South Block

A Sheffield Hallam University student has developed an eco-friendly bicycle.  The cheapest mode of transportation- A Cardboard Bicycle.  Interestingly, this 21-year old student has developed an ultimate green machine using cardboard, which is the cheapest material to build a mode of transportation.  The industrial packaging cardboard costs around £3 for making the frame work and the total cost in putting the wheels and chain would come out to be £15. Hence, the eco-friendly bicycle may sell for as little as £15.  The advantage behind this is of course it is eco-friendly and for such a low valve it would be an attractive proposition for occasional cyclists and would become a less of the target for the thieves.

Globally the increases in oil prices have forced the airlines to pass on their burden on the passengers. The airfares are likely to rise in next few days. In last fortnight the fares have already been hiked twice. The Airlines are going to get more pressure financially with the increase in the ATF – aviation turbine fuel. The hike in ATF prices is almost a threat to their existence. The airlines have to hike their airfares again if there is hike in the prices declared by the Oil PSUs. There is demand by airlines for reducing the tax slab on aviation fuel to 4%. So, only a tax cut can bring relief to passengers as well as airlines.

Of recent property prices have been increasing by the day, and this is not just for one particular country but it is something which applies to many properties worldwide. Whether it is a plot of land, a house, flat or any other kind of property you will find that the rates for these are very high, and from the past years they have increased. Although buying a property is a good investment you need to make sure that you save the money and purchase the property fast, before the prices increase even more.

Power cut problem has become a major problem in Delhi City, which is increasing day by day. People have to face lot of inconvenient cause of power cut in Delhi City. Minimum four hours power supple cut, which increase robbery and snatching in the midnight. People also face lot of inconvenient in summer seasons. Maximum power cut made public to destroy Delhi City in a group, which creates traffic jam. Students deprive their studies cause of power cut and people also face lot of humidity. In many areas continuously two or three days cut power supply and nobody is attending this problem.

The property prices in India are rising very high, where the same properties or plots used to be a low and reasonable prices, they have now more than doubled in price. The change in price has happened since the past 2-3 years. Places like Delhi have increased their rates due to the new Delhi Metro service, and this has also brought many jobs too, which means an increase in prices. The best is that buy a plot or property at a low price, then sell it at a time when the price has increased.

   New Delhi is suffering from frequent power cuts which come unannounced every day at least three times a day and last from an hour to two hours each and some times there are power cuts as long as four hours which is really annoying and makes me wonder what have I done wrong to deserve this when I am happy to pay all my bills and that too on time without any delay ever.

India is prospering by the day and incomes are rising here in India giving a lot of disposable income to the residents in urban areas which is translating into fat bellies due to people eating out more and more and for some people it has become a norm to eat out once a day or may be once every two days.

The water is distributed all over the world through a natural system which we call as the water cycle. The water of the oceans evaporates and the clouds are formed. These clouds then bring the rain and snow. The major part of the snow is in the form of the glaciers on the high mountains. From there the water flows slowly back to the seas through the rivers.

Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan has a tough job at hand. Rising attrition, wage hikes, rising rupee and more taxes, all are trying to hit the Infosys balance sheet. But despite the rising rupee, Infosys managed its reputation of beating analyst forecast and delivering higher bottomline and topline growth. He talks on the problems the company is facing due to the rising rupee and related issues. By how much has the rupee hurt Infosys balance sheet this quarter? Our net margin in the past quarter (Q4 FY07) was about 27%. In Q1 FY08, our margins were hit by 7%. Wage hikes (of 12-15% offshore and 5-6% onshore) eroded margins by about 2.5%. A hit of about 1% was suffered due to the visa costs. But an appreciation of 6.8% in the rupee gave us the maximum hit, of 3.5%. However, better employee utilisation and flexible financial model enabled us to overcome it. All our subsidiaries are doing well except Infosys Consulting and Infosys China which are in losses. In IT services, we have a natural hedge with about 26.2% revenues coming from Europe vis-a-vis 64% from North America.

The farm practices in the villages of today are getting the help of machines and as a result the production has increased a lot in recent years. The farmers now use the latest farm machinery and the work has become fast and easy as compared to the olden days. The most widely used farm machine is the tractor. The tractor is a very versatile farm machine which can perform various farm operations by having a variety of attached tools and implements. For the harvest of the wheat and paddy we have the thresher combines.