Holiday shoppers are going green this year...paying for gifts with greenbacks, that is.
One in four consumers plan to pay with cash this holiday season, according to a new survey by the National Retail Federation. That's up 9.1% from a year ago.
That's not too surprising considering both credit card companies and consumers have reined in usage during the Great Recession.
Another 42.5% of holiday shoppers plan to use primarily debit or check cards, a 2.5% increase from last year, the survey found.
Credit card usage, meanwhile, is expected to fall by 10.1% to 28.3%.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Celebrity MPs among top absentees from Parliament
NEW DELHI: A pretty face does not amount to much in politics. Celebrity Members of Parliament may draw crowds but if parliamentary participation is any indicator, they have a long way to go. A study has shown that famous MPs were found wanting both in attendance and participation in debates in Parliament.
None of the 12 MPs tracked attended more than 20% of the total number of days in each session. The absentees were led by Congress MP Govinda who did not attend Parliament on a single day followed by BJP MP Dharmendra. BJP leaders Vinod Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu were the other two MPs who had low attendance. National Social Watch's `Citizen's report on governance and development 2008-2009' analysed attendance of MPs in the 11th and 12th sessions of the 14th Lok Sabha and the 210th and 211th session of the Rajya Sabha.
Seven members attended Parliament for less than 10% of the total days. In the Lok Sabha, members did not participate more than four times in 2007, and five members (in both LS and RS) did not participate in the debates even once.
With regard to the number of questions, the pattern is equally dismal. Out of the 12 celebrity MPs, five including Shyam Benegal, Govinda, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Bimal Jalan did not raise a single query. No member has raised even 1% of the total questions in both Houses.
The report notes that MPs who held corporate positions were more efficient. On an average, all eight members raised a fair number of questions and five of them excluding Vijay Mallya and Rajeev Dhoot attended 50% of parliamentary sittings.
Parliamentary record on an average was nothing to boast about and only indicated a fall in standards. Only 173 MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha actually spoke on legislative issues while the House passed nearly 40% of bills with less than one hour of debate. The average hours of working of Parliament was not even 50% of the total time.
Slogan-shouting, walkouts, boycotts and adjournments were increasing over the years. The 11th Lok Sabha lost 5.28% of its time due to pandemonium which went up to 22% by the 14th Lok Sabha. Incidentally, each minute of Parliament costs the exchequer Rs 26,035. "There was not a single session of Parliament during 2008 and 2009 that has not lost valuable man-hours on account of unruly incidents. The year 2008 even witnessed the virtual abrogation of a whole session of Parliament," John Samuel, NSW convener, said.
The report also found increasing absenteeism among MPs with more than 75% of MPs featuring below the median point of 16 or more days of attendance, according to the report.
None of the 12 MPs tracked attended more than 20% of the total number of days in each session. The absentees were led by Congress MP Govinda who did not attend Parliament on a single day followed by BJP MP Dharmendra. BJP leaders Vinod Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu were the other two MPs who had low attendance. National Social Watch's `Citizen's report on governance and development 2008-2009' analysed attendance of MPs in the 11th and 12th sessions of the 14th Lok Sabha and the 210th and 211th session of the Rajya Sabha.
Seven members attended Parliament for less than 10% of the total days. In the Lok Sabha, members did not participate more than four times in 2007, and five members (in both LS and RS) did not participate in the debates even once.
With regard to the number of questions, the pattern is equally dismal. Out of the 12 celebrity MPs, five including Shyam Benegal, Govinda, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Bimal Jalan did not raise a single query. No member has raised even 1% of the total questions in both Houses.
The report notes that MPs who held corporate positions were more efficient. On an average, all eight members raised a fair number of questions and five of them excluding Vijay Mallya and Rajeev Dhoot attended 50% of parliamentary sittings.
Parliamentary record on an average was nothing to boast about and only indicated a fall in standards. Only 173 MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha actually spoke on legislative issues while the House passed nearly 40% of bills with less than one hour of debate. The average hours of working of Parliament was not even 50% of the total time.
Slogan-shouting, walkouts, boycotts and adjournments were increasing over the years. The 11th Lok Sabha lost 5.28% of its time due to pandemonium which went up to 22% by the 14th Lok Sabha. Incidentally, each minute of Parliament costs the exchequer Rs 26,035. "There was not a single session of Parliament during 2008 and 2009 that has not lost valuable man-hours on account of unruly incidents. The year 2008 even witnessed the virtual abrogation of a whole session of Parliament," John Samuel, NSW convener, said.
The report also found increasing absenteeism among MPs with more than 75% of MPs featuring below the median point of 16 or more days of attendance, according to the report.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Integration Server Admin not working
If, even after starting the Integration Server, your integration server administrator (http://localhost:5555) is returning a page cannot be displayed or not accessible, then mostly it could be because the sql server is not running on your server.
Try starting your ms sql server. Goto DOS (type cmd in RUN) and "net start mssqlserver". If it says it's already started, try stopping and then restart.
net stop mssqlserver
net start mssqlserver
Then, delete the LOCK file previously created (\webmethods7\integration server\) and then click on Integration server (program files -> webmethods7 -> servers -> integration server) and wait for a couple of minutes and then check now.
Try starting your ms sql server. Goto DOS (type cmd in RUN) and "net start mssqlserver". If it says it's already started, try stopping and then restart.
net stop mssqlserver
net start mssqlserver
Then, delete the LOCK file previously created (
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Poll talk
Newspaper sale perks
When elections are here can ‘aaya rams-gaya rams’ be far behind? But then politics make strange bedfellows. Sworn enemies can be hugging each other in no time. So, it is becoming impossible to keep track of leaders with most of them hopping parties overnight. Elections also unleash lot of ‘tu tu-main main’ with leaders trading charges.
Lesser mortals have nothing better than the daily newspaper to keep pace with the happenings.
No wonder sale of all newspapers have shot up. Whether candidates win or not their polemics are providing enough fodder for rumour mills.
With the media itself having an axe to grind, one is unable to sift fact from fiction. Naturally people are forced to buy more than one newspaper.
Sensex rises to three-month high, ends 447pts up
MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex rose to a three-month high on Thursday, adding nearly 447 points ahead of a gathering of world leaders
in London to consider an agenda aimed at tackling the global economic slump.
The Sensex surged on Thursday 446.84 points to 10,348.83, a level last seen on January 6, as funds indulged in buying bluechips led by interest-sensitive realty and metal sectors on expectations of interest rate cuts, completing three days' gains.
The key index moved between 10,432.31 and 10,107.25 points during the day.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty spurted by 150.70 points at 3,211.05, after moving between 3,228.75 and 3,061.05 points.
Marketmen said the buoyancy was based on expectations that the G-20 summit of world leaders is likely to ease the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Buying activity picked up after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said global economies showing "traction" amid widening stimulus efforts, they added.
With inflation, despite a small rise, still remaining close to zero, there are expectations of rate cuts by the RBI, something that could boost sales of homes and consumer durables.
The maximum support to the market came from sectors like realty, metal, oil and gas and banking.
in London to consider an agenda aimed at tackling the global economic slump.
The Sensex surged on Thursday 446.84 points to 10,348.83, a level last seen on January 6, as funds indulged in buying bluechips led by interest-sensitive realty and metal sectors on expectations of interest rate cuts, completing three days' gains.
The key index moved between 10,432.31 and 10,107.25 points during the day.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty spurted by 150.70 points at 3,211.05, after moving between 3,228.75 and 3,061.05 points.
Marketmen said the buoyancy was based on expectations that the G-20 summit of world leaders is likely to ease the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Buying activity picked up after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said global economies showing "traction" amid widening stimulus efforts, they added.
With inflation, despite a small rise, still remaining close to zero, there are expectations of rate cuts by the RBI, something that could boost sales of homes and consumer durables.
The maximum support to the market came from sectors like realty, metal, oil and gas and banking.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)