Peak Day Blues

As if the current financial crisis was not good enough, a ponzi scheme run by a former NASDAQ chief has shaken the financial world by its sheer magnanimity... It's not everyday that someone fools' you off of $50 Billion!! And even more bizzare is the fact that his own ilk turned him in! According to Wall Street Journal: "The 70-year-old Mr. Madoff is the founder and primary owner of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The firm is primarily known for its business in market-making, or serving as the middleman between buyers and sellers of shares. But Mr. Madoff also oversaw an investment-advisory business that managed money for high-net-worth individuals, hedge funds and other institutions. According to the complaints, Mr. Madoff ran the investment advisory as a secretive business, independent from the firm's proprietary trading and market-making operations. The SEC complaint said that the alleged fraud was run through this arm of Mr. Madoff's company."

In this troubled market scenario, it always helps to know how much money you saved by NOT investing in a particular stock or MF during the now infamous "bull run" witnessed in the past six to twelve months where the Sensex went all the way up to 22k... Rediff has unveiled the ‘What If You Had Invested’ feature that helps users compare returns from stocks and mutual funds with a broad range of investment options over the past one year. Take it for a spin here PS: In case you are an investor who burned your greens, this calculator will only increase your blood pressure :-)

Emaar MGF , one of India’s leading real estate developers is all set to develop an IT-ITeS SEZ at Coimbatore after the central government gave consent to 22 new proposals for Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The government has so far notified 270 SEZs involving an investment of Rs 83,450 crore. But the credit crisis in real estate has severely impacted the pace of SEZ development. About EMGF: EMGF is a real estate company incorporated in 2005, co-promoted by Emaar Properties of UAE and MGF Developments. The company is into residential, commercial and retail projects and has plans to foray into hospitality and airport projects. EMGF’s promoter, Emaar Public Joint Stock Company (Emaar), is an international real estate player with a presence spanning Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and the US. Emaar PJSC is building the world’s largest tower and Mall in Dubai and is also involved in the prestigious King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia.

Thursday November 20, 2008 4:30 PM I woke up today evening to an SMS beep from my phone. It was my daily digest of stock market news. Sensex crashed another 322 points and ended at 8451 and Nifty reached 2553, down 81 points. Tuesday January 08, 2008 4:30 PM It was a historic day for indian markets where indices have posted new highs. The BSE sensex hit an all time high of 21000!! If you take a look at the history of the BSE sensex, it's an amazing story of how steep the peaks and troughs are! It was bloodbath at the Indian stock markets on October 17. The Sensex plunged by 1,743 points, the largest fall in a single day ever witnessed in the history of the Indian stock markets. Trading was suspended in the market for an hour So, what are the lessons here? As in the past, many a new small time investors came in when the bulls were raging, taking the valuations to unimaginable highs. This has happened in the past, but no one took a que from their history books. My 5 cents of advice -

Many of you have been asking me through mails and messages as to why 'am not writing anything about the US financial turmoil and its worldwide impact, especially since I'm in the Financial Services vertical. So, here's starting a part-wise series on the worldwide financial crisis and its impact on us! Keep checking for updates! Your comments and criticisms are most welcome

Daniel J. Kohl has been named president and chief executive officer of Spheris, one of the US' largest providers of medical transcription technology and services. He will also join Spheris’ board of directors. Kohl succeeds Steven Simpson, who will remain on the board of directors after leaving his management post on Jan. 17. Kohl brings 20 years of executive management experience in health care-related industries. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Pediatric Services of America Inc., which provides pediatric private duty nursing and day treatment center services. Spheris serves more than 500 hospitals, health systems and medical group practices with clinical documentation services. It employs about 5,000 transcriptionists who work remotely using a proprietary Web-based platform. PS: Spheris has a significant presence in Coimbatore with almost 500 plus employees.

I know you all like super heroes, especially that guy who wears his "brief" over his trousers!! Yeah yeah, our very own Super Man!! Now, how many of you have seen his two-wheeler that he uses when he is not in a mood to fly... U haven't?? Check out!

Dear Dada, here's wishing you a happy retired life!! You will forever remain in our hearts as the Brave Heart who set about to change the course of the Indian Cricket forever! Adieu!

In the latest issue of Business Today, a leading business magazine in India, Shalini Dagar and Nitya Varadarajan looks at two Tier II cities making it big in the IT/BPO domain. The first city is Lucknow and the second, as most of you would have guess by now is our very own Coimbatore. In a story titled "Weaving a new story", Nitya notes that Coimbatore has got off to a blazing start, but feels that it needs to maintain its pace over the long-term. Over to the finer details of the article now. "Three years after IT came to Coimbatore, Cognizant Technology Solutions already has 2,200 people in the city in southern Tamil Nadu and is now expanding its presence with a 23-acre techno-complex near Saravanampatti, the town’s IT corridor. “We had the fastest ramp-up in a Tier-II city compared to any other company. In just two years, we grew from zero to 2,200,’’ boasts Vishnu Potty, Vice President & Head of Operations in Coimbatore. Cognizant was the first large IT company to

ICICI Bank, whose shares fell more than 10% on Friday amid rumors of its insolvency and going kaput, has lodged an official FIR with the Coimbatore and Mumbai Police. Apparently, a Tirupur based sub-brokerage is behind the rumors!! Never thought the rumour mongers were in my city itself! According to ET reports: "A Tirupur sub-broker associated with a well-known Mumbai-based retail broking firm and a group SMS-sending website are suspected to have generated the malicious rumours that battered the share price of ICICI Bank and unsettled its depositors. ICICI Bank, which filed a police complaint in Coimbatore and Mumbai on Sunday, said a bear cartel of certain high-profile BSE brokers, who have been actively selling the bank’s shares for quite sometime, may have also been behind the rumours. The bank mentioned that the group SMS website www.smsgroupshup.com and another Kerala-based entity called Maya News were active in spreading incorrect information and inducing investors to sell

Spheris, a leading medical documentation company with deep roots in India, announced it has entered into an exclusive, five-year agreement with Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation (CHS), a subsidiary of US' leading operator of community-based hospitals, to provide medical transcription technology and services to all of its affiliated hospitals. The system-wide transition of the 118 CHS facilities to Spheris' Clarity(TM) suite of technology and services is expected to take place over the next 36 months. This means that by the end of the implementation roll-out, CHS will be outsourcing all of its medical transcription to Spheris, one of the leading global providers of clinical documentation technology and services. Read more

Kudos to Mr. RamDOSE for bringing about the much needed change that we were all looking for! From October 2, it's a full blanket ban on Smoking at all places! Now, I know a lot of you support and oppose it. Ah, don't bother about my opinion! Let's come to the economics behind this... All the "petty" shops in and around Saravanampatti (where I live & work) which sell Ciggies were closed today or were banned from selling ciggies. The tea shop owners have already started complaining that their Tea/Snack sales have gone down (as people usually tend to smoke when they go for a tea)! But I've just one simple question.. Why not ban ITC from making Ciggies in India?? And when Ciggies are not available, people will automatically transform to other forms, a.k.a dopes (be it hash, gang, or grass). And no one will dare dope in public! See, that's what you call "one stone and two birds"... Are you listening Mr. Dose? PS: What you read above was just frust

From Onam @ Office - 2008 Geez, I guess I should be kicking myself for this... I forgot to link the Onam Celebrations snaps that we had @ KGiSL in Peak Day Blues. And as usual, this time also we had a "Pookalam Competition"... Going by the pictures, the competition was pretty tough this time around! Here's the link!! PS: I was on leave on Onam and hence you can't locate me in the snaps ;-)

From left Chairman of Hirotec America Inc. Katsutoshi Uno, President of KGHirotec Engineering Services P Ltd Ashok Bakthavathsalam, President of Hirotec Corporation Masato Uno, Chairman of KG Hospital G. Bakthavathsalam and Director of KGHirotec Brian McGinnity at the inauguration of the new premises of the company in Coimbatore recently. KGHirotec Engineering Services Private Limited, a joint venture company of KG Information System Private Limited and Hirotec America, plans to establish a manufacturing facility here shortly to make tooling used to make car doors (closures). According to Ranganathan Padmanabhan, its general manager (business development), and Senthil Parthasarathy, vice-president (business development), the company will initially invest about $ 2 million. It will identify vendors to supply the components and will do only the assembling here. KGISL started its automotive engineering services support operations to Hirotec America, one of the group companies of Japan-ba

From Kovalam Team Trip Ah, finally...I've uploaded the team trip photos into Picasa Web Albums... Do check it out over here !! From Kovalam Team Trip Click here to see it as a slideshow!

Trigger Jeans, a wholly owned brand of KG Denim Ltd. has opened its first stand-alone store in Coimbatore. The showroom, inagurated by ace drive Narain Karthikeyan two days back is in Arts College Road, Coimbatore. KG Denim launched the "Trigger" brand of jeans in the year 1995, positioning it as a trendy high quality jeans brand offering the best value. The brand within a very short span has risen to the status of market leader. The brand was only one of the two brands to be awarded the Indis Brand Equity Fund by the Government of India to promote "Made in India" labels worldwide. The Trigger brand is promoted extensively through TV, Print and Outdoor media. The advertising campaign is handled by HTA portraying various passions in the life of a jeans wearer and aims to make "Trigger My Passion" the new buzzword among the younger generation and also making Trigger Jeans their hot favorite. TRIGGER intends to open 100 showrooms in the next 12 months. 25 sho

Kovalam, here we come....!!!

Came across this interesting piece in another blog ... Worth a read ;-) Q. Where is Kerala? A. It is in South India. Q. Where is South India? A. Near Chennai. Q. What is Chennai? A. Never mind. Q. How do I reach Kerala? A. Kerala is connected to the rest of the country by Rail, Air and Sea routes. Q. Do I need to take a visa? A. No, but a copy of “Das Kapital” will make your stay more comfortable. Q. What is Das Kapital? A. Never mind. Q. That was very rude. A. I know. Next question please!!!!! Q. I have heard that Kerala is full of mosquitoes. A. %$^#& who told you so? Q. errr…never mind. Q. What do people in Kerala eat? A. Rice and vegetables and some meat. But mostly they drink. Q. Really??? A. What did you $%#& think? Q. err…nothing! Q. What do people in Kerala drink? A. Water….sometimes neat but mostly diluted with Whisky, Brandy, Rum etc. Q. Oh! A: What did you mean by “oh”? Q: *gulp* I swear I wasn’t thinking anything!!! Q. And what do people of Kerala wear? A. Clothes!

I was featured in one of the shows in CNBC recently... here's a TV grab of my 2 mins of fame ;-)

2008 will be a golden year in the history of Kerala and the living population there! People working in Kerala are one of the luckiest few in the world; where else can you have 80 unscheduled holidays within a span of 6 months!! TOI Observes : Acquiring the reputation of a state observing frequent strikes, Left-ruled Kerala was shut down again on Wednesday for the 80th time in the last six months. Statistics on shutdowns compiled by the portal harthal.com show that this form of protest was not the preserve or political parties or trade unions. A couple of months ago it was the turn of traders to force a commercial shutdown as part of their campaign against entry of big retail chains in the state. The visit of former US president Bill Clinton to India sparked a naxalite hartal a few months ago while political parties vied with each other in calling hartal against execution of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

It's been almost a month since I last published anything in Peak Day Blues.... really sorry folks, there's been a few things in my personal life which has kept me busy off late. First, we had another gruelling corporate earnings season which got over just last week and I attribute that as the major reason. During past peak days, I take time out to blog on weekends, but this time, thanks to a new addition to my family, I'm super busy during weekends. Oh yes, finally I've mastered the art of changing a nappy!! And add to all of this, the blanket ban to my blog in my office (majority of readers) which has dampened my spirits... but the monthly report that I get from Site Meter proved otherwise (am still getting 90 odd hits per day) and am happy about it!! Thanks a lot Peak Day Blues readers for logging into this blog everyday and checking out for updates. I apologize for not being regular and I promise you that I will publish at least one article per day going forward!! **

It's not everday that your firm gets featured @ the top slot in a business news channel and also gets a mention in a leading newspaper. KGiSL was quoted in two leading MSMs (Mainstream media) over the weekend. The first one was in an article/video by CNBC TV 18 and the second one by Hindu's Business Line. Both these articles have quotes from our VP, Jaymurali. CNBC article - http://tinyurl.com/6xpga9 Business Line article - http://tinyurl.com/6eqnxt CNBC's article cum video discussess Coimbatore's future as the next BPO city and it is a detailed report done by Divya Rajagopal... Click here for the video It quotes our VP of Corporate Relations Mr. Jayamurali thus "We decided to develop infrastructure for our own business. In the process, we realized that there is potential to get into the infrastructure business. In the process, we will attract more IT companies which is very important because as an IT company we need healthy competition and healthy IT business hap

From JLT - FRM Kot... Here's the third and final set of 2Q08 JLT Snaps, the one that took place in Kotagiri. PS: Will write a detailed post on all three JLTs at a later date... a little hard pressed with time.

From JLT - FarmStead As promised, here's the second set of JLT snaps, the one which the Trans team had at Farm Stead

Folks, I've updated the first batch of 2Q08 JLT snaps, the one which the EBM and FT team had... more to come soon!! Here's a direct link to the photos and you can also catch a slideshow of the snaps in the right hand side of this page

To prepare for a wedding, a groom allows his crazy Malyalee uncle and his friends to makeover his house!!

VeriSign, a Mountain View, Calif.-based company that’s a major player in business domain names, notes that India now has about 41 million Internet users, making it the eight-largest Internet country. Read more on the big growth for the Internet ahead over here

I'm sure most of you in and around Coimbatore know that the erstwhile Surya Hotels in Race Course Road has been demolished and a new swanky hotel is coming up in its place. Well, this new 5 star hotel is being built by the Taj Hotels group, part of the TATA Family. The work is progressing, albeit at a slow pace. Now, here's an "exclusive" picture of the proposed building which is going to be named Taj Residency!! And keep in mind, you saw it first in Peak Day Blues ;-)

What happens when a successful US-based computer programmer, who lost his lucrative job to outsourcing, travels to India to try to get it back? Will he discover the secret of India’s success, or that sending jobs overseas is an unstable gamble? The videos here share his incredible experience. It’s a fascinating and humanizing portrait of real Indians in Bangalore, the “Silicon Valley of India”. This inside look shows how ridiculous it is to throw around terms like “slave labor” and “stealing jobs” without understanding the realities of this unusual world where best jobs start at 6pm and end at 3am…!!!

Adlabs Cinemas , part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has tied up with Coimbatore's KG Cinemas for upgradation. The multiplex, with four screens (Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi, Anupallavi) and a seating capacity of 3030, will be upgraded phase wise to international standards with DTS sound, Xenon projection systems, plush seats and food offerings. The KG Theatre Complex was launched in 1981 as one of the first multiplexes in India with four screens and a seating capacity of 3030. The theatre complex as of now has one of the largest screens in the entire country and an average yearly footfall of two million. Since inception, it has screened several films which have run for more than 100 days and has entertained more than 50 million people, equivalent to the entire population of Tamil Nadu. K G Entertainment Company executive director RS Prabu said, "Celebrating our 50 millionth customer in our 27th year, we are very glad to join hands with Adlabs Through the tie-up, we en

Last Friday's Fun Activity theme at my office was module or bay decoration... My team came up with a "so called" creative idea and set up an ambience of a real looking Pub/Bar. Lo Behold, we named it Saroja Bar! The rest of the description in live video... Njoi ;-)

Here's a new Master Card ad that I've come up with Sleeper class tickets to Cochin from Coimbatore - Rs. 250/- Auto fare from the city center to your house - Rs. 25/- Taking family out for a dinner in the evening - Rs. 800/- You notice that your wallet is empty; go to an ATM machie and it says "Your Card is Invalid" - Priceless Believe it or not, I had the above Master Card moment this past weekend thanks to my bank (don't want to name them for the zillionth time again) PS: Will write my ordeal in detail later.

The tech guys in my office have apparently decided to cluster my blog along with hundreds of "cricket" and "other offensive" sites list. And the result? My blog is under a blanket ban in my office... Arrrgh!! That explains my poor rate of postings, but I promise I will be more regular from now on. But am happy that I continue to get the patronage of outside readers. Thanks and please do continue your support! And office folks, please do go to those internet cafes and read my blog :-)

Rakindo Developers Pvt Ltd , India’s first real estate master planner and developer, is setting up an integrated township project at Coimbatore with an estimated investment of Rs 6,000 crore ($1.5 billion). Rakindo Developers is a joint venture company formed by RAKEEN, a global business company promoted by the government of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE and Chennai-based mineral conglomerate Trimex group The project - Kovai Hills - will be developed over 1,000 acres with an 18 hole golf course as the centrepiece. The project involves setting up of luxurious golf course villas with scenic mountains and lush greenery in the background. Rakindo will offer these exclusive villas on ‘Own by Invitation Only’, a first for such project in Tamil Nadu. The project is located southwest on the Coimbatore-Palakkad route and will have about 22 million sq ft of constructed space. According to Prasad Konery, managing director, Rakindo Developers, “our vision is to create theme-based townships which will offer

Vijay Mallya's Bangalore team in the DLF Indian Premier League is titled Royal Challengers Bangalore... I hope Dr. Ramdoss (or is it Ram dose?), our very own Union Health Minister doesn't take offence. Dr. Dose, pls now don't read too much into it, Royal Challenge is not the other brand you are thinking about! :-) The whole of M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore is galore with new pavilion names - Signature Executive, McDowell Best View, Bagpiper Standview, Antiquity Members’ Stand etc. etc. And for the record, that is just to add a class of touch to the Royal Challengers team! Now only a fool will read between the lines and think this is surrogate advertising... so here's three cheers to the booze baron of India!

DLF Indian Premier League kicks off today in Bangalore with the first match between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders... and the whole of India is ready to witness this mega circus where cricket and entertainment gets merged with only a thin line differentiating it from a reality show in a TV channel. Other than the fracas that has been created over the IPL, I guess people like me (call me the new generation) will prefer watching Twenty-20 matches over 5-day long Test matches.... the other day I was chatting with a friend from the US who was astonished to hear about a sporting event that last 5 long days and a One-day match lasting a full day!!! I guess am going to enjoy this IPL Twenty-20... the only grouse is, the 44-day schedule is bang in the middle of the peak season... Whoof, Peak Day Blues already! :-) PS: The official website, which I've linked above has got no information other than a countdown tracker at this time, which still shows 1 Hr to go before

It's one of my biggest dreams and this year also it is left unfulfilled... to watch the festival of all festivals or as they say in local lingo, the Pooram of all Poorams.... Today is Thrissur Pooram!! And I am watching it on TV this year also... Hmmmm, maybe next year for sure

Today we're presented with images in movies, on TV, and in the press that are of such good quality we don't even think to consider whether the picture is of something that exists in reality or if it was generated by computer software. Movies can be considered as being at the high-end of the range of uses for computer generated imagery that mimics real-life, but there are many more day-to-day examples that challenge our ability to tell what's real and what's not. Autodesk, makers of the legendary 3D animation software Maya, have come up with a unique challenge where you are pitted with a few fake and a few real images. All you need to do is identify the fake and the real ones? Take the challenge PS: I took the challenge myself. Out of 12 pics, I managed to identify 8! Do let me know your scores

In a new record for Chennai’s real estate market, NRI businessman C Sivasankaran of the Sterling Group has put a three-acre plot off the arterial Anna Salai under the hammer for a reserve price of Rs 270 crore! It works out to roughly Rs 20,000 per sq.ft. And hold your breath, the reserve price is a base price for bidders who are expected to compete aggressively for this prime property in the heart of the city. In terms of the price per sq ft, it would set a new record for the city. It is way above the previous highest, which was Rs 16,765 per sq ft paid by entrepreneur Shyam Kothari (Mukesh Ambani’s brother-in-law) for a 104,381 sq. ft. plot in the posh Boat Club area last year.

Coca-Cola is back to competitive advertising with Sprite's 'Hindustan Meri Jaan' campaign that spoofs Pepsi's "Youngistaan Meri Jaan" campaign. Here's a video of the spoof...

India Land Ventures Ltd (ILVL), an associate company of Americorp Group of Spain along with KGISL (part of Rs 3,200-crore KG Group of Coimbatore), has announced the launch of ‘ India Land KGISL Tech Park ’ at the 150-acre IT SEZ at Saravanampatti in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The first phase of this project launched in Chennai on April 7, 2008 is scheduled to be ready for fitouts in July 2008 and will have state-of-the-art features in line with the globally accepted norms of construction and building maintenance. Both the companies would be investing Rs 320 crore towards this project. While ILVL will be investing 70% of the project cost, the rest will come from KGISL. Announcing the launch, the Managing Director of KGISL, Ashok Bakthavathsalam , said the IT tech park, coming up in Saravanampatti - about 12 km from Coimbatore airport, would have 1.8 million sq feet of space, tailor-made for the requirements of IT and ITES companies. Built in 11.74 acres, which is parcelled out of the 150-

Coimbatore is the 2nd largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore is known as a thriving industrial city and is considered as the alternative city to Chennai for IT & ITES companies in Tamil Nadu. The Coimbatore project is a joint venture between India Land And Properties and KG Information Systems Private Limited(KGISL). The proposed IT Park of 1.9 Million sq.ft will be located in the Special Economic Zone in Saravanampatti, Coimbatore. Saravanampatti boasts significant IT & ITES presence with companies such as KGiSL, Cognizant, Bosch, Spheris, Perot, SPI etc. Educational Institutions such as KG college of Arts & Science, KG College of Nursing, CMS Arts & Science College, SNS Rajalakshmi College of Arts & Science are situated in this place, making it an important educational destination in Coimbatore. The IT Park will be built according to the US Green Building Council Standards making it an excellent energy efficient building. Site The area has been design

ATM stands for Automated Teller Machines (no no, not Azhagiya Tamizh Magan) and it is supposed to help customers access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances. Alright! We all know that right? But have you ever heard of or seen an ATM with no cash!! Read on.... Marketing professor of a leading South-Indian Bschool had this to say about Canara Bank's new logo and makeover: Canara Bank now sports a new slogan " Together We Can". The new slogan replaces the old slogan "Vikas ke liye Sewarth, Sewa ke liye Vikasarath" - where the focus was on the Service. The new slogan speaks more on achievement & aspiration rather than service. The natural question that comes to our mind is about the purpose of rebranding exercise. Why should a bank which has a legacy of over 100 years change its brand elements ? He goes on to say: In the case of Canara Bank , the reason for this repositioning exercise can be to attract younger co

All you BRIC heads out there (Brazil, Russia, India, China) who still go ga ga at the word go when these countries are mentioned, here's news for ya! Can anyone tell me which is the world's best performing stock market today?? It has risen a whopping 9.5% while the world markets have slumped. As for the BRICs? Brazil is down 11%, Russia is down 13%, China is down 26% and India is down 40%. Still guessing... it's PAKISTAN , yes you read it right, it's PAKISTAN ... Naah, this ain't any April Fool's joke! According to this report from Wall Street Journal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Peru and Chile still are flying a bit under the radar when it comes to global investment and deal making.

Do I need to say more??

Folks, 1Q08 JLT Snaps are up... look at the right sidebar of this blog... will paste the direct link shortly... Update: As promised, here's the direct link

With an area of 4.4 square metres, the A380 cockpit is far roomier than the flight deck of a conventional wide-bodied jet. It is equipped with an array of sophisticated technology. On the eight displays alone, pilots can see all the information needed for the flight and the technical monitoring of the aircraft. Check it out !! Link via: Prametha

For those of you waiting to see this past Saturday's JLT snaps, here's a ready reckoner - coming soon! :-) Btw, I've put 4Q07 JLT snaps in the sidebar which took place in December at Western Valley Club... just as a curtain raiser! Click here to watch it as a slideshow

After Bihari students were found to have outclassed their counterparts in other states in solving mathematical problems and reading English, Bihar government has launched an ambitious radio programme for the students of classes I and II in all state run primary schools in Bihar. The students would listen to the programme at a specific time during school hours. Fifty three episodes of the interactie radio instruction (IRI) programme have already been broadcast and 122 episodes would be aired four days a week from April 15. More PS: Be careful going forward to use Bihar as a worst case scenario example!

Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. In a lively show, "mathemagician" Arthur Benjamin races a team of calculators to figure out 3-digit squares in his head, performs a massive mental calculation, and guesses a few birth days. How does he do it? Click here to watch it ... Am sure your jaws will drop too as did mine after watching this video!! PS: Those who think they are good at math will have inferiority complex after watching this. Well, I didn't had any coz am anyways pretty bad in math :-)

Read this - highly recommended if you are a night shift BPO/IT guy... Trust me! New work culture, odd hours of work, a fast paced lifestyle – this is the trend of the present day. Tens of thousands of young Indians have converted day into night and night into day to meet the business requirements of American and European companies. These employees of the $1.5 billion call center industry are young and they consider working in the night as ‘cool’. While the BPO industry is a lucrative option for these English-speaking professionals, the entire work culture can wreak havoc on their body system. Long hours of work along with a hectic work schedule; have put an increasing number of young professionals burning the midnight oil at risk of major health disorders. Night work disturbs the circadian rhythm in the human body. This is an internal body clock that is synchronized to a 24-hour period. It regulates a number of physiological functions such as body temperature, hormone secretion, heart

ET reports that Reliance has decided to shut down all the petroleum retail outlets owned by it directly as surging crude prices and the absence of government subsidies have made operations unviable. At present, RIL sells petrol and diesel at between Rs 6 and Rs 14 more than PSUs. We remain committed to the petroleum sector and will not sell our retail operations. The lack of a level-playing field between the public and private sector remains an area of concern, and we look forward to the its restoration as soon as it is possible so we can to resume our retail petro operations This is big news according to me. Reliance Industries which is world famous for breaking monopolies in whichever industry they step into, is accepting defeat and withdrawing from a business, thanks to perks given to Oil PSUs by the Government. FYI, in Iran, a liter of petrol costs only Rs. 11. PS: I will miss their food outlets named A1 Restaurants, which were integrated along with their petrol pumps in highways.

Rs 1,200 crore-plus Bannari Amman Group plans to develop an IT SEZ over 78 acres at Kalapatty village.The Bannari Amman Techno Park, as the project is called, has got formal approvals for around 60 acres and the remaining process is likely to be completed in the next few months. The project would be on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis and would be located on land owned by the company. Along with other similar projects, this would give IT a big push in the textile city. "We are negotiating with some of the developers based in Bangalore and Chennai and are planning to lease it out to all IT companies on a long-term lease basis," Mr S V Balasubramaniam, group chairman, told. Bannari Amman is a diversified group with interests in sugar, textiles, education, food processing, granites, power generation, transportation, distillery and automobile distribution. It would appear that Coimbatore is on the threshold of becoming the next ideal IT destination in the state after Che

Well, well... it looks like the Australian media is complaining vociferously!! Read this piece in "The Australian", a newspaper at best described as the worst tabloid in the world. Pride & Prejudice fever grips gloating nation Mate , though we don't go "bananas" over our wins, our media writes with compassion! And yes, we maybe a 1.2billion cricket crazy nation who according to you might be "outpouring our national chauvinism and jingoism", but we gave your team what they deserve best, right up their ars*!! PS: It's good that you've removed your comments section from the website; Otherwise you would have realized our jingionism right up there! New job for Bret Lee - shaving a manki!

Well, what more can i say... who is the more civilized??

Seth's Blog : "Almost every time, the products and services that succeed wildly are the ones that everyone expected would fail." How true!! Guess that holds true for human beings also!

Ishant Sharma will earn Rs. 35,185/- per ball in the "all-time" biggest mega reality show, Indian Premier League! This particular piece of info, was up in a local daily, which calculated each bowlers worth per ball (assuming they play all the matches for 3 years). Though it's not possible to technically calculate each ball's value, assuming the respective bowlers team reaches the final stage in all three years, they will play in all 45 matches! And at 4 overs per match, that's roughly 1080 balls! Other bowlers: Irfan Pathan - Rs. 34,259/- per ball! Brett Lee - Rs. 33,333/- per ball! Jacques Kallis - Rs. 33,333/- per ball! RP Singh - Rs. 32,407/- per ball! Harbajan Singh - Rs. 31,481/- per ball! Muttaiah Muralidharan - Rs. 22,222/- per ball! S Sreesanth - Rs. 23,148/- per ball! Anil Kumble - Rs. 18,518/- per ball! Shane Warne - Rs. 16,666/- per ball! Anyone out there who can do the same math for each ball you face as a batsman or for each boundary that you hit!! PS

You thought outsourcing blue collar work to India/China is the main cause for US unemployment?? Think again!! "A full-page advertisement in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, by industry body FICCI and the Commerce Ministry, gives an elaborate account of how the legendary Tata Group, along with several others like Ranbaxy, Mahindra USA, Bharat Forge, ITC Kitchens of India and HCL America have created thousands of jobs in America by investing in different sectors of the US economy." "The Tata Group that operates 16 companies in the US -- from luxury hotels and beverage business to manufacturing, telecom and IT consulting -- employs over 5,000 Americans." Read more PS: I wish all of them realize this! Sigh!

Things are hotting up for one of the country’s largest banks, Canara Bank. It is reportedly eyeing an Indonesian bank to expand its international footprint. Although it has a total business volume of Rs 2.4 lakh crore, close to 95% of this is generated in India. It has branch presence in London and Hong Kong besides a representative office at Shanghai and an exchange company in the Gulf. It expects the nod for converting the representative office at Shanghai into a full fledged branch shortly. Read more PS: Their brand new ATM near Bharati Colony had a "blank screen" when I last check this Saturday :-)

In a scene reminiscent of a film, a group of residents today laid a near seige to the Police Commissioner's office, in protest against the transfer of a Sub Inspector of a police station in the city. According to police sources, the SI, attached to Saravanampatti police station, was transferred and posted in the special team of CB-CID. Protesting against the transfer, nearly 80 residents of Anjugam Nagar, led by a local councillor, assembled near the district collectorate to lay seige. Since, there was no officials there, they marched towards the nearby Police Commissioner's office and laid near seige. A senior police official managed to convince the residents to disperse after accepting a memorandum from them, seeking withdrawal of the transfer, the sources said - Agencies PS: Anyone knows who this SI is? Is it our Bullet guy?

Am no cricket expert nor I profess myself as a cricketing brain, I just love to watch a game where India is winning and prefer to do other things if I sense a defeat. Though the recent Twenty20 spurt has attracted me back to the game, I still look upon Test matches just for the records being created by individuals! And after a long while I decided to sit through a one-day match fully, the Super Sunday match against Australia. And what I saw in 19-year old Ishant Sharma stunned me. As rightly pointed out by Harsha Bogle in the post-match discussions, it is good to finally see a " genuine " Indian fast bowler who can match up to the Windies, Pakis & OZs. Good job Ishant, keep it coming!! PS: Am still rubbing my eyes in disbelief - Australia getting bowled out for 159 inside 44 overs!! Unbelievable is the word!

According to a news report in Business Standard, there is a tectonic shift happening in the BPO/ITeS industry as more & more companies are moving into non voice processes. "A job with a BPO has been looked upon as a stepping stone to another, longer-lasting career. Such has been the attrition in the industry. According to estimates, about a lakh people join the Indian outsourcing industry every year, of which 15-20% leave in the first year itself." The industry is veering from predominantly voice-based services to more and more non-voice services, and is being increasingly looked upon as a long-term career. Read more

Frontline, a current affairs magazine of the Hindu group has a detailed article on Coimbatore's impressive growth in the recent years. Read more A few highlights from the article - "Cognizant Technology Solutions has a fast-growing software unit at an IT park set up by KG Information Systems Private Limited (KGISL). Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has located a unit in Coimbatore. The government has offered land to both TCS and WIPRO at the SEZ at Vilankurichi." "Robert Bosch India Limited (RBIL) has leased 21.88 acres in the SEZ at Saravanampatti from Coimbatore Hi-Tech Infrastructure Private Limited, which is part of the KG group. About Rs.250 crore will go into the making of the first phase of the Bosch facility, which will go on stream in 2009. The facility will tap opportunities in IT and IT-enabled services. Bosch associates will work on advanced technologies to design a new electric control unit for diesel and gasoline engines and other automotive applications

Jerome Kerviel - this name has been doing the rounds of MSMs worldwide these days. We gotto to give it to this guy - he has robbed one of the biggest European banks, Societe Generale, by making unauthorized trades in European Stock market - to the tune of a whopping €4.9 billion!! And thanks to last Monday's global stock meltdown, a long-term "genius" was caught!!

According to data compiled by global human resources consultancy firm ECA International, Indian employees are expected to get the biggest paycheck increase globally this year, primarily driven by inflationary situations associated with the robust economic growth in the country. Indian employees working with MNCs are forecast to receive an avg. hike of 14% -- the highest across the world, and up from 12.6% in 2007. Read the rest of the story from TOI

Chirapunjee is known for rains throughout the year.... It rains for almost 6 months in a year in Kerala... but ever heard of flooding and rains lashing out in a desert city, especially areas like Dubai & Sharjah... You will never know, right! As Al Gore's movie on Global Warming says, anything can happen. My bro-in-law who's working in Dubai and living in Sharjah mailed me a few snaps of the rains and its aftermath there...

HCL Infosystems today launched ‘MiLeap’ -- India’s first full functional, ultra portable range of laptops that offer true mobile internet computing experience at a price point starting from Rs.13,990/- 'MiLeap’ is targeted at consumer who needs to stay connected, informed, entertained and productive-anytime and anywhere. It’s lightweight and small in size makes it so convinent, that one does not think twice about carrying it to the office, home, gym or park, or using it in a train, bus, plane or metro. Thanks to Mobile networks coming up with data cards, which let's you stay connected even on the move, this sure seems like a winning combo!

Wishing you all a Very Happy & Prosperous Pongal

"Since, promise is a promise the standard dealer version will cost Rs 1 lakh" announced a beaming Mr. Ratan Tata in front of thousands of journalists amid cheers from the crowd. And sitting in front of the television, zipping past news channels showing "live & exclusive" pictures, I was as animated as I've been as a kid to get a glimpse of the car, now christened Nano. How will it look? Will it be more spacious than M-800? Will they be able to price it at Rs.1L? These were the questions running through my mind. I had predicted earlier to my friends that it will look similar to the 4 -wheeled load-carrier of theirs, Tata Ace, which was launched a couple of years ago. When they launched Tata Ace, I had a gut feeling that Tata was testing its waters with this load-carrier. Well, I believe I was right, the Tata Nano has an uncanny front-end resemblance to Tata Ace.... Now let me stop bragging and get into the finer details. The TATA's will launch Nano in di

After recieving effusive praise from critics across India and leaving many a cinegoer moist-eyed, 'Taare Zameen Par' has earned excellent reviews... Here's our own movie review in the movie review blog Life is Reel

After the disastrous Sydney test, a compromise of a sorts has been drawn - Harbajan will play the remaining 2 tests and Steve Bucknor will not officiate in the 3rd test! Though the scrimmage has been settled, what was at show was Aussie teams over aggression and the desire to equal 16 test wins at any cost and Indian Cricket Board's money & muscle power. I only sincerely hope that a sport remains a sport! PS: This is as rationale as I can be... :-)

"Om Shanti Om", a spoof of Bollywood in the 1970s, has emerged as one of the biggest blockbusters of 2007. Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om sees SRK in a new avatar with six-pack abs... Catch the review of this movie in my movie review blog Life is Reel over here

The whole of Mainstream Media (MSM) is making a fracas out of the New Year Mumbai Molestation case... Yes, in all senses, what happened to those two victims is beyond imagination and the perpetrators are to be punished. But making it a headline news for the past 2 days is definitely not worth it, especially when those who were sexually harassed refuse to lodge a formal complaint with the police saying they are not happy with the media attention the incident has been garnering. One's heart goes out to the two unfortunate NRI women, who are trying to forget the horrible incident, but are reliving the horror everyday thanks to the media-glare. Now, if you are an analyzer or a keen watcher of MSM & the print media in general, all that matters for them at the end of the day is their TRP ratings and how much more are they able to get out of an issue. This is especially true if it has got anything to do with sex or social taboos! Look at the coverage that anything remotely connected w