The industrial associations, at a meeting with district collector P Velarasu, had pointed out lapses in cess recovery by the MIDC following which the collector instructed the deputy labour commissioner to examine the issue .

Dnyaneshwar Gopale, president, Ambad Industries Manufacturers Association (AIMA), said, The way MIDC is recovering labour cess is completely wrong. Companies under the Factory Act have been excluded from collection, but MIDC recovers cess in a blanket manner. During a recent state-level meeting of the Rajya Udyog Mitra, the labour department had clarified that companies which are under the Factory Act are not applicable for paying cess. We had informed the MIDC to follow the labour departments guidelines but it has not.

When contacted, an official from the deputy labour commissioners office said, NIMA had given us a memorandum and we forwarded this proposal to the Maharashtra Building Other Construction Workers Board. The decision has to be taken by the Board.

MIDC charges labour cess of 1% of the total construction cost from industries. Cess is collected while sanctioning construction plans. The revenue collected through labour cess is deposited directly into the accounts of Maharashtra Building and Other Construction Workers Board. This fund is then spent for the welfare of labourers across the state. In Nashik division, abour cess amounting to Rs. 14 crore was collected in the FY 2011-12.

However, according to Wikipedia, most world-wide celebrations are now influenced by the American traditions of going to church, giving flowers, and hosting family dinners. Having brunch or tea, getting massages and going picnicking or shopping have also become popular ways to celebrate the holiday.

With signs, stands, and balloons, more than 3,000 children hawked the drinks from a plethora of locations this Lubbock Lemonade Day and learned important lessons in business through the experience.

Chloe Dannevik and her father, Paul, created a corporate team for their lemonade business. Chloe’s dad works at Lubbock National Bank, one of the day’s corporate sponsors.

“Each participant on our team had to buy stock in the company for supplies and rental space,” the elder Dannevik said.

Others, like Girl Scout Troop 6402, gave their earnings to nonprofits like Haven Animal Shelter and the YWCA, said Trish Keller, the troop leader, a big supporter of the day.

“It is an awesome way to teach kids about business, being responsible, and giving back to the community.”

Not only did the children learn, but Samantha Aronoff of Troop 6402 proclaimed, “It’s fun! I’ve been selling lemonade all day!”

And even some childhood wishes came true this day.

“I have wanted a lemonade stand since I was 3 years old,” said Sutton Knight, part owner of the Mini Dogs and Mad Dogs Lemonade Stand with her mom, Terry Knight.

Lemonade Day began in 2006 with a Houston entrepreneur who wanted to make a significant difference in the world.

When his daughter wanted to start a lemonade stand, Michael Holthouse took the idea a step further by incorporating business lessons to help children gain experience and earn a dollar.

Holthouse created the four P’s, which he called the founding principles of Lemonade Day: product, price, place and profit.

Kate Hamilton is a city champion of Lemonade Day. She helped bring the initiative to Lubbock.

Lemonade Day 2012 proved a success, she said. “We have given out 3,000 backpacks which is more than New York City Lemonade Day gave out.”

The juggling came shortly after The Eagle published a story that Moonwalks for Fun and Pure Entertainment were being investigated for possible ordinance violations.

My daughter had her heart setting on going out there because her cousin had her party out there with inflatables about nine months ago, said Kasey Young, who had planned to celebrate her daughter Adisons fourth birthday at Pure Entertainment in west Wichita. They offered to let us have a party there without inflatables for half off.

The former Spartanburg School in Randolph County burned on March 12. The Palladium-Item reports neither sheriffs Detective Tom Pullins nor fire marshal officials would say what led them to believe the fire was set.

The front section of the school was built and opened in 1908. For more than 50 years, it housed Spartanburg students in grades 1 through 12. A second section was added in 1939. The building has been vacant for about 10 years.

The NIU police department provides its own lost and found service. They are one of several lost and found services students can use on campus. Items not claimed at the end of the year are sold in an auction hosted by the NIU police. The next auction will be at 9 am on April 28 at the Huskie Stadium. The NIU police does not profit from the auction, NIU Police Sgt. Alan Smith said.

When students need to report something missing, they can go online and fill out information about their item on a form. They can also visit or call the NIU police to report a missing item. Reports are accepted all day, Smith said.

This semester, 202 items were reported missing. There were 451 items reported missing last semester and 750 items were reported missing in 2011, Smith said.

The numbers do not accurately represent how many items are lost on campus, Smith said, because not all lost items are reported to the NIU police.

“Every day – literally – people are losing things on campus,” Smith said.

Once the NIU police receives a lost item, it sees if anyone has reported an item missing.

“We have a lot of honest people in our community who help out,” Smith said.

Usually a lost item is successfully returned to the owner because of someone being nice, said Sophia Martinelli, junior nursing major who works at the Neptune residence hall help desk.

When people claim a lost item, they are required to describe it, Smith said. Someone may misrepresent themselves to get a lost item, he said.

STAFF at a Pendle leisure club are celebrating after scooping two top awards for the quality of their ale.

Anthony “Burni” Burniston, who runs Rolls-Royce Leisure in Barnoldswick, has been awarded Cask Marque accreditation for serving the perfect pint of cask conditioned ale, as well as achieving Carlsberg UK’s coveted Gold Award for licensees with high product standards.

It was Burni’s idea to introduce cask ales into the social club not long after he was appointed as club manager, just over three years ago.

He said: “We are over the moon at receiving this recognition. We take great pride in the quality of our beer. It’s nice to be recognised for the hard work we put into maintaining our cellar and giving our customers an excellent product. To me there is nothing more gratifying than hearing a customer comment, ‘Eh that’s a good pint’.”

Backed by 45 of the country’s leading brewers and pub companies, Cask Marque accreditation is only awarded to licensees whose ale passes a series of rigorous independent beer quality audits.

Cask Marque director, Paul Nunny, said: “Rolls-Royce Leisure should feel justifiably proud of this excellent achievement, which not only recognises the effort they put into serving the perfect pint but also acts as an independent guarantee of quality for customers.

“All too often, publicans don’t appreciate the care and attention cask beers require and then run the risk of losing custom by serving pints that are below par.”

Jeff Acton, Trade Quality Manager for Carlsberg, who inspected the club said: “I was very impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm displayed by the team. Their product quality was first-rate and their cellar management and hygiene is exemplary and shows in a fine glass of beer. Rolls-Royce Leisure is one of only two outlets in East Lancashire to receive the Gold Award so it is definitely somewhere I would be happy to enjoy a pint.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett’s secretary got to attend the State of the Union speech in January because of Buffett’s complaints that tax laws are too easy on wealthy investors.

At Saturday’s Berkshire Hathaway meeting Buffett joked about the fame Debbie Bosanek gained because he says she pays a higher tax rate than he does.

In a video skit, Bosanek started ignoring calls into the Berkshire office. That forced Buffett to start picking up the phone only to find that the callers wanted to reach Bosanek.

Oprah Winfrey, President Barack Obama and CNBC all wanted to talk to Bosanek instead of Buffett. Obama even told Buffett that his tax reform proposal might have a better chance of passing if it were renamed the “Bosanek Rule” instead of the “Buffett Rule.”

Even Buffett’s partner, Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, called to run an investment idea past Bosanek instead of Buffett.

Later in the meeting, when Buffett was questioned about his recent prostate cancer diagnosis he joked that the reason he disclosed the illness last month was to distract attention away from Bosanek.

The movie also featured a skit where Buffett tried out to join the glee club by performing on his ukulele with the cast of Glee. Actress Jane Lynch joked that Buffett was her character’s past lover from the days when the character coached cheerleading at the University of Nebraska.

In another skit in the movie, Buffett sought out the advice of Jimmy Buffett as a therapist for his ukulele playing. But Jimmy Buffett seemed bored during the session and played video games on an iPad while Warren Buffett talked.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

In 2007, Warren Spector taught a class at the University of Texas and invited 12 prominent developers to tell their stories of being pioneers in the game development industry, with the goal of preserving the history of our favorite hobby. His tenth guest was Richard Garriott, the game-developer-turned-astronaut who created the Ultima series of games that played a strong part in defining the RPG and MMO genres. In this 3-hour video, Garriott gives incredible insight into the process of making games, and is very frank about the problems, errors, and mistakes made along the way.

The video was originally made available years ago (Garriott refers to Tabula Rasa in the future tense), but was recently drug back into the spotlight when Richard Garriot encouraged his followers on Twitter to watch it.