Riga - State bail-outs of financial institutions have become almost commonplace in recent months, but still cause a mixture of surprise, fear and sometimes even panic when they are suddenly revealed.

The effects of the economic slow down due to the global financial crisis, has resulted in a five per cent fall in excise and customs collection during October. The decline in indirect tax collection comes at a time when the government is finding it hard to mobilize resources, while expenditure on subsidies and other welfare measures is going up.

The excise collection, decreased by 8.7 per cent to Rs 18,664 crore as against Rs 19,646 crore during the same period a year ago, while customs duty collections declined by 0.9 per cent to Rs 9,265 crore from Rs 9,353 crore in October 2007.

India’s largest private carr

Melbourne, Nov 13: All-rounder Andrew Symonds has been included in the Australian squad ahead of next week’s first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba.

Symonds was included in a 13-man squad along with Victorian fast bowler Peter Siddle as selectors dumped leg-spinning all-rounder Cameron White.

Symonds returns after missing the four-Test tour of India when dropped after going fishing instead of attending a team meeting during the one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin in September, The Age reported.

Washington, November 13: Researchers at the University of Illinois have found in a study that the educational TV programmes made for children lack both quality and quantity.

Barbara Wilson, a communication professor at the university, said that commercial broadcasters were doing the “bare minimum and not much more” for children’s educational programming.

Presented at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D. C., the study showed that one in eight TV shows labelled by broadcasters as educational/informational programming for children was rated as “highly educational”, and about one in four was rated “minimally educational”.