6 per cent last year, according to the International Labour Organisation. 

Saudi Arabia posted an economic contraction in 2017 for the first time in eight years due to severe austerity measures. 

The coming year's budget envisions record spending for the kingdom, a move meant to return the economy to positive growth. 

Under Friday's royal decree, troops serving at the border with Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is allied with the government in a war against Shiite rebels, will receive a bonus of 5,000 riyals ($1,333, 1,108 euros). 

The state will also cover up to 850,000 riyals ($22,664, 18,839 euros) of the tax on any citizen's first home purchase. 

The statement said the measures were based on "information provided by" Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king's powerful son who has steadily consolidated his grip on power since his shock appointment as heir to the throne in June. 

Income remains tax exempt. 

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Paracetamol may impair fertility of female offsprings: Study ANI Jan 07, 2018, 07.36 AM IST

Although paracetamol is considered safe for mothers-to-be, a study has recently warned that pregnant women should think twice before popping these pills as it may impair the fertility of their female offsprings. 

The findings indicated that paracetamol when taken during pregnancy altered the development of the reproductive systems of female offsprings. 

Paracetamol, or acetaminophen, is an over-the-counter treatment for pain relief that is commonly taken by pregnant women worldwide. 

Study author Dr. David Kristensen and colleagues from Copenhagen University Hospital conducted three individual rodent studies to evaluate the effect of paracetamol taken during pregnancy on the development of the reproductive system in female offspring. 

The results indicated that the rodents, who were given paracetamol during pregnancy at doses equivalent to those that of a pregnant woman may take for pain relief, produced female offspring with fewer eggs. 

This means that in adulthood, they have fewer eggs available for fertilisation, which may reduce their chances of successful reproduction, particularly as they get older. Dr Kristensen said, "Although this may not be a severe impairment to fertility, it is still of real concern since data from three different labs all independently found that paracetamol may disrupt female reproductive development in this way, which indicates further investigation is needed to establish how this affects human fertility." 

However, establishing a link between paracetamol taken by mothers during pregnancy and fertility problems much later in the adult life of the child will be difficult. 

He stated, "As scientists, we are not in the position to make any medical recommendations and we would urge pregnant women in pain to consult with their general practitioner, midwife or pharmacist for professional advice." 

The research appears in Endocrine Connections journal. 

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THIS IS HOW SMART AMBANI BROTHERS WORK

The younger brother defaulted loan & sold company to elder brother to repay loan.

The elder brother took loan from same bank to take over the younger brother's company.

Now the bank got reduced NPA with stronger loan book.

Nothing came or gone despite everything got good.

Company Share prices got doubled in a week.

Mukesh allowed Anil to announce bad news and drop the share prices.

The public sold off and Mukesh bought the shares (through loan) at dead cheap prices.

Now prices are high. He pays off the loan to the bank by transferring it shares or with partners/partial sell in public.

He has a company at zero cost.

*That's Ambani Brothers for you* 😉

Ex-Toyota head Tatsuro Toyoda, who led overseas drive, dies.

AP|

Jan 06, 2018, 04.42 PM IST

TOKYO: Tatsuro Toyoda, the former Toyota Motor Corp. president who led the company's climb to become one of the world's top automakers, has died. He was 88. 

Toyoda, a son of the company's founder, died Dec. 30 of pneumonia, the Japanese automaker said Saturday. 

Toyoda, the automaker's seventh president, stepped down from the position in 1995, while continuing in other posts, such as adviser, a title he held until his death. 

He was instrumental in setting up the California joint venture with U.S. rival General Motors called NUMMI, or New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., which began production in 1984. At that time, it was heralded as a pioneer in international collaborations in the industry. 

With a career focused on international operations, Toyoda served as NUMMI's first president, and is known for his efforts to bring together Toyota's corporate culture of super-efficiency, teamwork and empowering workers with American culture, including introducing a new style of labor-management relations. 

Toyoda's father, Kiichiro Toyoda, founded the company. His brother Shoichiro Toyoda, whom he succeeded as president, is current President Akio Toyoda's father. When Tatsuro Toyoda handed the helm to an executive outside the Toyota family, there was speculation he may be the last Toyoda family member to lead the company. 

But Akio defied skeptics to become president in 2009, underlining the family's legacy for the automaker. The rural house that marks the automaker's humble beginnings serves as a monument today. Toyota employees still repeat the sayings handed down by the family leaders about hard work and a hands-on approach. 

The company name is spelled and pronounced with a "T," instead of the "D" as in the family name, because it was considered to bring luck, according to fortune-telling. 

Born in 1929, Tatsuro Toyoda was a graduate of the prestigious University of Tokyo, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. 

In 1953, he joined Toyota, which now makes the Prius hybrid, Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, and rivals Volkswagen AG, General Motors and the Renault-Nissan alliance as a top automaker in annual global vehicle sales. 

Toyoda earned an MBA in 1958 from New York University, where he studied under quality-control expert W. Edwards Deming, an American credited with influencing Japanese manufacturing and helping develop its reputation for quality. 

A memorial service with family members was held for Toyoda, but a bigger farewell is being planned, according to the automaker. 

He is survived by his wife, Ayako Toyoda, but details on other family members were not immediately available. 

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CBDT relaxes norms for MAT on firms facing insolvency

By 

Deepshikha Sikarwar

, ET Bureau|

Updated: Jan 06, 2018, 06.20 PM IST  

    

NEW DELHI: Keen to minimise hardship faced by companies going in for insolvency resolution, the government will from financial year 2017-18 allow a company to reduce amount of total loss brought forward including unabsorbed depreciation from the book profit for the purposes of levy of minimum alternate tax. 

This facility would be available only for companies against whom an application for corporate insolvency resolution process has been admitted by the adjudicating authority.

Appropriate legislative amendment in this regard will be made in due course, a Central Board of Direct Taxes statement said on Saturday. 

An amendment to this effect is to be made in the section 115 JB of the Income Tax Act in the upcoming budget. ET had reported on the likely move on December 21. 

The existing provisions of the section provide that for the purposes of levy of MAT company, the amount of loss brought forward or unabsorbed depreciation, whichever is less as per books of account shall be reduced from the book profit. 

The CBDT said it had received representations in this regard from various stakeholders that the companies against whom an application for corporate insolvency resolution process has been admitted by the Adjudicating Authority are facing hardship due to restriction in allowance of brought forward loss for computation of book profit The Indian Banks Association had sought removal of MAT for new investors apprehending depressed bids. 

"...it has been decided, that, with effect from Assessment Year 2018-19 (i.e. Financial Year 2017-18), in case of a company, against whom an application for corporate insolvency resolution process has been ...," it said. 

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