first day of spring 2010: How do you feel?

After a long and freezing winter, finally, the first day of Spring has started. New leafs will shoot out on the trees. Already it is very hot outside. America has started to come out from recession. On the first day of spring, people will start their lives again with new hopes and dreams. Who said life is easy? I live in Bangladesh and work as a full-time blogger. The recession also affected me very much. In Bangladesh, the first day of spring is February 13, 2010. Interestingly, winter is the most comfortable season in our country. I like winter because the weather remains very comfortable and people can work for long hours. Moreover, electricity does not go.

In the U.S and Canada, daylight saving starts from the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. This means the first day of spring is March 20, 2010. Spring Equinox is March 20. The longest day of the year would be June 21, 2010 and on September 23, 2010, days and nights would be of equal length. December 21, 2010, would be the shortest day of the year.

For more information visit the following links:

http://www.holidaysmart.com/seasons.htm

http://www.holidaysmart.com/2010/2010_3.htm

Related article:

Daily Postal

toms shoes: Business that gives shoes to poor children

Very often we read about the social commitment of business organizations but such activities are basically another way to promote their image among people. TOMS Shoes stands out from the rest for its business model truely helps others. Set up by an American traveller, Blake Mycoskie, TOMS shoes adopted a simple business model. For each pair bought, a pair of shoes would be given to a child in need.

Blake started TOMS shoes in 2006. It all started when Blake went to Argentina to learn to play Polo. Compared to the U.S, playing Polo is cheaper in Argentina where farmers, who ride horses for a long time, play polo as their hobby. There Blake befriended with Alejo Nitti. In Argentina Blake noticed children walking on the streets without any shoes and from there he got the business idea of TOMS shoes- One for One model. Alejo Nitti became Blake’s business partner. The shoes were designed based on the alpargata, a common farmers’ shoe worn by polo players. Instead of starting a charity business Blake started TOMS shoes. The business took off in Blake’s apartment with three interns. One of them runs the whole operation today. Aside from Argentina, TOMS shoes are sent to Haiti, Ethiopia, South Africa, and even in the U.S.

Related articles:

blakemycoskie.blogspot.com

teresa heinz is undergoing treatment for breast cancer

Seventy one year old Teresa Heinz, wife of Senator John Kerry, has been undergoing a serious treatment for breast cancer. The cancer was discovered through mammography which costs much less than chemotherapy. In and interview, she said that women should undergo the mammography test despite the recent controversy because the cost is lower compared to chemotherapy not to mention the physical and personal sufferings women undergo during chemotherapy. Puggal.com reports:

When HEINZ was receiving a MRI,(magnetic resonance imaging procedure), in the hospital she recalled the nurses being furious when the nurses heard that the recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is to give the women mammograms at the age of 50 rather than in 40.

When many medical and women groups criticize on this recommendation, Barack Obama Administration backed of this decision. Heinz said that she recognized in the late September that she had breast cancer in the left breast. And this recognition was through annual mammogram.

Teresa Heinz was diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast while undergoing her annual mammogram in late September. In October, she underwent lumpectomies at Washington Hospital on both her breasts. During the treatment, doctors recognized that her right breast had begun to grow. This was followed by another pair of lumpectomies performed by the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in November. In January, she will start Targeted Radiations Therapy.

Barack Obama’s anti-outsourcing stance concerns India

American President, Barack Obama’s anti-outsourcing movement came as a big blow to the Indian IT Industry. Of the total foreign currency earned by the Indian IT sector, 60% ($64 billion) comes from outsourcing. At present, about 1,000 American companies have shifted their jobs in abroad. Barack Obama, in his first US Congress session on February 25, 2009, said that his government would give tax breaks to companies that would retain jobs in US and vice versa. This would badly hit the American companies that have outsourced jobs in abroad.

Kamal Nath, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, said that he will clarify this issue with Washington. Indian government will also discuss this anti-outsourcing movement in the World Trade Organization. Mr. Nath said that his government would make sure that America’s movement is compatible with WTO when they had been talking about bi-lateral trade and movements of goods, people and services. He also said that one has to see how the US companies are using India as a base for technological development. It can not shutdown instantly.

Moreover, the US companies that are receiving bail out money would not be able to hire employees through the H-1B visa which is another major blow to the thriving Indian IT industry. As per his election agenda, Obama started this outsourcing movement to retain jobs in USA. The US President has also set goals to creat 3.5 million jobs in the country.

Obama’s decision upset the heads IT companies in India. Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys, said that outsourcing increased the competitiveness of US companies and it created more jobs inside the country. Ashok Soota, CMD, MindTree, said that Obama’s speech was an extension of what he had said in his campaigns. Sujata Rakhra, Vice President, Marketing and Communication, APAC, Perot Systems said that businesses today are truly global than ever before and such protectionalist measures would not only restrict innovation but would also hamper the progress of globalization. Along with Indian IT companies, this new decision also upset many US companies that are saying that such a move would hurt US.

Related articles:

IBN Live

The Economic Times

(This entry was first published in February 2009. Because of a technical problem, the entry had to be deleted and I am reposting again now.)