My thoughts

Exceptional Catch - Younis Khan

2011-12-21T22:02:00.002-06:00

An Interview with Rahul Dravid

2011-12-09T09:15:00.001-06:00

CNN IBN's Gaurav's interview with Rahul Dravid. As usual introspective and intelligent.

Thanks Gaurav (@gauravCNNIBN) for a good interview

Indian Express article on FDI in practice

2011-12-06T21:31:00.001-06:00

FDI in practice

I believe it is good in general for FDI in India for the retail segment. And I sure hope it gets passed at one point or the other.

I above Indian Express article portrays the positive effect on FDI for Cash & Carry wholesalers. I would like to know an opposition view also, without the rhetoric.

Apparently, Mobile number portability not much of a hit

2011-12-04T13:37:00.001-06:00

I saw a report on NDTV: Mobile number portability not much of a hit

To be truthful, this report surprises me. The following are the observations given in the report.

1) Only over two percent subscribers have so far opted for the service --> Why is 2% such a bad number? The idea of number portability is if a customer does not like the service of a service provider, he can change the provider without changing his number. How do you determine if this is a hit? if 20% opted, does it become a hit? Isn't that idea idiotic? if 20% changed doesn't it say a really bad name for the mobile service providers in India? Should they be happy if only 2% opted for the service instead of 20%. This measure is only to ensure that an option exists for the customer and mobile service providers must do their utmost to retain them.

2) A key reason for the slow port-in and port-out is that 95 per cent of the country's mobile customers are in the pre-paid category says Samaresh Parida, director (strategy) of Vodafone India --> So pre-paid customers do not mind changing numbers as and when they want? Is that the interpretation. Is there any analysis to come up to this conclusion. My singular thought is a customer is happy to carry 2-3 prepaid numbers for himself in his dual SIM phones and uses the one that fits his need or provides him better service. I do not think any reasonable conclusion can be drawn from the statement above.

3) "In order to gain customers you need to be different. Quality of service and plans offered by most of the operators are almost the same," said Abhishek Chauhan, senior consultant for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) practice, Frost and Sullivan, a research and consulting firm. --> Possibly the one rational statement in this report.

Life insurers with 10-year business can go public: IRDA

2011-12-01T21:45:00.001-06:00

IRDA's recent announcement that I read in Moneycontrol: Life insurers with 10-year business can go public: IRDA

I wonder,

Why 10 years and what is magical about this figure? Shouldn't the guidelines be on the basis on some meaningful parameters, for e.g.

a) How many customers does an Life Insurer have? [both active, cancelled and serviced]
b) How many assets and holding does the Life Insurer have?
c) What is the presence of the Life Insurer?
d) Does it service all sections and strata of the soceity?

Savings Bank Interest rate deregulated in India

2011-10-25T22:13:00.002-05:00

According to an RBI notification today, Saving's bank interest rate has been deregulated in India. Indian Express has the report here: RBI frees savings deposit rates, hints pause in further rate hikes

The below is from the news report.

Cheering depositors on Diwali eve with deregulation in the SB deposit interest rate with immediate effect, the RBI said banks are free to determine their savings bank deposit rate if they meet two conditions.

Each bank will have to offer a uniform interest rate on savings bank deposits up to Rs 1 lakh, irrespective of the amount in the account within this limit.“Second, for savings bank deposits over Rs 1 lakh, a bank may provide differential rates of interest, if it so chooses. However, there should not be any discrimination from customer to customer on interest rates for similar amount of deposit,” Subbarao said.

News papers are going ga ga about this news. The idea that is being spread around is that the rates will increase and customers will earn more.

or really???

Does RBI really think that private banks will be acting on the interests of common man and provide better rates? Even if it does, has RBI given any direction on the various caveats and conditions that will be imposed by the banks for the "better" rates? Will common man and elderly who depend on the saving rates be protected from future rate decreases?

I can think of no better example than in US, where the saving rate is...wait for it... an awesome 0.5% per year. if you are lucky you will find a bank here that will offer you 1%.

I am no economic expert or a finance expert. But I am concerned that people are not being exposed to both sides of the coin in this matter.

Valley of flowers

2011-10-18T21:59:00.000-05:00

A lovely picture from Indian Express

Courtesy: Indian Express

Corporate World

2011-10-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

No one can represent this better than Calvin & Hobbs

Corporate World according to Calvin

Swann's autobiography

2011-10-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

Some excerpts from Swann's biography is features in Yahoo Cricket. I enjoyed reading the same and hope my readers too enjoy it.

Graeme Swann's New Book: The Hilarious Bits

Naiharwa Hamko Na Bhawai - Kabir's Nirgun Bhajan

2011-10-09T21:57:00.000-05:00

I heard this bhajan yesterday and I have fallen in love with it. "Naiharwa Humbo Na Bhawai" is a bhajan written by Kabir and the below attached rendition is by Pushkar Lele

The meaning of this song is very profound. Please see the below links for the same

a) Aho Aham Namo Mahyam Blog

b) Boloji.com: Kabir

Does India need more Banks?

2011-09-29T22:55:00.000-05:00

Recently quite a bit of private corporations have started campaign for having their own bank. One of the big names being Reliance. RBI is planning to have quite a bit of rules and regulations involving these corporate houses.

I am not expert on economics of Banking. But I do wonder Does India need more banks? I am sure quite a few of will say a large population of our country doesn't have bank. and It is needed.

I can't help but wonder if these corporations will prefer to have their bank in cities or in villages. Personally I know where their preference will be.

If any of you have a better understanding, please do enlighten me.

Onion politics

2011-09-21T21:36:00.000-05:00

The New Indian Express editorial on Govt decision to allow Onion Imports

One thing is for sure, the current UPA government has no intention on keeping common man commodity prizes on check.

In the same vein, According to The Planning commission, a person in India is not poor, if you earn Rs.32/- a day (i.e. $0.68). Isn't that ridiculous? Read the CNN IBN report here. How does one expect to believe that this present govt is "aam-aadmi's" (common man's) govt?

No prepayment fee for floating rate loans says RBI

2011-09-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

A great news for home buyers in India. RBI has said that banks should not impose prepayment penalty if a borrower pre-pays his loan. it is quite a relief for home owners who have been made to think about prepayment due to the enormous amount of penalty imposed by many banks, as much as 3% of prepaid money.

Read the livemint article here: No Prepayment fee for floating rate loans

Paper making by hand

2011-08-30T19:15:00.000-05:00

Really awesome to see paper making by hand in Gongchuan, China. Unfortunately a dying art.

Barnyard Disturbance

2011-08-27T22:38:00.000-05:00

For all of my musically inclined friends, something to really challenge your perceptions and understanding. I heard this song in Minnesota Public radio - classical station and it is called "Barnyard Disturbance" by Edgar Mayer. I really enjoyed it and hopefully you will too.

Barney's wisdom on corporate world

2011-08-23T23:48:00.000-05:00

Barney: That's what Corporate America wants: people who seem bold risk takers but never actually do anything. Actually doing things gets you fired. In fact I'm writing a book on this very phenomenon.

Marshall: Really, you're writing a book?
Barney: No, that would be doing someth... Are you even listening?

I was only scaring him

2011-08-22T20:59:00.000-05:00

Really!! Who are you kidding?

Imagine the plight of someone in an Indian jail. And we wonder why this country produces so many terrorists and why there is so much lawlessness

Indian Govt "Anna" mistake

2011-08-18T08:14:00.000-05:00

Cartoon by Hemant Morparia (Twitter: @hemantmorparia) from Mid-Day.

Happy Independence Day

2011-08-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

Wish a very happy independence day to all Indians around the world.

Yahoo India has this great feature presenting a visual chronology of post independence India: India @ 64 - A visual chronology of post-Independence India. I enjoyed going through it and hope you will too

Apple and Samsung

2011-08-10T20:33:00.000-05:00

Recently there has been suing and counter suing going on between Apple and Samsung. Apple being the most sought after brand in smart phones and tablets and Samsung a close second.

Did you know that "Apple is one of Samsung's largest customers, and Samsung is one of Apple's biggest suppliers"

Economist has an insightful article explaining this mutually beneficial relationship, An interesting read: Slicing and apple: Apple and Samsung's symbiotic relationship

A legend bids bye

2011-08-06T13:45:00.000-05:00

Today as Rahul Dravid, got called for playing against England in the one day series, he made the very important decision to retire from one days and T-20's after this series.

I respect him as someone who embodies dedication, perfection and perseverance. It is right of him to take this decision and concentrate on tests even if that is for one or two years. Indian cricket is going to miss him in One days and T20's, at least in non-Indian conditions.

Audio: Rahul Dravid announcing his intention to retire from One days and T-20's

On a related note, some articles on Indian selectors decision to call Dravid for the one day series. I couldn't have put these thoughts in a better manner.

Aakash Chopra: Show Dravid some respect

Sidharth Monga: Hiding behind the wall

Interview with T M Krishna

2011-08-05T22:19:00.000-05:00

T M Krishna is a musician whom I tremendously enjoy hearing to. The Hindu has published an interesting interview with him. Quite a pleasure to read through his answers.

The Proust Questionnaire: Interview with T M Krishna

Being old

2011-08-01T22:37:00.000-05:00

Some of the recent articles that appeared in paper and print media is making me really irked. It is the constant chit chat about countries not growing when it has a growing old population.

Isn't it the duty of every nation, family to take care of its old? They have done their bit, sweating it out for their family, nation when they were young. Isn't it a normal process for a human being to get old?

What is FMP?

2011-07-27T23:20:00.000-05:00

FMP stands for Fixed Maturity Plan. They are closed ended mutual funds that invest in debt instruments that will mature in the period of the plan. Generally their tenure is from 3 months to 12 months. And as with any mutual fund, their results are not guaranteed.

Live Mint's report says that one can predict the return from and FMP provided you do your due diligence. It is a very interesting read.

Is there a way to predict FMP returns?

The poor are unwelcome in city’s private hospitals: SC

2011-07-25T21:06:00.000-05:00

Supreme court of India made this observation on Monday.

“Go visit these places... nobody occupies the free beds. They know they are not welcome there,” a bench of Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik told senior advocate Rohinton Nariman, appearing for Dharamshila Hospital.

The private hospitals, allotted land on concessional rates, are obliged to provide 25 per cent free treatment in OPD and 10 per cent free beds to poor in IPD.

It is quite sad that our supreme court has to make this observation. That in itself shows the state of affairs. Private hospitals make all sort of promises, get subsidized land to develop a hospital, but are not willing to shell out their part of the deal. Unless strict laws are in place, India and its people will always be taken for a ride.

Read the full report on Indian Express: The poor are unwelcome in city’s private hospitals: SC

Tim Bresnan's amazing catch

2011-07-20T08:08:00.000-05:00

I recently saw the highlights of the 4th ODI between England and Sri lanka. Tim Bresnan took an amazing catch of Angelo Matthews in that game.

Who is Arul Suppiah?

2011-07-16T23:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was wondering to myself. Who is Arul Suppaiah? I have never heard of him before. He scored a magnificent 156 for Somerset against India. Not a small feat considering that many of India's top bowlers were bowling in this practice game.

An article from Indian express: Arul Suppiah

Congrats Arul. You have made the world of cricket notice you.

How True: Calvin & Hobbs

2011-07-16T23:17:00.000-05:00

I love to read Calvin & Hobbs: A great example of why

IE Superior in Malware blocking?

2011-07-16T22:45:00.000-05:00

That is what results from NSS Labs say: Link to PCWorld article.

Read the full report here

It is really interesting for me since I haven't been using IE for quite a while now. I have been using Firefox and Chrome as my primary browsers. Should I be giving IE a chance?

Courtesy: PC World

Batman 2012 - Awesome

2011-07-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Congrats Kirk Edwards

2011-07-10T12:45:00.000-05:00

Kirk Edwards played a fantastic innings and scored his maiden ton in his debut test. Congrats. I had seen a video in which you were taking tips from Dravid. I hope you did learn something from the talk do well in future.

Interview with Ishant

2011-07-06T22:53:00.000-05:00

Indian Express has an awesome interview with Ishant Sharma. One of his comments tell a lot about his character.

"My stock ball is the inswinger. The odd balls straighten on their own. Sometimes even I don’t know which ball is going to straighten; so how can the batsmen know!"

I absolutely loved reading it and I sure hope he becomes one of Indian bowling greats...

Link to Interview: Interview with Ishant

India: File Tax yourselves

2011-07-05T22:38:00.000-05:00

LiveMint has a very informative article on how to file taxes by yourself. I used TaxYogi for filing my return and found it super easy to do so.

Read this article and hopefully you will also do it yourself: File Taxes yourself

Amul ad: :)

2011-07-04T23:55:00.000-05:00

A brief history of mathematics

2011-06-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

Boy...How do I start this post.

Recently I came across this podcast on iTunes and what fun I had to hear about some of the world's greatest mathematicians. Amazing journey. I learned so much. Thank you Professor Marcus du Sautoy for this informative journey

Hear it on the BBC 4 website: A brief history of mathematics

Nokia and its future

2011-06-27T22:40:00.000-05:00

I just read an excellent article in Business week on Stephen Elop, CEO on Nokia. I absolutely loved the article. It briefed on how Nokia's deal with Microsoft Windows 7 mobile software was made and the reasons for the same.

Read the article here: Stephen Elop's Nokia Adventure

I still remember my first mobile phone. it was Nokia and I had a TATA Indicom CDMA connection. I used to cherish it.

I bought a second Nokia mobile which costed me about Rs.9500, a pretty huge sum by my standards. I really hated it. I had big buttons on the screen which needed a huge pressure to react.

I hope Nokia can do well and put forth a strong challenge to Apple and Android phones. A competitor is highly necessary to bring forth the best.

courtesy: www.Businessweek.com

The Sting

2011-06-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

I watched the movie The Sting starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford yesterday. Nice movie. Really enjoyed it.

.balaji anyone?

2011-06-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

The new internet world in which domains can by anything and everything...not just .com or .net >> Read more in this cnn news story

Courtesy: CNN

Jon Stewart on Fox News Sunday

2011-06-19T20:51:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this interview. Hope you will too.

The Gayle situation

2011-06-18T13:21:00.000-05:00

From a fan's perspective, the whole situation around Chris Gayle is very dis-heartening. Gayle is one of the best all rounders for WI cricket in the current cricket scenario and to let an ongoing fued go on is quite sad.

Yes Chris Gayle did vent his opinions to a radio show and quite possibly was wrong in discussing it. It should be upto both the selectors and Gayle to put these differences aside and discuss what needs to happen instead of asking for apologies from both sides...if not for anything else, for WI Cricket.

BBC Article on 'Freedom Riders'

2011-05-25T23:10:00.000-05:00

Fifty years after the so-called Freedom Riders risked their lives to break desegregation laws on the US transport system, the veteran activists have reunited to inspire a new generation: Freedom Riders

Ebay Deal: NEW Barnes & Noble NOOK Wi-Fi E-book reader

2011-05-23T23:05:00.000-05:00

For those who want to start reading e-books: NEW Barnes & Noble NOOK Wi-Fi E-book reader for $99

PS: I don't know how long this deal is going to be available. I plan to remove this post once I know this deal is out [provided I remember it :)]

How Frito Lays makes potao chips

2011-05-22T21:53:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed watching this video on CNN Money. Hope you will too: How Frito-Lay makes potato chips

I will teach you to be rich

2011-05-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

I have started reading a called called I Will Teach You To Be Rich (See all Personal Finance Books) by Ramit Sethi, the author of the blog by the same name.

I have always enjoyed reading his blog and I hope some of his advice will make me learn more about personal finance and save better for the future

Paying for News

2011-05-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

A cartelization is happening in Slovakia, a country with a population of 5.7m, on the web news media front.

From BBC Website,

Slovakia has become the first country to erect a paywall that encompasses nearly all of its main media outlets. Since 2 May users have been asked to pay a flat fee of €2.90 (£2.57) that entitles them to access to all nine news sites under the scheme.

Slovak media goes behind paywall

Recently NY Times had also started their project involving Paying for news. I am sure some of you will say, this had to come. The main argument being presented by media folks is the fact that they are not able to cope up with the expenditure that is involved in print media, advertising revenue is not sufficent to mange their operations etc.

I really don't know what I think of this situation. Personally, I have not yet got accustomed to the idea of paying for Internet news.

What I do wonder sometimes is the fact that Why do news papers have 40-60 pages everyday? Do media organizations wonder who they are trying to target? Or the idea is that let me put everything that is out there into news paper and let people decide what they have to read. I wonder, How many news organizations make their news paper engaging for a reader? Print accurate news/analysis and ask genuine questions.

I think that 'Paying for news' will be sooner reality that anyone might like to think.

Amazon's E-book sale

2011-05-20T08:46:00.000-05:00

Amazon has come up with the figures that states that their E-Book sales is more than their printed book sales.

Personally I prefer printed books to E-books, may be due to the familiarity with them.

Age for Netas

2011-05-19T19:24:00.000-05:00

I have always been of the opinion that there should be age limit for our politicians just that there is age limit for employment. I believed that once a politician reaches a certain age [what ever that might be], he should retire. If required, play the role of an adviser for his party or ideology.

The opinion that I have maintained above has been challenged by a politician in my home state of Kerala,V S Achutanandan. At the age of 87, he still has energy in his walk and passion in his thoughts.

Am I wrong in saying that there should be age limit to be in Politics? What is your opinion?

Jon Stewart and Orielly

2011-05-17T22:43:00.001-05:00

I enjoy watching Jon Stewart's show. I hope you enjoy the interaction below.

Welcome back

2011-05-17T22:41:00.001-05:00

It has been more than an year since I stopped blogging. Well...I am back to share more of my own ramblings and hope who reads this will find it interesting...

An interesting article from Newsweek

2010-03-13T13:40:00.000-06:00

An Interesting article from newsweek: It’s China’s World We’re Just Living in It

Business Blunders of 2009

2010-01-24T11:19:00.000-06:00

An interesting article from BNet: Business Blunders of 2009

Congress party's reaction to Taroor's comments - Is it needed?

2010-01-10T19:23:00.000-06:00

Shashi Taroor, in his brief experience as a minster has had his share of controversies, especially rubbing the Congress party in the wrong manner.

Here is another one in the same vein: I was misquoted, hence misjudged: Shashi Tharoor

Why does the Grand Old Party in India always act in this manner. What can't someone from the party critize on what he thinks was wrong committed by one of its premier leaders? Does this mean that none of Leaders in Congress have committed any mistakes in their lifetime? Were they always correct in every context and scenario? Why is it so difficult to accept mistakes, accept opnion (even though you don't necessarily think they are right) and move on.

Inside Story- India and China's border bother- 17 Sep 09

2009-09-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

Bugatti Veyron: Top Gear: Stagarring speed of 407 Km/Hr

2009-09-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

See it to believe it.

Srilanka - NZ Compaq Cup 1st

2009-09-08T18:54:00.000-05:00

Srilanks brilliantly defeated NZ in the first one day international --> Highlights

List of Annoying words

2009-08-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

An interesting list of annoying words used in work at present.Click this link to read the same and I bet you will agree

Thanks to Bnet for this link

We are all hindus

2009-08-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

Read this newsweek article

Can any of our Indian politicians beat this?

2009-07-22T20:26:00.000-05:00

Book I am reading now

2009-07-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

And a really interesting read i should admit....>> Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell...

Inspiring!!!

2009-07-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

Salaam India : A story by my brother

2009-07-18T12:55:00.000-05:00

Salam India

Miraculous Escape

2009-07-14T22:06:00.001-05:00

Saina Nehwal: Moment of Pride

2009-06-21T11:03:00.000-05:00

Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal beat China's world number three Wang Lin to become the first Indian to win a super series badminton tournament with victory in the Indonesian Open Sunday.
Nehwal took the women's singles crown by beating Wang 12-21, 21-18, 21-9 to take the title and the 18,750-dollar prize.

Congrats!!! You have definitely made all Indian's proud

Thanks to AFP

Somewhere out there!!!!

2009-06-20T13:50:00.001-05:00

Vikram Pandit - Citi CEO defending his role & position

2009-06-08T23:50:00.000-05:00

Congrats UPA

2009-05-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Finally the results of Indian Election has been announced and Congress led UPA has secured a fairly commendable victory.

I am not a big fan of the Congress party, though I like Manmohan Singh. I am glad that one party has a major share of seats since that will mean that they will not need to depend on other parties for pushing policies through. Hopefully they are good policies.

India policy has been held on a ransom by the Communist Party of India for quite some time and it is nice to see that it will not be a case this time around.

Congrats UPA

My daily dose of news

2009-05-05T11:09:00.000-05:00

I watch "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" for my daily dosage of news and "Other networks" like CNN, MSNBC and FOX for Comedy and irrelevant stuff...

I love Craigslist

2009-05-04T23:54:00.000-05:00

Before I am came to US, i had never known about Craigslist. I had heard about it in some of the blogs that i had read previously. That is about it.

After coming here I realized the necessity, importance and usefulness of this site. I have to admit that majority of the items that I have bought in my house have been through craigslist ads and I have sold quite a bit of items out there.

It leaves me to wonder will this site be successful in India? It does have sites listed for major Indian cities, but I hardly see adverts like the way I see here. I wonder why?

Is the price worth paying?

2009-04-28T18:18:00.001-05:00

I am sure each and everyone of you uses anyone of the social networking sites that are in web today be it Orkut.com, Facebook.com or Myspace.com. Everyone enjoys the privilages it offers like sharing photos, joining groups, Games applications etc etc...the list is endless.

I have a question in mind though. If all of these networking sites starts to charge you for using their facilities or using the site, Will it remain popular? and more importantly Will you be ready to pay for it?

I want to know opinion of my readers!!!

The Floating Water bridge

2009-04-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

See this strange phenomenon and read more about it here

What a bunch of wuss!!!!

2009-04-25T15:19:00.000-05:00

Apparently i heard that the Australian Tennis team is not going to visit India to play their Davis Cup ties citing security reasons

Load of Crap!!! citing security for not visiting and playing India. It is as if the whole population, some 1,147,995,904, are waiting everyday thinking it is going to bomb every minute!!!

Boy o Boy

My suggestion to Microsoft

2009-04-24T00:11:00.000-05:00

I am not good enough to give advice to Microsoft. I have the following suggestion though...

Please make your products more affordable in countries like India & China. By doing that the piracy threat can be better handled with more Sales and realization for Microsoft.

This is just my thought and this is not only for Microsoft but for all other IT majors who do business there

The real slum dog millionaire

2009-03-19T22:10:00.000-05:00

Chetan Sharma's hat-trick

2009-03-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

I was wondering if any one of you has a video link to Chetan Sharma's hat trick in World cup? I couldn't find one and would love to see it!!!

www.moneyaisle.com

2009-03-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

US Residents can use this website to earn high CD rates & have High-Yielding savings rate by making the banks bid for their money. The customer gets to decide the rate that they want to have on the money that they want to invest.

You also have an option to test drive an auction to see how the site works.

Why did I delete the NDTV video from the blog?

2009-03-15T14:39:00.000-05:00

Readers who saw my blog yesterday would have noticed that this video has been removed from my blog. I did that for 2 reasons

a) The video automatically starts playing the advertisement just by being on the page which is awful especially when i do not want to view the video

b) the story starts automatically even if I do not want to view the video.

Is it difficult for NDTV to realize that anyone reading my blog should have the ability to decide whether they want to view it or not instead of starting it off automatically.

Seth Godin calls this Permission marketing. I do not advertise (in this case show video) unless the customer/user explicitly is interested in the same.

Where are the Ideals?

2009-03-13T22:42:00.000-05:00

Election time in India? and it is the time of unholy alliances. One's inner wear is ready to become some one else's inner wear. It is so sad to see the state of politics in the country and it saddens me!!!

I wonder is there no ideal that an individual or a party can stick with? Can one not stick with principles only other than worrying about being in power? Tough isn't and sad at the same time...

The biggest anomaly being the communists supporting Congress at the center where as they fight it out in the different states...May be I am idiot worrying about ideas in this era of unholy alliances

India v/s Newzealand - 4th one day highlights

2009-03-11T23:39:00.000-05:00

Sehwag on song with India winning a one day series in New Zealand for the first time. Man it took some time

CNBC's financial advice - Fantastic

2009-03-07T04:01:00.001-06:00

Global Imbalance -An imminent Dollar crisis Part-1

2009-03-02T23:28:00.000-06:00

An interesting perspective on the imminent dollar crisis. I am sure not everyone will agree with what the speaker has to say. But nevertheless an interesting perspective.

Yahoo Briefcase is closing!!!

2009-02-24T22:16:00.000-06:00

I do not know how many of you remember this Yahoo's service - Briefcase, that gave free 30 MB space on Yahoo servers to place files for storage.

I am sure Hardly any!!! The question to ask is why nobody is remembering it?

Anyways, Yahoo Briefcase is closing and if you have any files in it, either delete it or back it up in your comp.

The Real Heroes

2009-02-21T18:35:00.000-06:00

From CNN IBN presented by Baichung Bhutia...It is very good and impressive to see people like this exists!!!

The future of mobile charging

2009-02-19T21:42:00.000-06:00

MPs don't deserve 1 paise of public money: Somnath

2009-02-19T17:47:00.001-06:00

Finally a politician saying some iota of truth about themselves.

This is what Loksabha speaker said after seeing the behavior of his companions

I am sure it would have falled onto deaf ears.

And now he apologizes for what he said

Who is this?

2009-02-14T17:01:00.000-06:00

Can you guess who this person is?

This is Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist. I have to admit Craigslist is not a very popular website in India, so you do not know a lot about it. After coming to US, I see the direct impact that hare and I have to say hats off to him for coming up with such a stupendous idea.

Robert Scoble caught up with him in San Francisco, watch the short and interesting interview

Dumb Question

2009-02-05T20:26:00.000-06:00

CNN IBN is featuring a very dumb question in their "Face the nation" program today. Should this question even be asked and debated? Of Course, there should be a pay cut across board if that ensures that some employees jobs are not cut!! and definitely I am not being a communist here!!!

Now it is the turn of Brad Haddin to do the "Aussie"

2009-02-04T01:57:00.001-06:00

Is it Out (or) Not out?

For me, definitely Not out....

Economic Situation

2009-02-04T01:15:00.000-06:00

This gives us an idea of how the economic situation is....From the ValueResearchonline home page. All the top ranked funds have given negative returns over the course of the year. Not a good picture for sure

Credit Burden in India

2009-02-03T21:23:00.000-06:00

Business Standard has featured the prevailing credit card rates in India. The figures are quite outstanding

Credit card Rates

ICICI Bank ---> 18.00-49.36
HDFC Bank ----> 36.60-39.00
Citibank -----> 18.00-42.00
StanChart ----> 23.88-40.80
HSBC ---------> 33.00-38.40

Supreme Court of India stayed the judgement of the National Consumer Commission, which had capped the interest rate chargeable on credit card holders at 30% yesterday

Banks contended that they are following RBI Guidelines and are allowed to price according to their business will. Banks claim that they are already stretched and are forced to keep the prices high or else they will have to raise the annual fees.

Imagine being charged 49% an year for using your credit card. I think this should be called extortion and nothing else. The truth is it is nice if RBI does not interfere in anything and everything though the present situation demands intervention.

Just some days back there were even cases of Banks hiring third party agents (goons) to get the money back, which starkly shows the awful situation.

Post to BBC

2009-02-01T23:03:00.000-06:00

I wonder why BBC does not allow you to embed BBC videos in blogs?

Transition

2009-01-30T19:11:00.000-06:00

India V/s Sri Lanka One Day highlights

2009-01-29T02:34:00.000-06:00

Ist day highlights played at Ranagiri Dambulla International Stadium - An impressive victory for India

2nd one day highlights - Ishant at his best

3rd One day highlights - Sublime Sehwag & Yuvraj take India to a victory

"Terrorists are animals, we need animal rights" says Supreme Court Justice

2009-01-28T00:13:00.000-06:00

Justice Pasayat, 3rd in Seniority in Supreme Court of India, said the following.

Indian Express Reports:

"In a clear departure from the view taken by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on the checks and balances needed to tackle terrorism, a senior judge of the Supreme Court today strongly deplored “how human rights activists carry out protests and hold dharnas, if rights of Terror suspects are violated.”
“We speak of upholding human rights. What we are worried is violation of the rights of terrorists, the people who kill innocent people with AK-47 and AK-56 on streets,” said Justice Arijit Pasayat. “He (a terrorist) is not fit to be called a human. He’s an animal so what is required is animal rights.”

Justice Pasayat, No 3 in the court by seniority, added: “Since he (terrorist) destroys the very basis of the citizen in this country...they have to be treated like terrorist and not like ordinary criminals.”

I am conflicted here. Both my mind and heart say that this statement is so very true. Though I should admit, a lone corner of my mind says that if we treat terrorists like animals, then what is the difference between them and us?

Go & Make babies

2009-01-27T00:17:00.000-06:00

The Japanease way, reports CNN

24 - I really enjoy watching it

2009-01-24T20:55:00.000-06:00

I really enjoy watching 24 and the latest edition in FOX of this is no different. It is exciting, tautly presented and fantastic to watch.

HULU has the episodes of this season's 24. Do watch it before it is taken offline.

Handshake with destiny

2009-01-21T20:52:00.000-06:00

In April of 2008, washingtonpost.com video journalist Pierre Kattar donated his kidney to a complete stranger to save his father's life. He documented the unique experience of participating in an eight-person kidney exchange.

Meteor Streaks across Sweeden reports BBC

2009-01-19T00:16:00.001-06:00

Cool footage from BBC --> Watch it here

Will this madness ever stop?

2009-01-18T20:17:00.000-06:00

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/18/world/1231545562993/gazan-doctor-loses-family.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Saving v/s Spending

2009-01-18T18:37:00.000-06:00

This present economic situation/crisis brings various thoughts in my head. There has been a bail out passed in the US Congress and the banks have started receiving money from the treasury.

One things makes me go bonkers? Why is this whole emphasis placed on Consumer spending to bring the economy back? Why is there no emphasis on saving money for yourself, for your future?

Why is it not taught to individuals/companies/corporations that they also need to save to ensure that they remain afloat, their company/corporation will remain afloat?

Any ways an interesting article to read in NY Times...Bailout Is a Windfall to Banks, if Not to Borrowers

The article puts forward the fact that those banks who has got govt money are not interested in pumping back money to the common man, rather ensuring that they remain in good position for future. This in itself is not wrong, but does this serve the purpose for which the money was provided to the banks? That is the question that needs an answer

Ozymandias

2009-01-18T16:58:00.000-06:00

A poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley

OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.