Top 10 Richest peoples in Asia 2010

1.Mukesh Ambani

$29 billion

India

Global ambitions: His Reliance Industries, already India's most valuable company, recently bid $2 billion for 65% stake in troubled Canadian oil sands outfit Value Creation. Firm's $14.5 billion offer to buy bankrupt petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell was rejected

2.Lakshmi Mittal

$28.7 billion

India

London's richest resident oversees ArcelorMittal, world's largest steel maker. Net profits fell 75% in 2009. Mittal took 12% pay cut but improved outlook pushed stock up one-third in past year. Looking to expand in his native India; wants to build steel mills in Jharkhad and Orissa but has not received government approval.

3.Li Ka-shing

$21 billion

Hong Kong

Betting on recovery, upped stakes in publicly traded conglomerates Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa. Through HW, Li is world's largest operator of container terminals, world's largest health and beauty retailer by number of outlets, a major supplier of electricity to Hong Kong and a real estate developer. Has a large holding in Canadian oil firm Husky Energy, which recently announced its third discovery in South China Sea.

4.Lee Shau Kee

$18. 5 billion

Hong Kong

Lee's wealth rebounded, thanks in part to doubling of share price of Henderson Land Development, the property firm he founded and still heads. Active investor in China, has stakes in such outperfomers as PetroChina, China Shenhua Energy and China Life. Chairman of Hong Kong & China Gas, which distributes gas in more than 90 cities.

5.Kwok family

$17 billion Hong Kong

Family behind one of Hong Kong's most storied real estate firms has benefited from rebound in property prices. Eldest brother Walter, who stepped down from 18-year chairmanship of Sun Hung Kai Properties in May 2008 after disputing with his 2 younger siblings, Raymond and Thomas, dropped his lawsuit alleging improper dismissal; he is now a nonexecutive director.

6.Azim Premji

$17 billion

India

Software czar chairs $5.5 billion (revenues) Wipro, country's third-largest software exporter. Reported jump in net profits in last 2 quarters, signaling a rebound for U.S.-dependent outsourcing giant.

7.Robert Kuok

$14.5 billion

Malaysia

Onetime rice and sugar trader heads multinational Kuok Group, with interests ranging from shipping to real estate to media. In 2007 merged extensive Malaysian, Indonesian palm oil interests with Singapore's Wilmar International, run by his nephew; now his most valuable holding.

8.Anil Ambani

$13.7 billion India

Estranged brother of Asia's richest person, Mukesh Ambani, oversees Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, which has interests in telecom, infrastructure and entertainment. His Reliance Power plans to build 13 power plants for $25 billion by 2014. Infrastructure arm is investing $5 billion in new roads and metro systems to be completed by 2012. His entertainment unit has committed $825 million to Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studios to co-produce films.

9.Shashi & Ravi Ruia

$13 billion

India

Brothers' $15 billion (revenues) Essar Group has weathered downturn and embarked on an expansion drive in all its businesses, including steel, oil and power. As part of global push, refiner Essar Oil bought 50% in Kenya Petroleum Refineries and is negotiating with Royal Dutch Shell to acquire 3 refineries with a total capacity of 25 million tons.

10.Savitri Jindal

$12.2 billion

India

Nonexecutive chair of the O.P. Jindal Group, a steel and power conglomerate founded by her late husband, Om Prakash Jindal, in 1952. Took over as group head after he died in a helicopter crash in 2005. In his lifetime, patriarch had handed down operations to their 4 sons, Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen, who today run their independent units.

Top-10 Safest Car in 2009

Base Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: $45,750

Environmental Protection Agency Combined Fuel Economy: 17 mpg

Safety Features: Dual front and rear side-mounted airbags; front and rear head airbags; driver and passenger head restraints that reduce neck injuries.

2009 Audi Q7

Base MSRP: $43,500

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 16 mpg

Safety Features: Driver and passenger head-restraint whiplash protection; front side airbags for chest and pelvis protection; energy-absorbing padding under the instrument panel to protect feet and legs.

2009 Acura MDX

Base MSRP: $40,790

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 19 mpg

Safety Features: Front, rear and third-row airbags; driver and passenger head restraints that reduce neck injury.

2009 Volvo XC90

Base MSRP: $37,000

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 16 mpg

Safety Features: Front, rear and third-row airbags; driver and passenger head restraints that reduce neck injury.

2009 Acura RDX

Base MSRP: $33,695

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 19 mpg

Safety Features: Front and rear impact-absorbing crumple zones; side-impact door beams; emergency tailgate opener; breakaway inside rearview mirror

2009 Subaru Tribeca

Base MSRP: $29,995

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 18 mpg

Safety Features: Standard curtain side air bags for front and second rows; roll sensor system that detects a potential vehicle rollover and deploys side curtain airbags.

2009 Honda Pilot

Base MSRP: $27,595

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 19 mpg

Safety Features: Front-seat head restraints designed to reduce neck injuries when impacted from the rear; three-row side curtain airbag with rollover sensor system.

2009 Ford Taurus X

Base MSRP: $27,575

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 19 mpg

Safety Features: Side curtain airbags for all three rows; seat-deployed side air bags for front-seat passengers.

2009 Volkswagen Tiguan

Base MSRP: $23,200

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 21 mpg

Safety Features: Front and rear head airbag protection; rear-side thorax airbag protection; rear head restraints.

2009 Saturn Vue

Base MSRP: $22,075

EPA Combined Fuel Economy: 22 mpg

Safety Features: Driver and passenger head restraint whiplash protection system; dual front-seat-mounted airbags; front and rear head airbags.

Fun Facts About the UN

On October 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence when its Charter was ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council (France, Republic of China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and United States) and a majority of other 46 member countries.

Signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco on June 26, 1945

To celebrate the UN's birthday (actually, celebrated as the "United Nations Day" in many countries), here are a quick 10 fun facts about it:

1. Failure of the League Of Nations

The first world organization of countries was the League of Nations, founded after the World War I (back then it was called the Great War or the War to End All Wars - yes, ironic). The aim of the League of Nations was to prevent the repeat of the war.

Benito Mussolini, the prime minister of Italy back then, famously said "The League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out." And indeed, just three decades after the founding of the League of Nations, the world plunged into another war, World War II.

2. Churchill in a Bathtub: The Origin of the Name

The name "United Nations" was proposed by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Winston Churchill back in 1942. Churchill was in Washington, D.C. then - in fact, he was sitting in a bathtub when FDR was wheeled into the bathroom and proposed that the Allies of World War II be called the United Nations.

FDR and Churchill thought that "United Nations" sounded better than the "Alliance," a name they were thinking of first. Churchill noted that the poet Lord Byron had used the name to describe the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in his book Childe Harold's Pilgrimage:

Here, where the sword United Nations drew,
Our countrymen were warring on that day!
And this much—and all—which will not pass away.

Ironically, the Allies of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, which included the Prussian Army (which later became part of Germany in 1919), fought the French Empire. France, of course, was later part of the Allies of World War II, who fought Nazi Germany.

3. Rockefeller's Gift: Land for the UN Headquarters

The land of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City was purchased from real estate mogul William Zeckendorf with money donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Zeckendorf was going to use it to build X City, a futuristic real estate development that failed to get off the ground (Source). The UN Headquarters building was designed by Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, and built with an interest-free loan from the United States.

The land and the building of the United Nations Headquarter are considered international territory. It doesn't even meet all of New York City's fire safety and building codes.

4. United Nations Stamp

The United Nations has its own post office and its own postage stamp! Though mostly collectibles, you can actually mail stuff using the UN stamps from UN premises in New York, Geneva, and Vienna.

5. The UN Logo Was First Designed for a Lapel Pin

The logo of the United Nations was designed by Donal McLaughlin, who worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor of the CIA. Donal described the UN logo as an "azimuthally equidistant projection showing all the countries in one circle, flanked by crossed olive branches." The logo was first designed as a lapel pin.

6. UN Flags and One That Just Gotta Be Different

Agencies and organizations of the United Nations all have their own flags:

The UN official colors are light blue and white. For some reason, World Food Program just has to be different: its flag colors are reversed!

7. UN Secretary-General Fun Facts

The head of the United Nations is the Secretary-General. They are appointed based on geographical rotation, but never from the five permanent Security Council member states.

The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon from South Korea. He has been described by many as "bland" (indeed, his nickname is Ban-chusa, or "the bureaucrat" in Korean). When he was elected Secretary-General, however, Ban surprised everyone by singing a version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with the lyrics "Ban Ki-moon is coming to town" instead).

Another interesting facts about past UN Secretary-Generals:

- Kofi Annan is a twin, a particularly respected thing in Ghanaian culture. The Akan people of Ghana often name their children after the day of the week they were born. His name, Kofi, is given to boys born on a Friday.

- Let's face it: Boutros Boutros-Ghali has a funny name. Indeed, an Icelandic soccer team has been named after him! "Boutros Boutros" once said "The best way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden violence." We can't agree more!

- Kurt Waldheim got embroiled in the "Waldheim Affair" when it was discovered that he was an intelligence officer for Nazi Germany during World War II.

- Forget "Boutros Boutros," the UN Secretary with the best name has got to be U Thant. Actually "U" is an honorific in Burmese, roughly meaning "mister" - his actually name is only "Thant."

- Dag Hammarskjöld was killed in a mysterious plane crash (it was rumored that the British MI5, the CIA, and the South African intelligence services were responsible). He is the only UN Secretary-General to die in office and the only person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously.

8. Does it Pay to be an Employee of the UN?

The UN Secretariat employed some 15,000 people worldwide (in comparison, the Pentagon employed 23,000 people in Washington D.C. alone!). Salaries for professional staff of the United Nations are determined by the "Noblemarie Principle," named after the chairman of a committee of the League of Nations who first formulated it in 1920.

The Noblemarie Principle holds that the UN must pay its staff equally for work of equal value, despite differences in levels of pay in various countries from where they are drawn. This translates to a base salary of $113,000 for the Under Secretary-General, to the bottom salary of $32,000

Being a diplomat to the United Nations, on the other hand, has its benefits: because of their diplomatic immunity, many of them refuse to pay parking tickets. Indeed, 6 countries have an average of over 100 parking tickets per diplomat!

9. Newest Member: Welcome Montenegro!

The newest member of the United Nations is Montenegro, who became the 192nd member in 2006. Besides member states, there is one non-member observer state, the Holy See in Vatican City.

10. Who Pays for the United Nations?

The UN budget comes from the member states, determined by their ability to pay (for example, France and the UK were assessed 6% of the budget, whereas Liberia was assessed 0.001%, the minimum rate). The United States shoulder the lion's share: it pays 22% (and 27% of the peacekeeping budget, which is assessed separately). In 2006, this turns out to be $423 million or $1.42 per American citizen.

Despite being assessed the most, the United States is constantly late in payment. By 2005, the US owed more than $960 million in arrears. Thankfully, it's not alone: only 40 out the 192 members paid on time - in fact, late payment is considered standard practice by many nations!