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Ahead of the festive season in India, consumers have a bounty awaiting them in the form of huge discounts being offered on diamond jewelry. With British lender, Standard Chartered Bank slashing its exposure to the business, coupled with the Antwerp Diamond Bank going in for liquidation, a massive correction in prices of rough and polished diamonds is forecast by traders.

The end result – consumers could end up getting huge discounts, with diamond wholesalers attempting to offload their inventory.

While the Standard Chartered Bank is recalling its loans, aiming to reduce its exposure to the trade in India, it has also lowered its exposure to gold and bullion trade in India after a default by jewelry chain Winsome.

Vipul Shah, chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said that the prices of both rough and polished diamonds would soften by around 10% to 20%, as demand was low and with the imminent changes, supply would increase further.

Manikbhai Dharmesh Sodia, another diamond trader said the liquidity crunch by the `biggies’ would force the sector to do away with their stock at a huge discount. “Though this might seem detrimental to Indian diamantaires in the short term, it might actually turn out to be rather beneficial in the long term, since it would filter out fly-by-night operators,” Soria said.

Traders said that ADB’s total global operations were worth around $1.6 billion, and roughly $1.2 billion worth was from Antwerp. The rest were spread across branches in other parts of the world, including Hong Kong and India. Of its total operations, about 60% was being serviced to diamond traders of Indian origin.

In India, ADB is learned to have had direct financing worth $200 million to $230 million through its Indian branch. With the possibility of ADB demanding a short window for repayments, an immediate liquidity crunch among diamond traders, especially those based out of Mumbai and Surat, was being feared.

US market trend

In the midst of all this, there is another problem confronting diamond exporters in India. Retailers said that unlike the past years, global buyers were now opting for ornaments in the mid-lower end of the spectrum, preferring lower purity gold and small diamonds, especially colored gems.

Though signs of an economic recovery in the US had led to hopes of a rebound in India’s gems and jewelry sales in the coming season, exporters have been very cautious. However, the liquidy crunch has now got them entangled in its tentacles. The demand for smaller diamonds was only adding to their woes.

“This year, we are receiving bulk orders from the US in the lower to a mid-end category, against higher-end in the previous years. While the actual growth in orders will be known only after a few weeks, we are hopeful this season will be better than last year,” said the Council’s Shah on an optimistic note.

The global festive season, stretching till the second week of February accounts for about 40% of global jewelry sales. As the US is the world’s largest gems and jewelry consumer (accounting for 38% of global annual demand), it is the most important market for global diamond ornament manufacturers and retailers.

While the US is on a recovery path, the European Union is showing signs of a slump. The US Federal Reserve has decided to phase out its quantitative programme by this year-end, raising the prospects of a rise in interest rates.

De Beers, the world’s largest rough diamond miner, has said that it expects global jewelry demand to rise in the long term. In 2013, global demand for diamond jewelry stood at a record $79 billion, according to the inaugural Diamond Insight Report, published by the De Beers Group.

I was talking to Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale, and I was about to launch what I thought was a tough question, and I decided to soften him a bit first to make the blow land harder. “Okay,” I said, “You know every word and punctuation mark of the Constitution like you wrote it yourself…”

“Why thank you!” he said, lighting up. “I’m delighted to hear you say that.”

And he was, too, but then again, I found out in a long and fruitful day in his company that there isn’t much that doesn’t delight him. He was delighted to meet me, and my colleagues on the documentary on the Constitution for PBS, he was delighted to have us in our office and join us for a picnic in the Yale Law School courtyard, he was delighted to bring us to his (remarkable) home and introduce us to his (charming) family, but mostly and most importantly he is delighted by the Constitution: its text, its history, its legacy, its poetry, its meaning, its authors, for all I know – we didn’t actually get to that – he’s delighted by the very parchment its written on.

Akhil is not one of those guys who speaks in whole paragraphs; he speaks in chapters. I’d ask a question, and he’d say, “Okay, there are three good responses to that,” and then, yes, indeed, he would list and explain those three responses, and they will indeed be excellent ones. The standing joke around the crew – although it’s not really a joke – is that Akhil will be to this documentary what Shelby Foote was to Ken Burns’ “The Civil War:” the guy who knows the history so well, is so personally involved with it, that he seems to have been there when it happened.

Akhil has a number of interesting, extremely well-informed ideas about the Constitution. He refers to the ratification of the Constitution in 1788 as the great “hinge of history,” in that it was the first time that any people anywhere were allowed to vote on their own form of government for themselves, in such great numbers and across such a vast expanse of land. The ratification, he says, as much or perhaps more than the document itself, marked the end of the long age of despotism and tyranny in human civilization, and launched humanity’s second era of democracy and self-government.

And, he says, we should consider the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the Reconstruction Amendments, as a Second Framing, and we should venerate the drafters of those amendments as much as we do the Founding Fathers. The Reconstruction Amendments both corrected the deep flaw embedded in the original Constitution – its tolerance of slavery – and for the first time, via the 14th Amendment, the Constitution empowered the Federal Government to actually protect and defend civil rights, rather than merely refrain from “infringing” them.

(If you want a fuller accounting of Akhil’s ideas, consult his excellent book, America’s Constitution: a Biography.)

Akhil is a great talker, naturally enough for a man who seems to know everything about everything, but there was one moment, toward the very end of a long day, when he fell silent for a moment. Our executive producer, Steve Ives, asked him, simply, how he feels about the constitution. And he stared past my shoulder, for what seemed a long time, and then he said, “My relationship to this thing begins the day I was born. I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My parents were not US Citizens, they came over to go to medical school, and they were supposed to go back. But because of this document, the day I was born – I’m a US citizen! I’m protected by this! I have a right to stay! So my relationship with this is really intimate. This is the document that makes me an American. That’s amazing. That’s a great gift.”

I am a cynic by nature, and not inclined to idealism. That gotcha question I asked him – I won’t admit to remembering it – was probably one of my attempts to get him to admit that the Constitution, or at least the government it created, was flawed in some serious way. (Electoral college? Really?) But in face of Akhil Reed Amar’s deeply informed idealism, such cynicism seems undemocratic.

Peru’s Hochschild Mining is selling 4.1 million of its 6,276,874 shares of Gold Resources, leaving Hochschild with a 4% stake or 2,176,874 shares of the small-cap Colorado Springs-based gold and silver miner, according to a prospectus filed Tuesday with the SEC.

In May of this year, Hochschild also unloaded 925,000 Gold Resource shares, earning $3,903,500 in the transaction. Major shareholders who own 10% or more of a company are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

In the first quarter of the year, Gold Resources reported production of 23,734 gold equivalent ounces at a total cash cost of $422 per ounce. Production included 9,958 ounces of gold, 878,958 silver ounces, 292 tonnes of copper, 929 tonnes of lead and 2,920 tonnes of zinc.

Gold Resources is focused on Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca, operating its flagship El Aguila Project, which includes the Arista underground mine and the El Aguila mill. The company also holds 100% interest in six potential high-grade gold and silver properties in Oaxaca.

In a note published June 19th, The Street upgraded Gold Resources, suggesting the company’s “strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins”.

“However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself,” The Street advised.

The most romantic day of the year is almost here – Valentine’s Day.

The day when we receive chocolates,cards and of course flowers from our loved ones or perhaps some of us receive flowers from secret admirers.

Flowers were always a big part of Valentine’s Day. There is a reason why retailers can double or triple the price of flowers around this time of the year.

The top selling flowers during Valentine’s Day are and always will be roses. You must admit there is something about beautiful and fragrant bouquet of long stem roses that gets women hearts beating faster.

Roses are considered the most romantic flowers around the world.

The interesting thing about roses is that unlike other flowers each color means different things.

Beautiful bouquet of roses not only brightens the darkest day it also brings you a little message hidden in it’s color.

I compiled a list to help you figure out what is your bouquet of roses trying to tell you this Valentines Day or what color you should send to the special someone.

Red Roses mean:

LOVE

…ever since the goddess of love Aphrodite rushed to her injured beloved Adonis and scratched herself on a thorn of white rose.The rose was stained with her blood making it bright red.

Yellow Roses mean

FRIENDSHIP and JOY

Pink Roses mean:

GRATITUDE, ADMIRATION, APPRECIATION but also SYMPATHY

White Roses mean:

HONOR, RESPECT and NEW BEGINNINGS

Orange Roses mean:

PASSION and DESIRE

Lavender Roses mean:

NEW LOVE

Mixed Bouquet of Red & White Roses mean:

UNITY

Are you one of those people who suffers from frequent or occasional migraine headaches?

If you are I feel for you…I myself belong to a long line of migraine sufferers.

Statistics show that at least 25% of women will get a migraine headache at some point in their lives. Isn’t that great?

Half of those women will get the the migraine before they turn 20 years old that’s all they need.

According to Stats Canada only 8% of people suffering from migraines have been diagnosed with migraine by their doctor. The rest goes undiagnosed thinking that they suffer from allergies, sinus problems or other illnesses with similar symptoms.

To live with a migraine headache is not very pleasant.

Some women suffering from migraines are very sensitive to light, sensitive to noises around them. Many women also suffer from nausea as a result of migraine headaches.

Fortunately there is a little light at the end of the painful tunnel….there are ways that can help to relieve migraine pain and maybe even eliminate migraine headache all together.

Just following simple migraine solutions will help you prevent most migraine attacks or help with their severity.

10 Simple Tips How To Prevent or Ease Migraines:

1. Make sure you get 8 hours of sleep at night.
2. Do not watch TV in your bed.
3. Stop eating 4 hours before bedtime.
4. Try not to drink anything 2 hours before bedtime.
5. At the first sign of migraine use cold packs for your forehead.
6. Make sure you are getting enough Magnesium (known as muscle relaxant).
7. Relax and take time out to daydream.
8. Cut down the fat intake in your diet to less then 20g per day.
9. Try Lavender or Eucalyptus aromatherapy (make a warm compress using few drops of the essential oils, burn scented candles or try soap and/or body wash). Combine this with daydreaming for double migraine solution.
10. Don’t eat foods that contain amino acid. Amino acids are know to trigger migraine headaches in some people.

If you are a migraine sufferer like myself I hope these simple migraine prevention tips will help you to get some relief from your migraine pain.

These Migraine relief tips are only suggestions to help with migraine relief and/or reduce migraine frequency and severity.They might not work for everyone.

If your migraine headaches are severe and the pain is preventing you from simple daily tasks contact your doctor.

Spring break is an enduring trademark of college and high school academic life. Frazzled students welcome the week-long intermission in studies and celebrate its occurrence with travel to warm, tropical locales where sun and fun are both in plentiful supply.

Go to Florida

Florida is a perennial favorite for spring breakers, especially those seeking an escape from cold northern climates. Popular locations like Clearwater, Panama City, Miami beach, Fort Lauderdale and Key West welcome spring breakers and time specific events to coincide with the arrival of students from around the country. Daytona Beach, on the eastern shore of the state’s midsection, is billed as “The World’s Most Famous Beach;” the tourist destination offers virtually unlimited fun during the spring break season, and the central Florida temperatures create an ideal environment for round-the-clock beach activity. Regardless of the destination, the Sunshine State offers excellent beaches for sunning and relaxing, and the varied spring break activities (like the wild MTV party on Miami Beach) virtually guarantee some form of excitement.

Go to California

Although Florida is a travel destination for students around the country, West Coast students may prefer the geographically closer beaches of Southern California. With mild temperatures and less humidity than the East Coast beaches, California offers beautiful scenery and even more beautiful people. Visitors to the Los Angeles area may enjoy attractions such as shopping, sporting activities and sightseeing; the increased possibility of running in to a celebrity adds an extra dash of excitement. A little further south, San Diego offers one of the best zoos in the country and top-quality beaches to match.

Go to a Theme Park

Students who already live in a warm environment or who don’t want to travel great distances may find days of fun available in theme parks like Six Flags, King’s Island (in Ohio), Carowinds (in Charlotte, North Carolina) or Wisconsin Dells. Many of these parks offer special student admission rates, and some extend special offers during spring break.

International Travel

Some students prefer more exotic destinations that require travel outside the United States. Nearby countries like Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Belize are popular with spring breakers, though drug wars and seedy reputations may deter some less adventurous travelers. Despite its colder climate, Europe is also a popular destination for well-heeled students.

Volunteer

Some colleges offer an “Alternative Spring Break” experience that allows students to give back to the community. Volunteer opportunities may be carried out in local communities or involve travel to impoverished cities like Detroit. Motivated students may also choose to seek out their own volunteer opportunities at local tourism boards or hospitals and adding this experience to a resume is a nice reward. For volunteer ideas or to associate with volunteer organizations, consider contacting organizations like Volunteer Match or International Stundent Volunteers (ISV). These organizations match community-minded students with popular volunteer opportunities like animal shelters, nursing homes and educational institutions.

Relax

With all the excitement surrounding spring break, some students forget to take advantage of the opportunity to just sit back, get school off the mind and relax. For extra harried students, one attractive spring break option may be to simply do nothing at all.

If you are a fan of living an ordinary life then you need to move out and see what the world has to offer. One amazing thing do in your lifetime is to get in a limo and enjoy a nice peaceful ride. A number of people these days are enjoying a ride in the Limo and they are able to get to places in peace. If you want to hire the best limo hire cheshire then all you need to do is check online and you will be able to find the best service in town. Always check reviews from previous customers so that you know which of these services deliver on their promises. If you are not too sure about how you can hire a Limo rental service then you need to just contact the number that you find online and you will be assisted in your booking.

One of the biggest advantages of hiring a Limo is you will be able to make sure that you travel comfortably. The problem with radio cab services is that the drivers usually refuse services to long distance travels. This is because these routes fall out of the way and they are not able to get back home on time. However with a Limo rental service you will not face such a problem because the drivers are told in advance regarding the route. If one particular driver cannot take you then another driver will be assigned without wasting any of your time.

You will not even know that the driver has been switched and you will just reach your destination on time without any problems. The last thing you want when you book a cab is for the cab to go ahead and cancel at the last minute. This is the reason you need to do your research on the rental service to ensure that the service delivers on time and they are dependable each and every time. Even though the Limo ride may be for leisure you need to make sure that the ride reaches you on time. If you have just been waiting for hours and there has been no limo at your doorstep then your time and your money would go to waste.

Another thing that you need to keep in mind with a limo rental service is the convenience. You no longer need to go anywhere in order to book a Limo. All you need to do is click on the link that has been provided to you and you will be able to make your booking online itself. In today’s digital world everything is moving online and there is no reason Limo rental services would not be online. You can specify all your preferences and not worry about whether or not they have been captured. You will even get a confirmation email stating your ride, the timing as well as your preferences that you have mentioned. This way there is no scope for ambiguity.

Our favorite quotes and comments from SXSW 2012 sessions and panels, with some great insights on branding, digital design and social media.

This past weekend Molly Auer and I gunned it to SXSW 2012 for a jam-packed weekend of social and digital learning (and some incredible breakfast tacos). After flying in to San Antonio Friday night, we drove the smallest car available in Texas through a rainstorm to get into Austin. The promise of killer panel discussions and new product launches helped kickstart our brains Saturday morning, and we got to the convention center in time to be among the first 100 registrants of the thousands that eventually swarmed the building.

From Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon, we crammed in as much as possible. Here’s a sampling of our schedules, which we picked from literally hundreds of choices available each day:

1. Brands As Patterns
2. Real-Time Newsjacking and a Cold-Blooded Tweeter
3. Crowd Sourcing Community Projects Like Tom Sawyer
4. The Curators and the Curated
5. Coolhunting and Coolfarming with Social Media
6. The State of Social Marketing
7. The Nick Denton Interview: The Failure of Comments
8. Celebs and Causes: A Thin Line Between #Winning and #Fail
9. Designing Experiences for Women
10. HTML5 APIs Will Change the Web: And Your Designs
11. Designing for Content Management Systems
12. Interactive Keynote Live Stream – How to Read the World
13. The Secret Lives of Links
14. Physical Architecture Meets Interaction Design
15. Excessive Enhancement: JavaScript’s Dark Side
16. UX Smackdown! User Testing Techniques in the Ring
17. High On Line: Applying Psychology to Web Design

Instead of re-hashing each session (there are a number of resources for notes/reporting from SXSW including Hackpad, a fun collaborative note source), we wanted to share some of our favorite quotes and comments that we heard from presenters. In no particular order, and highly paraphrased…here we go:

• Today brands aren’t owned by corporations, they’re shared experiences, and the brand is just the interface – Marc Shillum (Method Inc)
• A good conversation has conflict…hopefully involving wit and humor – Nick Denton (Gawker Media)
• If all of the rules I’m following were built in the past, how do I use them to plan for the future? – Robin Lanahan (Microsoft)
• The upper-left corner…where logos go to die. – Greg Johnson (HP)
• Successful music is built through the right combination of what is expected and the addition of something new…the same is true for brands. – Walter Werzowa (composer of the Intel jingle among others)
• Over-organizing kills spontaneity – Dave Olson (Hootsuite)
• We are no longer designing for design or branding sake…we are designing for meaningful order. “Design is the conscious effort to impose a meaningful order.” (Quoting Victor Papabek) – Jared Ponchot (Lullabot)
• On badges: We’re not in highschool…if you post a good comment we should publish it, not give you a gold star – Nick Denton (Gawker Media)
• Don’t rely on technology to solve your social strategy, make it about using good business judgment – Joe Chernov (Eloqua)
• Sharing content has become a sort of indoor sport (with the prize of notoriety and motivation of vanity) – David Carr (NY Times)
• RedBull thinks of themselves as a media company that makes money selling drinks instead of ads – Noah Brier (Percolate)
• If we look at the word university…we can see something of the words unity and diversity, which is important when it comes to a website. We need to have a universal look and feel that allows the visitor to experience the brand, but at the same time house and present a diverse amount of content – Jared Ponchot (Lullabot)
• On brands reacting to negative feedback: Gap was bullied by a mob that was probably .5% of their base – Nick Denton (Gawker Media)

Even in only a day and a half, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the information and insights we took in. At Star Group we’re always keeping on top of hot trends and discussions in order to always be learning on behalf of our clients.

If you want to hear more about our SXSW 2012 experience, give us a call, shoot us an email, tweet us or link in. We’ll have plenty to talk about until next year’s conference. (And we will also tell you where to find the best combination roadside BBQ pit/gas station in Texas)

Bass fishing can seem like a simple game. Cast out, wind in and, boom, catch a bass. In reality, it’s not quite so simple. While anglers of any skill level can catch bass when they are biting aggressively, some anglers have a knack for catching bass consistently and in a variety of fishing conditions. To learn some bass fishing secrets and tips, read on.

Use Smaller Lures to Catch More Bass

Bass fishermen who focus on catching only big bass often use only big lures. But what about anglers who just want to catch bass, but also have the opportunity to catch a big bass? Small lures are the way to go. One of the best lures for catching large numbers of bass is a jigworm. The rig is basic–a mushroom-head jig that weighs 1/8 oz. to 1/4 oz. and a four- to seven-inch plastic worm threaded into the hook. Weedlines and drop-offs are prime places to fish a jigworm. Anglers should use spinning equipment and eight-pound-test fishing line. Cast the lure out and bump it along the bottom as you retrieve it, or reel it steadily so the lure swims just off the bottom.

Learn to Fish with a Jig and Pig

Two elements go into a jig and pig–a skirted, weedless jig, and a trailer (pig) that is made of plastic or pork and threaded onto the shank of the hook. There was a time when anglers only fished jigs and pigs slowly along the bottom in cold water. In reality, jigs and pigs can be fished throughout the year, and they do not need to be crawled along the bottom. Among the ways to present the lure, which is the go-to bait of many bass anglers when they are looking to catch a big bass: flipped or pitched into heavy cover; cast and retrieved steadily around emergent and submerged vegetation; and skipped underneath boat docks and other overhead structure. A jig and pig that weighs 3/8 oz. is a good place to start, but switch to a heavier lure if you are having trouble maintaining contact with the bottom, or a lighter lure if you are in shallow water and the jig and pig is fouling in vegetation.

Lipless Crank-baits Can Find Fish Fast

Bass anglers oftentimes have to search for active bass. One of the best ways to find bass that are actively feeding is with a lipless crankbait that weighs 1/2 oz. Rig the bait on a seven-foot, medium-action bait-casting rod. That will allow you to cast the lure great distances and cover lots of water. Focus on weed edges and large weed flats. Retrieve the lure quickly and try to make it catch in the vegetation. As soon as you feel the lure hit a piece of weed, jerk the rod sharply so the lure comes free. This action could cause a reflex bite from bass in the area.

Consider a Wacky-Rigged Worm

Most bass anglers fish plastic worms along the bottom as part of a Texas or Carolina rig. Impaling the plastic worm through the middle of its body on a hook and casting it out–a wacky rig–is a method that is often overlooked. The wacky-rigged worm has a slow, seductive fall and curls into the shape of a “U” when it is retrieved. The lure is especially effective in shallow water when fished around boat docks, but anglers also should consider it when bass are in deeper water, particularly along weed-lines. There will be bass at various points in the water column, so casting out and letting the rig sink likely will produce bass. If the rig does make it to the bottom, retrieve it slowly and pause often. The fluttering action is unlike what bass have seen before, so they are more likely to strike. Fish a wacky-rigged worm on a spinning rod and eight-pound-test line.

The Grand Canyon, located on the northern border of Arizona, was designated as a U.S. National Park in 1919. As one of the seven natural wonders of the world, it receives more than 5 million visitors a year. The Grand Canyon was carved out by the Colorado River running along the base. The millions of years of erosion gave us the magnificent sight we have today. If you have never visited this unique national park, there are many fun tours available to provide you with an exciting time while you explore the wonders of the majestic Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon Helicopter Explorer

See the Grand Canyon from the air with Grand Canyon Helicopter Explorer tours. This fun and adventurous tour will take off from Boulder City, Nevada, just south of Las Vegas, and provide you with rare views of the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead while you travel to the western side of the Grand Canyon. When you get to the western rim of the canyon, your helicopter pilot will take you below the rim and give you a close-up view of the rock formations and geology of this unique landscape. You will also get a chance to see El Dorado Canyon, where your helicopter will set down and allow you to get out and explore the canyon for a little while before heading back to your point of origin.
Grand Canyon Helicopter tours provides transportation to and from your hotel to the Boulder City flight terminal.

Grand Canyon Helicopter Explorer
3900 Paradise Rd., Suite 185
Las Vegas, NV 89169
(888) 635 7272
www.papillon.com/popris/show_package.aspx?package_id=286&lang=en-US

Grand Canyon Mule Rides

Travel to the bottom of the Grand Canyon by mule when you take a Grand Canyon mule ride. This popular seven-hour tour starts at the top of Bright Angel Trail and follows the trail down to the bottom of the canyon 1,300 feet below. You can also choose a two-day tour where you camp out overnight in the canyon and go back up the trail the next day. The Grand Canyon Mule Ride gives you the opportunity to see the real beauty of the canyon at a slow pace and up close. The mule rides are a preferred method of touring the canyon by many people, and reservations are required for the tour.

Grand Canyon Mule Rides
(888) 297-2757
www.grandcanyongateway.com/department/category/Grand_Canyon_Mule_Rides

Grand Canyon River Rafting Tours

Experience the thrill of rafting down the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with Arizona River Runners and see it from a vantage point that can’t be found with other tours. This fun and exciting tour will take you over white-water rapids and provide a unique experience for you to remember. You will be assisted by expert guides who will provide information on points of interest and places to watch for while they keep you out of danger along the river. Multiple day trips are available to give you the experience of camping out at night on the canyon floor and experiencing the feeling of the rugged outdoors. Food and everything you need for the trip is provided for you, and souvenirs of your adventure are also available from the Arizona River Runners.

Grand Canyon River Rafting Tours
Arizona River Runners
(800) 477-7238
www.raftarizona.com/