Tata Sky Plus and Iphone strategy

Tata Sky’s new Tata SKY Plus is a classic example of how new technology is launched all over the world. Iphone, by Apple was similar example, where they first launched the basic version of the product, which had a very high style quotient and then later launched improved versions with better features and fewer bugs and finally reduced the costs of their product too. The same was done to Ipod.

Tata Sky is the undisputed leader in the DTH service in India and DISH TV and the newly launched Airtel’s DTH have a long way. Innovative technology has a market and if your technology is good then your product is bound to be successful. Tata Sky initially launched the multiple angles viewing of cricket matches, another first for the Indian television. Their introductory package included this with other utility features such as the Activ News and Horoscopes, giving the viewer a complete value for money. Now as time progressed and the sales of Tata Sky almost reached a saturation level, they have introduced the PLUS where you can pause, record and play your favorite program. The question here that they have left unanswered is that how much of this can be done, since the memory of the system is limited.

Looking at their marketing, their ads have been a cut above all other advertisements of other DTH services such as Airtel and DISH TV. Airtel’s ads are high in emotional quotient and appeal to the emotions of their viewers. If you give a closer look to the A R Rahman’s ad, it was also high in emotions. This form of advertising has been good and made Airtel a very powerful brand, despite higher call rates than its competitors. On the other hand, Tata Sky’s ads have the wit and the power of a powerful brand ambassador, Amir Khan. It makes them very sharp and appealing to the general public. The ads now have included the hot Gul Panag, who simply has had a huge image makeover from the girl next door to a hot property.

Tata Sky Plus is an excellent product, something, which is already being used by nations in the west. Looking at the future of Tata Sky Plus, it is still ages ahead of the other DTH services, but it will have to keep up with the pace and the forces of recession and inflation to keep its sales high.

Sandeep Unnikrishnan : We salute you

Major Sandeep was one of the brave men who was killed in the gun fight between the terrorists and the NSG at the Taj Mahal hotel yesterday. The 31-year-old was leading a team of NSG commandos in the Taj operation when one of his men was shot. Sandeep turned back to help.

He arranged for his evacuation and then, disregarding his own safety, chased the terrorists to another floor of the huge Taj Mahal hotel, continuously engaging them in battle.

Isolated from the rest of his team he eventually fell to the bullets of the terrorists. Seriously hurt, he succumbed to his injuries.

He was the only son of his father Unnikrishnan, who had served in ISRO.

Along with Major Sandeep, another halwadar in the NSG, Gajendra Singh also fell to the bullets of the terrorists.
Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, who were all travelling in the same vehicle, were shot dead on the night this ordeal began.

I and whole world salutes these heroes for their bravery shown and disregarding their own life to save the citizens of India and the world.

Mumbai Terror Attacks: The role of NSG

The NSG along with MARCOS (Marine Commando Force (MCF)) have played the role of saviour for the hostages and others trapped at the Taj, Trident-Oberoi and the Nariman house. They risked their lives to get out the peole trapped in the line of fire between the Terrorists and the counter terrorists. The efficiency with which they conducted their operation is truly commendable. I was initially quite pissed of with our ministry and that resulted in a few posts on the extreme side. Sitting back and analyzing the events that occured in the 62 hours of terror, the only thing we can be happy about is that our lives are safe in the hands of the men in uniform. I am although skeptical of the delay that I feel could have caused more causlities. Had they used tear gas or some other tranquilizing gas, I believe the casualities could have been quite less, but I think the DG NSG knows best how to tackle. These people should be given more pay, since they are risking their lives for country and they are the ones because of which the multi nationals come to India and they are single handedly responsible for making India safe. Its been said that the lack of coordination between the Indian Navy and coast guard resulted in the successful entry of the terrorists through the sea route. This makes it important for us to realize the importance of a central command center were all the information is collected and processed. It is more of a diversity now as each state has its individual anti-terror unit, and hence makes the whole system less cohesive. Although, this cannot be said of the armed forces (apart from intellignce), who have showed enough courage and cohesivenss through the 62 hours of the ordeal.

Mumbai Terrorism : Role of Bangladesh

Imagine a country whom we helped in attaining freedom is showing eyes and threatening the national integrity of India. Our puppy now barks at us. The one terrorist caught said that around 20 people from Pakistan and 12 from Bangladesh were involved. We gave them freedom and they returned us this. Bah!
The Indo-Pakistani conflict was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation war, a conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis. The Bangladesh Liberation war ignited after the 1970 Pakistani election, in which the East Pakistani Awami League won 167 of 169 seats in East Pakistan and secured a simple majority in the 313-seat lower house.After the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to yield the premiership of Pakistan to Mujibur, President Yahya Khan called out the military, which was made up largely of West Pakistanis.Mitro Bahini was the alliance of the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini (as representation of the Bangladesh Army) that engaged the Pakistani forces in December 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The alliance provided the final blow to the already weakened Pakistan Army which surrendered thirteen days after the formal declaration of war.
Source:Wikipedia

Manmohan calls ISI chief to India

Manmohan Singh has called the ISI chief to India to show him the evidence that proves the involvement of Pakistan nationals in the terror attack. What sort of a puppy behaviour is this. We will welcome our enemy with garlands, pay for his damn visit and give him food to eat,all with the tax payers money. And do we need to show him the proof ? We need to take stricter steps ? What sort of soft prime minister we have who does not have the guts to go ahead with a stricter milllitary policy. What use is he when he can't come with the leader of opposition, L K Advani (and the vice-versa) to atleast show India is united. These petty politicians suck to the core. He has to show this country what strong measures are being taken. It was the responsibility of the ruling party, the UPA to call an all party meeting, which BJP did at the time of IC814 highjacking. And even is the ISI chief is shown the proof, what good will he do. He will only say, "we too are the victims".
These Pakistani ass holes, if they can't manage their country, why did they ask for a division and partition. They wan't all the privileges and bail outs, but bloody can't leave their habit of inciting violence. And imagine what good will they do to Kashmir, if they get it. They'll make it a similar terror state.

Mumbai Terror attacks: Images of Taj Mahal hotel

These are the images of the Taj hotel in Mumbai, before and after the terror attacks that took place on the 26th November 2008. The Taj Mahal Palace hotel resort was commissioned by Jamsetji Tata and first opened its doors to guests on December 16, 1903. Tata allegedly decided to build the luxurious hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city's grand hotels of the time, Watson's Hotel, as it was restricted to 'whites only'. The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza, but the project was completed by an English engineer W. A. Chambers. The cost of construction was 421 million Rupees. During World War I, the hotel was converted into a 600-bed hospital.









But the Taj was and will remain a showcase of India's resilience, financial might and the will to go ahead and dominate the world in Future.

Mumbai Terror Attacks : Pakistan fears

Mumbai terror attacks have led through leads to links in Pakistan. I along with many others have believe that somewhere Pakistan has played a major role in this planned carnage. But there are 'others', who are trying to counter the aggressive reaction hoped by the Indian government. This fear is clearly evident from the posts of pakistani bloggers. Here in India, we are angry, in pakistan they have already started fearing. This google search result shows the rections of scared pakistanis on the two top blogging platforms, wordpress and blogger.Other Posts:

• Mumbai Terror : 5 reasons why pakistan ?
• Mumbai terror: A Maritime failure
• Global reactions on Mumbai Terror
• Mumbai Terror: We have had enough of this shit
• Mumbai Attack : Some questions unanswered
• Mumbai attack : A consequence of Indo-Pak series ?...
• Mumbai terror attack

Mumbai Terror : 5 reasons why pakistan ?

It is the most common place where our fingers point to when a terro attacks happens, but during the last few months these fingers have pointed to the people from our own country; educated and well off. This time it is not the usual terror attack and this is why the finger pointing to Pakistan becomes even more correct. There are few reasons which I have listed down, that makes Pakistan the starting ground.

1. Firstly the attack by boats, makes it quite evident on the basis of geography that it could come from anywhere in the south-West of PakistanSecondly the Pakistan foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, sarcastically said that, 'in a boat from karachi', meaning that it was not possible. Yes I agree. But two mother ships(trawlers) have been taken in the Indian waters near Gujarat and it is said that they had come from Karachi and acted as mother ships.

2. The commando level training and the strategy of the attackers as seen through CCTV footage show that a professional organization could be behind this. They moved in pairs, both guarding different sides and hence covering each other.

3. The intelligence and planning gone into executing this operation only can be done by an intelligence agency, and henceforth, Pakistan could have been assisting that agency.

4. The doubt over the Indo-Pak cricket series in Pakistan over 'security concerns' could have prompted an immediate move and hence try to give India a taste of similar situation.

5. The NSG commandos and other hostages reported that the terrorists were talking in Punjabi and their accent was pakistani.

All these factors make it certain that the terrorists were from Pakistan and there was hand of other agencies of pakistan in assisting them and try to destabilize the Indian economy.

Mumbai terror: A Maritime failure

Our navy have nothing to proud of. We don't have the best of ships or submarines and countries such as Russia have easily duped the Indian Navy in the Gorshkov case. We have a huge maritime boundary to defend and the Navy has always gotten off by saying, "It is not possible". But then what is possible ?

If the suicide attackers had a nuclear bomb with them, they could have destroyed the whole of Mumbai. Fortunately that wasn't the case. The recent mumbai terror shows that anyone can through the open sea with weapons (and also of mass destruction) and hold a city to ransom or go on a rampage shooting and killing people.

I feel very helpless at our unconcered Navy mostly, because this time it is a complete maritime failure. Where were the radars when the boats were coming ? It is sheer callousness on the part of the whole system, mostly the government.

The UPA government has made India look like a soft puppy and they have minted money by unfair pratices and scandals. The sons and daughter of Indira Gandhi have inhereted a legacy of scams and corruption runs in their blood. Remember, Indira at the time of emergency. She brougt the country to the verge of dictatorship, after a court in Allahabad found her guilty of using her power and position to influence the voting. Remember Rajiv Gandhi and Bofors scandals. Murli Deora has tried to do this again by giving the reduction in petrol prices as a bribe to voters.

A helpless and impotent congress, with a bad policy has made this country like them and as a result made the common man to suffer. The result of their corruption was reduced defence expenditure, especially salaries, and as a result we haven't been able to give our hearoes their dividend and also the necessary resources in the hour of need.

Global reactions on Mumbai Terror

I've collected the headlines of the world's top news sources such as BBC, CNN and the New York Times and this is what they have to say.

Mumbai Terror: We have had enough of this shit

India has had the worst home minister in its History. I believe that our home minister, Mr Shiavaraj Patil is the most un-intelligent, incapable person to have in the cabinet. Moreover the UPA government has come out with the most foolish decisions by not increasing the salary of the defence personnel and not giving them what they deserve. When the Mumbai terror attacks began, it was they who came out along with the NSG to take the bullets on their chest. A person who stands in the line of fire has been treated with disrespect. Heroes, who have given away their lives have not been given their dues. I have mentioned this earlier, that the actual people responsible for making India a safe haven for the investors to come in and the country to grow have not been given what they deserve.

The congress government has been the most rotten form of government, India has ssen in the recent times. BJP under their governance took stern action after the parliament attack. Today also the CM Vilas Rao Deshmukh is sitting in his office and will come out tomorrow giving some quotes and sound bytes. What the hell is doing. He has time to attend big bollywood functions, attend his son's premiers and now where is he. Sitting in his hideout, when we need him the most.

The PM also has been no good. That old man Manmohan only had the time to come at 10 in the evening after 24 hours of the carnage. Moreover, L K Advani another old fellow is busy scoring brownie points.

Mr Amar singh, the cheapest of all politicians was busy advocating a inquiring into the Batla house encounter when he should have actually supported the widow of M C Sharma who had the balls to take bullets on his chest. Amar Singh does not have the guts, but is busy in petty politics to score a point and earn some Muslim supporters.

Now where is RAj. More than Biharis these terrorists have attacked Maharashtra. Now where is his gang of goondas. Are his supporters helping people, or are they confronting the terrorists. Bah! This nations and its leaders rot to the core. They simply suck!

Mumbai Attack : Some questions unanswered

Some questions that arise after the recent terror attacks on India.

1. How were they able to come to India ? What was the coast guard doing ? Where is Sureesh Mehta, and why even after radars the boats and mother ships not detected ?

2. Where was the police, when the shooting began ? Were they sleeping and being complacent ?

3. Why has the area around Taj, not been cordoned off, since there is a possibility of the terrorist sneaking through and creating more panic and damage ?

4. What concrete actions were taken after the Bangalore, Ahmadabad and Delhi blasts ?

5. Mohammad Afzal who is convicted of being part of conspiracy is now sentenced to death by Indian court. He was to be hanged on October 20'th, but why has he not been hanged ?

6. Does the UPA fear that terrorists might target them and hence be soft on terror ?

Mumbai attack : A consequence of Indo-Pak series ?

The series between India and Pakistan, which had to held in Pakistan was in the doldrums as terror in Pakistan had made in unsafe for us to there. So is it as a consequence to take revenge, Pakistan has launched this dastardly attack on India. Its immediate effect has been that the India-England tour has been called off.
This time it is not only bombs, trained people have come out in the open with their guns and created havoc on the streets of India's financial capital, Mumbai.
We have to fight back and if possible pay back in the same coin.
We should not stop this time. This time it is not a hidden attack. Intruders have come on our soil and tried to threaten the security of this nation.
7 years ago, On December 13, 2001, five gunmen infiltrated the Parliament House in a car with Home Ministry and Parliament labels.On December 20, India mobilized and deployed its troops to Kashmir and Punjab in what was India's largest military mobilization since the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War amid calls from the United States and the United Nations (UN) on India to exercise restraint.
This time we will have to even further. The BJP government had the guts to do that, but our UPA government is just a soft puppy making us all weak. People like Narendra Modi are a fine example of countering terror. We need a more nationalist givernment. Pakistan will have to pay for supporting terror on their soil. We have had enough of this shit.

Mumbai terror attack

A group of terrorists came by boats to Mumbai with sacks full of hand grenades, machine guns and made Mumbai into a war zone yesterday night. The worst terror attack on Indian Soil took place, and is still on with hostages in Taj, Trident and Narimna point.
101 people, including a foreign tourist and a top counter-terror officer, were killed and about 287 injured as terrorists struck in the heart of Mumbai in planned and synchronized attacks.
Three top police officials, including Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, were among the nine policemen killed in gunfights with the terrorists
Among terror targets was the city's busiest railway station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an address to the nation made it clear that neighbouring nations would have to face a "cost" if they allowed their territory to be used to launch attacks on India.

Toyota to launch low cost car

Toyota is planning to launch a car in the $5000 range to capture the emerging low cost segment of automobiles in India. Tata's who were
the progenitors of low cost economical cars have been followed by many others and Toyota is the latest edition. The advantage of having a low cost car is that it consumes less fuel and is more eco-friendly as compared to the fuel thirsty SUV's. To save the environment we will need low cost cars, who are well in synergy with the environment. Toyota, the world's largest automobile maker has yet to conquer the Indian front. The japanese firm is now trying hard and its engineers are trying to keep to the global brand alive as well as reduce the cost of car. It will be hard for Toyota to make a low cost car since with a global brand like toyota, customers have certain expectations, but the features need to be minimal to reduce costs.But looking at the history of toyota, I am quite confident that they will come out with an excellent and innovative product. Toyota, which was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda and was dedicated to the production of trucks for the imperial japanese army during the second wars. Since there was a severe crunch of resources, they had successfully managed to make simple trucks with minmal features and only one headlight in the center of the front hood.
(Image courtsey: Wikipedia)

Experiential Tourism

Tourism is no longer exploring new places and cultures, but more an amalgamation of an experience driven adventure and new surroundings. The days of lazy holidays on a tropical island are still shining but people are increasingly being driven into having first hand experience of things making their trip a lasting memory rather than just another vacation. Offbeat adventure resorts and the demand for personal and customized holidays is in demand these days. In Bar Camp 5, there was presentation by a person who escorted people on experiential trips and now has a business of over 5 crore, catering to the needs of corporate trips. A couple in Paris can choose from a variety of local experiences seeing paris by night, a cruise down the sienna river or the Moulin Rouge show. Travel has turned from a business of just logistics to a complete package of an experience centered trips. The decade of the 1990's had set this trend in the west, which is catching up in India with the advent of corporates looking to give their employees a relaxing break. This corporate trend has caught up with the people who are looking to have more of such trips. I too had an experience of outbound tourism, when I was sent to a jungle by my company for outbound training to do stuff like river crossing, treasure hunt and rappling, making the trainees work in teams. It was a fabulous experience and now people like me who are looking for more of adventure simulation trips can go get one for the whole family.

Rahul Mahajan,Bigg Boss-2 and Politics

Rahul Mahajan caught quite a few eye balls during the latest season of Bigg Boss. Big Boss-2 was a surprise package for me as Indian Reality TV hit new highs and lows too. The best part of Big Boss-2 was the winner, Ashutosh Kaushik who now has a Wikipedia entry in his name. It’s quite a remarkable accomplishment for a person who belongs to a small town (Saharanpur) and cannot speak English.

Reality TV at its core is about different people, with one ambition of winning. It is journey of making friends and foes. The tactics people use, like politicians makes the game of reality interesting. This tactics can also be called politics. Big Boss-2 became even more interesting when a real time son of politician got into the politics of reality TV. Rahul Mahajan, the son of late Pramod Mahajan, did something far from what a politician would do and hogged all the limelight. The new generation of politicians or politics gone wrong was a matter of debate between the millions of people who sat in front of their idiot boxes at 10 pm. One estranged character who came out and was cornered by almost everybody was Raja Chaudhary.
Everybody is now debating over Rahul’s future. Should he join politics or get into acting. I can say one thing for sure. He should never marry. His stay in Bigg Boss-2 highlighted his playboy sort of living with a more than friendship relationship with Payal Rohtagi and Monica Bedi. After divorcing his first wife, the hunter was on the prowl again and nowhere could you see a leader in him. His actions were political and you could see an archaic politician him, unlike Rahul Gandhi who has managed to get out of the shade of a new generation free thinking person rather than a carefree soul.

It is quite certain from his recent actions and interviews that the Mahajan Junior will get into politics. There is a big But to his entry in the BJP camp and is bound to face stiff opposition from an already less cohesive BJP.

Nuclear Weapons : Seeds of Terrorism

The Asian doomsday is not far as the three competing powers are fast becoming obsessed with nuclearization. After India got through a successful nuclear deal with the United States, there were talks of China voting for a similar deal with Pakistan.

A Pakistan scientist Abdul Khan had started his own laboratory after he was thrown out of the Pak premier labs. He had completed his post graduation from a premier school in United Kingdom on fundamental particles. He had good knowledge of developing nuclear weapons and was successfully working with Pakistan’s nuclear labs for developing nuclear reactors for energy. His senior, Dr Wasim Khan had caught him working on an experiment, which would have led to the development of nuclear arms in Pakistan. Dr Wasim, being an ardent follower of Robert J Oppenheimer had vowed to work for the destruction of nuclear arms at the root itself. Robert J Oppenheimer was the man behind the Manhattan project for developing atom bomb. After seeing the power of the bomb and its consequences, he spent his later years, advocating the stop of spreading of such weapons. Dr Wasim and his entire team were under intense pressure from the ISI and the government of Pakistan to develop nuclear arms, but they had successful managed to evade such programs. Abdul, an ultra nationalist had some how more extremist thoughts, since he was subject to racial discrimination in UK during his study. He somehow had a false notion that all this discrimination was because of India, and Indians like Jawaharlal Nehru and had a feeling of revenge in his heart. He with immense persuasions got a team of 8 people to work on his project, Tabahi, the development of nuclear bomb. One of the members of Tabahi, was the security guard of the lab at Islamabad, who had strong links with ISI. Since the ISI after the removal of Pervez Musharraf had gone into the hands of government control, causing discontentment among its members had disintegrated within a few months its few members just vanished into the darkness of terrorism, after contacting the Al-Qaeda. The security guard, Karim had managed a meeting between Abdul and Rehman (The ISI member). Soon in a matter of few months their project Tabahi gathered momentum and in the darkness of the night carried out their experiments. On one Tuesday night, Dr Wasim came to the lab, and got a glance into the secret project. He later formed a committee and after investigation, found Abdul and four others guilty. Meanwhile ISI officials had tried to even poison and kill him, but luck had favored him. A day before the trial, the ISI people, through their networking helped Abdul and his comrades escape the prison. In the dark wet night, they escaped Islamabad prison. Tabahi’s progress is now halted but the ISI agents are managing to collect resources needed for Tabahi. Dr Wasim has managed to destroy the sources present in Pakistan’s top nuclear facility and has applied for a US visa. In the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, project Tabahi is still on.

Review of India's performance

A united nations committee described India's performance as poor after reviewing India's performance after 17 years by the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social, and cultural rights in Geneva (Switzerland) , 6 months back, in May 2008. The reason, I've highlighted this is due to the fact that elections are round the corner and everyone is blabbering about their achievements and trying to denigrate the opposition, forgetting that they collectively have been a big failure.

The UN committee asked India to "try harder". Trying harder is totally justified since our respected politicians (more of politics than leadership) our more concerned with "who" is in their state and who is not (Remember Raj). Their life starts and ends at vote bank.

The delegation from India was grilled about the status of dalits, tribals and Muslims, and their arguments about the realization of the minority rights were not acceptable to the committee, which insisted that issues on certain rights, food, housing, health and educations had to be realized.

Economcs

Decadence of Congress government

The dawdling of the progress of Commonwealth games and the fact that the chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation coordination committee,Austin Sealy indicating the possobility of cancellation or relocation of games has defiled the reputation of India. I would rather say, 'Brand India', since I've been hooked to the term for the last few weeks or so. Mint newspaper recently reported that 234 out of the 515 central projects were delayed from the date of commissioning. A pitiful of 2% of all projects were ahead of schedule. All this at a time, when we are looking to compete with countries like China.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia recently said the Planning Commission would shortly announce a public spending plan, especially in the infrastructure sector was supported by many industrial sources. The nakedness of Indian economy was recently shown as our sensex dipped to less than 50% highlighting the dearth of infrastructure and defalctions in the current government, plaguing the nation.

Nuclear Power and lord krishna

I was recently reading the chapter, 'India and the Bomb' of the book 'Argumentative Indian' by Amartya Sen and I was quite moved and enlightened too as it highlighted the devil hidden in the nuclearisation of nations, especially long time enemies and brothers, India and Pakistan. I've used the term brothers since both of us share the same kind of people with similar thoughts. If you go anywhere abroad, you'll find Indians and Pakistanis being the best friends. Although we become totally different when we reach our home countries.

Going back to the early days of the bomb, the father of the atoic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer qouted the bhagawad Gita after his team,Los Alamos tested the atom bomb, in the trinity test in New Mexico.

"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

That was the reaction of the father of the son, which went out to kill around 200,000 people instantly during World War II.

In response to the nuclearization of china, India tested its first atomic bomb at pokharan in 1974, followed by the nationalist BJP, which then went on under the guidance of Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam to test six more bombs in 1999. Our brother turned foe, Pakistan then replied with the testing of 6 more. The Indo-Pak nuclear cold war had begun then.


The 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff was a military standoff between India and Pakistan that resulted in the amassing of troops on either side of the International Border (IB) and along the Line of Control (LoC) in the region of Kashmir. This was the second major military standoff between India and Pakistan following the successful detonation of nuclear devices by both countries in 1998 and the most recent standoff between the nuclear rivals.Indian Foreign Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said on June 5 that India would not use nuclear weapons first, while Musharraf said that he would not renounce Pakistan's right to use nuclear weapons first. In December 2002, Musharraf said he warned India "not to expect a conventional war from Pakistan" if troops crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir. India's Defense Minister replied that India could "take a bomb or two or more but when we respond there will be no Pakistan."

That was the first time the clouds of nuclear war gloomed over Asia as both countries were preparing for the worst. But when I read this, it was the first time I doubted lord Krishna's argumemt with Arjuna of the righteouness of war. Krishna insisted Arjuna to fight, irrespective of its consequences of the war. But the consequences of a genocide would cease to heal in two countries already plagued by poverty and a host of other economic problems. The consequences have been best described the Arundhati Roy, in a phrase mentioned in 'The Argumentative India'

Our cities and forests, our fields and villages will burn for days. Rivers will turn to poison. The air will become fire. The wind will spread the flames. When everything there is to burn has burned and the fires die, smoke will rise and shut out the sun. The earth will be enveloped in darkness. There will be no day. Only interminable night. Temperatures will drop to far below freezing and nuclear winter will set in. Water will turn into toxic ice. Radioactive fallout will seep through the earth and contaminate groundwater. Most living things, animal and vegetable, fish and fowl, will die.

These lines are the perfect representation of the consequences of a nuclear war, which makes Lord Krishna's argument of war, totally nullified.

Brand India : Automobiles

Brand India #3 : Indian Automobile Sector - Humble beginning to Global Domination

Previously on Brand India

1. Brand India#1 : Introduction
2. Brand India#2 : Lijjat Papad

India was one of the late entrants into the automobile sectors, although the earliest foray into this sector being in 1899 with Castrol India. The Indian automobile sector with a global presence has been a major power pusher for Brand India. In this post I have compiled the information of the major Indian automobile industries in a timeline view from TVS motors in 1911 to maruti in 1981.

The History of the Automobile sector

Karl Benz is generally acknowledged for as the inventor of the modern automobile. In 1879 Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been designed in 1878.His first Motorwagon was built in 1885 and he was awarded the patent for its invention as of his application on January 29, 1886.In 1896, Benz designed and patented the first internal-combustion flat engine, called a boxermotor in German. During the last years of the nineteenth century, Benz was the largest automobile company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899.The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory in 1902. This concept was greatly expanded by Henry Ford, beginning in 1914.

Indian Automobiles and their global presence (According to timeline )

1911 :Early beginnings

TVS Motors

TV Sundram Iyengar and Sons Limited (TVSs) is the holding company for the TVS Group of companies engaged in the manufacturing of almost all kinds of automotive components, two wheelers and a few other industrial products. They are also into the financial services sector. The turnover of the entire group was close to $2 billion in 2003. TVS was founded by T. V. Sundram Iyengar in 1911. Sundaram Iyengar proved himself as a forward thinker when he got his daughter T. S. Soundaram, then a teenage widow, remarried, under the auspice of Mahatma Gandhi. TS Soundaram then involved herself in the Indian independence movement along with Gandhi. She was later honoured with a postal stamp released in her honour.

1945 : The Big Bang year for Indian Automobile sector

Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto is a major Indian automobile manufacturer. It is India's largest and the world's 4th largest two- and three-wheeler maker.Over the last decade, the company has successfully changed its image from a scooter manufacturer to a two wheeler manufacturer. Its product range encompasses Scooterettes, Scooters and Motorcycles. Its real growth in numbers has come in the last four years after successful introduction of a few models in the motorcycle segment.Bajaj Auto came into existence on November 29, 1945 as M/s Bachraj Trading Corporation Private Limited. It started off by selling imported two- and three-wheelers in India. In 1959, it obtained license from the Government of India to manufacture two- and three-wheelers and it went public in 1960.

Mahindra and Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is part of the US $6.7 billion Mahindra Group, an automotive, farm equipment, financial services, trade and logistics, automotive components, after-market, IT and infrastructure conglomerate. The company was set up in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed. Later, after the partition of India, Mr. Ghulam Mohammad returned to Pakistan and became that nation's first finance minister. Hence, the name was changed from Mahindra & Mohammed to Mahindra & Mahindra in 1948.

Initially set up to manufacture general-purpose utility vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was first known for assembly of the iconic Jeep in India. The company later branched out into manufacture of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) and agricultural tractors, rapidly growing from being a manufacturer of army vehicles and tractors to an automobile major with a growing global market. At present, M&M is the leader in the utility vehicle (UV) segment in India with its flagship UV, the Scorpio (known as the Mahindra Goa in Italy).

The big daddy arrives

Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited, formerly known as TELCO (TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company), is a multinational corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is India's largest passenger automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturing company. Tata Motors is a part of the Tata and Sons Group, founded by Jamshetji Tata and J. Baker. The company was established in 1945 as a locomotive manufacturing unit and later expanded its operations to commercial vehicle sector in 1954 after forming a joint venture with Daimler-Benz AG of Germany. Tata Motors started its commercial vehicle operations in 1960 with the manufacturing of first commercial vehicle (a copy of a Daimler Benz model) in Pune. It took five years for the company to begin the commercial production of heavy commercial vehicles.

In 2004, it bought Daewoo's truck manufacturing unit, now known as Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, in South Korea. It also, acquired a 21% stake in Hispano Carrocera SA, giving it controlling rights in the company. Tata Motors launched their much awaited Tata Nano, noted for its Rs 100,000 price-tag, in January 2008.

In March 2008, it finalised a deal with Ford Motor Company to acquire their British Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) business, which also includes the Rover, Daimler and Lanchester brand names. The purchase was completed on 2nd June 2008.

1956: The Cycle revolution

Hero Group

The flame kindled by the Munjal brothers in 1956 with the flagship company Hero Cycles; Mr. Satyanand Munjal, Mr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal and Mr. O. P. Munjal continue to carry the torch and are actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the Hero Group. The saga is being continued with the same zeal by the second and third generations of the family and by the large working force of the Hero Group. In 1963 it pioneered bicycle exports from India - a foray into the international market. 12 years later, in 1975, Hero Cycles Limited became the largest manufacturer of bicycles in India. After entering into the motorbike sector in 1985, it got its name in the guinees book of world records in 1986 as the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world. Two years later it reached the pinnacle among all motor cycles in India.

The Gandhi initiative

1981 :Maruti Suzuki

After starting as private company Maruti technical services private limited' (MTSPL) on 16tgh november,1970, with the aim of getting the technical know-how for building an indeginious car, the company went into liquidation in 1977. Sanjay Gandhi, who became the managing director of the company in 1971 was caught in the maruti scandal. One year after his death in 1981, the Indian Central government at the behest of Indira Gandhi salvages Maruti limited and starts looking for an active collaborator for this company. In 1982, the most unlikely competitor Suzuki motor corporation convinces the Indian government and a License and Joint Venture Agreement(JVA) was signed between Maruti Udyog Ltd. and Suzuki Motor Corp of Japan. In 1983 796 cc hatchback, India’s first affordable car, is released in the market.

Previously on Brand India

1. Brand India : Introduction
2. Brand India : Lijjat Papad

References :

• http://www.herogroup.com/index.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_motors
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Maruti_Suzuki
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maruti_Suzuki#Profile
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._V._Sundram_Iyengar
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVS_Motors
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahindra_%26_Mahindra_Limited\
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Forge

Home Loan reduces

The chilly winds of slowdown have been quite troublesome for almost all of us, but despite all that chill, there are some safe havens. It is not exactly a safe haven, but a shelter from the cold. The shelter you were planning for all those years. After the RBI's move and governments assurance to monitor the liquidity condition on daily basis, the public sector banks have cut interest rates by 0.5 to 0.75 percent. The floating home loan rate will be available for 10.25%-11% for loans upto 30 lakhs and a maximum of 12% for loans above 30 lakh. The difference of this will have a direct impact on your Equated monthly installments by about Rs 2000. Although it is being widely speculated that the buyers are currently putting all big purchases on hold because of the market with a fear of slow down and high inflation and will not take the bait. The progressive slowdown in demand for the residential sector and investors in the last couple of quarters was a result of RBI's multiple interest rate hikes.This activity might pick up once the main home loan institutions like ICICI and HDFC, which control more than 50% of the market reduce the interest rates.

The property loans although have increased from 7-9% in 2006 to 11-12% in 2008. While investors are investing in their dream stocks, it could be a good chance for you to buy your own home.

Chandrayaan-1 : Probe lands on moon

The perfect children's day gift by ISRO

The mission has been accomplished, without any hiccups. We are there, the dreams are closer as impact probe being taken by Chandrayaan -1, India's first moon mission lands on moon. Its a proud moment for all Indians and takes us into the next lap of space race. The idea of putting a flag of India on the probe was an excellent idea given by a prominent scientist and former president of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. The timing of the mission has been immaculate too. The probe has landed when India celebrates children's day, the birthday of the first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It is time to celebrate and finally we get to see some positive news on TV after all the ATS, Raj Thackeray, crap.

Previous posts on Chandrayaan -1

Chandrayaan - 1 : The home run :- ( November 13, 2008)Chandrayaan-1 has hit the home run. The Indian spacecraft, the 1st moon is now orbiting the poles of moon at an altitude of about 100 km.
Chandrayaan : Reality check ( November 4, 2008):- Chandrayaan gave India a giant leap in space exploration. ISRO launched chandrayaan, which would drop a probe onto the moon. This called in for a lot a accolades and gave our nation a sense of pride. With success comes the possibility of failure.

India England : Round 1-India wins

The round 1 of the seven match India England matches was played at Rajkot. It was a extra-ordinary performance by the Indian team as the batting battery powered the 158 run success over the visitors. Yuvraj Singh, much like the Salman Khan of Yuvraaj was facing tough time even more since his peers including Dhoni,Gambhir and sehwag had simply overshadowed him. Although he may claim, he had nothing to prove to anybody, he still has to prove himself as a senior responsible player of the Indian team, complementing it with tests, now since Sourav Ganguly has vacated a spot.

The game was truly a class magnum opus of batting and team work, with the team after being given a jet start with the consistent pair of Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. They now remind me of the days of glory of Sachin and Ganguly, when as a child I watched them crushing the opposition.

Still six more to go. Kevin Pietersen, will have to regroup his team for the round-2 of the battle of this 7 match series.

The female icon

Bus trips give you a chance to actually get into the blood stream of a city. It also gives you a chance to discover new things and new kinds of people, the kind of people we normal call as an item. A bus trip today was my encounter with a middle aged lady, who with her aggression and attitude made more than 20 males(me too) feel small and timid in front of her. I had stopped travelling by bus as it was quite a bumpy and dusty ride. My maruti 800 was supporting me until yesterday, when it broke down.

The bus route was 764, one of the busiest routes in Delhi. I fortunately got a seat and the ride was going smoothly until the passenger next to me got up to get down. The next contender to sit ( a luxury in a Delhi bus) on the seat is normally the one standing next to it. He was a 20 something guy like me, looking to make a mark in this fast, competitive world. As he adjusted his bag to sit, a middle aged lady pushed her way through the small gap between the guy and the seat and at lightning pace grabbed the seat. I'll say its fair competition, and if you delay your plans, someone else will grab the opportunity, precisely what the middle aged lady did. What happened next just adds to her aura. Like always in a crowded bus people, push others and who in turn push few more, to make their way out of the bus at their destination. Thats what another 20 something guy did, to make it to his destination. In the process his carry bag managed to hit the lady, although, I felt it just touched her. She immediately reacted.

If you can't handle your bags, don't carry them. This is not your school, where you'll play with your bags.

Whoa! The strong lady had embarrased another guy, for his mistake. Normally things are oppositte in our male dominated society.

All this while, I was sitting next to her, just hoping, it wouldn't be a bad day for me.

Now it was the conductor's turn. The conductors in delhi buses are the third most rude guys you'll ever find on planet earth. The first being delhi Police and the second being our ill mannered MP's.

The conductor asked her for the ticket. She gave him a ten ruppee note. Their conversation proceeded in the following way.

Conductor : Where do you wanna go (In his usual rude tone)
Lady icon : I am going where this bus goes. Shut up and give me a Rs 10 ticket.

Superb!
This is what was going on in my mind as their conversation finished. Now I was a 100% sure to feature her on my blog.
I asked to myself, Is this the same Indian woman who has struggled to get equal status and respect in the society, especially in lower strata. She has surely come a long way and this lady is the living example.
Frankly speaking, I didn't have the courage to talk her, but I quickly managed to steal a photograph of her, which I've put in this post. I was quite impressed by her and I'm sure you also share the same feeling.

Deshdrohi banned

The freedom of Indians have again been curbed by Maharashtra government by banning the movie Deshdrohi in Maharashtra. The state government on Wednesday banned the Hindi film `Deshdrohi', saying it would create a divide between north Indians and Marathis. Now this is what I call hypocrisy at its extreme. On one hand they divide the north Indians and Marathis and on the other they are banning a movie, claiming it could widen the rift. They let Raj Thackeray, the only Marathi Manus (Not an Indian) go scot free. Why didn't they ban him and his party for spreading violence in the state.

Sometimes I feel it is very helpless with such people in power playing the dirty game. I could actually see how they played it when I saw one of their siblings (Rahul Mahajan) in the reality show Big Boss -2. The extent to which these un-ashamed politicians go is disgusting. Rohit Monserrate is another such example. People misusing power should be hanged till death. They give a bad name to the country and that is one of the reasons we are subject to racial divide in more advanced and civilized nations.

Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Gafoor said, "We had found certain scenes in `Deshdrohi' objectionable and had informed the government about it.'' Where was this guy when MNS workers with evil daddy Raj Thackeray were running amuck in the city.

Cinema if not complete, shows a part of reality and it should not be curbed. We are living in a free society and we should be given the right to watch it too. Luckily with blogs there is no such banning till now and this being the 200th post of the blog, I wish to continue speaking on Speak India with your support and co-operation.

Changing colours of MNS

MNS leader Raj Thackeray's lawyer, watched the film at a special screening, he said there was "nothing objectionable'' in it. "The promos are misleading.'' But soon after the government's announcement that it would ban the film, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar demanded legal action against Kamal Khan, the producer-director of `Deshdrohi'.

Blind Congress

Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh said such films spreading hatred must be banned. What about people and prties spreading hatred ?? Why aren't they banned ??

Mahesh Bhatt's View on Times of India

Mahesh Bhatt said,

"It's a shame that those who claim to be the crusaders of freedom have violated the rights of freedom of speech of the film-maker. They are no different from any repressive regime. You can't use the pretext of law and order to ban a film.''

Chandrayaan - 1 : The home run

Chandrayaan-1 has hit the home run. The Indian spacecraft, the 1st moon is now orbiting the poles of moon at an altitude of about 100 km. India has now made its presence felt at a distance of 3,84,000 km from the Earth (The distance of moon from earth). I was initially skeptical about the moon mission in terms of success, but the optimism and faith in India's talent kept my hopes alive and here it is, the grand show on an international platform of our determination, perseverance and talent.

The lunar mission carries five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which were carried free of cost.

This home run has made India victorious in the space age, but we still have a long way to go. On one hand we have highly qualified scientists, looking to explore moon and on the other is grim picture of riots, violence, poverty, crime and illiteracy, the last being the most important. This mission might have shown India's might, but has also highlighted the need to bridge the gap between the educated and illiterate, because to grow, we'll need to unite in the fabric of a secular, truly democratic and a literate India.Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Margaret Alva : Deserted by Congress

Senior leader Margaret Alva’s resignation from the post of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary was accepted on Wednesday and her work reassigned. She has also been removed from the Congress Working Committee and the Central Election Committee of the party.She no longer holds the powerful post of General Secretary in-charge of seven states and is neither a Congress Working Committee member now.

The former AICC general secretary Margaret Alva, created a flutter by alleging sale of party nominations.She had wondered why her son and grandson of former Union Minister C K Jaffer Sharief were not given nominations while relatives of two dozen leaders were given tickets in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir.

Although congress has faced severe criticism from the media since the Gandhi siblings and a few others were given special treatment and the siblings of Alva and Jaffer Sharief left out. On the resignation and disciplinary action on Margaret Alva, Rahul Gandhi made contrasting statements, taking him to the center of ticket sale controversy. But this is problem for the primary opposition too. BJP MLAs in Rajasthan have alleged that the ticket for the Khetri constituency was sold.

Alva may have been silenced but not others. All India Congress Committee’s Scheduled Castes cell president Yogendra Makwana has alleged that Alwar rural seat was sold for Rs 2.5 crore. I wonder what damage these people can do to the nation is they are buying nominations. They could sell this country for recovering the money spent during those buyouts.

Refernces :
indianexpress,IBN live,The Hindu

ICL a flop show this year too

I didn't watch any of the matches of Indian Cricket League, promoted by the Zee group as I feel it lacks the glamour quotient as present in IPL or international cricket. Its timing this year was another nail in its coffin as the cricketing greats chose to retire in this Border Gavaskar trophy and yes it was between the arch-rivals too. The reason could be many, but the result was a poor and hurted the media buyers.

The ICL received a television rating (TVR) of 0.7% between 10th october and 1st november for a target group of males above the age of 15 years. It is quite low as compared to the TVR of IPL (The BCCI 20-20 tournament) received a TVR between 4-5. The media buyers and the organizers, both are puzzled because of the aberrant outcome of television viewrship, although the stadiums were jam packed.These reaction in HT Mint explain their worries.

Joy Chakraborty, chief revenue officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, a subsidiary of Essel, says he expected an average rating of 2 or 3 at least...Media buyers such as Shashi Sinha, chief executive officer of Lodestar Universal Pvt. Ltd, are puzzled. Sinha says ICL did all things right this year and the lack of results is puzzling...L.S. Krishnan, president of Mumbai-based media specialist radar, Mudra Communications Pvt. Ltd, says while ICL pioneered the T20 format, there is no doubt that it is the BCCI’s IPL which made it a premium tournament and property. “IPL mixed entertainment and cricket and that’s what worked for them. It brought in all the big stars and glamour, and it’s a Herculean task for ICL to live up to,” said Krishnan.

Poor viewership for ICL leaves media buyers stumped
Anushree Chandran
Tue, Nov 11 2008.
www.livemint.com

ICL certainly needs to catch up and glamourize the event to create more awareness and they'll have to do something radically different to improve the television ratings and viewrship.

Also try reading

Australian Media on Border Gavaskar Series :- The Australian coach Tim Nielsen backed Ricky Ponting for using his part time bowlers for pacing up the slow over rate...
India wins Border Gavaskar trophy 2-0 :- India wins border-Gavaskar trophy by 2-0, making this series a historic one.Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly's era of international cricket is over now and there would be a few others to follow,...
Sourav Ganguly : The romantic end :- Sourav Ganguly went out for a golden duck in his last and final outing in international cricket. The tiger came virtually running in to pounce, when laxman was dismissed for 4 by krejza...

Australian Media on Border Gavaskar Series

The Australian coach Tim Nielsen backed Ricky Ponting for using his part time bowlers for pacing up the slow over rate. But the Australians atleast the media wasn't in a mood to oblige.

Remember the 2005 Ashes?

He clearly made an error by attempting to increase the over rate last night in Nagpur when he should have been using his best bowlers at a point in the match where the test could be won.

Alan Border was dumbstruck and many former players have shaken their heads in amazement that he seemed more interested in avoiding a one match ban than winning the test.

The country awaits Ponting’s response.

The Australian
November 10, 2008

Although there were words of praise for the debutant spinner Jason Krejza who wove magic(although costly) and almost spun the whole Indian side in the first innings of the fourth test at Nagpur. There were praises for the selectors and Ricky Ponting for bringing him at the right time, but the stones kept pelting on the rest of bowling attack. Here is an excerpt from The Australian.

"If he had played in the first or second Test match with that level of play, he may well have found himself not playing now and struggling to work out the game.

"A little bit of patience from the selectors and Ricky Ponting using him really well in this Test match has meant that he has had some great success and I am sure we will see him play more in the future."

It is an indictment of Australia's attack that it managed to take just 57 of a possible 80 Indian wickets, with two run outs, and Krejza took 12 of those wickets in his first Test.

Of greatest concern was the poor performance of experienced new-ball pair Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, who were rated four and two respectively on the International Cricket Council's player rankings heading into this series... Lee was the major disappointment after a brilliant summer at home... He needs only three wickets to become just the fourth Australian to claim 300 Test wickets and will surely do it at the Gabba against New Zealand later this month

The Australian

Malcolm Conn, Nagpur | November 11, 2008

Steve Waugh's criticism (on cricinfo.com)

"I am sure Ricky would regret the decision," Waugh told the Herald Sun. "Winning the Test match is what mattered. You have just spent six weeks in the subcontinent. You just don't take your foot off the gas."

After the match Ponting was fined because Australia were behind on their overs but they had hustled enough for him to avoid a possible suspension for the first Test against New Zealand next week. But Waugh had some sympathy for Ponting and said everyone involved in Test cricket needed to keep the game moving quickly.

cricinfo.com (By : cricinfo staff)

For know its raining champagne and accolades for M S Dhoni and Co and lets hope it stays much after the 2011 world cup.

Also try reading

India wins Border Gavaskar trophy 2-0 :- India wins border-Gavaskar trophy by 2-0, making this series a historic one.Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly's era of international cricket is over now and there would be a few others to follow,...

Sourav Ganguly : The romantic end :- Sourav Ganguly went out for a golden duck in his last and final outing in international cricket. The tiger came virtually running in to pounce, when laxman was dismissed for 4 by krejza...

Shoot the crow

The shoot is going on and so is the crow. So what do you infer from this line ?
Its simple. A bunch of people with money and TRP's on their mind have paid some crows, do do what they are best at. I am talking of the news channels that peep into the whole world every time and every second and the so called trusted news cannot be trusted anymore.

One of my friends argued over a point that Hindi news channels are good and comprehensive. My response, What Bull shit. My voice was dwarfed by 6 more people who spoke together with me. We all said that the way they sensationalize the news makes it seem like crap. They are sellign news like masala dosa on the streets. He unabashedly said that there is not enough news so they have to create it. I agreed with him, but there is no reason to fake. You can repeat the news too. India TV keeps on playing old repeat telecasts of Great Indian Laughter challenge and other comedy shows. Is this news ?? A created one ??? This is bloody crap. And oh, the breaking news. India TV regularly shows Breaking News from 9-11 PM just like a regular daily soap.

Headlined today, an English news channel is also shamelessly following the same trend. It shows the internet videos of World Wrestling Entertainment. Sometimes I feel they should be penalized for their heavy violation of copyright.
The best of news is shown by only too Indian news channels. NDTV 24x7 and Times Now. Although I would agree that Times News Network has masala stuff, it is not crap.

India wins Border Gavaskar trophy 2-0

India wins border-Gavaskar trophy by 2-0, making this series a historic one.Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly's era of international cricket is over now and there would be a few others to follow, but the fact that India one in fair and square makes it even more sweet.

It was a team effort throughout the series and almost all, except Rahul Dravid contributed in this new Indian side. The gesture of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to allow Anil Kumble to lift the cup was an act that again proves he has a sound head on his shoulders. The man of the series, Ishant Sharma, the 20 year old delhi tallie, makes it even more symbolic. On one hand the Golden greats of Indian cricket are departing and on the other hand the new guns are making a mark. I wanted Gautam Gambhir to win the man of the series award, and had he played in the last test, he would have surely got the award.

This series was a touch unfavourable to the Aussies, in terms of luck. The Aussies only one the toss in the first match,the rest three were won by India. This gave them the disadvantage of batting on the last day. India barely managed to save themselves in the first test, though the comeback was truly phenomenal. Not it will be up to M S Dhoni and Co to take this team forward to a level above. As for Ricky Ponting, his arrogance let him and hos team down.

Also try reading
Sourav Ganguly : The romantic end :- Sourav Ganguly went out for a golden duck in his last and final outing in international cricket.

Eat till you die

Yesterday, one of my uncles passed away. One of those numerous persons of my large extended family, who was close to my father and grandfather, but an unknown figure to me. On asking my parents about the cause of his death, they said, he had massive heart attack and within minutes he was no more. As a old (not very old though) person he was leading a particularly healthy and happy life with both his children settled and doing well. The incident shook me. A person who is watching TV, enjoying his meal, playing with his grandchildren, suddenly feels suffocated with a pain near his heart. The next day his is lying motionless on logs of wood.

This sudden untimely death of my uncle made me look deeper into the heart attack death cases. Our parents in a bid to make us healthy make us addicted to a high calorie diet, our lifestyles seldom makes us exercise and the bad habits accrue this process towards a classic heart attack case. I am particularly scared after this incident. One fine day, enjoy music and TV, I don't want to end up in a flash. I'll certainly be improving my food habits from now on.

Sourav Ganguly : The romantic end

Sourav Ganguly went out for a golden duck in his last and final outing in international cricket. The tiger came virtually running in to pounce, when laxman was dismissed for 4 by krejza. The heroes in reality don't have a fairy tale ending and like most heroes the one who gave teeth to Indian aggression, was finally out to a debutant (Krejza), who vitually got the team out single handedly. While Anil's exit was as perfect as the man, Ganguly's exit had to be dramatic, on the edge, in your face, like the prince.

Some of his fans were sad at his untimely dismissal and retirement, Well, its more a time to celebrate, than to feel sad. Lets enjoy the dawn of new and young Indian cricket.

Hole in the wall

Hole in the wall is a very experiment by Sugata Mitra in 1999. I read about this experiment, which showed the innovative capabilities of two kinds of people, the visionaries and the underprivileged.

About Sugata Mitra

Sugata Mitra has a PhD in physics and heads research efforts at New Delhi's NIIT, a fast-growing software and education company with sales of more than $200 million and a market cap over $2 billion. But Mitra's passion is computer-based education, specifically for India's poor. He believes that children, even terribly poor kids with little education, can quickly teach themselves the rudiments of computer literacy. The key, he contends, is for teachers and other adults to give them free rein, so their natural curiosity takes over and they teach themselves. He calls the concept "minimally invasive education."


The Experiment

He took a PC connected to a high-speed data connection and embedded it in a concrete wall next to NIIT's headquarters in the south end of New Delhi. The wall separates the company's grounds from a garbage-strewn empty lot used by the poor as a public bathroom. He then just keft the computer open and watched the activity happening on a computer and a video camera.

He discovered that the most avid users of the machine were ghetto kids aged 6 to 12, most of whom have only the most rudimentary education and little knowledge of English. Yet within days, the kids had taught themselves to draw on the computer and to browse the Net.

Imagine, if 70 lakh such children get access to the resources needed for education and development, India would indeed be a place full of innovation.


Resources and refernces

http://www.greenstar.org/butterflies/Hole-in-the-Wall.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimally_Invasive_Education

Brand India : Lijjat Papad

Brand India #2 : The story of Lijjat

In the previous post of Brand India (Brand India : Introduction), I introduced the concept of the term, its origin and significance. Although Brand India is a relatively urban term, in this post, I'd like to share with you a very popular story of women empowerment, wisdom and the creation of a brand called "Lijjat". It is a very awe inspiring story of the success of the Indian woman and true representation of Brand India, more than just IT. You all might once have had the tasty lijjat papad with your meal. The story behind it is even more relishing.

Lijjat was the brain child of seven semi-literate Gujarati housewives from Bombay. They wanted to start a venture to create a sustainable livelihood using the only skill they had i.e. cooking.The women borrowed Rs 80 from Chaganlal Karamsi Parekh, a member of the Servants of India Society and a social worker.They took over a loss-making papad making venture by one Laxmidasbhai and bought the necessary ingredients and the basic infrastructure required to manufacture papads. On March 15, 1959, they gathered on the terrace of their building and started with the production of 4 packets of Papads. They started selling the papads to a known merchant in Bhuleshwar. From the beginning, the women had decided that they would not approach anyone for donations or help, even if the organization incurred losses.


During the first year, the women had to stop production for four months during the rainy season as the rains would prevent the drying of the papads. The next year, they solved the problem by buying a cot and a stove. The papads were kept on the cot and the stove below the cot so that the process of drying could take place in spite of the rains.

Initially, the women were making two different qualities of papads, in order to sell the inferior one at a cheaper rate.Chaganlal Karamsi Parekh, popularly known as Chaganbapa, became their guide and advised them to make a standard papad and asked them never to compromise on quality. He emphasized to them the importance of running it as a business enterprise and maintaining proper accounts.

The group got considerable publicity through word of mouth and articles in vernacular newspapers. This publicity helped it increase its membership. By the second year of its formation, 100 to 150 women had joined the group, and by the end of the third year it had more than 300 members. By this time, the terrace of seven founders could no longer accommodate the members and the ingredients, so the kneaded flour was distributed among the members who would take it to their homes and make papads. The papads were brought back for weighing and packaging.

In 1962, the name Lijjat was chosen by the group for its products. The name was suggested by Dhirajben Ruparel, was chosen in a contest held for the purpose, with prize money of Rs. 5. The organization was named Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad.

After tasting tremendous success with their papads, Lijjat began producing other products like khakhra (1974), masala (1976), vadi, wheat atta, and bakery products (1979). In 1970s, Lijjat set up flour mills(1975), printing division (1977) and polypropylene packing division (1978). The group also initiated some unsuccessful ventures such as cottage leather (1979), matches (1979), and agarbattis (incense sticks).

In 1980s, Lijjat also started taking part in several trade fairs and exhibitions, which improve its sales and made the brand name "Lijjat" well-known among the people. The advertising was undertaken through the vernacular newspapers, television and radio. The institution sponsored programs and gave away gifts for the winners of specific shows in the television. The money for advertisements was spent by the Polypropylene Division, which recovered the same by adding it to the price of the bags that it supplied to all the branches and divisions throughout India.

In 1988, Lijjat entered the soap market with Sasa detergent and soap (Sasa had annual sales of Rs 500 million, accounting for 17 percent of Lijjat's total turnover in 1998).
During the same time, Lijjat started attracted attention of foreign visitors and officials. The Vice-President of Uganda, Dr. Speciosa Wandira-Kasibwe, visited Lijjat's central office in January 1996, since she wanted to start a similar institution in Uganda. Lijjat started exporting its products with the help of merchant importers in the United Kingdom, the United States, the Middle East, Singapore, the Netherlands Thailand, and other countries. Its annual exports accounted for more than US$2.4 million in 2001.

In 2002, Lijjat had a turnover of Rs 3 billion and exports worth Rs.100 million. It employed 42,000 people in 62 divisions all over the country. The 62nd branch became operational at Jammu and Kashmir in 2002, enrolling over 150 members.

In 2003, Lijjat received the "Best Village Industry Institution". It also received the PHDCCI Brand Equity Award 2005.

Refernces :

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Mahila_Griha_Udyog_Lijjat_Papad)
Lijjat website (http://www.lijjat.com/)

10 reasons why Obama is the right man

This is a presentation on slideshare.com which gives some humorous and astute reasons for Barack Obama being the right choice. The reasons vary from his looking cool in T-shirts to his opposition of IRAQ war, before it became fashionable to do so.

Top 10 Reasons Obama Is The Man

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: campaign election)

US Elections: Time magazine covers

I found out this presentation on slideshare.com that shows the covers of TIME magazine over the course of US presidential elections.

Time Magazine Election Covers

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Defence dues

The defence forces have long bore the brunt of tensions on the border of India, and inside India. They have worked diligently and fulfilled their duties to make India a safer place and help us grow without any extra tensions. They have tried to protect us from the infiltrators on our borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. Despite their lives given to the country, the government has done little to increase their economic status. The civil-millitary relations are supposed to have strained due to the perceived uncaring atitude of the civil bureaucracy. They also have been left out at the highest level of policy making. Due to the less economic remuneration, some officers have resorted to corrupt practices. One incident that recently came into light was of Major General Nilendra Kumar.

The statesman news service writes,

In a significant development, a court of inquiry today issued a show-cause notice to the Army’s senior most legal officer, Major General Nilendra Kumar, after finding him guilty of corruption,...Major General Nilendra Kumar was accused of 15 counts of irregularity, including financial impropriety and corruption. He has been found guilty in a majority of them. There is a strong possibility that he may be asked to resign from the Army, sources said.

Nalin Mehta, a delhi based political commentator points out that this is a fight of status and not money. He writes in an article titled "Give them their due" in the editorial of Times of India;

...Twenty years later, it is even clearer that India is far too large and complex a country for any kind of coordinated or sustained military challenge to the civilian authority. This is why the service chiefs' response to the pay commission should be read not as an act of defiance, but one of despair. The changes demanded in the pay commission are not about strengthening civilian control - that is not even in question - but about bureaucratic churlishness and about giving the armed forces their due.

It will be important for the ministry to give the defence personell their long delayed due, else things could get more uglier from here on. India is one of those few post colonial countries that has been saved from ignominy of military coup, partly because of the democratic structure.

India: Blind Me

Blind Me

A careless move, was enough to fool,

The kindness of  an innocent silk,

Out I stood on a cold frosty night,

Dark it became, swift was the knife,

Cut through as it ran past my eyes,

Like a blessing it came to blind me,

Like sleep she came to hide me.

Little of sins I knew, before I thought,

The ages made it grow before it took toll,

Small it was and smaller it became,

All remained exhaled smoke out of ruined city.

The shattered remains still remind them,

A city of hope, once stood there,

Brimming with life, till came the captain,

Crown and Beads with sins of past and greed,

He stole all good and left thorns on streets.

I walked, it pained, It was painful,

Restored, thorns were removed,

Remained were the stains of whom I loved.

Grass began to grow, life was green,

But the captain came again with same stained steel,

With more along with him,

Like a whore, he sold himself, to others,

And now this silk is going, with him,

Still tied I wait, for the sailor,

A hope, that won’t be late,

As the city of life burns away,

The memories of the green grass come again.

It’s a new saint this time,

His clothes defeat the normal eye,

But the ash in my eyes, shows his stained eyes,

Like the captain, he too is the devil.

And the same sad stained weapon is out,

The weather is cold again,

Thorns still lie out on the streets,

The pain is too much, and so is their greed,

This time O’ Wind just be cooler than last year,

And blind me with your power, As I can’t bear,

The pain of those, whom the captain stole,

The trust of those, which he broke,

But slay him with your power, I trust you,

I’ll be watching, long after you blind me.

Sushant Kumar

Winter's arrival

Dear reader,

Winters are just a few weeks away and the riskiest season of all, November is taking its toll, on me too. It gets hot in day and is quite cool at night, The perfect recipe for cold, cough and fever. Unfortunately,these three gods of ill-health have not shown their benevolence towards me and made me a captive in a bunker like blanket.

I must say that this can take toll on my blogging too. If you don't see too many posts this season, it could because of the ill health or the laziness of winter. The latter wouldn't be much of a problem in terms of blogging, as it is normally is a high priority task of the day.

Stay fit and enjoy this winter and if you stay in a tropical climate, then too just enjoy and keep reading, meanwhile i'll just take some rest. I like collecting such pictures. If you have some, mail it to me at sk.insync@yahoo dot com.

Chao!

Youth wins over experience

Experienced campaigner John McCain lost to the young and enigmatic Barack Hussein Obama in one of the history's most famous US presidential elections. This is more a victory of change, the change that Barack Obama stood for. Although it was said that Obama being less experienced would not be efficient in handling the White House, has come out with flying colours. First, it was the Barack-Hillary campaign and then the McCain-Obama campaign.

Now that he has won, his crown of thorns will be handed over to him on Jannuary 20th 2009. It will be interesting to see Barack Obama's policies in a time of economic crisis, to ending war in Iraq and trying to upkeep the US health care system.