Enjoy Your Weekend

EU Summit: How all-night Brussels showdown pulled Euro back from brink

     They were bleary-eyed in their crumpled suits early on Friday morning, but euro zone negotiators were smiling after a hard-fought night of talks that struck a surprisingly far-reaching deal to prop up the euro.

     An agreement to let the euro zone's rescue funds directly recapitalise banks - something Spain has long held out for - went substantially beyond what almost all diplomats and finance officials expected going into the two-day summit.

     It also crossed a red-line that Germany had set down, indicating that Chancellor Angela Merkel had to give ground after being backed into a corner - some said held hostage - by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Spain's Mariano Rajoy.

Freida Pinto to romance Christian Bale in Knight of Cups

     Mumbai The Sludog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto will be seen romancing Oscar-winner Christian Bale in Hollywood director Terrence Malick's next project Knight of Cups.

     After Brad Pitt starrer The Tree of Life, Malick, will explore the theme of love and truth in the film, which has already gone on floors in Santa Monica.

After free laptops for students, Jayalalithaa now doles out goodies for Govt employees

     Chennai : It's raining goodies for government employees in Tamil Nadu as Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has hiked the health insurance cover and housing loan ceiling for the state government staff.

The insurance cover for the employees' families has been hiked from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 4 lakh over the next four years and would also cover treatment and surgery for 113 approved ailments. The state government has roped in United India Insurance Company for this.

     And for those who plan to build their dream houses, the housing loan ceiling has been raised from Rs. 15 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh, in tune with the rising cost of construction. Civil Services officers would, however, be eligible to avail a housing loan of Rs. 40 lakh from the present 25 lakh.

     Around 14 lakh government employees and their families would benefit from this scheme. After kickstarting delivery of free mixer, grinder, fan and laptops for students - her key poll promises - Amma's attention has now turned towards government employees.

Courtesy : NDTV News

Earth adds leap second on Saturday night

     Washington : Saturday night will stretch longer by a second. A leap second.

     International timekeepers are adding a second to the clock at midnight universal time Saturday, June 30, going into July 1. That's 8 p.m. EDT Saturday. Universal time will be 11:59:59 and then the unusual reading of 11:59:60 before it hits midnight.

     A combination of factors, including Earth slowing down a bit from the tidal pull of the moon, and an atomic clock that's a hair too fast, means that periodically timekeepers have to synchronize the official atomic clocks, said Daniel Gambis, head of the Earth Orientation Service in Paris that coordinates leap seconds.The time it takes the Earth to rotate on its axis - the definition of a day - is now about two milliseconds longer than it was 100 years ago, said Geoff Chester, spokesman at the U.S. Naval Observatory, keeper of the official U.S. atomic clocks. That's each day, so it adds up to nearly three-quarters of a second a year.

TECH HELP FOR PARENTS

Now, tools to keep tab on kids’ digital lives

     

     When her children were ready to have laptops of their own, Jill Ross bought software that would keep an eye on where they went online. One day it offered her a real surprise. She discovered that her 16-year-old daughter had set up her own video channel. Using the camera on her laptop, sometimes in her bedroom, she and a friend were recording mundane teenage banter and broadcasting it on YouTube for the whole world to see.

     For Ross, who lives outside Denver, it was a window into her daughter’s mind and an emblem of the strange new hurdles of modern-day parenting. She did not mention it to her daughter; she just subscribed to the channel’s updates. The daughter said nothing either; she just let Mom keep watching. “It’s a matter of knowing your kids,” Ross said.