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Showing posts from December, 2006

Lalu goes International!

In his own inimitable style, Lalu Prasad Yadav, the guy who was one snyonymous with fraud has impressed the Ivy Leage college grads from Harvard and Wharton. Obviously, the Railways success story under the leadership of Lalu and the court judging him not guilty of the fodder scam has put Lalu in high spirits. Here's an interesting article about the hour-long session he had with Harvard/Wharton MBA grads, explaining to them the success mantra. "I did not increase the fares. I did not retrench employees. Instead I gave them a bonus. I took the traders into confidence. I also took the employees into confidence. We will set up 75,000 krishi (farmers) outlets on railway stations. It is sad we sell shoes in air-conditioned showrooms and food grains on the footpath. This is just the beginning. Asli cinema to baaki hai (the real movie is yet to come)" Indeed Mr. Laluji, asli cinema toh abhi bhaki hai. Anyone for Mr. Laluji as the next PM?

Guess Who!

Man O Man, I couldn't guess it!
2,30,000

Ticket prices slashed!

The exorbitant rates exorted by movie halls in Tamilnadu will come to cease now as the government has decided to have a ceiling of Rs. 50 as the maximum fee for an A/C Theatre in Tamilnadu. The minimum rate for tickets in cinema halls with AC facility in metros have been fixed at Rs. 10 while the maximum rate has been pegged at Rs. 50. For non-AC theatres, the minimum fare is Rs. 7 and the maximum is Rs. 30. For AC theatres in municipal areas, the rate is minimum Rs 5 and maximum Rs 40 and for non-AC theatres, the minimum is R 4 and maximum is Rs 30. Previously theaters were allowed to hike rates as they wish for new releases in the first two weeks and I remember paying up to Rs. 200 per ticket for a new Hindi movie released at Apsara. Although, this will mean no more "full time" A/C in theaters a.k.a they will switch off the A/C once the movie starts and then switch it on before Interval. Plus the added menace of bugs and increased parking charges!!

Best of 2006!

It's that time of the year again when we eagerly await the new year to dawn upon us. And it's imperative that we look back at the year gone by - 2006. Keeping this in mind, will post regularly under the "Best of 2006" as and when appropriate under this tag . The categories are endless, from best picture (which I've already posted) to the best of anything and everything. You are free to nominate me anything fellaws. PS: Views opined are my own and not necessarily reflective of any major Phillumfare awards :-)

KSRTC in Dubai!

Shijo Thomas who is now working in Dubai forwarded me these amazing pictures of KSRTC buses plying in the city of Dubai.... Mallus taking over Dubai I guess ;-) One can also seen an autorickshaw in the third picture. Hope they don't do the same number of strikes as over here in Kerala....

Fat Pay Check!

Investment Banking and Consulting is the "in-thing" these days. Many of the people who graduate from post B-Schools want to go straight join an ivy league firm in Investment Banking. Why not, one might ask, if the pay is so good! Goldman Sachs, which had one of its most profitable year, is distributing its huge wealth to all its employees. Take for instance what the CEO Lloyd Blankfein is getting! Goldman CEO's $53.4M bonus breaks record! The bonanza for Blankfein included a cash bonus of $27.3 million, with the rest paid in stock and options. The record payday, disclosed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, breaks the one set just last Thursday when Morgan Stanley disclosed that it paid CEO Mack $40 million in stock and options. Link via: Bala

Giant Swiss Army Knife!

Presenting to you the world's biggest Swiss Army Knife! You can own one for just $1200/-. Swiss Army Knifes are the ultimate boys toys and it still ranks high in the aspiration list of any man. Here's a lucky chap who owns one and got time to review it

X'mas Celebrations!

We kick started our Christmas Celebrations in our office last week itself. The first contest was to decorate our respective bays in X'mas style last Friday and we all had a blasting time. And boy o boy, my team, Vox Populi won hands down (though some jealous freaks out there will cry foul). So, kick starting the video series of this decoration, here's the first prize winners Vox Populi!

An era passes by!

Joseph Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that first found its fortune in cartoon shorts for theaters then struck gold anew in television, died Dec. 18 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. He was 95. I grew up watching Cartoon Network, in fact, even now I do and I will attribute most of my success in the chosen profession of mine to this exposure to cartoons. Cartoon Network came to India with the advent of cable television and kids like me who were starved with stupid programming from Doordarshan were saved (although the Disney programs on Sunday mornings in DD was good). As Uncle Pai is famous for his caricatures in Amar Chitra Katha, from Kapeesh to Shikari Shambu to Suppandi, moving cartoons has only two names behind it, that of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and their production unit Hanna-Barbera . And with the passage of Joseph Barbera, an era comes to an end. Times have changed and kids tastes have also changed these days. What Cartoon Network offers t

Consultants!

Consultants or Consulting as such has been a "butt-joke" of many for generations. I am sure most of you would have read one or two consultant jokes via e-mail forwards. But whatever the case maybe, Consulting is big time business with loads of money in it. Sensing this, Indian IT companies have slowly started their focus into consulting de-stabilizing many of the well-known Western consultant firms like IBM, Accenture, EDS, Booz Allen Hamilton etc. Here's a piece on this small but significant turnaround in Consulting business.

Best Indian Cities for Jobs!

The Indian job market is hot, with employers raising wages to attract top talent. Wipro is even training its own engineers, because of a shortage of qualified graduates. But some regions are doing better than others, according to Manpower, a global staffing firm, which surveys employers every quarter about their hiring intentions. According to Manpower (nyse: MAN - news - people ), Indian job seekers should head... continue reading

Ethical Hacking!

Ankit Fadia, the whiz kid who shot to fame with realms of books on hacking, is visiting our campus this Friday and will be holding a seminar on Ethical Hacking. Looking forward to meet the young chap!

In Fond Memory

Arun Narayanan, an ex-colleague and a good friend passed away in a tragic car accident at Bahrain yesterday . I pray to the god to give his family the strength to overcome this grief! You will be greatly missed Arun..... may his soul rest in peace.

It's high time we protected Mother Nature!

F or sure, I can say that there isn't a single person in this world, who never thought why everyone else do harm to the earth and why they don't care about nature and he or she does. It is not new to anyone and all of us are worried about the changes - for the worst - which nature is undergoing. We all contribute very actively to the destruction of nature. Let us analyze how we are paving the way to nature’s destruction. We keep taking out its elements, wasting majority of them. We change the mechanisms of nature to make them simpler and cheaper to exploit. When trees are cut and concrete forests are laid in its place, we are depriving ourselves of rain, oxygen and are also letting the earth susceptible to soil erosion. When we extract ground water through bore wells for industrial and other purposes, we should bear in our mind that it will not be replaced and that its effects can take various forms. The most heinous of one's cruelty to nature is polluting it with wastes. S

2006 - Picture of the Year!

Dubya (George Bush) hands back a crying baby that was handed to him from the crowd as he arrived for an outdoor dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Trinwillershagen, Germany, July 13, 2006.

Pay Notice!

It's a common practice in BPO companies these days (including mine) where employees just walk off their jobs without even bothering to intimate their employers about their decision to do so. The reasons might be different in each case, but they simply don't have the courtesy to pay notice. And the case is worse, when a competitor of yours poaches your employees and claims no-foul as is in this case with Nirav Mehta, an entrepreneur. But taking a cue from Rashmi Bansal 's piece on a follow-up to the above linked article, I think employees should head to the advise of paying notice before they quit. Here's how she justifies it. Please do read it and hope it englightens you!! "The world is a complex mesh of relationships. And the working world is no different. At the beginning of your career, it may not be so evident. But 10-15 years down the line you will find that it is the relationships you have built - with bosses, peers, subordinates, even suppliers - which real

Parliament Attack!

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the now infamous Indian Parliament attack. It's immaterial whether Afzal is hanged or not for those who lost their loved ones. Here's a compelling un-edited footage of the attack taken by CNN-IBN camera crew on that fateful day. Head over here , here , and here for more...

Net-Works!

One of the best stories I've read in recent times talking about how Internet can leverage ourselves - even including remotely catching a thief - Man in Germany stops Brazil robbery via Internet!!

I Love Google!

One more reason to say why I adore Google so much. Yeah, maybe kind of a marketing blitz from the company to keep the buzz alive, but what the heck! If you actually see, Google has become one of the best brands in the world, without ever advertising. One might wonder why. Simple logics. They keep the buzz around their products alive, garnering more media attention than any other company. Am currently reading The Google Story by David Vise and it says the reason why Google launches more and more products every now and then is to keep these eyeballs increasing. Great strategy indeed folks!

Google Finance Revamped!

Google has gone ahead and revamed Google Finance from yesterday by adding many new features. Google has also added in 40 years of stock market data. Plus, here's a funny video from the brains behind Google Finance detailing the new changes.

In Defense!

Our new defense minister, AK Antony, all padded up to meet Jawans at the LOC in Kashmir :-)

BPO Boom!

" India is the most favoured destination in the world for offshoring " Am sure this is the 100th time you are reading a tagline like this... but it always makes for a good read when reports over reports predict India as the "hot destination". Here's a report on India's chances, according to a study done by AT Kearney, apparently for our Indian Parliament.

Asok Again!

PS: Telekinesis - The power to move something by thinking about it without the application of physical force Source: Dilbert.com

Medical Tourists

Medical Tourism in India is booming today with many from the West who can't afford hefty health insurance covers coming over here for complex procedures. Here's an article which appeared in Wired which details the opportunity Indian hospital chains have in this emerging trend.

Internet Crorepatis!

Here's a well written article I read in Business-Standard which profiles the new age Internet entrepreneurs in India who have made it big!! First off, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, the CEO of Naukri.com who became an instant crorepati recently after his company went public. The articles also talks about the brains behind Contest2Win, Makemytrip.com, and Shaadi.com... An interesting read! PS: Sigh! Sigh! I always wanted to be like this when I started a dot com business when in school...

Nasdaq QQQ

IT went mostly unnoticed by the Indian press and was reported in the side columns, but Infosys getting into the Nasdaq 100 list is an important landmark for Indian companies, especially the new age industry based ones, and is a testament of their maturity in the international business arena. Though not as widely known as the S&P 500, Fortune 500 or the Forbes 100, Nasdaq 100 is the select pick of the top 100 stocks listed in the worlds-largest electronic stock exchange. And moreover, Nadaq has registered this as 100 companies into a consortium where people can invest and have registered a ticker for the firm, known as QQQ. With just one share of QQQ®, you're invested in 100 of the largest and most dynamic non-financial companies listed on NASDAQ®. That's the kind of diversity and liquidity QQQ brings to your portfolio. PS: Though not a full-blown Indian company, Cognizant Technology Solutions, is already listed in the NASDAQ 100.

Oceans 3!

Here's a very interesting story of a trio from Mumbai who cheated banks for the past 4-6 years into getting car loans and buying expensive cars like Mercs, Skodas etc. and later selling it... Indian's very own master thieves!

Live TV on the skies

Feeling bad for missing out on that important cricket match or English Premiere league when you are flying in the indian skies?? Well, Kingfisher and dishtv has tied up, in what is, probably the first in the world to make LIVE TV available aboard all Kingfisher Airlines flights... Read more

Incredible !ndia

The Department of Tourism, Government of India has coined this tag line "Incredible !ndia" and is running a successful print/tv ad campaign to promote Indian tourism. Found this video amusing as it brings out the charm of India which we fail to realize.

Wishful Thinking!

Via: My wife!

New Handycam!

JVC, one of the world's best known brands, has launched a new camcorder which is the world's first Hard-Drive Camcorder, Everio. Yep, no more tapes of discs to insert. Just record and play. What more, it offers up to 10 hours recordable hard-drive.

Indian Farmers Woes!

60% of Indians are officially categorized as farmers, for whome, the Indian success story so far with IT/BPO/ITeS doesn't hold much. That's one of the main reasons why the India Shining campaign from the BJP gang didn't pay rich dividends and the Congress, playing on the common man card came to power. But here's a savior who could possibly help these farmers and change their lives for good - you might have heard the name already - Wal-Mart I know some of you will read this with raised eyebrows as you have read about the Leftist parties already raising slogans against the American Imperial Wal-Mart which will thwart the farmers. Here's a piece which appeared in WSJ written by Salil Tripathi which tell us how Wal-Mart's retail foray into India or that of Reliance's big retail plans can actually help Indian Farmers raise up the value chain, thereby truly making India the true global economic power to reckon with. Do read it!

Hello Moto!

Fishermen in Kerala use their cellphones to fix up a price immediately after they get their priced catch from the deep sea using their cellphones... This has already been reported in the local media, but Washington Post recently picked up this story and has a decent write-up about it A convenience taken for granted in wealthy nations, the cellphone is putting cash in the pockets of people for whom a dollar is a good day's wage. And it has made market-savvy entrepreneurs out of sheepherders, rickshaw drivers and even the acrobatic men who shinny up palm trees to harvest coconuts here in Kerala state. Rajan said the dealers don't necessarily like the new balance of power, but they are paying better prices to him and thousands of other fishermen who work this lush stretch of coastline. "They are forced to give us more money because there is competition," said Rajan, who estimated that his income has at least tripled to an average of $150 a month since 2000, when cellpho

All that glitters is not GOLD

"India clinch kabaddi gold" , screams a online news headline... India maintained their monopoly in the Asian Games kabaddi competition by clinching their fifth consecutive gold medal in the event with a comfortable victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final on Wednesday. Big deal guys. At least you made us proud by winning a "GOLD".... but does anyone really know how many medals have we won in the Doha Asian Games so far and where we stand?? The second most populous country in the world is way way behind China (the most populous)...

PCB Blockbuster?

It has got all the ingredients of a Bollywood Blockbuster! What else would you call the bizzare twists and turns that one often can relate to cricket these days. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohd. Asif were banned in a high profile, highly televised act of doping charges. And now comes the twist... the latest review committe looking into the doping charges have given them a clean chit , paving way for their return to international cricket... How bizzare can it get! It was the committee's view that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have established that they had an honest and reasonable belief that the supplements ingested by them did not contain any prohibited substances.

Lateral Thinking!!

man ------------ board Ans. = man overboard stand ------------ i Ans. = I understand /r/e/a/d/i/n/g/ Ans. = reading between the lines r road a d Ans. = cross road cycle cycle cycle Ans. = tricycle 0 ------------ M.D. Ph.D. Ans. = two degrees below zero knee ------------ light Ans. = neon light (knee-on-light) ground --------------- feet feet feet feet feet feet Ans. = six feet underground he's X himself Ans. = he's by himself ecnalg Ans. = backward glance death ..... life Ans. = life after death THINK Ans. think big !! ababaaabbbbaaaabbbbababaabbaaabbbb.... Ans. long time no 'C' (see) Via: Vinay

Cricketer IDs

I'm sure we get such creative e-mail IDs of our cricketers from season to season, depending on who and all are playing. So here's the latest instalment after the Indian debacle these days 1.LAXMAN: available@home- only.com 2.GANGULY: nowdays@no_use. com 3.KUMBLE: only@test_match. com 4.SACHIN: admitted@hospital. com 5.KAIF: good@for_nothing. com 6.SEHWAG: consistently@ out_of_form. com 7.DRAVID: stick@crease_ like_fevicol. com 8.PATHAN: takewickets@ only_with_ kenya.com 9. GREG CHAPPELL only_experiment@ noresult. com 10. Munaf Patel only_line&length@nospeed. com 11.Harbhajan Singh no_spinpitch@ nowicket. com 12. Suresh Raina why_i_am_there@ god_knows. com Via: Hari V