Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

If you believe Robin Ryan, America's most popular career counselor, the largest raises you are likely to ever get are when you quit your current job for a higher paying one. Today, however, there are many people who manage good salary hikes without leaving their current job. Here are some tips that could help you break out of a low-raise rut: Remember, good performance always pays. So work hard, remain focused, and always show your willingness to take new responsibilities. If things are not going the right way, go for self-appraisal. Are you able to execute your work well? Does your employer value your work? Do you need to improve in some areas? If this is the case, first work on your shortcomings and then seek results. Keep getting your boss' feedback regarding your performance. This will help you identify both your weak and strong points. Are your seniors especially your boss aware of your performance? You might hate to brag, but the boss should know what you have been doing....

The Coen brothers completed their journey from the fringes to Hollywood's mainstream, their crime saga No Country for Old Men winning four Academy Awards, including best picture, in a ceremony that also featured a strong international flavor . Europeans swept the acting categories on Sunday night. British actor Daniel Day Lewis and France's Marion Cotillard were best lead actor and actress. The supporting actor and actress prizes went to Spain's Javier Bardem and British actress Tilda Swinton . The only other time in the Oscars' 80 year history that all four acting winners were foreign born was in 1964, when the recipients were Britons Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Peter Ustinov and Russian Lila Kedrova. Javier Bardem won for supporting actor in No Country for old men, which earned Joel and Ethan Coen best director, best adapted screenplay and the best picture honour as producers. Accepting the directing honour alongside his brother, Joel Coen recalled h...

Auctioneer Richard Madley could not have imagined the impact of his words on the glittering gathering at the plush Hilton Towers here on Wednesday. Neither could his vast experience at running auctions have prepared him for the frenzy that was to follow his announcement that India one day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had raked in a cool $1.5 million (Rs 6 crore) to top the charts at the auction of players for the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Marking the dawn of a new era in cricket, the bid process saw the Deccan Chronicle's Hyderabad team emerge as the most balanced of the eight outfits, with Andrew Symonds its star buy at $1.35 million (Rs 5.4 crore). The colourful Symonds will be joined by iconic Aussie wicket keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist ($700,000), Pakistan's explosive batsman Shahid Afridi ($675,000) in a team led by the stylish Venkatasai Laxman. Chennai forked out the massive amount spent on Twenty20 world championship winner Dhoni, and he was ...

Jharkhand: Bitter Wedding: Pushpa, a tribal girl is married to a puppy in a ritual for good health at Kuluptanga area in Adityapur under Saraikele-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on Tuesday(19th Feb 2008).

At just 2ft 9in, Indian muscle man Aditya 'Romeo' Dev is the world's smallest bodybuilder. Pint sized Romeo is well known in his hometown of Phagwara, India - for his ability to lift 1.5kg dumbbells - despite his overall 9kg body weight. Every day, crowds flock to the local gym to the see the mini muscle man in training. Unlike many dwarfs, Romeo is well proportioned, with a head circumference of 15in and a chest measurement of 20in. Romeo said: "I've been training as a bodybuilder for the last two years and by now I think I must be the strongest dwarf in the world. "I have always been fit but since I started working out, I have become famous for my strength. "My size has never stopped me. I train with dumbbells and do aerobics and dance. People are always pleased to see me. I have been invited on TV shows and dance on stage." His trainer Ranjeet Pal spents hours helping his 19-year-old protege build his small muscles to perfection. "Becau...

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Berlin: As German fans drooled over Shah Rukh Khan, the German media shed its perceptions of "bullock cart India" and trained its attention on the Bollywood superstar when he landed here, with one journalist even saying "he is as popular as the Pope". Shah Rukh was here for the screening of Om Shanti Om at the Berlin Film Festival. Some German TV channels suddenly turned their cameras from the Hollywood glitterati to Khan as excited fans let out loud shrieks to greet him at the Berlinale on Friday night. Some channels narrated details of Khan's personal life, his wife Gauri and their two children. The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which was highly critical about India and Indians until the mid-1990s, when the world began to notice India's economic and technological prowess, said that many people from all over Europe had descended on Berlin to see their favorite star. "He is as popular as the Pope, but he (Khan) has more sex appeal," ...

What is Qassia ? To illustrate, here’s a simple equation: Knowledge Base (Wiki + Squidoo + etc. ) + 100% Ad Revenue = Qassia It is a site to which you can add your websites. You can also add your knowledge, in the form of tidbits of information called “ intel “. The more intel you add, the better your sites will rank, the more backlinks you get, and the more money you make . Qassia is 100 percent free, and does not require reciprocal links. You can get unlimited quality backlinks to your websites from Qassia. Knowledge Base Knowledge bases such as Wikipedia, Squidoo, Hubpages, and Knol are also somewhat similar to Qassia. Qassia, however, is the only intelligence engine we know of, and the only knowledge base to reward contributions with credit designed to improve the ranking of websites. Wikipedia gives no credit - which is fine with the academic community behind most of the articles, whereas the other knowledge bases are trying - unsuccessfully so far - to develop an effective ...

Do you know that the internet is the greatest monetary equalizer? You don’t have to be an old tech savvy, computer geek, seo specialist, first world straight as genius just to be rich online. As long as you have a reliable computer, internet connection and a brilliant idea; even young kids can retire young and rich! Check out this list of young internet millionaires under 30. 1. Mark Zuckerberg [ Facebook ] 23 years old | $700M 2. Andrew Gower [ Runescape ] 28 years old | $650M 3. Blake Ross and David Hyatt [ Mozilla ] 22 years old | $120M 4. Chad Hurley [ Youtube ] 30 years old | $85M 5. Angelo Sotira [ Deviant ART ] 26 years old | $75M 6. John Vechey [ PopCap Games ] 28 years old | $60M 7. Alexander Levin [ WordPress ] 23 years old | $57M 8. Jake Nickell [ Threadless ] 28 years old | $50M 9. Sean Belnick [ Biz Chair ] 20 years old | $42M 10. Kevin Rose [ Digg ] 30 years old | $31M 11. Ryan Block [ Engadget ] 25 years old | $20M 12. Aodhan Cullen [ Sta...

Just have look at the records held by Sachin Tendulkar. No wonder why British Prime Minister is suggesting him for the honor of "Sir". Records Held by Sachin Tendulkar Highest Run scorer in the ODI Most number of hundreds in the ODI 41 Most number of nineties in the ODI Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's Best average for man of the matches in ODI's First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007) Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16 Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Most number of Fifties ...

Putting off things for later is something we all tend to do. And with exams looming large on the horizon it is often very tough to keep your attention focussed on one single subject. So, if you do find your mind wandering away, here are some ways to reign it in and keep that focus where it should be. The first step is to get rid of any kind of distraction. This can range from small things, like cleaning up a cluttered desk. A cluttered desk may indicate the disorder of your thoughts - so clearing it up might just help in sharpening your focus. If you are working on your computer for a project or researching a topic you need to study, be sure not to have unnecessary programs running. Turn off your TV and your stereo. You need to concentrate. Of course, if you feel that you can work best while listening to music, then leave it on - but softly, so that it's more in the background. Another great distraction in this age of technology is the ring of your cell phone. Phone calls and ...

Working in a cool, comfortable office sure feels good, but there are facts about centralized air-conditioned offices that could make you catch your breath - literally. Contrary to claims of filtering out impure air, the AC ducts could actually be health hazards themselves, causing a number of air-borne diseases. "Low temperatures in air ducts are conductive to the growth of many fungi and algae, which cause infections", says Dr V. Nageshwar, consultant interventional pulmonologist at Wockhardt Hospital, Hyderabad. Breathing the air circulated through these ducts could make you sicker than you believed possible, because AC maintenance personnel have been known to have cleared out buckets of dust, packs of mould, dead rats and rotting from the ducts! The problem is so widespread that the World Health Organization even coined a term for it Sick building Syndrome, or SBS, meaning buildings where faulty heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, among other fac...

It was at age 19 that Shahid Sheikh (not his real name) first fell in love with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. And soon after finishing college in Anantnag, he found a new address a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. Armed with deadly skills, he organized a series of bloody terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s, and became a high-value target for the security forces. But they never could get him until he decided to lay down his gun eight years ago. The surrender marked a turning point in Sheikh's life. Some years later, he had donned the battle fatigues of the Indian Army stalking the jungles to hunt for the same extremists he had once led. "I understand the psyche of terrorists. I know their mind. I have that advantage," he says. Once identified as cold-blooded enemies of the Indian state, many former terrorists like Sheikh are today among the army's most potent weapons against militancy in Jammu and Kashmir The 'Ikhwanis' - former militants - are ...