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Showing posts from June, 2005

High Octane?

Anybody who ever goes to a petrol bunk would have noticed it, there are two kinds of petrols/diesels available... one with high octane with good quality but at a higher price and one with a lower priced one with lower quality *geeks* We pay around 1.50 rs. extra to get this high octane petrol for our cars/bikes... Now, is it safe to use?? I've done a review of it myself... Read about it in www.carindia.blogspot.com PS: Since I've got an Internet connection, I will be posting mainly from home... So one can expect updates every now and then....

Digicams!

Computers sparked off the digital revolution almost two decades ago - push button phones, digital meters, the Internet etc. have created a digital world around us. And "digital cameras" help to capture the images of this digital world. I was really impressed by the picture quality of a Canon PowerShot last week when we took some pictures of our ongoing inter-departmental cricket tournament in my company. It was a 3.2 mega pixel, 2x zoom camera and its owner is none other than the CEO of my company. Digital cameras used to cost a small fortune earlier, but over the years the price has really come down and now a good, basic model is available for less than Rs. 10,000/-. So, here's a run down on what to look for before you go and get your hands dirty with one of those sexy looking digicams... Watch out for DPI or dot pixels per inch. In simpler terms, this is the resolution. This is what determines how sharp your picture is going to be. Optical zoom matters. This is what con

Kiddie Channels!

It's a public secret that I like cartoons, especially Tom & Jerry and Popeye and watching Cartoon Network is one of my fav hobbies of killing stress and at times boredom (though I don't get time to get bored) :-) A year or two ago, Pogo was introduced as yet another kids channel in India but instead of showing cartoons it was catering more to games, children serials etc. Though I used to be a regular viewer of Pogo, when I shifted my house to Chitra Nagar the local cable wallah was not offering it. Grrr... But over the past one month, he has started offering some more bouqet of channels and luckily Pogo was one among them. And Takeshi's Castle is one of my favs. It's a Japanese based game show and our very own Javed Jaffri is giving the sound over to this show. More than the show I watch it for Javed's wits. By the way, don't ever miss Just For Laughs - Gags in Pogo, usually shown at prime times.... You will have stomach ache laughing!!

BPO Crime!

India's astounding success in IT & BPO has got many western politcos get jittery and as was expected they are trumpeting any bad news that comes up from the Indian BPO sector. Few examples are the recent Mphasis scam where 17 people got together to rob one man's bank account and a sting report from the British tabloid "The Sun" where a Delhi based Call Center employee gave important information of thousands of customers for $5000. Madan forwarded me this link that appeared in Economic Times which might throw some light into this new crime industry that's picking up the pace...

News Flash -- Vivek Paul Quits Wipro

Ending months of speculations, Vivek Paul, the Vice Chairman of Wipro has quit citing personal and professional reasons. He has told CNBC that he had some professional diagreements with the Wipro board and that is one of the reasons. Vivek Paul is joining Pacific Group and he will be based in New York from now onwards..... Update: Paul is the second top executive to quit Wipro in a month (Raman Roy, founder of the Indian BPO industry quit earlier this month). Media sources cites Azim Premji's high handedness, he own 84% of Wipro stock. Speculation abound that Azim Premji's 27-year-old son who just graduated from Harvard will replace Paul. PS: A breaking news, will post more about this later! Read the BusinessWeek perspective here What are your views on Vivek Paul's exit?

Shame Gurukul

I watched the much anticipated show in Sony TV Fame Gurukul yesterday.... well, it was Shame Gurukul than Fame Gurukul... After the astounding success of Indian Idol, Sony wanted to create something that will again make a flutter in the Indian Television industry, but going the yesterday's show I think they have miserably miscalculated it... Ila Arun looks more like a vampire than a gurukul's teacher and the show itself is messed up with some poor editing... I also remember that as part of this show's screening in Calcutta there were some incidients related to crowd over behavior and they had to stop screening there... Hope better sense prevails and they try to make it more attractive... PS: Am going off to my home town today folks, so postings will be few...

Don't mess with me!

An older lady gets pulled over for speeding... Older Woman: Is there a problem, Officer? Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding. Older Woman: Oh, I see. Officer: Can I see your license please? Older Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one. Officer: Don't have one? Older Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving. Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please. Older Woman: I can't do that. Officer: Why not? Older Woman: I stole this car. Officer: Stole it? Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner. Officer: You what? Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see. The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun. Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please! The woman steps out of her vehicle. Older woman: Is there a problem

Cricket Snaps!

Here's some snaps of the HR-BPO Vs. FRM-A match... Click on the pics for a larger image.. PS: More pics will be added shortly

Anniyan - A review!

Yes, I finally watched Anniyan !! I had wanted to go for it the first day itself, but could only manage to go this Sunday, paying 100 bucks for a 35 rupee ticket! So, here's what I think about the movie. I am a big fan of Shankar in that he always chips in with a social centric movie very relevant for the Indian audience with all the masala expected out of a Kollywood movie -- well, this time was no different. Rules Ramanujam alias Ambi, the protagonist, is a middle-class Iyengar lawyer who goes by the rules like not crossing the yellow line in a traffic signal, helping poor people file cases against treacherous humans in Consumer Courts etc. He is in love with Sada, who's his neighbor but hasn't expressed his love or is afraid of it. Vivek plays the role of his best friend who helps him out with his love affairs and as a CID officer under DGP Prakash Raj. The plot unfolds as the good natured Ambi turns into an Undertaker (WWE fame) like man named Anniyan, his dual persona

FRM-A beats HR-BPO by 6 wickets!

Dr. GB Stadium, KG Gardens -- June 25, 2005: The weather was at its best with a cool breeze blowing through the ground when HR-BPO took on FRM-A in the last match of Knockout Round 2. Needless to say, a lot was at stake and the ground was buzzing with excitement. HR-BPO won the toss and elected to take the willow with Sameer and Ranjith in the opening slot. But what followed after that was a disastrous collapse of the opening order when both Sameer and Ranjith got out in the first over for 0 and Amarjith also got out pretty soon for 3, courtesy Vinoth's brilliant bowling spell. Though the start was a little shaky, HR-BPO steadied their innings as their middle order batsmen played with righteousness and got the scoreboard ticking. Winston & Naresh played their natural strokes and brought back the team from the verge of shambles. Clayton and Kumar followed and they both batted brilliantly and scored some very valuable runs. Clayton got out for 28 and Kumar was not out for 31. FRM

Bangalored in Beijing!!

Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Infosys recently visited Beijing and needless to say he was awestruck with what he saw there... 5-lane highways, olympic village etc. etc.... He has written a column about his recent visit in Express India... a good read... Click here to read it

12th Man!

One-Day cricket will never be the same again. From July 30 when the tri-series in Sri Lanka involving India kicks off, the rules of the abridged version will be radically altered because teams will have 12 players instead of the traditional 11. The ICC chief executives’ committee (CEC) headed by Sunil Gavaskar has approved the introduction of football-style replacements which will permit sides to replace a player at any stage of a match. The replaced player will be ruled out of the rest of the match while the replacement can assume any remaining batting or bowling duties. Both players will receive a cap. The CEC has also approved the introduction of another innovation into all one-day internationals by increasing the fielding restrictions to 20 overs instead of the existing fifteen, of which only ten would have to come at the start of the innings. The other ten would be fitted in later, in two blocks of five, at the discretion of the fielding captain. The additional ‘close-

PreMatch Interview!!

Two super human teams are battling it out tomorrow for a place in the semifinals in the decider match of the Knockout Round II. Fortunes of too many a teams will be decided by the outcome of tomorrow's match. I caught up with the Captains of both the teams and here's what they have to say: Johnson - FRM-A: 1.) What's the strategy you have adopted for tomorrow's match? A.) Play to win. 2.) Have you done any preparations as such? A.) Had some personal meeting with HR-BPO. :-) 3.) Your batting performance in the last match flawed a little inspite of having some very good batsmen. Comments please. A.) Good wine is served last. 4.) Your team has got many all-rounders. How are you planning to effectively use them in tomorrow's match. A.) Expect the unexpected. 5.) What have you learned as your strengths/weaknesses from last match. A.) Strength: We play as a team. Weakness: !!!!!!!!!!! (It's secret) 6.) Who do you rake up HR-BPO? A.) The next hurdle to cross. Ranj

Hello Walky!

After months of deliberations over which Internet connection to take and no signs of Broadband coming to Saravanampatti, I finally bought a Tata Indicom Walky which provides me with 154kbps speed (at least that's what they are claiming)..... Apart from Internet connection, I was really impressed with the Fixed Wireless Service offering of TATA... One can send SMS and receive, store phone numbers, do 3-way teleconferencing, polyphonic ringtones... I mean, what else can one ask from from a Fixed Telephone... Right now in India, Reliance and TATA are offering Fixed Wireless Services. I chose TATA because of their great customer service in responding to queries and the TATA brand equity. I really don't trust these Reliance guys and they have robbed the government with some crores of rupees over re-routing international calls as local ones. I mean, they were putting the nation at risk.... So, finally here goes my Walky Talky.... PS: The number is 0422-5539207!

Side Effects!

1. Symptom: Cold and humid feet. Cause: Glass is being held at incorrect angle (You are pouring the drink on your feet). Cure: Maneuver glass until open end is facing upward 2. Symptom: The wall facing you is full of lights. Cause: You're lying on the floor. Cure: Position your body at a 90-degree angle to the floor. 3. Symptom: The floor looks blurry. Cause: You're looking through an empty glass. Cure: Quickly refill with your favorite beverage. 4. Symptom: The floor is moving. Cause: You're being dragged away. Cure: At least ask where they're taking you. 5. Symptom: You hear echoes every time someone speaks. Cause: You have your glass on your ear. Cure: Stop making a fool of yourself! 6. Symptom: The room is shaking a lot, everyone is dressed in white and the music is very repetitive. Cause: You're in an ambulance. Cure: Don't move. Let the professionals do their job. 7. Symptom: Your dad and all your brothers are looking at you f

Mercedes Cycle!!

After the successful launch of Mercedes Benz cars a few years ago in India, Daimler Chrysler has introduced Mercedes Bicycles.... Yes, am not joking... Check out www.carindia.blogspot.com to know more!

Call Center Fraud!

Apparently an India Call Center worker has hand over some sensitive information (read: account holders’ secret passwords, addresses, phone numbers and credit card, passport and driving licence information) to a news journalist in UK for "peanuts" according to this sensational report which appeared in Scotsman yesterday.... Read more Via: Paraneedharan

Really?

Married men earn more than bachelors so long as their wives stay at home doing the housework, according to a report Wednesday from Britain's Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER). Read more

Rearrange!

MOTHER-IN-LAW: When you rearrange the letters: WOMAN HITLER ASTRONOMER: When you rearrange the letters: MOON STARER DESPERATION: When you rearrange the letters: A ROPE ENDS IT DORMITORY: When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM THE EYES: When you rearrange the letters: THEY SEE GEORGE BUSH: When you rearrange the letters: HE BUGS GORE THE MORSE CODE: When you rearrange the letters: HERE COME DOTS SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME ANIMOSITY: When you rearrange the letters: IS NO AMITY ELECTION RESULTS: When you rearrange the letters: LIES - LET'S RECOUNT SNOOZE ALARMS: When you rearrange the letters: ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S A DECIMAL POINT: When you rearrange the letters: I M A DOT IN PLACE THE EARTHQUAKES: When you rearrange the letters: THAT QUEER SHAKE ELEVEN PLUS TWO: When you rearrange the letters: TWELVE PLUS ONE

Dumbest Kid!

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you." The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?" The boy takes the quarters and leaves. "What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!" Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. "Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?" The boy licked his cone and replied, "Because the day I take the dollar, the game's over!"

Cricket Maniac!

A man had two suite tickets for the Cricket World Cup final -- India Vs Australia. As he sits down, another man comes down and asks if anyone is sitting in the seat next to him. "No," he says. "The seat is empty." "This is incredible!" said the man. "Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the best game of World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world, and not use it?" He says, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me." "My wife was supposed to come with me, but she passed away. This is the first European Cup Final we haven't been to together since we got married." "Oh I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. But couldn't you find someone else, a friend or relative, or even a neighbor to take the seat?" The man shakes his head... "No. They're all at her funeral."

Car India!!

Check it out

Microsoft @ Risk!

An Indian Engineer, Debasis Mohanty has done what many thought is impossible. He has cracked the WGA code of software giant Microsoft. WGA is an anti-piracy program that keeps an eye on consumers whether they are running legitimately licensed copies of Windows XP. Though Microsoft has confirmed that he successfully cracked it, they are trying to downplay this whole incident by saying that "It represents very little threat." Kudos Mohanty!! Read more about it here Link Via: Subbiah!

A Cancerian!

I was just scrolling through the Astrology section of Sify when I came across a special section dedicated to Cancerians and like any good Cancerian will do, I too checked it out... It had a section where it lists some famous Cancerians and it had the who's who of this world.... Mike Tyson Sunil Gavaskar Bill Gates Harrison Ford Sylvester Stallone Julius Caesar Tom Cruise George Orwell Dalai Lama Donald Rumsfeld Lord Krishna Nelson Mandela Arnold Schwarzenegger Wow! Never knew I was born into such an elite Club!! Read more about Cancerians here

Food for thought!!

They say the best way to reach a man's heart is through his stomach, but what will happen if somebody's ignores his stomach?? He kills. That's precisely what has happened in this case when a wife didn't give the husband anything to eat for 3 days.... Read more PS: All you ladies out there, you better learn cooking fast!

Chat with Vikram Live!!

For all you Vikram fans out there, I just heard that Sify is organizing a live chat with Vikram @ 5 PM today evening. You just need to login to their site and can shoot questions at him directly. And the best 3 questions will get an autographed T-shirt from Vikram. What more to ask for, heh?? :-) Personally, I've participated once in such a celebrity chat show and it was hard to get the lines properly. So, I would suggest you login a good 10 minutes before the event starts. PS: Vikram's wife is a psychologist by profession! A new box-office record has been created at Chennai box-office for weekend (June 17-19) with Anniyan grossing a whopping Rs 50,24,063 from six big theatres.

Reliance-mart!!

Taking a cue from the highly successful Wal-Mart chain stores, Reliance Industries or rather Mukesh Ambani is planning to do a Wal-Mart kind of magic in India by opening "big" retail outlets in major cities in India in the near-term. As is always the case with Reliance, one can be rest assured that it's going to be in a "big" way and will fuel the rendition of many jobs. Reliance is planning to have all the major brands available and is going to own every retail store rather than leasing it out to local merchants. And how much they are spending for it?? A whopping Rs. 30,000 crore!! Maoj Modi, one of the top liuetenants of Mukesh is roped in to head this project according to some section of media. Not to be left behind, Anil Ambani has also vast plans for his new empire and is reportedly pumping in some 3,000 crore rupees from his personal wealth as CapEx for his latest ventures. PS: Am not sure why I am suddenly blogging only about Reliance, but I think

The Reliance Saga!

I was planning to write on the Reliance brothers patch up, but didn't get time to do.... Finally after 7 months of bitterness, they have finally decided to part ways with both of them getting equal shares of the Rs. 99,000 crore Reliance conglomerate! But the silver lining here is that, they are going to rake in more moolah because of this, wondering how? Reliance Infocomm and possibly Rel Capital will be up for IPO very shortly and according to report Infocomm will easily fetch more than 10,000 crores in the market. Sameway, Mukesh is planning to merge the two companies he got, the flagship Reliance Industries and IPCL. Advantage?? He will have more money in his bank.... One wonders whether all these hooplah was a planned one from this business ace brothers!! Click here to read the original document sent by Kokilaben Ambani to end the dispute

More Photos!

I've uploaded some more photos from last weekends cricket match... you can check them out at my Flickr page or in the right side of of the page or you can click here to watch it as a slide show...

Want a job?

I've been getting calls recently from folks who are looking for jobs and chanced upon my blog accidentally...Today I got calls from two people interested in taking up BPO jobs... For many of the "new" & "unique" visitors who drop by my blog everyday, here's something to add to your list if you are on the hunt for a job... I work at KGiSL, a division of the $150m KG Group Conglomerate. We pride ourselves in calling a specialty BPO company with software expertise. We are an SEI-CMM Level 4 company and are also ISO Certified. We currently have openings in Call Center; HR BPO; Online Education; and Financial Reportage Management (where I work folks) Check out this link for prerequisites for the above mentioned vacancies. PS: If you have any doubts/clarifications, always feel free to call me at 98942-25259!

Where are we headed to??

Thanks to the global rise in fuel prices, not even the Left party could save the common man of India as the petrol price is hiked by another Rs. 2.50 and diesel by Rs. 2.00 per litre... Luckily I saw the news in Aaj Tak (okay, you guys are fast, agreed!) this afternoon and went and filled petrol to my hearts content! Since the left parties have already raised red flags, am hopeful that the government will positively look into this matter and not raise it any further at least...

Shameful!!

Formula 1 will never be the same again!! The future of formula one in the United States hangs in the balance after what must rank among the greatest PR disasters in the history of this or any other sport. The failure of the teams to agree on a solution to a tyre problem that had emerged 48 hours earlier shamed all involved in grand prix racing. The ludicrous sight of two lonely Ferraris followed by two Jordans and two Minardis supposedly racing each other, with world championship leader Fernando Alonso and his main rival Kimi Raikkonen sitting in the garage, brought shame on a sport that claims to be world-class. Personally, I didn't sleep and waited for the live action in Star Sports which started at around 10 pm and what I saw was distastesful to the core though Narain finished 4th in this bizzare race.... God Save Formula 1... PS: To know what actually happened, read this

ICT beat Software A by 5 wickets

In an afternoon where clouds were playing catch up with each other, the mighty ICT Team took on Software A. S/W A won the toss and elected to take the willow. What followed was a disastrous start when their opening duo went out without scoring a run. Madhu and Santhosh started the bowling spell for ICT and both of them had a dream start with the first two wickets falling with just 4 runs (that too extras) added to the scoreboard. Both of them bowled a nagging line & were disciplined in their length, except for some extras by Madhu. Their change bowlers, Selvakumar, Shijo & Suresh, continued from where their colleagues left and carried on the good work. Ramkumar came to the rescue of S/W A as he amassed 23 runs before he was snapped by Suresh. The remaining batsmen came, fiddled around for some time, and went back - none of them could reach double figures. The match statistics summed up the whole story - there were only 5 boundaries in the whole innings - and ICT looked like mig

Exclusive Pictures - Knockout Round II

PS: Click the pictures for larger images...

FRM-B beats EDS-B by 6 wickets!

Bravo! Brilliant! Breathtaking! Well, what else to say about this match where the two "B's" (EDS-B Vs. FRM-B) took on each other. The match lived up to all its pre-match hype & expectations and both the teams fought till the end, making it a memorable match to watch. The match, which started a little late due to some downpour early morning, started with FRM B winning the toss and electing to field, a strategy they adopted unsuccessfully against ICT in their first round match. Gnanasekar and Hariprasad, the opening duo of EDS-B started the innings, but they were in for a surprise very soon when FRM-B introduced their Vajrayudh - the secret weapon - Navaneeth who didn't play in their first match due to a leg injury. He was a pro and bowled some beautiful leg cutters and slow deliveries, which caught the EDS batsmen by surprise. Pretty soon, two of their top tier batsmen (Hariprasad for 10 runs and Senthil for a duck) were in the pavilion. FRM-B truly started to sho

Coimbatore poised to fly high!

In the battle of low cost, low fringe carriers in India, here's an airline with a difference and that too headquartered in our own Coimbatore!! It's Paramount Airways, promoted by the Paramount group, a leading player in textiles with interests in banking. Promoter M Thiagarajan is a pilot and is the MD of Paramount Mills. His grand father Karumuttu Thiagarajan was the founder of Bank of Madura. The airline plans to start operations by August ’05. And here's some latest news regarding them: In a surprise development at the Paris air show on Tuesday, Coimbatore-based start-up airline, Paramount Airways, signed up with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer to buy five Emb 170/175 aircraft, in a deal valued at $138m (Rs 620 crore). In an interesting deviation from the low-cost model that most airlines are following, the airline will have no economy class seating. It will offer an all-business class service on the first two Embraer 170 aircraft and a first and busin

Mouse Gun?

Is it a mouse or a gun?? It is PistolMouse, a mouse which is not only shaped like a pistol, where the trigger happens to be the left click, it is also ergonomical .

Exclusive -- Anniyan's first review!!

Anniyan just released today and usually it takes time for a review to come up... most of the time one has to wait till the Friday Review of The Hindu comes... But here's a first person account of Anniyan watched by a friend of mine in Canada, exclusively for Peak Day Blues readers.... Click here to read the review PS: It's written in Tamil!

Sun buys Dinakaran - Breaking News!

Sun Network has bought over 100% equity in the Dinakaran group of publications. According to highly placed sources in the Sun Network in Chennai, the deal was solemnised on Wednesday. The buy-out of Dinakaran marks Sun Network's entry into the daily segment. The South Indian media giant already has Kungumam in its fold in the weekly segment, which was ranked the highest read Tamil weekly and fourth largest read weekly. Dinakaran daily has nine editions in Tamil Nadu, and claims a circulation of around 3,60,000 copies in the state. Dinakaran is known for its extensive coverage of cinema. It is sold at Rs 3 on weekdays and Rs 5 on Sundays. Besides its flagship Dinakaran daily, the group publishes eveningers Malai Murasu (3 of its editions) and Tamizh Murasu (five editions), Yogalatchumi (lottery-based), and weekly magazines Vaniga Ulagam (business) and Velai Vazhikatti (employment).

The Underworld Marriage!

India's Most Wanted Man Davood Ibrahim's daughter is all set to marry the Son of former Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad! Shocking? It's true if one is to beleive this reliable report ... PS: Makes an interesting read! Via: Sangeetha!

Anniyan!

"He who comes from hell is not afraid of hot ashes" reads the tagline of Shankar's latest flick starring Vikram which will hit cinema halls today!! It is touted that the protagonist Vikram plays an Iyengar lawyer who is set to change the course of this world... then again, these are just rumors... For "Jeyam" Sada, this will be the most important role of her career as this will either break or make her to the top. It has one item number from the ravishing Yana Gupta and Vivek is expected to trailblaze with his comedy numbers. My gut feeling has it that all the "different looks" of Vikram will be used either to take revenge on Villains or in a song. I happened to see a trailer of Anniyan and it promises a lot of punch!! Click here to see the trailer PS: Am eagerly awaiting to watch the movie. It's releasing in 5 theaters in Coimbatore!

Skoda to launch Combi!

After achieving sales of 20,000 units in three-and-a-half years, Skoda Auto India has drawn up aggressive plans for the Indian market, which include not only rolling out over four new products in the next 12 months, but also establishing India as an export hub for the region. Read more about this in my new blog here

Bizzare!

An Indian rape victim is being forced by village elders to "marry" her rapist -- her father-in-law. Community leaders in Charthawal village (Uttar Pradesh), backed by local Muslim clerics, believe that by being raped, 28-year-old Imrana's 10-year marriage has been nullified under Islamic law. Holding a special council on Sunday, village leaders ordered the mother of five to leave her husband, Noor Mohammed, and live with her parental family for seven months and 10 days and make herself "pure" again. It did not say how she becomes pure. After that, she must "marry" her father-in-law and live with him, along with his legal wife. "She... will then be like a mother to Noor Mohammed," said local cleric Shamim Ahmad. Her four brothers have agreed to the edict but she has not. Police are now investigating and say they plan to arrest the father-in-law. They refuse to comment on the village elders' ruling, saying it is a sensitive rel

Prince of the Indian Army!

The prince of a province (Johore) in Malaysia is working as a soldier in Jaipur's 61st Cavalry (world's only horse regiment)!! It seems his grandfather wanted him to get trained in military and had sent him over to India. He is not receiving any salary from the Indian Army, but in return is paying the Indian Army for receiving this special training. Read about this story here PS: Thumbs Up Indian Army! Via: Sriram

Men Vs. Women!

How do you know when a woman is about to say something smart? When she starts her sentence with "A man once told me..." Why do men break wind more than women? Because women can't shut up long enough to build up the required pressure. If your dog is barking at the back door and your wife is yelling at the front door, who do you let in first? The dog of course. He'll shut up once you let him in. I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always. I haven't spoken to my wife for 18 months: I don't like to interrupt her. What do you call a woman who has lost 95% of her intelligence? Divorced. Marriage is a 3 ring circus: Engagement Ring, Wedding Ring, and Suffering. Our last fight was my fault: My wife asked me,"What's on the TV?" I said, "Dust." In the beginning, God created the earth and rested. Then God created Woman. Since then, neither God nor Man has rested. Why do men die before

Parineeta - A review!

Enjoying the day shift, I went and watched Parineeta yesterday at Apsara. Though I don't usually write reviews about Bollywood, I felt I should definitely write one for this because it was so special and well made! So, here's my first try at movie reviews! After the immense success of Munnabhai MBBS, Vidhu Vinod Chopra has made another classic in Parineeta, an adaptation of the bengali novel written by Saratchandra Chatterjee. The movie is all about the story of Shekar Rai (Saif Ali Khan) and Lolita (debutant Vidya Balan) who form a special bonding from childhood as neighbords, but is in confusion of whether their relationship is love or friendship. All is well until the Girish Babu (Sanjay Dutt) arrives from London to meet his family. Misunderstanding brews between Shekar and Lolita as Shekar's father, the wealthy real estate mogul acts as the villian in their relationship. I don't want to tell the whole story here, so better go and watch!! Surprises: Saif Ali Khan'

Indian Babu!

An Indian walks into a New York City bank and asks to see the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan, so the man hands over the keys of a new Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything is checked out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there. Two weeks later, the man returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says, "We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that u are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is why would you bother to borrow just $5,000?" The Indian replied, "Where else in New York can I park my car for two week

Kovai girls!

You guys probably would have read this news, but somehow I missed it... Two girls from Kovai recent received a confirmation mail from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) that they are naming two minor planets in the solar system after them (Senthalir and Sharanya) Minor planet no. 17,091 is named after Senthalir while planet 17,092 has been named after Sharanya. This is in recognition of their achievement as finalists in the 2003 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, from May 11 to 17. At the fair, the duo, then standard XI students of Avila Convent in Coimbatore, had presented a research paper on ‘Suppression of Branching Pattern in Eucalyptus Trees’. They proved their hypothesis that growth could be suppressed using neem oil, which fetched them the rare honour. They won the Fourth Grand Award in the competition. PS: Sharanya is now studying at Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT) and Senthalir at Kumaraguru College of Tech

Sting Operation!

Yesterday police arrested a journalist for allegedly posing as a bar girl before the Maharashtra Deputy CM to allegedly lure and catch him in a sting operation!! PS: Going below the ethical level in the name of sting operation is the new fad among the journos in the country. You might be remembering the recent hoopla created by the Rajat Gupta promoted India TV for running sting operation against bollywood actors. Come on Media, we don't want to hear gossips and personal traits of politicos and film stars, do some good reporting!!

Intel in InDiA!

Global chip manufacturer Intel will set up its Advanced Test Manufacturing (ATM) facility in India with an approximate investment of $400 million. Intel has shortlisted Chennai, Bangalore and Noida as the possible locations for setting up of the ATM facility. "The company will be announcing the decision and the location in the next one month, we expect an investment of about 400 million dollars for Intel's ATM facility," Union IT and Telecommunications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said on Tuesday. He said Intel had earlier considered starting the facility in China or Vietnam. "But after my discussion with Craig Barret, the CEO of Intel said they have finalised on India," he said. PS: My irk feeling says that it's going to be in Chennai! Why? Dayanidhi Maran, IT Minister -- All's well in politics!

Not Guilty!

A jury today found pop superstar Michael Jackson not guilty of all charges in his child-molestation trial. Jackson said nothing as he left court but his lead defense attorney said: "Justice was done... The man's innocent." Read more

HR-BPO beats EDS-A by 6 wickets

Dr. GB Stadium, KG Gardens – June 11, 2005. In what can be touted as the "decider" of the first knockout round, EDS-A won the toss and started off brilliantly with their willows with Edward and Karthikeyan on the crease. Edward played a master stroke with 4 boundaries and fell for 30 runs when the scoreboard read 37. Parthiban (captain) came one down and lead from the front. But their fortunes soon changed when 2 wickets fell at 68. Wickets fell in quick succession after that and EDS-A could only manage to score 101/7 at the end of their innings. Though coming "fresh" after their night shift, the HR-BPO team was exceptional in their fielding. Amarjith and Winston bowled with precision & discipline and were the pick amongst the bowlers. Amarjith took 3 wickets in 5 overs with just 3 extras whereas Winston took 2 wickets with just 2 extras in 5 overs. But one was wondering the rationale behind giving Clayton a second chance to bowl who was gripping with a muscle s

The Chappell Way!!

The Indian cricket team has moved from the John Wright era to the Greg Chappell era... Now you can catch more of Greg and his ways of coaching or can get a tip or two about batting etc. from his very own website.... Check it out here

Best Kanna Best!!

The latest National Readership Survey is out and India Today (Hindi) has bagged the top spot which it lost to Saras Salil last year. Coming out of thin air, directly at number four, is Sun network’s Tamil magazine Kungumam just behind India Today (English)!! It was at the 40th position in NRS 2002 and shred half its readership to go to the 81st spot with a readership figure of 7.65 lakhs in NRS 2003. But a staggering 628 per cent growth and 55.71 lakh readers has catapulted it amid the highly read. The Top 10 magazines in urban centres are: India Today (Hindi) 51.71 lakhs. India Today (English) 47.79 lakhs. Kungumam 33.30 lakhs. Grihashobha (Hindi) 26.99 lakhs. Kumudam 26.70 lakhs. Saras Salil (Hindi) 21.42 lakhs. Sarita 19.57 lakhs. Meri Saheli 18.86 lakhs. Outlook 17.32 lakhs. Ananda Vikatan 16.81 lakhs. PS: I will attribute this usurp in fortunes to some aggressive marketing by Sun Network, especially the Best Kanna Best and Puthusu Kanna Puthusu lingos

The most famous Superstar style!

The other angle!!

LK Advani's resignation from the party post is all over the media and newspapers and most of you will be knowing that he got into trouble when he expressed his views on Jinnah, the "founder" of Pakistan. He called Jinnah a Secular. Now, I was doubtful about what "secular" means and checked it up with KTJ. He told me "secular" means a person who believes in all religions. While talking on this subject, he told me that Congress will be in trouble now with this issue. Heh?? Wondering, right? Even I was wondering until he told me why. Muslim League is a major partner of Congress in the UPA Government and make no bones about it, Congress hates Jinnah. Now if Congress come out and says Jinnah was a secular, their ideology itself will be questioned. On the other hand, if Congress says Jinnah is not secular and was the reason behind Indo Pak split, obviously the Muslim League will be angered. Brilliant move Mr. Advani!!

Fun!

The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people--that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature.

Cricket-ayah Namaha!

This unique Ganesh temple is in Chennai and was build on the occassion of the last World Cup by an Indian cricket fan, Rama Krishnan.

Brain Drain!

A brain tumour patient with end-stage disease was informed that he needed an immediate brain transplant operation. The surgeon told him, 'You can have an Indian brain for $10,000 or an American's for $25,000 or I can give you 10 gms of a Paki's brain for $100,000.' The patient asked, "Why is the Paki's brain so much more expensive than the others?' "Well,' replied the surgeon, 'we have to go through a lot of Pakistanis to find 10 gms of brain.'

Shooting Star!!

I was standing lonely in the bus stand outside my office at 3 in the morning and smoking my wits out when I saw that in the sky.... Yes, a shooting star just went passed between the millions of stars glazing at me... Damn, I forgot to wish for something !! :-(

Fishy!

An Australian woman was found to be carrying 51 live tropical fish after custom officials were alerted by "flipping" noises coming from beneath her skirt as she arrived at Melbourne airport. On closer inspection, officers discovered the woman had strapped on an apron of plastic water-filled bags containing the fish. The 43-year-old woman arrived in Melbourne on a flight from Singapore last Friday. Customs are still trying to determine what type of fish she brought into the country and have not yet charged her with an offence. Via: Sangeetha

Kaun Banega Crorepati 2

The Big B is back with his most famous avataar ever, that of a quiz master in the second and final season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The phone lines opened 2 hours ago today (June 6, 2005) and this time you can also SMS your answers. But there's a big hitch!! The questions will be shown in Star Plus channel between 5 pm and 9 pm and one has to watch it continously coz the question might pop up any time. That's ridiculous!! If Star Plus is going to continue in this format, only couch potatoes and housewives will be participating in the contest as others I believe don't have enough time to sit in front of TV that long. Star Plus, are you listening??? Last time, you just had to call up the number and a question will be popped up immediately. If you answer it right, your telephone number will be registered and if you are lucky enough, will get through the other rounds.

Parents fined for urinating baby!

An Indian temple fined the parents of a baby that urinated on its mother while she was praying, but the government ordered the money returned, saying the penalty was unfair. Officials at the Thrissur Hindu temple in the coastal state of Kerala fined the six-month-old's parents 2,000 rupees ($45) -- a hefty sum for an Indian working family -- saying the baby had desecrated the temple, the Times of India reported. Priests also held special prayer ceremonies to cleanse the temple after the incident. When the father, a mechanic, said he did not have the money, other worshippers chipped in to pay the fine for him. But the father appealed to the government, which told the temple to give the money back because a baby could not be expected to control its bladder. PS: )#*% %&)@%&)

Blog Recruitment!!

I was watching the inter departmental cricket match in my company when I received a call from someone named Ramprabhu. When I picked up the phone, he told me that he is a medical transcriber working in Chennai for the past 4 years and was planning to shift his base to Coimbatore and was looking for a job here. I was perplexed and in a rough tone asked, "So what?" Then he told me that he is a regular reader of my blog and came to know that am working at KGiSL. Still I didn't believe him and thought somebody might be conning me. Then as he talked I realized that this guy is speaking the truth. I asked him to call up after 15 minutes and when he called up again, I gave the phone to my operations manager and an appointment was set! And so it turned out to be a genuine guy looking for a job and am happy that I was able to give him a lead through my blog!! Way to go!! Long live blogging!

Wipro BPO has a new CEO!

Wipro today informed the stock exchanges that it had appointed Mr. T K Kurien as the CEO of its Wipro BPO business. The appointment has been made consequent to Mr. Raman Roy’s decision to resign from Wipro after a successful stint of over 3 years, to pursue interests outside Wipro. Prior to this assignment, Mr. T K Kurien was part of the Wipro BPO business driving the transaction processing business initiative. Over the last 7 years in Wipro, he has handled many successful assignments including launch of Systems Integration practice, culminating in the $70 m Systems Integration order from a UK based telecom service provider. PS: I wonder if Mr. Raman Roy has set his sight on launching a new company, you never know!!

Exclusive - Cricket 2005 Photos!!

Pls click on the photos to get a larger view The FRM A team The FRM B team The ICT Team The Call Center team The Umpires - Mr. Vinay and Mr. Rajesh Kannan Gary, Captain of Call Center being interviewed by Hari after the match Gnanasekar, captain of EDS B being interviewed by Hari after the match That's me in the red cap reporting live from the venue An ecstatic crowd watching the match Pics courtesy: Santosh & Devesh

FRM A beats Software C by 60 runs

Dr. GB Stadium, KG Gardens - June 4, 2005 The afternoon temperature was at a screeching high and warm air was breezing through the stadium as the mighty FRM A took on the newbies Software C. What transpired next was a jaw dropping, lip smacking thrilling match which quite frankly even I didn't expect. FRM A was all cool as they were the clear favorites and had a brilliant line up of all-round players. FRM A won the toss and as one would expect under the sweltering heat decided to take the willow first. With some brilliant catches and awesome fielding, S/W C was able to penetrate through the batting line up of FRM A and only two people could score more than 20 runs (Astin & Rajesh). What was amazing was S/W C's agility on the field and it was the best that we have seen in this series of tournaments thus far. Their field placements were precise, catching was perfect, reflexes were strong, and backing up was powerful. It would be suffice to say that S/W C really gave "FRM

Apple says Intel Inside!

Apple will start shifting its Macintosh line next year to Intel chips, in a major change of strategy for the computer maker. The move could be a blow to IBM and Freescale, which now supply Apple's PowerPC chips

ICT beats FRM B by 12 runs

Dr. GB Stadium, KG Gardens - June 4, 2005 This match had all the ingredients of a bollywood masala climax, an India-Pakistan clash at Eden Gardens -- Yes, it was the clash of the titans when FRM B took on the mighty ICT to settle some scores.... FRM B won the toss and surprisingly elected to field taking into consideration the early morning dew on the pitch. It looked like FRM B had a strategy in mind by deciding to hit the field first. Though the opening pair of ICT went down without much flair, what followed was a brilliant piece of batting especially by Kumaresh and Suresh (both district level players). Runs were coming pretty easy for ICT and FRM B was sweating in the early morning chillness. At the end of the first session of 10 overs, ICT was sitting pretty at 67 runs and was headed for a total in excess of 150. However, some rearguard action by FRM B bowlers restricted ICT to a score of 137 runs in their quota of 20 overs, highest in this tournament so far, obviously a stiff tar

Revenge of the Sith!!

Guyz and Galz, get your goggles and sunscreens out because tomorrow is the clash of the Titans when FRM B takes on the mighty ICT who defeated us in the Semifinals last year. FRM B has taken an oath to take revenge and ICT expects to hold on to its ground at any cost!! Let's all cross our fingers and see who wins the ultimate battle in this "Star Wars" saga The other match happening tomorrow is between FRM A and Software C. This is the first time that the S/W department has come out with three teams. FRM A is very strong and has vowed to beat the software C fair and square. So, be there tomorrow to watch all the action live!!

Crematorium on Wheels!!

A mallu has come up with a unique idea in that you don't have to take your loved ones who passed away to a crematorium but the crematorium will come to your place... Confusing, ha?? Read more here PS: Talk of entrepreneurship!!

Ash rocks!

Ash on the cover page of latest issue of popular Russian magazine "TV Park". Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai in magazine's four- page cover story said 'more beautiful' than Hollywood divas Nicole Kidman and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Read the article here The picture given above is of Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai who is posing during the red carpet arrival for the out of competition screening of U.S. director Woody Allen's film 'Match Point' at the 58th Cannes Film Festival May 12, 2005. Folks, this is the most e-mailed picture in the world today according to Yahoo!! And yeah, I make no bones about it, I simply adore her!! PS: I am one of the luckiest man alive in the planet in that I was able to meet Ash and chat with her during the making of the tamil movie "Kandukondein Kandukondein". The famous song "Konjun Mainakale" was shot entirely in Palakkad.

We, the Trio!

We are known in my company as the famous trio and we go by the name of "3 stooges", "3 Musketeers", and the "3 Rs".... Yes, am talking about myself and my dearest friends Ramesh and RR. Our friendship started some 3.5 years ago and had been going strong, with almost a special bond building between us. We drink (I mean, Coffee folks) together, smoke together, go for movies together etc. etc. Now Ramesh has decided to leave his present job and pursue his other interests. So, it's a sad day in RR's and my life in that we won't get free ciggies from Ramesh anymore when we go for breaks. :-) On a serious note, we have decided to meet atleast once in a week and our friendship will be going stronger than ever. So, here's to Ramesh wishing him all the best for his future endeavors. May God Bless You. Cheers!! PS: Ramesh, I would like to see you put on some weight in the next few months!

Mini Menon Quits CNBC

One of the best known faces of CNBC-TV18, Mini Menon, has switched over to the soon to be launched English News Channel from the Times of India group’s company Times Global Broadcast Co Ltd. Mini Menon, who started her career in television in 1997, has been involved in hosting and producing news shows on BITV, STAR, ANI TV and for the last five years, on CNBC-TV18. Among the shows she has been associated with are Bazaar, India Business Hour, the Emerging India series, The Good Life Show and Classroom.

Did you notice?

Have you noticed lately that Hindu's supplements are coming in two separate sheets rather than one?? First it was on Wednesday when I saw two Opportunities Page and I initially thought the paper guy had unknowingly given the same page... And yesterday's Metro Plus also came in two separate sheets with nice Front Pages.... This has been a practice of Malayala Manorama in Kerala for sometime now as they will have "two newspapers" on the same day so as to reduce the fight between husband/wife/father/mother during morning hours. I like to read the paper fresh i.e., before anyone else touches it but it rarely happens coz by the time I reach home, my mom or bro or sis-in-law would have already taken it and the paper will be in dire straits. Now thanks to Hindu, I can give them the supplements and read the main paper :-)

No more piracy!

Sony has taken what is believed to be the first measured step to control music piracy: Music CDs with anti-piracy technology developed by specialist First4Internet. The Japanese electronics major announced that at least 10 commercial titles would be released immediately to test the technology that can help control ‘casual piracy’ (i.e. making multiple copies for friends; a.k.a. ‘schoolyard piracy’). The new protected disc will allow consumers to make only a limited number of copies (perhaps three); and the user will not be able to make further copies from the copies. The concept is known as ‘sterile burning’. In this solution, tracks are ripped and burned from this original copy-protected CD on to a blank CD in Microsoft’s Windows Media Audio format. Thereafter, the DRM (Digital Rights Management technology) embedded on the disc bars will not allow the burned CDs from being copied.

Fortune Magazine @ local book stall!!

Indian government has finally decided to allow foreign publications to get published in India according to this report . Currently, high-end book shops directly import foreign magazines such as Fortune, Forbest, Time etc. and sell it at a premium which is not affordable by the common man. This new decision will help a large number of Indians to buy many worthy magazines at cheap rates and will once again make this world a global village. :-)

Doom 3!

I got my hands on Doom 3 demo when I bought the gaming magazine SKOAR! yesterday. Though I've heard a lot about this game from friends, I had really not experienced it before. I got hooked on to it instantly and played like hell, yes, indeed it was hell. I got shivers down the spine playing it with enemies pounding from here and there. The game is set in Mars in 2045 and is very realistic as if you are watching a sci-fi movie... "Doom 3 is essentially a remake of the original Doom, though series fans will find reimagined versions of almost every monster from both Doom and Doom II in the new sequel. You play as a nameless, voiceless 22nd-century space marine called by the Union Aerospace Corporation to its Mars research facility beset with mysterious problems--the forces of hell, to be exact. You'll end up single-handedly fighting back legions of hellspawn using weapons like shotguns, machine guns, and rocket launchers. As in the classic Doom games, your foes here are liabl

Beetle in India!

On May 2 this year, officials from the government of Andhra Pradesh went to Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, and they've returned with some good news: The German carmaker, best known for its iconic small car, the Beetle, is coming. It plans to set up a manufacturing facility in the port city of Visakhapatnam at a cost of about Rs 5,000 crore. Two of VW's divisions, Skoda and Audi, already sell their cars in India. According to D.A. Somayajulu, Advisor to the state government and who was part of the team that went to Germany, the carmaker has proposed 90 per cent indigenisation at the manufacturing plant. It obviously means that VW plans to introduce more mass market (read: small or compact) cars in India. It's almost a decade late to India's automotive party. Let's see if it can still make heads turn. PS: Earlier reports were suggesting that VW was planning a factory in Cochi, Kerala but thanks to the "frequent" bandhs and strikes i

No more smoking on screen!

In a first of its kind ruling by the Indian government, smoking on TV programs and Films is prohibited from August 1 . It's a sad decision in that Rajni won't be able to make his ciggie gimmicks in silver screen nor would a CID in a TV serial show that he is thinking intensly by smoking. Already channels have started showing that "smoking is injurious to health" whenever a character on screen smokes. The govt. of India has also come down heavily on Ciggie and liquor advertisements in print or TV medium. But will all these make people quit smoking? Doubtful. But we can definitely save the next generation from picking up this habit.

Business Today for free!!

Why spend 10 Rs. when you can read the "login only" online version of the number 1 business magazine in India, Business Today for free. Yes, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity folks... I've got the access IDs with me and would be glad to share it with you... Just mail me/call me/meet me in person to get the code!! Only for Peak Day viewers :-) PS: I just wrote the first promotional offer for my blog readers... more to come... hee hee....