Majority have clicked ads in search, but only minority see contextual ones

By Ken Y-N ( March 5, 2013 at 00:11) ? Filed under Business, Internet, Polls

japan.internet.com reported on the seventh regular survey by goo Research into internet advertising.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 23rd of February 2013 1,091 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample were male, 16.2% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.2% in their thirties, 16.4% in their forties, and 27.9% aged fifty or older.

If my experience is anything to go by, more people seeing contextual advertisements perhaps seems to mean more people avoiding them?

I don?t really appreciate the subtle difference between the ?don?t know? and ?didn?t know they appeared? answers in the questions below!

Research results

Q1: Have you ever clicked advertisement links (sponsored link, sponsored site, etc) above or to the right of search engine results? (Sample size=1,091)

Yes	65.5%
No	21.4%
Don?t know	8.2%
Didn?t know adverts appeared in search	4.8%

Q2: Have you ever seen contextual advertisements (AdSense, etc) in blogs, news articles, etc? (Sample size=1,091)

Yes	42.9%
No	27.2%
Don?t know	22.6%
Didn?t know adverts appeared there	7.2%

Read more on: advertisement,goo research

Permalink

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/gkkDnAbL5I0/

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In Greenland and Antarctic tests, Yeti helps conquer some 'abominable' polar hazards

Mar. 4, 2013 ? A century after Western explorers first crossed the dangerous landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic, researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have successfully deployed a self-guided robot that uses ground-penetrating radar to map deadly crevasses hidden in ice-covered terrains.

Deployment of the robot--dubbed Yeti--could make Arctic and Antarctic explorations safer by revealing unseen fissures buried beneath ice and snow that could potentially claim human lives and expensive equipment.

Researchers say Yeti opens the door to making polar travel safer for crews that supply remote scientific research stations. Attempts have been made by researchers in the polar regions to use robots for tasks such as searching for meteorites in Antarctica. However, researchers who have worked with Yeti say it is probably the first robot to successfully deploy in the field that is able to identify hazards lurking under the thin cover of snow.

These findings are based on deployments of Yeti in Greenland's Inland Traverse, an over-ice supply train from Thule in the north of Greenland to NSF's Summit Station on the ice cap, and in NSF's South Pole Traverse, a 1,031-mile, over-ice trek from McMurdo Station in Antarctica to the South Pole.

A team of researchers from the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, along with a student at Stanford University's neuroscience program, recently published their findings in the Journal of Field Robotics.

"Polar exploration is not unlike space missions; we put people into the field where it is expensive and it is dangerous to do science," said CRREL's James Lever.

Using Yeti--and potential follow-on devices that Lever expects may be developed in the future by improving on the Yeti template--has value not only in reducing some of the danger to human beings working in polar environments. Deploying Yeti and machines like it also plays to the strength of robots, which are well suited for learning and performing repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans.

Lever added that robots like Yeti not only improve safety; they also have the potential to reduce the costs of logistical support of science in the remote polar regions and extend the capabilities of researchers.

Yeti was developed with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Students of Lever and Laura Ray, at Dartmouth, also a principal investigator on the Yeti project and a co-author of the paper, designed and created a predecessor to Yeti--called Cool Robot-- that was funded by NSF's Division of Polar Programs to conduct work in Antarctica.

Under a separate NSF grant, researchers plan to deploy Cool Robot this summer to circumnavigate NSF's Summit Station on the Greenland ice sheet, taking atmospheric samples as it goes. The solar-powered, four-wheel-drive Cool Robot led to Yeti's success, while helping the researchers meet NSF's goal of integrating research and education.

"Our focus with Yeti is on improving operational efficiency," Lever said. "But more generally, robotics has the potential to produce more science with more spatial and temporal coverage for less money. We're not gong to replace the scientists. But what we can do is extend their reach and add to the science mission."

Yeti is an 81-kilogram (180-pound) battery powered, four-wheel drive vehicle, about a meter across, that is capable of operating in temperatures as low as -30 Celsius (-20 Fahrenheit). Yeti uses Global Positioning System coordinates to navigate and to plot the position of under-ice hazards.

That work--and the accompanying risks--in the past has fallen exclusively to human crews using ground-penetrating radar to map the under-ice features.

Crevasses often can span widths of 9 meters (30 feet) or more and reach depths of up to 60 meters (200 feet). Snow often accumulates in such a way that it forms unstable bridges over the crevasse, obscuring them from view.

Prior to the development of Yeti, a vehicle pushing a GPR unit would move ahead of a traverse to attempt to detect crevasses. Although the radar was pushed ahead of the vehicle, giving some margin of advanced warning and safety, the system is none-the-less dangerous and stressful for the crews, especially when traversing long distances.

In addition to having the potential to greatly reduce the danger to humans, the Yeti project also has helped advance research into how robots learn, as the research team uses the data gathered by Yeti during hundreds of crevasse encounters to refine algorithms that will allow machines in future to automatically map and avoid crevasses on their own.

Yeti has also proven itself adept at tasks that were not originally envisioned for it.

During the 2012-13 Antarctic research season, Yeti was used to map ice caves on the slopes of Mount Erebus, the world's southernmost active volcano.

The ice caves are attracting increasingly more scientific attention. Volcanologists are interested in the volcano's chemical outgassing through fissures on its flanks, and biologists are interested in what sort of microbial life might exist in these discrete environments, which are much warmer and far more humid than the frigid, wind-sculpted surface.

In a deployment that coincided with the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first explorers at the geographic South Pole in the 2011-2012 research season, Yeti repeatedly and uniformly executed closely spaced survey grids to find known, but inaccurately mapped, buried hazards.

The robot mapped out the long-abandoned original South Pole research station, built in the late 1950s and subsequently buried under the Antarctic ice sheet by years of snowfall and drift. A previous, less refined survey of the site by a human crew had only generally identified the outline of the major buildings. The Yeti-based survey generated a map detailed enough to allow crews to directly access the corners of structures near the ice surface in order to safely demolish them.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/tQRNF7vyRP4/130304123420.htm

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Investing in Gold and Silver to Diversify an Investment Portfolio ...

Investing in Gold and Silver to Diversify an Investment Portfolio 5/5 (100%) 26 votes

Investing in gold and silver is a way to keep a tangible investment in the investor?s hands, or locked away in a home safe, or safety deposit box. It is the simplest way to safeguard families against hyperinflation, or the collapse of any currency.

Strategic Solutions

Investing in precious metals does not require huge amounts of money reserves. Because of the escalating prices of precious metals in the marketplace, the sooner an investor can purchase silver and gold the better. Investing in gold and silver can be done by purchasing jewelry, bullion bars and bullion coins. Gold and silver numismatic coins are also available. They have been issued by governments all around the world, for millenniums.

Locating a Source for Precious Metals
When considering the investment in precious metals, it is important to locate a good source for the products. The simplest solution to investing in gold and silver is to purchase it from a reputable dealer online, or in a traditional brick-and-mortar store. Locating a trustworthy source allows the investor to purchase the precious metals at a competitive price.

Smart Strategy

Adding a fair amount of silver and gold to an investment portfolio is a good common sense approach to maximizing profits in times of economic uncertainty. The investment of precious metals helps minimize the fluctuations of paper trading instruments including bonds and stocks. It also helps avoid disruption in a macro-economic environment when governments tend to print more money than they can back.

A Surging Demand for Gold and Silver
As economies continue to weaken, more individuals will be looking for investment alternatives that include investing in gold and silver. The reaction will be an automatic increase in gold and silver demands, at a time when there is only a consistent amount of supply being generated for the marketplace. The future outlook for precious metals especially silver and gold will likely create an even larger surge for demand.

Taking physical ownership of gold and silver supplies is the best way to invest in precious metals. Ancient civilizations saw the advantage of using silver and gold as units of tradable commodities and they continue today to be an active participant in hedging against inflation.

Long-Term Appreciation Opportunities
Gold, silver and nearly all precious metals offer a tremendous long-term appreciation in price. They also work well in providing short-term trading solutions. While other markets tend to be volatile, precious metals including silver and gold offer a more stable trading platform. Historically, silver and gold have performed best during harsh economic times when other tradable assets have performed at their worst. Precious metals tend to be more of a liquid asset that can quickly be converted into cash, or used for bartering. As a final solution, silver and gold bullion bars and coins can be sold for currency.

Many investors eager to diversify their portfolio dedicate approximately 10% to 20% of their total investment strategies to investing in gold and silver. In the near future, there is no foreseeable change in the core fundamentals of driving the price of the precious metals even higher. As a result, both silver and gold will continue to act as a safety hedge in an investment portfolio against any upcoming economic storm.

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Source: http://virtualtrustfund.com/investment-protection/investing-in-gold-and-silver-to-diversify-an-investment-portfolio/

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Finance Ministry took too long to get its act together: Montek Singh ...

Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia lauded P Chidambaram's suggested measures during the Budget speech on Thursday and said the Finance Minister cleared up many doubts in the mind of foreign investors that could invite more investments and boost economy. He also said that Chidambaram's efforts will be able to achieve fiscal deficit of 4.8 per cent by 2014.

Here is the full transcript of the interview:

Karan Thapar: How transparent was Chidambaram's budget? Or did it obscure more than it revealed? That is the key issue I will discuss today with the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Mr Ahluwalia, the Finance Minister began his Budget speech by saying the Indian economy is challenged. Why do you think his Budget is the right response to that challenge?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I think he made that very clear that the biggest challenge right now is a huge macro-imbalance, very large fiscal deficit, which is mirrored in the balance of payments by a large current account deficit. Now we want to get in balance, not run the risk of running out of foreign inflows, so it is important to reduce the fiscal deficit. And that big message the Budget 2013-14 does have.

Karan Thapar: The Finance Minister said in his afternoon press conference that the main message to the world is that the fiscal deficit will be contained. But has he actually and genuinely reduced last year's deficit to 5.2 per cent or has he merely deferred subsidy payments and tax refunds beyond April 1? That's what some people called sleight of hand.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: Unless you go for accrual system of budgeting, there is always some slip-over. By the same token, a lot of subsidies of the previous year got paid this year. I don't believe that the budget is, in any sense, distorted. It is quite possible that some of the subsidy payments due in the current year would be paid next year but some of the subsidies due previous year were paid in the current year. So, I don't think that makes a difference by itself.

Karan Thapar: He has achieved his 5.2 per cent target on the basis of savage expenditure cuts amounting to Rs 92,000 crore of planned expenditure or almost 18 per cent. Now that is almost clearly going to affect growth. And with the third-quarter coming in at 5 per cent, many people feel that this could push fourth-quarter down close to 4 per cent. That is self-inflicted and self-created problem.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: Lot of people have been raising this with me. And as Deputy Chairman (of Planning Commission) I should clarify the position. It is not correct to say that the expenditures are actually cut, in the sense that we took a conscious decision to reduce expenditure. What he has done is, that he has applied the existing rules very strictly in order to avoid a bunching of expenditure. In the past, people used to delay preparing their schemes, then rush to prepare their schemes, try and get some money in the last month. But there are rules that say you can only spend a certain proportion of what you are going to spend in the year as whole in the last three months. Using that, basically what has happened is that the slow expenditure, the first nine months of the year, has led to lower expenditure.

Karan Thapar: That explanation would be credible if the amount that has not been spent was less. In this instance, we are talking about almost 18 per cent of planned expenditure amounting to Rs 92,000 crore. Surely, your budget calculation cannot account for such a whopping figure.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: Some of the strictness, compared to a little bit of laxness earlier, does amount to slight change of rules. But the important thing is that in the current year's budget there is a big increase because we wanted to give a good start to the 12th plan. The fact is that the Ministry has took too long to get the act together.

Karan Thapar: Let us move beyond the manner with which he has removed last year's fiscal deficit to 5.2 per cent to suspicions about his target for next year, where he says the fiscal deficit will be 4.8 per cent. Now, he is projecting economic growth of about 6.4 per cent, which people think is unlikely. He is hoping that the revenues, the tax revenues, will increase by almost 19 per cent, which people think is unrealistic. And he is projecting an increase in planned expenditure of almost 30 per cent, which is whopping. Can you put all together and then achieve a fiscal deficit target of 4.8 per cent?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: As far as the planned expenditure is concerned, we want that increase, compared to what happened last year and the budget as a whole, the revenues and the planned expenditure, add up to give you a deficit of 4.8 per cent. So the real question is the revenue.

Karan Thapar: But, actually do they? There are two reasons why I want to question you on this. One is that the revenue on which this figure is based looks unrealistic to begin with. Another is that he is anticipating a 33 per cent increase in non-tax revenue, amounting to some Rs 43,000 crore. And then he is expecting a 125 per cent increase in disinvestments, including, sales of other shares. Those are huge targets, which many people think he is not going to meet. And if he doesn't meet them, 4.8 per cent goes straight out of the window.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: First let us take a look at the revenue side. 6.5 per cent roughly in the real time growth, is that unreasonable? In my view, the current year's growth rate is an absolute low. The CSO had projected it at about 5 per cent. It could be a little bit higher by the time the numbers come.

Karan Thapar: Or it could be a little bit lower because third-quarter is 4.5 per cent and your expenditure cuts, which you are not calling cuts you are just calling them forgone expenditure, affects growth, then fourth-quarter could come in close to 4 per cent, which means your overall for the year could slip below 5 per cent, or maybe 4.8 per cent or 4.7 per cent.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: Not really. A lot of this expenditure that gets bunched towards the end of the year doesn't actually get spent. It simply gets transferred to state governments and sits around in bank accounts, so that is not really true. The key thing is, I don't believe, that starting at the low point, if you have taken the corrective steps taken to get rid of impediments to growth, projecting 6.5 per cent next year is unrealistic. Ten-year record is 7.3 or 7.4 per cent.

Karan Thapar: You are hoping that the 10-year track record continues and on the basis of that hope, you are, therefore, saying that the revenue expectations, will match up and allow and permit a 4.8 per cent fiscal deficit. But let me point out another set of problems that question 4.8 per cent. This budget is only assuming Rs 65,000 crore as the petroleum subsidy whereas last year's RE was Rs 97,000 crore, which results in a drop of Rs 32,000 crore, amounting to 32 per cent. If on the basis of that you are going to achieve 4.8 per cent fiscal deficit, you are either hoping for a sharp fall in oil prices, which is unlikely, or you are going to savagely cut expenditure once against next year, as you did this year.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: No, not at all. On the petroleum subsidy, the most important thing is that the government introduced a gradual adjustment in diesel prices, which was 50 paise per litre per month. Now if this adjustment is carried through, and obviously, the budget assumes that it will be carried through and it should be carried through, the entire petroleum subsidy on diesel will disappear within 16 months. This year is going to show a lot of that.

Karan Thapar: No, in fact, it is not 16 months because you are only increasing diesel prices by 45 paise a month. There is roughly some Rs 10 subsidy on diesel at the moment and that rate of decrease is going to take you 22 months. Now you cannot, therefore, assume that you are going to make up Rs 32,000 crore worth of diesel subsidy in one year.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: Let me put it this way. The total subsidy, when all this started, was Rs 91,000 crore. If you are eliminating that in 18 months, or even 19 months, the key point is that they are doing 45 paise, they may take it to 50 paise. The saving, and getting rid of diesel is big, and I think that is a very important initiative that the government has taken. And if we stay with it, that will reflect itself.

Karan Thapar: So the conclusion you are coming is that if you stay within the diesel saving that you are anticipating, and which you are saying you are committed to, then this diminishment of the oil subsidy, Rs 92,000 crore down to Rs 65,000, is understandable, and therefore the fiscal deficit of 4.8 per cent can be achieved.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: On this side, that is correct. I should add that not all the diesel subsidy is actually being paid out of the budget. Part of that under recovery was borne by the companies themselves. So the impact on the budget could be very substantial.

Karan Thapar: So the bottom-line is that the 4.8 per cent target, despite all the questions thrown at you, despite all the doubt in the market, is a credible figure next year.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: It is an achievable figure. The numbers can change and you can adjust accordingly.

Karan Thapar: Let me now move on to another point that makes me say that is in fact not achievable and that is growth. Third-quarter brought in growth at 4.5 per cent, I am suggesting to you, and many in the market believe, that fourth-quarter could come in below that. Therefore the annual growth may not be 5 per cent as the CSO said but just 4.8 per cent. Now, to go from that to 6.5 per cent next year, which is what this budget assumes is a jump of almost 2 per cent. Is it credible?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: It is credible in one year. We have, in the past, had a year to year, of that magnitude.

Karan Thapar: It was miraculous when that happened. Are you hoping for a second miracle?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: No it wasn't miraculous. It was the impact of cumulative changes that were being made in policy.

Karan Thapar: Can I tell you why this time around it may not be possible to achieve another 2 per cent jump in growth? Because if you end up, as many people suspect and I know you don't agree, having to achieve 4.8 per cent fiscal deficit through savage forgoing, if not cutting expenditure, then that it will impact growth because once again, there will be question marks on achieving 6 per cent, leave aside 6.7 per cent.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: We must be clear about one thing. Is the growth strategy dependent on government spending money? In that case what you are really saying is that the fiscal deficit reduction strategy is fundamentally inconsistent with growth. That is worthwhile thing to argue and I don't happen to agree on it. The reason why I don't agree on it is that the restraint on government expenditure has to be offset by a big increase in private investment and public sector investment, which is not in the budget. And if that happens, growth will take place.

Karan Thapar: And that is another reason why people are concerned and questioning the 6.4 per cent figure because as you said, repeatedly in interviews with me, that obstacle to growth, is not the absence of government expenditure, but the fact that so many projects are stalled because of shortage in clearance. Now the problem is that the analysts say that the quantum of projects stalled amount of some Rs 7,00,000 lakh crore. But the Finance Minister has done or suggested very little to speed up that clearance and boost growth. So, the private sector investment that could replace government spending is not going to happen.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: That is a very distorted presentation. It is true that in the budget speech he didn't announce anything specific, but what he did say was that this is something we have been worried about since the past three months. We already took the steps necessary in the form of setting up a Cabinet committee on investments.

Karan Thapar: Three months ago, and that Cabinet committee has not delivered anything till date.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: That is not correct. It was announced three months ago, but it was notified in January. It has met twice.

Karan Thapar: But it has still done nothing.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: No that is also not true. And you will see from his speech that it has met, it has taken some steps. Some issues have been referred for resolution to particular groups to come back. I am very confident, let us say in a month from now, one will be able to say that as a result of these efforts, these are the projects that got cleared.

Karan Thapar: I will tell you why I question your confidence because when I interviewed you, virtually on the same date last year, after last year's budget, you said to me that within four or five months, stalled projects in coal, power, and steel would be pushed through because those infrastructural bottlenecks that you had recognised, would be removed. A year later, we are still talking about removing them and the bottlenecks are there.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I agree with you that a year ago, it was my expectation and I think the government's also that when you identify the problems, the system ought to be able to move things forward. Unfortunately, the system was clogged up, which is why you needed a Cabinet committee on investments, which is empowered to take these decisions. We didn't have that then.

Karan Thapar: At least you are being honest in saying that your perception, of once you identify the problem, the system will clear it up, was based on a confidence that was not realised and now you need to actually push the system and the CCI will push it.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I sincerely hope so.

Karan Thapar: So you mean that there is still doubt in your mind?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: When you are looking forward, you should express your hope on how it will work. I am very confident that they will succeed and that is what I meant. We now have the instrument.

Karan Thapar: Let me put it like this. Many industrialists look at the Indian manufacturing scene, which is clearly in the doll rooms, and they say something was needed decisively to be said or done that would lift sentiments and boost animal spirits. And beyond giving them an investment allowance of 15 per cent, they cannot see very much and they are disappointed. This was the moment to fire them with hope and confidence for the future and he hasn't done so.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I don't agree with that. The investment allowance is quite a major step. It incentivises people. It is there for two years. It incentivises them to do something. It is mistake according to me that when animal spirits are down, you need a tax incentive. You need to know why animal spirits aren't moving. If they are not moving because projects and clearances are not moving or because of global financial constraints, or because money isn't flowing, you have to address that issue directly.

Karan Thapar: And what you are going to do in terms of bottlenecks in projects is going to do that for you.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: That plus what we are trying to do on the financial side, and opening up avenues where money can come in. And reduction in fiscal deficit, if it achieved, will release a lot of money in the system. Now we will put more money in to these projects.

Karan Thapar: The Finance Minister said that foreign investment is imperative he frankly revealed that India need $75 billion a year for two years to finance our current account deficit. Has he done or said enough to encourage that quantum of foreign investment to come in?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I think so. There are a lot of things that he has done. First, there was a lot of uncertainties in the minds of foreign investors as a result of last year's budget.

Karan Thapar: You mean GAAR in particular?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: GAAR and all that concern. I think he has, quite categorically, put that aside. GAAR is only going to come in April 1, 2016. There will be enough time, now and then, to clarify things, he has already done some clarification. So those who fear this was anti-foreign investment or anti-legitimate foreign investment, they should be satisfied.

Karan Thapar: I fully accept that when it comes to GAAR, he has actually removed doubts or pushed them three years down the line, which is so far away that people don't worry about them today. But, those weren't the only doubts that were clouding foreign investment. There were concerns about retrospective tax amendments centered around Vodafone, but it affects other companies as well and those are still unresolved despite the fact that the Parthasarathi Shome Committee gave its report 3-4 months ago and now many people believe, after hearing the budget speech, that the Finance Minister has created more doubts and uncertainties about the Mauritius route of investment, which after all brings in 40 per cent investments. So far from removing and clarifying doubts, he might have ended up muddying the water still.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I don't think so. Nothing that he said about Mauritius should be a matter of concern for any legitimate, FII investments, which come via Mauritius. As long as they get tax residency certificate, nobody is going to question if they are indeed coming from Mauritius. And I think that $40 billion is all that.

Karan Thapar: He has actually raised a different point. The tax residency will only establish where they are residents of; they need to have another certificate that proves that they are the rightful beneficiaries and that the tax residency certificate is not sufficient for that. You know and I know, that many of them use Mauritius as a post office account. That might put them off.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I think this is the kind of technical issue that takes me beyond my competence so if there is any doubt in anyone's mind that a bonafide FII, obviously bringing in money from investors abroad, investing through the Mauritius route is going to benefit from the treaty, they should raise that issue. And I sincerely hope, the Finance Minister will clarify them.

Karan Thapar: You are very reassuring when you say that, and no doubt foreign investors hearing this interview will be reassured with what you said. On the other hand, others in the Cabinet like the Law Minister Ashwini Kumar, in an interview on Thursday immediately after the budget, said, "No, that is a clear and unambiguous message to foreign investors." Now if that is the line that the Law Minister takes, then he sounds to many that he is not even ready to accept that there are doubts created that need to be addressed.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: I am glad he said that because it must be the case that the "clear message" he is referring to was a message of welcome. In tax matters, some account can always find some little something there, which raises doubts in their minds and I think the Finance Minister will clarify those doubts in their minds when the Finance Bill is tabled.

Karan Thapar: No doubt the Finance Minister has indicated that the DC bill will be introduced in Parliament before the end of the Budget Session but he said that without any roadmap to GST. He didn't say a word about pension insurance, which has been stuck in Parliament for years, not a word on land acquisitions for which the industry is eagerly waiting. Are those reforms now pushed to the backburner?

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: On the GST, I thought he made a very strong statement. He more or less invited the opposition parties, in state governments, to come forth and help the government to make GST a reality. I believe that the way those discussions have gone, there is an understanding, on the part of the opposition, that GST is in India's interest. Now this is also politics, this is a constitutional amendment and nobody can force the pace. I read his statement, and the fact that nobody has refuted that issue, the GST is going to happen. It may not become operative in the year 2013, that is a profound disappointment to me, but, if you are looking at India ahead, if an analyst were to come to a conclusion, it looks like GST is going to be in. A year later, I think they are going to give positive marks.

Karan Thapar: So you are saying that the markets should look the glass full and not glass empty.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: It may be three fourths full in this case actually.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/finance-ministry-took-too-long-to-get-its-act-together-montek-singh-ahluwalia/376364-37-64.html

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Expectant parents die in NY crash; infant survives

A man walks past debris from a fatal accident that claimed the lives of two expectant parents on their way to the hospital early, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A driver struck the car the couple were riding in early Sunday morning, killing both parents while their baby, who?was born prematurely, survived?and is?in critical condition. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A man walks past debris from a fatal accident that claimed the lives of two expectant parents on their way to the hospital early, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A driver struck the car the couple were riding in early Sunday morning, killing both parents while their baby, who?was born prematurely, survived?and is?in critical condition. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this photo provided by VosIzNeias.com, a police officer works at the scene of a car accident that took the lives of an expectant couple in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in New York. The young couple who had taken a car service to a hospital for the birth of their first child were killed en route by the driver of a BMW who fled the scene, but the couple's baby boy survived, born prematurely, authorities and a neighbor said. Their infant son was in serious condition at a hospital, and the driver of car that was hit was in stable condition. (AP Photo/VosIzNeias.com, Shimon Gifter)

In this photo provided by VosIzNeias.com, authorities work at the scene of a car accident that took the lives of an expectant couple in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in New York. The young couple who had taken a car service to a hospital for the birth of their first child were killed en route by the driver of a BMW who fled the scene, but the couple's baby boy survived, authorities said. (AP Photo/VosIzNeias.com, Shimon Gifter)

A worker clears debris from a fatal accident that claimed the lives of two expectant parents, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A driver struck the car the couple were riding in early Sunday morning, killing both parents while their baby, who?was born prematurely, survived?and is?in critical condition. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Debris from a fatal accident that claimed the lives of two expectant parents litter Kent Avenue, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A driver struck the car the couple were riding in early Sunday morning, killing both parents while their baby, who?was born prematurely, survived?and is?in critical condition. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A pregnant young woman who was feeling ill was headed to the hospital with her husband early Sunday when the car they were riding in was hit, killing them both, but their baby boy was born prematurely and survived, authorities and a relative said.

The driver of a BMW slammed into the car carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21, at an intersection in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, said Isaac Abraham, a neighbor of Raizy Glauber's parents who lives two blocks from the scene of the crash.

Raizy Glauber was thrown from the car and her body landed under a parked tractor-trailer, said witnesses who came to the scene after the crash. Nachman Glauber was pinned in the car, and emergency workers had to cut off the roof to get him out, witnesses said.

Both of the Glaubers were pronounced dead at hospitals, police said, and both died of blunt-force trauma, the medical examiner said.

Their infant son was in serious condition, said Abraham. The hospital did not return calls about the child. The Glaubers' driver was in stable condition, police said. Both the driver of the BMW and a passenger fled and were being sought, police said.

On Saturday, Raizy Glauber "was not feeling well, so they decided to go" to the hospital, said Sara Glauber, Nachman Glauber's cousin. Abraham said the Glaubers called a car service because they didn't own a car, which is common for New Yorkers.

The Glaubers were married about a year ago and had begun a life together in Williamsburg, where Raizy Glauber grew up in a prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbinical family, Sara Glauber said.

Raised north of New York City in Monsey, N.Y., and part of a family that founded a line of clothing for Orthodox Jews, Nachman Glauber was studying at a rabbinical college nearby, said his cousin.

Brooklyn is home to the largest community of ultra-orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. The community has strict rules governing clothing, social customs and interaction with the outside world. Men wear dark clothing that includes a long coat and a fedora-type hat and often have long beards and ear locks.

Jewish law calls for burial of the dead as soon as possible, and hours after their deaths, the Glaubers were mourned at a funeral Sunday afternoon. Dozens gathered shoulder to shoulder on the street outside, nearly everyone in black. Men in hats stood together just outside the synagogue and women were on the far side of the street, according to tradition. The sound of wailing filled the air as the two black-draped coffins were carried from a vehicle.

After the funeral began, a speaker sobbed uncontrollably, his voice choked with grief and echoing over loudspeakers set up outside.

Afterward, the cars carrying the bodies left and headed to Monsey, where another service was planned in Nachman Glauber's hometown.

"You don't meet anyone better than him," said his cousin. "He was always doing favors for everyone."

She said Nachman's mother herself just delivered a baby two weeks ago.

"I've never seen a mother-son relationship like this," said Sara Glauber. "He called her every day to make sure everything was OK. He was the sweetest, most charming human being, always with a smile on his face."

She added that, of him and his bride, "if one had to go, the other had to go too because they really were one soul."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-03-US-Expectant-Parents-Killed/id-a808af48369a45a29fba1014e1e7e1fc

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Video: Brother of sinkhole victim: ?I could hear him screaming for me?

>> hole in florida . it's a heartbreaking story. one man is presumed dead after his bedroom sank into the ground. and attempts to find him are on hold because authorities fear the entire house could collapse. gabe gutierrez is in seffner, florida , near tampa, with the latest good morning.

>> reporter: the sink hole is deepening and investigators are having a tough time getting inside the home. so far they've been unable to figure out what caused it. this scene is right out of a horror movie. the frantic 911 call came late thursday night.

>> okay, what happened to the house?

>> um, the bedroom floor just collapsed and my brother-in-law is in there. he's underneath the house.

>> a man had been in his bed inside this home near tampa. the next moment, he was gone. swallowed by a sink hole about 30 feet wide and more than 20 feet deep.

>> it's unreal. i don't believe it's real.

>> reporter: the victim, identified by family members as 36-year-old jeff bush. a landscaper.

>> great guy. there were times when he pedalled his bike all day long to get a job. and he just wanted to help somebody else.

>> reporter: this time, others did what they could for him. his brother was inside the house, heard the crash and jumped in the hole to rescue jeff .

>> and i couldn't get him. all i could hear -- i thought i could hear him screaming for me, hollering for me. help me. i couldn't do nothing.

>> reporter: then came a sheriff and he was able to pull the brother to safety but no sign of jeff .

>> as i was pulling him up, i was looking at the hole watching it collapse, watching the bed frame and everything sink into the ground.

>> reporter: sink holes tend to happen in these seven states, but their especially common in floor where 50,000 have been recorded including this 400 foot hole in 1981 that devoured cars, homes, and businesses. experts say many things can cause sink holes , in florida , it's a domino effect . the state's sandy soil on top of clay supported on a deep layer of limestone and suddenly can collapse due to a dramatic shift in florida 's unique underground rivers. investigators aren't sure what caused this collapse because they can't get near it.

>> until we know it's safe to bring equipment, we're really handicapped and paralyzed and can't do a whole lot more than sit and wait.

>> reporter: and engineers say they might have to demolish the small house even though from the outside it looks like nothing happened, erica?

>> what a story. gabe, thank

Source: http://www.today.com/video/today/51017040/

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Sequester casts pall over Obama's second-term agenda

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just hours after across-the-board spending cuts officially took effect, President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Saturday to work with him on a compromise to halt a fiscal crisis that threatens the economy and his broader domestic policy agenda.

The failure by Obama and Republicans to agree to halt the $85 billion 'sequester' cuts virtually guaranteed that fiscal issues would remain center stage in Washington for weeks, crowding out Obama's proposals to reform immigration, tighten gun laws and raise the minimum wage.

The economic effects of the spending cuts may take time to kick in, but political blowback has already begun and is hitting Obama as well as congressional Republicans.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday showed neither Republicans on one side nor Obama and his fellow Democrats escaping blame.

Obama's approval rating dropped to 47 percent in a Gallup poll on Friday, down from 51 percent in the previous three-day period measured.

While most polls show voters blame Republicans primarily for the fiscal mess, Obama could see himself associated with the worst effects of sequestration like the looming furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

He signed an order on Friday night that started putting the cuts into effect.

In his weekly radio address, Obama appealed for Republicans to work with Democrats on a deal, saying Americans were weary of seeing Washington "careen from one manufactured crisis to another."

But he offered no new ideas to resolve the recurring fiscal fights, and there was no immediate sign of any negotiations.

"There's a caucus of common sense (in Congress)," Obama said in his address. "And I'm going to keep reaching out to them to fix this for good."

At the heart of Washington's persistent fiscal showdowns is disagreement over how to slash the budget deficit and the $16 trillion national debt, bloated over the years by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and government stimulus for the ailing economy.

The Democratic president wants to close the fiscal gap with spending cuts and tax hikes - what he calls a "balanced approach." But Republicans do not want to concede again on taxes after doing so in negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" at the New Year.

As Obama and his aides have done for weeks, the president in offered a litany of hardships he said would flow from the forced spending cuts.

"Beginning this week, businesses that work with the military will have to lay folks off. Communities near military bases will take a serious blow. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who serve their country - Border Patrol agents, FBI agents, civilians who work for the Defense Department - will see their wages cut and their hours reduced," he said.

'IT'S CALLED LEADERSHIP'

Critics said Obama should have held meaningful talks with congressional leaders long before Friday's last-minute meeting at the White House, which failed to prevent the automatic cuts written into law during a previous budget crisis in 2011.

"The president should call the senior representatives of the parties together to Camp David - or any place with a table, chairs, and no TV cameras - for serious negotiations on replacing the sequester with firm, enforceable beginnings of a comprehensive long-term debt stabilization agreement," said former Republican Senator Pete Domenici and fiscal expert Alice Rivlin.

The budget veterans, who lead the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force, called on Obama and congressional Republican leaders to "be willing to tell those on the polar extremes of their parties that a central majority consensus will govern. It's called leadership."

After months of silence on political issues, Obama's Republican opponent in last November's election resurfaced to take a swipe at the Democrat's handling of the sequestration mess.

"No one can think that that's been a success for the president," Mitt Romney said in an interview to air on "Fox News Sunday."

The former Massachusetts governor accused Obama of "flying around the country and berating Republicans and blaming and pointing," instead of striking a budget deal.

Twenty-eight percent of Americans blame Republicans for the lack of a deal to halt sequestration, while 22 percent hold either Obama or the Democrats in Congress responsible, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. Thirty-seven percent blame them all.

The budget standstill has overshadowed Obama's aggressive set of policy goals ranging from boosting pre-school education to fighting climate change and reforming America's immigration system.

Obama vowed in a news conference on Friday that the fiscal troubles would not prevent him from advocating for those proposals.

"I think there are other areas where we can make progress even with the sequester unresolved. I will continue to push for those initiatives," he said.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-lurches-budget-crisis-spending-cuts-imminent-005547865--business.html

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