Fight for Ruchika Online

From Jessica to Ruchika, the system sucks.

" Media professional Biju Mathew's Gmail status message on Wednesday voiced the angst of Delhiites, shaken by the feeble sentence handed out to former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore in the Ruchika Girhotra case. Ruchika, then 14-year-old, was molested by the accused and committed suicide three years later due to pressure and constant harassment.

On Thursday, people from all age groups also came together for a candlelight vigil at Jantar Mantar to demand the reopening of the case. Just like in the Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo cases, social networking sites have emerged as a frontrunner medium to voice the anger of the disillusioned Indians in this case too.

Says Aditya Raj Kaul, who spearheaded the Priyadarshini case and also supported the candlelight vigil on Thursday, "There were nearly 200 people -from Delhi's school and college students to senior citizens - everyone was disturbed and disillusioned by the justice that is too little and too late. Why do we have to come out on roads every time we have to make ourselves heard?" Communities have sprung up on Facebook and Orkut asking for justice to prevail.

'Justice for Ruchika', a Facebook community with the number of members increasing every day, asks 'the case be re-opened and criminals like SPS Rathore be more severely punished'.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20091225/1072/ten-ruchika-finds-a-voice-online.html

Chidambaram meets father, seeks 'documents'

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram met Ruchika's father S C Girhotra and his lawyer Pankaj Bhardwaj at his North Block office for an hour on Wednesday. Chidambaram heard the full sequence of events in the case, and asked for certain documents. Anand Prakash, father of Ruchika's friend Aradhana, was also present.

Speaking afterward, Bhardwaj described the meeting as an "exchange of ideas", and said the Home Minister had "essentially" wanted to know about "some of the documents" relating to the case.

"The Home Minister has heard us and we have narrated to him our side of the case. I narrated to him the entire sequence of events from 1990 till date. We have given him some documents relating to the case. We discussed what best remedy could be there," Bhardwaj said.
He is likely to hand over some more documents on Thursday.

On the possibility of adding Section 306 of the IPC (abetment of suicide) to the charges against former Haryana DGP S P S Rathore, Bhardwaj said, "We have discussed this idea. We are still thinking about what is the best possible line of action on this."

There were "so many ways of reopening the matter with regard to Section 306", Bhardwaj said. He added that the Home Ministry has the "power to take up any matter", and can "verify and streamline the whole process".

Ruchika's father said the Minister had given them a "patient hearing", and had been "very sympathetic". Girhotra reiterated his demand that politicians and bureaucrats responsible for not registering cases against Rathore and for not taking action, should be booked. He also sought quick action on the two FIRs registered by the Haryana Police yesterday.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20091231/804/tnl-chidambaram-meets-father-seeks-docum.html

Top 10 Global Takeovers

The battle for control of Dhirubhai Ambani's hard-won empire was the stuff of 24x7 headline news channels, but divisions alone did not define Indian business in the post-liberalisation period. As the government enabled a degree of progress with infrastructural changes, building roads,developing communication networks and facilitating travel, the corporate world flexed its unused business muscle picking up prestige brands like Tetley Tea and global behemoths like Corus. But as India emerged victorious in the merger and acquisition game, there were hurdles on the way as well. In many cases,questions were raised about the capabilities of Indian companies. Sometimes, as in the case of Arcelor, it acquired a racist hue. At other times, it was a question of the fit of an international luxury brand like Jaguar with an Indian company. The Indian economy grew, but not all Indian businesses made the transition from socialist isolation to economic connectedness. Some spilt amicably, others much less so.

1. FIRST AMONG EQUALS : Ram Prasad GoenkaThe RPG Group led by 'takeover wizard'R.P. Goenka made a series of acquisitions, kicked off by the Duncan buy in 1959 to the offshore holdings of tyre-maker Dunlop India in 1980, Ceat Tyres in 1982, the Gramophone Co.of India (nowSaregama) in 1986, and Noida Power Company (NPCL) in 1992 among many others.The latest in the list was Canara Electric Controls in 2002. I gamble only in companies, Goenka told India Today in August 1984. Starting in the 1950s, the group patriarch and R.P.Goenka's father, K.P.Goenka, along with his three sons, made over 30 acquisitions in 25 years.

2. THE TREND-SETTER : Manohar 'Manu' Chhabria Among the original corporate raiders of the country, Dubai-based Manohar 'Manu' Rajaram Chhabria picked up a large stake in Shaw Wallace in 1987 for Rs 35 crore, which remained mired in controversy and was finally sold to arch rival Vijay Mallya 20 years later. Spending over Rs 300 crore on acquisitions, he bought stakes in companies such as Hindustan Dorr-Oliver, Mather and Platt and Dunlop India. Hardly any other Indian businessman has climbed to the top 10 league so rapidly. (India Today, January 1989).

3. BLENDING SUCCESS : Ratan Tata - In 2000,Tata Tea took over Tetley Tea, the company which was twice Tata Tea's size and had introduced the world to tea bags, for £271 million via a leverage buyout. Themove turned the company into the world's second-largest tea marketer. While Tata was strong on the production front, Tetley's strengths lay in marketing. At the time of acquisition,The two companies were merged a year later. The Tetley brand name would give Tata Tea access to markets in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the CIS countries, said the company's vicechairman, R.K. Krishna Kumar,whose mandate for the acquisition was simple: to eliminate the competition, Unilever. Tata Tea's transformation is an eloquent example of the group becoming market-focused and consumercentric (India Today, February 2003).

4. PACKING A PUNCH : Subhash Chandra - In 2000,Essel Packaging owned by Subhash Chandra of Zee acquired Switzerland's Propack AG, and became the world's largest producer of laminated tubes.The cash and stock deal resulted in Essel issuing 6.68 million shares to Propack's promoters, in addition to a cash payment of $11 million. In subsequent years, Essel Propack continued acquisitions across the world and ventured into manufacturing of medical devices with the acquisition of Tapro Inc.,US and Avalon Medical Services, Singapore.

5. V FOR VICTORY: Venugopal Dhoot - In an interview to India Today in October 2003, Videocon Industries chairman Venugopal Dhoot had said, You have seen the 'Intel Inside' badges on computers and soon you will see 'Videocon Inside' on most durables. In less than two years from then, he acquired French electronics company Thomson SA's colour picture tube manufacturing business for Rs 1,280 crore and just over a week later, Swedish major AB Electrolux's Indian subsidiary Electrolux Kelvinator.

6. GOING WEST: Ratan Tata - The year 2006 proved to be the 'year of buyouts' by Indian companies. In October, Tata Steel acquired Anglo-Dutch firm Corus Group for Rs 60,000 crore. Many thought our bid was audacious but this was really the commencement of our global strategy, Ratan Tata said at a press conference. Tata's victory symbolises the new confidence of Indian corporates and its growing global ambitions. (India Today, February 2007) In line with this, the group acquired automaker Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover car brands for $2.3 billion in March 2008, amid severe opposition from Jaguar's dealers in the UK and US which expressed concern about selling a luxury brand to an Indian company.

7. INDIA RISINGL.N. MittalIt was as big an idea as Andrew Carnegie's merger of steel companies in Britain and the US (India Today, March 2006). In what remains the biggest outbound deal by an Indian, the L.N.Mittalowned Mittal Steel acquired Arcelor for $33.7 billion in October 2006.The acquisition was perhaps one of the greatest hostile takeovers. Mittal's aggressive bid shook the world,especially Europe, with French and Indian governments intervening.

8. HIGH ON LIFE: Vijay Mallya, hailed as India's Richard Branson, acquired Glasgow-based Scotch whisky group Whyte & Mackay for £595 million in an all-cash deal in 2007, making him the second-largest spirits manufacturer in the world. It also restored partial peace with the Scotch Whisky Association which had argued that UB's Indian-made products were not genuine whisky, as they were distilled from molasses. With W & M, the association invited him to be a member.

9. HEAVY METAL: Kumar Birla - In 2007, the Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco Industries acquired USbased aluminum giant Novelis for nearly $6 billion, making it the world's largest aluminum rolling company.This will enable Hindalco's entry into downstream business, from cans to cars (India Today, February 2007).

10. THE ODD WON : Ratan Tata - In October this year, when the world was feeling the meltdown heat, Tata Consultancy Services acquired BPO Citigroup Global Services for $505 million which was on the block for almost a year. A valuation nearly 50 per cent lower was what finally clinched the deal.

http://in.yearinreview.yahoo.com/2009/blog/14

10 Things That Could Happen Only in India

1. FREE FALL: Skylab I falling in IndiaAportion of the satellite may fall on the earth with a high impact speed (India Today, September 1978). Since it was speculated that the Skylab may fall in south India, it was not uncommon to see people wearing special helmets to protect themselves from the 2,310-kg airlock shroud. In the end, the spacecraft chose to crash into the Indian Ocean near Australia.

2. DARK TALE: Wolves of PavagadaThe year 1983 saw a mystery that has remained unsolved till date. Girl children sleeping next to their parents began disappearing in Pavagada in Karnataka. It was alleged that man-eating wolves were behind it all. There were rumours of these being due to ritualistic sacrifices by a tantrik (India Today, August 1983).

3. FALSE AID : Magic cure for AIDSSelf-styled ayurvedic doctor T.A. Majeed shot into prominence when he claimed to have cured HIV-positive Chitra Soman and her daughter. He alleged that his findings were being suppressed for ulterior motives (India Today, August 1993). Soman later died due to full-blown TB as a result of AIDS, and Majeed was never heard of.

4. DIVINE PLOT : The Hindu milk miracleMuch of an entire nation found a common bond, (India Today, October 1995) when Ganesha began drinking milk, followed by the entire pantheon of Hindu Gods. Dairy outlets in the country ran out of stock.Scientists tried to offer capillary action and surface tension as explanations, but no one was interested. At the end of the day,statues in public places had their mouths tied with cloth to prevent a lactose overdose.

5. GUNNING FOR TROUBLE : Arms dropping in PuruliaOn December 17,1995, a treasure trove fit for a modern army (India Today, January 1996) was dropped by a Latvian plane over Purulia in West Bengal. It was later said that the arms were meant for the Ananda Marg. Even though the case has been considered a serious breach of Indian national security, our investigative agencies have not yet found answers to questions such as where the dropped arms disappeared, why the Ananda Marg needed ammunition or how a plane entered Indian airspace, dropped weapons and disappeared, undetected.

6. PHANTOM MENACE: Naale Ba ghostIn 1995, Bangaloreans saw the peace of the nights being shattered by a ghost which used to call out to people in their mother's voice and then kill them. Named Koogumaari, legend has it that it killed three brothers in Guttehalli in Kolar. People came up with a solution: writing Naale Ba at their entrances, which means come tomorrow . This was supposed to confuse it into coming again and returning after reading the message. This fever of a literate ghost with amnesia took nearly a year to subside. Perhaps, the exhaustion of returning again and again proved too much for the poor ghost.

7. CEREMONIAL LOVE: Temple for KhushbooBuilding temples for film stars is a national occupation in India. So even the southern sex goddess Khushboo came to acquire one in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu in the mid-1990s. It was demolished when allegations of her affair with the married actor Prabhu surfaced. Once the relationship ended, she became respectable again and the demolished temple was rebuilt. It survived for nearly a decade, till the time Khushboo aired her views on pre-marital sex. The fact is that such a temple has never existed. So much for myths.

8. SMOKED OUT: Herbal fuelThe year 1996 saw one Ramar Pillai claiming that he had discovered herbs that could turn water into gasoline. His discovery earned him many admirers worldwide. There was much embarrassment in 2000 when he confessed to the fraud and was jailed.

9. BEAST'S DAY OUT: Monkey manA half-simian, halfhuman entity which moved stealthily through the dark attacking the innocent (India Today, May 2001) created havoc in Delhi. Theories on the Monkey Man being an avatar of Hanuman were squashed after the creature hurt several people said to be devotees of Lord Ram. Desperate people started beating up anyone resembling the description put out by the police. The creature soon tired of its antics and disappeared from public view, until a Russian website reported in June that it was last seen aboard a flight to Moscow.

10. TRIBAL INSTINCTS : Siddi olympian ventureThe Sports Authority of India (SAI) came up with a brainwave to improve the nation's performance in sports train the Siddis, a poverty-ridden African tribe in India, for such events because they thought Africans were natural athletes.The project, spanning nearly 16 years, saw not a single Siddi making a mark in any sport. SAI finally realised that a proper environment was equally important.


Source: http://in.yearinreview.yahoo.com/2009/blog/13

Auro Bowls Over Rajni

Tamil veteran Rajnikant was so impressed with Amitabh Bachchan performance in 'Paa' that he has confessed to the Bollywood megastar that he has set very high standards for actors by playing a 12-year-old progeria patient convincingly in the movie.

'Had a surprise visitor in Rajnikant in my room at the Fariyas (resort, Lonavala). He is shooting for 'Robot' with Aishwarya (Rai) in and around Lonavala and dropped in for a chat,' Amitabh posted on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com/blog early Sunday morning.

'He had seen 'Paa'. I had organised it for him to see it at a private theatre in Chennai and he was meeting me for the first time after that. He had wanted to speak immediately after the film got over, but somehow we missed each other,' he added.

'Paa' that had been warmly accepted both by critics and audiences alike left its impact on the southern superstar too.

'Rajni was exuberant this morning. And we spoke for more than an hour about 'Paa'. He said we are all upset after seeing the film, not so much because of the content and its emotional quotient, but because now that 'you have done this, what are we going to do',' wrote the 67-year-old.

Source:http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news-detail/75041/Rajnikant-moved-watching-Paa-meets-Amitabh.html

Chetan Bhagat Feeling Cheated ?

Only days earlier author Chetan Bhagat was a happy man. His book Five Point Someone had inspired the biggest blockbuster of the year- 3 Idiots. And though Bhagat initially told HT City that he was thrilled about how the movie had shaped up, in a follow-up interview with us he says that in all the hullabaloo about the film, he feels he has been shortchanged. Not only did the makers of the film shout from rooftops that the movie is "only loosely inspired" by his book, they also buried the author's credit at the end of the film. So much so that most of the viewers missed it.

Bhagat, who has been inundated with calls and messages from fans on his Twitter account ever since the movie released this weekend, says he feels "strange". "I was expecting an opening credit and I was quite surprised on not seeing it. They had bought the rights, made the payment and committed to a credit in the contract. It's there, but it's not about it being there, it's about the placement and the prominence. Feeling left out, is he disappointed? Umm, it felt strange".
But then Rajkumar Hirani (director) and Aamir Khan are bigger names and they would rather use their names. If they don't want to give me credit what can I do or say?" Bhagat says that in director Atul Agnihotri's Hello, he was given an "opening credit in a big font" as the movie was based on his book One Night @ the Call Center. Feeling left out of the limelight this time, he says, "What can I do? They control the print, I don't. It depends on them how much they want to honour the author. I left it to their goodwill. At that time I didn't have the knowledge or the power to ask for an opening credit."

The director of 3 Idiots Rajkumar Hirani said in an earlier interview, "The idea was originally taken from Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone but, when we started working, we realised that we couldn't really adapt the book, we would have to modify it to shoot a film because the way you write a script for the film is very different from writing a book."

Bhagat adds that when he went to a multiplex, there were some youngsters there and they all knew that the film was based on his book. "But, my fans recognise the book, so, I am happy."


Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20091229/1056/tnl-chetan-bhagat-feeling-cheated.html

Obama 'dumps B-ball for Golf'

U.S. president Barack Obama, known for playing basketball, has a clandestine golf habit, it has emerged.

Since taking office at the start of the year he has sneaked out of the White House at least once a fortnight for a round of golf with junior aides and long-time friends, with no press allowed.
In his 11 months as president, Obama has played only seven known games of basketball, reports Times Online.

On the other hand, he has played 25 rounds of golf - more than George W Bush played in his entire two terms, according to Mark Knoller, White House correspondent for CBS.
Obama's enthusiasm for golf may help to explain why he has chosen sunny Hawaii over his snow-covered Chicago hometown for his Christmas break.

He is expected to fit in several more rounds of golf before the end of the year.

The Wall Street Journal, which sniffed out his sporting secret, said Obama is a mediocre player and has a cramped swing that goes to the left.

He may be admired for his intellect, eloquence and athleticism but his golf handicap hovers in the mid-twenties - weak to average.

David Axelrod, the president's political adviser, refused to divulge any details, describing Obama's score as a matter of 'national security'.

However, Gene Mulak, resident pro at the Vineyard Club in Martha's Vineyard, revealed that during the summer he had helped teach the president how to extricate himself from the golfing equivalent of Afghanistan - bunkers.

Tom Ferraro, a sports psychologist, said Obama does not talk much about swinging because: Golf is considered elitist and most presidents don't want to be considered that."
"Obama taking up golf is an interesting paradox. Basketball is considered an inner-city, more black, sport and golf an upper-class white sport.

"I guess Obama is a bit of both," Ferraro added

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20091227/882/twl-barack-obama-dumps-basketball-for-go.html

Break Rules and Get a Rose

An NGO here is banking on Gandhigiri to make pedestrians and drivers aware of road safety rules.

Members of the NGO Topsia People's Society Sunday presented red roses to pedestrians and vehicle drivers who violated traffic rules at the busy southern intersection of Park Circus.
'We have distributed nearly 700 red roses to pedestrians and car drivers who violated traffic rules. We distributed about 300 roses within the first hour of our campaign. These statistics confirm the lack of road safety awareness among the pedestrians and drivers,' said an NGO official.

'Our Gandhigiri will raise consciousness about road safety rules. Pedestrians who are once given a rose for breaking traffic rules will be more careful in abiding by the rules,' said the official.


Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20091227/812/tnl-in-kolkata-break-traffic-rules-and-g.html

Chennai International Fashion Festival -Grand Finale

Film Director ManiRatnam's wife Actress Suhashini with designer Sanjana Jon during the 4th day of Chennai International Fashion Week.


Actress Kushbu displays the creation of designer Sanjana Jon on the 4th day of Chennai International Fashion Week.

The line 'Opulence' was an elegant and exquisite collection of ghagra-cholis and salwar-kameezes, predominantly in beige, with intricate zardosi and embroidery work.

The grand finale to Chennai International Fashion Week had Neeta Lulla's designs gracing the ramp. Actresses Shriya Saran and Neetu Chandra were the showstoppers for the show.

Actor Arjun and his daughter Aishwarya displays displays the creation of designer Sanjana Jon.

Carnatic Singer Vijay Yesudas and his wife Darshana displays the creation of designer Sanjana Jon on the 4th day of Chennai International Fashion Week.

Bollywood actors Neetu Chandra and Shriya Saran along with model displaying the creation of designer Neeta Lulla on the last day of Chennai International Fashion Week.

Bollywood Actress Jacqueline Fernandez displays the creation of designer Satya Paul on the last day of Chennai International Fashion Week.

Actress Sneha displays the creation of designer Sanjana Jon on the 4th day of Chennai International Fashion Week.

Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen's brother Rajiv Sen displays the creation of designer Sanjana Jon on the 4th day of Chennai International Fashion Week

How Tsunamis Rise & Destroy

How tsunamis rise & destroy ?
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by a major earthquake under the seafloor north of Aceh in Sumatra. Scientists say another massive undersea earthquake is long overdue beneath the Mentawai islands in Indonesia and could trigger another deadly tsunami anytime.

HOW TSUNAMIS OCCUR:
In the Sumatra area, the tectonic plates meet in a subduction zone, where the boundaries of one plate are forced beneath the other plate. The Indo-Australian plate is sliding northeastward (at about 7 cm per year) and dipping under the Eurasian plate, along a fault line called the Sunda megathrust which runs southwest from Myanmar down Indonesia towards Timor.

Tremendous geological strain builds up, over many decades or even longer than a century, until a section of the megathrust gives way. This rupture causes the oceanic plates beneath Sumatra to lurch forward suddenly, by many metres, in a big earthquake.

If the ocean floor ruptures, it suddenly moves a massive amount of water. This is what happened in the earthquake that caused the deadly Indian Ocean tsunamis of December 2004.
The water displaced by the Aceh earthquake was like tipping out the volume of Sydney Harbour within a few minutes.

Major quakes that rupture the ocean floor are usually shallow quakes occuring at a depth of less than 70 km (44 miles). The quake that caused the 2004 tsunami was 30 km below the seafloor.

TSUNAMIS RISE UP:
On the ocean surface, tsunamis start as an insignificant ripple capable of passing under a ship unnoticed, but they become giants as they approach land and the ocean becomes shallow.
A tsunami is not a single wave, but a series of waves. They can travel across the ocean at speeds of up to 1,000 km (620 miles) an hour, the speed of a jet aircraft.

The vast size of the Pacific Ocean and the large earthquakes associated with the "Ring of Fire" combine to produce deadly tsunamis in the Asia-Pacfic. A tsunami can travel across the Pacific Ocean in less than a day.

As the waves approaches land, the ocean recedes dramatically exposing reefs, as the waves draw the water out.

As the trough of the wave drags along the sea floor, slowing it down, the crest rises up dramatically and sends a giant wall of whitewater onto land. The first wave may not be the biggest.

The destructive force of a tsunami comes not from the height of the wave, but from the volume of water moving. It is as if the ocean floods the coast, smashing everything in its path, and then just as quickly recedes. Many people who survive the initial wave impact are washed out to sea as the tsunami recedes.

WORLD'S WORST TSUNAMIS:
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was the world's most deadly, killing around 226,000 people, with a wave height about 100 feet.
The world's biggest tsunami, caused by a magnitude 8 quake which caused a massive landslide, hit the remote Lituya Bay in Alaska on July 9, 1958. As the wave swept through Lituya Bay, it was forced to rise up, reaching an estimated height of 1,720 feet on the other side of the bay, becoming a mega-tsunami. The sparsely populated bay was devastated, but damage was localised.

The Krakatau island volcanic eruption of 1883 generated giant waves reaching heights of 125 feet, killing some 30,000 people. It was the most violent volcanic eruption in modern history.
Sources:

Singapore-based Earth Observatory.
School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Hawaii.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20091221/776/tsc-factbox-how-tsunamis-rise-from-sea-t.html

Work vs. Social Networking

Facebook affecting Indian firms' productivity: Study

Facebook is becoming a problem for employers at offices in India, as employees have started spending so much time on the social networking site that it is beginning to affect productivity, a new survey has revealed.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) have found in their survey that office staff on average spend an hour a day on sites like Facebook, resulting in a loss of productivity measuring 12.5percent.

The study noted: "Close to 12.5 percent of productivity of human resource in corporate sector is misappropriated each day since a vast majority of them while away their time accessing social networking sites during the office hours."

Seemingly, the workers use Orkut, Facebook, Myspace and Linkedin for "romancing".
"As a matter of fact, [the] growing use of browsing sites can be dangerous for overall productivity and IT companies have already installed software to restrict its use," the BBC News quoted Assocham secretary general DS Rawat as saying.

As part of the study, a total of 4,000 employees between the ages of 21 and 60 from different cities in India including Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai (Bombay), Pune, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Kanpur, were questioned.

It was observed that nearly half of office employees accessed Facebook during work time.
Moreover, four in every 10 workers built their entire Orkut or Facebook profile at office.
Also, 83 percent of the employees think there is no harm surfing at work during office hours.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20091222/854/ttc-facebook-affecting-indian-firms-prod.html

Kalam's 2020 Dream

Kalam's dream: An India free of terror, graft in 11 years

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam visualises India becoming the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists and investors by 2020. He feels that in the next 11 years, India could have a responsive, transparent and corruption-free governance.
"I visualise India as a prosperous, healthy, secure, devoid of terrorism, peaceful and happy nation by 2020," Kalam said while addressing engineering and management degree recipients at the Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) convocation in Lucknow on Tuesday. He was the chief guest at the ceremony.

According to him, by 2020, India is likely to become a nation where education will not be denied to any meritorious candidate because of social or economic discrimination. It could be a nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water, and where agriculture, industry and service sectors work together in harmony. "To achieve these distinctive profiles, we have the mission of transforming India into a developed nation," Kalam said. He added that five areas have been identified where India has core competence — agriculture and food processing; education and healthcare; information and communication technology; reliable and quality electric power, surface transport and infrastructure; and self-reliance in critical technologies.

According to Kalam, in the coming years, professional graduates will have opportunities in the fields of agriculture and food processing, infrastructure, automobile, ship building, information and communication technology, pharmacy, aerospace, rail-vision and energy independence. "The average speed of trains has to be doubled and a 70-seater jet aircraft has to be designed at a cost of $20 billion in the next 10 to 15 years," he added.

Kalam also motivated the young engineering and management graduates to think why they should be remembered by the coming generations. "What I should be remembered for? It will motivate you to perform your best," he said.

A total of 19,197 BTech, 1,725 BPharma, 102 BArch, 9,647 MBA, 3,862 MCA, 147 MTech and MPharma and 25 PhD degrees were awarded at the convocation. Fourteen gold and silver medals each were awarded to the toppers.

During the ceremony, Governor B L Joshi said: "Keeping in view the scenario of technical education in India, UP being the largest state of the country has to play an important role."
Guest of honour and Minister for Vocational and Technical Education, Sadal Prasad, asked the UPTU to complete admissions, conduct exams and declare results on time.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20091223/804/tnl-kalam-s-dream-an-india-free-of-terro.html

'Politics Hampering India'

Nobel Laureate Ramakrishnan says bureaucracy, politics and red tape hampering India

Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has said that Indian scientists settled abroad wanted to come back to India, but were held back by the country's red tapism.
A US citizen of Indian origin, Ramakrishnan, along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath shared the 2009 Nobel Prize for chemistry for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.

Ramakrishnan said India could follow the example of China, which has launched a massive drive to bring back scientists who had migrated to the West.

"China has now launched a major scheme to bring back Chinese scientists from the West to work in China. So I think it is certainly possible but for it to be attractive, you will have to give them a lot of autonomy from the bureaucracy, from the red tape, from local politics things like that so that they can come back and really...what they like to do is they like to do their science. So if you make it attractive enough, so they feel they can continue to do very good science while being in India then many of them might do it," Ramakrishnan told reporters here.

Ramakrishnan cautioned that the government would have to take effective steps to cut bureaucratic delays to reverse the "brain drain."

"I think people will come back. The people who will come back to India will be people who have very strong personal ties to India and want to come back but have not come back because they feel there is too much bureaucracy or they cannot do their work or things like that or they do not have the facilities. So the facilities and bureaucracy problem will only attract people who want to come back in the first place," he said.

The consequences of the "brain drain" are grave as it leaves gaping holes, mainly in the healthcare systems of developing countries where diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria run rampant and children die daily from diarrhoea.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20091223/808/tnl-nobel-laureate-ramakrishnan-says-bur.html

Indira's Secrets

Indira's secret wish and other stories, by Natwar

Did you know that Indira Gandhi yearned for a daughter, or that veteran communist parliamentarian Hirendranath Mukherjee tried to find out if Comrade Jyoti Basu had accepted money to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture in 1998?

These and other nuggets of information are recorded in former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh's book Yours Sincerely, a selection of correspondence between him and eminent public personalities - among them Indira Gandhi, P N Haksar, H Y Sharda Prasad, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Rajiv Gandhi, E M Forster, Nadine Gordimer and Mulk Raj Anand.

The book, released earlier this month, does not include any correspondence with Sonia Gandhi. But many letters, written by people long gone, remain relevant even today.

In December 1971, Indira wrote: "It is not important what the Chinese think or what they want. What is important is what they do. So far they have kept to the expected line." Nearly four decades later, her advice would still make sense.

In April 1975, with Morarji Desai on a fast demanding elections to the dissolved Gujarat Assembly, Indira wrote to Natwar, then India's Deputy High Commissioner in London: "We have given in to a part of Morarji's demand... It seemed such a silly point for which to fast or for us to hold out... However, our difficulties are acute and varied enough without having a dead Morarji haunting the scene... I was deeply shocked at the manner in which some (Opposition parties) seemed to (claim) that his disappearance from the scene would clear the way for Opposition unity."

Congress leaders grappling with the fallout of their seeming capitulation before the fasting K Chandrasekhar Rao earlier this month would find Indira's reaction insightful.

Some of the correspondence reveals Indira's softer, affectionate side. In January 1970, after Natwar suffered a slipped disc while bending to give his son a teddy, she wrote to him, "Do you remember when the same thing happened to KPS Menon? He had to stand in a very artistic Ajanta pose for quite some time. Now you know the pleasures of fatherhood."

When Natwar's daughter was born, she wrote, "You certainly have done better planning than many of us. My heart has always yearned for a daughter, so I can imagine your joy in Jagat's having a baby sister."

A letter from Hiren Mukherjee demonstrates the CPI veteran's commitment as a public representative.

On January 10, 1999, he wrote to Natwar: "For reasons I can guess but cannot relish, the Jawaharlal Trust got my old comrade of close to sixty years to give the annual lecture (November 1998). I remember in the old days the lecture carried an honorarium of a hundred thousand rupees (plus, expenses, etc.,) which may well have been enhanced. As the only surviving original trustee, I might perhaps inquire (thought I am not doing so - this is a purely personal request) if Jyoti was offered and declined or accepted any such payment..."

There is no indication why Mukherjee decided to contact Natwar instead of asking Basu directly.
The book contains the gracious letter Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Natwar the day after he resigned in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal. "I have received your letter of 6 December 2005... I have... asked the Rashtrapati to accept your resignation," the PM wrote.

"Under your leadership, the external relations of the country have seen immense progress and we have been able to make giant strides on all fronts. In the last 17 months the prestige and standing of the nation has risen to unprecedented heights on the international plane. Your contribution to the peace process with Pakistan, moving forward our relations with neighbours and in making a historic breakthrough in our relations with the US are indeed praiseworthy accomplishments," he added.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20091222/814/tnl-indira-s-secret-wish-and-other-stori.html

Now Fly 'Tricolour' at Night

Indian citizens can now fly the National Flag even at night. This is subject to the condition that the flagpole is really tall and the flag itself well-illuminated.

The Home Ministry took the decision following a proposal in this regard by industrialist Naveen Jindal, who had earlier won a court battle in the 1990s for flying the national flag (Tiranga) as a fundamental right for every citizen. In a communication to Jindal, also a Congress leader and Member of Parliament, the Ministry said it has examined the proposal and had no objection to installing "giant flagpoles for flying the National Flag day and night at various places."

In a representation to the Ministry in June 2009, Jindal had sought permission to fly mammoth-sized national flag on monumental flagpoles during night. Jindal had said that the National Flag is to be flown in "as far as possible between sunrise and sunset" as per Flag Code of India, but it was a common practice worldwide for massive national flags to be flown day and night on monumental flagpoles of 100 feet and above in height.

Citing the example of countries like Malaysia, Jordon, Abu Dhabi, North Korea, Brazil, Mexico and Turkmenistan where monumental flags are flown at night, Jindal proposed for such flags to be flown in India also.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20091223/1416/tnl-jindal-wins-govt-nod-for-flying-tira.html

Ducati to Drive Into India's Luxury Bike Market

Italy’s Ducati is looking to ride the fledgling Indian superbike market with models costing more than a top-end car as it sees consumers returning in hordes to the luxury segment after the lull caused by the slowdown.

Ducati, which sells bikes for Rs 14-60 lakh, plans to sell over 150 bikes in India in 2010. The company hopes bike enthusiasts will overlook the cost factor and lap up its products. “The bike culture runs in the genes here,” says Ducati Asia-Pacific CEO Mirko Bordiga. The company thinks India has bigger potential than China in this arena. At present, the Indian superbike segment sees annual sales of around 1,000. The Chinese market, by comparison , is limited to less than 100 units annually due to government restriction to sell smallerengine bikes. Not surprisingly, India happens to be Ducati’s most attractive market in Asia. The company is looking to open four dealerships next year in addition to the existing two. It also plans to sell over 150 bikes in 2010 against the 35 units that were lapped up since its July launch.

Motorcycles in the high-powered engine capacity of 500-2 ,500-cc come under the superbike category and sell for Rs 10-60 lakh in India. Global manufacturers think India’s superbike market is poised for greater growth. Better roads and a growing motor sports culture are helping the superbike market grow in India, says Yamaha’s national business head Pankaj Dubey. Besides Yamaha, Ducati, Honda, Harley Davidson, Suzuki , Triumph and Kawasaki have all had launches to their name in the domestic market in the past two years. India is estimated to sell 7 million twowheelers annually. Despite the high import duties at 113% that jack up prices, upcoming launches in the superbike segment are expected to add to that number.

Yamaha, for instance, plans to launch more models in the 1,000-1 ,600-cc segment during the January Auto Expo in New Delhi. The company debuted with the YZF-R 1 and the 1670cc torque monster MT-01 models in November 2007. Their success — 150 units have been sold — prompted Yamaha to launch its Rs 20 lakh-flagship VMax a few months ago. Suzuki Motorcycle India, meanwhile, will add new models in the over 1000-cc range, aiming to sell over 150 bikes in 2010. Its Rs 12.5-lakh Hayabusa, among the largest selling superbikes here, was launched last year. “The superbike demand in India is consistently growing,” said Suzuki Motorcycle India marketing & sales vicepresident Atul Gupta.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/auto/two-wheelers/Ducati-to-drive-into-Indias-luxury-bike-market/articleshow/5360467.cms

Families Bond in Recession

Every recession has a silver lining, with a survey showing a majority of Asians believe their families are the most important part of their lives as the global economic turmoil puts more careers in jeopardy.

In the poll of more than 33,000 people across the Asia Pacific, 95 percent of respondents felt family came first, while more than 8 in 10 wished they had closer ties with people in their communities.

The wide-ranging survey, one of the largest snapshots of opinions and trends in the region, was conducted by global marketing communications firm Grey Group in 16 countries.
"Because of the credit crunch, there has been a recent shift in the Asian mindset from the 'I' to the 'we'," Charu Harish, regional communications planning director for Grey Group Asia Pacific, told Reuters.

"More people feel that the world around them is changing, politically and economically, that they're insecure in their jobs and the one thing that they can rely on, that roots them is family. Families give people a lot more sense of control."

Although many Asian countries were not as hard hit as Europe and the United States by the global economic meltdown that began late last year, the financial crisis has not left the region untouched.

Japan's economy slid into recession, Australia's weakened, and the crisis also slowed down the economic growth of powerhouses such as India and China, while countries that rely on remittances from migrant labourers, including Bangladesh and the Philippines, have also felt the pinch.

Harish said the research showed that many Asians were moving away from the Western-style individualism adopted by developed countries in the region to the more traditional ways of extended families that look after each other.

"Initially we used to ape the West in terms of individualism, but now we going back to our Asian roots and our heritage, which is why communities are becoming more important, and people want to play a stronger role in communities," she said.

This emerging sense of community is higher across developing countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and China compared to a developed country like Japan, the survey showed.
Harish said this could be attributed to the lack of infrastructure and government support in developing countries, which makes the community a greater source of security.

The desire to belong to a community is also stronger among many parents, with nearly 90 percent of all respondents, especially those in Korea, India and Sri Lanka, raising concerns that modern living was making their children grow up way too fast, and exposing them to too much information.

And because of the proliferation of information sources, more than two-third of respondents said they relied on the advice of family and friends when making purchases or booking holidays, a factor Harish said would impact advertising by brands.

"Word of mouth has become very important, so increasingly, marketing firms and brands need to look into how they can use that, perhaps through social media," she said.

Harish also recommended brands target families and communities in their marketing campaigns in the region, rather than individuals, as their "influence is becoming more powerful".

The survey covered respondents in Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source:http://in.biz.yahoo.com/091218/137/baus5h.html

Kats --- Asia's Sexiest Woman of the Year

I hope every loved this small collection of Kats Pics --will surely Add her other pretty cute Pics soon.