Reframe a Tough Interview Question

You've probably been asked this perennial, annoying question: "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Your interviewer will often use it to get at several pieces of information at once. So before responding, try to determine what they really want to know. Look for subtext in other questions they've asked or in comments they've made. For instance, has the hiring manager mentioned that you'd be replacing someone who left the company after just six months? 

Maybe he wants to find out how long you'll stick around, since the cost of turnover is so high. Or did he raise the question right after asking you to describe your ideal job? Perhaps he's trying to get at whether the position is a good match for you and how long you'll enjoy doing it. After you've replied, follow up with something like, "Did that answer your question?"

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes

• Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.
• As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it.
• Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
• Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
• Hate the sin, love the sinner.
• Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.
• Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.
• I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.
• I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.
• I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
• I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.
• In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.
• In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.
• Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy.
• It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.
• It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
• One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.
• Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
• Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
• When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.
• You must be the change you want to see in the world.
• You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
• What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
• Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
• An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
• Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.

FIs and their Risk Resilience Capacity Building

The share market debacle in the first quarter of 2011 has indicated that banks should have the sufficient resilience capacity against market risks. In addition to that, the recent unpleasant "Hall Mark" scandal has reminded the banking industry of a better resilience capacity against operational risks. Consequently a question has arisen about whether the banking sector has enough preparation to protect their assets from further sequential or other unexpected losses. The speed at which the risk events unfold and the extent of their impacts on the businesses across different risk categories appear to be escalating. When the Barings Bank declared bankruptcy in 1995, the world was stunned. As Britain's oldest merchant bank, Barings, had weathered disasters like the Great Depression and Two World Wars - only to be later brought down by a single man in a small office in Singapore. Nick Leeson, a derivatives trader employed by the bank, took unauthorised speculative positions primarily in futures linked to the Nikkei 225 and Japanese Government Bonds (JGB). For the time being, a big zero was added to his name. For best results, the risk management framework should be integrated across the entire value chain. This is not only complex and costly, it also requires management approval. What banks need is a single platform that centralises, streamlines and automates compliance and information technology (IT) risk management.

The role of the risk control framework is to evaluate the risk inherent in the business activities of an institution and to ensure that these risks don't endanger the institution even in extreme circumstances. However, financial institutions (FIs) have struggled as the current financial crisis has unfolded and many have not been able to withstand the shocks that the financial system has experienced. But exactly why did these failures occur? Well, the diagnosis is clear: industry reports highlight that the risk control framework in many institutions was not robust enough, due primarily to weak governance and lack of understanding of the risks inherent in the business strategies adopted. The reports conclude that risk management reforms are necessary to create stronger institutions and a resilient financial system. The growth of informal settlements, fuelled by urbanisation and migration, has led to the growth of unstable living environments in many countries. Often located in ravines, on steep slopes, along flood plains, or adjacent to noxious or dangerous industrial or transport facilities, the disaster risks for already vulnerable and marginalised communities are exacerbated by their location. Another example: while development choices made to promote water-intensive cash-crops in semi-arid regions may boost local economies for the short term, such practices depend so heavily on canal irrigation that can have serious consequences in the case of even a slight variation in rainfalls. Poor development planning has contributed therefore to increased exposure to drought risks in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world.

Recognising the relationship between development and risk and investing in disaster risk reduction can lead to better development practices which are also cost-effective. Here that risk can be modelled and analysed-and there is enough accumulated experience - in both developing and developed countries-to manage it if the appropriate strategies and measures are put in place.

Bank and non-bank financial institutions are the most important financial intermediaries in every economy. Not only this, banks have an important role to play in blood circulation of the economy and the ultimate result of growth. Therefore, close regulated operation and their safety from potential threat are very much essential for economic growth and activities. An adequate risk resilience fund that is capital is required to protect depositors' interest and to ensure the survival of banking business. However, the banking sector or the financial sector as a whole is passing an invisible liquidity crisis which is ultimately slowing down investment. In Bangladesh, banks are fairly allowed to invest in the capital market. Therefore, it is required to analyse the real development of the risk resilience capacity of the banking industry after the BASEL-2 implementation. Risk management is becoming a crucial part of the business strategy. Without it, thousands of people are adversely affected - shareholders, bankers, employees, customers and even the government who spends millions of dollars trying to bail a bank out. Developing a risk management framework can be extremely challenging. Banks need to analyse risk reports, assess and test controls and choose the appropriate risk mitigating strategy. Adequate capital then has to be allocated. The whole process can be costly in terms of money, time, effort, technology and personnel required.

In terms of raising quality, consistency and transparency, it is important that banks' risk exposures are backed by a high quality capital base. The crisis has demonstrated that credit losses and write-downs come out of retained earnings, which is part of banks' tangible common equity base. It has also revealed the inconsistency in definition of capital across jurisdictions and the lack of disclosure that would have enabled the market to fully assess and compare the quality of capital between institutions. The BASEL-II framework increased the risk sensitivity and coverage of the regulatory capital requirement. Indeed, one of the most pro-cyclical dynamics has been the failure of risk management and capital frameworks to capture key exposures. However, it is not possible to achieve greater risk sensitivity across institutions at a given point of time without introducing a certain degree of cyclicality in minimum capital requirements over time.

Financial recession in 2008 which had hit the world drastically changed the scenario of global business and economy. The crisis transmitted into the financial system rapidly as their currency, dollar, is systematically a vital currency. These experiences are now influencing policymakers to implement BASEL-I and BASEL-II and so on, in achieving good economic outcomes. Almost all stability reports after the financial crisis suggested structural changes in the financial sector, especially their risk management capacity. High debt burdens and weakened balance sheets are still extending the crisis, especially in advanced economies. In a business environment characterised by natural disasters, vandalism, terrorist attacks, epidemics and technological failures, it is imperative to implement an effective business continuity plan. Banks should develop a recovery strategy that targets technical systems, management and employees. So it is clear that risks are faced enormously in different financial institutions. But by following the BASEL II requirements, they can work towards building a safer financial system and improving customer and investor confidence.

Risk resilience capacity is defined as improvement of a risk absorbance fund and a fall in lending default rate. Not only the capital enhancement but also the decreasing nonperforming load will be treated as improvement of the risk resilience capacity. However, the risk-assessed adequacy measurement always carries some uncertainties. In general, risk can be defined as the, "Probability or threat of a damage, injury, liability, loss or other negative occurrence, caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, and which may be neutralised through pre-mediated action." In the financial sector, risk is defined concerning some special market factors and other externalities which can affect an individual or organisation's decision. In finance, risk is defined as "Probability that an actual return on an investment will be lower than expected." Every business encounters risks, some of which are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Risk management is a central part of any organisation's strategic management. Risk management involves identifying, analysing and taking steps to reduce or eliminate the exposures to loss faced by an organisation or individual. The practice of risk management utilises many tools and techniques, including insurance, to manage a wide variety of risks.

A bank's attitude to risk is not passive and defensive, a bank actively and willingly takes on risk, because it seeks a return and this does not come without risks. Indeed, risk management can be seen as the core competence of an insurance company or a bank. By using its expertise, market position and capital structure, a financial institution can manage risks by repackaging them and transferring them to markets in customised ways.

Mostly the US dollar is used in the global financial system. The dollar monopoly is also prevailing in the international transactions across the globe as most of the transactions are pegged with the dollar during quoting or exchange rate determination. That's why, the US dollar gains extra demand from outside. Since implementing the BASEL II framework in 2009, the banking sector's risk resilience capacity has moderately improved. In fact, real improvement of risk management also depends on reducing probability of default, especially lending default rate. The overall improvement can be determined by analysing the trend of banks' lending default rate,.

The BASEL framework is working effectively in the banking sector in Bangladesh and it helped improve the risk resilience capacity. This improvement may not be sufficient to face the potential unexpected events but it has a significant role in reducing banks' lending default rate. However, the recent banking scandals signal the necessity of further qualitative improvement of the risk management culture in the banking sector. Any dual control or government intervention in banks' corporate governance is no longer wise, when it comes to the total banking system. In the lead-up to the crisis, too often amid the clamour for ever higher returns, the voice of reason was not heard and risks were ignored. The crisis has exposed this and has revealed significant shortcomings in the risk control frameworks of financial institutions. In particular, the failure to properly assess the risks inherent in business models, in portfolios, and in off-balance sheet activities has become evident. Consequently, rebalancing of risk and return is required to ensure resilient institutions and a resilient financial system. To achieve this, strengthening of the risk control framework is needed so that our financial institutions are ready to face the challenges that lie ahead. Such a framework needs to put risk management at the heart of the strategy and decision making processes of each institution. The framework should be supported by the twin pillars of risk analysis, that is a suite of statistical risk models to provide a measure of the different risks faced by the institution and a comprehensive stress testing programme which consists of a more judgmental and coherent risk analysis based on scenarios that the institutions may be facing in the future.

Think Before Adopting the Latest Marketing Fad

Marketing is changing so fast, it's easy to get our heads turned by new, high-tech developments. Doesn't my company need a smartphone app? How should we leverage augmented reality? What about gratification?

Before you buy into a new, shiny marketing tool or technique, first make sure it's right for your company. Often your existing ideas, product lines, and channels have more value than you think. Ask yourself these three counter intuitive questions:

Should I do the opposite of what everyone else is doing? 

For example, if your competitor is blasting out e-newsletters to their entire database, consider sending simple, personalized notes to your most loyal clients.

What abandoned technique can I bring back?

Sometimes, marketing strategies are dropped for good reason, but other times the reasoning is not that clear. Think about whether there's an old technique that could still be useful.

Can I resurrect a product for an untapped market?

Don't just market to the masses. Sometimes a small, high-end market is willing to pay for a difference in quality (think vinyl records, which were considered dead not long ago).

Sometimes — depending on your industry and target audience — the new, shiny tool or technique is the right way to go. But often, you can get a better result by drawing from your existing resources and simply being strategic about how to communicate in a more memorable way than your competitors.

7 Days for Flat Belly

Food rules Make these changes to your diet to lose weight and get a flat tummy fast!

 

1 Cut the C.R.A.P: Avoid the four main food groups that cause fat to cling to our bodies: caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and processed foods.

2 But allow yourself a weekly cheat meal. Once a week, enjoy an indulgent meal of whatever you fancy, from creamy pasta to a slice of chocolate cake with cream. As ong as you're eating clean, healthy food the rest of the time, an occasional high-fat treat actually speeds up your metabolism.

3 Take fish oil supplements: They burn fat and supply essential fatty acids.

4 Always have breakfast: Eat within one hour of waking up. If you don't have time for a proper breakfast, just grab a piece of fruit and a few nuts.

5 Don't eat after 8pm: Eating a large meal in the evening when your body is slowing down or sleeping is a bad idea for your digestion and weight.

Five food swaps for flat Abs

Bad croissants: Full of fat, sugar and no goodness Milk Most non-organic milk is filled with hormones Standard yoghurt Most are full of sugar Margarine Full of chemicals Beer High sugar and calories

Better wholemeal bread: Fibre is good for digestion Organic milk It's chemical-free Organic yoghurt It's free from pesticides Olive oil spread Full of essential fatty acids Organic cider Less alcohol and calories.

Best spelt bread: No tummy-bloating gluten

Organic almond milk: Doesn't contain lactose that can cause bloating Organic full-fat yoghurt Makes you feel full and is less sugary than low-fat options Organic butter Natural and additive free Good red wine Grape skin contains resveratrol, a great antioxidant

Tummy toning moves

James Duigan says, "Exercise smarter, not harder. So, if you are trying to lose weight, don't go mad with exercise - get more out of less." These moves can help you get a flatter tummy as they reduce levels of stress hormones in the body, which encourage fat around your middle.

Breathing squat

- Go slow and low and repeat 10 times

- Stand with feet shoulder width apart, arms out and parallel to floor

- Inhale through the nose, then lower your bottom down as far as is still comfortable while exhaling l Pause for a few seconds, then inhale as you come up

Energy push Great for digestion - breathe slowly and repeat 20 times

- Take a comfortable stance with feet shoulder width apart, arms in front of you, palms facing down

- Inhale and pull hands back towards your shoulders

- Exhale, pushing your arms back out to starting position Leg tuck Great for lower abs - repeat 10 times

- Lie back, feet on floor, knees bent l Inhale then bring knees into your chest as you exhale

- Inhale again as you return your feet to the floor

Your food plan

Stick to this eating plan for two weeks to start your weight loss. It's best to begin on a weekend, when you have more time to get everything ready. Plus, you won't feel so stressed or rushed, which means you'll be less likely to succumb to a mid-afternoon chocolate bar.

Day 1 Breakfast: Omelette made with three egg whites and filled with 75g chopped mixed peppers and a handful of spinach

Mid-morning snack: 100g chicken with ½ red pepper, sliced

Lunch: One grilled chicken breast, mixed salad leaves, red peppers, green beans and ¼ tbsp olive oil

Mid-afternoon snack: 100g turkey breast with ¼ cucumber, sliced

Dinner: 100g grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli

Day 2 Breakfast: Baked chicken breast with a handful of stir-fried kale

Mid-morning snack: 100g turkey breast and ½ green pepper, sliced

Lunch: Baked haddock fillet with mixed green salad, with ½ tbsp olive oil

Mid-afternoon snack: 100g turkey breast with 75g steamed broccoli

Dinner: One salmon steak with chopped dill and steamed green beans

Day 3 Breakfast: 100g smoked salmon, plus spinach

Mid-morning snack: 100g chicken breast with ½ yellow pepper, sliced

Lunch: One grilled chicken breast with garden salad and ½ tbsp olive oil

Mid-afternoon snack: 100g turkey slices with ¼ avocado

Dinner: One grilled lamb steak (or two cutlets); steamed broccoli and spinach

Liberation War and its' History- just a click away

Month of March has just entered. For Bangalies, this month is so significant. Our liberation had started on March 26, 1971. So March is related to our existence. For readers, who want to know more about our liberation war, histories and many more, they can log in to the below mentioned website. This site has been developed and created by Ministry of Liberation War. The site is written in Bangla.

The site is enriched with video clips, documents related to liberation war and our independence. You can participate in group discussion over here and know more about the independence. Songs, sculptures, architectural monuments are filed here. You all can have a look at it.

Please click on the below link.

Liberation War and its' History

Biotechnology Improves your Life

Top 10 ways Biotechnology could improve your life:

Experts on the World Economic Forum’s Council on Biotechnology have selected 10 developments in biotechnology which they believe could help meet the rapidly growing demand for energy, food and healthcare. 

Experts on the World Economic Forum’s Council on Biotechnology have selected 10 developments which they believe could help not only meet the rapidly growing demand for energy, food and healthcare, but also increase productivity and create new jobs, should issues such as regulatory certainty, public perception and investment be tackled successfully. 

Click on the link for more details:

Biotechnology Improves your Life

Picture of the Year 2012

Pair of Merops apiaster feeding has been awarded the Picture of the Year 2012.

This is a featured picture on Wikimedia Commons (Featured pictures) and is considered one of the finest images

This photograph has been clicked by Pierre Dalous.

Click the below link to have a look at the tremendous photograph.

Picture of the Year 2012

Projonmo Chottor and Social Media

Social media in general, and Facebook in particular, were crucial in shaping how citizens, especially young generation of Bangladesh, have made individual decisions about participating in protests against the war criminals. The protest at the Shahbagh Square in Dhaka is a remarkable show of an independent, spontaneous, non-partisan movement erupting out of pain silently carried by the people of Bangladesh for decades. It is an admirable non-violent, tenacious, proud and confident protest in the real term. The protest has been partially organised online and echoes across social media.

Only 100 people took the initiative to gather and form a human chain on February 05, 2013 at Shahbagh demanding capital punishment of Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Mollah shortly after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced him to lifetime imprisonment for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. The activists, along with many more people from blogs and social networking sites, rejected the verdict and started protesting it. Rest is history.

In addition to demanding capital punishment for Quader Mollah and every war criminal, people are also demanding a permanent ban on religious politics in Bangladesh, specifying Jamaat-e-Islami.

Can Facebook win a revolution? The power of social media has been a hotly debated topic after the Arab Spring that brought about regime change in many Arab countries. The 2009 Green Revolution in Iran may have been the first modern political insurrection to be chronicled on Twitter, but it did not bring down a government. Egypt's Tahrir Square protest movement did just that. Some previous research has analysed the use of social media at a more general level throughout the Arab world in early 2011, but the exact nature of the relationship between social networks and revolution is still being examined.

Now, here in Bangladesh, a new revolution is taking place just in front of our eyes. As Bangladeshis, we are always emotional. If hurt emotionally, we never keep silent, we roar. 2013 is just the same.

Shahbagh Square protests, which have spread throughout the country, garnered the interest and attention of a worldwide audience largely due to digital and social media. The spread of information, via online media, is said to link protesters to a wider public. This coupled with the attention of the world media have made the domestic events a global matter. The place is full of people from all classes and professions. The social networking sites played a significant role in initiating the movement like Arab spring which toppled several autocratic rulers in the Middle East. Many in the social networking sites termed the Shahbagh intersection as 'Shahbagh Square' comparing it with 'Tahrir Square' of Egypt, the centre point of Egyptian revolution that ousted autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The administrator of Bloger and Online Activist Network writes, "Now we are in a war. The war is to free the country from Razakars. Hope, another revolution will take place today. This revolution will be another history for the country. You, online activists and the young generation are the heroes of the history." They invited all to join hands with the protesters at Shahbagh intersection, now known as 'Projanma Chottor'.

Roton is a rickshaw-puller who lives from hand to mouth. I asked him to go to Shahbagh Square from Khilgaon. Surprisingly he agreed and offered to carry me without charging any fare. I wanted to know from him the reason; and he replied, "Mama, Fashi Chai, heidar lega jaitachen. Amra jaite na parleo apnago kamey aite partachi, etai amgo lega onek." [Uncle, you guys are working for the highest possible punishment of the war criminals. We can not afford to go as we have to pull rickshaw for earning our day's bread. But if we can be of any help to you that will be our best contentment.]

Hundreds of thousand packets of food have been supplied by different individuals and organisations, winter clothes for the protestors have been supplied by the general mass, and even people who live outside Dhaka i.e. Comilla, Jessore, Chittagong are supplying daily necessities. If you combine all these things, you will find a united Bangladesh. Joy Bangla [Victory to Bengal], the slogan that inspired the freedom-fighters in the war field in 1971, has once again boosted the synergy of the young guns in 2013.

The slogan is being pronounced

carrying the same appeal that our freedom-fighters did.

Sujit Roy, an expatriate writes, "Wish I could join you now....will fly back soon!"

A Facebook user remarks, "Thousands of protesters packed into Shahbagh Square …..It's almost flooded by the people of all walks of life…the one demand - death penalty for all the war criminals including Quader Mollah........Sabash Bangalee."

The mass protests in Shahbagh Square and in several other cities have made the crowd realise that if the youth roar, then anything is possible. Waving Bangladesh's red and green flags, crowds of protesters marched towards Shahbagh Square in the afternoon on February 05. By the evening, the place was thronged with a crowd that appeared to be more than 100,000. The ultimate example of how strong the online communication is or could be--is Bangladesh 2013.

As vehicles for organising and expressing dissent, the Internet and social media such as Twitter and Facebook have already proven significant tools in Projonmo Chottor protests and uprisings. The Tahrir Square protests were set in a media context that had been developing in Egypt over several years. Others provide accounts of the growth of digitally augmented activism in Egypt. The Internet in Egypt was quickly utilised for dissent by liberals, minorities, religious groups, and others opposed to the Mubarak regime. The online political sphere emerged first in the form of blogs and personal sites, later in Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. While the Internet was not censored in general in Egypt, some bloggers were targeted and jailed, often for long periods. Social media provided space and tools for the formation and the expansion of networks. Social media functioned to broker connections between previously disconnected groups, to spread shared grievances beyond the small community of leaders, and to globalise the reach and appeal of the regional movement for the change.

The revolution of Shahbagh Square, which is at present popular as Projonmo Chottor, will be cherished by generations. 

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This article has published at The Financial Express. 

Please click on the below link if you want to have a glimpse of it.

Projonmo Chottor and Social Media