03/26/2007 - 03/27/2007

Religion in Nepal

Religion is an important aspect of life in Nepal and most individuals identify with a particular religion and strive to live their lives accordingly.

Nepal is formally a Hindu country. However, the religion has become strongly intermingled with Buddhism and as such it is difficult in reality to define Nepal as one or the other.

When asked to identify with a religion, just under 90% of individuals in Nepal classify themselves as Hindu. 5% of Nepalese people classify themselves as part of the Buddhist religion and the remaining 5% is primarily split between the Islamic and Christian religion.

CALIBRE Awarded Contract for Cultural Resources Program

The Army National Training Center Acquisition Command has awarded TEAM CALIBRE a contract to provide Cultural Resources Program Management Support for Fort Irwin, CA. Services provided will include survey, evaluation, and curation of cultural and historical resources, coordination support for regulatory agencies, and public awareness activities; all in support of the Fort Irwin mission. This award is a five-year contract with a total value, if all options are exercised, of $2.6M.

Is your website multilingual?

It wasn't so long ago that companies were debating the value of building a Web site. What would be the payback? Today, most businesses recognize that a company's online presence is its face to the world. Forward-looking businesses are taking that literally, say experts, and hustling to make Web sites that speak to global customers in their native tongues.

To reach 80% of the world's Internet users, a Web site needs to support a minimum of 10 languages, they are: English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Italian, Russian, and Portuguese.

EU effusion 'lost in translation'

Sharp-eyed professors have spotted what they say is evidence of "political translation" of the EU's Berlin Declaration, agreed at the weekend.

Both the Danish and English versions of downplay the emotional language of the original German, they say. Instead of saying that the EU member states are united in "happiness", they say that they have united "for the better", or "for the best".

U.S. Architect work being Outsourced to India

Even in Las Vegas, a city not known for understatement, the overhaul of the Tropicana Casino & Resort is grandiose. When the $2 billion face-lift is completed in 2010, the hotel will have more than 10,200 rooms, a new convention center and shopping mall, parking for 6,200 cars, and multiple pools. That's great for gamblers, but it's a big challenge for the architects putting all the pieces together. Adding to the complexity, gaming tables and sections of the hotel will remain open through the renovation. Worse, it's happening at a time when U.S. architects are in short supply.

Time to call India. In a cramped office in Kolkata, some 8,000 miles from the Strip, dozens of Indian architects spend their days and often nights generating plans for the Tropicana.

Word of the Day: roborant

roborant \ROB-uh-ruhnt\, adjective:
1. Strengthening; restoring vigor.
noun:
1. A strengthening medicine; a tonic; a restorative.

A major field study of the effect of pollen extracts on the common cold and its roborant . . . effects in 775 Swedish military recruits did not give unequivocal results in relation to the prophylactic effect of the preparation used against the common cold. -- James P. Carter, Racketeering in Medicine

That day, I felt the need of a roborant after my ghost-ridden night, and I swigged down two doses. -- William Least Heat Moon, River Horse

IIMs stress cross-cultural training

The number of IIM students accepting foreign placements has been increasing every year and the students are not worried about going to countries to which they have had little or no exposure, for they have been trained in the skills required to handle different cultures.

This year, approximately 75 students from IIM-B accepted foreign placements which is an increase of 50 per cent over last year’s 50 students who accepted such offers. Even the countries that came this year were more diverse, with students going to countries in West Asia, China and, Trinidad and Tobago.

Action on diversity will reap rewards

Diversity is not just the latest buzzword, it's a business imperative. Law firms have to continually seek the brightest and best talent in the marketplace, which means looking for talent beyond the traditional university milk round.

Language experts push multilingualism to promote 'identity'

Language has proven to be both a barrier and an opportunity by EU citizens when it comes to mobility, and the British Council invited delegates to discover what Europe thinks, through panel presentations and wider forum discussions, which took place at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels.

The seminar, on 20-22 March 2007, examined the case for multilingualism both in material terms such as career benefits and in terms of cultural awareness and development, for example in the promotion lifelong learning, adaptability and tolerance among EU citizens.

across Systems Presents Web Client for Simplified Translation Processes

From April 16 to 19, 2007, across Systems will present the new proofreading client crossWeb at the AIIMexpo in Boston, MA, in the GALA Language Technology Pavilion (booth 2235). The new client gives external proofreaders or employees direct access to the across Language Server for web-based review and commenting of translations.

The across Language Server is a central software platform for all corporate language resources and for controlling translation processes and workflows. This product is especially suitable for enterprises operating on an international scale, from medium-sized companies to large corporations, from machine engineering companies to software manufacturers.

Word of the Day: autochthonous

autochthonous \aw-TOK-thuh-nuhs\, adjective:
1. Aboriginal; indigenous; native.
2. Formed or originating in the place where found.

For cultures are not monoliths. They are fragmentary, patchworks of autochthonous and foreign elements. -- Anthony Pagden, "Culture Wars", The New Republic, November 16, 1998

I thought of the present-day Arcadians, autochthonous, sprung from the very earth on which they live, who with every draught from a stream drink up millennia of history and legend. -- Zachary Taylor, "Hot Land, Cold Water", The Atlantic, June 17, 1998