Aesthetics in this central sense has been said to start in the early eighteenth century, with the series of articles on “The Pleasures of the Imagination” which the journalist Joseph Addison wrote in the early issues of the magazine The Spectator in 1712. Before this time, thoughts by notable figures made some forays into this ground, for instance in the formulation of general theories of proportion and harmony, detailed most specifically in architecture and music. But the full development of extended, philosophical reflection on Aesthetics did not begin to emerge until the widening of leisure activities in the eighteenth century. By far the most thoroughgoing and influential of the early theorists was Immanuel Kant, towards the end of the eighteenth century. Therefore it is important, first of all, to have some sense of how Kant approached the subject. Kant is sometimes thought of as a formalist in art theory; that is to say, someone who thinks the content of a work of art is not of aesthetic interest. But this is only part of the story. Certainly he was a formalist about the pure enjoyment of nature, but for Kant most of the arts were impure, because they involved a “concept.” Even the enjoyment of parts of nature was impure, namely when a concept was involved— as when we admire the perfection of an animal body or a human torso. But our enjoyment of, for instance, the arbitrary abstract patterns in some foliage, or a color field (as with wild poppies, or a sunset) was, according to Kant, absent of such concepts; in such cases, the cognitive powers were in free play. By design, art may sometimes obtain the appearance of this freedom: it was then “Fine Art”—but for Kant not all art had this quality. In all, Kant’s theory of pure beauty had four aspects: its freedom from concepts, its objectivity, the disinterest of the spectator, and its obligatoriness. By “concept,” Kant meant “end,” or “purpose,” that is, what the cognitive powers of human understanding and imagination judge applies to an object, such as with “it is a pebble,” to take an instance. But when no definite concept is involved, as with the scattered pebbles on a beach, the cognitive powers are held to be in free play; and it is when this play is harmonious that there is the experience of pure beauty. There is also objectivity and universality in the judgment then, according to Kant, since the cognitive powers are common to all who can judge that the individual objects are pebbles. These powers function alike whether they come to such a definite judgment or are left suspended in free play, as when appreciating the pattern along the shoreline.

It is not every day that well-maintained 28-acre palaces are disposed off for a mere Rs.10 lakh. Many eye brows were raised in Srinagar when the picturesque palace of the former maharaja of Jarnrnu and Kashfmir, Hari Singh, on the up market Boulevard along the Dal Lake, was sold for a throw away price which would not have fetched even a three-bedroom house any where in Srinagar.

The sale deed was executed by the heirs of Hari Sirngh, including former Sardar-l-Riyasat and Rajya Sabha member 'Dr. Karan Singh and his family. The palace has been sold to Narinder Kumar Batra, younger son of influential Kashmir busfness magnate Dharma Veer Batra. However. it is alleged that the 'sale' was carried ~ utot p rovide a legal cover to the real owner, LaAt Suri 07 Bharat Hotds, who being a non-Kashmiri cannot, by law, purchase immovable propetty in Jammu B Kashmir.

Businessmen as well as local citizens in Srinagar are aghast over the silence of the state government and other agencies concerned on the sale of a historical site. Infact, the former chief minister was present at the bhoomi puja held by Suri at the hotel complex early last month. Interestingly, the state government had already put in place some norms on the sale of properky to put a check on the practice of undewaluing it for evading taxes and stamp duty. The buyer has to approach the deputy commissioner concerned who directs the engineering department for valuation of the properly and in case the value is higher than what is stated in the papers, the sale deed is not registered. But, in this case, this provision was ignored.

The sale is the envy of other hoteliers in Srinagar, Says Bashir Ahrned, who is also in the hotel business: "I am prepared to pay Rs.20 crore for the same property. Let Suri or his front man Narinder Batra come forward. They are good businessmen looking for profits and this should be an attractive proposition - Rs.20 crore for what they purchased for Rs.10 lakh.

As it is, you don't leave home without it. In a world of cashless payments, why not simply make your cellphone a wallet?

Japan has long been phasing out the hassle of wins and bills with microchip-laden "smart cards", that let people make electronic payments for everything from lunch to the daily commute. But even smart cards could be on their way nut, their plastic presence overtaken by virtual-wallet technology now available in the everyday cellphone.

Other nations, led by South Korea, already have so-called mobile wmrnerce payment schemes in place that let people punch keys an their cell phones so that the devices trigger transactions. But a series of phones going on sale this summer in Japan, for use on NTT DoCoMo's wireless network, are the world's first with an embedded computer chip that you can fill up with electronic cash.

First you find a machine that is used to stock smart cards with cash. They can be found in some convenience stores and offices in Japan, You place the phone in a special spot on the machine and slip bills into it. The phones have a 50,000-yen (about Rs.20,250) limit. Now you can spend.

In order to pay, you simply wave your cellphone within a few centimetres of a special display found in stores. restaurants and vending machines. A fairy-like thinking sound means your purchase is being deducted from the embedded chip using radio-frequency ID technology. It is instantaneous. Unlike infrared or other mobile payment schemes that require clicks on the handset, you do not even need to open your clamshell-shaped phone, the style of choice here.

Teachers should be aware of the importance of their role in helping gifted students in social and emotional adjustment, and in promoting their mental health. Many science of maladjustment appear at quite an early age and teachers have the opportunity to observe students under conditions which disclose such behaviour. I need be, expert help should be obtained in treating such maladjustment.

When parental relations are strained, the child is likely to feel insecure. Such a child can be helped by giving him some individual attention and making him feel that he can win the teacher's respect and affection for his superior performance.

When discipline, at home, is weak and inconsistent, the teacher can do much by providing the child opportunities for good behaviour. Bright students are as quick to respect firm and consistent discipline as they are challenge one that is lax. Bright students who misbehave at home may welcome stricter discipline at school and they may in fact be grateful for the support of a firm hand in their efforts to control themselves.

The gifted child may need help in human relations. He cannot but feel different from his average classmates. If he can find no companions who can share his interests and concerns, he may begin to stay apart more and more. One result may be a tendency to solitary pursuits such as reading, collecting things or scientific experimentation. He misses group games and rough and tumble type of play. He falls behind in physical skills and when, by chance, he finds himself in games or groups activities he feels awkward and inadequate. The teacher could help by giving him the opportunity of leadership in the activities in which he is superior, by asking him to help the weaker students in studies and so on.

Today, large parts of the population feel that business has become detached from society, and that business interests are no longer aligned with social interests. It is not enough to say that business has been discredited by the behaviour of some greedy or some fraudulent CEOs, and that tightening the rules will demonstrate that the majority of business leaders are trust worthy. What has come under attack is the credibility not only of business leaders but of business itself, or in other words, of our market driven system.

This is paradox. The welfare of all people can be increased only if we use available capital and human resources in the most efficient way. Free markets, democracy, transparency, global interaction and entrepreneurship are the only way to boost economic progress and social development. Yet many people are longing now for different solutions. There has been a proliferation of simplistic, populist voices condemning our capitalist system as cold and inhumane. At a time of corporate scandals and economic stagnation, those voices find fertile ground not only among the traditionally left-out minorities, but increasingly among large parts of the middle class.

The middle-class moroseness can be explained by the sudden fear people feel for their future. The capital stock has shrunk, retirements benefits no longer seem secure, health costs increasingly eat away at income and job security is fading even for the well trained. In some ways this movement against the system has already infected whole nations : in Latin America, several countries are now governed by presidents who are at odds with the fundamental driving factors of our free-market system.

The only way to stop this new wave of antibusiness sentiment is for business to take the lead and to reposition itself clearly and convincingly as part of society. Business needs to propagate - and live up to - a new philosophy that I would call "society-oriented business".

To make effective decisions, all we have to do is to out-think our opponent. Our decision needs to be better than his, that’s all. There is no need to be perfect.

The mistake we make is to think through our intellect. If we ask any successful business leader or CEO these days about what has made them so successfully, again and again they claim that their success came from something beyond their intellect; something beyond logic and facts’ something that gave them the intelligence and guts to take effective decisions. It is simply the intuitive power within them that has helped them make these effective decisions.

We can tune into intuition as part of our regular life. The question therefore is not whether intuition is an inborn quality, but whether we can make ourselves intuitive.

When we step into the present, we step out of time-bound awareness. We step beyond tension. Our body stoops producing adrenaline. Time-bound awareness is mass, which is solid. Non time-bound awareness is pure energy, liquid, dynamic, bubbling and creative. We step out of our boundaries. We become free. We become free. We become intuitive.

When out thoughts stop, our present vision extends into the past and the future. We become free of time and space constraints. When we mediate deeply, we become intuitive, and can reach cosmic intelligence or enlightenment.