Delights Troop

More Americans are quitting their jobs, suggesting many are growing more confident in the job market. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the number of people who quit their jobs in April jumped 7.2 percent to 2.25 million. That's just below February's level, which was the highest in 4 ½ years. Overall hiring also picked up in April, though not as dramatically. Employers filled 4.4 million jobs in April, a 5 percent increase from March. Hiring fell in March and April's level was below February's. The report offered a reminder that the job market is far from healthy. The number of available jobs fell 3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 3.75 million. Openings had reached a five-year high in February and remain nearly 7 percent higher than a year ago. Still, the growth in hiring and quits provides more evidence of a dynamic job market that is making slow but steady strides. It follows Friday's May employment report, which showed the economy added a n...

Nayanthara just can’t seem to keep herself out of the headlines. The latest headliner is IPL’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) terminating her contract as their brand ambassador. The actress, who is shooting for Kuselan in Hyderabad, said she is yet to recover from the shock. Chennai Super Kings has released a press release saying they have terminated their contract with you as brand ambassador. I am yet to get any official letter about it. I got up in the morning to read about it in the newspapers. But what went wrong? I am shocked. I just can’t figure out what went wrong. I was always willing to sit across the table and discuss things with them, but their decision of dropping me has been hasty and highly unethical. They say you did not turn up for the first match in Chennai to cheer the team? How could I? I was unwell. My doctor had advised me to take complete bed rest after I fainted on the sets because of low BP and sunstroke. Does Mr Gurunath of CSK think media reports about my hea...

Ancient Indian texts and epics are a treasure trove of wisdom on the way we live, how we approach work and life, and the influences that make us uniquely Indian. Sadly, these texts haven’t found much attention as an area of study in context of modern business—how have they moulded the way we run our companies, and manage our teams? Or, shaped our views on profit, branding and leadership? In this special feature story, we’ve attempted to bring together three best-selling authors—Devdutt Pattanaik, Radhakrishnan Pillai and Ashwin Sanghi—each of whom have unlocked the secrets of mythological and historical Indian gems such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Kautilya’s Arthashastra, and revealed them to be prized management handbooks relevant even today. In the course of this story, we’ve discovered fascinating insights into the innate traits and cultural inclinations that have defined business and entrepreneurs in India. Take what Ashwin Sanghi, author of The Krishna Key, and an entreprene...

Lisa Haydon has perfected an easy-going, carefree, bohemian vibe-and it’s infectious! It may have something to do with the fact that she’s currently taking a break from work and relaxing in Goa with her fiancé, music mogul, Karan Bhojwani. Either way, I’m left with a sense of camaraderie with this water-loving, Havaianasobsessed (she owns dozens!), tongue-in-cheek girl, as we erupt into fits of giggles discussing everything summerworthy- from must-visit vacay spots, summer flings and boys, to fashion finds, beauty faves, and how she maintains that flawless, Amazonian body (lucky girl, she eats whatever she wants!) “My whole life has been an ode to escaping normality,” confesses Lisa, and you’ve got to admit she’s done a pretty good job of being extraordinary! Her Summer Wardrobe Essentials "You always need flats for summer. You can get different colours and styles to match everything. Sure, stilettos are fun, but who wants all that baggage when it’s so hot? I’m absolutely in ...

Cinema is colorful yet dark. It appears beautiful yet it is ugly at parts. And it is the one of those field which creates star overnight and brings them down in a blink of an eye without any emotion. Many, who reached to its peak, have fallen down from the top and disappeared without a trace. The success only matters here and once you are on the downfall, the industry hardly comes to your rescue. The struggle, depressions and failures make even a strong-hearted successful man resort to the extreme step. Be it Hollywood's iconic star Marilyn Monroe or our own Silk Smitha, the failure was intolerable leading them to commit suicide. Not all have committed suicide due to their professional failures. There are people, who have taken lives due to their personal issues as if that is the only solution they can think of for their problems. The latest victim is young Jiah Khan, who had earlier worked with AR Murugadoss' Hindi film Ghajini starring Aamir Khan. On this occasion, we would ...

Gauging public opinion is never straightforward. But it's even more difficult in a country racked by sectarian conflict, and haunted by militia death squads. Joe Twyman, who ran polling organisation YouGov's Baghdad bureau, explains. No child grows up dreaming of being a pollster. Those who do grow up to be pollsters rarely aspire to work in Iraq, a place synonymous with conflict, violence and death. However, that is precisely what I ended up doing in 2007, at the height of the sectarian violence with the country edging towards civil war, as director of YouGov's polling operations in Baghdad. Flying into Baghdad for the first time I was certain that I was going to die. There was no anti-aircraft fire, no missile lock, no alarms blaring and no flak. It was just a commercial civilian flight, but the plane was performing a manoeuvre I later discovered was called a "corkscrew landing" - coming into the runway in a rapid spiral to avoid being hit by mortars. The vast ...

For many people writing about India, the common cliches of Delhi belly, lengthy traffic jams, bureaucracy, corruption and yoga retreats are the subjects that fill the column inches. Here are 10 other observations.   1. Hardly anyone pays income tax Only 3% of Indians pay income tax, in a population of 1.2bn. One explanation for this is that agriculture is exempt and two-thirds of Indians live in rural areas. A large chunk of the economy is also informal, unorganised labour, for which it's harder to collect taxes. Many argue that some of the country's financial problems would be solved in one fell swoop, if this massive tax hole could be filled. 2. The rise of the 'wedding detective' A friend of mine told me that, before his arranged marriage, he had a hunch his prospective in-laws had hired a private detective to check whether he'd had a girlfriend in the past. The answer was that he had, but the snoop (thankfully for my friend) failed to find out, and the weddin...

I must say I have really enjoyed this fashion season. I skipped the Wills shows in New Delhi but Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) in Mumbai was fulfilling. For showmanship, it was paisa vasool right from the elegant foreign-return bling of Mumbai’s prodigal son, Naeem Khan (Come on Naeem darling, ghar aaja pardesi, tera des bulaaye, re!) to the OTT dhamaal of Manish Malhotra’s Bollywood brigade (Kajol, Karisma, Hema Malini, Varun Dhawan and Asha Bhosle to top them all, swishing across the ramp to catcalls and whistles). Can any fashion week anywhere else in the world give you so much entertainment, entertainment and entertainment? In terms of a serious fashion progression too, I witnessed enough at LFW and am seeing enough happening elsewhere to make me feel positive about the future of fashion in our country. There are already many young Indian designers like Rahul Mishra who work with textiles meaningfully. What LFW’s textile day did was to highlight some of the others. My f...

China's affluent consumers are increasing their purchases of lower price luxury items, moving away from established brands, Bank Julius Baer said in a report here Tuesday. The Swiss biggest private banking group released its third Julius Baer Wealth Report Tuesday, saying that the Chinese consumers have changed tastes and habits, and luxury becomes a lifestyle instead of a one-off celebration, reported Xinhua. The report expects the next wave of luxury consumption in China is less about famous brands, but a migration towards heritage, underlying quality and understatement. Stefan Hofer, emerging market economist and the lead author of the report, said: "Evidence continues to mount that Asia's growth and wealth creation engine has decoupled from the still-weak mature economies, and China in particular is moving up the value chain." He expects the number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) in Asia will grow from the estimated level of 2.17 million in 2013 to at least...

Eyes may be window to brain health! The width of blood vessels in the retina, located at the back of the eye, may indicate brain health years before the onset of dementia and other deficits, according to a new study. Psychological scientist Idan Shalev of Duke University and colleagues wondered whether intelligence might serve as a marker indicating the health of the brain, and specifically the health of the system of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Shalev and colleagues used digital retinal imaging, a relatively new and noninvasive method, to gain a window onto vascular conditions in the brain by looking at the small blood vessels of the retina, located at the back of the eye. Retinal blood vessels share similar size, structure, and function with blood vessels in the brain and can provide a way of examining brain health in living humans. The researchers examined data from participants taking part in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development S...

Young actress Jiah Khan, also known as Nafisa Khan, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself, with the police claiming she was heartbroken after a failed relationship with Suraj Pancholi, the son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, which possibly drove her to take the step at her home last night. The body of Jiah, 25, was found hanging at her 'Sagar Sangeet' residence in Juhu at around 11 PM where she lived with mother and sister who were not present when she ended her life. Preliminary investigation has revealed that she was in a relationship with Suraj, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab for nearly a year. Jiah was said to be under depression after coming to know of Suraj's new love interest, who supplied jewellery to the Pancholis. Jiah Khan's life in pics Investigators said the actress, who made her dream debut opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma's 2007 film 'Nishabd', prima facie took her life due to her...

Farrokh Khambata is the fouder of Joss, Amadeus and Umame, successful upmarket Mumbai restaurants that have a loyal customer base. In a past life he was an architect, but his passion for food lead him to train in various institutes and restaurants worldwide, and he has never looked back since. Serves: 10 Preparation time: 45 minutes          Ingredients 1.5kg Lamb 500 ml Coconut Milk 50 g Fresh Red Chilies 1 clove Garlic 1 small pc Ginger 1 tsp Coriander Seeds Few stalks of Coriander 1 tbsp Tamarind Pulp 25 g Basil Method 1. Boil the meat and keep the stock aside. 2. For the curry paste, fry roast chilies, garlic and ginger in a pan. Add the rest of the ingredients into the blend and use a mortar and pestle and make a fine paste. 3. Remove coconut milk and keep aside. Puree the basil. 4. In a flat-bottomed vessel heat some oil. Add curry leaves and then add the paste. Fry the paste over low heat and add the coconut cream, lamb stock, bas...

The CBI, probing the 2004 fake encounter case of Isharat Jahan and three others, on Tuesday arrested suspended IPS officer D G Vanzara from Sabarmati Central Jail. The arrest was made after permission granted by a special CBI court earlier in the day, sources said. He was already behind bars as an accused in the fake encounter cases of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsi Prajapati. He is likely to be produced before the court on Wednesday when CBI would seek his custody for further interrogation. Vanzara was brought to Sabarmati Central jail on Monday from a Mumbai [ Images ] jail. The Mumbai court had on Monday issued orders to shift Vanzara to Ahmedabad [ Images ] jail following the order of the city CBI court to grant his custody to the investigating agency in the Ishrat Jahan case. Earlier today, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of the CBI court granted permission for his arrest on an application filed by investigating officer of the case and CBI DySP G Kalaimani. Vanzara, as per CBI ...

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow was recently crowned 2013’s Most Beautiful Woman in the World, by a magazine. Mother of two, the A-list Hollywood actor was officially honored for her beauty by the magazine in their annual list. The actor is married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and has two children, Apple, 8, and Moses, 7. Recently, she has started focusing on healthy diet and lifestyle and has even authored two cook books. However, since beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, we asked Femina readers who according to them is the most beautiful woman. Here’s what they had to say.    Steffi Graf For me, Steffi Graf is the most beautiful woman alive. She’s sexy in a sporty way and has an athletic body. She can look sporty and athletic, or graceful and elegant, when she chooses to. Her smile is the best thing about her—it lights up her face. Nidhi Manek, 30, homemaker Kate Winslet Since the time I watched Titanic, I have been a fan of Kate Winslet. She is undoubtedly the most b...

Just like being in love can be a heady feeling, there is a certain calmness and sense of clarity for those who fall out of love. Yes, you heard it right. For many there comes a point in life when throwing away those rose tinted glasses can be something that was much required. Here are three women who confess to have fallen out of love. “It shouldn’t have happened” For 26-year-old Binita Grover, it was the classic case of office romance when she fell in love with Vijay (name changed) who was her senior. “It was very exciting as we used to work together and shared meals. But within one year of our relationship, I came to know that Vijay was married. Initially he spoke of divorcing his wife and all but over time he started telling me of his conservative family and what they expected out of his wife and so on. Those things started really putting me off and I realised that all those things that attracted me to him in the first place was just infatuation or love euphoria. After three years ...

The part Turkish, part Iranian, part Indian Mandana Karimi will be soon be seen in the Vikram Bhatt-directed Bhaag Johnny. The tall, brown-eyed Karimi talks to us about poetry, watches and food. When we heard you were from Iran, we instantly thought of Ferdowsi. We think his Shahnameh was as excellent piece of work as ever to come out of Iran. Are you into poetry as well? I love Ferdowsi, but there are others that you should read. People like Ahmad Shamlou and Sadi. And Hafiz, too. Hafiz… he was good, eh? Can you recite a couplet or two from one of his poems? You have to read them in Farsi, but wait, let me try to translate a couple of lines from one of his poems. This is from Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved, a collection of some 100 poems by Hafiz: Come and set my boat free on sail in the winerivers! Come and burn the guru and the youth inheavenly fires! Oh wine-bearer! In wine, let my boat sail away As, “in water set free your goodness”, they say. In mistake, I turned away from...

Bollywood actress Jiah Khan has allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence here, police said. The 25-year old actress reportedly hanged herself at her Juhu residence late last night. According to the police her maid, watchman and neighbours are being interrogated to find out her last visitors.     Jiah made her acting debut in the controversial Ram Gopal Varma's 'Nishabd' where she acted opposite Amitabh Bachchan. Upon its release in March 2007, the film received mixed reviews, but Jiah was noted for her confidence, attitude, and sex appeal. She also got a Filmfare Best Debutant Nomination. She then appeared alongside Aamir Khan in A R Murugadoss's 'Ghajini', the Hindi remake of the director's own Tamil film of the same name. Later she appeared as a supporting actress in Sajid Khan's multi starrer comedy film 'Housefull' (2010). This was her last film.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday received the prestigious ICC ODI Championship Shield and a cheque of $175,000 for leading his side to the top of the ICC ODI Championship table on the annual April 1 cut-off date. This is the first time since the current ranking system was introduced in 2002 that India finished as the No. 1 ranked one-day international (ODI) side. David Morgan, former president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), presented the Shield to Dhoni, who also collected the cheque, after India's training session at the Cardiff Wales Stadium. "I am very proud of this huge achievement, as being No. 1 is a reward for all of us but hopefully it is just the beginning. Being No. 1 in the world brings with it a certain respect for the game itself and for the way in which we play the game and conduct ourselves on the field," said Dhoni. "You have to be consistent to be ranked No. 1 and I think we have reached that level of consisten...