Heroes like this:
Owners like this:
Paramedics like this:
Tips like this:
Professors like this:
Families like this:
Animal lovers like this:
Source….www.stumbleupon.com
Natarajan
Earth
These 16 companies control almost everything you buy….
Powerful companies create brands and products that we might not know are theirs.
Companies’ signature brands add to their annual revenues and provide an edge to competition.
To determine how powerful each company is, we factored together fiscal 2014 revenue, the number of employees, and press mentions on Google News over the past year.
Here is a list of retail companies that own brands and products that we use every day.
Procter and Gamble
2014 revenue: $83 billion
Number of employees: 118,000
P&G is the global leader in consumer goods with an unparalleled production scale and international reach. Some of the top P&G brands are everyday household items such as Tide, Swiffer, Crest, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, Herbal Essences, Old Spice, Vicks, Gillette, and Head and Shoulders.
CVS
2014 revenue: $139.38 billion
Number of employees: 200,000
More people than ever pick CVS as their go-to spot for filling prescriptions, making it the biggest retailer of prescription drugs in the US. CVS, headquartered in Rhode Island, will purchase Target’s pharmacy and clinics businesses for about $1.9 billion, adding almost 2,000 pharmacies to its business.
eBay
2014 revenue: $17.9 billion
Number of employees: 34,600
In its 20th year of operation, eBay has a huge command over online shoppers spanning 203 markets worldwide. While it previously ran PayPal, it continues to run the online-ticketing-company StubHub.
Costco
2014 revenue: $110.2 billion
Number of employees: 195,000
Costco, which sells in bulk for lower prices, consistently outperforms competitors Walmart and Target. Costco’s Kirkland signature collection includes food, clothes, and household supplies. It’s more than just home goods and food — it’s also a growing force in car sales.
Starbucks
2014 revenue: $16.4 billion
Number of employees: 191,000
While some of its stores are also rolling out beer, wine, and gourmet-food options, Starbucks is the fifth-most-admired brand in the world, according to Fortune. With 22,000 retail stores in 66 countries, the Seattle-based coffee retailer spent most of 2014 dedicated to going green and launching plans to send its employees to college and hire more of America’s military families and veterans.
Nike
2014 revenue: $27.7 billion
Number of employees: 56,500
Selling sneakers, fitness tech, athletic clothing, and outdoor wear, Nike is predicted to outperform the industry for the next five years. Athletic gear is becoming a mainstream clothing staple — whether you actually work out or not — and no one does it better than Nike.
Kroger
2014 revenue: $108.56 billion
Number of employees: 400,000
Kroger is the largest supermarket chain by revenue in America. It operates more than 2,500 stores under some two dozen different banners. In addition to Kroger Stores, its groceries include Cala Foods, City Markets, Dillons, Foods Co, Fred Meyer Stores, Fry’s, King Soopers, Quality Food Centers (aka QFC), Ralphs, Food 4 Less, and Smith’s Food and Drug. It also owns Barclay, Fox’s, Fred Meyer, and Littman jewelers and the Kwik Shop, Loaf ‘N Jug, and Quik Stop convenience stores.
Coca-Cola
2014 revenue: $45.99 billion
Number of employees: 129,200
Chances are, you’ve consumed at least one of the 657 billion Coca-Cola products purchased annually. Powerade, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Vitamin Water, Odwalla, Smart Water, Simply Orange, Fresca, Dasani, Fuzi, Ciel, and Burn are all brands from Coca-Cola.
Disney
2014 revenue: $48.8 billion
Number of employees: 180,000
The Disney name is everywhere: toys, movies, television, apparel, and theme parks. Its last major movie release, “Inside Out,” brought in $7.4 billion worldwide at the box office, and the much-anticipated “Star Wars” sequel debuts in December.
McDonald’s
2014 revenue: $27.4 billion
Number of employees: 420,000
With 36,258 chains worldwide, McDonald’s food options are adapting to consumer trends in favor of fast casual by rolling out all-day breakfast and revamping some of its stores to launch the “create your own” gourmet-burger option.
McDonald’s lists eight countries, including China and Russia, as high-growth markets — aka locations with high expansion and franchising potential, which is important since a large majority of McDonald’s restaurants (about 80% by the end of 2014) operate as franchises.
PepsiCo
2014 revenue: $66.7 billion
Number of employees: 271,000
As America’s leading beverage producer, PepsiCo owns 22 of the most well-known food and drink brands in the world, including Gatorade, Frito-Lay, Tropicana, 7-Up, Doritos, Cheetos, Quaker, Lipton, Ruffles, Tostitos, Aquafina, Brisk, Fritos, and Starbucks ready-to-drink beverages.
Johnson and Johnson
2014 revenue: $74.33 billion
Number of employees: 126,500
Johnson and Johnson, a healthcare company, manufactures everyday-use, in-home products such as Neutrogena, Rogaine, Aveeno, Band-Aid, Neosporin, Bengay, Listerine, Splenda, Lactaid, and Visine.
Apple
2014 revenue: $182.9 billion
Number of employees: 92,600
Apple is the world’s most valuable brand, according to Forbes. Its products and services include the iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Apple Music, and iCloud. It sells its products worldwide through its retail stores, online stores, and direct-sales force and third-party cellular-network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers to the consumer.
Amazon
2014 revenue: $88.99 billion
Number of employees: 154,100
As the largest ecommerce site in the country, Amazon recently surpassed Walmart as the most valuable retailer in America in terms of market capitalization. Amazon currently owns over 40 subsidiaries, including Zappos, IMDb, GoodReads, AbeBooks, Book Depository, Create Space, and Audible. It also has a huge consumer-electronics market by including an e-reader and tablet and launched Amazon Instant Video, which has produced an award-winning original television series, “Transparent.”
Target
2014 revenue: $72.61 billion
Number of employees: 347,000
Target owns a number of exclusive food, clothing, and supply brands, including, Archer Farms, Market Pantry, Champion, Cherokee, Circo, Up&Up, Xhilaration, Merona, Mossimo, Room Essentials, Gillian & O’Malley, and Threshold.
Walmart
2014 revenue: $485.62 billion
Number of employees: 2.2 million
With 11,500 stores in 28 countries, Walmart’s scope is undeniable. Walmart is also the single-largest employer in America and announced earlier this year that it’s raising wages for 500,000 of its 1.4 million US workers. The company sits at No. 1 on the Fortune 500. Walmart brands include Equate, Ol’Roy, Dr. Thunder, Special Kitty, Price First, Play Day, Mainstays, and Sam’s Choice.
Source…..Marina Nazario in http://www.businessinsider.com.au
Natarajan
Message for the Day…” When Ego Fades away, Knowledge Shines as Wisdom…”
Jnana Yajna is specially recommended by scriptures for all. Jnana does not simply mean knowledge gained from scholars and books, but actually conducting in accordance with that knowledge. Knowledge can never ripen into wisdom so long as the ego persists in craving for results to satisfy its desires. When ego fades away, knowledge shines as Wisdom. When yajnas are performed solely for the peace and prosperity of the world (Loka-Kalyan), they reach God. Jnana reveals that in every sacrifice, God is the Prompter, the Promoter, the Sacrificer, the Sacrifice, the Product achieved and the Recipient of the product. God is the consumer of every sacred offering (Yajnabhuk); He is guardian of the yajna (Yajna-bhrith) and its performer (Yajna krith). He is all; it is only when He is all that the act becomes a genuine yajna. If this attitude can soak into every activity, it will sanctify every moment of your life and make it a yajna.
Great Life Advice From Mark Twain….
| Mark Twain is considered by many to be one of the greatest American authors in history. He wasn’t only a writer though, he was also a source of constant inspiration, a fountain of memorable quotes and a man with an incredible intellect. So when we say we have some words of advice for you from the mouth of Mark Twain, there is a very good reason to listen!
1. Age is in your mind more than anywhere else.
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
With this clever play on words, Twain is telling us age doesn’t matter as long as you don’t give it significance. It means that a young soul can dwell in an old body and all the limitations we put on age, other than those physical ones, are actually in our head.
This advice isn’t just about age, it’s also about self-confidence. When we believe we have a problem, we transmit that to the people around us and so bring it to pass. People can feel the lack of self-confidence in others and they will treat you as you treat yourself. So, once you make that mental ‘switch’, the enviornment will too.
2. Humor is one of the most important things.
“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”
“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”
The simple act of laughing and responding to humor is one of the greatest experiences of the human condition. Life is nothing without laughter, just a sad shell, and although there are pleasures in life that have nothing to do with humor, they are always improved upon and made more palatable with a good side dish of laughter. Humor helps almost all situations and using it will draw people to you faster than anything else you may do.
3.Anger will hurt you more than help you.
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
Anger is an inescapable human emotion; we all get mad once in a while. But there are ways to control out anger, and not let it control us. Just like laughter is transient in nature, so should anger be. A joke will make you laugh again and again if you think about it over and over, and anger is no exception, the more you think about it, the angrier you’ll become. So, when you are angry at something or someone, it’s important you let it die out naturally; don’t continue to feed it. Think of other things and apply your cognitive resources at things that make you happy.
4. The world doesn’t owe you, you owe yourselves.
“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
The feeling of being owed something by the world is common in this generation. We all feel entitled to something, whether it’s a steady job, money, happiness etc. But these feelings usually lead only to frustration, bitterness, anger and resentment. Let go of these expectations from yourselves and from the world, and you’ll see that everything becomes a bit easier. You do deserve the best, but you’ll need to go and get it for yourselves.
5. Having a new idea is not a crime.
“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”
When you see things differently than other people, expect mixed reactions. Some will support you, others ignore you, while still others will try to bring you down. Most people tend to hold on to their preconceived notions for dear life, and will even act aggressively or negatively when these are threatened by an opposing opinion. But remember, all great discoveries were once such novel ideas, and many of them carried negative reactions. You should say what you believe and act upon it, don’t let anyone tell you your ideas are ‘too weird’. After all, human flight used to be such a novel and strange idea.
6. Don’t let your thoughts dwell on the negative.
“Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.”
You must watch your thoughts, because it is so easy to get into a habit of thinking negatively, turning our worries and troubles over and over in our head, until they seem as big as mountains and as dark as the night. Thinking positively is one of the best gifts you can give yourselves, and will ultimately lead to you doing everything a little better, with people reacting much better to your attitude. In the end, life is made up of ‘tasks’ we must accomplish, some small, some big and difficult. Try to look at any ‘difficult’ task as a challenge and as an opportunity to learn something about yourselves.
7. Instead of worrying about yourself, worry about others and help yourself.
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
There is something magical about making someone else smile or getting them out of a tough situation. Helping others not only makes us better people and buys us goodwill from those around us, it also makes our own problems seem smaller because we’re not preoccupied with them 24/7. If you help others without thinking, just jumping in and helping out, you’ll be the one who ends up with a smile on your face.
8. Try everything, regret nothing.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
A beautiful quote by Mark Twain and one that is full of truth. It’s always easier to delay things we want to do. After all, life usually gets in the way and we tell ourselves ‘well, we’ll try it later’. But as we get older, those opportunities become more and more rare, and the things we end up regretting the most are the things we simply never tried to do.
Failure shouldn’t scare us, it’s a part of life. What is scarier is having opportunities and never acting on them. So when you think you want to do something – do it. Failure may happen, but at least you’ll know the answer to the question: “What if?”.
Source….www.ba-bamail.com
Natarajan
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Scott Kelly Becomes U.S. Astronaut to Spend the Most Time in Space…
Just before the 15th anniversary of continuous human presence on the International Space Station on Nov. 2, 2015, U.S. astronaut and commander of the current Expedition 45 crew, Scott Kelly, is breaking spaceflight records. On Friday, Oct. 16, Kelly begins his 383rd day living in space, surpassing U.S. astronaut Mike Fincke’s record of 382 cumulative days. Kelly will break another record Oct. 29 on his 216th consecutive day in space, when he will surpass astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria’s record for the single-longest spaceflight by an American. Lopez-Alegria spent 215 days in space as commander of the Expedition 14 crew in 2006.
In this July 12 photograph, Kelly is seen inside the Cupola, a special module which provides a 360-degree viewing of the Earth and the space station. On each additional day he spends in orbit as part of his one-year mission, Kelly will add to his record and to our understanding of the effects of long-duration spaceflight.
Kelly is scheduled to return to Earth on March 3, 2016, by which time he will have compiled 522 total days living in space during four missions.
Image Credit: NASA
Source….www.nasa.gov
Natarajan
Meet the Hindu who lets Muslims use his shop as a mosque, for free….
‘Kalesaab could have easily earned Rs 1 lakh per month as rent from this place but he gave it to Muslims for free. Secularism in India is alive only because of people like him.’
Image: Deepak Kale. Photograph: Afsar Dayatar.
Bajrang Bali housing society is a rather unusual name for a building that houses a mosque but in a part of Dharavi, known the world over as Asia’s largest slum, that’s where for the last six months the Muslim community has found a temporary prayer area.
All thanks to Deepak Kale, a leather shop owner who owns the property.
When Muslims of Mukund nagar in Dharavi, Sion, in Central Mumbai, were wondering where to hold prayers after their mosque underwent repairs, they turned to Kale.
Kale not only agreed to give them his 2,500 square feet shop on the ground floor of Bajrang Bali housing society for prayers, but also decided to not take any rent from them till the time their mosque is rebuilt.
“Some masjid trustees came to me to ask for my place. I have known these people since my childhood so I gave it them for offering namaaz. Khurshidbhai, who is a masjid trustee, is my childhood friend, I have spent my life with him.
“I didn’t want to take any rent from them because I bought this commercial space in order to sell it, and I had told them that the day I get a customer I will sell it after giving them two months’ notice,” said Kale.
A hundred metres from Bajrang Bali is the Noor Masjid Madarsa Faizaul Quran, the original mosque, where repair work is going on in full swing, with Muslim artisans trying their best to complete the work in two months time.
“In our country we need to respect each other’s faith. Muslims must respect the Hindu faith and vice versa,” adds Kale.
What has surprised Kale and Muslims of the locality is the publicity his simple gesture has received.
“We have been praying at Kalesaab’s place for the last six months. For us it was no news but after one Urdu paper published a report on this, all media people are writing about it,” says Tanvir Azmi, a businessman and resident of Mukund Nagar. “More than 90 percent of Hindus in India are like Kalesaab. He could have easily earned Rs 1 lakh per month as rent from this place but he gave it to Muslims for free. Secularism in India is only alive because of people like him.”
The locality has an equal number of Muslim and Hindu residents. On the left of Bajrang Bali building live the Hindus, while Muslims live on its right. So one side of the road sports green flags, while the other side sports saffron flags.
But not everything is as peaceful as it appears. Three lanes away, a small mob of 200 Hindus and Muslims was ready to take on each other last week over the issue of flying flags but a timely intervention by community elders defused the crisis.
“In a place where small riots break out over minor issues, it is a very big thing that Kalesaab has done. He is a prime example of what Indian secularism is all about,” says Atiullah Choudhary, a businessman who prays regularly at Bajrang Bali society.
Another friend of Kale, Naeem Shaikh, pitches in, “After seeing Kalesaab, I realised one has to work on secularism daily to build bridges between Hindus and Muslims. It is a daily effort. You cannot just say that you are secular and relax in a chair. You have to work for it in society. One mistake we Indians do is that we take secularism for granted, and that must not be done.”
Dharavi witnessed one of the most horrifying riots in Mumbai in 1992-93 and Kale had then taken an active part in saving a lot of Muslim lives.
“I housed around 200 Muslims safely in my leather shop during the 1993 riots. They left only after the situation normalised,” says Kale.
Asked what in his opinion was the one reason that caused riots, Kale says without blinking, “Rumours. There are some people in all communities — be it Hindus, Muslims or Christians — who do not want everyone to live peacefully. They are always up to some mischief and so I feel the government must bring in a law to stop people from spreading false rumours. Till that does not happen, riots will never stop.”
He has a recipe to save secularism, too. “I tell people to keep quiet and work for peace all the time. I feel if my lane is not harmed by communalism, then the country will take care of itself. If my lane is facing communal problems, what can I say about my country? So first keep communal peace in your own lane, and the country will follow suit.”
Syed Firdaus Ashraf / Rediff.com in Mumbai
natarajan
சாண வறட்டி விற்பனை: ‘ஆன்லைனில்’ அமோகம்!
நம் கிராமங்களில் பயன்பாட்டில் இருந்து, மறைந்து போன சாண வறட்டிக்கு, வெளிநாடுகளில் அமோக வரவேற்பு கிடைத்துஉள்ளது. ‘ஆன்லைன்’ விற்பனையிலும் கொடி கட்டிப் பறக்கிறது.
இந்தியாவில், அடுப்பு எரிக்க விறகுக்கு அடுத்தபடியாக, மாட்டுச் சாணத்தில் தயாரான வறட்டிகள், அதிக அளவில் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டன. வீட்டில் மாடு வளர்க்காதவர்கள், அவற்றை விலைக்கு வாங்கி பயன்படுத்தி வந்தனர்.ஆனால், காஸ் சிலிண்டர் அறிமுகமான பிறகு, வறட்டியின் பயன்பாடு, படிப்படியாக குறைந்து, இப்போது மறைந்தே போய் விட்டது. யாகங்கள், ஹோமங்களுக்கு மட்டுமே இப்போது வறட்டிகள் பயன்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன.அதேபோல், வெளிநாடுகளில் வாழும் இந்தியர்கள் இப்போது, வறட்டி பயன்படுத்த துவங்கியுள்ளனர். ஆன்லைன் மூலம் வறட்டி வாங்கி உபயோகிக்கின்றனர்.
வெளிநாடுகளில் வசித்தாலும், மரபுகளை பின்பற்றிவரும் பலர், பூஜை, ஹோமம் போன்றவற்றை நடத்துகின்றனர். அவர்களின் தேவையை உணர்ந்த, ஆன்லைன் வர்த்தக இணைய தளங்கள் சில, வறட்டிகளை விற்பனை செய்ய துவங்கியுள்ளன.இதை பார்த்த நமது ஊர் மக்களும், ஆன்லைனில் வறட்டிகளை ஆர்டர் செய்யத் துவங்கியுள்ளனர். நான்கு வறட்டிகள், 40 ரூபாய்க்கு விற்கப்டுகின்றன. இதை, ஏராளமானோர் விரும்பி வாங்குகின்றனர்.
அமெரிக்காவில் இருந்து இயங்கும், ‘அமேசான்.காம்’ வர்த்தக இணைய தளம், இதை வெளிநாட்டில் சப்ளை செய்யும் நிறுவனங்களில் ஒன்றாக திகழ்கிறது.இதைப் பார்த்து, இந்திய இணைய தளங்களும், வறட்டி விற்பனையில் களம் இறங்கியுள்ளது. cowdungcake sale
என்று, டைப் செய்து, இணையத்தில் தேடினால், விற்பனை செய்யும் இணைய தளங்களை கண்டறிந்து, வறட்டிகளை வாங்கலாம்.
Source….www.dinamalar.com
natarajan
Which Animals live on Glaciers….?
Icy glaciers and perennial snow patches provide a home or resting place for 19 species of birds and 16 species of mammals – 17, if humans are included.
This article is republished with permission from GlacierHub. This post was written by Ben Orlove.
An article in the Journal of Biogeography on September 25, 2015 provides the first systematic review of birds and mammals which include glaciers (and perennial snow patches) as part of their regular habitats.
The author, Jørgen Rosvold of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, documents the great importance of these cold frozen environments for a number of warm-blooded active species, which are known as chionophiles (snow-loving organisms).
In total, glaciers and perennial snow patches are frequented by 19 bird species and 16 mammalian species—or 17, if humans are included.
It’s not surprising that other vertebrate groups, such as reptiles and amphibians, are absent from glaciers, since they’re cold-blooded and could not survive long exposure to such low temperatures.
The most common order of birds in these habitats is the passerines, or songbirds. However, other groups are represented. The golden eagle is a member of the falcon order, and the common raven, like crows, jays and their relatives, is a corvid. Several species of ptarmigan represent the gallinaceous birds, a group which includes chickens, turkeys, partridges, pheasants, quail and grouse.
The avian behavior most often recorded on glaciers is obtaining food—insects and worms in the case of smaller birds, other birds and mammals for the golden eagle.
One bird species, the white-winged diuca finch, constructs its nest on the surface of glaciers in the Andes; it has been systematically studied on Quelccaya Glacier in Peru.
The mammals are more diverse, both in terms of taxonomy and behavior. Most common are the ungulates such as bison, musk ox, elk, reindeer, mountain goat, ibex, chamois and bighorn sheep, who come for relief from the heat; as large animals covered with fur and hair, they have difficulty cooling off during hot periods, and either lie directly on the ice, or rest in the cold air that drains off glaciers.
A much smaller mammal, the pica (a lagomorph, or relative of rabbits and hares), also uses glaciers for this purpose. They have also been observed to drink water on glacier surfaces.
Elk calves and bighorn lambs play on the open surfaces of glaciers and snow patches.
The carnivores — bears, snow leopards and wolverines — travel across glaciers and snow patches, perhaps to avoid leaving a scent.
Wolverines have also been seen caching their prey on glaciers; the author suggests that this behavior may provide lactating females with critical components of their diet during the period when they are nursing their cubs.
This article rests largely on the direct observations of field biologists. In the future, this valuable, though time-consuming, research method may be complemented by the use of radio collars to track animal movements.
However, the opportunities for such research are become scarcer, as glaciers world-wide are shrinking. These organisms which rely on ice, snow and cold temperatures will find their ranges reduced, and some may be threatened with extinction.
In the meantime, Rosvold’s website, Frozen Fauna, provides a variety of information about the mammals and birds which inhabit, or at least regularly visit, glaciers, as well as about thearchaeology of the hunters and herders who have also inhabited these zones for many centuries.
Source….www.earthsky.org
Natarajan
Message for the Day…”Repeating God’s Name ,Meditation,fasts, Worship at dawn and dusk are certain good ways to control and train our Senses…”
Normally people are drawn to sense objects, for they are victims of instincts. Instincts easily seek sense objects – they come along with the body and aren’t derived by any training. The infant seeks milk from the mother’s breast, and the newborn calf naturally nestles at the udder. However for the infant to walk and talk, some training is necessary, because these actions are either socially prompted or learnt by example or picked up by imitation of others. Training is essential even for the proper pursuit of sense pleasure, for wild untrained search for such pleasure promotes anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit. Hence to train the senses along salutary lines and to hold them under control, certain good disciplines like repeating Lord’s Name (japa),meditation (dhyana), fasts (upavasa), worship at dawn and dusk, etc. are essential. Though sense pleasures are ‘natural’ at first, by constant practice, training and listening to the wise, slowly the greater and everlasting bliss derived by divine adoration is grasped.
” Super Baby Days…” !!!
Babies are cute and adorable, but also bizarrely strong and capable of doing some extraordinary things. For instance, did you know how amazingly strong you were for your tiny size? Or how you could control your breathing? Or that you had a mustache for a while? Here is a collection of curiosities you didn’t know about your earliest, simplest, and cheekiest times – your super baby days.
Source….www.ba-bamail.com
Natarajan
Take off with Natarajan 