European Stocks Retreat, Led by Rio Tinto; Asian Shares Advance

By Daniela Silberstein

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks declined, led by commodities producers as metals dropped and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended selling Rio Tinto Group and Norsk Hydro ASA. Asian shares rose, while U.S. index futures fluctuated.

Rio Tinto, the world’s third-biggest mining company, and Norsk Hydro, the fifth-largest aluminum producer, retreated more than 2 percent. Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. added 2.7 percent as people familiar with the matter said the U.S. will require Citigroup Inc. to raise private capital to strengthen the bank. Citigroup was little changed in Germany.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell for the fifth time in six days, decreasing 2 percent to 172.63 at 8:11 a.m. in London. The regional gauge has lost 13 percent this year as companies from Anglo American Plc to Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA posted disappointing result and the economic crisis in eastern Europe deepened.

The World Bank, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank will provide $31 billion over two years to bolster banks and businesses in central and eastern Europe, the Washington Post reported. The aid will come in the form of equity and debt financing, credit lines and political risk insurance, the newspaper said.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1 percent today, helping the regional gauge pare its worst start to a year since 1990, as brokerages upgraded technology companies and a weaker yen boosted Japanese exporters’ earnings prospects.

U.S. GDP

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fluctuated between gains and losses before a report that may show the economy shrank in the fourth quarter at a faster pace than previously estimated as companies trimmed inventories.

Rio Tinto slipped 2.9 percent to 1,819 pence, while Norsk Hydro slid 3 percent to 24.1 kroner. Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to “sell” from “neutral,” citing a reduction in its base metals price forecasts. Copper, lead and nickel fell today.

The Obama administration will require Citigroup to raise private capital and make changes to its board of directors as part of an effort to strengthen the bank, according to people familiar with the matter.

The plan, which may be announced today, will involve the Treasury Department converting preferred shares into common stock. The government doesn’t immediately intend to provide additional money after channeling $45 billion to the bank last year, the people said. Citigroup added 2 cents to $2.48 in Germany.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Japan’s biggest bank, climbed 2.7 percent to 454 yen, rallying from an earlier drop of 1.1 percent. Westpac Banking Corp., Australia’s largest bank by value, gained 1.4 percent to A$16.89.

Lloyds Earnings

Lloyds Banking Group Plc slipped 11 percent to 66.4 pence. The lender’s full-year net income dropped 75 percent to 819 million pounds ($1.2 billion). Lloyds’ HBOS unit posted a 7.5 billion-pound loss for 2008 after bad loans at the bank’s corporate lending arm increased.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 has tumbled 53 percent since the start of last year as credit-related losses at financial firms worldwide climbed to $1.1 trillion and Europe, the U.S. and Japan fell into the first simultaneous recessions since World War II.

Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany wants the European Union to arrange a package of as much as 180 billion euros ($230 billion) to help east European economies, banks and companies weather the financial crisis.

A “European Stabilization and Integration Program” would include short-term financing for governments, coordinated restructuring for private debt, the recapitalization of banks and liquidity for companies in as many as 12 countries, Gyurcsany, 47, said in an interview in Budapest yesterday. He will present the plan at a March 1 EU summit in Brussels.

Hungary’s Budapest Stock Exchange Index dropped 0.6 percent today, while Poland’s WIG20 Index declined 0.3 percent.

Source www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJyRkERf91hA&refer=home#

Sunny Bay Station

The MTR Disneyland Resort Line, which comprises two stations, viz. Sunny Bay Station and Disneyland Resort Station and whimsical Disney-themed trains, are exclusively designed by the MTR Corporation in conjunction with Disney's Imagineers and is the very first dedicated train line for a Disney theme park anywhere in the world. The Line takes visitors on a journey through time from Hong Kong's modern MTR network to the Victorian-themed Disneyland Resort Station. The 3.5-minute train journey is not to be missed for Hong Kong Disneyland guests wishing to enjoy the full theme park experience. It will be a ride to enjoy and remember.

To get there :
Passengers taking MTR can reach Sunny Bay Station from any stations of the MTR system. After arriving at the Station, passengers take only a short walk across the platform to begin their magical journey to Disneyland Resort Station which is just in front of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Opening hours : Around 6:00am to 1:00am

Online Encyclopedia Wikipedia Transforms Research

San Francisco — The world’s largest and most popular online encyclopedia is changing the way knowledge is disseminated and used, but not without objections.

Wikipedia, launched in 2001, ranks among the top 10 most-frequented sites and boasts more than 13 million articles in 250 languages as of September.

Jay Walsh, spokesman for the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia’s parent organization, said the online reference source owes its success to the fact that it is the first living encyclopedia. Its content is in constant flux as anonymous volunteers write new articles and edit, often repeatedly, many of the existing ones. Some topical articles are updated in nearly real time, often by hundreds of people, to reflect ongoing developments. That is why many new entries related to the 2008 U.S. elections met with great interest immediately after they had been posted, according to Walsh.

He said not-for-profit organizations were among the first to see the benefits of the online encyclopedia. Being able to educate themselves quickly about a variety of issues and locations, “has changed the way they tactically approach different issues and situations,” he said.

Wikipedia also is sneaking into mainstream media and college classrooms. Some argue that the sheer magnitude of information, its accessibility and frequent updates make it potentially useful to journalists and students who work under time pressure.

However, most newspapers and magazines and many universities have kept their distance from the encyclopedia; they ban attributions to it or citations from it because they consider it unreliable. Phillip Blanchard, a Washington Post copy editor, calls it “junk.” But other editors and writers use it as a source guide or a road map to more reliable sources.

Wikipedia itself acknowledges that its articles are not always complete or accurate, although, it says, it constantly works to increase the accuracy of information, prevent editorial vandalism and delete the least-trusted entries.

Walsh said that Wikipedia has some ground rules. It excludes original research and depends instead on reliable published sources, and its articles must present a neutral point of view. Those principles have been vigorously enforced by contributors and registered editors, who correct or remove errors from articles sometimes within hours of their publication, he said.

College students have been much quicker to embrace Wikipedia than have journalists. But many professors refuse to allow students to cite it in their papers.

Sharman Lichtenstein, an associate professor at Deakin University in Australia, told the online magazine Techworld Australia that the reliance by students on Wikipedia as a primary source for research is “crowding out” valuable knowledge and creating a generation unable to source views of “credible experts.”

But Wikipedia has found defenders in academia. For example, some Harvard professors and teaching fellows incorporate it into their syllabi. They argue that some Wikipedia articles are extremely useful, according to the Harvard Crimson, a Harvard University daily publication.

Scholars who distrust Wikipedia often say it is because the site is error-prone and devalues the notion of expertise by relying on “amateurs.”

But that perception may not be entirely true. A 2005 study by the science journal Nature concluded that Wikipedia, at that time, came close to the Encyclopedia Britannica in the accuracy of its science entries. And the late Roy Rosenzweig, who was a history professor at George Mason University, found that Wikipedia’s coverage of history was almost as factually accurate as Microsoft Corporation’s commercial online encyclopedia, Encarta.

Cathy Davidson, a professor at Duke University, cited in a 2008 American Journalism Review article, suggests that the media and academia distrust Wikipedia because they have not yet figured out how to use the Internet to their advantage.

Walsh said that Wikipedia has been trying to encourage scholars to contribute to the encyclopedia to improve its quality, an effort that so far has not produced many recruits. Scholars who hone their expertise do not have much time for writing for an encyclopedia that does not bring them recognition, he said. And experts who contribute to Wikipedia often do not advertise themselves as experts, he added.

Leaders of Wikipedia want to preserve the unique, democratic character of the encyclopedia to which anyone — expert or not — can contribute. Wikipedia welcomes more professors, as long as they do not denigrate other contributors, Jimmy Wales, the online encyclopedia’s co-founder, told the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Two other online encyclopedias compete directly with Wikipedia — Citizendium, started by Larry Sanger, a co-founder of Wikipedia, and Knol, launched by Google. Both rely on experts and expert editors rather than knowledgeable enthusiasts.

But Wikipedians, as contributors to Wikipedia call themselves, believe that the strength of an encyclopedia derives from its reliance on the knowledge of many rather than that of a selected few. And they may be right, says Gregory Crane, editor-in-chief of the Perseus Digital Library at Tufts University. In a 2005 article, he said the Oxford English Dictionary was written over a period of 70 years by thousands of people, including “an inmate at an asylum for [the] criminally insane.”

Obama picks New Hampshire senator as Commerce chief

Judd Gregg described as "extraordinary," President Obama named the New Hampshire Republican as his nominee for secretary of Commerce, rounding out his economic team and filling one of the last vacancies in the Cabinet.

"He's seen from all angles what makes our economy work for communities, businesses and families -- and what keeps it from working better," Obama said in his remarks Tuesday morning. Obama went on to praise his nominee for his fiscal conservatism and for "reaching across the aisle to get things done." Gregg will be the third Republican addition to the Cabinet, following Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Gregg served four terms in the House and two as New Hampshire's governor before running for Senate in 1992. He currently sits on the Commerce Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, a point Obama made during his introductory remarks.

Gregg spoke sharply about Obama during the campaign but Tuesday called the president's economic plan "bold and aggressive, comprehensive and effective." As the Commerce Department's "steward," Obama said, Gregg will "defy the winds of this crisis" by guiding his team to rebuild infrastructure, create jobs, promote industry and retain U.S. leadership in science and technology developments.

The nomination of the 61-year-old senior senator comes almost a month after the original nominee, Gov. Bill Richardson (D) of New Mexico, bowed out, citing a pending investigation into his administration's possible involvement with lucrative contracts to a political donor.

The news of Gregg's potential nomination had Democrats exulting over a chance to add another Senate seat to their caucus, giving them a supermajority there if they are officially awarded the disputed Minnesota contest. But Gregg proved unwilling to give up the seat if it would tip the Senate's balance further in the Democrats' favor. "I have made it clear to the Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle and to the governor that I would not leave the Senate if I felt my departure would cause a change in the makeup of the Senate," he said earlier this week.

In his acceptance comments Tuesday, Gregg thanked New Hampshire's Gov. John Lynch (D) for "courtesy and courage in being willing to make this possible" by agreeing to appoint a Republican as Gregg's Senate successor.

Sure of the Senate balance remaining stable, Gregg turned to bipartisanship appeals in his final remarks. "This is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout at each other. This is a time to govern and govern well," he said, accepting the nomination. "It was my obligation to say yes."

Email attachments be dangerous

Some of the characteristics that make email attachments convenient and popular are also the ones that make them a common tool for attackers:

• Email is easily circulated - Forwarding email is so simple that viruses can quickly infect many machines. Most viruses don't even require users to forward the email—they scan a users' computer for email addresses and automatically send the infected message to all of the addresses they find. Attackers take advantage of the reality that most users will automatically trust and open any message that comes from someone they know.


• Email programs try to address all users' needs - Almost any type of file can be attached to an email message, so attackers have more freedom with the types of viruses they can send.


• Email programs offer many "user-friendly" features - Some email programs have the option to automatically download email attachments, which immediately exposes your computer to any viruses within the attachments.

Landmark Completion of South Pole Telescope to Help Scientists Learn What the Universe Is Made of and How it Got Here

Just days before nations around the world were set to begin a coordinated global research campaign called the International Polar Year (IPY); scientists at the South Pole aimed a massive new telescope at Jupiter and successfully collected the instrument's first test observations.

Soon, a far more distant quarry will enter the South Pole telescope's (SPT) sights, as a team of researchers from nine institutions tackles fundamental mysteries of modern cosmology and the nature of the universe: What, for example, is dark energy, the force that dominates the universe?

The $19.2 million telescope is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), with additional support from the Kavli Foundation of Oxnard, Calif., and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation of San Francisco.

"The telescope, camera and optics are all working as designed," said John Carlstrom, the S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, who heads the SPT team that tested the scope on Feb. 26. "SPT's first light is a major milestone for the project and a fitting conclusion to a remarkably productive summer at the South Pole station. We now look forward to fully characterizing the instrument and beginning cosmological observations."

"First light" is the scientific term for the time when a telescope becomes operational.

The telescope stands 75 feet (22.8 meters) tall, measures 33 feet (10 meters) across and weighs 280 tons (254 metric tons). It was assembled in Kilgore, Texas, then taken apart, shipped across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, and flown from there to the South Pole. Since November, the SPT team under the guidance of project manager Steve Padin has worked furiously to reassemble and deploy the telescope.

As with any construction project at the Earth southern extremity, SPT was supported by a long and complex logistical chain stretching around the globe. All cargo to the South Pole is delivered by ski-equipped LC-130 aircraft, and the components must be able to be broken down to fit into the aircraft cargo bay. Flown by the N.Y. Air National Guard, the aircraft are elements of Operation Deep Freeze, the military support arm of the U.S. Antarctic Program, which also includes Air Force cargo jets and U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers, Navy cargo handlers and many other logistical and personnel assets.

Raytheon Polar Services Co, of Centennial, Colo. is NSF's logistics contractor in Antarctica. RPSC personnel played a variety of essential roles in the successful completion of the SPT project, NSF officials noted.

Astrophysicists know that the universe has been expanding since the Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago. In the late 1990s, astronomers using exploding stars as cosmic tape measures discovered that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. This led them to the idea that dark energy pushes the universe apart, overwhelming gravity, the attractive force exerted by all matter in the universe.

"We would like to know what makes the universe evolve," said Stephan Meyer, professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago.

WHITE ASH - Fraxinus americana, Linn

ALMOST EVERY AMERICAN boy knows a great deal about white ash wood. He has felt the familiar "tock" and tingling jolt which accompanies the swinging of the ball bat made from white ash. White ash grows over most of the state on moist, deep, well-drained soils in small isolated stands. Other relatives found in Missouri are blue, green and pumpkin ash.

Winged seeds are borne in clusters on the twig. These are spread by wind or water or a combination of both.Leaves are opposite and compound with 5 to 7 leaflets which are oval and usually smooth-edged.

Smaller branches are stout, round and smooth. At the tip of the twig there are always three buds, the large, brown, pyramidal terminal and two small lateral buds. On older portions of the tree, bark is thick, dark brown, or gray and broken into flat ridges.

Because of its toughness, strength, and flexibility, the wood is used in the manufacture of athletic equipment, machinery, tools and furniture. It is a beautiful, light-colored wood with a distinctive grain.

In Missouri, white ash seldom exceeds 100 feet in height and 2 1/2 feet in diameter. Because it is so hardy and has good form, it has been widely planted as an ornamental tree. It is rarely planted in forest plantations.

Ash is a lover of light, therefore it will not grow rapidly under shaded conditions.

Coating to Keep Apple Slices Crisp, Fresh, Gains Popularity

Sliced applies, protected by an invisible, vitamin- and mineral-based coating, can keep their appealing color and texture for up to 28 days in the refrigerator, home cooks and gourmet chefs alike are discovering. The invisible coating—an easy-to-apply dip—was patented by ARS and co-investigators at Mantrose-Haeuser, Co., Inc., Westport, Conn., several years ago.

Today, marketed as NatureSeal, it's used in homes, school cafeterias, supermarket delicatessens, upscale restaurants and in fast-food restaurants nationwide. Some supermarkets sell packets of NatureSeal for home use. It's also available on the World Wide Web.

Unlike lemon juice—a traditional option for keeping apple slices from turning mushy and brown—the coating doesn't change the crisp texture and natural flavor of freshly sliced apples.

Namibia- Diamonds

Namibia is world-renowned for its gem quality placer diamonds that occur along the Orange River as well as, onshore and offshore along the coastline of Namibia. The Namibian diamonds were originally transported via the Orange River into the Atlantic Ocean and distributed northwards by long-shore currents. Diamonds typically occur as placers within raised and“drowned” beach terraces, gullies in the bedrock, and eluvial deposits in wind corridors within southern Namibia. As onshore diamond reserves are depleted, future diamond production will predominately come from the seabed. Mid-water to deep-water mining operations requires sophisticated marine vessels and crawlers that are capable of retrieving diamondiferous gravels/sands from the seafloor.

The major diamond producing company in Namibia is Namdeb Diamond Corporation (Pty) Ltd, which accounts for an average of 1.6 million carats per annum. Other companies mining diamonds in Namibia include Sakawe Mining Corporation (Samincor) and Diamond Fields Namibia (Pty) Ltd.

Parking Clocks

Charges apply in most of the Council's town and village car parks. In order to help motorists (particularly residents and those who work in our towns/villages) the council operates a clock parking scheme.
Car Park Photo
Car Parks at Ringwood

The display of a correctly set valid clock, will allow motorists to park in the relevant NFDC car parks without incurring a further charge. Motorists who do not wish to purchase a clock can pay at the ticket machine. Holders of the clock are subject to the waiting restrictions which apply in NFDC car parks.Parking is free for those displaying a valid Blue Disabled Parking Badge.

Funds of hedge funds

"Funds of hedge funds," a relatively new type of investment product, are investment companies that invest in hedge funds. Some, but not all, register with the SEC and file semi-annual reports. They often have lower minimum investment thresholds than traditional, unregistered hedge funds and can sell their shares to a larger number of investors. Like hedge funds, funds of hedge funds are not mutual funds. Unlike open-end mutual funds, funds of hedge funds offer very limited rights of redemption. And, unlike ETFs, their shares are not typically listed on an exchange.

FDI measured and compared between countries

There is no one simple method of measuring inward investment, but most methods of measuring it either focus on the number of projects or jobs, or the financial value. Financial measurements are either of stocks or flows.

FDI stocksFDI stocks measure the level of cumulative FDI stock of capital investment by foreign enterprises at a single point of time that takes account of both new investment and disinvestment. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) produces annual statistics of global stock movements in their World Investment Report.

FDI flowsFDI flows are new investments by foreign enterprises made during a period of time – either by calendar or tax year. While much inward investment is included in FDI flow statistics, not all of it will be. For example, if an inward investor decided to expand its facilities in the UK but used local finance, this would not appear in FDI flow statistics as it involves no inflow of
money to the country.

Italian painting of the 16th century

In a brief moment of equilibrium, artists achieved the harmonious balance and elevated conception that is the High Renaissance. In Rome this was shortly replaced by the self-conscious artifice of the style we call mannerism. Venice, on the other hand, produced a succession of artists devoted to color, light, and a more sensual approach to paint.

In the early sixteenth century, the center of patronage in the arts shifted to Rome. Pope Julius II recruited the finest artists of the day for his ambitious building program; Raphael and Michelangelo continued and expanded Leonardo's High Renaissance style, characterized by classical balance, controlled movement, and an elevated conception. Raphael learned from Leonardo that a fully resolved composition was attained only after intensive study of the human figure.

The High Renaissance drew to a close in the 1520s with the death of Raphael and the political and social upheaval following the Sack of Rome. Raphael's gifted Roman pupils dispersed as new ideas were ripening elsewhere in Italy. In Venice, for example, brilliant painters came forward at a phenomenal rate. New subjects for painting were devised: landscapes and cityscapes, still lifes, ecstatic visions of saints, and genre scenes of everyday life. Artists greatly expanded the expressive potential of the relatively new medium of oil paint.

Subsequent generations of artists reassessed the Renaissance norm of superb drawing combined with an idealization of nature, which had been established by Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo. A group of central Italian painters, including Perino del Vaga and Pontormo, devised mannerism, a style of self- consciously elegant poses and markedly unnatural colors. The style of these artists was not fully accepted by Venetian artists, however, who were more interested in effects of color, light, atmosphere, and texture: Titian instilled a new sensuality in his art, while Tintoretto's scenes are boldly sketched and highly dramatic in mood.

Later in the sixteenth century came stylistic developments that are now called the baroque. A family of artists in Bologna, the Carracci, set about reinvigorating the grand tradition of Italian painting. Their efforts to combine central-Italian skill in drawing with the lifelike warmth and coloristic richness of the Venetians led to a new synthesis of nature and the ideal. The revolutionary dramatic naturalism of the short-lived Caravaggio influenced the work of dozens of artists all over Europe.

How the US President is elected

The election to the world's most powerful job isn't based on the popular vote. It's a bit more complicated than in India.

This is how it works:

Basically, the ballots have Obama, McCain's names although elections are also held for the Congress simultaneously sometimes.But votes cast for Obama or McCain don't go to them directly but to the Electoral College which consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President.

At this point it's all or nothing.

The size of the Electoral College is equal to the total membership of both Houses of Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators plus the three electors allocated to Washington, D.C.), totaling 538 electors.

Each state is allocated as many electors as it has Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress. Since the most populous states have the most seats in the House of Representatives, they also have the most electors.

The six states with the most electors are California (55), Texas (34), New York (31), Florida (27), Illinois (21) and Pennsylvania (21).

Ballots have Obama, McCain's names

But votes cast go to the Electoral College

Whoever wins most votes in a state, wins all Electoral votes

Whoever gets 270 Electors (out of 538), wins

Whichever Presidential candidate wins the most votes in a state, wins all the Electoral votes, even if the popular vote was split 51-49 percent.And whoever gets 270 Electors (out of 538), wins the US Presidential election.

Abrams Falls

Although Abrams Falls is only 20 feet high, the large volume of water rushing over falls more than makes up for its lack of height. The long, deep pool at its base is very picturesque. The waterfall and creek are named for Cherokee Chief Abram or Abraham whose village once stood several miles downstream.

The trail to the falls traverses pine-oak forest on the ridges and hemlock and rhododendron forest along the creek. The hike is 5 miles roundtrip and considered moderate in difficulty.Due to strong currents and an undertow, swimming in the pool at the base of the falls is extremely dangerous.

Access trail: Abrams Falls
Trailhead: The turnoff for the trailhead is located past stop #10 on the Cades Cove Loop Road. The turnoff is signed.

Scars

Also called: Cicatrix, Keloid scar
A scar is a permanent patch of skin that grows over a wound. It forms when your body heals itself after a cut, scrape, burn or sore. You can also get scars from surgery that cuts through the skin, from infections like chickenpox, or skin conditions like acne. Scars are often thicker, as well as pinker, redder or shinier, than the rest of your skin.

How your scar looks depends on
* How big and deep your wound is

* Where it is

* How long it takes to heal

* Your age

* Your inherited tendency to scar

Scars usually fade over time but never go away completely. If the way a scar looks bothers you, various treatments might minimize it. These include surgical revision, dermabrasion, laser treatments, injections, chemical peels and cream.

Aggregate fruit

An aggregate fruit, or etaerio, develops from a flower with numerous simple pistils. An example is the raspberry, whose simple fruits are termed drupelets because each is like a small drupe attached to the receptacle. In some bramble fruits (such as blackberry) the receptacle is elongated and part of the ripe fruit, making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory fruit. The strawberry is also an aggregate-accessory fruit, only one in which the seeds are contained in achenes.In all these examples, the fruit develops from a single flower with numerous pistils. Some kinds of aggregate fruits are called berries, yet in the botanical sense they are not.

Candidate John McCain seemed to have it all.

Few in America did not know about his decades of service, his breath-taking heroism as a war hero in Vietnam, his foreign policy expertise and his ability to reach across the Congressional aisle.

Mr McCain's opponent was largely untested, inexperienced and, initially at least, unknown; his race only added to his challenge.

If there is such a thing as a perfect political storm though, John McCain found himself caught in the middle of it. In a leaky boat. With limited fuel.

Hopes dashed

This was another aspect of the McCain strategy that seemed to backfire. Although Mr McCain ran only 10% more purely negative adverts than his rival, according to media monitoring groups, they were more deeply personal attacks - accusing Mr Obama of having a close relationship with a "domestic terrorist", for example.Such ads created a backlash from independent voters, according to the polls, and Mr McCain was forced to change his tone.

In fact, he could never quite find a narrative that worked. He went from being war hero, to the voice of experience, to maverick, to tax-cutter, but he never found a way to lift himself in the polls.His team hoped the three presidential debates would finally reveal their candidate to be best qualified for the job. But in the "town hall" setting Mr McCain favoured, he wandered around the stage and forgot that what may work in a real town hall doesn't necessarily work with a TV audience.In other debates he tried confronting Mr Obama, but was never able to shake the younger man's almost unnatural cool. At times, Mr McCain seemed to be trying to keep a simmering rage under control, which brought more negative coverage.

When the credit crisis erupted and the economy stalled, it seemed a damning indictment of an era of Republican deregulation and "trickle-down" economics.Mr McCain's past quotes about the fundamentals of the economy being strong came back to haunt him. His tax plan - which seemed to favour the wealthy - rang hollow with people facing foreclosure and job losses.His abrupt suspension of his campaign to return to Washington and "fix the problem" seemed erratic and was ultimately ineffectual.In the end, he projected an image as a man from America's past, who had been through much and served his country well.

But in a disgruntled nation, deeply disenchanted with Republicanism, he couldn't match the appeal of his younger opponent and his message of change.

GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based radionavigation system that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis -- freely available to all. For anyone with a GPS receiver, the system will provide location and time. GPS provides accurate location and time information for an unlimited number of people in all weather, day and night, anywhere in the world.

The GPS is made up of three parts: satellites orbiting the Earth; control and monitoring stations on Earth; and the GPS receivers owned by users. GPS satellites broadcast signals from space that are picked up and identified by GPS receivers. Each GPS receiver then provides three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) plus the time.

Individuals may purchase GPS handsets that are readily available through commercial retailers. Equipped with these GPS receivers, users can accurately locate where they are and easily navigate to where they want to go, whether walking, driving, flying, or boating. GPS has become a mainstay of transportation systems worldwide, providing navigation for aviation, ground, and maritime operations. Disaster relief and emergency services depend upon GPS for location and timing capabilities in their life-saving missions. Everyday activities such as banking, mobile phone operations, and even the control of power grids, are facilitated by the accurate timing provided by GPS. Farmers, surveyors, geologists and countless others perform their work more efficiently, safely, economically, and accurately using the free and open GPS signals.

Indian Finance

Finance Department largely performs the function of advising the Government on all financial matters. The formulation of the Budget is one of its most important functions. Finance department is also entrusted with the responsibility of framing rules regulating pay, emoluments and other service conditions of all Government employees. It has administrative control over the departments of Local Fund Audit, Directorates of National Savings, Lotteries, Insurance and Treasuries.

Regulatory Function of the department is the most important. It is the nodal center for monitoring all financial transactions of the Country. It performs all the important function of budget preparation as well as monitoring the receipts and expenditure incurred during the year. Another important task of the department is to monitor the reappropriation of funds. Preparation of Rules relating to financial matters and its interpretation sought by the departments is also an important function.