SPEED

Cast: Urmila Matondkar, Zayed Khan, Battered Cell Phone
Direction: Vikram Bhatt

Hell, cell’s bells. Broken, bruised, battered, a handset turns out to be quite a hutch/airtel/Vodafone ado about something. A lady in calf-leather boots, freshly kidnapped, yells, "How dare you! I’m a British, citizen." Unimpressed, the bozos bleat bah-bah.

Aha, then, she pokes away at a few wires, a plastic spindle and a nimboo-green plate. Aloha, it’s never too late. See, the mobile’s alive, kicking and screaming again.
Help! Vikram Bhatt’s Speed bhi Kabhi Cellular Thi may be swiftly edited and decently shot but sorry, it’s an exercise in vacuity and senselessness. Here the London streets can become Ballard Pier and coconut trees sprout in the Queen’s Palace. Alarmingly, too, the British countryside resembles the cheapest-to-hire location in Goregaon’s Film City. Tut tut.

Indeed, serious matters are afoot. The Indian Prime Minister, a Gayatridevi Sinha is to be assassinated in London (never mind if the shoot’s in good ole Powai). Since she’s played by Suhasini Mulay, you’re not worried. She always survives. She keeps smiling like Mona Lisa gone wrong and addresses a public meeting attended only by 10 or maybe nine junior artistes. Best of all, she’s accompanied by the riotous Raj Zutshi, Indian cinema’s most underrated comedian yet.

He just has to show up and there you go tee hee.

Mirthfully, Zutshi meets bad guys in a London-cum-Powai toilet, and keeps cleaning his hands with a napkin as if were Lady Macbeth. He isn’t. Actually, everyone’s quite cuckoo.

Take the Baida Fry Bawarchi (Sanjay Suri) who’s actually an MI5 spy (wazzat?). He behaves like Kiefer Sutherland in the TV series 36 Hours, which means he’s as perplexing as a crossword without clues. His wife (Urmila Matondkar) is the kidnapped one. And like Kim Bassinger, she’s networking seriously. “Gasp, puff, huff, pant, eeeeeh, grunt, ouch…aiyyya," is the only line of dialogue assigned to her. Heavens!

Meanwhile, Zayed does a Run Khan Run all over Britain. Or Powai. And he unwraps an ugly teddy bear to gift to his angry girlfriend Tanushree Dutta. Understandably, she gets angrier. She also rolls rosogollas in her mouth inspired perhaps by Marlon Brando’s marbles-in-the-mouth in The Godfather. And so what else? Well, Amrita Rao… no no… Amrita Arora is killed after one antara (stanza) of a supposedly sex’ysong.

Not surprisingly, you don’t miss her.

More: Aftab Shivdasani in a Flapping Trenchcoat delivers a sermon about the Indo-Pakistan conflict, to justify that he’s baaad guy (Gulshan Grover is far superior which is not saying much). And Sophie Chaudhry, Chowdhury… Chaudhari…you never find out… is around in black latex, making a thorough Bindaloo of the Bindu vamp act. Aashish Chaudhary, in a rare appearance (deservedly so), as an evil cop looks as menacing as a new-born kitten. Meoooww.

Yeah. There’s no catchy music, entertainment or suspense out here. The only Speed in this movie is its length of 12 reels… over before you never want to see another cell phone or Affy Shivdasani movie in your life ever again. God, are you listening? ‘

SENSEX 20K: Will the sight blink?

Politics, Macro- Economics, good earnings reports and a few positive corporate
developments took the Indian stock market to yet another high. The Sensex was powered, especially by energy, metals and banking stocks, in its 639 points (3.47 per cent) climb to reach a record close of 19,058.67.

The Sensex has now gained 3,000 points in just over four weeks. Retail investors have been either on the sidelines or booking profits during the last 2,000-point rally even as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to be net buyers, pouring in over $7 billion since September 18. Buy at whatever prices stocks are available, brokers are telling retail clients. But some brokers caution investors to develop a long-term focus.

A research study released by ING Investment said most participants from the 13 Asia-Pacific countries where they conducted a survey believed the investment climate would continue to be positive, though they did not expect their return on investment to be as strong as the previous three months. But 83 per cent of the respondents in China and 75 per cent in India said return on investments in the next three months would be as strong as the previous three.

The survey findings suggest a possible correlation between investors’ level of sophistication and their confidence in the market. While investors in more mature economies such as Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore are seen to be more conservative in their outlook; those in India and China, on the contrary, are extremely optimistic, possibly due to their short investing history.

Brokerages reported some amount of profit booking by individuals but mutual fund houses said inflows there was no rush for redemptions. In this frenzied atmosphere stock recommendations and market outlook are flowing in through mobile text messages. While the Securities and Exchange Board of India might have come up with strict rules for investment advisors, there are several SMS messages people get from, to whom the former do not know.

 The rupee ended stronger at 39.30/31 a dollar on strong capital inflows into the equity market amid dollar buying by state-owned banks at the behest of the Reserve bank of India. In restricted activity at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the local currency was trapped in a small range of 39.29 and 39.37 after resuming steady at 39.34/36 a dollar from last weeks dip which was a close of 39.35/36 a dollar. The central bank has been buying greenback for the past few days to prevent the domestic currency from appreciating further against the greenback.

Meanwhile, traders said the medium-term outlook for the currency is bullish and it will touch 39 levels in the near future following sustained portfolio inflows.

The 30-share sensitive index posted one of its biggest gains on a single day in terms of number of points. It took only four days for the Sensex to reach 19,000 from 18,000 but those numbers should not surprise pundits - because in percentage terms, that is only about 5.5 per cent. Normally, a one or two per cent movement in the stock index on a single day should make little news. A four-day journey for a 5.5 per cent rise is in order. On Friday, Oct 19, 2007 a 300-point fall in the index showed that a large three-digit movement in the index is no longer really rare, either way.

Managers

When Aesop (of the Fables) was being sold in the slave market, they asked him what could he do best. He said if anyone needed a master he was very good at that. Sixty years ago India became independent; Indians had a combination of a victim mentality resentful of the West and hungry for any mention of one of us achieving even a polite nod from the same source. Now like Aesop, Indians who were once slaves, are being hired for being managers of MNCS. Deutsche Bank has Anshu Jain and Vodafone has Arun Sarin and Pepsi has gone one better with Indra Nooyi. But, why is it that the turnaround has come now and so late? India was an industrializing country with manufacturing growth at 8.4 per cent per year between 1860 and 1900.

India was still the seventh largest industrial nation in 1947. But then we went on to repress and infantilize our private sector in the name of self-sufficiency and socialism. Forty years were wasted in the foolish experiment of socialism, but then the floodgates began opening in 1991.

 Even it took 10 more years for the private sector to really become free. Now India will not be stopped even by its own political system. Given the rich pool of talent India has, with a capacity to learn, amazing flexibility and habits of hard work and (let’s face it, politicians apart) integrity and honesty, there is no reason why by 2025 India should not be a world leader in multinational management.

WILL EVERY INDIAN HAVE ACCESS TO A PHONE?

A decade ago, only 13 in a 1,000 Indians had a telephone. Getting a phone connection was considered to be an achievement of sorts. It’s a tribute to our times that we are thinking about a phone for every Indian today. Will every Indian have access to a phone in ten years’ time? Yes, it is not only essential but also inevitable.

Providing phone access to the entire population of India would be a vital step in making our country competitive. A phone for every Indian does not mean every Indian will have a phone, but that there will be universal access to a phone-a phone will be readily available at an affordable rate, to all who wish to use it.

When more than a billion people get connected, everyone will be linked to the national economic bandwagon. Thanks to the mobile revolution, telephone penetration is moving up rapidly. Today, taking into account both mobile phones and landlines, India has more than 175 million lines. Though landline numbers are growing slowly, exponential mobile growth is compensating for that. The mobile subscriber base has crossed 130 million and we are adding over six million customers every month to become the fastest growing mobile market in the world. In future, telecom numbers in India will be driven by mobile growth.

This rapid growth is being driven by afford ability. Indian tariffs are the lowest in the world. But given that about 25 per cent of a service operator’s revenue goes into the government kitty as taxes, a fine-tuning of these rates could help make the service more affordable. Prices of handsets, too, are going down rapidly. The price of entry-level sets has already fallen to the suh-$30 (Rs. 1,350) price band and is slated come down further.
The industry is working towards shared access for people who cannot afford to own a handset.

Geographical coverage is the biggest hurdle in a country of India’s size. Infrastructure sharing by service providers is going to be a big driver of penetration in future. This has already started in the big cities. When implemented in rural and semi-urban areas, this will help expand geographical coverage faster.
Universal connectivity is an ambitious goal, particularly for a billion plus population with an average annual per capita income of $620 (Rs 27,900). But what makes me optimistic is the consistently high growth the economy has been registering.

Much would depend on the pace at which the dividends of growth percolate down to the masses. I believe we are already witnessing a steady percolation effect. Economic growth is likely to pick up added momentum during the coming decade. So will telecom growth. We may see a distinct possibility of universal access to a phone by 2016.

WHERE ARE PRICES HEADED?

Over the last decade, many products and services have seen a significant fall in prices.
This trend has obviously made these products and services affordable to a larger number of people, resulting in massive increase in consumption. From interest rates on home loans, to computers, electronic appliances and air travel, Indian consumers now have access to things they could only dream of a couple of decades ago.

Simple economics is at work here. The price of a commodity drops when either demand decreases or supply increases. Clearly, decreasing demand is not a contributor.
Expanding supply has been the main driver of falling prices. In most cases, this has happened because new capacity has entered the market. For many products, this capacity increase is both because new factories have been built in India and because previously banned imports are now freely permitted.

This is not just a matter of increasing numbers, however. As volumes increase, the cost of production itself declines. Processes become more efficient and inputs can be sourced more economically Competitive pressure contributes to a persistent drive amongst all producers to cut costs and prices, through the use of innovation on both processes and products. All of this ultimately leads to the widening of affordability that we have seen over the last decade.

In short, the process will continue as long as this virtuous circle of expanding capacity, increasing imports, rising competitive intensity and increasing productivity continues. This is true of most products. Take the explosion in retail as an example. Even if the product being sold remains the same, organised retail represents a way of getting it to the consumer at lower cost.

However, unrestricted increases in volumes are not possible in some critical areas. If trade across borders cannot take place, one major source of competitive pressure is lost. If availability is fixed by nature or constrained by regulatory impediments, the process described above will not work. In these instances of ever-increasing demand and constrained supply, prices will rise persistently.

The most prominent example of this is land, the availability of which is truly fixed by nature (with the few exceptions of reclamation, such as in Mumbai or Dubai). Land prices will continue to increase; the pattern itself will be distorted by the differential quality of infrastructure available in different pockets. Investments in infrastructure will help in smoothening out these differences, but cannot stop or reverse the overall trend.

But, this is a legacy of nature that we can do little about. Of greater concern is the impact that wrongheaded policies and regulation have on the supply of certain goods and services and on prices. When the government retains an effective monopoly on provision of services but doesn’t provide the resources to increase capacity, the results can be quite depressing. An image that haunts me is the sight of people waiting in line for drinking water while chatting on their cell phones. The forces of demand and supply don’t always respect social priorities. As supply expands and cost of production decreases, everything will cost less.

A COMPLETELY LITERATE INDIA

India’s unique contribution to the growth of the knowledge industry has significantly transformed the global perception of Indian education and raised expectations within the country as well as abroad. Yet paradoxically, India continues to be at the bottom of the pile as far as the human development index is concerned, ranked as low as 126.
UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report cautions that the country, along with its South-Asian neighbours and Sub-Saharan African countries, is at the grave risk of not meeting the global commitment to reach the goal of education for all by 2015.

Providing education for all is also a national goal. Can India ensure universal adult literacy and basic education for all children by 2015? The question is doubly relevant as the country is drawing up its 11TH  five year plan. Can the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) deliver? There is no option but to make it work. Unfortunately, while more money is being spent year after year, fatigue for action seems to be setting in at the field level, and no significant improvement is visible in the functioning of the public education system. If the SSA has to deliver, there will be a need for radically changing its course.

First, let us move beyond the numbers to look at school functioning, and shift attention from enrolment to effective functioning of schools. As revealed by a recent national survey by Pratham – an NGO started by the UNICEF-30 per cent children do not attend school and learning levels are abysmally low. A recent international study on India found 25-30 per cent of the teachers missing from school. In the existing framework of the SSA, school and teacher grants are meant to focus on individual schools. Without careful monitoring and follow-up, the scheme is now a spending proposition with little to show for results.

Global experience shows that overall improvement in education can be achieved if financial support to schools is linked to their management and performance and the implementation process is monitored by the local community. Such an approach could be effectively implemented in India by making use of the process of the Panchayati Raj institutions and grass root - level bodies.

The second proposition is that the SSA - which is funded through Central plan resources, with a substantial component of international assistance-should invest selectively, that is, in states and on social groups that really need attention. While in Kerala, practically every child attends primary school, and every school has at least five teachers and five classrooms, there is Bihar, where only one out of two children is enrolled in a school.
Towards the end of the 1990s, it was estimated that three-fourth of the children who are out of school lived in six states- Andra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,  and West Bengal.

Gender disparity was as high as 42 percentage points for enrolment rates in Bihar, and 31 percentage points in Uttar Pradesh, but was only three and five percentage points, respectively, in Kerala and Punjab. Has the situation significantly changed?
Estimates derived from the seventh All India Education Survey revealed a very similar story in 2002-03. Nearly 69 per cent of children who are out of primary school are concentrated in the same six states, in addition to Jharkhand. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh alone account for 33.87 per cent.

With respect to girls’ education, states like Gujarat and Haryana have regressed in recent years, falling below the national average. There are also unmitigated disparities between social groups. The SSA has to entrust the situation in better performing states to the respective state leaderships and concentrate on the difficult states. Focused programmes for meeting the needs of the SCs, STs and minorities are needed.

The third proposition relates to reforming the plan-funding framework, which has got seriously distorted in recent years. Plan inputs should add value to the existing system in a cumulative fashion and incrementally transform the system over a period of time. Unfortunately, funding, through five-year plans in education, has often become a vehicle for fighting fiscal crisis of state governments. A pertinent example is that of appointing a number of ‘Para-teachers’ instead of building a professional cadre of teachers. This approach derails the trajectory of progress, while distorting the process of planning and budgeting.

Finally, it is time that we grow and mature, looking beyond project goals, and towards a transformation of the system. Governments are preoccupied with reporting the progress in terms of expansion of schooling facilities and coverage of children in different age groups. Huge investments have been made for more than a decade in several districts of the country, using domestic as well as external funding sources under different banners. But the net effect seems to be increased bureaucratisation.

There is alack of a long-term perspective. The over emphasis on  meeting short-term project goals of spending and implementation has trapped the system in a low-efficiency equilibrium status where things appear to be happening keeping people busy and the money flowing-but do not add up to anything significant. It is necessary to focus on achievement of a cumulative change in the grass-root level, not just in the reports of the project authorities. Planners as well as the international agencies supporting the scheme seem to be overtaken by the anxiety to show quick results. Much of these visible-and quick-results are unsustainable and will disappear if not backed by long-term vision and a framework for systemic reform.

DEAL OR NO DEAL
   

To understand the future of the Indo- US nuclear deal you need to consider four critical facts. The analysis that follows is distilled from conversations with Left leaders, in particular the CPI’s A. B. Bardhan.

First, the reason why the Left is adamant the government must not initiate formal talks with the IAEA is because this is the last point at which they can stop the deal. Once it sails or sneaks past the Agency there is not further intervention required by the Indian government. The Americans will pilot it through the NSG and the Bush administration will secure the final updown vote from Congress.  The IAEA stage is the only point at which the left can obstruct its passage.

The Left believes that IAEA’s clearance might only require 72 hours. It’s aware the government has done a lot of the spadework through informal contacts and non papers. Equally importantly, it acknowledges that despite the tricky nature of the fuel supplies assurance India wants, the rest of the safeguards are routine stuff. It doesn’t believe the IAEA will fall back on the 4 days clearance option. This reinforces the need to pull the plug as soon as the government approaches the IAEA.

Second, when the Left withdraws support the government will enter what they call a grey area.  This is the interregnum between the Left informing the President and any test on the floor of the House to prove the government is a minority. During this stage, there may be doubts about the legitimacy of the government but no certainty. Therefore the government can or at least, can claim to function normally.

The question is, will the IAEA accept a government in this predicament as a credible representative of India? The Left hopes it won’t but isn’t sure. If the IAEA has doubts, it will balk at concluding a safeguards agreement. If no, the deal is through.

Third, how late can the government leave the start of negotiations with the IAEA without endangering the schedule for all the other steps that must follow? This will determine how long the present UPA-Left confabulation continues. The government has shared the timeline with the left but neither side has made it public. A safe date would be the end of October but it could stretch to early December. If by then, the government hasn’t initiated talks with the Agency, then it won’t leave itself enough time to pass the NSG and the US Congress before the mood in America is overwhelmed by elections.

So sometime soon after the UPA- Left meeting, the government has to take its courage in its hands. At that point the Left will withdraw support, the government will enter the grey area and the focus will shift to how the IAEA responds.

Fourth, the Left is gambling the government hasn’t got the gumption to do this. The government says it has. But, asks the Left, is that bluffs and bluster? The reason this could be crucial is because if the government falls, the Left will also suffer. In the election that follows they will lose seats. The biggest loser could be Karat’s CPM. So, even if it’s pushing it, the Left doesn’t want the government to fall.

At this pint of apparent contradiction, which has greater force the Left’s instinct to preserve its numbers or its desire to protect its ideological purity?
In A.B. Bardhan’s assessment only four outcomes are possible:
First, the government survives and the deal goes through,
Second, the government falls and the deal goes through
Third, the deal is lost and the government survives
Fourth the government falls and the deal is also forsaken.

The Left claims it’s the fourth possibility that’s paralyzing the government. But it’s also true the second possibility has the Left petrified. Which will it be?

Elections in Gujarat:
Congress all set to ‘Chak De’

 
The Congress is the latest to join the long list of those inspired by the recent Shahrukh Khan starrer "Chak De India". Adapting the title for the upcoming crucial Gujarat assembly elections, the party’s new slogan, "Chak De Congress" is set to resonate in its poll campaign to be launched by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Vadodra on October 30.

Colourful "Chak De Congress" posters were plastered on the two dozen Innovas which were handed over to the party district chiefs at a special function in Valsad as the Congress mobilises its workers to battle Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The party is hoping the popularity of the film and the slogan will help it to connect with the people in what presently looks to be a neck-and-neck fight between BIP’s Modi and the Congress.

The Congress believes several factors are working in its favour in this election. Although Modi continues to enjoy an "industry-friendly" image, its assessment is that the common man has got disillusioned with him. In an effort to cash in on Modi’s unpopularity among these sections, the party’s state unit’s campaign will focus on Modi’s poor track record as an administrator, the promises he failed to keep and his dictatorial style of functioning.
The Central leaders will instead focus on how Modi failed to utilize the funds it received from New Delhi.

The Congress is well aware that Modi will attempt to inject a communal colour to the campaign to polarize the polity as he had done in the last assembly elections, which followed shortly after the Godhra riots. However, the feedback from the state unit is that Modi is unlikely to succeed in this attempt as anti-incumbency has set in and more and more people are questioning his tall claims of providing a corruption-free administration.
Besides this, the Congress is banking on the dissensions in the BJP ranks, a sharp contrast to the united show being put up by its Gujarat unit which is fighting single-handedly to defeat Modi. The 11 BJP MLAs and two MPs who have rebelled against their party have promised to assist the Congress in dethroning Modi.

A still from Godhra Carnage

The Congress is wary of inducting these rebels into the party fold given the strong resistance from its state unit and the proactive role played Goverdhan Zadaphia, former BJP home minister in the post-Godhra riots.

The rebels, led by former s Gujarat chief minister Suresh Mehta, have instead formed a separate forum - the Sardar Patel Utkarsh Samiti - which will launch a frontal attack against Modi.

Having learnt a bitter lesson in the recent UP assembly elections, the Congress has decided not to purchase any vehicles for Gujarat. It will instead hire 300-odd Innovas. The Congress had purchased 70 Boleros for the UP elections which were handed over to the party’s district presidents on the promise that these will be returned to the AICC after the elections. Only 34 were.

October: favourite month for bomb strikes in India?

Bombing has become the sole and most potent weapon of terrorist organisations; October has been their favourite strike month.

Besides bombings that left Karachi and Pakistan bleeding last week, India too had its share of bomb blasts in Ajmer and Ludhiana this month, Some of the cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, have born major brunt of terrorist strikes as records put the number of lives lost in bombings since January, 2004 at 3700.

Bombing, admit police officials, is the most economical and potent weapon used by terrorists who have of late discarded the use of other weaponry, including assault rifles.

To send a message to the global community that they are still alive and kicking, rudiments of erstwhile terrorist groups and supported by new organisations from across the border on the either flank of the country bombing suits them the most.

Bombing not only needs minimum of investment in terms of finance, planning and personnel, it also makes it impossible for police forces to detect the potential threats before they strike.

Increased use of both ammonium nitrate based intensive explosive devices and RDX in crowded areas has proved a lethal success. Some of the better trained terrorist organisations have been using with professional acumen the remote controlled devices to trigger series of blasts as were witnessed in Mumbai and Delhi.

Though the intelligence agencies besides the central agencies suspect direct or indirect involvement of ultra Muslim outfits and intelligence agencies of country’s immediate neighbours, they also do not rule out the podium being provided by the rudiments of virtually eliminated terrorist organisations.

Interestingly, another revelation of study of bomb blasts in the past few years will reveal that both July and October continue to be favourite strike months for the terrorists.
If one looks back, a series of blasts had rocked Delhi in October, 1997. Bombing terror returned to the capital again in October, 2005 in Sarojini Nagar, Pahar Ganj and Gobindpuri, leaving 59 dead and 160 others injured.

In October, 2005, 12 policemen were killed in bombing by Maoist terrorists in Jharkhand.
This year, October already had its share of blasts, both in India and neighbouring Pakistan. Chandigarh had witnessed October bloodbath some years ago when terrorists exploded bombs at a Ramleela in the city.

In Mumbai, terrorists had struck in a big way in 2006, but in advance (September end) as the bombing in Malegaon left 30 dead and 100 other injured.

September to December is the festival season when the shopping centres, places of worship and even railway stations, bus stands and airports overflow with holiday revellers. Choosing this festival season for their strikes is understandable admit police officials but still maintain that because of crowding it is impossible to spot a man carrying a bomb in his bag, or wrapped around his waist. Since festival season marks the beginning of winter season, most of the bomb carriers also use shawls and blankets for camouflaging.

Brain Drain - when the trained, talented individuals go and work in countries that partake of their knowledge. Many young individuals mainly from sectors like information technology, biotechnology & bio-informatics move out of India with a view to earn a sound income.

Young brains migrate with a thought to pursue higher education. Do you think they will return to India after completing their courses? Not exactly… More than 90% will continue working there. The question arises - who finally pays for the loss to the country?

India is not behind any country as the youth here are conscious enough about their future. Youngsters are insanely career-oriented, willing to work hard for long hours and serve their country with their best. We have with us many successful and hard-working candidates in almost every field.

For over 30 years, some of our brightest youngsters have migrated to developed countries like the UK, Australia, Canada etc. Many foreign companies have also homed in on some developed cities in India, again a source of development only for these foreign countries.
The main cause of Brain Drain can be traced to personal aims - of youngsters to earn money and fame.

It’s quite obvious that a company offering us a handsome salary will be preferred. Another problem can be the ‘Problem of Governance’. This is an extremely a sad state of affairs that even at senior levels, low wages ate being paid. An economic advisor with the Finance Ministry is not getting more than Rs 20,000 pm, or so we are told. In addition to this, lack of opportunity, several conflicts on discrimination or corruption lead to the rise of brain drain in India. .

Some ambitious youngsters after pursuing higher education from abroad return to India and work for their country. With the cooperation of the government and people, one can establish an enterprise. This can be possible for the one with high skills and knowledge. Entrepreneurship is the best way to develop and achieve success. So, the government should give opportunities to the highly-skilled, extremely intelligent and experienced workers to progress in their own country.

Much higher skills are essential in order to build firms and markets that can complete the dream of global economy. The need of the hour is to set a goal to achieve 100% literacy rate as soon as possible. A fresh PhD has a global market and it is not possible to have sound investments in India without offering wages that are in the same order of magnitude as those available outside India.

We, the youngsters, let’s get together and work hard with complete cooperation for the betterment of our nation.

ASTROLOGY

It is a name given to the knowledge of positions of Celestial bodies and the inference according to the understanding to give information about a person’s traits and many a times future predictions. Numerous traditions and applications employing astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings in the 2nd millennium BC. It has played a role in the shaping of culture, early astronomy, and other disciplines throughout history.

The origins of much of the astrological doctrine and method that would later develop in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East are found among the ancient Babylonians and their system of celestial omens that began to be compiled around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. This system of celestial omens later spread either directly or indirectly through the Babylonians and Assyrians to other areas such as India, China, and Greece where it merged with pre-existing indigenous forms of astrology.

There are many traditions of astrology, some of which share similar features due to the transmission of astrological doctrines between cultures. Other traditions developed in isolation and hold completely different doctrines, although they too share some similar features due to the fact that they are drawing on similar astronomical sources.

The main traditions used by modern astrologers are: (A) Indian astrology (B) Western astrology (C) Chinese astrology. Indian and Western astrology share a common ancestry as horoscopic systems of astrology, in that both traditions focus on the casting of an astrological chart or horoscope, a representation of celestial entities, for an event based on the position of the Sun, Moon, and planets at the moment of the event. However, Indian astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, linking the signs of the zodiac to their original constellations, while Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, over the centuries the twelve zodiacal signs in Western astrology no longer correspond to the same part of the sky as their original constellations. In effect, in Western astrology the link between sign and constellation has been broken, whereas in Indian astrology it remains of paramount importance. Another difference between the two traditions is the Indian use of 27 (or 28) nakshatras or lunar mansions, which have been used in Indian astrology since Vedic times.

In Chinese astrology a quite different tradition has evolved. By contrast to Western and Indian astrology, the twelve signs of the zodiac do not divide the sky, but rather the celestial equator. The Chinese evolved a system where each sign corresponds to one of twelve ‘double-hours’ that govern the day, and to one of the twelve months. Each sign of the zodiac governs a different year, and combines with a system based on the five elements of Chinese cosmology to give a 60 (12 x 5) year cycle. The term Chinese astrology is used here for convenience, but it must be recognised that versions of the same tradition exist in Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and other Asian countries.
In modern times, these traditions have come into greater contact with each other, notably with Indian and Chinese astrology having spread to the West, while awareness of Western astrology is still fairly limited in Asia. Astrology in the Western world has diversified greatly in modern times. New movements have appeared which have jettisoned much of traditional astrology to concentrate on different approaches, such as a greater emphasis on midpoints, or a more psychological approach.

The zodiac is the belt or band of constellations through which the Sun, Moon, and planets transit across the sky. Astrologers noted these constellations and so attached a particular significance to them. Over time they developed the system of twelve signs of the zodiac, based on twelve of the constellations they considered to be particularly important. The Western and Indian zodiac signs have a common origin in the tradition of horoscopic astrology, and so are very similar in meaning.

In China on the other hand, the development of the zodiac was different. Although the Chinese too have a system of twelve signs (named after animals), the Chinese zodiac refers to a pure calendrical cycle, as there are no equivalent constellations linked to it like the Western or Indian zodiacs. The common choice of twelve zodiac signs is understandable considering the interaction of the Sun and Moon was central to all forms of astrology. Twelve cycles of the Moon — the months — coincided with one solar year, making twelve a natural choice.

Practitioners of the Indian astrological tradition and a minority of Western astrologers use the sidereal zodiac. This zodiac uses the same evenly divided ecliptic but approximately stays aligned to the positions of the observable constellations with the same name as the zodiacal signs. The sidereal zodiac differs from the tropical zodiac by an offset called the ayanamsa which steadily increases as the equinoxes drift further.

WIPRO

A global provider of consulting, IT Services, and outsourced R&D, infrastructure outsourcing and business process services, Wipro deliver technology-driven business solutions that meet the strategic objectives of Global 2000 customers. With over 25 years in the Information Technology business, Wipro is the largest outsourced R & D Services provider and one of the pioneers in the remote delivery of services.

World’s first PCMM, CMM and CMMi Level 5 certified software Services Company and the first outside USA to receive the IEEE Software Process Award, Wipro are the first services company to embrace Six Sigma, lean manufacturing and factory model concepts to software e-engineering.

Wipro have a wide geographical diversity of operations with over 40 development centers and 10 near shore centers spread across India, Japan, China, Eastern Europe, France, Austria, Sweden, Germany, UK and USA.

Wipro Tech is the global IT service arm of Wipro limited which is in operation since 1945. It is headquartered in Bangalore with over 70,000 employees which includes the BPO arm as well. It has over 300 customers across the world which also includes 50 of the FORTUNE 500 companies. To name some are Boeing, BP, Cisco, Erricson, IBM, Toshiba etc.

The current Chairman, Managing Director and majority stake owner is Azim Premji, who has headed the software and hardware divisions since Wipro’s inception. With revenue in the excess of US $3 billion, Wipro is one of India’s major IT companies. It has dedicated development centers and offices across India, Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Wipro’s Tagline is "Applying Thought", the ability to infuse newer ideas and newer ways of doing things. Examples of Wipro’s product design work include developing an Internet-browsing phone for a Japanese telecom company in 1998, helping chipmaker Texas Instruments produce digital signal processing software, and creating an automotive display unit for Italian manufacturer Magneti Marelli that combined functions including cell phone capability, global position system technology, a navigation system and a CD player.

Wipro BPO is uniquely positioned to service customer requirements by leveraging its tenets of quality and innovation, the best people talent, self sustaining process framework and domain knowledge. We offer customized service offerings; translating into the most flexible and cost effective services of the highest quality for our customers. In 2002, Wipro took a quantum jump in the BPO services by acquiring the then Spectramind. Wipro BPO Solutions complements the services offered by Wipro Technologies, making it one of the largest BPO service players.

Following is the list of milestones crossed by the group:

Wipro and its success in handling outsourced information technology from US businesses is detailed in Thomas L. Friedman’s best-selling book The World Is Flat and Steve Hamm’s Bangalore Tiger. Wipro’s offshore model is considered ‘unique among the larger players in the security consulting space’ according to a independent report by Forrester Research.

SUSHMITA SEN

A daughter of an Indian Air force officer, Sush came into lime light when she was crowned the Miss India and Miss Universe title. The best part was she was ahead of her rival and beauty queen Aishwarya Rai who was runners up in the Miss India contest.

This leggy lass from Delhi, no sooner than her contract as Miss Universe was over she had decided to give a shot to Bollywood.

Sushmita made her debut in “Dastak” in the role of a vulnerable girl being stalked by a psycho (Sharad Kapoor). In her first film she played herself…Miss Universe. The film was a dud at the box office. Soon another flop (“Zor”) followed. Things were not going right for Sush.

Then Sushmita did a comic role in David Dhawan’s “Biwi No.1” and caught movie buff’s attention. She had a flair for the comedy. She also did a romantic role opposite Abhishek Bachchan in “Bus Itna Sa Khwab Hai”. Unfortunately this movie too bombed at the box office.

Recently she was seen in a very realistic role in Meghna Gulzar’s directorial debut “Filhaal”. She has got very rave reviews for convincing portrayal of her character in the film.

Having emerged from childhood with absolutely no thoughts of pursuing a career as an actress, Sushmita Sen has certainly managed to build quite an empire for herself over the years. From her early days as a bit-player in Bollywood comedies to her award-winning performances in other efforts, Sushmita has certainly come a long way from her struggling days as a model.

Since making her debut in 1996, Sushmita has appeared in well over two dozen films. And although Bollywood is notorious for cranking out hundreds of movies a year, we can’t help but be impressed by the seemingly effortless manner in which Sushmita has dominated the Indian film scene. Having won awards from Zee Cine and Screen Weekly, Sushmita’s popularity among filmgoers is clearly matched by her status among her peers and critics.

Sushmita Sen, a bong, was born in Hyderabad and then moved to Delhi early on (so now you know why she has such a fabulous Urdu dialect). She was born on the 19th of November, 1975 (and co-incidentally her numbers are the numbers of power and success - she was clearly destined). She was a complete tomboy and used to hang out with her school DADAS (which is like the head of the gang) and she accidentally fell into modeling. And thank God she did.

Sushmita’s controversial private life — her decision to adopt a baby and her affair with a married man — has transformed her into one of the most scandalous actresses within the Bollywood community, though that hasn’t stopped her from taking on widely divergent roles in movie after movie.  

Sush is a pretty rocking person in real life: she dares to venture where other actresses don’t. She buys her own rocks; 22 karat diamond on her finger. She is loved in the industry and she is loved by her audiences.

Ranbaxy Laboratories

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, is an integrated, research based, international pharmaceutical company, producing a wide range of quality, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across geographies. It is headquartered in India. The Company is ranked amongst the top ten global generic companies and has a presence in 23 of the top 25 pharma markets of the world. The Company with a global footprint in 49 countries, world-class manufacturing facilities in 11 and a diverse product portfolio, is rapidly moving towards global leadership, riding on its success in the world’s emerging and developed markets.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was incorporated in 1961. The CEO of the company is Malvinder Mohan Singh. The company was made public in 1973. Ranbaxy is one of the leading pharma Companies in India commanding a market share of 5.07%. In 1998, Ranbaxy entered the United States of America, the world’s largest pharmaceuticals market and now the biggest market for Ranbaxy, accounting for 28% of Ranbaxy’s sales.

The Company’s business has been realigned to its customer groups and investments have been made in high growth segments. These efforts have resulted in strengthening its Chronic franchise (Life Style led) as well as has reinforced its leading position in the acute segment.

Most of Ranbaxy’s products are manufactured by license from foreign pharmaceutical developers, though a significant percentage of their products are off-patent drugs that are manufactured and distributed without licensing from the original manufacturer because the patents on such drugs have expired.

The Company has successfully pursued its inorganic growth strategy and concluded over 15 acquisitions since 2004, including the latest 9 acquisitions valued at US$ 450 Mn (4 in Europe, 1 in the US, 3 in India and 1 in South Africa). These acquisitions have significantly expanded its business in emerging and profitable markets. The Company will continue to evaluate acquisition options in US, Europe, India and emerging markets to accentuate its business and competitiveness in these markets.

Ranbaxy views its R&D capabilities as a vital component of its business strategy that will provide the company with a sustainable, long-term competitive advantage. The Company today has a pool of 1,200 scientists who are engaged in path-breaking research.

Ranbaxy is among the few Indian pharmaceutical companies in India to have initiated its research program in the late 70’s. To support its global ambition a first of its kind world class R&D centre was commissioned in 1994. Today, the Company’s multi-disciplinary R&D centre at Gurgaon, in India, houses dedicated facilities for generics research and innovative research. The Company’s robust R&D environment for both drug discovery & development reflects the Company’s commitment to be a leader in the generics space and offer value added formulations based on its Novel Drug Delivery System (NDDS) and New Chemical Entity (NCE) research outcomes.

The company’s NDDS focus is mainly on the development of NDA/ ANDAs of oral controlled- release products for the regulated markets. The Company’s first significant international success using the NDDS technology platform came in September 1999, when Ranbaxy out-licensed its first once-a-day formulation to a multinational company.

The research areas for drug discovery at Ranbaxy are anti-infectives, inflammatory / respiratory, metabolic diseases and Oncology. Presently, the Company has 10 programs in the area of NDDR including one NCE in Phase-II clinical trials. The Company has received approvals to commence Phase I studies in India on its NCE molecule for Dyslipidemia. In addition, the Company also has a number of other pre-clinical leads in various segments.

Ranbaxy also has a global alliance in the area of drug discovery and development with GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Presently two research programs have been initiated under this alliance. Leadership in Novel Drug Delivery System (NDDS) products, which offer value-added differentiation over conventional products. Key brands include Cifran OD (Ciprofloxacin), Zanocin OD (Ofloxacin) & Sporidex AF (Cephalexin). Strong brand building capabilities, reflected in the fact that 20 brands feature in the “Top-300 brands of the Industry” list. The leading 5 brands are Sporidex (Cephalexin), Cifran (Ciprofloxacin), Mox (Amoxicillin), Zanocin (Ofloxacin) & Volini (Diclofenac).

Great emphasis is placed on Knowledge Management and Medico-marketing initiatives such as Advisory Board Meetings, Post Marketing Surveillance Studies and Continuous Medical Education programs. These have resulted in an excellent customer relationship with the medical fraternity. More than 2000 interface programs (Symposia, CME’s) are conducted and about 20 Clinical Papers published annually.

Dry Power & Metered Dose Inhalers have been launched in the Respiratory segment. All Metered Dose Inhalers are HFA based formulations, environment friendly inhalers. It is for the first time in India, that a company has launched its entire HFA propellant based MDI range. The world’s first novel product, Osovair (Formoterol + Ciclesonide) inhalation capsules has been introduced in the Indian market.

Driven by the passion of its over 11,000 strong multicultural workforce comprising 51 nationalities, Ranbaxy continues to aggressively pursue its mission to become a Research-based International Pharmaceutical Company and attain a true global leadership position.

Jeev Milkha Singh

Padma Shri Jeev Milkha Singh is the first Indian golfer to become a member of the European Tour. The son of the famous Indian Athlete, the flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, Jeev Milkha Singh is the highest Indian golfer in the world, breaking into the top 100. He was born on 15 December 1971.
For celebrity sons it has often been a Hobson’s choice. A one-way road to whatever they want to be, only one pair of shoes at the start of the road for them to slip into, which usually belongs to their fathers. Many accept this as ordained and pick up their father’s tracks.

Others like Jeev Milkha Singh go their own way and try and match up to the caliber of their fathers. Jeev has had two people to match up to—his father, the great Milkha Singh and his mother, Nirmal Kaur who too was the former captain of the Indian volleyball team.
Jeev Milkha Singh wants to earn the same respect in the sporting arena as his celebrity parents. And he is nearly there. As India’s best golfer he is moving from strength to strength. Jeev’s career has seen a steep ascent in the last three years. From a European ranking of 104 he has climbed to the 48th. Position—the first Indian ever to do so.

A graduate in golf from the U.S., Jeev sees a steady rise in popularity of the sport in India. "What we need are academies and colleges which tap talent and professionally train young people. Only then will we get world class champions." Now that he himself has become the highest ranked Indian in golf, what more does he want to achieve? “I want to win the British Open and the U.S.Masters," says Jeev in an interview.

He is the first Indian golfer to play in the Masters. He said it was always his dream but now it is a reality. His father Milkha Singh is one of the most famous athletes India has produced who broke the world record for 400 metres in the 1960 Olympics heats in Rome and was favourite for the final. But he made an error in that race when at 250m he checked his speed, as he believed he was going too fast. That cost him valuable time and probably the race. He lost the bronze in a photo-finish, but did win a Commonwealth Games gold. They called him "the Flying Sikh" and even now people shout out to him in the street.

Jeev was named Indi0061n Sportsman of the Year in 2006. it was a shock for him because he believed that the prize almost always goes to a cricketer, or perhaps a hockey player, and for a golfer to win was fantastic.
He is conferred with PADAM SHRI. It is given out by the president for contributions in arts, education, literature, sport… all fields. It is the equivalent of the knighthood in Britain.
He started playing in Chandigarh, his home town, when he was about nine. His father took him to the course and he would pull his father’s trolley and play a few shots. Then he became hooked. He ended up going to college in America and turned pro in 1993. He played on the Asian Tour until becoming the first Indian to get a European Tour card, in 1998. He has played with Tiger woods as well.

Jeev is not a cricket fan. He said he don’t follow any sport- just golf. He did play cricket when he was kid and always like to see his country do well.