Surveys throw up interesting results. Sometimes, so amazing, that you might actually doubt the authenticity of the one who has undertaken it. But when one of the world's largest research company GfK joins hands with Monster Worldwide, Inc., a global leader in job opportunities and throws up some exciting facts and figures, you are bound to believe them.

Unbelievable as it may seem, reading this research report actually throws up light and bursts some of the myths we have been harboring since ages – regarding job satisfaction.

Globally, the survey had 8,000 respondents and showed that over half of Indian workers (55%) love or like their jobs a lot – placing India third in international happiness rankings, behind Canada (64%) and the Netherlands (57%). At the other end of the happiness spectrum, US respondents are the most likely to feel negatively about their jobs, with 15% giving their jobs a big thumbs down. This is followed by UK (12%), Germany (10%), France (9%), Canada and the Netherlands (both at 7%).

The international survey polled workers in Canada, France, Germany, India, The Netherlands, the UK and the US, asked the question "Which of the following best describes how much you love your current job?"

The following responses were received in India – Nearly 1/5^th of the total surveyed (18%) responded that they love the job so much that they would do it for free!

Another 37% said they like their job, but it could have been better and 33% said they like it for time being. However, only a small percentage (5%) of those who surveyed responded that they didn't like it or they could do better. Around 8% chose not to answer.

What is interesting to note is that there was absolutely NOT EVEN 1% of respondents who said that their work was a necessary evil and they hated it – globally, India had the lowest percentage of all countries surveyed.

The research findings were arrived based on data collected using multiple modes, including telephone and online methods to maximize participation. The total sample size for this study is 1,016.

How Young employees responded?

The research revealed that India's younger workers are most likely to be happy at work, with almost three quarters (72%) of workers aged 18 – 24 reporting that they like or love their jobs. However, while those who have entered the world of work in the last few years may be happy, it seems the further Indians progress in their careers the less satisfied they become.

The research reveals an inverse correlation between age and happiness at work, with the number of workers content with their jobs falling to just a third (36%) for those aged 50 – 64.

Money and happiness at work?

The survey also looked at the split in happiness at work by income, revealing it is medium level earners, rather than those with huge salaries, who are happiest at work. Three in five (60%) of those on middle incomes say they like or love their job, compared to just over half (52%) of high earners. Lowest earners are the least content; with less than half (47%) saying they are happy at work.

Bottom Line

There are many variables to job satisfaction – and the size of your pay check is only one aspect. It's positive to see that so many workers enjoy their jobs regardless of salary, but there are still a third who like their jobs only 'well enough for now'. No matter of what those workers' priorities are – being challenged, feeling valued or indeed making more money – it's important for anyone who does not feel fulfilled at work to remain vigilant about finding better.

Do these findings show ground reality?

I personally feel that a sample size of 1000 is not at all enough nor justifies the huge Indian workforce. It is plain commonsense – if Indians loved their jobs so much, how come job portals like Naukri and Monster survive and do roaring business? Or have the times changed and the youth have started loving their jobs a lot? What do you say?

Urban Ladder Raises $5 million Series A Funding

Indian online furniture store Urban Ladder has raised USD 5 million (approx INR 30 crore) Series A funding. Launched in mid 2012, Urban Ladder had raised their initial funding of USD 1 million from Kalaari Capital in August 2012.

The current round of funding is led by SAIF partners with existing investors Kalaari capital participating in the round.

The funds raised by Urban Ladder will be utilized to strengthen their customer service, technology platform and expansion of their furniture product range. Urban Ladder aims to become the largest furniture store in India within next 18 to 20 months.

Deepak Gaur, MD of Saif Partners commented, "Furniture in India is a huge market with potential to create a large online business. In this category, Urban Ladder has been able to differentiate itself by offering unique and innovative designs and excellent customer experience. We believe that the company has the promise of break-out growth. We are excited to partner with Ashish and Rajiv in this journey."

Crowd funding platform Ketto Raises  $150k Angel Investment from ah! Ventures & Calcutta Angels

Ketto.org, Mumbai based online crowd-funding platform has raised angel funding of $150,000 from ah! ventures and not-for-profit angel network Calcutta angels. The funds will be utilized for general expansion including product development and marketing.

Ketto was launched in October 2012 by Varun Sheth, Kunal Kapoor and Zaheer Adenwala. The platform allows individuals, NGOs and organizations to list projects that are social in nature and are in need of funding. Ketto has also won Google Grants award in 2012.

JustEat Raises 3rd round of Funding from JustEat Holdings, Forum Synergies and Axon Venture Partners

Justeat.in, Bangalore based online food takeaway business today announced it's 3rd round of funding from JustEat Holdings, Forum Synergies and Axon Venture Partners. Hemchandra Javeri, who was previously CEO of Madura Garments and Nike India, has joined JustEat's board.

The quantum of funding has not been disclosed. The funds will be utilized strengthen their team increase their restaurant reach and expand to more cities.

Currently, JustEat has signed up over 2,500 restaurants in Bangalore, Delhi NCR and Mumbai.

Online shopping is fiercely growing in India – Infact, it is now getting to a level where offline retailers have started to get worried. But as a consumer, it is time to rejoice, as online shopping offers them many benefits, the biggest of them all being the low prices on products.

However, how does an online shopper get the best price while shopping online?

There are so many online stores that it is nearly impossible to know the site you are buying from has the best rates on the product you are purchasing. Yes, there are plenty of online price comparison sites like Junglee, MySmartPrice and many more, where you can see comparative pricing and that is definitely one way of discovering best price.

But there is another much easier way to achieve this…

Buyhatke, an online shopping price comparison site has come up with a nifty chrome extension – Compare Hatke - which does a great job for you. As a shopper you do not need to visit a comparison site to find best prices. It will bring the best prices to you even though you may be on one of the many ecommerce sites!

Buy Hatke – How Does it Work?

First off, the user needs to install a chrome extension (it works only on Chrome). Once it is installed, you are all set. Just visit your favourite shopping sites and search for product you want. When you are on the product page, the extension will seamlessly find prices from over 50 stores and will show you the site offering best price on the product that you are looking at.

For example: Lets say, I was planning to buy Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and looking at price on Amazon, the "Compare hatke" chrome extension will kick in, search for best prices from various different price and show it to you on the page in the top bar.

There is also another interesting feature called "Watch Price" – Everytime you are on a product page, you will see a button called "watch price", which will allow you to follow the price changes of the product. So everytime the price of the product drops, you will get an email letting you know the same.

My Take

What I really like about this extension is the non-intrusive nature. It does not force you to do anything out of the way. It definitely helps you in making a more informed product buying decision. Also, what I like is, it does show prices from most of the ecommerce stores in India including eBay!

Give it a try, I am sure you will end up saving few bucks on your next purchase…

On a separate note, I suggest you also read about pitfalls of making online purchases. Sometimes lower costs come at a price, which you should be aware of!

No, it is not USA, the super hub of technological innovation and the country where Twitter was born. Neither is it India, where more than 200 million people use Internet.

It is Saudi Arabia, the country which uses Twitter more than anyone else in the world!

In a research which has surprised all and sundry, PeerReach has revealed that Internet users from Saudi Arabia, a country restricted by stringent rules and regulations, Tweets like no one else does.

Saudi Arabia's total Internet population is 13 million as of now, and as per the study, 30% of the population or roughly 4.3 million people Tweet atleast once in a month.

Interestingly, the study doesn't consider those active users who login to their Twitter account, but those who actively Tweet and share the content within Twitter. The study has compared total number of Internet users of all countries compared to total number of active Twitter users, and using this metrics, Saudi Arabia is world's #1 Twitter user.

America, where most of the technical innovations happen, is placed at distant 8^th, as only 11% of its total Internet population Tweet atleast once a month.

#2 in this list is Indonesia, where out of 55 million Internet users, 19% or 10.4 million users Tweet atleast once a month. Spain, Venezuela and Argentina are ranked at #3, #4 and #5.

Surprisingly, all the 5 top countries for Twitter usage relative to total Internet users are non-English speaking countries, where Internet has not penetrated deeply, and majority are mobile internet users.

India is ranked at a dismal 21^st position as less than 1% of Internet users actually Tweet atleast once a month. Also countries such as Germany, Canada and France are ranked lower in this list, as Tweets from these countries are very less.

As per the study, "Twitter users are young, on average 24 years. The average male is 26 years old, the average female 22 years old. Teenagers dominate Twitter. Only 20 per cent of the tweeps are older than 30." It is interesting to note that while teenagers are dominant on Twitter, they are fleeing away from Facebook!

The study shows that the youngest Twitter users are in the age range of 17-20, and Philippines is the country where maximum of teenagers use Twitter compared to any other country. Canada and Italy have the oldest group of Twitter users within the age group 31-38.

China is not listed in the ranking, as their Government has not allowed Twitter to setup their shop there. This makes Weibo as the unchallenged leader of microblogging in China, which has approximately 500 million users, but it is alleged that 90% of them are bots or fake profiles.

This is certainly one of those ideas, which makes you think, "Ah! Why didn't I think of that?"

In a brilliant display of innovation and use of technology, an Indian designer, Sayalee Kaluskar has created a unique Ray Ban Sunglasses, which can tap solar power when used out in the sun. When you feel that your iPhone needs power, then simple remove the arms of the sunglasses, and plug it in directly into your iPhone to charge it with pure solar power.

Sayalee Kaluskar has partnered with Ray-Ban to create such solar powered sunglasses, which can act as a power source for your iPhone. She has named it Ray-Ban Shama Shades. This was part of a student project at Miami Ad School in San Francisco.

'Shama' is an Urdu word, meaning lamp or candle.

How Does It Work?

The arms of standard Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses have been modified to carry photovoltaic cells within them; which is wired to a small battery hidden inside the plastic cover. Now, when you wear sunglasses out in the sun, then these photovoltaic cells get charged up, soaking up solar power directly from the sun. This solar power is silently transferred on to the battery.

When the sun goes down, and you need power for your iPhone, simple remove one of the arms as it has been designed to get detached easily. Once detached, you can see a MicroUSB connector which can be plugged into your iPhone directly, giving it a power boost without using electricity.

Ray-Ban Shama Shades – Intro Video

The Challenges

The first and foremost is the quantity of power it can store. The sunglasses have tiny solar panels, which can absorb only limited quantity of solar power. And iPhone or any other smartphone consumes lots of battery power. Whether this solar powered sunglasses can provide that much energy to your smartphone is the raging issues right now.

Another issue is the time taken by solar panels to get recharged by sunlight. Unlike a direct current source, solar power takes time to transfer energy from one source to the other. In case there is cloud and rain all over the place, these solar panels cannot be used optimally for storing solar power.

However, challenges are always there, and we are sure that if more brains work on this idea, then these challenges can be countered easily.

Having said that, we believe that this simple yet powerful idea has the potential to transform energy woes of smart phone users for ever! Unfortunately, this idea has not yet been picked up by major manufacturers or mobile companies.

We hope that this awesome idea gets materialized and we can use solar power to solve energy crisis. What is your view on this amazing idea?