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NEW DELHI: Unfazed by the UP government's apparent attempts to foil her plans for holding a rally on Tuesday by imposing prohibitory orders, Congress president Sonia Gandhi flew to Fursatganj in a private aircraft skipping Lucknow Sonia slammed Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati for trying to stop her from entering Rae Bareli and for halting development at the cost of politics. Sonia said she was ready to go to jail for the sake of development. "Rae Bareli and Amethi were the karma bhoomi of Feroze Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. It is also the karma bhoomi of mine and Rahul. Rae Bareli and Amethi are like my home. I want to ask, can anyone prevent me from coming to my home? No one can," she said in a brief interaction with reporters near the railway station in Lalganj. She also had barbs at chief minister Mayawati saying that like the Rail Coach Factory in her constituency for which land allotment has been cancelled by the state government, there were at least...

It's normal to wonder how and why you get paid the salary you do. After all, it's not a decision process most employers are willing to disclose, at least not without a little prodding. So what are the best-kept secrets when it comes to salary decisions at most companies? And how can you use them to your advantage? Let's take a look. 1. For most companies, 3.9% is the average budget increase for salaries. Yes, sad but true. According to the 35th annual WorldatWork Salary Budget Survey, the "actual increase in salary budgets was 3.9% in 2008." The number is expected to stay the same in 2009. This means, that for most U.S. workers, the average raise will be about the same, with "high performers" receiving about a 5% raise, and "low performers" receiving 2% or less, the survey authors note. "When people are looking for 6-8%, well, very few people are getting it," says Rebecca Mazin, co-founder of the HR consulting firm Recruit Right and a...