According to few oil analysts the Gulf countries are not immune to the overall problems in financial system. If they get below $60 a barrel, some of these countries will suffer. This is evident to an extent when the benchmark indexes in Qatar and Oman fell more than 8 percent Sunday. Kuwait stocks fell 4.4 percent and Saudi Arabia’s main index, which fell 8.7 percent Saturday, fell an additional 1.7 percent Sunday.

Stocks in the Gulf region are off about 40 percent so far this year, in line with the decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index on Wall Street and the 45 percent decline in the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 600 index.

On Saturday, finance ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council and central bankers met in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, to discuss a more coordinated response to the crisis. In their communiqué, officials “underlined their confidence in the stability of the monetary system in their countries,” and said their economies should continue to grow.

But they also expressed concern that the downturn in the world economy would hit home. “We should all work to avoid the negative effects and reduce their impact on our economies by coordinating policies and measures,” the Saudi finance minister, Ibrahim al-Assaf, told the Saudi Press Agency. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council includes Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and United Arab Emirates.

Globally, banks have posted losses and write-downs totaling $681 billion since the start of the credit crisis, according to Bloomberg News. But so far the damage has been limited in the Middle East. Any big ratcheting up of losses in the region could require governments to bail out their own lenders and dash hopes that sovereign wealth funds from the region would be able to help rescue troubled institutions in the West. Gulf Bank’s chief executive, Louis Myers, said the loss would have “no major effects on the soundness of the bank’s financial position, and will not affect its ability to continue business.”

KPMG International, the accounting firm, warned last week that financial fraud in the region could run into the billions of dollars a year. Colin Lobo, a KPMG partner said the financial crisis was creating an environment “where the risk of fraud will increase as businesses come under pressure to show results. Likewise, individuals will also be tempted where costs are rising and income levels are flat.”

One of the most powerful women in Chinese history was Cixi. She controlled China for more than 40 years in the late 1800s.Cixi was so ruthless, heartless, cruel and greedy tyrant that people called her the Dragon Lady. In western countries such as Great Britain and the Unites states, Cixi was also known as the Empress Dowager. But in reality she wasn’t an empress; she was the mother of the emperor’s only son. After her husband’s death , she raised her son to rule China. She still had power when her son was old enough to rule but himself. After his death, the Dragon lady made sure her 4yr old nephew becomes the nest emperor, which was against the law but she helped him too.

She lived in a group of palace buildings called theForbidden City, within the city of Beijing. Only the servants who lived in the palace saw Cixi. She used to speak to all her visitors from a large red throne shaped like a dragon that was hidden behind a silk screen. Her every order ended with “Hear and obey”. (Source: encyclopedia).In 1908, when this Dragon Lady was dying, she had her nephew, the emperor poisoned. She wanted to make sure that he died first and thus would never rule without her.

The lady ruled China for many decades. The nation was fairly stable under her influence, but the government was dishonest and didn’t take steps in favor of the people and their benefits. Empress Dowager Cixi was largely conservative and represented the conservative political faction at court. The interesting and strange fact about the Dragon lady was she used to wear gold shields on her very long fingernails to keep them from breaking. Moreover, the name by which she is most frequently known is simply Cixi, which is neither her birth name nor family name. It is an honorific name given to her in 1861 after her son ascended the throne. Empress Dowager Cixi’s name at birth is not known, although a recent book published by one of Cixi’s brother’s descendants seems to suggest that it was Xingzhen. (Source: Wikipedia).All writings show that she was certainly a bright, ambitious and powerful woman in history, but her life was anything but a fairy tale.

If you are interested to know more about Cixi and her history; Read more….

Posted by:Jaspreet

Daily Dump is a new start-up (Bangalore, Karnataka, India), which offers its consumers with a simple and easy solution for reducing landfill waste: composting. Daily Dump offers a range of products and services that help compost at home. It also provides solutions and knowledge through an open source platform. The Daily Dump offers an array of decorative composting pots and vessels with varied shapes and sizes. These can be used in the home and kitchen to manage organic waste and convert it to useful high-quality compost. And the special feature that adds to it is that it supports you with flexible full range service plans to achieve your goal of becoming a green citizen.

The compositing containers purchased on the website. Apart from vessels, the product range also includes spoons, spatulas and other necessities. The website is simple to browse and understand as it clearly puts upfront the categories of items which can and cannot be compost. On this site you’ll find information on the products, plus free material on everything you need to start your own composting project, faster than you can say ‘biodegradable’.

Currently the Daily Dump limits itself to household composting, but the company has plans for expanding its operations for businesses and larger homes. This Daily Dump stands as an inspiration and encourages others to invest in composting— that should make easy for the people to enter into the “Green Revolution”. Their commitment to such a fundamental cause – and moving ahead to create a zero waste home should be the hallmark of every nation. The gleam of hope is that if we appreciate the power of green and can distinguish the wrong thing from the right, we can create a better place for our family and neighbors which will ultimately contribute to the society. Doing the right thing requires less management, not more. So, what makes you wait—Simply, do it!! After all, “Small steps will lead to a great beginning”

It says : If you are too busy or don’t like the idea of turning a waste pile – opting for the Daily Dump service plan is just the thing for you.Check Daily Dump at: http://dailydump.org/

Posted by: Jaspreet 

Everyone must have been busy opening and sharing their gifts. Kids must have been enjoying and eating special dishes cooked by their Mom and Aunts together. Here below I share a yummy Chocolate Cake Double Layered Recipe , which you can bake for your kids and relatives to add a flavor to the Special Eve. This is a recipe from Indian Food Recipes .Check the video below; try it and make this Christmas Special..

 Isn’t it amazing that tonight people will be all set and excited to welcome Santa Claus who will arrive on his sleigh drawn by reindeer to slide down the chimney in his red suit with long white beard and a sack over his shoulder? And tomorrow will be the Big Day when people will open presents under the decorated Christmas tree. But I never knew since how long and old are these traditions continuing from.

The Bible offers no date for the birth of Jesus, and it may or may not have been in December. The celebration of the birth of Christ on 25 December dates back to the fifth century, when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.25th Dec has been chosen for this festival of giving, sharing and rejoicing s to associate with the shortest day of the year, which falls between 22 December and 25 December. It was also Jupiter’s birthday and there are many other strange facts associated along with this selected date.

The story behind the change of name from St Nicholas to Santa Claus is nothing but the miss pronunciation of Dutch Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas is also known as Sint Nikolaas in Dutch-a holiday tradition in Netherlands and Belgium.The practice of thinking that Santa slides down from the chimney came from the writings of Washington Irving in which St Nicholas appears as a fat, jolly figure, dressed in fur, with a clay pipe and beard, who slides down chimneys. Santa got his dress-the trademark red suit from the cartoonist Thomas Nast. It was when Coca Cola Corporation appropriated him for an advertising campaign that began in 1931, and ran every Christmas for 35 years. And Louis Prang was also a contributor in the dressing of Santa. He was a Boston Printer who first introduced Christmas cardsto America. He featured chubby Santa with a red suit in his card. This picture rapidly changed the fur dressed and multicolored Santa’s to the red cloaked round-bellied Santa.

To know more:about the origin of Christmas cards, reindeers, turkey, mince pies check the Article at:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfmc_id=6&objectid=10549639&pnum=2

Posted By: Jaspreet