Asians-Tougher time to enter UK

The UK government will on Tuesday be releasing new proposals that lay down stiffer conditions for getting a visa to enter that country. This is not yet even close to becoming law but if and when it does, it will be a lot more difficult to go for a holiday to the UK.

Even before the British government officially announced the new visa proposals, there were angry reactions especially from the UK's large South Asian community who say the changes are discriminatory and unfair and will hurt poorer families the most.

Families in the UK will have to pay a bond to ensure that their relatives from outside the EU leave. If the visitors don't leave on time the money is forfeited, and it's recommended that tourists from outside the EU should now get visas for just three months instead of siz.

The UK government says the new rules are necessary to check illegal immigration, and they have already made it more difficult for people to bring their spouses into the UK.

However, the labour government could lose the South Asian community's support over the latest proposals. Anticipating their anger the UK's immigration minister has planned a trip to India in February to explain why the move is needed.

The new immigration and visa rules are clear indication to Non-EU populations that they are no longer welcome, unless they fit the criteria immigration minister Liam Byrne has chalked out, and families stand to lose a lot of money, if they do not leave.

The UK is trying to tighten its borders, and in the process is giving out a strong message that discourages Asians from trying to make this their home.

Meanwhile, the British High Commission in New Delhi has called the planned tightening of immigration rules as an attempt to make the system both more secure but also to ensure that we maintain the UK's position as the destination of choice.

Talent mismatch hits customer services

At a time when India Inc. is facing severe talent shortage, a recent study highlights existing talent mismatch in the customer service function across sectors. The survey estimates that only 20 percent of people working in customer service profile have the perfect orientation towards such jobs. India’s largest skill assessment firm MeritTrac has conducted the study.

The study also points out that if an employee has a high orientation towards the job/function, the productivity per employee increases by 314 percent. As a result, several local companies in the services sector are losing out on maximum return out of their employee talent pool.

“The situation is quite alarming since customer service jobs account for a large chunk of hiring across sectors, especially banking, financial services, insurance, retail and telecom,” MeritTrac vice president Arvind T said.

The study was undertaken with a total sample size of 507 people with 0-3 years of experience across sectors.

The study has also analysed candidates on three critical parameters of a customer service role — personalised service, persuasive service and helpful service.

On the personalised service (how an employee approaches a customer) parameter, the survey shows that 5 percent of the candidates have a high orientation with the majority 82 percent with medium-level orientation.

On persuasive service (how to convince customers) parameter, employees have fared better. The study notes that nearly 58 percent of the candidates have a high inclination towards persuasive service with just 1 percent having a low inclination. However, high level of persuasive service and less towards personalised service show a sense of detached professionalism,” said Arvind.

In helpful service (how fast employees respond to customer needs), 30 percent of the candidates have high orientation, 61 percent have medium-level orientation and balance 9 percent has low inclination.

This is the only parameter with a fairly equitable distribution showing they are more adaptive towards responding than going that extra mile to build a rapport — essential for repeat purchase and loyalty, the study notes.

“The study has analysed executives on their basic orientation towards the job. These are basic soft skills, which a person can hardly acquire through experience. Since customer service roles are becoming critical, companies need to focus much more on their selection process,” added Arvind.

Going global: Indian firms create jobs in US

Indian firms are not just taking up outsourcing any more, but have in fact invested a whopping $6 billion in the United States and created 40,000 jobs with quite a few of them going to the Americans. If a Janaki posing as Janet at call centres in India has been servicing customers in the US, many a Jane and John employed by India Inc. in the US is now helping travellers worldwide book a flight or send flowers and gifts to loved ones in America.

A group of 34 Indian companies represented in the India Business Forum (IBF), launched in June 2006, structured at the initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has made investments in such diverse sectors as technology, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and gems and jewellery. The Indian companies with 40,000 employees have invested about $6 billion in the US this year alone through acquisitions and mergers. While there are more Indian nationals in the service sector, the number of local employees goes as high as 95 percent in the manufacturing sector. The Tata Group alone has invested over $2 billion in the last couple of years through acquisitions and mergers in the US with 16 of its companies from hotels to manufacturing employing 16,000 people, about 5,000 of them local.

The local American employees work in all Tata companies, but heavy concentrations are in the hotels, manufacturing, telecommunications, engineering and software and in beverages besides two call centres in Ohio and Florida. The group provides engineering and software services through Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and INCAT/Tata Technologies with TCS earning 53 percent of its $4.3 billion revenue from the US. And in telecommunications, VSNL, a 74 percent Tata owned company, emerging as the largest voice provider in the US offering competition to the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Tatas' call centre business, SerWiz Solutions Limited, has 250 full-time employees at its Milton, Florida, centre and 260 such employees at Reno, Ohio. "Both centres are currently in a hiring mode," says Ricardo Layun, vice president, Customer Care Operations.

At the moment, the two call centres support one of the world's leading online travel companies, a large US airline carrier, and the American region of a large Asian airline carrier, large domestic and international airlines. They also seasonally support a leading telephone and online retailer of flowers and gift sales. The Tatas have been expanding these call centres since acquiring them in April 2006 as "we have found that the US communities in which we operate provide a strong workforce, competitive economic conditions, and positive growth potential," said Layun. Both call centres operate 24/7, but "We have not experienced an issue with staffing after hours. We have found that offering these night shifts provides employees opportunities to attend day-time college courses or avoid day-care costs," he said.

Crazy 'huh'

Top 7 Strategies To Achieve Your Goals

1) Find out what is it that you want to achieve. Write a one-sentence definition of your goal. Work on this sentence until it is clear and to the point.
2) Read this sentence several times before falling asleep at night, and upon waking up in the morning.
3) Several times a day, visualize your goal for some minutes. In your mind's eye see your goal as achieved.
4) Stay alert and with an open mind. This will help you to become more attentive and aware of any ideas and opportunities that come your way, and which you may help you to achieve your goal.
5) Exercise your will power and self-discipline to keep your focus on the goal, and to stick to your resolve to succeed. Do not let anything distract you or make you deviate from your goal.
6) Go on, even if there are obstacles on the way or you see no progress. Those who persevere succeed.
7) Silence is power. Do not talk too much on what you want to achieve. Concentrate on doing, not on talking. Too much talking with others about your desires and goals dissipate your inner powers. Learn to concentrate and channel your energy toward achieving your goal.

Wipro & Cap Gemini

The rumour is back again. This time, as i read in www, it’s Wipro that is planning a bid for France-headquartered IT giant Capgemini. In June this year, there were rumours of Infosys making a bid for Capgemini.

Wipro is now reportedly looking at a 60 euro-per-share bid for CapGemini, which will value the IT consulting giant at 8 billion euros.However, Reuters reports that Wipro has denied any comment on the acquisition buzz. “We don’t react to market speculation,” Wipro’s spokeswoman told Reuters. The Economic Times quotes Sudip Nandy, chief strategy officer, Wipro, as saying that “it is market speculation.”Reports, however, suggest that Wipro was indeed in discussions with Capgemini for a cash-plus-stock swap deal. The buzz had its effect on CapGemini share prices which rose 3.7 per cent on Friday.

Wipro’s largest acquisition so far was that of Infocrossing for $600 million.In the case of Capgemini, Wipro will have a huge challenge of managing the integration.

The Bangalore-based company has around 77,000 people while CapGemini has over 80,000 of which 17,000 people are in India. The French company plans to employ over 40,000 people by the end of 2010.

Hmm, anything can happen, it's all just matter of money and market value

Diwali-All NO's

No crackers, No wishes, No ripping the channels, No actress bluffs, No rush to see the Movie(even it is a crap one), no new dress, no reducing the purse's weight.... Thats how this year Diwali was.. it really Su**s being out of india..

Story by Pics

If USA asks me to leave the country...

Then I say ...
Visited Statue of liberty this week end.

How to keep your employees happy

Work is, well, work. But a few companies understand that in order to get the most out of their staffers--and keep them -- they need to have fun. At least sometimes.

Take Nugget Markets, a 10-store northern California grocer. Turnover is 12 per cent among its 900 full-time employees. That's relatively unheard of in the grocery industry, where average turnover is 8 per cent higher. CEO Eric Stille attributes it to Nugget's culture. Management shows employees they are valued with dance parties, field trips, unexpected financial giveaways and lots of free food. "We want our team to know how much they're appreciated," says Chris Carpenter, Nugget's COO. "That's the number one thing we want them to understand."

That's not a priority for many employers. But it should be. Many say they're fretting about how expensive it is to advertise, recruit and train new employees, not to mention the toll it takes on morale. They're racking their collective brains over how to attract and keep the best talent. It's become such a key issue because unemployment is low (4 per cent), and the supply of jobs is high. That adds up to lots of options for employees.

Interestingly, throwing money at staffers isn't always the answer. Neither is throwing a party every few months. Having fun at work and creating a cohesive team is just one element. The most successful companies also realize flexibility, values, career development and providing meaningful experiences are also important elements to minimizing turnover. The interesting thing is that many of the companies that value having a good time usually incorporate those other elements too.

Nugget Markets, for example, pays its employees for sick days they didn't use. They provide incentives to come into work every day. Combine something like that with the newest addition to Nugget's roster of events--a rave held on a Saturday at an auditorium in the University of California, Davis.

The idea was to recreate a Las Vegas nightclub complete with a DJ flown in from Sin City, a band and an elaborate light system. The grand total was $150,000 --money well spent, Stille says. "It's not about the money," says Stille. "It's an investment, and you can't figure out a return on investment on that event, but as long as we're creating a great working environment, it's worth every dime."

Other events held for Nugget Market employees: a trip to Six Flags and white water rafting. (Employees who don't want to go rafting are given a paid day off and the $75 it would cost the company to send them on the trip.)

Aside from the field trips, there's a certain spirit brought out in just about everything they do. For a recent sales presentation, management replicated the Octagon used for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and had salespeople deliver presentations in the ring. "They were in a fighting mentality," says Stille.

The Octagon isn't for everyone. Neither is the Rave or white water rafting. And that's what companies need to keep in mind when hiring new employees: Do their personalities mesh with that of the company? If they don't, they still won't remain in the job. "You have to touch the heart of what is considered fun for the people that work for you," says Tamara Erickson, author of Workforce Crisis. "Companies that are good at retention are engaging people. They hire people who fit in there. The ones that are good at it tend to be a bit odd. They do things that are different."

Many will say the Octagon is evidence of that.
Rackspace, a San Antonio, Texas-based managed hosting company, is a bit kooky too. Their annual version of Oktoberfest, Racktoberfest, features a David Hasselhoff look-a-like contest, German beer (there's a two-drink maximum) and dancing to live German oompa-pa music. Family and friends are invited to join employees. This year nearly 1,000 people attended. It cost between $30,000 and $40,000.

"Throwing money at people will only work for a little while," says Rackspace's CEO Lanham Napier. The nine-year-old firm added 80 new employees per month last year and expects that number to grow to 90 next year. Napier says there's an 11% attrition rate annually.
His system for keeping talented employees is clear. Pick people who fit into the organization both professionally and personality-wise; form small work teams that have their own authority and if you get a good result you get a bonus. He also allocates a "fun budget" for each team. They've used it for all sorts of activities including tubing, laser tag and videogames.
The next step is to advertise the culture of the company. Use those events as a way to recruit talent. "The best thing to do if you're a company is make it clear what you have to offer," says Erickson. That way, when a candidate receives two job offers, and everything else is equal, they might go to the company that has a culture similar to theirs.

After all, bosses want employees to look forward to coming to work every day.
Source: Rediff

Managers' attitude

A team of Managers was given an assignment to measure the height of a flagpole. So the Managers go out to the flagpole with ladders and tape. They're falling off the ladders, dropping the tape measures - the whole thing is just a mess.

An Engineer comes along and sees what they're trying to do, walks over, pulls the flagpole out of the ground, lays it flat, measures it from end to end, gives the measurement to one of the managers and walks away.

After the Engineer has gone, one manager turns to another and laughs." See this idiot. We're looking for height and he gives the length!" J J

Moral: "No matter what good you do, Managers can always find fault with you".

Top 10 Weird Dismissals in Cricket

Found a video is Youtube and this video insisted me for a post.

The Sensex story: From 1K to 18K

Indian markets achieved yet another milestone on Oct-9-2007. The Sensex crossed the 18,000-mark on the back of renewed buying today. The index hit a fresh all-time intra-day high of 18,002. It took just 8 trading days to hit 18,000 from the 17,000 mark.


The rise and rise of the Sensex through Indian stock market history.

1000, July 25, 1990
On July 25, 1990, the Sensex touched the magical four-digit figure for the first time and closed at 1,001 in the wake of a good monsoon and excellent corporate results.

2000, January 15, 1992
On January 15, 1992, the Sensex crossed the 2,000-mark and closed at 2,020 followed by the liberal economic policy initiatives undertaken by the then finance minister and current Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

3000, February 29, 1992
On February 29, 1992, the Sensex surged past the 3000 mark in the wake of the market-friendly Budget announced by the then Finance Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.

4000, March 30, 1992
On March 30, 1992, the Sensex crossed the 4,000-mark and closed at 4,091 on the expectations of a liberal export-import policy. It was then that the Harshad Mehta scam hit the markets and Sensex witnessed unabated selling.

5000, October 8, 1999
On October 8, 1999, the Sensex crossed the 5,000-mark as the BJP-led coalition won the majority in the 13th Lok Sabha election.

6000, February 11, 2000
On February 11, 2000, the infotech boom helped the Sensex to cross the 6,000-mark and hit and all time high of 6,006.

7000, June 20, 2005
On June 20, 2005, the news of the settlement between the Ambani brothers boosted investor sentiments and the scrips of RIL , Reliance Energy , Reliance Capital and IPCL made huge gains. This helped the Sensex crossed 7,000 points for the first time.

8000, September 8, 2005
On September 8, 2005, the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share index -- the Sensex -- crossed the 8000 level following brisk buying by foreign and domestic funds in early trading.

9000, November 28, 2005
The Sensex on November 28, 2005 crossed the magical figure of 9000 to touch 9000.32 points during mid-session at the Bombay Stock Exchange on the back of frantic buying spree by foreign institutional investors and well supported by local operators as well as retail investors.

10,000, February 6, 2006
The Sensex on February 6, 2006 touched 10,003 points during mid-session. The Sensex finally closed above the 10K-mark on February 7, 2006.

11,000, March 21, 2006
The Sensex on March 21, 2006 crossed the magical figure of 11,000 and touched a life-time peak of 11,001 points during mid-session at the Bombay Stock Exchange for the first time. However, it was on March 27, 2006 that the Sensex first closed at over 11,000 points.

12,000, April 20, 2006
The Sensex on April 20, 2006 crossed the 12,000-mark and closed at a peak of 12,040 points for the first time.

13,000, October 30, 2006
The Sensex on October 30, 2006 crossed the magical figure of 13,000 and closed at 13,024.26 points, up 117.45 points or 0.9%. It took 135 days for the Sensex to move from 12,000 to 13,000 and 123 days to move from 12,500 to 13,000.

14,000, December 5, 2006
The Sensex on December 5, 2006 crossed the 14,000-mark to touch 14,028 points. It took 36 days for the Sensex to move from 13,000 to the 14,000 mark.

15,000, July 6, 2007
The Sensex on July 6, 2007 crossed the magical figure of 15,000 to touch 15,005 points in afternoon trade. It took seven months for the Sensex to move from 14,000 to 15,000 points.

16,000, September 19, 2007
The Sensex scaled yet another milestone during early morning trade on September 19, 2007. Within minutes after trading began, the Sensex crossed 16,000, rising by 450 points from the previous close. The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange's sensitive index took 53 days to reach 16,000 from 15,000. Nifty also touched a new high at 4659, up 113 points. The Sensex finally ended with its biggest-ever single day gain of 654 points at 16,323. The NSE Nifty gained 186 points to close at 4,732.

17,000, September 26, 2007
The Sensex scaled yet another height during early morning trade on September 26, 2007. Within minutes after trading began, the Sensex crossed the 17,000-mark . Some profit taking towards the end, saw the index slip into red to 16,887 - down 187 points from the day's high. The Sensex ended with a gain of 22 points at 16,921.

18,000, October 09, 2007
The BSE Sensex crossed the 18,000-mark. It took just 8 days to hit 18,000 from the 17,000 mark.The index hit a fresh all-time intra-day high of 18,002.

Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age-50th Anniversary

History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.
The story begins in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, as the International Geophysical Year (IGY) because the scientists knew that the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point then. In October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface.

In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY and solicited proposals from various Government research agencies to undertake development. In September 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to represent the U.S. during the IGY.

The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard. Its size was more impressive than Vanguard's intended 3.5-pound payload. In addition, the public feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. Then the Soviets struck again; on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload, including a dog named Laika.

Immediately after the Sputnik I launch in October, the U.S. Defense Department responded to the political furor by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project. As a simultaneous alternative to Vanguard, Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on the Explorer project.

On January 31, 1958, the tide changed, when the United States successfully launched Explorer I. This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, named after principal investigator James Van Allen. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically useful spacecraft.

The Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In July 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act (commonly called the "Space Act"), which created NASA as of October 1, 1958 from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government agencies.

2007 Vendy Award Finalists

Thiru "Dosa Man" Kumar from NY Dosas Washington Square South and Sullivan StreetSri-Lankan style vegan fare “Thiru makes super fresh Indian food-- mixed in with his own influences from Sri Lanka. All under the constraints and philosophy of veganism. He's always exceptionally nice and professional. Everyone knows that if money is scarce, you can get a meal from him and pay later. He's a great guy, humanitarian and environmentalist all while being one of the most legit chefs in the city. And his food is cheap. I essentially survive because of Thiru.”

Veronica Julien from Veronica's KitchenFront Street and Pine Street Trinidadian/Jamaican cuisine (jerk chicken, oxtail stew, etc.) “It was an unexpected treat to find such yummy food hidden in lower Manhattan. I think it's a mother and son who are frying up the fresh cod fish cakes, delectable jerk chicken, sumptuous macaroni and cheese and perfectly flavored rice and peas. I'll be heading back for more as soon as I've worked off my first indulgence!”


Muhammed Rahman from Kwik Meal 46th Street and Sixth Avenue Bengali-spiced Middle Eastern fare (felafel, chicken, marinated lamb, shrimp) “I walk a mile in every kind of weather to get my daily helping of Kwik Meal's delicious food. The owner used to work in the kitchen at the Russian Tea Room and the quality and presentation of the food shows it. The lamb is the best - it's tender, flavorful and utterly delicious! The yogurt sauce goes above and beyond the usual and has a spicy tang to it - I wish I knew what they put in it to make it so good. When they're offering salmon, you're also in for a treat.”



Super Taco, aka "Sobre Ruedas" 96th Street and Broadway Tacos, tortas, tamales, quesadillas, etc. “I’m from California, so I grew up around taquerias. Hands down, Super Taco can match up to anything I grew up with. I close my eyes and I am 10 years old again. Try the al pastor – diced pork with pineapple. Even better is watching all those Super Taco taco-makers crammed into that truck, all working together in unison to serve up tasty goodness. They even have a bicycle delivery fleet! Excellente!”


Farez (Freddy) Zeideia, the King of Falafel and Shawarma30th Street and Broadway, Astoria Middle-eastern style street food (falafel, shawarma, chicken) "The best and cheapest meal in Astoria. Always consistently good food prepared with care. These guys are such characters that it adds just as much flavor to your meal as their secret hot sauce. They will feed you for a little cash and make you smile for free. During the big blackout they were the only place open because they had their own generator. They could have easily doubled their prices and made a killing, but they didn't. Their lines reached well around the block and they served food well into the early morning. They were just happy to serve and help so many people.”

Meet the finalists for the 2007 Vendy Awards contest for the best street food chef in NYC-Video

For more Details/Source/Thanks

Mallu's and Pronunciation

1) What is the tax on a Mallu's income called? IngumDax

2) Where did the Malayali study? In the ko-liage.

3) Why did the Malayali not go to ko-liage today? He is very bissi.

4) Why did the Malayali buy an air-ticket? To go to Thuubai, zimbly to meet his ungle in Gelff.

5) Why do Malayalis go to the Gelff? To yearn meney.

6) What did the Malayali do when the plane caught fire? He zimbly jembd out of the vindow.

7) How does a Malayali spell moon? MOON - Yem Who yet another Who and Yen

8) What is Malayali management graduate called? Yem Bee Yae.

9) What does a Malayali do when he goes to America ? He changes his name from Karunakaran to Kevin Curren.

10) What does a Malayali use to commute to office everyday? An Oto

11) Where does he pray? In a Temble, Charch and a Maask

12) Who is Bruce Lee's best friend ? A Malaya-Lee of course.

13) Name the only part of the werld, where Malayalis don't werk hard? Kerala.

14) Why is industrial productivity so low in Kerala? Because 86% of the shift time is spent on lifting, folding and re-tying the lungi

15) Why did Saddam Hussain attack Kuwait? He had a Mallu baby-sitter, who always used to say 'KEEP QUWAIT' 'KEEP QUWAIT'

16) What is the Latest Malayali Punch Line? " Frem Tea Shops To Koll Cenders , We Are Yevery Where "

17) Why aren't Mals included in hockey and football teams ? Coz Whenever they get a corner , they set up a tea shop.

18) Now pass it on to 5 Mals to get a free sample of kokanet oil.

19) Pass it on 10 Mals to get a free pack of Benana Chibbs

20) Pass it on to 15 Mals to get a set of colorful lungi ....

Why Women Worry So Much

Scientists have known that on the whole, females of all ages tend to worry more and have more intense worries than males. Women also tend to perceive more risk in situations and grow more anxious than men.

Now we know why.

Women are more likely than men to believe that past experiences accurately forecast the future, according to two new studies.



The research, involving both 3- to 6-year-olds and adults of both genders, tested the extent to which participants' thought that worry can be caused by thinking that a bad event that happened in the past could happen again in the future. (This skill, in its simplest form, is critical to social understanding as it is important to making decisions and assessing risk.)

For the first study, subjects listened to six stories that featured characters harmed by another person or animal in the story. Many days later, the character felt worried or changed their behavior when confronted with the same wrongdoer who had hurt them before. (For example, if one little boy stole a toy from another, the child might be worried when he saw that boy again and hide the new toy he was playing with.)

The second study was the same, except that the person or animal the character ran across later only looked similar to the one that had harmed them before.
At the end of each story, the participants were asked to explain why the character was worried or changed their behavior.

Females, both children and adults, were more likely to use uncertainty to explain the character's reaction, that is, they tended to explain the reaction in terms of events that might happen versus those that will happen, the researcher reported. They also tended, more than males, to predict that the characters who encountered the new character who looked similar to the wrongdoer would feel worried because they thought the new character would also do them harm.

The studies, detailed in the Sept./Oct. issue of the journal Child Development, also found that children increasingly made these kinds of past-to-future connections as they got older, which yields insight into their cognitive development.

"These results are significant because they reveal that knowledge about the impact of past-to-future thinking on emotions and behaviors develops during the preschool years," said study author Kristin Lagattuta of the University of California, Davis.

Source: Live Science

Advertising can be outsourced

Advertising sector is no different. Outsourcing across categories works on few basic parameters. Financial as well as resource efficiencies and talent. The advertising sector is no different. The need to communicate brand strategies and fulfill marketing objectives is under tremendous pressure at any given point in time. This has to do with the rapidly changing dynamics of the market everywhere.

So, it’s inevitable that marketers are going to look for the best possible efficient methods of running the show. Outsourcing is an outcome of that. There are already enough advertising agencies across India doing work for global brands.

The reasons are simple, we work faster; we multitask; we speak the English language; our ability to absorb different cultures is higher; our costs are not as high as in other markets. All of these are very important factors when it comes to advertising in a highly competitive environment.

South Asia, South East Asia and the Middle East have, for a large part of this year and the last, been using centralised communication resources from India to create and execute advertising. For Unilever, LG, HSBC, P&G, to name a few, this kind of brand communication has worked both qualitatively and quantitatively. So, there is no reason why advertising can’t be outsourced.

Artwork and printing outsourcing is another huge area where we will soon see a large number of entrepreneurs setting up shops. The amount of money that the company outsourcing saves is huge. At the same time, the amount of money the outsourced agency makes is also huge. So, it’s a win-win all the way.

It’s a global economy and let us face it. Sooner or later outsourcing is going to be a full-fledged reality of the business. We should be prepared for it. Today, with the Internet available everywhere, there is no reason why we can’t have a force of talented people, servicing and creating global brand campaigns that surpass the boundaries of the regions and the world.

'Nobody has proved that Ram did not exist'

Vishwa Hindu Parishad General Secretary Praveen Togadia talks to Nistula Hebbar on Ram, the Ram Sethu and the VHP-Bharatiya Janata Party relationship.

You have raised the Ram Sethu issue in the past, but your point of view has got a boost because of the government's controversial affidavit, rather than the movement itself?

Our movement has got a boost from the faith of the people, not from anything that the government has done to undermine Ram. The government may have precipitated matters by its blasphemous affidavit, but the underlying anger among the people was there to begin with. The media was not aware of the movement but people have supported us fully.

What do you say to people who say that Ram is a mythical character and that he never existed?

According to rationalists, anything that cannot be proven does not exist. Therefore, since God's existence has not been proven, he too does not exist. I want to ask them: Has it been proven that God does not exist? So, why are you so eager to believe that God does not exist? To compare the history of Islam or Christianity to that of Hinduism is not fair. Those are products of fairly young civilisations, not like Hinduism, which is a product of the oldest living civilisation in the world.

You have said that the government has deliberately filed a blasphemous affidavit in court. Why?

The government filed that affidavit on September 11 and the VHP organised a chakka jam (road blockade) on September 12. Had the affidavit been filed by mistake, the government would have withdrawn it immediately. Instead, after it realised that it had offended Hindus beyond breaking point, it had to withdraw the affidavit. This clearly illustrates the intentions of the government.

The National Democratic Alliance government initiated the Ram Sethu project. Don't you think you should protest against them as well?

The NDA government had not approved the project, and I refuse to believe that it would. They, like us, have not been against the (Ram Sethu) canal, but against a channel. We too are not opposed to the project per se, but the destruction of the Ram Sethu. We are for a land route which will save the Ram Sethu. If there are alternative routes, we too are in favour of the project.

What about Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's remarks on the veracity of Ram and his engineering degree? What about attacks on his family?

Karunanidhi is a known atheist, so there is no surprise if he denies the existence of Ram. The people of Tamil Nadu will give a fitting reply to his words as Ram's appeal cuts across caste and regional lines. As for the attacks on him and the Tamil Nadu state transport bus, no VHP worker was involved. Someone engineered the attacks to discredit us. Ours is a peaceful movement. Even during the September 12 chakka jam, there was no violence.

There are other issues people have against the Ram Sethu, like the destruction of marine ecology and the plight of fishermen in the area. Why aren't you highlighting them?

We are and what's more, the fishermen at Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi, among them Hindus, Muslims and Christians, are supporting us. I have met many of them and even the communist party-led fishermen's union is opposing the Ram Sethu project.

You have said that this movement will not depend on other organisations. Are you going to keep it a VHP-specific movement?

This is not a VHP-specific movement. Over 40 Hindu organisations and many others have joined us in this movement. This is a movement for Hindus across the country.

Is the BJP a part of this Hindu coalition? There has been some talk about you not wanting the BJP to join in, looking at the way the Ram Janmabhoomi panned out, with the NDA government not doing much to build a temple at Ram Janmabhoomi.

Well, it is up to the BJP to decide whether it is a Hindu party or not, how can we decide for them? All Hindu-minded organisations are free to join us. The question of them joining the movement starts from there. For this, I am afraid you will have to direct your question to the BJP, not to me.

What if people like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, with whom your relations are not among the best, use the Ram Sethu issue at election rallies. Would you say he is politicising it?

Narendra Modi or whoever talks about the Ram Sethu issue, whether on a political platform or otherwise, will have to examine his own motivations for doing so. For us, Ram is a matter of faith, he cannot be a political issue. But that is our stand. I cannot tell you why he will speak of the Ram Sethu, I only know what motivates me.

Much has been said about Ram as God, a man or a historical figure. What is your belief?


For me, Ram is God, a man and a historical figure. I am a practising Hindu, a believer and this comes out of my convictions. As I said earlier, rationalists only believe what can be proven. Well, nobody has proved that Ram did not exist. What crores of people believe and have believed over centuries has not been convincingly disproven. People said that Krishna did not exist, then what about the submerged Dwarka city that scientists have discovered?

What are you going to do to take this forward?

From September 28 to October 10, we will be asking Hindus and Hindu organisations from all districts across India to spread the movement, carrying with them copies of the Ramayana, the Rameshwaram Jyotirlinga and illustrations of the Ram Sethu. It will be like the Ram Shila movement all over again, with a massive mobilisation of people from all over the country.

What is the scope of this movement? Do you think that it will be as big as the movement over the Ram temple in Ayodhya?

Yes. This is going to be huge, as big as the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Our motivation and zeal are as they were during that time and the people also appear to be with us on this. Log jag gaye hain (people have awakened). This issue will have major implications on the politics and future of the country just as the Ram Janmabhoomi movement had.

For More Info:
Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/25inter.htm

And the comment which made me surprised was

DMK's political twist unravelled...
by Seshadri on Sep 25, 2007 11:04 PM Hide replies

In today's "Witness" programme on NDTV, it highlights that DMK is opposed only to the "Aryan" gods... and Lord Rama, according to DMK, is one... The other Gods like Murugan, Ganesha and Shiva, Shakti are worshipped as they are all considered "Politically correct Gods"... Now, probably DMK back their concept of Aryan-Dravidan divide based on Max Muller's work... Surprisingly, the DMK do not look at the bias and controversies overlooking Max Muller's work and simply accept his theory which has proved as a trump card for their electoral battles... how clever! Another notable point is that Ravana, who is considered as a dravidan icon, is a Brahmin and a Vedic scholar, a Samavedic and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva... DMK have hidden this point in their wardrobes! So it seems that while the DK/DMK have managed to hoodwink the guillible tamilians in their pursuit of "attaining the chair", the public, mislead by this clever political drama, are frenzied over their supremo karunanidhi and his false 'Dravidan ideologies"... Tamilians comprise the intelligent, hardworking and tolerant lot of India, but the flip side is that they are also extremely egoistic and adamant... So, now the situation is a standoff with the predominantly "backward" mass of Tamil Nadu conveniently choosing to follow the path which elevates their status, and thus are caught in an ideological dilema with having to choose between their "Salvation" leader karunanidhi and the "Disputed" Aryan concept...

Actually the point was Bizness Vs Belief.

Now the Problem has been spinned as Politically such as Aryan Vs Dravids/North India Vs South India. Bloody hell, no body thinks about the people who is living vice versa. Cant they discuss in a closed room and get it concluded? Let see who/which wins the race.

IT-Sept 2007

India to help build 2nd Silicon Valley in US
This could very well turn out to be the making of a second Silicon Valley in the US. Over 40 IT software companies who have been jostling for space and market share in the Silicon Valley are now moving on to set up Silicon Valley-II at New Jersey and Chicago backed by the commerce ministry. The government and industry would set up incubation centres in New Jersey and Chicago for providing easy operational facilities to the start-ups. The incubation centres would be set up on 50:50 financial support.

“The commerce ministry has agreed to provide support for setting up the incubation centres. The industry and government would put equal money to start the centres from where any new company can start operating without actually putting up their independent facilities,”

Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) executive director DK Sareen said. “It is for the first time ever that the government is setting up an incubation centre outside the country,” he said. Apart from providing support for setting up the centres, the government would also bear the operational cost of the facilities for a period of three years, after which the scheme would be reviewed.

“Silicon Valley is saturated. New software companies were finding it difficult to get orders and so they were in search of newer markets. Places like New Jersey and Chicago provide them an alternative,” Sareen said. Plans for setting up the first such centre in New Jersey is in its final stage and the facility would be operational by January next year, he said. “We are looking at markets where we can sell our softwares. At Silicon Valley already big software producers are there, so who’ll buy our products? Cities like New Jersey provide new marketing opportunities,” Alliance Infotech vice-president Rajendra Kukreja said.

Over 37 companies from across the country, including Alliance Infotech, Intrust Global eServices, Super Infosoft and Nippon Data Systems, have expressed their desire to start business from these centres, out of which the government is in the process of finalising a list of 20 companies, as one incubation centre could not accommodate more number of companies.

TCS plans aggressive hiring in north India

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest software exporter, is planning an aggressive recruitment drive in Northern India and intends to take 3,000 at the trainee level, and offer 2,000 lateral entry by the end of the fiscal.

“The north is showing a huge manpower potential, and we plan to leverage it. The net additions for TCS this year would be 30,000-32,000 people. Of this 12,000-13,000 will be trainees, with north accounting for a healthy 25 percent ratio,” Thomas Simon, Vice-President, Human Resources, TCS said at a conference here. For the first quarter, the company’s offers in the region was pegged at 1,809, of which 70 percent came from Tier II and Tier III cities. TCS’ sourcing channels include laterals, direct trainees, campus (management graduates), science graduates, Academic Interface Programme (AIP) and campus recruitments (engineers).

Commenting on the campus talent acquisition plans for the Northern region, he said that TCS visited 41 campuses in the first quarter of the fiscal, accredited 80 institutes so far and plans to have 35 more accredited campuses by the end of FY08. Hiring would happen for positions based in the NCR region apart from Lucknow. While experienced professional hiring would be done for pre-mapped positions, the selected would be sent to Thiruvananthapuram for initial training

India OutSources to USA

The Indian Embassy in the US has contracted an American firm to outsource its visa collection and delivery processes at its five diplomatic missions from October 1.

Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen said the new system will offer "speedy and efficient" service against the backdrop of a growing number of Americans travelling to India.

Travisa Outsourcing Inc will handle the outsourcing service for the embassy in the capital and the Consuls General in Chicago, Houston, New York and San Fransisco.

Sen said the outsourcing was necessary due to rapid transformation of India-US relations in recent years which has "manifested in an unprecedented growth of business travellers, tourists and other US residents to India and the introduction of several non-stop and additional travel services between the two countries".

The burgeoning cooperation in the economic, commercial, technological, educational and cultural fields and the "increasing close bonds" of the Indian American community with their country of origin has led to increasing demands for visa and other consular services, Sen said in a statement, adding "severe constraints" posed by space and shortage of trained personnel had made it difficult to provide efficient service.

Travisa Outsourcing will charge a service fee of USD 13 per visa application and offer same day collection at its visa application centres and next day service for applications received by post. It will also have a 24/7 call centre manned by bilingual staff.

The Indian envoy also said the consular wings of the missions will continue to offer services after office hours or on holidays for emergency travel on extreme compassionate grounds 365 days a year.

Sivaji - Rocking

Having struck gold at the box office in India and abroad with Rajnikanth starrer Sivaji: The Boss, AVM Productions is trying to work out another foreign release in Malay and Chinese as dubbed versions.

But, playing it safe, S C Babu, CEO, AVM Productions insists that it is too early to make an announcement as the talks with foreign counterparts are still in early stages.

The movie is likely to be screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival in the first week of October and discussions are on to release the film in Japan with Japanese subtitles.

Rajnikanth has a strong fan base in Japan and the demand is backed by local fan following and not just Indians living in Japan.

According to Babu, the universal appeal of the music scored by A R Rahman along with the strong visual attraction (all those stunning sets created by Thota Tharani) are strong drivers for the demand for this movie in foreign countries.

The background score for the movie was recorded in Prague, Czech Republic, using local musicians by an American music conductor.

Sivaji has already been released in Malaysia in its original form (Tamil) and it has created history by beating the highest Malay grosser in the country.

Back home, the movie will complete its 100 days on September 23.

"The estimates of box office collections so far would be available only by the end of the month, " says Babu.

Rough estimates reported in the media so far range between Rs 200-450 crore, a number that the production house insists is inaccurate.

The dubbed Hindi version of the movie is also under production.

"Though there have been rumours about a Diwali release, we feel the festival would not be the right time for the release of the Hindi version. The reason being that the deadline is too short and also, we would look at a less competitive timing for the release. After all, the original Tamil version has already been released and tasted great success in the so-called northern markets," says Babu.

Sivaji has been a great success in markets like Julandhar, Lucknow and Jaipur apart from metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi.

For the Hindi dubbed version, certain parts of the movie will need to be reshot to make it relevant to the Hindi audience. Mumbai writer and lyricist Swanand Kirkire, who wrote the dialogues for movies like Eklavya and Chameli, is writing the Hindi version of Sivaji).

The television rights for the movie were recently bought by Kalaignar TV -- the yet to be launched DMK party backed TV Channel -- for an undisclosed price.

While Babu refused to discuss the subject, industry sources said that the TV rights have been sold for Rs 3-4 crore. Under the contract, the buyers reportedly cannot broadcast movie for three years.

Despite tight controls over the prints, Sivaji has already become a victim among movie pirates.

"As long as the film is in the analog version, there is very little we can do to control piracy. With 800 prints in circulation, curbing piracy is a logistic nightmare," says Babu
Thanks : Rediff

Weekly Note September 2 Week

L&T Infotech to open office in Dubai

L&T Infotech, a subsidiary of India's largest engineering and construction company Larsen and Toubro, is entering the GCC with a commercial office in Dubai.

"We have already applied for a licence to set up our regional base in Dubai and, if approved, we will set up the business in few months time," Vijay K Magapu, chief executive of L&T Infotech and member of the L&T board, said.

"The IT services businesses in the Gulf is about $600 million annually and we'd like to achieve a $100 million annual turnover in three years," he was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.




Boeing may pilot captive unit in India

The $65-billion aerospace and defence behemoth, Boeing, is evaluating a captive centre and defence sub-assembly line in India apart from capturing business across the aerospace spectrum, including manufacturing, engineering, BPO, KPO, maintenance and raw material sourcing. Boeing could take the JV route to set up its captive centre or could establish it independently.

If that happens, Boeing will join a host of multinationals, which entered India through partnerships before setting up their captive centres. Boeing has partnerships with several Indian technology majors such as Infosys, TCS, Infotech, HCL and research bodies like HAL and Indian Institute of Science in India. “Targeting over $50-60 billion opportunity in the long-term across the civil and defence aviation, and with availability of skilled talent pool, I don’t see any reason why we should not have our own Boeing facility in India,” Boeing India president Ian QR Thomas said. Ian declined to divulge further details about the nature of the captive centre.

While numbers on investments and scale of operations are still in the evaluation stage and depends to some extent on multi-role combat aircraft order apart from other defence orders, Boeing globally operates an technology integration and design captive centre in Moscow. The captive centre has 1,200 engineers engaged in mission-critical work. “Globally as far as captive centres are concerned, we go for tools, technology and talent. India has the potential to emerge as an aerospace constellation,” added Thomas.

Boeing has gained traction in both Indian commercial aviation and defence space with the US major running for $10-billion order for the purchase of 126 multi-role combat aircraft. Boeing has also submitted a proposal to develop and deliver eight long-range maritime reconnaissance and antisubmarine warfare aircraft to the Indian Navy. The Boeing P-8I Multi-mission maritime aircraft, a variant of the US Navy’s P-8A, is currently under consideration by the MOD for India’s maritime requirements.


Customer is today looking at an end solution

IBM employs more than 40,000 by far the highest among the global IT giants. Shanker Annaswamy, IBM India’s managing director talks on its India strategy.

The IBM chairman had announced $6 billion FDI last year. How is that going?

After the chairman’s (Sam Palmisano) announcement, we explained that the milestones are really about bringing investment into India both from global strategic point of view and also from domestic point of view. We talked about bringing in a very high-end system and technology lab, which will bring in tremendous capabilities of our mainframe and other servers and storages into the country. Customers can bring their technical team to network with ours. That has been completed. It is a high-technology high-investment lab.

We also talked about a research centre purely focusing on telecom. India gave us a great model through the Bharti relationship. That business model is again unique for doing telecom research. How do you do a call for two cents, or less than two cents, and yet make money was a big revelation. It is not just about pricing. It is also about how you bring an on-demand solution to this kind of a dynamic market.

Those are the stuff we are looking at. The next milestone was the high-performance-on-demand solutions lab (Hi-pods). This is the lab where really high-performance solutions are brought in and the customers can network through the lab with the entire technical team across the world. Then they can leverage that.

This lab is again in Bangalore. We have recently opened in Delhi another lab called the industry solutions lab. That is largely to address the domestic market. When we looked at the domestic market we felt we should go more and more towards a solutions approach. We are great in point products like servers and storage and stuff like that. But no longer is the customer buying a point product. He is looking at an end solution. So how do you, for example, demonstrate solutions in banking or future solutions in retail?

How do you assess the domestic demand for your services?

In the domestic market we are looking at telecom, banking, BPO, infrastructure solution, retail and government. We are building up solutions for the Delhi airport, which we won against tough competition. Real estate is another example in the infrastructure category. We are looking at retail where we have core competency. In banking, apart from core banking, we are looking at payment systems. We are also looking at branch productivity, Basel II. We announced a core banking deal with Canara Bank a few years ago. There is a huge opportunity in the government. We won the CBDT infrastructure deal, which is going well.

Very interesting things are happening in e-governance. More than 15 state governments are working on e-governance projects. The challenge is to expand them, make them scalable. If there is a treasury or land record work we have done, how can we replicate it? Then there is the SME segment. I think India’s big growth will come from the SMEs and unless we enable them we would be missing out on a big opportunity. That is why we recently launched with ICICI the SME tool kit. There is micro-financing. We are working with the Jan Lakhmi group. IBM can contribute in each of these to make a difference through the globally integrated enterprise framework.

IBM is the most visible MNC challenger to the famous Indian challenge pioneered by TCS, Infy and Wipro. Are you satisfied with the way things have gone?

From whatever we have publicly stated, we are extremely happy with India and its model. It is a key component of the globally integrated enterprise model. In the business model of IBM, emerging economies contribute to a sizeable portion of the growth. If the IBM corporation is looking at 6%-7% growth, they look at contribution from emerging markets as a certain portion, which would be high. What really impresses the corporation is the rate of growth. We declared recently that we grew in Q2 45%, which is faster than the market and therefore gaining share. And our strategic outsourcing we grew almost 150%. And, large and small put together, we announced eight deals in the first half of the year.




'We're confident Oracle will grow fast here'

India is one of the fastest growing markets for Oracle in terms of revenue, as well as being its largest research and development presence outside the US. Krishnan Dhawan, managing director, Oracle India spoke on the company’s plans.

Excerpts

India is the fourth largest market for Oracle in the Asia Pacific (APAC). What plans does the company have to make it one of the top three?

India and China continue to be the high growth markets for Oracle in the APAC region. Given the outlook for future economic growth and with continuing increase in IT adoption, we are confident that our business in India will grow fast. (According to market intelligence firm IDC, Oracle had 72 percent of the database market in India in 2006, a 79 percent year-on-year growth rate)

Though Oracle is the market leader in India in several segments, you have been losing ground in a few, especially in areas like ERP and SMB...

We have over 4,500 customers in the SMB space. Last year, we put in place a high growth city initiative, as part of which we established points of presence in the non-metro, high growth cities in India, taking our presence to over 20 cities. We managed to win over 300 new customers in the database and middleware space and empanel 70 new partners because of this.

We also launched the global Oracle Accelerate programme in India earlier this year to help take industry vertical-specific applications to our customers with the help of partners. Two of our certified partners, Zensar and EBZ Online, have launched special market initiatives to take ERP to small manufacturing companies and banks, respectively.

In addition, we are introducing new business models aimed specifically at the SMB market, such as CRM (customer relationship management) on demand and hosted ERP solutions. These will enable SMBs to benefit from the use of the technology without having to undertake large upfront investments.

What is the Emerald India initiative?

Emerald India is an initiative to identify key India-specific innovation and market opportunities and put in place strategies to meet those requirements. The launch of our e-governance centre, the launch of Think.com in Hindi, an SMB penetration focused programme, are all part of this initiative.

Any more acquisition plans in India?

We are not in a position to comment on our future plans.




In conversation with Phaneesh Murthy, CEO iGATE

When many sections of industry were facing a crisis due to the rupee appreciation, iGATE was ready to face the menacing wave. The company constantly reviewed its hedging strategies in an attempt not to be worse off than what the economic factors dictate. In an exclusive interview with Phaneesh Murthy, CEO, iGATE this newspaper found out what makes this company stand high despite the crisis. Murthy, who took over as CEO of iGATE Global Solutions in August 2003 has pioneered the iTOPS (integrated technology and operations) model in iGATE. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A), Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai Murthy was a member of the board, worldwide head of sales and marketing, and head of the communications and product solutions group at Infosys.

Excerpts from an interview with Murthy

Rupee appreciation is becoming a serious concern for all companies. How has iGATE tackled the issue? What are the measures you have put in place?

We have taken several measures to combat structural changes taking place in the rupee–dollar parity and its consequential impact on our business. For over a year we have been attempting to include exchange rate provisions in customer contracts that would make material changes in the exchange rates trigger a discussion to relook at the pricing and we have had fair degree of support from customers. We are tightly monitoring the benchmark — in the last quarter alone we could improve our utilisation by over 350 basis points. Our strategy is de-risking from currency concentration and in the last couple of years we have grown our Canadian operations in North America. Our focus is to expand euro revenues in the future.

Do you see a decrease in the operating profit margin due to the rupee appreciation? How has this affected iGATE?

In the last two quarters when the rupee appreciation was the steepest, our margins were better than expected. We could recoup much of the impact as a result of the mitigating measures we undertook to protect margins. As long as the appreciation is not steep we will not be too concerned, as I believe our margins will be protected.

Out of your total inflows, how much do you hedge? Has there been a change in the hedging strategy?

We have been more closely monitoring our hedging strategies from October 2005. Since then, we have always had almost all of our forward six months net inflow of dollars hedged. Recently, we have even covered a significant portion of longer-term inflows — 12 to 24 months. We have a system of evaluating our hedging actions against benchmarked positions. We constantly review hedging strategies in an attempt not to be worse off than what the economic factors dictate.

Coming to the subprime lending crisis, how has it affected you? Ten percent of your revenue came from mortgage space a couple of quarters ago, and is down to 7 percent in the recent quarter. What is your take on this?

iGATE’s revenues from mortgage services seem to be flattening at the current levels. However, these revenues continue to be at risk in view of the on-going subprime market turmoil. The subprime loan originations in the US have almost ceased and the demand for origination services have dried up. We do not expect this to change in the short term. We would keep focus on mortgage service offerings as our delivery platform and unique pricing model would provide us the means to seize the opportunity that may arise as a fall-out of this crisis

My Fav Rapper-Blaaze

Blaaze (pronounced Blaa-zay) might not be a familiar name to many of us. But the rap song B to the A to the B to the A, BABA from the movie Baba is something that you would have definitely heard. The song, which was sung by rapper, Blaaze.

A regular rapper based in Mumbai, Blaaze was called by A R Rahman to sing for the Tamil movie Boys. ''After working for the song in Boys, I was going to return to my room when Rahman stopped me on the way and asked if I could rap for Baba. I had not heard of Baba before and asked if it was for Sai Baba. He just looked and me and said 'Rajnikanth is Baba'. I was shocked,'' says Blaaze, who could not believe what he was offered. He then rushed back to the recording room and penned down the lyrics of the rap. Rahman gave it the green signal as soon as he heard it.

''I went back to Bombay and when I returned to Chennai a few days later Rahman told me that Rajnikanth had listened to the track and was very happy with the way it had turned out. I was kicked,'' says Blaaze.

Blaaze, a Chennaiite, left for Zambia in 1979 with his parents. He later went to the UK to do his O and A levels. His interest in rap began while in school. His big break came when he rapped a special song during the election of President Chiluba. ''While watching TV during the 1991 elections in Zambia, I was moved by what the Presidential candidate was saying about democracy and human rights. I immediately wrote down a song. My dad's friend saw it and took me to the TV station. They heard my song and I got my first video!,'' he says. After that he, along with his friends, started performing in South Africa. But still Blaaze's dream to see his song up on the charts did not materialise.

''I did not want to waste my time anymore, though rap was still my passion, and decided to pursue film-making. I left for Columbia University, where I did my honours in Cinema. I tried to get a job there but it did not materialise,'' says Blaaze.

He returned to India in 2000 and landed a job with MTV as Production Incharge. After two years, he quit to join Radio City. ''Everything went smoothly for two months as radio had become the big thing in Mumbai,'' he says. But overnight they decided to shift the broadcast language from English to Hindi, putting Blaaze in a fix. ''I couldn't host shows in Hindi and knew that I was going to lose my job. And that was the day I got a call my A R Rahman's office asking me to come down to record a song. I have always believed in destiny,'' he says.

We will get to hear Blaaze again when Boys releases. In the movie, Blaaze has sung a song with Vasundhara Das. Now, if you are wondering what his name means, here's what he has to say. ''My name is actually Rajesh Raman, but as a rapper I could not go around with that name. So I called myself Blaze. That's when my friend told me to add an accent on top of 'e', which he said would be more stylish!''

IT-Aug 2007

Fame drives web contribution: Mc Kinsey

The biggest motivation for Internet contributions is fame and not financial considerations, says a recent McKinsey study. It suggests that online companies would do well to nurture these contributors with money and other motivators. The study conducted by Jacques R. Bughin, a director of McKinsey in Brussels, combines the results of other McKinsey research activities to reach its conclusions. Bughin says that a small number of participants still contribute the bulk of popular items on contributory web portals.

Websites that thrive on video uploads and Wikipedia-type of contributory content need to hook the small percentage of contributors who bring in quality content. It does admit that while people come in driven by the urge to achieve fame or share something within their community financial considerations can lead them to contribute regularly Bughin says: "Visitors under 25 years of age made up the bulk of the video-viewing audience we measured, but members in the 25- to 44year-old age group contributed equally to postings -suggesting that working-age people would be open to participation in enterprise settings." He says the presence of tools like ones that show a most viewed list that make it easy for users to see what's popular or to send favourite videos to friends corresponded, by as much as 30 percent, with more downloads for popular videos.

The study found that in video sites, around three to six percent of the contributors accounted for 75 percent of the videos up- loaded and two percent of the contributors accounted for half of all the popular videos uploaded. Bughin suggests that in companies where there is an effort to build up internal content through contributions from employees, the manager must identify the employees with the best networking within the company He suggests that a track of the internal mails will help executives find out the best net-workers within the company "Companies should make sure that their employees can access collaborative tools with a minimum of bureaucratic hassle," he writes.

ITC e-Choupal to focus on product traceability
ITC Ltd through e-Choupals is working on traceability of farm produce aimed at providing buyers products of their choice.

Traceability is the ability to track the origin of a product and its attributes.

Speaking here at The Custommerce meet on Friday, Sivakumar said that ITC had planned to invest about Rs 5,000 crore in e-Choupals by 2012. From 6,450 kiosks in 38,000 villages touching about four million farmers, it is proposed to enhance this to about 20,000 kiosks, spread across 1,00,000 villages to serve around 10 million farmers by 2010.

Compuware ties up with HCL Tech
Compuware has announced a partnership agreement with HCL Technologies. The partnership would focus on India's fast growing IT governance opportunities, combining Compuware's IT portfolio Management, Application Development Management and IT service Management solutions capabilities with advisory and implementation services capabilities of HCL's IT Transformation practice, Bob Donald, V-P, Partner Business Development, has said. Compuware also announced the expansion of its management team in India with the appointment of Hariharan Ganesan as Managing Director for India and SAARC.

Wipro weighs funding options for buyouts

Wipro Technologies is on the prowl for more buyouts — especially in Germany and Canada — and is ready to look at acquisition modes other than all-cash deals.

“We generate over $100-million reserves every quarter and all-cash deals are not the only mode. Funding is not a problem. We can look at equity, joint ventures or any mode that suits us best,” Sudip Banerjee, president — enterprise solutions and chief strategist — Wipro Technologies, said.

Banerjee added that cash reserves till June 30, 2007, amounting to Rs 3,200 crore, would be used for the Infocrossing deal worth $600 million (Rs 2,460 crore). Over the years, Wipro has gradually increased the value of its acquisitions.
The company started with the $10-million computer-aided design company Quantech and went on to buy the $246-million FMCG company Unza.

Its latest acquisition is the $600-million Infocrossing. The Infocrossing deal will help Wipro expand its infrastructure management solutions business. The company plans to increase combined revenues to $1 billion from $0.5 billion in two to three years.

New centres

Wipro Technologies is also planning to set up centres at university towns in the West. The first such centre in the US will be in Georgia.

“This will give us access to a ready talent pool. Such towns surround a renowned university and therefore there will be students wanting to work in the vicinity,” Banerjee said.

Happy Raksha Bandhan

To all my sisters, Happy Raksha bandhan

China: Bloggers Should Use Real Names

Blog service providers in China are "encouraged" to register users with their real names and contact information, according to a new government document that tones down an earlier proposal banning anonymous online blogging.

At least 10 major Chinese blog service providers have agreed to sign the "self-discipline pledge" issued by the Internet Society of China, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.

Online bulletin boards and blogs are the only forum for most Chinese to express opinions before a large audience in a society where all media are state-controlled.

China has the world's second-biggest population of Internet users after the United States, with 137 million people online. It also has 30 million registered bloggers, and more than 100 million Chinese Internet users visit blogs regularly, according to the ISC. The group is under the Ministry of Information Industry.

The guidelines, issued Tuesday and effective immediately, "encouraged" real-name registration of users, according to a copy posted on the Internet group's Web site.

The information -- to be filed with the companies, not posted online -- should include the user's name, address, contact numbers and e-mail address, it said.

Measures listed in the document were guidelines only and blog service providers were not required to comply, said an official at the Internet group, surnamed Zhu.

It was not clear whether the guideline calling for real-name registration covered bloggers only or whether it extended to people who post comments. Zhu refused to provide details.

The Chinese government had wanted to require real-name registration, but the proposal was met by "fierce opposition," Xinhua said.

"Conditions are not yet mature for implementing real-name registration as we lack reliable technology for privacy protection and identity verification," Huang Chengqing, secretary general of the ISC, was quoted as saying.

But he said service providers were still responsible for the content of the blogs. Chinese leaders often try to block online material deemed pornographic or a threat to communist rule.

"Blog service providers who allow the use of pseudonyms may be more attractive to bloggers, but they will be punished by the government if they fail to screen illegal information," Huang was quoted as saying.

The Xinhua report did not provide additional details of banned information, but other measures called for in the pledge include not spreading pornography and not speaking ill of other nationalities, races, religions and cultural customs. Bloggers also should not spread rumors or libelous information, it said.

"Blog providers should monitor and manage comments ... and delete illegal and bad information in a timely manner," the document said.

Blog service providers such as People's Daily online, Sohu.com, Sina.com.cn and cn.msn.com have said they would abide by the pledge, Xinhua reported

Thanks ENT News

ITC plans small hypermarkets in rural areas

ITC on Wednesday said it would set up new small format stores in rural areas on the lines of existing hypermarket chain - Choupal Sagar - by early next year, even as it plans to ramp up its retail operations.

The company was planning a large number of smaller Choupal Sagar stores, which would have a capacity to house 12,000-13,000 units at 40 locations out of 170 across the country, where ITC runs its big format stores.

"The idea is to penetrate the rural areas where the income levels are even lesser through smaller Choupal Sagar stores covering around one acre of area," ITC Limited chief executive officer (agri business) S Sivakumar told reporters on the sidelines of CII Marketing Summit in New Delhi.

These stores would cost Rs 2 crores (Rs 20 million) each and would be set up in small towns and rural areas of UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, he said without disclosing how many outlets the company planned to open.

ITC was also looking for a multi-fold increase in the number of e-Choupal - a platform where villagers can access Internet - in the next 5-6 years.

"We will increase the number of e-Choupals from current 6,400 in 130 districts of the country to 20,000 across 350 districts in the next 5-6 years," Sivakumar said.
He said the company would also open around 200 new Choupal Fresh outlets in major towns of the country, including the metros, to expand its presence in urban areas.
The urban retail chain focuses on stocking fresh horticulture produce like fruits and vegetables, for which ITC has set up cold chain.

"Currently, we have three Choupal Fresh stores in Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh and the number is likely to go up to 50 in these three cities by this fiscal. In the second phase, ITC would set up 140 new stores in other cities including Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai," he said.
The company was also focusing on strengthening health services in rural India.

Thanks to Rediff

Really Non-Veg

Coming into the bar and ordering a double, the man leaned over and confided to the bartender, "I'm so pissed off !"
"Oh yeah? What happened?" asked the bartender politely.
"See, I met this beautiful woman who invited me back to her home. We stripped off our clothes and jumped into bed and we were just about to make love when her god damned husband came in the front door. So I had to jump out of the bedroom window andhang from the ledge by my fingernails!"
"Gee, that's tough!" commiserated the bartender.
"Right, but that's not what really got me aggravated," the customer went on.
"When her husband came into the room he said 'Hey great! You're naked already! Let me just take a leak.' And damned if the lazy son of a bitch didn't piss out the window right onto my head?"
"Yeech!" the bartender shook his head. "No wonder you're in a lousy mood."
"Yeah, but I haven't told you what really, really got to me.
Next, I had to listen to them grunting and groaning and when they finished, the husband tossed his condom out of the window. And where does it land? My damned forehead!"
"Damn, that really is a drag!" says the bartender.
"Oh, I'm not finished. See what really pissed me off was when the husband had to take a dump. It turns out that their toilet is broken, so he stuck his ass out of the window and let loose right on my head !"
The bartender paled. "That would sure mess up my day."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the fellow rattled on, "but do you know what REALLY, REALLY, REALLY pissed me off? When I looked down and saw that my feet were only SIX inches off the ground!!"

2007 Notable Books for Children

These books were chosen by a committee of librarians, educators, and other professionals for the Association for Library Service to Children.

Younger Readers

Once upon a Banana, by Jennifer Armstrong; illustrated by David Small (Simon & Schuster and Paula Wiseman)
My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World, by Gilles Bachelet (Abrams)
Keeper of Soles, by Teresa Bateman; illustrated by Yayo (Holiday House)
Move Over, Rover!, by Karen Beaumont; illustrated by Jane Dyer (Harcourt)
Cork & Fuzz: Short and Tall, by Dori Chaconas; illustrated by Lisa McCue (Viking)
Best Best Friends, by Margaret Chodos-Irvine (Harcourt)
Below, by Nina Crews (Holt)
I Lost My Tooth in Africa, by Penda Diakité; illustrated by Baba Wagué Diakité (Scholastic)
Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, by Kate DiCamillo; illustrated by Chris Van Dusen (Candlewick)
Wolves, by Emily Gravett (Simon & Schuster)
The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, by Mini Grey (Knopf)
Lilly's Big Day, by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)
Duck & Goose, by Tad Hills (Random and Schwartz & Wade)
Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building, by Deborah Hopkinson; illustrated by James E. Ransome (Random/Schwartz & Wade.)
Houndsley and Catina, by James Howe; illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay (Candlewick)
Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways, by Laura McGee Kvasnosky (Candlewick)
Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding, by Lenore Look; illustrated by Yumi Heo (Simon & Schuster and Anne Schwartz)
Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur! A Palestinian Folktale, by Margaret Read MacDonald; illustrated by Alik Arzoumanian (Marshall Cavendish)
Once I Ate a Pie, by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest; illustrated by Katy Schneider (HarperCollins and Joanna Cotler)
Adèle & Simon, by Barbara McClintock (Farrar and Frances Foster)
Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet, by David McLimans (Walker)
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, by Marisa Montes; illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Holt)
Hippo! No, Rhino!, by Jeff Newman (Brown Little)
The Little Red Hen, by Jerry Pinkney (Dial)
Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis (HarperCollins)
Black? White! Day? Night! A Book of Opposites, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook and Neal Porter)
Good Boy, Fergus!, by David Shannon (Scholastic and Blue Sky)
Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly Pie, by Judy Sierra; illustrated by Edward Koren (Knopf)
Scaredy Squirrel, by Mélanie Watt (Kids Can)
Mammoths on the Move, by Lisa Wheeler; illustrated by Kurt Cyrus (Harcourt)
Dizzy, by Jonah Winter; illustrated by Sean Qualls (Scholastic and Arthur A. Levine)

Middle Readers

Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas, by Cheryl Bardoe; illustrated by Jos. A. Smith (Abrams)
Ivy and Bean, by Annie Barrows; illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Chronicle)
Hugging the Rock, by Susan Taylor Brown (Tricycle)
Su Dongpo: Chinese Genius, by Demi (Lee & Low)
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo; illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (Candlewick)
The Adventures of Polo, by Régis Faller (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)
All in Just One Cookie, by Susan E. Goodman; illustrated by Timothy Bush (Greenwillow)
Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, by Hatkoff, Isabella and others; illustrated by Peter Greste (Scholastic)
Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up in a War, by Kathy Henderson; illustrated by Jane Ray (Candlewick)
Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic, by Emily Jenkins; illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky (Random/Schwartz & Wade)
Families, by Susan Kuklin (Hyperion)
The Story of Salt, by Mark Kurlansky; illustrated by S.D. Schindler (Putnam)
The Year of the Dog, by Lin Grace (Brown Little)
Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything, by Lenore Look; illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum)
Rules, by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic)
Oh, Rats! The Story of Rats and People, by Albert Marrin; illustrated by C.B. Mordan (Dutton)
Aliens Are Coming! The True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast, by Meghan McCarthy (Knopf)
Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea, by Sy Montgomery; photos by Nic Bishop (Houghton)
Jazz, by Walter Dean Myers; illustrated by Christopher Myers (Holiday)
The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron; illustrated by Matt Phelan (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum)
Clementine, by Sara Pennypacker; illustrated by Marla Frazee (Hyperion)
Here's Looking at Me: How Artists See Themselves, by Bob Raczka (Lerner/Millbrook)
The Cat with the Yellow Star: Coming of Age in Terezin, by Susan Goldman Rubin and Ela Weissberger (Holiday)
She's All That! Poems about Girls, by Belinda Hollyer; illustrated by Susan Hellard (Kingfisher)
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow, by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Beth Krommes (Houghton)
To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel, by Siena Cherson Siegel; illustrated by Mark Siegel (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)
Younguncle Comes to Town, by Vandana Singh; illustrated by B.M. Kamath (Viking)
Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon, by Catherine Thimmesh (Houghton)
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom, by Tim Tingle; illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges (Cinco Puntos)
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun)

Older Readers

Crispin: At the Edge of the World, by Avi (Hyperion)
Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement, by Ann Bausum (National Geographic)
The Killer’s Tears, by Anne-Laure Bondoux; translated by Y. Maudet (Delacorte)
Ask Me No Questions, by Marina Budhos (Simon & Schuster/Ginee Seo)
The Runaway Princess, by Kate Coombs (Farrar)
Framed, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (HarperCollins)
The Last Dragon, by Silvana DeMari; translated by Shaun Whiteside (Hyperion/Miramax)
Odd Man Out, by Sarah Ellis (Groundwood)
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini, by Sid Fleischman (Greenwillow)
Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy, by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin (Clarion)
The Adventures of Marco Polo, by Russell Freedman; illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine)
Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, by Russell Freedman (Holiday)
Penny from Heaven, by Jennifer L. Holm (Random)
Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America, by Deborah Hopkinson (Scholastic Nonfiction)
Isaac Newton, by Kathleen Krull; illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Viking)
Sigmund Freud, by Kathleen Krull; illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Viking)
Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson (Delacorte)
Gossamer, by Lois Lowry (Houghton/Walter Lorraine)
Heat, by Mike Lupica (Philomel)
The Pull of the Ocean, by Jean-Claude Mourlevat; translated by Y. Maudet (Delacorte)
The Legend of Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Famous Marshal in the West, by Gary Paulsen (Random/Wendy Lamb)
All of the Above: A Novel by Shelly Pearsall; illustrated by Javaka Steptoe (Brown Little)
Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchett (HarperTempest)
Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space, by Philip Reeve; illustrated by David Wyatt (Bloomsbury)
Yellow Star, by Jennifer Roy (Marshall Cavendish)
Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter, by Susan Goldman Rubin (Abrams)
House of the Red Fish, by Graham Salisbury (Random/Wendy Lamb)
Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine? The Art of Making Zines and Mini-Comics, by Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson (Houghton/Graphia)
Remember Little Bighorn: Indians, Soldiers, and Scouts Tell Their Stories, by Paul Robert Walker (National Geographic)
Counting on Grace, by Elizabeth Winthrop (Random/Wendy Lamb)

All Ages

Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection, by F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada; illustrated by Felipe Dávalos and others (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum)
It's Not the Stork!: A Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families, and Friends, by Robie H. Harris; illustrated by Michael Emberley (Candlewick)
Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters, by Patricia C. McKissack; illustrated by André Carrilho (Random/Schwartz & Wade)
Solomon and the Ant and Other Jewish Folktales, by Sheldon Oberman (Boyds Mills)
Flotsam, by David Wiesner (Clarion)

Best Blogger So far

The Best Blogger so far and nominated for best cause and UK Award Goes to Baghdad Burning

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Tamilnadu and India

I studied Hindi in my earlier schoolings for 4 yrs, so I can read and write Hindi, however I can’t speak in Hindi at that time (2004). Though I worked in North India, I was unable to learn Hindi at that time, because of the Tamil guys who around me for all the 11 months. And I never bother to learn at that time, now also. All matter of communication made me to learn. Till the time I reach London, I never thought that Hindi will be casually spoken language among all Indians nevertheless of which state. Not only in UK, where ever in the world, the most common language among Indians is Hindi. I did realize when I start going abroad this same after travelling a lot.



Let describe about myself, tamilnadu and regarding Hindi. Tamil is the first language and English the second language in TNadu. Though capital of TN-Chennai, only a small portion of people learns Hindi in their schoolings, so they are safe when they move to other states or country. Being a remote village guy, I hear only there is a cricket match that too when the commentary is in Hindi.



I can’t only blame on Dravidian parties now for Anti-Hindi strikes during 1970's. The anti-Hindi parties, Dravidian political parties playing to the tunes in 60's. Now, not a single party wants to touch the subject. Was it a big hindrance to mainstream integration, yes of course? When talking about globalization, it is ashamed of not learning a national language. Still I can say, there is no need of Hindi in tamilnadu, until you stay. Else learn Hindi. Our states have been separated based on languages, I agree. Tamilnadu is literally separated by language. I indulge everybody to learn Hindi till the extent of communication. Bloody language is a just communication media, once you know the media is required, don’t hesitate to learn it. Local Business men stays in tamilnadu, however they need to talk to other language people once they come out of their state. I have seen lot many business people learned Hindi, so as the IT employees because of survival.



An interesting incident happened in Paris for me which really made ashamed that I don’t know Hindi, Punjabi either. Under the tower, people sell the toy towers, key chains and bla bla. I liked a Eiffel tower toy which is made up of Glass with sparkling lights, I started bargaining with an Afro guy for 12 Euros which Afro guy demanding to us to get it for 17 Euros. At the same time an India chap came with key chains and shown those chains, said something in Hindi, I got a word 5 (paanch), so I thought he is trying to sell those chains to me. I thought I am over smart and bargained with Indian guy to give 5 chains for 2 Euros. He said okay and I bought it still my wife is bargaining with Afro guy, that Indian moved for 2 steps and said with other guy that" samja nahi" yaar. I was confused what he is saying; how long a guy can act that he knows the language. Finally my wife bargained for 12 Euros and bought that tower statue, we were amazed that we got it for 12 Euros. Then that Indian guy came and said that statue is worth for 5 Euros that is what he was trying to convey to me in Hindi, by the time he acted to afro guy that he selling the chains to us.



Yeah, it is a simple loss of 7 Euros; however this incident impacted me a lot to take a ‘U’ turn to learn Hindi properly. Now I am able to read, write and talk Hindi fluently. This is my suggestion” learn Hindi, if you want to come out of the state for any reason”.

UTI to AXIS

UTI Bank has rebranded itself as AXIS BANK on July 30, 2007. The Bank had used the UTI brand with great pride for the last 13 years, and has in recent years strongly contributed to the resurgence of the UTI brand. My first bank account is UTI Bank during 2000. They say the rebranding has been necessitated due to the limitations on the use of the brand after January 2008. So they decided to create a distinct brand identity for itself. Rebranding provides an opportunity to communicate elements of personality, values and vision, which are specific to the Bank. This rebranding becomes more important as the Bank takes its initial steps in establishing a global footprint.

"Axis as a name is simple; it connotes solidity and stature, and conveys a sense of authority and credibility. Axis as a brand further has the ability to transcend geographical boundaries - this is relevant as the Bank has built an initial pan-Asian network with offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Dubai, and seeks to expand further its international presence.
Graphically, in the new logo, the first stroke depicts forward growth while the second stroke signifies a solid support system. The two thick strokes also connote solidity and security.
The rest of the Bank remains the same. The same people, same facilities and the same products and services would continue to be offered to you and you can also expect the same level of dedicated service and professional expertise, as always."

All the Best AXIS