Gauri Khan

Introduction

The name doesn’t need any introduction. The better half of SRK, Gauri, is a woman of power and strength. Gauri Chibber, as she was known as before marrying Shahrukh Khan, was born and brought up in the heart of India, Delhi. She also did her schooling from the famous Loreto Convent School and did her graduation in History.

Gauri’s Love Life

Gauri met with her lifelong partner Shahrukh Khan when she was only 14 years old, that is, in 1984 and after 6 years of courtship, the couple finally decided to get married in the year 1991 and spend the rest of their life with each other. They are a parent of three lovely kids, two son and a daughter.

Mrs. Khan is not only a great wife and a great mother, but she is also a producer and a famous interior designer. Along with her husband, she founded Red Chillies Entertainment, which deals in film production as well as distribution.

Her media presence

All these years, Gauri Khan has kept a low profile in the media. It is only recently, that she started appearing in media and has also done a commercial for D’décor with her husband, of which she is a brand ambassador. She is the producer of some hit movies like Om Shanti Om and Main Hoon Na. She even co-produced films like Student Of The Year as well as My Name Is Khan with Dharma Productions.

Would increasing the minimum wage help or hurt the working poor in United States?

History
The minimum wage of the federal act has always been used in alleviating the condition of the poor. It was in the year 1938 that the federal minimum wage was first used into action which was a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the minimum hourly rate of a labor was set to 25 cents per hour; however, this law did not include everybody who was coming under the poverty line. In the year 1983 to 1989 the minimum wage was revised and set to $3.35 and within a decade it was revised to at least four times and in the year 1997, it was raised to $5.15 per hour. At the present time, the minimum wage of a labor has been set to almost $7.25 per hour. This clearly states that if we calculate the minimum wage of a labor for the entire year, it comes to around $15,800. As the poverty threshold is $18,500, so a family, who has at least 3 members which may include one or two children, falls under the poverty line. There are many people who say that as the United States is a wealthy nation, a worker who works for full time should be able to support his family. If we consider the income inequality among people in the United States, this seems to be relevant.

Prevalence and Seriousness of the issue

One of the biggest concerns of the public health community is poverty. At the present time, the number of people who come under the poverty line has increased. It is noticed that earlier in 1990s, the poverty of the country declined, but considering the figures from the United States' Census Bureau (USCB), it was reported that there has been a significant rise in the poverty rate, which was 11.3% in the year 2000 but got increased to 12.7% in 2004. It was noticed that it were the children who suffered the most as their poverty rate were more. The proportion of children who were living in poverty saw a rise of 13.4%, that is, it rose from a rate of 15.7%, which was 11.1 million, in the year 2000 to 17.8%, which is 13.0 million, in the year 2004.

Impact of this issue on families

The impact of poverty on families is considered very serious. Children growing in the poverty suffer the most. They go through a lot of health problems; as a result, they rarely go to the school. Even infants are born underweight. It was also noticed that due to the recession in the country, many suffered job loss, due to which there were family fights and abuses. People, who went through the tough time of financial hardship, faced many problems including threats, insults and even corporal punishment.

The people who come under the poverty line are mainly homeless. This creates lot of risks for them especially, if there is a child in the family. There are people who are under the poverty line but still have a home, so there condition is still considered better than the one who do not have a house, as they are at more risk. Families, who are homeless, go through more stress along with problem in working, going to school, etc. They even have a lot of family issues.

Pro and Con Side

Role of Key Players who are in support

The government of United States plays a key role in removing poverty. There are several federal programs and projects that are provided by the government to help the public in education, health and even safety. This assistance is provided through federal agencies. They supply the resources to the poor people. In order to help the poor financially, the US government also provides 'grants'; however, for this, the person has to first apply. These 'grants' are of different types to award people with different needs.

Even Social workers throughout the country try to do everything possible to remove the poverty from the country.  In everyday life social workers come across many poor people, they help them to understand the situation that they are in and to change themselves along with their environment to come out of this issue. Along with that it is also required that each community work towards developing themselves which will automatically upgrade the standard of living of all the people in the community. The social workers even work with individual families where there main focus is on enhancing resources along with providing opportunities where they understand their personal capacities.

To overcome poverty, there are many organizations who work towards removing it. They are among the key players who work towards it. The organizations create new job vacancies and employ people which help them financially. Along with that they also run several programs where they make the people aware of their efforts and try to change their view towards their current situation. This helps them to know their potential and work on them accordingly to enhance their situation.

Key Players who are in opposition

Even though, the increase in the minimum wage of the workers is helping the low-income household to improve their living, still there are some people or organizations who are against this hike. There are some economists who oppose a higher minimum wage. While arguing they say that if the minimum wage of the workers is increased, there will be a decrease in the number of jobs available in the country. For example, a study done by the CBO states that if the minimum wage of the workers are raised to $ 10.10, the total employment in the country will see a decrease of 500,000. If there are less entry-level jobs, then less inexperienced workers will be appointed for a job which requires more skills as well as experience.

There are also certain business groups who stand against this law and oppose them. According to them, the increase in the minimum wage will see a significant decrease in the availability of jobs and it might come to a saturation point. This will again lead to less employment in the country and hence those who are skilled will not get a job according to their ability. Along with that there are also some businesses that are paying less to their employees, so increasing their wages would mean that they will have less profit. So, there are people who are also not supporting this raise on moral grounds.

Strengths and weaknesses of the key players' position

The government and the social workers who are supporting the hike in the minimum wage of the workers are also supporting the fact that the raise in the income will improve the individual's life and they will be able to educate themselves and their children. Many social workers have actually been to the places of the poor people and have felt the bad situation that they are going through. So, since they are supporting this law, they will have more support from the other community people. According to them, everybody should have a good standard of living and they believe in equality. They tend to get more support than those who stand against this law.

On the other hand, people who are standing against this hike would get less support from people. Although according to them, with the increase in the minimum wage there will be less employment, but the employment opportunities can be made available by more vacancies and by establishing more companies. So, there stand against this hike is to some extent, not logical.

Is their argument convincing?

The arguments given by the key players who do not support this hike, is not considered convincing. As per them, with the increase in the wage, the nation will see a significant loss in the number of employment. However, depending upon this it is not considered to let the poor live in the way they are living. On moral grounds, one should think of helping these people rather than allowing their situation to worsen.

According to a study, it was found that only 19 percent of the people who will benefit from the raise in the minimum wage are actually considered poor. So, this means that 81 percent of them would not be affected by the higher wage. Hence, if these 19 percent people start getting higher wage, after a certain period of time, there will be no people in the community who will come under this percentage and there will be about 900,000 people who will come out of the poverty line. Thus, the country will be 100% free from poor people. In this situation, it can be said that the country does not have any poor people.

Conclusion

In reference to the minimum wage, there are different laws that have been enforced.

• In United States, nine localities have enacted currently on the minimum wage law: Albuquerque, NM; Bernalillo County, NM; Montgomery County, MD; Prince George's County, MD; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Santa Fe, NM; Santa Fe County, NM; and Washington DC. Out of all these localities Richmond, CA has already voted in order to increase the minimum wage to $ 12.30 per hour by the year 2017.
• Currently, the mandatory minimum wage ranges from $8.50 per hour in Bernalillo County to $10.74 per hour in San Francisco.
• On an average, the minimum wage laws that currently exist have made it mandatory for the wages to increase by 41.4 percent. Most of them are required to get this increase in multiple steps; however, for some it is to be made effective immediately. There are several localities who have already implemented this law in several steps. The average increase in the minimum wage per step across all the localities is 16.7 percent.
• All the laws that are enforced in the nine localities are similar and cover the majority of the work which a worker performs while staying within their counties. The coverage of nonprofits was delayed by San Francisco and also it got delayed for small businesses (which were less than 10 employees) for one year. On the other hand, Santa Fe first removed the small businesses; however, later it amended its law and started covering all the businesses.
• Out of the nine laws, two of them (San Francisco and San Jose) have the same law as the state's for treating the workers who get tips and the workers who don't, hence a uniformity in wage is maintained between both the groups. The other seven laws follow the law of their state which says to maintain a lower minimum wage for the workers who are tipped (even after an increase in the base income of the tipped workers). Similar provisions are made by several of the other laws in context to the commissioned workers.
• After the enforcement of these laws, it has been seen that it has benefitted many to some extent. There are also many families whose minimum wage was much less than anyone could think of, so for them, these laws have proved to be a blessing. Although few find that there is a small increase in the prices when they go to any restaurant, but in other businesses there is no such increase in the price. So, overall the minimum wage laws have helped people.
• In future, if the minimum wage of the workers is not changed then the society as well as the country will face lot of problems. As the poor will not get a chance to improve their financial condition, they will keep becoming poorer and the rich will become richer. So, 20 years down the line the country will see a huge demarcation between the rich and the poor. It will have a big impact on the country's financial situation. However, with the enforcement of the minimum wage laws, the poor people get a chance to improve their present condition. They can even start utilizing their skills when their financial condition improves. So, in this case, after 20 years, it might happen that there will not be any section in the community which will be called poor. They will at least have a house to stay and will be able to educate themselves.
• In order to improve the condition of the poor and increase their minimum wages, there should be more laws that should be made in order to help the low wage workers. Along with that there should be different programs established which specifically targets the people who have low income. These programs might include welfare programs related to stamps and other welfare programs along with the credit of the income tax.

The Journey of Ragini Khanna in the B-town

The Journey of Ragini Khanna in the B-town

Ragini Khanna

The famous multi-talented television actress and an idol of positivity and versatility, Ragini Khanna, is a steadily growing actress who has also landed her steps in Bollywood. She has an unparalleled capability to balance her television and filmy careers, along with hosting several reality shows.

Ragini’s Childhood

Ragini Khanna was born and brought up in Mumbai and attained mastery in commerce from the Mumbai University. Born in the Khanna family, Ragini is also the niece of the super-star of his time Govinda. Therefore, other popular television stars of today like Krushna and Soumya Seth happen to be her cousins’ whereas Amit Khanna is her real brother who is also an actor.

Her Career

The Sagittarius beauty debuted as an actress in her first TV soap, Radha Ki Betiyaan Kuch Kar Dikhayengi. Then she was chosen for the lead role in the prominent satirical serial, Bhaskar Bharti, which was quite a success. But Ragini was most loved by her fans when she appeared in the romance cum comedy show, Sasural Genda Phool wherein the story revolved around the life of a rich girl who is married to a guy belonging to a middle class family. It showed her journey after marriage wherein she tries to cope up with the changes in her new life. The show was a big hit and the audience soon started recognizing her as Suhana, her character in the show.

Along with television, she also appeared in many of the reality shows, the most prominent of them being Jhalak Dikhala Jaa Season 4. After this she was seen hosting many other reality shows with the passage of time as her anchoring was appreciated a lot by the audience.

Apart from the television, the actress also marked her steps on the big-curtain industry. She played her debut role in the movie Teen Thay Bhai. Though the movie was a flop but her role was appreciated by the Indian audience. She also worked in a Punjabi film Bhaji In Problem. In her upcoming movie Ghoomketu, the actress is paired opposite to Nawazuddin Siddiqui. She has also been the brand ambassador of many social campaigns and endorsements.

Her Love Life

As it is always with the actors, they don't like to reveal their personal life in front of the camera; even Ragini has tried to keep it a secret from her viewers. However, it is still rumored that she is currently dating the well-heeled businessman Jesal Arya. Although when she was asked about it, she chose not to say anything. So, we can just wait for the right time for the revelation of this wonderful news.

Law of Demand - A Microeconomic Law

Law of Demand

            A microeconomic law that states, all different components being equivalent, as the cost of a decent or administration builds, purchaser interest for the great or administration will decline, and the other way around. The law of interest says that the higher the value, the bring down the amount requested, on the grounds that customers' chance expense to secure that great or administration builds, and they must make more tradeoffs to gain the more extravagant item.

Determinants of Demand

            With the change in price, the demand in quantity also changes. That is an activity along the demand curve which is same. When aspects other than cost changes, there is a shift in the demand curve. The determinants of the demand curve are listed below.

1.                  Income: With the rise in income there is also a rise in the quantity that is demanded. Likewise, when income decreases, demand also decreases with it. Products whose requirement differs inversely with income are known as inferior goods.

2.                  Price: According to the law of demand, with the rise in price, the demand in the quality falls. This also indicates that with the fall in costs, requirement will increase. People platform their buying choices on cost, if all other things are equivalent. The opposite, of course, is also real. When requirement increases, companies will usually increase the cost to prevent being out of inventory and frustrating clients. On the other hand, when requirement drops, companies will usually fall the cost, even if only momentarily for a selling, to offer more of the good or service.

3.                  Prices of related goods or services: The price of supporting services or products increases the overall price of using the goods that you require, so you'll want less. For example, when the cost of gas increased to $4 a quart in 2008, the requirement for Hummervees dropped. Gas is a supporting excellent to Hummers. The overall price of generating a Hummer increased along with gas costs.

4.                  Tastes: This is said to be the preference for any good or any service. When preferences increase, the amount increases. Furthermore, when preferences fall, the amount required also decreases. This is how brand advertising works. In order to make you feel the need for a product, the companies spend millions.

5.                  Expectation: Consumers’ present requirement will increase if they anticipate higher upcoming prices; their requirement will reduce if they anticipate lower upcoming costs. consumers’ present requirement will increase if they anticipate higher upcoming income; their requirement will reduce if they anticipate lower upcoming income.

Law of supply

            Law of supply declares that other aspects which remains continuous, cost and amount provided of a excellent are proportional to each other. In other terms, when the cost paid by customers for an excellent increases, then providers increase the provide of that excellent in the market.

Determinants of Law of supply

            With the change in cost, the amount provided also changes. That is an activity along the same supply curve. When aspects other than cost changes, supply curve will move. Here are some aspects of the supply curve.

1.                  Production cost: Since the goal of many private companies is to maximize its profit, higher production cost will lower advantage, thus limit supply. Production cost is affected by input prices, rate of wage, regulation made by the government and taxes, etc.

2.                  Technology: With the improvement in technology, production cost has reduced and profit has increased. Hence, higher supply is stimulated.

3.                  Number of Sellers: The supply in the market increases with the increase in the number of sellers.

4.                  Expectation for future prices: In order to capture a higher price, in case the producers expect that there is a price hike in the future on any product, they try to hold that product and offer them to the consumers in future.

Efficient markets theory

            When it comes to finance, the efficient market theory means that the financial markets are efficient in information. As a result, one cannot continually accomplish profits in excess of regular industry profits on a risk-adjusted foundation, given the details available at the time the financial commitment is created.

            There are three major editions of this theory which is weak, semi-strong and strong.

The weak form of this theory is that costs on the assets that are traded  already indicate all

past details that are openly available to everyone. The semi-strong indicate that both the

prices include all openly available details and that costs immediately change to indicate new

public details. The strong form claims that costs immediately indicate even invisible or

insider details.

Surplus and shortage

            In the analysis of supply as well as demand in a flawlessly focused industry, there is a market demand curve that is sloping downward and also there is one that is sloping upward. The focuses on the demand curve are the amount requested and the focuses on the supply curve are the amount supplies. On the off chance that quantity demanded is more prominent than the quantity supplies it is said that there's a shortage. In the event that quantity supplied is more prominent than the quantity demanded, there's a surplus.

An entrepreneurs look at growth horizons

Growth Horizons

            With the maturity of a company, it often faces a decline in its growth as innovation gives rise to new inertia. In order to achieve a consistent growth throughout their lifetime, a company must attend to the existing businesses without even thinking about their areas of development. It is very important for a company to develop so as to remain competitive in the market. There are three horizons that are used to give a structure to a company so as to assess potential opportunities in the overall growth of the company and also ensure that the company gets most out of the money that they had invested.

The Three Horizons the entrepreneur must address

            The three horizons provide a structure for a company so as to evaluate its potential opportunities for growth without neglecting its performance in the present.

Horizon 1

            It is the increase in the growth that is generated by the talented people in a company. They use the resources, capabilities and technologies we already have which includes opening a new market for existing products or even offering more services to a customer or commercializing a new application of a core technology.

            The growth of a company mainly depends upon the products or services that it provides. In order to attract more customers a timely improvement in the products is required. However, this means an increase in the price as well; this improvement keeps a company well established and competent. Along with this even opening franchise in different places is considered to play a very important role in a company's growth.

Horizon 2

            The projects which are under horizon 2 can be categorised as fast-moving, entrepreneurial ventures which expand our core capabilities so that new products can be created and also exploited. The projects under horizon 2 can be the extensions of the existing businesses or it can even be the built on alliances so that it can move a company into new strategic direction. The projects of horizon 2 are mostly of six months to two years away from achieving revenue. They mostly require time, development of new skills along with investments and resources.

Horizon 3

            The activities in horizon 3 are the initial elements of work that will grow into substantive ventures in about two to five years and correspond to the expected revenue in two or more years down the line. These initiatives can either become a form of research projects, investment, alliances or companies or the pursuit of any long term business idea. These activities are very much speculative due to which most of the activities will die along its way. However, the effort is necessary so as to ensure our participation in the area of substantive promise in the future.

Resources needed for the three horizons

            The three horizons can be used to promote the growth of a company. They can help the managers to assess the prospects for growth at all the levels in an organization. They offer a reasonable way to communicate with the employees and its investors. With the growth of a business it is also necessary to protect it from its competitors and for that it is important for a company to use the three horizons effectively.

Resources for Horizon 1

             Every company manages their market offer with the help of certain processes that they follow. In terms of complexities, large companies have large portfolios which compete for resources along with number of customers who demand attention. They also have self-serving internal momentum and are extensively into internal competitions between their portfolios.

            In order to make a firm place in the market it is very important for a company to increase the sales of its products by increasing its production. An increase in the manufacturing limit, creating more space along with decreasing the price of the product and offering promotions means expanding a company which results in its growth.

Resources for Horizon 2

            It is a challenge to manage the emerging opportunities if there is no one in the executive or management level to assume the risk, as considerable amount of investment is required before it can start generating revenue for the company. Also, as money is required to run large and successful programs within a company, it impacts horizon 2 negatively.

            So, it is very important to have right people in the team who can take right decision at the right time. As soon as a product or service is launched, the market analysis and research should go on to check the initial response of the customers. If there are any adjustments required, they should be handled properly. All the employees in a company should be placed in their proper position so that they understand and take up their responsibilities appropriately. Also, it should expand geographically so that a better quality products or services along with a good customer service can be furnished.

Resources of Horizon 3

            The main spirit behind all the investments in horizon 3 is to renew the business and focus on the future. It is very important to clearly establish the criterion which is required to determine the opportunities between horizon 1 and horizon 3.

            For emerging businesses, the policies and procedures should be as per the product or services that it provides which may not be the same as the core business. More number of talented resources should be included within the company so that they can concentrate more on the outcomes. They should be team players with good communication skills. The individuals are required to come up with new ideas and convert them into opportunities. They should be focused on growth and revenue and have the ability to take it easily to the emerging business from the core business.

           

Transitioning from One Resource to the Next

            In order to transit between the horizons, it is required to re-prioritize the existing programs, introduce new people and processes, build teams etc. Transition may be considered a difficult task and more number of people are required to take the responsibilities of the new risks. Besides, within transition it is also important that the new people take care of the manager's concern about the sales as the customers wait for new portfolios.

            The products should be sold at such a price that the company succeeds in attaining the top position in the market. One of the companies that have followed this transition is Stars, which generates so much cash that they are among the top market leaders and shareholders.

Strategy for Addressing Growth Horizons

            A company should make effective investments. If it is a large company, it has to face additional complexities where they need to satisfy their customers and come-up with new ideas to tackle the different market challenges. For this, an effective leadership is very much required. To manage across the horizons companies should be able to develop and execute a strategy so that it can overcome any distractions. Along with that it can also facilitate re-prioritization of the programs that already exist. The people should be able to analyse the data on business performance and make the right decision.

            Geographical expansion with the help of franchises and increase in the products and services offered leads to a horizontal growth of the company. These companies remain in the market for a long time and maintain their top position.