State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) in India have increased the prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) on Tuesday by two percent, effective from Nov 16.

The aviation turbine fuel at IGI Airport in Delhi goes up by 1.95 percent at Rs.62, 310.33 per kilo litre from Rs.61, 115.36.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

The recent hike is the second such increase in November. The OMCs had increased jet fuel prices by 3.8 percent on Nov 1.

The latest hike is expected to further burden the industry, which has seen many airlines reporting losses owing to the high cost of jet fuel.

The ATF cost accounts for nearly 50 percent of the operating cost of any airline. Jet fuel prices also vary from state to state which levy sales tax on the ATF in the region of 22 to 23 percent.

Oil marketing companies revise ATF prices on every 1st and 16th of the month based on the average international crude oil price during the fortnight.

According to new research, patients afflicted with diabetes have doubled the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.

‘Diabetes is a common disorder, and the number of people with it has been growing in recent years all over the world. Controlling diabetes is now more important than ever,’ Dr Yutaka Kiyohara from the Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, who carried out the research.

From Dailymail.co.uk:

Of the 150 participants with diabetes 20 developed dementia compared to 51 of the 559 people without the disease who developed it.

Meaning those who suffered with diabetes, which can triggered by obesity, were twice as likely to develop a form of dementia including vascular dementia which occurs when blood vessels are damaged and eventually deprive the brain of oxygen.

These results remained the same after the researchers accounted for factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking.

The risk of dementia was also higher in those who did not have diabetes but did have impaired glucose tolerance, or were ‘pre-diabetes.’

In addition, the risk of developing dementia significantly increased when blood sugar was still high two hours after a meal.

The study will be published in the medical journal Neurology today.

‘Our findings emphasise the need to consider diabetes as a potential risk factor for dementia,’ Kiyohara added.

Microsoft Corp. recently revealed its plans of a major upgrade to its Windows Phone software this fall, ahead of the launch of the first Nokia phones to use it.

The revamped software includes a new, faster web browser and lets users switch quickly between applications by using a “card” display.

From news.yahoo.com:

Microsoft said the software, codenamed “Mango,” will be available as a downloadable update for all Windows Phones sold until then.

Finland’s Nokia Corp., the world’s biggest maker of phones, announced in February that it would adopt Windows Phone and toss out its current smartphone software. Microsoft is paying it billions of dollars to do so, as it’s trying to buy into a market now dominated by Apple Inc. and Google Inc.’s Android software.

Microsoft launched Windows Phone in November, but it ran only 1.6 percent of the smartphones sold worldwide in the first quarter, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

“Mango” contains more than 500 changes, Microsoft said, including integration of Facebook Chat into conversations that can also include text messages from the same person. Overall, the update is aimed at reducing the reliance on separate third-party apps and baking in as much as possible of their functionality in the operating system.

Ovum analyst Tony Cripps said, “Microsoft needs to do better if it is to persuade the market that it has the most user friendly — and desirable — mobile platform in the market today.”

The world’s third-biggest wind turbine maker, Suzlon Energy Ltd, said on Monday its founders sold 2.25 percent of the company’s shares.

The proceeds of shares will be used for extending financial support to the company.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Suzlon, which has been the subject of occasional reports of a possible sale, also said proceeds from the share sale will be used for strategic initiatives.

In a statement to the stock exchange, the company said it been informed that Vinod Ranchhodhbhai and Sanman Holdings Private Ltd, sold 2.25 percent on March 14.

The founders hold 54.84 percent after the share sale, it said.

Last week, Spain’s Gamesa denied reports it was planning to buy a stake in Suzlon and said it does not plan to form a partnership with it either. The Indian company had also denied any stake sale plans.

Suzlon’s biggest markets by volume include India, China, and Brazil.

Nokia and Microsoft have teamed up to take on Google and Apple in the fast-growing smartphone market as Nokia, the Finnish cellphone maker, makes an attempt for regaining its leading position in the sector.

Nokia revealed that it would use Windows Phone as the software platform for its smartphones as part of new chief executive Stephen Elop’s overhaul of the world’s biggest cellphone maker.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

Investors were not convinced by Elop’s eagerly anticipated strategy announcement and shares in Nokia tumbled more than 11 percent as the market reacted to Nokia’ saying that 2011 and 2012 would be “transition years” as it built up the partnership.

Friday’s deal marks a major breakthrough for Microsoft after years of struggling to establish itself in wireless. Its Windows Phone had a mere 2 percent market share in the last quarter.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is widely recognised by industry experts as a leading edge technology but has not yet gained success among consumers.

“This is a partnership born out of both parties’ fear of marginalisation at the hands of Apple and Google but there is no silver bullet,” said analyst Geoff Blaber from CCS Insight.

Elop said ahead of an investor day in London, “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”

The Taxi and Limousine Commissioner of New York has classified turbans as absolutely professional dress saying that any religious or ethnic garb is absolutely professional.

Commissioner David Yassky said cabbies are not expected to wear high fashion dressing and all they need to do is to be clean and neat.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

The new rules ‘update a dress code rule written 20 years ago that was written for a different time’, he said, referring to the rapid growth of the immigrant population from beyond Europe.

The nod for religious and ethnic garb is a reflection of the legion of taxi drivers from South Asia and the Middle East in New York’s melting pot population of more than eight million. Over 70 nationalities live in the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs alone.

The issue of cabbie fashion popped up in August 2010 when a passenger attempted to kill a Muslim driver during the heat of controversy over the building of an Islamic culture centre near the Ground Zero site of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The dress code decreed 20 years ago banned underwear worn as outerwear. Tank tops, T-shirts and swimsuits were prohibited even on hot summer days.

The new rules do not specify what kind of clothes taxi drivers should be wearing.

An adjusted quarterly profit that met market estimates was posted by Convergys but the call center operator expects a tepid full-year forecast.

Convergys expects 2011 customer management and information management sales in excess of $2.18 billion, forecast full-year earnings of $1.00-$1.15 a share.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

Analysts on average were looking for earnings of $1.14 a share, on sales of $2.24 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

“We expect to report higher revenue, EBITDA and earnings in 2011 versus 2010,” Chief Executive Jeff Fox said.

October-December loss from continuing operations was $147 million, or $1.20 a share, compared with loss of $3 million, or 2 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company, with a market value of $1.73 billion, earned 31 cents a share, in line with analysts’ estimates.

Revenue from continuing operations of $573.2 million fell shy of analysts’ estimates of $576.9 million.

Shares of the company closed at $14.21 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the improving world economy is beset by problems like high unemployment and rising prices that could fuel crippling trade protectionism or even lead to war within nations.

Rising food and fuel prices in recent months have already hit poorer countries and are one of the biggest factors behind massive anti-government protests in Egypt and Tunisia.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

“Growth in economies with large external deficits, like the U.S., is still being driven by domestic demand. And growth in economies with large external surpluses, like China and Germany, is still being powered by exports,” he said.

“As tensions between countries increase, we could see rising protectionism — of trade and of finance. And as tensions within countries increase, we could see rising social and political instability within nations — even war.”

Over the next decade, 400 million young people would join the global labour force, posing a daunting challenge for governments, he added.

“We face the prospect of a ‘lost generation’ of young people, destined to suffer their whole lives from worse unemployment and social conditions. Creating jobs must be a top priority not only in the advanced economies, but also in many poorer countries.”

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a speech in Singapore, “The pre-crisis pattern of global imbalances is re-emerging.”

If you are expecting your business to benefit from blogging, you need to ensure that basic principles of business blogging are followed religiously. Read on!

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Corporate blogging adds great value, recognition, and credibility to a business. In addition to that, blogging can work wonders when it comes to creating loyal customers and building trust.

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It is important to highlight here that business blogs should be unique and educative to say the least. The ideology and suggestions should be action-provoking but must not be forced or evoked on a false communication. Furthermore, business blogs should relate to the blog, market, or competition but should be about the personal life of the blogger. No attempts should ever be made to invade privacy, hurt sentiments, or criticize a community, religion, or a sentimental subject. Moreover, it is always recommended to keep morality, politics, and controversy out of corporate blogging. A good business blog would be the one that takes a bird’s view of the industry & competition and keep returning back to own business.

If you can follow these easy principles of business blogging, benefits of blogging will not be too far!

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