India should act firmly (read militarily) if Pakistan is to be taken over by Taliban and they trade their guns against India.

Let me start this particular piece of write up with a confession - I have never been so afriad/larmaed in my entire life as for the past 3 or so days. Taliban almost having full control over SWAT province is so bad for us Indians. Yes it is true SWAT province is some 180 odd kms from the capital Islamabad (I think Surya pet is around 140 kms from Hyderabad and it is less distant than Vijayawada-Hyderabad). We should be very clear if at all Taliban does eventually take over Pakistan and they think to spread their ideologies across the borders into India and spread there sphere of influence then our goverment should be unequivocal in its approach to militarily and diplomatically (in its strictest sense) decimate them. We have taken this sentiment of being a peace loving nation far too much and sometimes offence is indeed the ebst form of defense. For some thing like Taliban or the Al Qaeda to come to our borders and try to exert their militray power should never be combatted by dialogue. it has to be dealt with our might and should teach them a lesson. We need to be the aggressor. I am really tensed and worried by this incident. Werae indeed a secular and peace loving nation and doing well as a nation. This is the last thing that all of us need in our doorsteps. I am atleast expecting our political heirarchy to be very vigilant to the activities happening in our immediate neighbours placvea nd not be lost in election hysteria. May be it is our first real test after a long long time and it has to be dealt in a very firm manner. Also we should not be listening to anyone else and do not need their advice. it is our problem and we will ahve to solve it.

Writing Assignments - I am available

Although I have good job in hand and a happy man to do that but writing has always been my passion. So this small post is to all those who have some interesting writing assignments with them then I am more than willing to chip in(It can be on anyhting). You can reach me at - ajitpnair@yahoo.co.in

2009

I really do not know...what is in store for us in 2009 but 1 thing is positive always...HOPE. Yes we all carry this with us and let us think something in the right direction. When i look around i find most things depressing/negative be it business/politics or the daily life for a middle classer like me sandwitched as always betweent he potential of doing something great but unable to do so - always aspiring and motivated by the Narayana Murthy's and Nilekeni's of this world. But when it is the occassion of new year and this being your first blog post let us all think good and only that and hope that this new year of 2009 be a great year for all (although i just heard of the Guwahati bomb blast; never understand what somebody gets by killing someone).
I have lots and lots of inner ambitions carrying with me and hoping that this years is the year to fulfill some of them.

Happy New Year wishes to one and all. May God Bless all of us.

An advertisement on Narayana Murthy.

This is a great advertisement on the leading business entrepreneurs in India and very knowledgble. Source my friend - Susheel Pandey.

iPod creator leaves Apple

Tony Fadell, referred to as 'father of the iPod', is leaving Apple. Seven years ago, it was Tony Fadell who led a team of designers and engineers to introduce the iPod. It was his idea to club a Napster-like music store with a hard drive-based MP3 player. Sleek and stylish, the product soon became one of the most hottest selling products from Apple.

He has now chosen to spend more time with his family.

Apple has announced that the iPod division vice president Tony Fadell and his wife, Danielle Lambert, who is vice president of the company's human resources department, are leaving to spend more with their family.
Fadell, will however remain as an adviser to CEO Steve Jobs.

Mark Papermaster will now head the iPod and iPhone engineering teams. Papermaster has 25 years of product and technology experience. He was working as vice president at IBM.

Fadell toyed with the idea of inventing a new MP3 player. However, he had to struggle before his idea was finally accepted. He was turned down by RealNetworks and Phillips. It was Apple, which showed interest in the project.

SOurce - rediff.com

The Thrifty Billionaires

Warren Buffet bought his Omaha, Neb., home in 1958 for $31,500. Today, Buffett is about $50 billion richer, but he still lives in the same place.
The penny-pinching nature of America's second-wealthiest man is legendary. He drives a Cadillac. He prefers burgers and Cherry Cokes to a pricey steak. When a waiter once tried to pour him some rare vintage wine, Buffett covered his glass and said "No thanks, I'll take the cash."

He isn't the only frugal billionaire. While big spenders like Oracle's Larry Ellison grab headlines for antics like buying the longest yacht in world, the thrifty rich lie low--and spend little in comparison. Expect converts: A recent survey of 439 high-net-worth families by wealth-research firm Prince & Associates found 59% are cutting back their spending.
Yet such reductions might actually be hard for John Caudwell, whom we valued at $2.3 billion this March. He cuts his own hair and buys his clothes off the rack.
"I don't need Saville Row suits," he told a Forbes reporter last year. "I don't need to spend money to bolster my own esteem."
Same goes for India's Azim Premji, who turned his dad's cooking-oil business into technology giant Wipro. Worth some $12.7 billion, he still drove a Ford Escort for eight years before trading it in for a new Toyota Corolla. He usually walks to work from his nearby home. Premji often stays at budget hotels when traveling in India and reportedly wears non-branded suits and flies economy. Paper plates were used at a luncheon in honor of his son Rishad's wedding a few years ago.
Ingvar Kamprad is the seventh-wealthiest man in the world, but you wouldn't know it if you met him. The Ikea founder, worth an estimated $31 billion, usually wears denim shirts and decorates his home with his company's low-cost furnishings. He drives a 1993 Volvo.
"How the hell can I ask people who work for me to travel cheaply if I am traveling in luxury?" says Kamprad. "Best to stay in touch with the real world."
This kind of toned-down spending may grow more pronounced among many of the world's billionaires. While they have plenty of money on paper, their net worth is often tied up in investments. To make even bigger bets, they might leverage their assets. During times of market turmoil like these, their liquidity can dry up very quickly. Aubrey McClendon was forced to sell a gigantic stake in his company Chesapeake Energy because of margin calls. Fellow American billionaire Sumner Redstone recently sold $400 million in Viacom and CBS shares to keep his creditors at bay (see "Margin Calls Ignite Billionaire Fire Sale").
Russian billionaires, who gained a reputation for unbridled extravagance in recent years, have been even harder hit. Oleg Deripaska, Alisher Usmanov and Suleiman Kerimov all recently faced margin calls--and sharp hits to their wealth. While these billionaires scramble to raise cash, Buffett is sitting on a pile of it. In the past couple months, his Berkshire Hathaway put $3 billion into General Electric and $5 billion into Goldman Sachs. Buffett received sweetheart terms in both deals because he's one of the few people with billions to invest in this tough market. Good advice for anyone, billionaire or not: Count your pennies and buy on sale.
Source Yahoo & Forbes.

can this train move?

Great picture this - Pilgrims cling on to a departing train after attending an annual religious congregation in Multan on November 2. The annual three-day Dawat-e-Islami congregation concluded with collective noon prayers.

Source - rediff.com

Tata Nano - Why Singur? The financials...

The agreement between Tata Motors and the government of West Bengal to manufacture the world's cheapest car in the state involved much more than subsidies on land and interest paid on bank loans. The financials are listed below –

1.The state government will provide to Tata Motors a loan of Rs 200 crore at 1 per cent interest per year repayable in five equal annual installments starting from the 21st year of the date of disbursement of loan. If the state had put the sum in a fixed deposit scheme, its principal would be worth Rs 3,000 crore in 20 years. This loan was disbursed within 60 days of signing of the agreement in May 2006.

2.The West Bengal government will also provide electricity for the project at Rs 3 per KwH, against the going rate of Rs 4.15 per KwH.In the case of a more than 25 paise per KwH increase in tariff in every block of five years, the government will provide relief through additional compensation to neutralise the additional increase.

3.The state government also promised to revisit the computation of the comparison of benefits offered by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The incentive package in these states comprised excise exemption for 10 years and 100 per cent income tax exemption for the first five years and 30 per cent for the next five years.

4.The state government also subsidised the cost of land required for the factory and the interest paid by Tata Motors on loans taken to build the project. Thus, the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation is to provide Industrial Promotion Assistance in the form of a loan to Tata Motors at 0.1 per cent interest a year for amounts equal to gross VAT and CST received by the government of West Bengal in each of the previous year ended March 31 on the sale of each Nano from the date of commencement of sales. In other words, the state government would repay Tata Motors the VAT and CST collected on each Nano sale and as a result not earn anything as tax. This benefit will continue till the balance amount of the benefit offered by Uttarakhand was reached on a net present value basis, after which it is to be discontinued. The loan with interest will be repayable in annual installments starting from the 31st year of sales from the plant.

5.WBIDC will ensure that the loan under this head is paid within 60 days of the close of the previous year (March 31), failing which WBIDC will be liable to compensate Tata Motors for the financial inconvenience at the rate of 1.5 times the bank rate prevailing at the time on the amount due for the period of the delay.

6.The agreement also said Tata Motors and the government of West Bengal will make joint efforts to maximize sales of the car in West Bengal. Under the agreement, WBIDC would provides 645.67 acres to Tata Motors Ltd on a 90-year lease, on an annual lease rental of Rs 1 crore per year for the first five years with an increase at the rate of 25 per cent after every five years till 30 years. The effective lease rental for Tata Motors would be Rs 1291 per acre per month annually, rising in keeping with an escalation clause. After 30 years, the lease rental will be fixed at Rs 5 crore per year, with an increase at the rate of 30 per cent after every 10 years till the 60th year. After 60 years, the lease rental will be fixed at Rs 20 crore per year for 645 acres which will be unchanged till the 90th year. After 90 years the lease terms will be fixed on mutually agreed terms.

7.The benefit on account of land would be calculated as the total land area leased out to Tata Motors multiplied by the cost of acquisition less the net present value of rent payable during 60 years.

8.Over and above all this, the agreement says WBIDC will lease 290 acres to vendors selected and approved by Tata Motors on payment of a premium equal to the actual cost of acquisition plus incidentals, to be calculated on the basis of the total acquisition cost and other incidental expenses expended by WBIDC or any of its subsidiaries (duly certified by its auditor) averaged over the total land acquired. The lease rental payable per year per acre by the vendors will be Rs 8,000 per acre for the first 45 years and Rs 16,000 per acre for the next 45 years.

9.The going rate for commercial space in the area was around Rs 25,000 per acre per year for high land, with low-lying or waterlogging-prone areas fetching Rs 12,500 per month. The initial lease tenure will be 90 years, after which the lease terms will be fixed on mutually agreed terms at that point of time.

10.The agreement says Tata Motors will manufacture 250,000 cars a year on a two-shift basis, which could be expanded to 350,000 on three-shift basis. In addition, the Singur unit would act as a mother plant for many aggregates to tune of 500,000 cars. Tata Motors told the West Bengal government it would be investing over Rs 1,500 crore and vendors were likely to make further investment of over Rs 500 crore.

Source - www.rediff.com

MEDIA in India - Let us also respect other sports other than cricket in India

Are we a one sport loving nation? It is really sad that our media showed a lack of respect to our Indian football team who did a monumental job of winning the AFC cup 2008. As soon as India won the AFC cup 2008 on August 13 th at around 8:45 pm or so i switched to NDTV 247 to watch there 9 o' clock news and was surprised to see them showing Michael Phelps winning his 5th gold in Beijing as one of the main stories and their was not even any mention of our Indian football team glory. The same feeling came to the fore when i read the following day's Time of India news item which had Michael Phelps achievement in the fron page and one full page dedicated to it but only 2 side columns on indian team' s victory. The picture put up by Times of India was also not a full team picture and not done properly. If this is the way our media show lack of respect then let us also equally not expect much from football in india. Here i remember sometime back NDTV had done a program on Football and debated as to when India will qualify for the world cup. Imagine if India had won some cup or tournament even if it involved one with Bangladesh and Kenya , it would have got a lot of primetime coverage.

Hyderabad city should be ashamed of itself.

The city of Hyderabad is inthe brink of disaster or else it would not be so much of chaos just because it rained for 48 odd hours non stop. I really feel bad at seeing our city in such chaotic state. Take the roads for instance , they all are in a disarray including the one's which were done up recently. I cannot fathom as to who is to blame for a pothole in the newly constructed Punjugutta flyover. Why are our roads to be tarred and retarred every 6 months? One can definetly understand the repair works but this is a complete mess of our city roads. And what about waterlogging - the less spoken about it better. Why don't we have good drainage mechanism or a method which identlifies all the key low lying areas or attempt dividing the city into various zones based on the capacity to manage water and then device the strategy to ensure smooth flow of water.We also need to have the civic authorities or whoever incharge to be more proactive and just not blame the nature for all that happens and give the poor public unecessary hassle. Theere needs to be better ability exhibited from the Hyderabad civic authorities to map the areas for open drainage, manholes etc. so that poor residents are left trapped or killed. Better route management is a necessity as it will help divert the flow of traffic through areas which are commutable and means and efforts need to be put in having such a system in place.
If you talk about the incumbent goverment being pro poor then all that one sees in news is massive floods across rural Andhra Pradesh and people fleeing flood affected areas, dams/resoervirs breaching etc.
Who is accountable for all these? Well I do not know and only action is welcome; no more speeches and press quotes from the officials on this please....