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Showing posts from March, 2005

Will they make it?

Over the past few days I've been noticing a quiet revolution of some "dot com" companies with splashing advertisements during cricket matches, aggressive online ads etc etc. These "dot com" companies comes from two lucrative sectors of the Indian market - Jobs & Marriages. A few of the marriage makers that are aggressive in their advertisement and style of operations are shaadi.com, bharatmatrimony.com and the latest in the race jeevansaathi.com. Jeevansaathi.com has come up with a new TV campaign with a tag line called, "Don't marry the worst mistake of your life, log on to .... " Shaadi.com and Bharatmatrimony.com has more web presence in that they advertise themselves in almost all of the famous indian dot com news sites. Coming to the job sites, timesjobs.com is a new entrant, which is part of the Times Group (Times Of India, Economic Times etc.). During the recent Test match between India and Pakistan, this new found glory o

Advantage TamilNadu!

A few months back, Nokia announced that it is interested in opening up a production facility in India with an initial cap of around $150 million and said that they are aiming to employ around 2,000 people directly. Circa March 2005 - Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of TamilNadu met up with some key officials from Nokia! Will this lead to Nokia opening up a production facility in TamilNadu? Only time will tell, but kudos to the TN government for opening up a lead!

Howz that?

Behind Maggi 2 minute noodles pack: Step 1: Boil one cup of water Step 2: As soon as ganguly goes for batting, put the noodles in the boiled water and add the tastemaker. Step 3: Stir till ganguly is on the field. Step 4: As soon as ganguly is back in pavilion, your noodles are ready to eat. If that's an old one, blame me not. It was delivered to me on e-mail, just yesterday.

Nokia Xperience!

It's looking to redefine how people buy mobiles. While the conventional approach has been to offer a wide array and goad the consumer into buying a phone, irrespective of their usage patterns and requirement, Nokia's new Concept Store will try and adopt a more subtle sales pitch. The first such store, set up over 2,000 sq. ft. in Bangalore, will give prospective mobile phone buyers the chance to "touch and feel" Nokia's range of phones, accessories and add-ons like ringtones. "The problem is that most stores sell phones based on rudimentary budgets of customers. No one looks at other parameters such as specific user requirements. "While someone could manage with an entry-level handset, a businessman might want a full-fledged digital assistant, which acts as a virtual office," says Sanjay Behl, Head (Marketing), Nokia India. Nokia will retail its entire range of mobility products and will provide customers an opportunity to 'experience th

Desi Apprentice!

The grapevine has it that liquor baron Vijay Mallya will soon be donning the shoes of Donald Trump in a desi version of the famous Apprentice! Apprentice is a hit reality TV Show in the US and thanks to Star World, it is aired in India every Friday evening. And the latest season of Apprentice has an Indian-born candidate also appearing.

After Wipro, now Cognizant @ Coimbatore!

Cognizant Technology Solutions will scale up its infrastructure in Chennai and set up its first tier two city development facility in Coimbatore , as part of its $76 million expansion. “We see a strong demand with outsourcing programme reaching the mainstream and inhibitors going away,” said Lakshmi Narayanan, president and CEO. He referred to the US elections and its positive outcome, with large corporations outsourcing their IT needs. “We are quite confident that Coimbatore will be a successful location for us,” added Narayanan. The centre will service its global requirements and focus on application maintenance, testing services and IT infrastructure management services.

Budget '05, good or bad?? Bad for salaried class!

Budget 2005 has brought both joy and misery to taxpayers, particularly the salaried. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has simplified income tax structures, and you have to pay less tax as a consequence. But while it's true that with the basic exemption limit being raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000, more people would fall outside the minimum taxable limit, the introduction of a couple of riders, such as doing away with standard deduction and the introduction of a fringe benefit tax (FBT), don't augur well for the salaried community. If anything, it threatens to increase its tax burden rather than provide any relief. The removal of standard deduction (up to Rs 30,000), which was available only to the salaried class, will hit hardest. That's because standard deduction was a substitute for expenses incurred while working (akin to the fixed percentage standard deduction available for repairs in rented-out properties), and doing away with it means the possibility that more peo

Vrooom!!

F or a company that sold a mere 150 cars in India last year, BMW has hogged a disproportionate share of news columns. Ever since the late nineties, stories have been written in business dailies of BMW's imminent entry into India with its own manufacturing plant, only to be followed by a rash of denials. In between, BMW has been said to have looked at locations as varied as Gurgaon, Kochi and Vizag. Ramesh Divyanathan, BMW's spokesperson in South-East Asia, is a bit amused by the myriad and conflicting reports. "Yes, BMW is interested in India, but there are no plans to open up any facilities in the near future," he says. Ironically, BMW's top brass itself may be responsible for the conflicting reports. Recently, BMW Chairman, Helmut Panke, was reported stating in Singapore that the carmaker was considering manufacturing in India. At the moment, BMW doesn't even have a marketing office, instead choosing to sell the handful of cars through two dealers in North a

An IIT in Kerala!

Centre has agreed to favourably consider Kerala government's request for establishing an Indian Institute of Technology centre in the state. Centre was considering either to upgrade an existing Education Institution to the status of IIT or establish a new campus. Kerala government had already informed the Centre that it would make available the required land and also bear half of the establishment cost. PS: IIT Kerala will make a landmark of sorts in itself by conducting the most number of harthals (read strikes) in an educational year!!

MY Peak Day Blues

I've been using My Yahoo services for a long time. It's really good in that you can synchronize news collected from various websites in one single page. I've even customized it in such a way that I receive my favorite cartoon on that page every day. Now am happy to inform you that Peak Day Blues also can be now syndicated with My Yahoo!!! Notice the new My Yahoo icon in the right hand side of the page?? You can just click on that and start reading Peak Day Blues in My Yahoo right away!! PS: Alternatively, you can click here also

Game Over??

As many as 70 per cent of the top 15 Indian Business Process Outsourcing start-ups will cease to exist in the coming months, analyst firm Gartner has said. "By the end of 2005, 70 per cent of the top 15 Indian-owned BPO start-ups that offer customer call centre services will be acquired, merged or be marginalised," it said. Gartner said despite the hype, only a small fraction of customer service outsourcing will be done at offshore locations. "Offshore call centres, offshore customer service outsourcing only represents a tiny fraction of the market. In 2005, it is expected to be less than two per cent of the total and will grow only to less than five per cent in 2007," it said. The worldwide market for customer service outsourcing is set to grow from $8.4 billion in 2004 to $12.2 billion in 2007. Gartner also predicted that through 2007, 80 per cent of organisations that outsource customer service and support contact centres with the primary goal of reducing cost wo

Amul Again!

Well, it's been long since I featured an amul ad in my website.... well, here's the latest of the Amul print ads.... Once again, creative idea at its best... Kudos to daCunha, the creative agency behind it... [ click here for a larger pic] PS: BBC World has started a new program for its India based viewers called Ad World last month. I got a chance to view some of its episodes and it's WORTH a watch. This week, it is doing an in-depth review of Amul ads. So, don't miss out!!! It's aired on Thursdays and Sundays.

No Tsunami this time around!!

While experts were keeping their fingers crossed as the hours clocked by on Monday night and into early Tuesday morning, there was growing consensus that the reason why the quake had not triggered off tsunamis was the direction of the fault line and the position of the epicentre. This means that the wave is directed at the open Indian Ocean and because the epicentre this time is 100 km south of the December 26 quake, India is very likely to remain on the periphery. If the waves hit the coast, the maximum height at the shoreline would be just 1 m. PS: At around 1 am (IST), the Hawaii-based Pacific warning centre said that “no major tsunami was observed near the epicentre” 125 miles west-northwest off Sibolga, Sumatra. Its earlier alert had said that the quake had the potential to cause a “widely destructive tsunami” and authorities should take “immediate action,” including evacuating coastlines within 1,000 km of the epicentre.

Earthquake Update!

The quake occurred at 09:40 Indian time! Tens of thousands of people ran out of their homes in many parts of Sumatra, and in Singapore and Malaysia. But there were no immediate reports of casualties. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake had the "potential to generate a widely destructive tsunami in the ocean or seas near the earthquake." "Authorities can assume the danger has passed if no tsunami waves are observed in the region near the epicenter within three hours of the earthquake," it added. Read a report here by the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program website

Breaking News!

As reported by me last week , the inevitable has happened... A large earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra Island in the Andaman Sea late Monday, and the U.S. Geological Survey said it was a major quake measuring a magnitude of 8.2. Thai officials issued a warning of a possible tsunami, three months after a tsunami devastated parts of Indonesia and other countries in the region. The quake occurred at 11:09 p.m. local time at a depth of nearly 19 miles, the USGS in Golden, Colo., said. Japan's Meteorological Agency measured the quake at magnitude 8.5. Read more news here

Miss India 2005

365 days of waiting, 77 days of planning, 24 days of tough training, 23 girls and finally - 1 winner! Mumbai city on 27th March 2005 witnessed the grand finale of the most awaited and prestigious beauty pageant of the year - 'Pond's Femina Miss India 2005'. A glittering evening which saw some of the most beautiful women of the country, a host of celebrities, famous personalities and the beautiful 23 finalists who showcased their beauty, talent and confidence to vie for the most coveted title in the country. The newest sensation - 'Bombay Rockers' got the audience grooving to their hit songs Rock the party and many more. Mona Singh aka Jassi in her gorgeous new look and Samir Soni were the perfect hosts for the evening with the sensational Indian Idol winner - Abhijeet Sawant and the finalists Amit Sana, Rahul Vaidya and Prajakta Shukre. And the winner was Amritha Thappar from Pune!!

Wipro @ Coimbatore - Update!

Wipro will be allotted 10-12 acres of land in Coimbatore for setting up a business process outsourcing (BPO) division. "We are developing about 30 acres of land for IT and ITeS industries in Coimbatore. Wipro will be given 10 to 12 acres of land there," an official of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot), the nodal agency of the state information technology department, said. Wipro's entry into Coimbatore would be a big boost for Tamil Nadu in its efforts to develop second-tier cities like Coimbatore, Hosur, Trichy and Madurai for attracting IT and ITeS companies, he added. "We have been told that Wipro is keen to set up its BPO facility in Coimbatore," he said. Wipro chairman Azim Premji had met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitaa recently to seek more land for expanding the company's operations in the state. Officials said Wipro Technologies, the IT division of Wipro, which was operating on a 15-acre campus was given the go-ahead for the expansi

Call Center Forecast!

India and the Philippines will see substantial growth in call centres by 2009, says a new report. The report, "The Future of Contact Centre Outsourcing in India and the Philippines", published by Datamonitor, an American analyst firm, predicts that over 2,50,000 new call centre agent positions will be created in two countries by 2009. And Philippines will be poaching the market increasingly, which India currently dominates. USA and UK are the biggest clients in the call centre industry. According to Datamonitor, both India and the Philippines will see substantial growth in call centres.

and still counting....

I felt extremely happy & satisfied today with the celebrations that we had to commemorate our volumes achievements. Let me make it very clear that achieving what we have achieved today is no joke. It has taken us some 3+ years to touch 1000 Event Briefs in a quarter and so much hard work, commitment, loyalty, dedication, and breathtaking efforts have gone into achieving this significant milestone. Of course, we've the next big challenge staring at us - 75% MS in 2Q05. Believe me, it's going to be no piece of cake, but I know and am confident that it is not a mighty mountain either. We should be able to scale it TOGETHER as a TEAM, as we always have been! So, what's next? Well, the answer lies in what we're striving to do today and tomorrow. With the team size expanding, the buzz words are training, coaching, mentoring, blah, blah, blah... Remember, only that has brought us here and we should continue to drive hard at training and continuous improvement of self a

What Next? Gizmodo

We've seen all kinds of gizmos, from a simple calculator to the latest Nokia mobile phones. But haven't you ever wished that all the functionalities of different gadgets be available in a single product? Now, here comes a gadget that combines media player, phone, and gaming gadget! YES, All three in one! Read more about this new exciting gadget here Via: KTJ

Camera Binoculars!

Yes, you read the title right! Somebody has invented a hybrid camera cum binocular... It's going to be a boon for many bird watchers who can now take snaps of rare species of birds and show it to their friends and family. But as everyone invention has its downside, perverts might also find it helpful.

Ms. Hairy!

Dai Yueqin from east China has kept her hair uncut for 26 years, since she was 14 years old. And now her hair measures 4.2-meter-long (about 15 feet)

Another Tsunami?

Well, if we are to go by this report , Scientists have predicted that another tsunami will hit Asia within the next year. News@nature.com has quoted Professor John McCloskey, one of the three authors of the report, as saying that a tsunami triggered by the Sunda trench would mostly dissipate in the Southern Ocean. But Indonesia, particularly Sumatra, would almost certainly be struck again, and the wave would probably wash up on southern African shores too

Sleeping @ work??

Scientists at MIT's Media Lab in the United States have invented an alarm clock called Clocky to make even the doziest sleepers, who repeatedly hit the snooze button, leap out of bed. After the snooze button is pressed, the clock, which is equipped with a set of wheels, rolls off the table to another part of the room. When the alarm sounds again, simply finding Clocky ought to be strenuous enough to prevent even the doziest owner from going back to sleep. PS: Just imagine what will happen to us @ 3:30 AM if this is with us!! :-) Via: Sangeetha

No Wires!

Just imagine that you have a laptop and can access your company's server from anywhere in the world, whether it be in your home, while driving, in a restaurant etc. You don't have to come to office everyday to work anymore, right? :-) Well, it's not a dream anymore!! This technology is called WiMAX According to Intel, a leading developer of this technology: WiMAX is a standards-based wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances. WiMAX can be used for a number of applications, including "last mile" broadband connections, hotspot and cellular backhaul, and high-speed enterprise connectivity for businesses. An implementation of the IEEE 802.16 standard, WiMAX provides metropolitan area network connectivity at speeds of up to 75 Mb/sec. WiMAX systems can be used to transmit signal as far as 30 miles. However, on the average a WiMAX base-station installation will likely cover between three to five miles.

No Price Drops!

There seems to be an impression that prices of Color TV, Audio products, Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Microwave Oven and Air-Conditioners may go down post VAT i.e. from 01/04/2005. But CETMA (Consumer Electronics & TV Manufacturers Association) has clarified that no such downward revision of prices will be implemented after VAT comes into effect.

Why do we remember songs??

Scientists have discovered what makes a tune catchy by pinpointing the precise part of the brain where a song's "hook" gets caught. A team from Dartmouth College at Hanover in New Hampshire discovered that it is the auditory cortex - the area that handles information from the ears - that holds on to musical memories. Researchers played music to volunteers using a technique called functional magnetic resonance imagery and scanned their brains. As the music was played, parts of the tune were cut. Researchers found volunteers mentally filled in the blanks for a familiar song with missing snippets, though the same effect was not seen with unfamiliar tunes.

Surf Anywhere!

I've always been a little skeptical about Reliance Infocomm and its operations, especially with their management... But now they've come up with a package which I've dreamt for many many years.... What that package is?? I was reading y'days newspaper and they had an ad in the last page regarding something called R Connect. R Connect brings to you wireless surfing by just plugging in a small Data & Voice card to your laptop... You can check e-mails, chat thru IM or simply browse wherever you are, whether you are traveling or at a friend's place... And all this comes with just Rs. 650/- per month (1 GB download limit)... Check this to know more details.... PS: Kudos to Reliance, I've changed my stance on them!!

At the speed of a click

I've been fidgeting around with computers since I turned a teen and has got so used to clicks that everything else around me seems to move at a snail's pace.... This weekend, I happened to be at a government office for some paper works and got frustrated with their pace of work.... Where am I who starve at times to get my job done and where they are who takes a tea break at every 30mins... Or is it just that I'm moving at a faster pace than the rest of the world!! Yikes!

Blink! Blank!

It's always tough to come back to your terms when you take a long holiday, event if it means an extra day during a weekend :-) Well, am feeling the Monday Blues on a Tuesday.... Trying to get back to my senses now.... will be Blogging in a short while

India's Best Managed Company!

The latest Buiness Today edition has a cover story titled "India's Best Managed Company".... Can anyone guess who got that coveted award? It is Infosys Technologies and there are several reasons, including a best-in-class planning process and a unique online how-to-work resource. L&T bagged the 2nd price while Wipro came a close 3rd. The other companies that were ranked in the order were - ICICI Bank, TATA Power, Ranbaxy, etc. Now you may ask - What's a Best Managed Company? Simply put, it's a company that not just delivers superlative financial performance, but is also adept at anticipating changes, learning and staying ahead of its peers. That apart, it must have a high social commitment. In other words, a corporate all rounder!! Here's an excerpt from the article: Guests at a wedding held in Bangalore late last year were pleasantly surprised to find a rather high-profile guest in attendance. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys Technologies' Chairman and

The Indian connection in Dilbert!

Dilbert is my favorite comic strip and I have blogged before about a new character in Dilbert, that of "Asok", an Indian. For the past three days, an interesting development is going on in the Dilbert series featuring Asok. Here's the story line.... Here's today's one....

No Mercy

Yesterday when I was reading "The Hindu", I read an article along with a photo of a man hanging from a crane in Iran who was convicted of raping and murdering 16 children. In the article it was written that the man was whipped 100 times and stabbed in his back before being hanged. Though the gravity of his crime is beyond anyone's imagination, I believe the way he was killed was brutal. But a non-human like him needs such a treatment so that no one dare's to do such a heinous crime again!! Here's a photo of him gitting whips from a judicial in Iran.

Busiest Big Mac!

The busiest McDonald's restaurant in the world is not in America but thousands of miles away in Moscow, where the menu includes cabbage pies and other Russian food items. The store serves 30,000 customers a day. The chain now employs 17,000 Russians in 37 cities and plans to open 25 restaurants this year, mostly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and 75 more by 2007.

Lowest paid CEO!

Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently was inducted into the famed Guiness Book of World Record for being the "lowest paid CEO" in the world. Can anyone guess what's his salary for the year 2004?? $1.... yes you read it right, it's just 1 dollar US!! But don't pass on a judgment immediately thinking he is a fool... he infact gets money through stock options and as "gift cheque" from the company. But many believe that he has set a landmark of a sort by accepting such a small salary....Forbes magazine, in its annual list of the world's 400 richest people, ranked Jobs at No. 74, putting his estimated worth at $2.6 billion. PS: I believe TamilNadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's salary is just Re. 1 per annum... correct me if am wrong!!

A scary mail

I got a forwarded mail recently from a friend which read like this.... MAIL FROM S. Dinesh Gopinath, I.A.S, Director of Medical & Research Div, Chennai. Dear Friends, Kindly take a couple of minutes to go thru this mail. If useful may advise others also . Please pass this on to others This happened in Paris recently and may happen elsewhere also. A few weeks ago, in a movie theatre, a person felt something poking from her seat. When she got up to see what it was, she found a needle sticking out of the seat with a note attached saying "You have just been infected by HIV". The Disease Control Center (in Paris) reports many similar events in many other cities recently. All tested needles were HIV Positive. The Centeralso reports that needles have been found in cash dispensers at public banking machines. We ask everyone to use extreme caution when faced with this kind of situation. All public chairs/seats should be inspected with vigilance and caution before use. A careful vi

Yahoo joins blogosphere!!

Yahoo!, the No. 1 Internet brand and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide, today announced Yahoo! 360 , an innovative new service that allows people to easily share what matters most to them and keep connected with the people they know -- all in one convenient place. Available March 29 through an invitation-only beta, Yahoo! 360 will provide users with an integrated experience, seamlessly bringing together popular communications, content and community services such as Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Photos, Yahoo! Local, LAUNCHcast Music and Yahoo! Groups with new services like web logs (blogs), mobile blogging (moblogging) and other sharing tools for recommending favorite movies, restaurants, music and more. The company plans to add additional features and functionality throughout the beta period.

Top 10 Brands!

A brand consulting outfit called Interbrand tracks and lists the most valuable brands in the world each year. Here are the top 10 international brands for the year 2004, along with what Interbrand estimates to be the market value of each brand, in billions of dollars: Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), $67 Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), $61 IBM (NYSE: IBM), $53 GE (NYSE: GE), $44 Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), $34 Disney (NYSE: DIS), $27 McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), $25 Nokia (NYSE: NOK), $24 Toyota (NYSE: TM), $23 Marlboro [property of Altria (NYSE: MO)], $22

The biggest fraud of our times!!

Ebbers was found guilty of participating in the largest accounting fraud in U.S. history and could spend the rest of his life in prison. One juror said in an interview that the former WorldCom CEO "pretty much hung himself."

BPO Blues!

Is this the beginning of the end for the fast-growing BPO sector? Sceptics have for some time been pointing to the double whammy of skyrocketing attrition and absenteeism as a potential stumbling block. Add to this the increasing number of disillusioned MNCs gravitating towards the exit sign, and the dismal picture is complete. Consider: Not too long ago, Wipro's BPO (formerly Spectramind) lost a part of the outbound voice work it would do for CapitalOne; then AXA Business Services lost a portion of the captive work it used to do from Bangalore. Now it's the turn of Sykes, a Tampa (Florida)-based call centre firm to cut its workforce, according to a filing it has made with the us Securities And Exchange Commission. Sykes says it will move "some" Indian work, with some reports pointing to half the $4 million (Rs 17.6 crore) in revenues generated from this centre being repatriated to other centres in the Asia-Pacific (in the Philippines and China) and workforce in Banga

GE Call Center @ Coimbatore!!

Pramod Bhasin, president and CEO GECIS (GE Capital International Services), recently was quoted as saying that while the company was certainly opening a centre in Kolkata and was also considering Chennai, smaller towns were definitely on the anvil. “Jaipur has been a huge success for us. I don’t see why we cannot replicate this success in Coimbatore or Goa. Admittedly, it’s harder to set up the centre in such cities initially but it works great in the long run. Training periods are longer but attrition levels are lower. So it pays off.” When asked about high-end back-end work being done from India, Bhasin said that in the area of accounting and finance, they were actually closing books of accounts for companies from the centres in India. “The question is not whether India can do high-end, high-value BPO work. The question is whether the companies are ready to take it on,” he said. PS: GECIS employs over 17,000 staff at five BPO centres in India.

Nokia Explosion!

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, is facing a $25,000 lawsuit in Thailand after a user was severely injured when his handset exploded. The accident took place in March last year when Prasit's Nokia mobile phone exploded. Prasit suffered severe burns and his right leg and all five toes on his left foot had to be amputated while his right hand was crippled.

Buying an air ticket?? Go fill petrol!!

Buying an airline seat is going to become as easy as picking up a cinema ticket, and that too without queueing up outside a cinema house. Petrol stations, bank ATMs and mobile phones are all set to become distribution channels for low cost airline Air Deccan in the coming weeks. The airline has signed up with oil giant HPCL to retail tickets from its 6000 pan-India outlets from third week of March. Air Deccan Managing Director G.R Gopinath said the rollout will happen in Bangalore and will be expanded to other points in a phased manner. HPCL officials said since most of its petrol outlets especially the 2500 urban locations were all wired -- internet connection -- it could quickly put up ticket dispensing kiosks. According to Mr Gopinath, selling air tickets at petrol pumps will further demystify flying to the masses. More importantly, the accessibility will improve for large sections of potential passengers since petrol stations were located at just about every cor

Mr. Chintamani!

Chances are that you have heard of the man. Chintamani, ad-film model and brand ambassador for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. But, unlike your average model he doesn't throw any tantrums or storm out of the set. He is a model of professionalism. Or maybe that is because Chintamani is made out of clay and is just seven inches tall. Welcome to the world of clay animation, which (not very creatively) is called Claymation. Chintamani might be the latest star, but he shares his living quarters at Famous House of Animation at Famous Studios in Mumbai with his friends who have featured in adverts for Amaron Batteries and Brooke Bond Taaza and in vignettes for MTV and Channel V. However, it was only six years ago that Claymation landed in India, so the work done here, despite winning plaudits for its quality, has some way to go before it can catch up. The new Hutch TV ad featuring a Claymation family was made in New York, for example. But while Claymation stars may not th

Mind ur Inclish!

This is a collection of leave letters and applications written by people in various places of India. A candidate's application: "This has reference to your advertisement calling for a 'typist and an accountant - Male or Female'... As I am both for the past several years and I can handle both, I am applying for the post. ITI Bangalore: An employee applied for leave as follows: Since I have to go to my village to sell my land along with my wife. Please sanction me one-week leave. Another employee applied for half day leave as follows: "Since I've to go to the cremation ground at 10 o-clock and I may not return, please grant me half day casual leave" A leave letter to the headmaster: "As I am studying in this school I am suffering from headache. I request you to leave me today" An incident of a leave letter "I am suffering from fever, please declare one day holiday." Another leave letter written to the headmaster: As my

True Love!

The headman of a big tribe had a beautiful daughter, who fell in love with a boy who was an ordinary poor person. When the people of the tribe came to know about their love, they did not like it at all, and so began to protest about it. Now it happened that the two lovers left their homes for a happy future. The people of the tribe started searching for the two lovers but they could not find them. At last, they accepted their love and asked them in a newspaper to come back. The people said that if u both come back we will get u married, we accept that u loved each other truly. So in this way their love won and the age old attitude of the tribe took a beating. The couple went to the city for shopping for the wedding. He was wearing a white traditional dress, and was crossing the road when a car came and hit him and he died on the spot. The girl lost her senses. After a long time she recovered and accepted that her love has died. One night she was sleeping in her home with her family. He

What's in a name?? Think Again!

WIPRO: Weak Input, Poor & Rubbish Output HCL: Hidden Costs & Losses TCS: Totally Confusing Solutions INFOSYS: Innovative Nonsense For Official Systems. C-DOT: Coffee During Office Timings HUGHES: Highly Useless Graduates Hired for Eating and Sleeping IBM: Implicitly Boring Machines SATYAM: Sad And Tired Yelling Away Madly PARAM: Puzzled And Ridiculous Array of Microprocessors HP: Hen Pecked AT&T: All Troubles & Terrible CMC: Coffee, Meals and Comfort BFL: Brainwash First, and Let them go DELL: Deplorable Equipment & Lackluster PSI: Peculiar Symptoms of India PCL: Poor Computers Ltd SUN : Surely Useless Novelties BPL: Below Poverty Line NIIT: Not Interested in IT Via: Madan

Life As a Guy!!

Russell forwarded me this cute little movie about the life of a normal guy.... it showcases how tough it is for a guy to live in this world full of...... well, see it for yourself and fill up the blanks..... Click Here! Folks, it's a must see....

A different perspective!

We've had the US media cover the "outsourcing trend" both in a positive as well as a negative way in recent times. Suffice to say that some of these were fabricated to the core and were either pro-India or anti-India. The anti-outsourcing trend has ceded now, esp. after the elections. I was just browsing by when I came across this article in New Scientist, a much respected non trade publication which gives a realistic picture about India's outsourcing genius, Bangalore!

Clinical Trials @ Coimbatore!

To tap the global boom in clinical trials outsourcing, the Mumbai-based Metropolis Health Services Group is setting up state-of-the-art laboratories not only in India, but also in the Gulf, Sri Lanka and Kenya. Metropolis is opening a clinical trial laboratory in Dubai under a tie-up with the Gulf Medical College Hospital and Research Centre and two similar facilities in Sri Lanka and Nairobi, said G.S.K. Velu, the group's managing director. In India, the group has firmed up plans for a testing facility in Coimbatore and two clinical trial laboratories in Chennai and Bangalore. The two clinical trial laboratories in Chennai and Bangalore will be ready by June, while the testing centre in Coimbatore will be up and running next month.

Human Qualities!

A long time ago, before the world was created and humans set foot on it, God had put all the human "qualities" in a separate room. Since all the qualities were bored they decided to play hide & seek. "Madness" was one of the qualities and he shouted: "I want to count, I want to count!" And since nobody was crazy enough to want to seek "Madness", all the other qualities agreed. So "Madness" leaned against a tree and started to count: "One, two, three..." As "Madness" counted, the qualities went hiding. "Treason" hid in a pile of garbage. "Lie" said that it would hide under a stone, but hid at the bottom of the lake. And Madness continued to count "... seventy nine, eighty, eighty one..." By this time, all the qualities were already hidden except "Love ". For stupid as "Love" is, he could not decide where to hide. And this should not surprise us, be

Jassi Jaisi...??

Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin is a hit Soap Opera aired in Sony Television.... What I like about this series more than the story is how they tried out new marketing techniques to promote this venture..... They roped in Saif Ali Khan for an episode where he appeared as the hero of Hum Tum... and Jassi's (acted out by famous model Mona Singh) real life appearances in many award functions and shows... And here's one more to their kitty.... they've come up with a book titled "Jassi's 7 steps to success".... Brilliant!! I was amazed to see it listed in Baazee.com .....

Honda Unicorn - A user's review!

Upon solicitation, I take pleasure in penning a few words on the Unicorn, Honda's 4-stroke pride introduction. From a racy front face and a masculine fuel tank to the sleek rear cowl and unique mono-suspension, the Unicorn is a perfect fusion of sporty and macho design. The checkmate move of Honda is its mono-suspension, which enables it to fly smoothly over the highly punctuated Indian roads without any body ache or travel fatigue. The next feature worth mentioning is its state-of-the-art tuff-up tube in the rear which minimizes the incidents of sudden puncture by 70%. "Be a wing rider" goes the slogan, and true to it the vehicle clocks 0-60 in just five seconds. It is armed with a powerful 150 cc, 13.3 bhp engine, and promises a mileage of 60 kms/ltr, which is already too good for a 4-stroke engine. There are wing riders who are enjoying an amazing 70 kms/ltr, and this is no fiction . In short, it is a pleasure riding the Unicorn. It is very smooth, has excelle

No. 3!

It's now official folks, an Indian is the 3rd richest man in the world, behind Bill Gates and Waren Buffet..... Forbest magazine has come up with its latest Billionaires where LN Mittal is placed at an envious No. 3..... I think this a good reason for all of us to Cheer!! Bravo Mr. Mittal.....

Namaste, Wall Street!

Not too long ago, when Rishi Khosla cold-called the manager of a Wall Street mergers-and-acquisitions desk to pitch his services -- outsourcing deal research as well as customized stock and credit analysis to India -- the manager told Mr. Khosla that he didn't understand the M&A business and hung up on him. Today, Mr. Khosla and his partner, Joel Perlman, have about 100 analysts crunching numbers at Copal Partners' site outside New Delhi. The firm claims at least several top Wall Street firms as clients but declines to name them; Goldman Sachs Group Inc., however, lists Copal as a source on some of its own research for clients. Mr. Khosla, who cut his chops pitching an in-house venture-capital fund to legendary General Electric Co. boss Jack Welch (who gave Mr. Khosla the go) says these days Copal is involved in big M&A deals all the way up to putting together Wall Street bankers' pitch book. The lesson here: It is unlikely the Kings and Queens of Wall Stre

More Discounts!!

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) always prides itself for maintaining a stable pricing regime, despite the high competition in the Indian passenger car market. It’s now becoming more of a habit for the company to latch on to opportunities to offer its products with lower price tags. First it was the Rs 5-lakh offer on the Accent. There was also the Rs 7-lakh offer for Elantra. Just about four months ago, HMIL came out with a Celebration Offer for its ‘B’ segment compact car, ‘Santro Xing’, that was made available at Rs 3 lakh. It received an overwhelming response, with dealers across the country registering bookings close to 27,000 units. That’s history. One can now get a Santro Xing for a little over Rs 2.72 lakh (ex-showroom Chennai). Through this “limited period offer”, the company has started silently pushing into the market a stripped-down version, Santro Xing X, without air-conditioning and power steering. “We are not pushing it. It always existed as a ‘made to order’ m

Why is QWERT important!

The truth is that some of us hate typing!! And some of us (including me) hate proof reading also.... But here's an eye opener for us.... A typing error has raised a nuclear alarm! Read more Link via: Sangeetha

A pc for 9,900/-

Believe it or not, u can get a PC with configurations like 128 MB RAM and 30 GB Hard Disk for as low as 9,900/- I think if this report is true, many people can afford a PC in India, thus increasing the penetration which stands at a meekly 1:1000 odd something now.... Link courtesy: Madan!

No Eve Mr. Adam!

In an experiment designed to test out one of the oldest arguments in the battle of the sexes, a British village is to be temporarily stripped of its womenfolk to see if the remaining men are able to cope!!! PS: Anyone wants to go there?? :-)

BPO attrition rate close to 60%, say head hunters!!!

Even as BPOs in India announce elaborate hiring plans for the current year, the high levels of attrition prevalent in the sector remains an area of concern. According to several recruitment firms in the country, attrition in the ITeS (IT enabled services)-BPO industry is close to 60%. Interestingly, the reported figures are much lower and are about 35-40%. Recruiters explain that the high attrition rates significantly increase the investment that are made in the employees in this industry. “The problem of losing funds in employee acquisition is more prominent in the high-end BPO segment. Companies invest a lot of time and money in training a candidate for the first four months. But these investments do not always get converted into actual profits,” said Teamlease vice-president Kavitha Reddy. Teamlease is a HR outsourcing services company. Senior officials in the ITeS-BPO sector, however, maintain that the rate of attrition is at best 40%. The range of services by an ITeS-BPO p

Google News!

Google News is one of my favorite locations to search for news and current affairs... and I know many of you also use that... Well, Google has come up with an option to customize its news section according to our wish!! "Customized news allows you to create your own sections on the Google News front page to focus on, for instance, your favorite technology, sports team or entertainment. You can also rearrange your sections and choose which ones to show by mixing and matching any of the sections from the 22 regional editions of Google News from around the globe"

The Nuke Conspiracy!

Pakistan's information minister acknowledged on Thursday that a scientist at the heart of an international nuclear black market investigation gave centrifuges to Iran, but insisted the government had nothing to do with the transfer. It was the first time the Pakistani government has admitted that Abdul Qadeer Khan actually gave material to Iran, although it has said in the past that his criminal group sold technology and blueprints to several countries. "Dr. Abdul Qadeer gave some centrifuges to Iran," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He helped Iran in his personal capacity, and the Pakistan government had nothing to do with it." Mr. Ahmed originally made the comments at a seminar in Islamabad organized by a local newspaper group, in which he stuck by Pakistan's insistence that, despite his crimes, Dr. Khan would never be handed over to a third country for prosecution. "I support t

Let's Groove Mr. Gates!

Microsoft Corp. said it will acquire Groove Networks Inc., a closely held maker of office collaboration software, for an undisclosed amount. Groove, based in Beverly, Mass., makes "virtual office" software that allows groups of workers both in and outside companies to share files on their personal computers and to work on them simultaneously. Groove's peer-to-peer networking concept is similar to Napster's original music-sharing system. Groove was founded in 1997 by Ray Ozzie, the creator of the Lotus Notes e-mail software. Once the acquisition is completed, Mr. Ozzie will join Microsoft as its chief technical officer, reporting to Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates.

A new reality series!

In these days of so many reality shows in TV, one show really stands out... I happened to watch AXN today and saw a new reality show called "The Contender" hosted by Sylvester Stallone (yes, our very own Rambo)... It's about real-life boxing... Here's how the creators describe it as... "From reality-TV guru Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice), and on-screen boxing legend Sylvester Stallone, comes a brand new hard-hitting, unscripted drama about people who dare to fight for their dreams. Exposing the guts and the glory of the world of boxing, The Contender will leave you inspired by the dreams, conflicts, triumphs and defeats of the dreamers who dare to give their all in the pursuit of the fabled American dream – dreamers who you will discover are much more than just lean mean fighting machines" Do watch it if you have time, it's really good! Telecast Time: Every Thursday @ 9pm.

Get Organized!

DO YOU ever spend time looking for something that you know is `right here, somewhere'? Do you ever experience mild panic when you can't find something important? Do you often forget to do things or leave tasks unfinished? If so, these tips may help you get things done in an orderly and timely fashion. Adopt this motto: `A place for everything and everything in its place.' Searching for things eats up precious time and creates stress. Putting things away takes seconds, saves time and cuts stress. Keep things you use often close to hand. Put them away, in the same place each time, when you're not using them. Carry a small notebook to keep track of ideas, reminders to yourself, and promises you've made. This is a great memory aid that stops you forgetting things and re-inventing the wheel. Go through your notebook regularly and act on what you've written. Don't create clutter with bits of paper or sticky notes. Write important information wherev

Will Sony outsmart iPod?

Sony is planning to launch a new line of portable music players called "walkman players" which features flash memory chips to rival Apple's popular iPod. The new Sony players also support the generic MP3 audio format, which is what most people use when converting their music CD collections to digital files. That's a major concession for Sony, which had tried until recently to persuade consumers to only use its proprietary audio format, called Atrac. The lineup includes a set of cigarette lighter-sized models, a bit more expensive than the iPod Shuffle but with a much longer advertised battery life -- 50 hours of playback time with a rechargeable battery compared to Apple's 12 hours. And unlike the Shuffle, the Sony players have bright, three-line screens to display song information.

Game Over for Mr. Gates?

Linux has become one of the latest "hot spots" for tech geeks to try their hands at Open Source. One of the main reasons for Linux's success was the anti Microsoft campaign which has been growing in recent times. And the latest rumor is that our very Google is planning to come up with a browser on its own (Google registered a domain called gbrowser.com last year).... So, how's Microsoft stacking up? I would say pretty poorly.... Here's an interesting site I came across which is declaring war against all Microsoft products

All about podcasting!

I have noticed a recent trend in the web -- podcasting. I saw many people writing about it and discussing it. I didn't had a clue what it was and hence decided to check out its definition in Wiki. And here's what I found out.... "Podcasting is making audio files (most commonly in MP3 format) available online in a way that allows software to automatically download the files for listening at the user's convenience. The word "podcasting" is a portmanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting. A podcast is like an audio magazine subscription: a subscriber receives regular audio programs delivered via the internet, and they can listen to them at their leisure. Podcasts differ from traditional internet audio in two important ways. In the past, listeners have had to either tune in to web radio on a schedule, or they have had to search for and download individual files from webpages. Podcasts are much easier to get. They can be listened to at any time because a copy is

Customer Dissatisfaction!!

I went to Kalyan Silks today with my mom for shopping and had an embarrassing moment when I went to pay the bill.... My "Canara Bank" debit card was not functioning!! This is the "N-th" time this debit cum ATM card is not working. Three weeks back, I only had 50/- with me when I went to the ATM center only to realize that the ATM is "out of order"!! Coming back to today's event, luckily my mom had her debit card with her (that of Federal Bank) and it was working.... Just imagine what would have happened if that was not there! While driving back, I just had a thought on this subject. What will happen to you when all your money is suddenly freezed and you are left with no money at all!! And I have decided not to try my luck with Canara Bank anymore and am planning to use my now idle Oriental Bank of Commerce account. Incidentally, I've been using GTB's (now OBC) debit card for the past 2 years and have never faced such a dilemma. I've used i

Happy Shivratri!!

I am the most happiest person in the world today!! Wondering what's the correlation between me being happy and Shivratri?? Well, all my cousins and friends always tease me saying that am a "kumbkharan" (a mythical figure in Ramayana who always sleeps) coz I doze off in the day time.... Well, tonight will be a night of reckoning for them!! Today they will realize that I burn the midnight oil each and every night and analyze and interpret data at 3 in the morning!! For those who think night shift job is like just another job, WATCH OUT!! And three cheers (oops, today is a "dry day") to all night shift folks!! Pic courtesy: TOI

War begins again!!

India vs. Pak cricket series is kicking off today and catching up with this season, Peak Day Blues has come out with a helpful calendar.... PS: One day series calendar will be put up tmrw folks!

From SMS to pets....

Airtel, launched a new service 'Virtual Pets on Mobile' for its subscribers. At present the range of mobile pets available includes a dog and a fish, but other pet options would be included in the list. Although the concept is new in India, virtual mobile pets are very popular in countries such as Japan and South Korea. To experience the service, an Airtel customer using a GPRS connection just needs to download the 'Mobile Pet' from the cellular company's official portal, airtel.com. After downloading, a mobile pet say a fish from Airtel Live – customers would need to take care of their virtual pet, just like they would do in case of a real pet fish. Airtel customers would need to feed their virtual pet fish at a designated time, play with it, change the water of the virtual fish tank at regular intervals. In case the pet is neglected then there is a possibility that the pet fish might die. To get a new pet fish, Airtel customers would then need to download

Google Analyst Day!

Google recently held it's annual analyst day. At the time of the event, I couldn't locate a webcast, but not it is archived. It has got a video archive and it's quite interesting.... Click Here

A good start to Narain!

Sunday mornings are always lousy, where I get up only after 11am... but this Sunday was different! I got up at 6:30 am itself to catch up with some live action of the season starting Formula 1 race at Melbourne.... New Season: Unlike the past 2 seasons, where Ferrari dominated each and every race (by the way, I am a Ferrari fan), 2005's season starting race was totally different. Renault, who were minnows in the last 2 seasons, came up with their new car and it sure indeed was accelerating at double the horsepower vs. other cars. What happened to Schumacher? At a very narrow chicane (forgot which lap it was), Schumacher made contact with Heidfeld of Williams and both spinned off the track. Michael was calling for help and soon stewards came and pushed his car onto the track again, but due to technical difficulties he rode back to his pit crew. At the time of retiring he was at an impressive 8th position taking into account that he started the race from the backpack. Na

News to use!

By now many of you would have come to know that Phillipines based SPI Technologies has acquired the Medical Transcription unit of KGiSL..... for those uniniatiated, here's some news stories that appeared on Sify and Hindu BusinessLine regarding this... worth a read! Update: Here's one more news story that appeared in Washington Post ....

B'day Bash!

Game 4 it - Update!

Many of you approached me and asked me what exactly is "Game 4 it".... Well, it's simple... During a live one-day cricket match, on average 4-5 ads will be played at the end of each over... So just imagine how many ads you will be seeing throughout the match!! Let's take a perspective, out of these 100 odd ads, how many can you recall or how many really caught your attention?? Very few, right? Well, that's what makes an ad successful.... Now, coming back to our game... it's simple and fun! We will form teams depending upon the number of entries* and will give them each a product for which they have to come up with an ad campaign (enough preparation time will be given)... The campagin can be in the form of a TV commercial or a print Ad... The judges will also be evaluating you based on the Punch Line you use (Yeh Pyaas Hai Badi - Pepsi).... And then.... I don't want to spoil the fun by revealing everything guyz..... *Mishtert *Arun *

Get Along At Work!

Everybody would agree that a dream job is a place where one looks forward to going to work and not a place one dreads because of the co-workers. With diversity at workplace becoming a reality in all fields, getting along with everyone at work has become a real challenge. Developing positive relationships at work is like block building. Just as fitting the right block in the right bracket leads to the desired shape, a right application of behavior at right time leads to better understanding, communication and hence better relations. It is important to realize that when people come to work each day, they don't leave their insecurities, personal problems and personality quirks at home. They come marching right into the office with them, and that's why there are so many conflicts and hiccups at work. Here are a few tips to improve relations and make working a pleasant experience - Weigh Your Words How one says something counts for far more than what one says. When confronted with

Obesity!

Mention the word "obesity" and just about the only point of agreement is that the problem has indeed reached critical proportions. Obesity is routinely described as a global epidemic not only in the United States and Western Europe but in countries like South Africa, China and Brazil. It threatens to overwhelm health care systems with a flood of weight-related illnesses, ranging from diabetes to heart disease. Given this reality, what should the response be from companies that manufacture, sell and/or advertise high-calorie, high-fat foods? Should these companies change their marketing strategies? Are they obligated to promote healthier products, and cut back or cut out less healthy ones, regardless of consumer demand? Who is responsible for what a person eats? Read an in-depth article on this

Girl Power!

20 year old Seema Bhadoria of Datia village in Madhya Pradesh is pulling two trucks - tied to ropes held between teeth - in Bhopal on Friday, March 4, 2005. She pulled them for a distance of 40 metres.

Repetitive Strain Injury!

It's a known fact to many that overuse of keyboards may result in repetitive strain injuries to the arms, hands, and shoulders. But in this era where eveything and anything is done with the help of a computer, you just can't sit without using one, right?? So, what's the solution?.... We humans have invented so many things that helps us live better... and here's one more in the kitty... Check it out Link Courtesy: Madan

Are u game 4 it??

It's always refreshing to have a change in your daily routines.... 2 do something different than what u do everyday... This is true especially to people working in BPO firms... Taking a cue from this and to kill monotony at work, we've come out (hopefully!!) with an idea... i.e., to give a little exercise to your brains... Enough of preface guyz.... Here we proudly present to you "Ad Zap!! Product Zap!! 2005".... Click Here 4 more details.... PS: The format of the game will be announced tmrw... So pls rush in your entries....

Time Magazine covers....

PS: TIME magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003.

Sania Mania hits Amul!

Love in the air!!

Via: Subodh!

Reliance's Never Ending "Saga"!

The chinks in the armour of India's once most powerful corporate are getting bigger. The latest skeleton to tumble out of the group's closet and embarrass the elder Ambani scion, Mukesh, is the revelation that three companies-Fairever Traders, Prerna Auto and Softnet Consultants-to which Reliance Infocomm had allotted 10 million shares at Re 1 apiece, were allegedly linked to former telecom minister Pramod Mahajan. When the controversy broke, Reliance issued a statement that sought to clarify its position. It admitted that it had given some equity to the three nominee companies of Ashish Deora (who was linked to Mahajan) as a "nominal compensation" for helping the company in obtaining "in-building permissions and associated Right-of-way permissions". However, since "Deora was not able to fulfil his commitments... the shares were returned to the trust," the statement concluded, naming neither the three companies nor the dates of the share transactio

Outsourcing's New Face!

Outsourcing came into the American's limelight in last year's Presidential elections, with the Democrats and the Republicans making a beehive over it... Well, what has happened to this turmoil after the elections?? Yes, it has died down... "The Street's" Bill Snyder has written a good article about how Indian Co.'s (read Infosys, Wipro, Satyam etc.) have weathered this political storm.... A good read....

Worst Job!

10 years and still counting!

From a side hobby when they were grads at Standford University, David Filo and Jerry Yang (founders of Yahoo) have come a long way.... from "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web" to the current "Yahoo".... Happy B'day Yahoo!! And here's wishing them many more successes in the future!! Click Here to get a sneak peak of Yahoo's front page 10 years ago...

From HP to World Bank - Fiorina's way!

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz pulled out of contention for World Bank president, as White House attention turned to former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina as a potential candidate to lead the multilateral institution. Officials described the focus on Ms. Fiorina as in the early stages, but reflecting a growing effort to find a successor to James D. Wolfensohn, the current bank president. Mr. Wolfensohn will step down in May after completing his second five-year term in the post. A spokeswoman for Ms. Fiorina declined to comment.

Google unravelled!

Okay, we all know that Sergey and Larry are the founders of Google. We all know that "do no evil" is google's motto. But no one really knows the secrets of Google... how it works, who matters most etc etc.... Well, here's an insightful article I came across which details all these doubts.... A must read for all Google fans!!

Ahw, a sigh of relief!!

After 48 hours of cruciating pain, where Iodex and Moov proved ineffective, stretching my legs in a special way is doing the trick. My pain has reduced considerably and I am thankful to Mishtert, who by the way is a Phsyio Therapist for giving me inputs.....

Ouch, am having a Charley Horse!!

I tried to "stretch" myself too much over the weekend by putting in more than 2hrs of workout and my left calf muscle have given way to Charley Horse (Muscle Sprain) now..... U can see me limping around the office today.... Lesson Learned: U can't lose 10kgs in 2 days!!

How reliable is Reliance??

Concerned over the alleged scam involving hundreds of crores in rerouting of international calls, premier investigating agency CBI has launched a probe into working of Reliance Infocomm and some other top private telecom operators. The probe by CBI comes amid a major crackdown by Department of Telecom and its PSUs which have imposed stiff penalties that have been challenged by Reliance Infocomm. The CBI, which has initiated the probe suo-motu, has asked the concerned authorities to furnish relevant details of international telecom traffic which is alleged to have been rerouted as local calls to avoid payment to levy to telecom PSUs, CBI officials said. The investigating agency stumbled upon the case during its investigations in the illegal telephone exchanges busted in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh recently during the agency's special drive on February two. CBI officials said that during its investigations into the functioning of illegal exchanges in the Sout

Budget Blues!

I am no geek at reading the fine leaves of a budget, but one thing that became clear through media reports is that the price of Ciggies will go up significantly...!! Thanks Mr. PC, that was a shot in our "lungs"... But the silver lining here for all of us is the major relief in the form of Income Tax.... The Govt. has raised the ceiling from Rs. 50k to Rs. 1 lakh for non income tax payees and hence this will reduce the income tax burden on the aam aadhmi (common man). Though it's not clear by how much the computer prices are going to go down, according to one report, branded multinational PCs pricess will be par with the local assembled ones... Mamma Mia!! Thanks for reducing the price of a PC, Mr. PC! Verdict: Overall, a good budget for the BPO guyz with the tax exemption for the BPO sector not altered....