Isn’t it queer? A month with whole of eleven days missing. This was the time England shifted from Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, and the king of England ordered those 11 days to be wiped off the face of the month of September of 1752. (What couldn’t a King do in those days?!) And yes, the workers worked for 11 days less, but got paid for the entire 30 days. And that’s how “Paid Leave” was born.

In September 1752 the Julian calendar was replaced with the Gregorian calendar in Great Britain and its American colonies. The Julian calendar was 11 days behind the Gregorian calendar, so 14 September got to follow 2 September on the day of the change. The result was that between 3 and 13 September, absolutely nothing happened!

The calendar switch also influenced the way George Washington’s birthday is celebrated. He was born on 11 February 1731, but the anniversary of his birth is on 22 February because of the 11 days eliminated from the calendar switch. At the same time, New Year’s Day was changed from 25 March to 1 January, thus according to the new calendar, Washington was born in 1732.

Delhi’tes,

Here I go with a good source of information on sharing car in our Capital Delhi. Following is transcript of information from their site http://www.delhicarpool.com/

Standing at a bus-stop, have you ever wondered if you could take a ride in one of the empty self-driven cars going past you ?
Driving a car, have you thought of sharing the cost of your fuel and car by giving rides to people going the same way ?
Staring at the red lights and looking around, did you wonder if you could ask the person in the next car if he is going the same way. We all can save fuel, parking space, reduce pollution and save the environment by sharing rides and pooling our cars.

DelhiCarPool.com is an initiative to bring together lone-drivers, or ride-seekers on a common platform and network amongst themselves to save fuel and costs by pooling cars and travelling together on the same route. This not only helps you to save costs, but also helps us to protect environment and reduce pollution. It further helps us to de-congest the roads.

A nice article on what does it means to hold loyalty and perform hard-work in this employee based service Industry.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan succeeds Mr. Ratan Tata as Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd., the holding company for many of the Tata Bluechips like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Voltas, etc.Possibly he is the first non-Tata person to head the Tata Empire.

Subject: Job Hopping -Interesting article by Dr.Gopalkrishnan, Chairman, Tata Sons

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side!!
Move from one job to another, but only for the right reasons. It’s yet another day at office. As I logged on to the marketing and advertising sites for the latest updates, as usual, I found the headlines dominated by ‘who’s moving from one company to another after a short stint’, and I wondered, why are so many people leaving one job for another?

Is it passé now to work with just one company for a sufficiently long period?

Whenever I ask this question to people who leave a company, the answers I get are: “Oh, I am getting a 200% hike in salary”; “Well, I am jumping three levels in my designation”; “Well, they are going to send me abroad in six months”.

Then, I look around at all the people who are considered successful today and who have reached the top – be it a media agency, an advertising agency or a company. I find that most of these people are the ones who have stuck to the company, ground their heels and worked their way to the top. And, as I look around for people who changed their jobs constantly, I find they have stagnated at some level, in obscurity!

In this absolutely ruthless, dynamic and competitive environment, there are still no short-cuts to success or to making money. The only thing that continues to pay, as earlier, is loyalty and hard work.

Yes, it pays!

Sometimes, immediately, sometimes after a lot of time. But, it does pay.

Does this mean that one should stick to an organization and wait for that golden moment? Of course not. After a long stint, there always comes a time for moving in most organizations, but it is important to move for the right reasons, rather than superficial ones, like money, designation or an overseas trip.

Remember, no company recruits for charity.More often than not, when you are offered an unseemly hike in salary or designation that is disproportionate to what that company offers it current employees, there is always unseen bait attached.

The result? You will, in the long-term, have reached exactly the same levels or maybe lower levels than what you would have in your current company.A lot of people leave an organization because they are “unhappy”. What is this so-called-unhappiness? I have been working for donkey’s years and there has never been a day when I am not unhappy about something in my work environment-boss, rude colleague, fussy clients etc.

Unhappiness in a workplace, to a large extent, is transient.If you look hard enough, there is always something to be unhappy about.

But, more importantly, do I come to work to be “happy” in the truest sense?If I think hard, the answer is “No”. Happiness is something you find with family, friends, may be a close circle of colleagues who have become friends.

What you come to work for is to earn, build a reputation, satisfy your ambitions, be appreciated for your work ethics, face challenges and get the job done.So, the next time you are tempted to move, ask yourself why you moving and what are are you moving into.

Some questions are:

* Am I ready and capable of handling the new responsibility? If yes, what could be the possible reasons my current company has not offered me the same responsibility?

* Who are the people who currently handle this responsibility in the current and new company? Am I as good as the best among them?

* As the new job offer has a different profile, why have I not given the current company the option to offer me this profile?

* Why is the new company offering me the job? Do they want me for my skills, or is there an ulterior motive?

An honest answer to these will eventually decide where you go in your career- to the top of the pile in the long term (at the cost of short-term blips) or to become another average employee who gets lost with time in the wilderness?

“DESERVE BEFORE YOU DESIRE” – Dr. Gopalkrishnan, Chairman TATA

His story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, Mr. XYZ was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton’s army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.

After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, Mr. XYZ moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.

He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.

Mr. XYZ’s years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world’s most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.

He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

He is none other than US President Barack H. Obama. Obama is the 44th President of the United States.

Source : http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president_obama/