10 Women Friendly Industries of India

The modern day’s empowered women are on a mission to conquer the world and are giving stiff competition of men in every possible field. But unfortunately, not all the industries are female friendly and offer the same perks for greater work-life balance.

Here is a list of female-friendly industries that offers flexible working hours, good maternity policies, help with child care and most of all, healthy working environment, as listed by Ankita Shreeram on ItsMyascent.

#10. Education:

Teaching is a career that screams out for women’s touch. It is a line of work that is easy to get into and in addition offers utmost flexibility in terms of schedules. The demand for quality education and the subsequent rise in the number of schools and colleges across the world is bound to create new opportunities for women who aspire to utilize their time effectively.

#9. Sports:

Sports may seem like a dubious choice for many, but the fact is that, it is a highly lucrative career option that offers stardom and fame. With the emergence of youth icons such as Mary Kom or Saina Nehwal, and increased backing by Government, a large number of women definitely ought to be encouraged to take up this field as a viable career option.  

#8. Human Resource:

This industry has been traditionally dominated by women. The percentage of men working in this profession is very little, with most of them occupying the top notch positions, while the lower level is predominantly under the control of females.

HR is a profession that craves for the ability to understand the underlying issues, face the challenges, and respond to them rationally, that are traits most women are intrinsically born with. The ability to apply their inherent skills to take tough decisions and manage emotions can be an added bonus for women in this profession.

#7. Food & Hospitality:

This field provides an opportunity to unleash women’s touch and creative potential to the highest degree. It is a good career that offers a high degree of flexibility and autonomy, and in addition, does not require much investment.

Women’s inherent flair to establish constructive relationships with the customers and management capabilities can prove its worth in this line of work. 

#6. Health & Fitness:

This field is in fact the best line of work for the women. Opportunities in this field are plenty, especially in health related sectors such as beauty, physiology or fitness. Kindhearted, intuitive and people centric nature of women can be a big plus in this industry. Though the initial years can be quite challenging, the flexible and accommodative nature of this field makes it an ideal and the most desirable career option for women.

#5. Social Work:

Women are generally caring, loving and compassionate by nature, which makes them a perfect-fit for this profession. Here they get do a lot of service to the humanity, especially the underprivileged.

Over the past decade the number of women in this field has risen drastically and the rise is primarily attributed to the higher intensity of social service needs. This trend towards sharp employment growth is expected to continue in the coming years.

#4. Entrepreneurship:

Presently, an increasing number of women are turning to entrepreneurship in a pursuit for greater flexibility. Artistic entrepreneurship is currently the booming line of work for women that are offering autonomy and good income opportunities.

Women have a greater chance of being successful in this field due to the fact that most women have a strong academic background, tend to be neither pushy nor rude and most of all, have a strong drive for initiating activities.

#3. Fashion and Style:

Fashion and style has always been and shall continue to be the most desirable field for women.

This field demands artistic flair and creativity that comes naturally to most females. This is an ideal option for women, since it is something they generally enjoy and understand to minute details. Flexibility and work-life balance are other perks of this field, which most women are craving for.

#2. Public Relations and Marketing:

This is an ideal profession for women because they have a natural flair for keeping others happy. The work-life balance, huge pay packages and most of the autonomy make this the most sought after field by women in the job market.

#1. Media:

Media is a glamorous and promising field, especially for women. This field demands creativity, intelligence, good communication and most of all, the artistic flair, which most women are inherently born with. Huge pay packages and the added perks are some of the factors that are luring women into this field.

 

7 Innocent Gestures That Can Get You Killed Overseas

 

If you’ve ever had your penis cut off and/or been executed while on holiday, you’ll probably know that it’s easy to offend people from other cultures. Unless you learn the ways of the place you’re visiting, even the most well-meaning tourist can regularly find his oesophagus stuffed with burning goat. But surely just plain common sense and good manners will save you, right?Wrong.

Extend Your Hand, Palm Outward in Greece

What you think you are saying:
“Phew! That was a heck of a moussaka. I’d eat another portion, but I’m completely stuffed.”

What you are actually saying:
“Phew! That was a heck of a moussaka. I’d eat another portion, but I’m too busy rubbing handfuls of shit in your face.”

What the hell?
In Greece, the “hand out” gesture is known as the moutza, and it dates back to the time of the Byzantine Empire, when criminals would be paraded through the streets on horseback, their faces blackened to indicate their shame. If they were lucky, the blackening agent would merely be charcoal. If they were unlucky, it would be a substance much, much worse …

SHIT, is what we’re saying here. Their faces would be covered in SHIT.

If you really want to piss a Greek person off, you can go for the double moutza, which features both hands splayed above your head. However, this will also make you look like a backup dancer from Cats, so it’s your call.

Give the Thumbs-Up In The Middle East

What you think you are saying:
“Ayyyyy! I’m the fuckin’ Fonz!”

What you are actually saying:
“Ayyyyy! I’m going to jam my thumb in your anus!”

What the hell?
It’s not just the Middle East. This seemingly universal gesture is also hideously offensive in West Africa and South America, whose citizens would doubtless get really confused if they ever watched Ebert and Roeper. “This movie is great, Bill! So great that I’d like to anally rape it with my thumb!”

The thumbs-up sign has been confusing people for thousands of years. Contrary to Hollywood legend, Roman gladiators were not spared by a thumbs-up, but by a hidden thumb. If the origins of both gestures are linked, we can only assume this meant, “Do not kill the prisoner, he seems the perfect solution to the emperor’s arthritic finger.”

Finish Your Meal In Thailand / The Philippines / China

What you think you are saying:
“This is a delicious meal. I mean it. I’m not the kind of guy who would lie about something like this. In fact, your meal was so fucking fabulous that I am going to finish every last morsel and then lick the plate so bright that it reveals the face of God.”

What you are actually saying:
“You call yourself a host? I came here for a meal, not some Lilliputian hors d’oeuvre that wouldn’t satisfy a mouse after a sizable brunch. Look at me. No, in the eyes. You disgust me.”

What the hell?
It is always important that the host provides you with tasty food. However, in countries where steak in bleu cheese sauce costs approximately the same as a lung transplant, it is more important that the host provides you with enough food.

In China, if you finish every last bite of your meal, you are implying that you weren’t given enough. Therefore, even if the meal is the most sexually delicious thing that has ever slid down your throat, you should still leave one last morsel on the plate to stare up at you mournfully while you eye it with ill-concealed resentment.

That said, the Orient isn’t as uptight as this example suggests. In China it’s considered perfectly good manners to talk with your mouth full and to burp after your meal. Farting seems to vary according to the situation and your current company, so ask ahead of time. Lighting the fart is frowned upon in almost all provinces.

Say “Hi” to a Member of the Opposite Sex in Saudi Arabia

What you think you are saying:
“Hi Steve! How’s things? Fancy getting a decaf latte?”

What you are actually saying:
“Hi, Steve! How’s things? Fancy booking a hotel room so that I can do immoral sex acts on you in the name of Satan?”

What the hell?
According to sharia religious laws, it is deeply immoral for a woman to greet a man in public, or associate with any man other than her husband without an escort. In February 2008, one American woman openly conversed with a man in Starbucks, and was promptly arrested, strip-searched and forced to sign false confessions.

Though, perhaps this is nitpicking considering women are not allowed to drive, vote, own shops, testify in court or ride bicycles there. Bizarrely, it’s perfectly fine for women to fly high-powered jet planes, although they’re clearly fucked if they feel like taking a bicycle to the airport.

The point being, if you’re a woman and are planning a move to Saudi Arabia, offending them with the whole public greeting thing is probably the least of your problems.

Give an Even Number of Flowers in Russia

What you think you are saying:
“Darling, this week has been the most wonderful of my life. Since I first felt the sweet joy of your caress, I have truly come to know what it is to love and to be loved. Please accept these half-dozen roses as a symbol of my eternal tender devotion.” (Lean forward for kiss.)

What you are actually saying:
DEATH! DEATH! DEEEEEEAAAAAAAATH!!!!!!

(Lean forward for kiss.)

What the hell?
In Russia, even numbers of flowers are only ever given at funerals, and such a gift is seen as inviting death, which you obviously don’t want to do unless you’re banging a goth chick.

Choosing the right gift seems to be a minefield of morbidity everywhere you go. Never give a clock to a Chinese person, as the word “clock” is almost identical to a word for “death.” Don’t wrap your present in white paper there either, as this suggests funerals. And for God’s sake, don’t give anyone in Bangladesh white flowers or they will presumably be obliged to buy a spade and bury themselves while muttering at you reproachfully.

You know what, screw giving a gift. You may come across as a selfish douchebag, but at least no one will hail you as the fourth horseman of the apocalypse.

Give a Gift With Your Left Hand, Pretty Much Anywhere

What you think you are saying:
“Thank you very much for letting me marry your daughter. She is very beautiful. In gratitude, please accept this dainty, yet tuneful instrument. Did I mention that I’m left-handed?”

What you are actually saying:
“Thank you very much for letting me marry your daughter. She is the most worthless heap of dog vomit I have ever encountered, and I dearly wish that she would die. In gratitude, please accept a generous portion of my own effluence. Did I mention that I hate you?”

What the hell?
Toilet paper may have been around in China since 589 AD, but for much of the world, it remains a prohibitively expensive luxury. In places such as India, Sri Lanka, Africa and the whole of the Middle East, doing anything with your left hand is seen as unclean, as it is (as least symbolically) your ass-wiping hand.

Eating out? Don’t even think about using your left hand. It’s better to come across as some kind of retarded monkey child than to imply that you rate your host’s food on the same level as a lightly-steamed assburger.

Of course, poop is not the only reason left-handedness is bad. According to the Qur’an, Satan himself was a southpaw, which is why he was able to successfully fool the right-handed batter that is mankind.

Give the “OK” Sign in Brazil

What you think you are saying:
“Hi Brazil, I’m US President Richard Nixon, and I’m feeling terrific!”

What you are actually saying:
“Hi Brazil, I’m US President Richard Nixon, and I’m feeling that you should all go fuck yourselves!”

(Note: The above examples are only valid if you are US President Richard Nixon)

What the hell?
In Brazil, the “OK” gesture is roughly equivalent to the finger in the US, which means you should not use it when your hotel manager asks you how your room is, unless you want to tell him that it’s purple and velvety and recently molested his wife.

The most famous incident of a misapplied “OK” sign was, in fact, Nixon’s visit to Brazil in the ’50s. While alighting from the aircraft, he lifted both hands to the cameras and double-fingered the entire nation. Nixon went on to greet the Brazilian Prime minister with a savage kick to the testicles, and concluded his visit by urinating from the window of a moving limousine.

If you’re visiting Brazil, you should also never touch any food with your fingers. Even stuff like pizzas and burgers should be eaten with a knife and fork. Not that you’ll ever need to apply this knowledge, because after reading this article, you’d be insane if you ever travel abroad again.

By: Tim Cameron

Facebook can cause frustration: Study

Social networking site Facebook can make you feel envious of your “successful” friends, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction, a new German study has found.

Researchers led by Dr Hanna Krasnova of the Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin surveyed Facebook members regarding their feelings after using the platform.

More than one-third of respondents reported predominantly negative feelings, such as frustration. The researchers identified that envying their “Facebook friends” is the major reason for this result.

Krasnova, explained that, “Although respondents were reluctant to admit feeling envious while on Facebook, they often presumed that envy can be the cause behind the frustration of ‘others’ on this platform – a clear indication that envy is a salient phenomenon in the Facebook context”.

“Indeed, access to copious positive news and the profiles of seemingly successful ‘friends’ fosters social comparison that can readily provoke envy. By and large, on-line social networks allow users unprecedented access to information on relevant others — insights that would be much more difficult to obtain offline,” Krasnova said in a statement.

Those who do not engage in any active, interpersonal communications on social networks and primarily utilise them as sources of information, eg reading friends’ postings, checking news feeds, or browsing through photos, are particularly subject to these painful experiences.

The study also found that about one-fifth of all recent on-line/offline events that had provoked envy among the respondents took place within a Facebook context. This reveals a colossal role of this platform in users’ emotional life.

Paradoxically, envy can frequently lead to users embellishing their Facebook profiles, which, in turn, provokes envy among other users, a phenomenon that the researchers have termed “envy spiral”.

The researchers were also able to establish a negative link between the envy that arises while on Facebook and users’ general life satisfaction. Indeed, passive use of Facebook heightens invidious emotions that, in turn, adversely affect users’ satisfaction with their lives.

“Considering the fact that Facebook use is a worldwide phenomenon and envy is a universal feeling, a lot of people are subject to these painful consequences,” study co-author Helena Wenninger of the TU-Darmstadt said.

Related articles

• How Facebook and Twitter can boost your ego and make you more impulsive in just five minutes (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

Can you ever erase yourself from the internet?

There is no black and white answer concerning consumers’ online privacy.

More and more each day the internet infiltrates commerce and social life and consumers are becoming more aware that their personal information is becoming less and less personal.  Some websites and apps have transparent sharing policies.  Some of them state exactly what information they will use for advertising but others aren’t so clear.

 So what if one day you’re fed up? Tired of the eerie advertisements that seem to cater perfectly to your personal history, hobbies and wants? What if you want to erase your online identity with no strings attached, which brings us to the question: Once your information is on the web, does it ever really go away?

The problem with online privacy

That was the question some of the top names in tech privacy were trying to answer at Churchill Club’s “The Privacy Gap” panel on Wednesday, including Brendon Lynch, chief privacy officer at Microsoft, and Facebook’s former chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly.

“There are still people who don’t know what they’re giving up when they sign up for services,” Lynch said. “They don’t know how much value is being derived from their data.”

The general theme of the talk seemed to center around the fact that in today’s climate, there is no black and white answer concerning consumers’ online privacy. While some panelists called for major innovation in regards to online privacy – World Privacy Forum’s Pam Dixon urged that the industry needs to start looking at “privacy as a feature, not a bug” – some saw privacy as a user problem.

“If I say to a consumer, ‘I am collecting every single piece information about you but I am telling you this up front,’ and you choose to continue to use my app, that is an educated informed choice and consumers have the right to make that choice,” explained Jon Potter, president of the Application Developer’s Alliance.

The general consensus was that online privacy issues are growing and consumers’ tolerance level with companies using their private information is dwindling fast.

Even Facebook was the target of FTC privacy charges back in 2011, accusing the social networking site of deceiving their users by telling them they could keep their Facebook information private, and then allowing it to be shared and made public. They have since reached a settlement, and one of Facebook’s requirements now is to post a clear and prominent sharing notice and have users consent to having their information shared. Judging from Facebook’s over 1 billion users, most people continue to use the site despite knowing that their information is being shared and tracked.

It’s the same story with the thousands of mobile applications and other sites that share your information, essentially making your every online step traceable back to you.

These experts on privacy admit and agree that not only should there be more innovation that closes the rift between consumer privacy and sharing practices, but there also needs to be new technology surrounding deleting your data from the web.

“There needs to be an educated technological discussion about whether it’s possible to erase your data from the Internet, and what does it mean when you no longer use a website and you want to back your data out,” Potter said at the panel.

Tricks to erasing yourself from the Internet

If you don’t want to stick around for more online privacy innovation and want to clear the Internet of your data, you’re out of luck if you want an absolute erase button. For example, even after you delete your Facebook, some of your data traces may still remain, which is explained in their privacy policy.

So what can you do?

• Check out Google’s removal request tool: It allows you to ask Google to remove search results or cached content.
• Deleting accounts: When deleting accounts, you will notice that some sites simply “deactivate” it. A tip for these situations is to delete every bit of your information from these sites, then link the site to a newly-created email address, and then delete that email address (tedious, we know).
• Contact sites directly: You can also contact particular sites and companies that have your personal information and politely ask them to erase it (again, tedious).
• Do not track: AVG security software has developed a tool that allows you to opt out of tracking on most web browsers. This means that browsers like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox won’t be able to track your Internet behavior.
• Keep your identity protected: Remember, if you find false information, or are afraid that your data is being used fraudulently, signing up for an identity theft protection service can help notify you of any fraudulent activity concerning your identity.

If you’d still like to use the Internet while protecting your privacy, you’ll need to keep reading privacy policies and exercising your choice of whether to continue using a website or application knowing their sharing practices.

Until there is more innovation and maybe some uniformity surrounding online privacy, being aware of what you are sharing when signing up for a service is very important, as well as knowing that your personal data is extremely valuable.

The moral of the story? Once you’re on the Internet, it’s very difficult to leave.

Ten world’s most outstanding politicians of 2012

The outgoing year will remain in people’s memory for quite a number of major world events. Elections were held, new leaders were elected in many countries. Syria was the most talked-about country in 2012, so Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can be named the politician of the year. Of course, many other significant events took place in different parts of the world. Pravda.Ru offers its own version of world’s ten most outstanding politicians of the year.

Bashar al-Assad

When Time magazine was choosing its Person of the Year, the editors of the respectable publication clearly underestimated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Despite all efforts of the U.S., EU, Turkey and Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Assad has kept his post. He has turned into nearly the biggest thorn in the eye of Western countries. It seemed that the West sentenced him to resign, but Assad stayed. Rumor has it that Assad is about to receive political shelter in Russia, but he is not going anywhere. The Syrian leader can be considered as a politician of the year just because no other country in the world has received more media coverage than Syria did in 2012. The civil war in the country continues; the number of casualties runs into tens of thousands. The U.S. and the EU, on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other, continue to share different positions as to what to do next with Assad, whether he should resign or it is too early to disregard him. In any case, the Syrian president is not going to leave the scene soon, though the position he is in is extremely difficult.

Barack Obama

It was the U.S. president, whom Time named the Person of the Year. However, Obama has not done much in the international arena. Throughout the whole year, he was preoccupied with his own election campaign, and it was his words, rather than action that attracted attention to his persona. In the end, Obama won the presidential election, beating his rival Mitt Romney by about a million votes. He will continue to rule the country that still remains the most powerful country in the world, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, the United States has to deal with very serious problems. Right before the New Year, Obama was presented with an unpleasant gift – a possibility of the financial cliff. The public debt grows, unemployment does not reduce, social programs are stalled. Enormous defense spending and efforts to maintain dominance in the world affect the state of affairs in the United States. Obama needs to do something about it urgently.

Hu Jintao

For the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, the year 2012 became the tenth and last year that he spent as the leader of the most populous and rapidly developing country in the world. The Congress of the Communist Party of China officially announced in the autumn of 2012 that Hu Jintao would be replaced by Xi Jinping. Hu Jintao has something to be proud of indeed. China has become the second largest economy of the world. The current global crisis has not stopped, but only slowed down the country’s development. As for China’s politics in 2012, one should mention the conflict with Japan over the disputed Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyu, as they are called in Chinese. A real naval battle occurred, when the Japanese guards shot water cannons at Chinese fishermen. China stood up for its people. China with Hu Jintao at the head showed that he was not going to give up.

Francois Hollande

Unlike the United States, the people of France preferred to change their president. In April 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy was replaced by Socialist Party representative, Francois Hollande. He won the election thanks to the votes of immigrants from Asia and Africa, as well as those who were unhappy with cuts in social spending. So far, Hollande had to face a challenge from the radical part of French Muslims after the notorious film “The Innocence of Muslims.” Hollande, like Sarkozy, had to talk about the stability of secular principles of the Republic. Hollande’s promise to legalize gay marriage turned out to be quite a problem for the new French president. It turned out that such a “triumph of democracy” is not really welcome in France. In addition, in European affairs, it is Germany, rather than France, that plays the first fiddle. Hollande has a whole bouquet of problems to deal with. As for economy, France does not seem to have serious problems with it, although it is far from being perfect still.

Hugo Chavez

The furious president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, gives something to remember almost every year. This year, it was his health that got most attention. During 2012, he visited Cuba several times to undergo the course of treatment for cancer. His opponents and some Western media outlets reported that Chavez had little time left. However, the “Furious Hugo” has not left politics in 2012. Quite on the contrary, he continues to struggle for his own life. Venezuela held presidential election in 2012, and Chavez defeated the US-backed rival by about nine percent. However, it seems that it is really hard for the Venezuelan leader to retain power. He has openly named his possible successor and even shared powers with him.

Mohammed Morsi

Egypt’s new president has every right to be on the list of ten most outstanding politicians in 2012. The state of affairs in the land of pharaohs remained quite intense throughout the year. They could not count the votes in the presidential election, before it became clear that Islamist Morsi had not beaten his opponent, who enjoyed the support of anti-clerical and pro-Western part of the Egyptian society. After he won the vote, radical Islamists demanded sphinxes and pyramids in the country should be demolished, because, they say, they did not come along with the precepts of Islam. Morsi could play a major role in Middle Eastern affairs, but his hands were tied. When it came to a referendum on a new constitution, which referred to strengthening the role of Islam, it became clear that many disagreed with the president. The expansion of his powers angered many Egyptians. The year 2013 should give an answer to the question of whether Egypt becomes an Islamist country, or maybe Islamist Morsi is not so black as he is painted.

Kim Jong Un

Objectively speaking, he has not done anything, except for the failed launch of the North Korean satellite. Still, Time named the new North Korean leader the Person of the Year in 2012 in reader voting. However, this 30-year-old politician is the head of the most closed country in the world. This fact already attracts attention to Kim Jong Un. People in different parts of the world wonder whether he begins reforms in the country or continues the traditions of the “communist monarchy.” Kim has not given a precise answer to that yet. Maybe the new year will change something?

Tomislav Nikolic

An important event took place in 2012 in Serbia. A representative of conservative, moderate nationalist forces has become the president on the third attempt. Prior to his victory, Nikolic was beaten by pro-Western Democrat Boris Tadic. The Serbs elected him because he was not ready to give up Kosovo for the EU membership. However, the problem that he has to deal with can hardly be solved. He needs to expand contacts with Russia, return Kosovo and stay friends with the EU. If Nikolic copes with it – he can be considered a wizard of politics.

Charles Taylor

Former Liberian President did nothing in 2012. He could not do anything, since he had spent many years in a cell of the Hague Tribunal. Judges did everything for himself, though. Taylor became the first head of state to be convicted by an international court to 50 years in prison for crimes against humanity. He was found guilty of mass murders, rapes, illegal diamond trade during the war in Liberia’s neighbor – Sierra Leone. Rumor has it that Taylor made his soldiers eat captured enemies during the war in Liberia in 1997-2003.

Viktor Yanukovych

The Ukrainian president takes the last position on our list. In 2012, Ukraine became an object of international attention on a number of occasions. There was heated debate about the law that allowed to grant the regional status to Russian and several other languages. The law was passed, despite desperate resistance from nationalist-oriented “orange” activists. The European Football Championship became an important event in the country. The controversy around Yulia Tymoshenko continued too. Finally, after the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, Yanukovych was able to secure a parliamentary, yet unstable, majority. As for the strategic goal of Ukraine, the president pointed out the signing of the agreement of association with the EU. However, the Europeans, being unhappy with Tymoshenko’s imprisonment, ruined the hope. European leaders gave Yanukovych to understand that Ukraine should not join the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Russia asked Yanukovych to decide whose side he was on. Yanukovych had to balance. It remains unclear how long he will be able to continue the game with Russia and the European Union.

Author : Pavel Chernyshev

 

WikiLeaks to release over a million new docs in 2013 – Assange

Despite all the difficulties the WikiLeaks faced in 2012, Julian Assange vowed to publish some 1,000,000 new documents in the coming year.

In his Christmas speech he called for people to continue fighting for democracy “from Tahrir to London.”

he cyber world is abuzz with speculation about possible topics of an upcoming speech by the WikiLeaks founder. Julian Assange is due to appear on a low-level balcony of London’s Ecuadorian Embassy at 19:00 Thursday to deliver his Christmas speech.

Not much is known about the subject of Assange’s address, but he recently confirmed intentions to run as a candidate for the Australian Senate in 2013.

Speculation is also rife that he will use the occasion to officially launch a WikiLeaks political party.

WikiLeaks’ Twitter has taken on a festive spirit ahead of the Australian’s public appearance, tweeting, “Julian Assange to give Xmas speech at Ecuador Embassy. Bring candles & come enjoy some mulled wine!”