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," ...